I I have a confession. I have my own guilty pleasures. I have a serious dairy addiction. It’s really not good for my triglycerides. I started thinking about my New Year’s resolutions a few weeks ago. This one didn’t even make it on the list. It’s the most important resolution for my health and a conscious eating choice.
This time a couple of years ago, I did a cleanse. This cleanse was awesome! It was excellent because it was graduated. You started out removing some of the foods on the cleanse. The week before the cleanse actually started. The second week, you dropped the harder dietary substances like caffeine and dairy. The very last week of the cleanse was gently re-introducing the foods from your diet before the cleanse. The re-introduction of foods, one at a time, was meant to see which foods hurt your digestive tract. Dairy was one of the foods that caused serious inflammation in my body.
We eat many foods unconsciously and ignore the messages or biofeedback our body send us. Our food choices are usually influenced by commercials on TV, an unrealized sugar addiction, or billboards on the interstate advertising food choices. You rarely see healthy foods advertised. We weren’t taught in school which choices were healthy for our blood sugar. The food pyramid we were taught about in school had mostly starchy grainy food choices at the bottom with the most daily servings. This is terrible for diabetics!
I actually had to educate myself. I did this by reading a lot of medical information. I also used to this hi tech lab of mine, a.k.a. my body. As I ate food, I would test my blood sugar two to three hours later to see the results on my blood glucose. I was extremely aware of signals of inflammation from my body like constipation, a foggy mind, sluggish body, gas, or pancreatic pains on my left side. Yep, these were the pains I used to ignore for hours driving on the road for work! As I became more aware of my food choices and the effects on my body, I realized there are four stages of healthy eating which are:
1.) Unconsciously Eating Unhealthy - unaware or unwilling to try better choices.
2.) Consciously Eating Unhealthy - actively looking for healthier eating options that taste good to our individual taste buds but falling back on old eating habits because change takes time and is challenging.
3.) Consciously Eating Healthier Foods - normally eating healthier recipes that we love / making better food choices and the rare splurge isn't the normal choice.
4.) Unconsciously Eating Healthy - is a part of your every day lifestyle without feeling deprived, usually happens over time.
The good news is that you don’t really have to worry about which step you’re on now. No judgement! Just curiosity… The fact that you are aware of it is great. Hopefully, you are making your New Year's resolution to make healthy conscience eating choices. Unconsciously eating healthy is in your future, but it is a journey. Let's take one step at a time. Know it will take time. Meanwhile, here’s a good recipe to add to your list to get you started… with healthy substitutes for the dairy ingredients.
Ingredients:
3 cups cauliflower, riced
1 tbsp. butter
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup Daiya brand cashew cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup roasted red peppers
2 garlic cloves, minced
Riced cauliflower is prepped in a food processor with 15-20 pulses.
Directions:
1.) Heat the butter on medium heat to brown the garlic in a large skillet.
2.) Stir in the salt and red peppers.
3.) Mix in the cauliflower, cover, and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
4.) Stir in the Daiya cheddar.
5.) Once the cheddar has started melting, add in the almond milk and cover.
6.) Cook for 5 minutes making sure to stir often. Be careful cream can scald.
This weeks recipe it’s good for you on many levels because of the fantastic ingredients. Red peppers and garlic boost our immune system with the crazy weather swings from hot to cold. It can't hurt as an additional preventative to COVID19 and tastes great! The cauliflower has it's own list of benefits it....
Has many nutrients to aid in satiation and provide the body with resources to heal.
Is full of fiber aiding in digestive health.
Has antioxidants which may help prevent some cancers.
May assist in weight loss.
Is a source of choline which helps prevent mental decline and aids the nervous system in making repairs.
Has plenty of sulphoraphane, an antioxidant, that may prevent some cancers.
Is a low carbohydrate substitute for grains and starches.
Can be cooked a variety of ways making it very easy to add to your diet.
Source: "The Top Eight Benefits of Cauliflower"
Healthline.com 04/14/2017
I know the timing of this recipe couldn't be better. I was out two days ago in 60° weather digging up new baby sprouts of butter crunch lettuce from my garden, pictured growing at the base of a rock (above left). The very next day, I had to make sure I didn’t slide down my deck stairs because of the snow. This weather whiplash along with my New Year's resolution to reduce dairy in my diet makes this an excellent regular addition to conscience eating habits.
Hopefully, this new recipe will appeal to your taste buds as well as keeping you healthy. Please comment, like, share, and come back next week for more recipes, ideas, and tips. Subscribe to the website, if you would like weekly email reminders to add more recipes to your recipe book.
Disclaimer: This is not medical advice, but a compilation of research from medical sites. Make sure to see your doctor and have up to date lab work.