Saturday Greenery

March 2nd, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (6 Comments)

It’s Day 2 of The Greener March Challenge! Here’s today’s lunchtime salad – KAPOW!

Saturday Salad

Oh, wait. I mean, Hi! Did you eat something leafy and green yesterday? And today already too? High five!

If you’re about to become a lean green eating machine for the next 30 days or so, we should talk about salad sooner rather than later.

If you’re already a salad shooting pro, please share your salad secrets with us!  But if salad is something you’re only feeling so-so about, let’s talk about how to make salad time quick and easy. Because when it’s quick and easy, it’s more likely to happen.  Read more...

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These are a Few of My Favorite Greens

February 16th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (1 Comments)

At this very moment, my house is quiet.

Zak is at drum practice, the girls are off on a mini-adventure with a beloved aunt, the boy is napping.

I can hear crickets.

Yes, crickets in the winter. Hard to believe, eh?

Well believe this – I just finished this kick-ass salad for lunch.

Bleu Cheese and Salmon with Arugula

The ass-kicking was thanks in part to the pile of arugula I added to the greens mix.

Arugula

Arugula, spinach and red leaf lettuce, tossed in a little olive oil and balsamic.

Spinach Red Leaf Lettuce and Arugula with balsamic and olive oil  Read more...

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Rockin’ Salad Concoctions

January 17th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in - (1 Comments)

How to Make an Awesome Salad

salad Salad with Hemp

Bacon, Avocado and Egg Tossed Salad

The Brendan Brazier Salad (it started here!)

Cashews, Apple, Tofu with Miso Dressing

Simple Caesar Salad

Swiss Chard massaged with Avocado

Lentil Taco Salad

Hummus on Salad

Salad Habits (hummus, beets, hemp seeds, grape tomatoes, egg)

Fat is Your Friend (load your salads up with healthy fats!)

salad_big Have Salad Will Travel

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Always Bet on BLAC

January 16th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (6 Comments)

A lunch time quickie today!

When I was a vegetarian, I truly didn’t miss meat.  Truly.

But now that I’ve been eating some meat again, I must admit.  It’s good.

Especially bacon.

When I get good quality bacon from the local markets – or in this case, from Zak’s mom and step dad who raised their own pigs last year – I dig it.

I’ve been cooking 10 – 12 strips at once to make homemade bacon bits for salads.  Fry it up, trim most (but not all) of the fat, move to a few paper towels to soak up the grease, chop and store in the fridge to use on salads over the course of a few days.  Read more...

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Make Your Own Salad Dressing (So You Don’t Have to Throw Yourself Off a Bridge)

December 9th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (8 Comments)

I don’t think it will come as a surprise that I eat salad. A lot.

Like a lot, a lot.

So now picture me in the health food section of my local supermarket, skipping merrily (and cluelessly) through the store aisles, humming some crunchy-granola-new-agey-kumbaya song that my homeschooled kids taught me, sometimes buying the supposedly healthy salad dressings, sometimes buying canola oil to make my own salad dressing at home.

THEN picture me reading Deep Nutrition, getting a better understanding at how completely terrible vegetable oils are for us and thinking, phew! Good thing I don’t buy vegetable oil!  Read more...

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The Secret of Eating Salad Second

July 27th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (4 Comments)

Kaz will be one month old tomorrow, and so far I’ve lost 26 of the 35 pounds I gained during pregnancy.

That almost sounds impressive, but let’s not forget I brought nearly 9 of those 26 lbs home with me in an infant car seat. Good thing those pounds are super cute, they can stay.

I’m not going to let myself get all nutso obsessive about it, but getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight is definitely on my mind. For now my plan is sensible eating with sensible exercise. How sensible.  Read more...

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Sweet Salad Memories

March 1st, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (9 Comments)

As a self-proclaimed Salad Lover, I’ve come to see that the pregnant version of myself is not at all a Salad Lover.

No, these days I’m more of a Salad Avoider.  I’m able to stuff leafy greens into sandwiches or the occasional glass of green juice or green smoothie, but my regular salad days are currently on hiatus – much like my days of wearing pants with a button and zipper.  Read more...

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Chlorella (is not an STD)

December 7th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (14 Comments)

Nope, Chlorella is a super food.  And lately, it’s been on my radar.

Chlorella is a green algae. It’s high in protein, essential fatty acids, amino acids and a slew of vitamins and minerals. It’s an immune enhancer and when dried and processed, it looks like it would make great fake grass in your kid’s next diorama project.

The first time I paid attention to Chlorella was when I read about it in Thrive by Brendan Brazier. I paid close attention to his few pages on this food item when I was brushing up on nutrition for athletes during last minute marathon training at the end of the summer. My eyebrows perked up when I saw that Chlorella can help speed muscle repair and recovery, as well as slow the signs of aging when consumed regularly.  Read more...

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World Travel

December 4th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (10 Comments)

It was a dark and stormy night.

Actually, it was just a cold and gloomy Friday morning. And I was in the mood to cook.

Ingredients for Apricot Lentil Stew

I was also in the mood to shake things up! I went googling my way around the world wide web in search of something outlandish to do with a bag of red lentils.

Like… string them together to use as garland on our Christmas tree? Get started on a lentil mosaic of A Starry Night? Toss lentils at wine glasses filled with varying levels of water and teach myself to play I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In?  Read more...

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It’s-Not-Thanksgiving-Yet Eggplant Parmesan

November 22nd, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (8 Comments)

For dinner tonight, there was one goal:

Make something completely the opposite of Thanksgiving. I wouldn’t want to spoil my appetite for Thursday after all.

(right. like that could happen.)

So what’s the opposite of Thanksgiving, exactly?

I guess I don’t know, really. I do know that when I was shopping for T Day goodies today, I was on the lookout for anything that none of the other 1,257 Thanksgiving shoppers were loading into their carts. I was looking for anything that might scream “DINNER!!!” at me.

And the item that screamed was eggplant.  Read more...

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