Healthy on the Cheap: Sundried Tomato Raw Sausage Patties - Mustgos Part 2

So I’m broke – for now. Not in a pity party kind of way just in a minor set back – building a business kind of way. I’ll make rent but I need to be very aware of where my money goes.

I figured this would be a good time to talk about staying healthy on a budget. It is completely doable.

Let’s break it down. What you put in your body (including on your skin) is probably the most important thing you can do all day to take care of yourself. If you are putting in crap you are going to look and feel like crap. If not immediately then eventually.

Even when funds are tight you must make yourself a priority and choose healthy foods. It is entirely more expensive to heal illnesses and deal with ailments than it is to start and stay healthy. I promise you fighting cancer and buying insulin cost more than buying greens each week.

Things to think about

• Getting sick
• After adopting a healthy plant based diet I RARELY get sick. And if I do it is for a day or two and I can kick its butt because my immune system is strong.
• Medicine is expensive. If you are getting sick (and probably often) from eating garbage then you are going to spend a ton of money on medications.
• Being sick probably means missing work; which probably means getting behind or even a cut in pay. That won’t help your money situation.
• Side note – employers don’t like it when you miss work. Being sick all the time isn’t going to put you in a position for that promotion.
• Down the line
• Eating like crap regularly will cause you problems later in life if it isn’t already. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, obesity etc. Not concerned with this yet? Start to be, look around you, and chat with the older folks in your life. Shit gets real. Quickly.
• Aging doesn’t have to be a horrible process. Do it beautifully by feeding your body plant goodness now.

Ok enough lecturing. And what is my point? I’m on a budget for an undetermined amount of time so I decided yesterday that I’m going to avoid buying food for as long as possible. I wrote another blog about mustgos previously and came up with Pumpkin and Black Bean Burgers.

Today I went into my kitchen to see what I could create and here it is:

• I took the recipe from my raw sausage and added sundried tomatoes to the mix.
• With said mix I made
• “Sausage” nori rolls. Literally just rolled the mixture in nori (ya know the green stuff wrapped around sushi).
• Lettuce wraps. You guessed it, made a patty and rolled it up in lettuce with grilled onion and avocado. I left it open for the picture so you could see the good stuff.

And that’s it people. Healthy protein and omega packed dinner with ingredients I found laying around.

Get creative. Eat healthy. Make yourself a priority.

Sugar - What's the deal?

My study materials arrived yesterday for my personal training certificate! I’ve been using loaner books until now. As of today I have my very own – I feel official. I spent a solid two hours at Train Gym today; side note I absolutely love this place. I’ve never walked into a gym and felt comfortable before. It is privately owned and everyone there has been incredibly nice. More on that later…..

After my two hour leg work out, I was famished! Luckily I planned ahead and brought celery sticks to munch on and a Vega protein bar for recovery. Those bars are not only Plant Based Paige approved but so f-ing delicious I swear I work out more just as an excuse to eat them. The great thing about all Vega products is they only use truly natural sweeteners like stevia or dates.

Avoiding traditional sugars (white, brown, cane) are vital to your health. Dropping those crappy sweeteners was one of the best things I did for my body, skin, moods, and energy levels.

To keep this simple I’m just going to toss out a few facts about sugar and what it does to the body. Please feel free to add any questions or comments to the comment section!

·         White sugar leeches you of minerals contributing to anemia, osteoporosis and anxiety among other things.

·         With sugar we lose B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, iron and peace of mind.

·         Produces acidic blood (because it steals alkaline minerals).

§         Viruses, cancer and all other types of illness love an acid environment.

·         It causes inflammation and can constrict nerves causing pain.

·         Can contribute to chronic spasm, scattered thinking and is considered a major player in mental illnesses like Schizophrenia.

·         Sugar is addictive and may be the underlying factor in every addictive behavior: depression, compulsive behavior, scattered thinking, and in states of withdraw: lethargy, intense cravings, anger, negativity, night sweats, nightmares, and crying to name a few.

·         Messes with our pancreas and insulin levels that can lead to diabetes.

·         Sugar causes weight gain because it supplies only empty, low quality calories and excessive carbohydrates that are converted to fat.

·         Some studies show that sugar can actually age the skin faster causing wrinkles, pimples, dry and/or splotchy skin.

·         Coupled with other negatives influences it contributes to the eventual breakdown of the body.

Now the good news! You need sugar in your life. Good quality sugar. I’ve heard people talk about a completely sugar free diet (including no fruit) which is a bad thing. The brain cannot function on anything but glucose. Fruit is glucose in the body. Some facts:

·         Less refined sweeteners made from fermented complex carbohydrates, like brown rice syrup, barley malt, and amasake, take a longer time to hit he bloodstream and don’t take us on quiet the roller coaster ride.

·         Maple syrup and molasses also contain lots of minerals to help metabolize them well.

·         The sugar in fruit is un-tampered with and supplies the body with the nutrients it craves. It also supplies fiber.

When talking to younger people about nutrition I always get this sense that they aren’t worried about it. Many still have that “invincibility” thing going on. I highly encourage you to think about future you. If you have parents in the retirement age talk to them, go to an event with them and see what the topics of conversation are for that age range, in my experience: death, disease, cancer, diabetes, weight issues, etc. AGING DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. Make yourself a priority and start eating, acting, and being better now.

There is a great quote from Fit for Life that sums it up.

“Picture a large bay window. If you were to throw a small pebble at the window, it would not break. But throw one hundred thousand small pebbles, and the window will shatter. Each negative influence on your body is like one pebble, and all together those influences can and will break down your body’s health.”

For your sweet tooth check out my chocolate lavender cheesecake!

Chocolate Lavender Cheesecake (soy, dairy, gluten, and nut free)

I’m dragging my feet. I have no clue why but I’m putting off taking my personal trainer certificate test. The perks of being certified are numerous: be official, make money, help people, do something I love/am good at, but for some reason I was just not doing it. My wonderful, inspiring mentor caught wind of this and gave me a deadline. As soon as he set the bar I got this huge smile on my face. I felt empowered, pressured (in a good way) and motivated to study my ass off.  So much time is spent talking about the things that we could do or want to do.

Enough talk!

Earlier this year I got inspired to try something new every month– took a motorcycle course, went to a sewing lesson, signed up for kickball, started this blog etc. This week I encourage you to make your spirit and adventurous side a priority. Go do something new and exciting – if you live in LA take me with you! 

Another project I’ve been meaning to try is a lavender cheese cake and also a nut free cheesecake…. And this blog just got delicious!

Ok so these were the guidelines for my experiment:

Flavor: chocolate lavender

Free of: soy, dairy, gluten, and nuts

Although I don’t have a nut allergy my roommate’s boyfriend does so he never gets to try my raw cheesecakes which are normally a cashew base and almond crust. I also have a dear friend, Andrew, who is also allergic to nuts and is vegan so this project is dedicated to him! (xoxo)

Crust

¾ cup oats (mine were certified gluten free)

¼ cup flax meal

¼ cup shredded coconut

2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

3oz date paste

2tbs cocoa nibs

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor (only ½ the date paste) and process. It will start to rise up the sides push it down until everything is well combined.
2. Add the 2^nd half of the date paste and process.
3. It should be a mixture that can hold together with gentle pressure and be broken apart with a clean break.
4. Distribute crust evenly on the bottom of lightly oiled pan (using coconut oil).
• Put a little coconut oil on your clean hands to get the crust in the pan. I found this keeps the crust from sticking to your hands – a very frustrating experience.

      5.   Refrigerate until filling is ready.

Filling

3 cups soaked sunflower seeds

1 cup sunflower milk (or any other dairy, nut, and soy free milk)

¾ cups good quality sweetener (agave if you want it to be truly raw, maple syrup or brown rice syrup work as well)

2 tbsp vanilla

¼ tsp salt

½ cup melted cocoa butter

1-3 teaspoon food grade lavender (depending on how much you like lavender)

¼ cup coconut oil

3 tbsp sunflower lecithin

For swirling

1 tbps sweetener

1 ounce cocoa powder

1 tbsp vanilla

1. Combine all ingredients for filling except for coconut oil and lecithin.
2. Blend well until smooth and creamy. 3-5 minutes.
3. Stop blending and add the lecithin and melted coconut oil then blend until smooth.
4. If you don’t want to swirl add the cocoa powder to this mixture and blend well.
5. Add mixture to pan and freeze for 1-3 hours or until middle of cheesecake is firm to the touch.
6. If you DO want to swirl. Remove 1 ½ cups of the mixture and set aside.
7. Put the original mixture in the pan.
8. Take 2 cups of reserved filling and add cocoa powder, vanilla, and sweetener.
9. From here you can swirl or layer depending on what you want to go for.
10. When you are done swirling and/or layering freeze for 1-3 hours or until middle of cheesecake is firm to the touch.

And that’s it people! You have a soy, dairy, gluten, and nut free raw vegan cheesecake. Your friends with allergies will thank you; promise. I must say the consistency was perfect. Plus sunflower seeds are SO much cheaper than cashews. I’m going to stick to this.

Moral of today’s blog: make yourself a priority; try something new in life and in the kitchen.

A few variations

1.      Don’t like lavender? Leave it out! With this recipe you will have an amazing vanilla base.

2.      Don’t like chocolate? We’ll you’re nuts but leave it out!

3.      This crust was really thin. Next time I’m going to double the crust.

4.      Don’t like coconut in your crust? Leave it out and swap it for more oats or flax.