Whole Food Love

Health. Life. Love.

  • Home
  • Offerings
    • Beautiful University Program
    • Premier Private Coaching
  • About
    • Meet Shannon
    • Meet Meg
  • Blog
  • Contact

Archives for June 2014

2 Steps to a Dish Free Life!

June 25, 2014 by Meg Sullivan 2 Comments

 

WFL Chipotle Black Bean Burgers

As anyone who has ever lived with me can tell you, I HATE DOING DISHES. Sign me up to clean counters, take out the trash, vacuum, clean the bathroom or even scrub the toilet. But dishes: blah!

Years ago when I made the commitment to my own health, I went from Subway lunches and frozen Lean Cuisine dinners to homemade quinoa veggie bowls and green protein smoothies. The first week I prepared every lunch at home and cooked each single-serving dinner…and because I was working MORE than full time I ended up with a full belly and a sink full of dishes. I got excited to cook, thoroughly enjoyed my meal and then had no energy (or motivation) to do the dirty work. Have you ever left dirty dishes in the sink for a week? Probably not- because that’s absolutely disgusting (I know from experience)! Well sometimes I hid my disgust for dishes under the premise of “letting them soak” or waiting for a full dishwasher. Whatever the excuse I used, the idea of spending precious “after-work” time cleaning pots and pans every day was a real obstacle in my new healthy lifestyle.

I know that preparing my own meals with all the best ingredients is one of the best choices I can make for my long-term health and wellness. So I found myself in a dilemma: opt for the prepackaged convenient and highly processed frozen meal (with no cleanup) or bust out the pots and pans, make them very dirty and make my own meal? I knew the healthiest decision was the latter.

So to avoid the shivers I get at the thought of doing dishes EVERYDAY, I developed a Golden Rule for my kitchen. Cook ONCE, Eat TWICE (or 8 times as you’ll see below). I solved my problem of eating healthy and avoiding the daily dish wash. Here’s how it works:

 

WFL Chipotle BB Veggie Burgers

#1: Choose a meal that you can make to have for dinner, leftovers for lunch, or even freeze and come back to in a month or two!

#2: Make the meal in bulk and then divide into single servings (great example is with soup- I freeze it in mason jars as individual portions)

#3: Enjoy the extra free time you have !

Now while I still don’t have the funds to hire a human dishwasher, I only have to worry about dishes once or twice a week AND am still putting the best quality food into my body.

I’ve been able to use this mantra for making veggie burgers, homemade soups, egg frittatas, desserts and more. Now I spend less time in the kitchen and have more time to spend with my family, friends, and pup!

Have a meal that you can cook once and eat twice? Share it with us in the comments.

Live your WHOLE life!

 

Shannon & Meg

 

HAPPY COW CHIPOTLE BLACK BEAN VEGGIE BURGERS W/ ADOBO SAUCE 

2 (15 oz.) cans low-sodium black beans, rinsed & drained

4 Tbsp. EVOO

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 large bell pepper, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 chipotle in adobo sauce, finely chopped plus 1 tsp. sauce

½ cup finely crumbled feta cheese

1 whole egg

1 slice sprouted bread (toasted and very finely chopped, to resemble bread crumbs)

Toppings as desired: avocado, fried egg, tomato, hummus (great topper)

 

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spread with beans. Place in oven and roast until beans are mostly split (about 20 minutes).

Step 2: While the beans are in the oven, heat 2 Tbsp. EVOO in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add in onion and bell pepper, stirring until softened (about 5 mins). Add garlic and stir (about 2 mins). Add chipotle chili and sauce and stir (about 30 seconds). Transfer to large mixing bowl.

Step 3: Combine the feta cheese and black beans in a food processor and pulse until beans are roughly chopped (about 1/3 of the full bean in size). NOTE: If you don’t have a food processor you can use a fork or potato masher to work the beans and feta cheese together. Add the bean & cheese mixture to the bowl with onions and peppers. Add egg and sprouted breadcrumbs to bowl and season with salt and pepper. Fold together gently but thoroughly with hands.

Step 4: Form bean mixture into 6-8 patties. Heat 1 Tbsp. of EVOO in a pan over medium heat. Add patties (as many as you want for dinner tonight) and cook, swirling the oil in the pan occasionally. Flip after 5 minutes, until each side is browned.

Step 5: Enjoy! Add your favorite toppings to the delicious Happy Cow Black Bean Burger. You can use lightly toasted sprouted bread as a bun, spread with hummus, avocado, fried egg or the standard lettuce, tomato and onion.

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Arrange patties on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and place in freezer until fully frozen (about 1 hour). Take baking sheet out of freezer, and stack frozen burgers, with parchment paper in between. Place in freezer Ziploc bag and return to freezer. Voila!

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Organic, Baby?

June 18, 2014 by Meg Sullivan 2 Comments

I am truly at a crossroads… Crossroads of this importance have been few and far between in my life. Up until this point, my major life decisions have been where to go to college, is it the right time to get married to the love of my life, and are we open to trying for a baby?

Well, I loved my time at Villanova University, the love of my life and I are still going strong 9 years later, and you guessed it …the little guy finally came in December!   So where are the crossroads you ask?

Well we just hit the six-month mark and have been cleared to begin incorporating “solid foods” into the little guy’s diet. I had already decided that I would try to prep as much as I could at home with the exceptions being the rice cereal that all babies seem to start on and the times that we travel and don’t have access to all of our baby food making supplies. But the true question is how important is organic, especially when it comes to a baby?

I never explored the idea of “organic” until 2009. Up until then, I was barely able to prepare my own meals from scratch let alone worry whether the actual ingredients were organic or not. To be honest, I didn’t even know what “organic” technically meant. Sure it sounds healthier, but is it really worth the additional cost?

After quite a bit of research I found, the USDA defines organic food to be produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.

Without getting into specifics and in order keep things simple, I think that we can all agree that the closer we get to nature, the better. If you could choose between an apple the HAS been treated with pesticides vs. an apple that has NOT, you likely would choose that apple that has not been treated.

WFL Apple Organic

However, the apple that has not been treated is probably a bit more expensive. Is the absence of these chemicals worth the additional cost?

The EPA reports that pesticides can interfere with the nervous, hormone and endocrine systems, and act as carcinogens in the body. Produce that is grown organically has less fungicide, herbicide, and insecticide residue (more expensive to monitor). Rinsing our fruits & veggies will reduce but not eliminate pesticides. So in an ideal world, we would all buy local, organic produce all the time, but for many of us, organic produce may not be available or may not be within our budget.

 

I like to use the DIRTY DOZEN and the CLEAN 15 as my rule of thumb.

 

The DIRTY DOZEN is list of produce has also been tested and contains the HIGHEST amounts of harmful pesticide residue that penetrates the skin and is not easily scrubbed away. If possible, aim to buy the following organic:

  1. Apples
  2. Celery
  3. Strawberries
  4. Peaches
  5. Spinach
  6. Nectarines
  7. Grapes
  8. Sweet Bell Peppers
  9. Potatoes
  10. Blueberries
  11. Lettuce
  12. Kale/Collard Green

The produce listed in the CLEAN 15 can be purchased conventionally (not organic) because it has been tested to have the LEAST amount of pesticide residue.

  1. Onions
  2. Corn
  3. Pineapple
  4. Avocado
  5. Asparagus
  6. Sweet Peas
  7. Mango
  8. Eggplant
  9. Cantaloupe
  10. Kiwis
  11. Cabbage
  12. Watermelon
  13. Sweet Potatoes
  14. Grapefruit
  15. Mushrooms

Save money on the Clean 15 produce so that you can splurge with organic produce from the Dirty Dozen.

Although not exact, another rule of thumb you can use, is that if the produce has a peel such as an orange or a banana, you can consider getting these items conventionally (not organic) as you can “peel off” much of the pesticide residue.

As Robyn O’Brien mentioned in her piece for the Prevention and The Food Revolution Network:

Admittedly, the high price of organic food can irritate anyone.  But the scrutiny that these foods undergo is enormous and expensive, driving prices at the cash register and for those producing them on the farm. Why the costs?  Because the cost structure on our food supply offers taxpayer-funded resources called subsidies to the farmers using genetically engineered seeds and saturating crops in insecticides and weed killers, while charging the organic farmers fees to prove that their crops are safe.”

So now that you know the rule of thumb that I do for myself, what about prepping food for baby?

Up until now the only food that has touched his lips is Mama’s milk.   There is a pristine little digestive system that has been untouched by modern food processing methods, pesticides, and GMO’s and I would like to keep it that way. For now, it is organic all the way for this little guy.

 

Don't worry!  We're not eating kale yet.  Just feeling different textures and exploring colors.

Don’t worry! We’re not eating organic kale yet. Just feeling different textures and exploring colors.

Stay tuned for our money saving ways to stretch your dollar the farthest when it comes to buying organics.   Until then…

Live your WHOLE life!

 

Meg & Shannon

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Education, General Health

What does your salad dressing have in common with Janet Jackson?

June 11, 2014 by Meg Sullivan 2 Comments

I’ll admit it, I’m a control freak and I have been since I was a little kid. I have always like things done a very specific way. I’ve been doing my own laundry, in my own particular way, since second grade! Some people bring their laundry home to mom or have a pickup service, but the idea gives me the heebie-jeebies! What if they do it wrong?!

While this need for control has caused a set back or two in some parts of my life, it works great when it comes to my health regime. Like Janet’s hit 1986 album, I am in CONTROL of my health and one of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to do this is when I monitor what I put into my body….at EVERY meal!

Screen Shot 2014-06-11 at 12.20.28 AM

When I eat a whole food, I know exactly what the ingredients are…the actual food! When I eat processed foods, it’s a guessing game. There are a lot of hidden ingredients, ones that we would NEVER expect to be in food. (I actually think of most processed foods as “non foods”.)

Take salad dressing for example: check out the ingredients in your favorite store bought salad dressing. Does it contain high fructose corn syrup? MSG? Trans fats? Titanium dioxide? How about Propylene Glycol Alginate (a chemical which is also used in pesticides and antifreeze)? When ingested, PGA inhibits our body’s ability to absorb nutrients. Simply put, using a salad dressing with PGA can negate all the nutrients in the salad greens and veggies!

Screen Shot 2014-06-11 at 12.28.48 AM

The good news is that you have the ability to CONTROL what you eat. Instead of getting frustrated about all the miscellaneous and potentially hazardous materials (that I can’t pronounce) in my food, I choose to take matters into my own “control freak” hands and make the foods myself, from whole foods, in my own clean kitchen (well except for all those dishes).

At Whole Food Love, we give you simple tools that empower you to make easy, healthier swaps! If you’ve ever stirred noodles, whisked an egg, or shaken orange juice you can make your own salad dressing! Your homemade salad dressing will be much tastier and contain ONLY the ingredients you decide.

If you like a light vinaigrette stick with olive oil and your favorite balsamic vinegar. When I’m craving a creamy ranch or thousand island dressing, here is one of my favorite and quick go to recipes for the best homemade salad dressing recipe –  a healthy 5 ingredient honey mustard:

WFL Healthy Honey Mustard

HHM (Healthy Honey Mustard)

1/4 cup Dijon Mustard

1 Tbsp. honey

½ Tbsp. water

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. olive oil

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and drizzle over salad.  Enjoy!

 

To get what you want, bust a beat like Janet, and get back in Control. Remember when it has to do with your life, you want be the one in control! Stay tuned for my favorite “go to” salads that I pair it with HHM.

What food would you like to stop buying in the store and prepare yourself? Leave us a comment and sign up for our future blogs to see how we can make your recipe, quick and easy using whole ingredients.

Live your WHOLE life!

Shannon & Meg

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The BEST Low-Cal Drink I Ever Had!

June 4, 2014 by Meg Sullivan Leave a Comment

Thank you so much for joining us here!  We are so incredibly excited to have you with us to launch our site!  Whole Food Love is the dream of two sisters who have always had a passion for health, but took a few detours, before ultimately finding the right path, which allowed us to pursue health education, cooking, research, and counseling full time.

What will I find in this blog and why should I read it? 

We look forward to sharing our triumphs and struggles with trying to prepare and eat healthy delicious food (Oh yes – and also getting our family to eat this way.)  We also look forward to bringing you amazing recipes for dinners (and of course desserts will be included), juicing, smoothies, cooking tips, health education, money saving tips at the grocery store and even some organizing and scheduling ideas.

Eating clean healthy food takes time, but with the right amount of planning and prep, it can become fun instead of daunting – when you start BASIC.  In honor of this being our first blog post, we wanted to start with THE MOST BASIC of the basic…WATER.

So how is water the best low-cal drink I ever had?  Well, after adding a few things to my glass, it is ultimately a pitcher of homemade Lemon Mint Spa Water that changed the entire trajectory of my life.

We all know that water is good for us, that we should drink more and that H2O contributes to

  • Better Skin
  • Better Hydration of the cells and myofascial tissue
  • Increased efficiency of our organs

But what are some other reasons, how much should we drink, and what can we do when do when it is difficult to drink as much water as we need, Oh and HOW did this low cal drink of water change my life?

Well, let me take you back to the day that the idea of Whole Food Love began…

My sister Shannon and I had just recently been introduced to Masuru Emoto’s Hidden Messages in Water.  A book with beautiful pictures that documents how water exposed to loving and kind thoughts crystallize completely differently than water exposed to a hateful or negative atmosphere.  The water exposed to the caring environments crystallizes in beautiful and symmetrical snowflakes – truly beautiful to see. The water that is exposed to negativity crystallizes into shapeless and irregular forms.

Emoto HMW  Emoto Snowflakes

All of this talk of water got us a little bit thirsty and instead of turning to plain  water, we decided to make a pitcher of Lemon Mint Spa Water.  (See recipe below).

An interesting fact about water and how much your body needs it – Human embryos are 95% water, newborns are 75% water, and most elderly people are 50% water!  So please, try to get your daily intake.  A good rule of thumb is to try drinking at least as many ounces of water as ½ your body weight in lbs.

Example:  If you are 150 lbs. you should make it a goal to drink at least 75 oz of water per day.

Maybe it was all the good vibes coming from the Lemon Mint Spa Water, but, WOW did we get inspired!   We both had passions for fitness, food, and the link between nutrition and health.   (We also both have a passion for saving money but we will save that for another post!)

We had both previously worked in hectic high stress jobs – the life of CPA’s – that did not leave a lot of time for preparing food at home and knew that it was time for a change.  We decided that the combination of Shannon’s nutritional training and food preparation expertise + my ability to organize and plan could be developed into a streamlined program and thus the idea of WHOLE FOOD LOVE was born.

After research, seminars, kitchen experiments, we have discovered, tweaked, and created the most delicious, healthy, and nutrient dense meals (and did I mention desserts) that can be prepared for you and your family.

So make yourself a pitcher of Lemon Mint Spa Water, curl up with a good book or visit with a close friend, and make a positive decision that will change the trajectory of YOUR life!

Share your decision with us in the comment section below!

 

Live your WHOLE life!

Meg & Shannon

 

LEMON MINT SPA WATER

6 Cups of chilled mineral/spring water

8 slices of thinly sliced cucumber

4 thin slices of lemon

4 thin slices of lime

4 sprigs of fresh mint (crushed)

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (crushed)

 

Combine all ingredients and chill for at least 2 hours.   Pour over ice and enjoy!

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Education, General Health, Recipes

 Grab 3 FREE interviews from TOP Health & Lifestyle Experts!  Sign Up Now!

We respect your email privacy

 

Recent Posts

  • How to Stop Spinning…
  • How to Fight Aging? EAT your H20!
  • 5 MAJOR Mistakes that Keep Successful Women Fat
  • Are Parties Crashing Your Healthy Eating Efforts?!
  • Fantastic years don’t happen by chance

Archives

  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014

Categories

  • Education
  • General Health
  • Recipes
  • Uncategorized

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress