Tag Archives: diet

Raw Sweet Potato, Carrot & Spinach Soup

I’ve been having a heck of a time getting warm today even though it’s supposed to be a record breaking warm day. I decided to have soup for lunch and boy was it GOOD! 🙂

raw_sweet_potato_carrot_spinach_soup

I bought some sweet potatoes the other day and wanted to use them but, like a lot of days, I sometimes feel sweeted out from all of the fruit I eat and most of the recipes season with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. I wanted something spicy!

I chopped up a large carrot and blended it with a cup of water. I then cut up two sweet potatoes and chunked them and tossed them in. The mixture was pretty thick so I added another cup of water. Then I found some little orange peppers that I forgot I had and tossed in a couple of those and some onion. I then added some of the home made taco seasoning that is always in the cupboard and cilantro. Oh how I love cilantro! 

I blended it all in the Vitamix until it was warm. Then I poured about 2/3 of the soup into my bowl and added a big handful of spinach to the remaining soup in the blender and blended it. I tried to swirl the two colors of soup but I think I had too much green to make it pretty but, oh well, it was delicious and that’s better than pretty, right? 

Raw Sweet Potato, Carrot & Spinach Soup
Serves 1
Delicious, spicy raw soup!
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Prep Time
10 min
Total Time
10 min
Prep Time
10 min
Total Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 large carrot
  2. 2 cups water
  3. 2 sweet potatoes
  4. 2 mini orange peppers
  5. 1 cup spinach
  6. chopped onion to taste
  7. 2 tsp home made taco seasoning*
  8. cilantro to taste
Instructions
  1. Place 2 cups of water in Vitamix and add carrot. Blend.
  2. Add chopped sweet potato and peppers. Blend until smooth.
  3. Add onion, taco seasoning and cilantro. Blend until warm.
  4. Pour 2/3 of soup into bowl. Add spinach to the remaining soup and blend until smooth. Pour in the middle of first soup and swirl. Garnish with more cilantro and cracked black pepper. Yum!
Adapted from Raw Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup with Spinach
Lauri Rottmayer http://www.rottitude.com/
 *I use the taco seasoning recipe found here.

 

Book Review: Healthy Joints for Life

Healthy Joints for Life: An Orthopedic Surgeon's Proven Plan to Reduce Pain and Inflammation, Avoid Surgery and Get Moving AgainHealthy Joints for Life: An Orthopedic Surgeon’s Proven Plan to Reduce Pain and Inflammation, Avoid Surgery and Get Moving Again by Richard Diana
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a terrific book that confirms what I’ve learned on my own about how eating can impact your joints. I love the fact that it addresses the problem with a solid plan of attack instead of just putting a bandaid over joint inflammation with a pill.

The book is chock full of scientific information which is easy to understand and vital to complete understanding. The stories of actual patients trials, errors and successes are helpful and encouraging. As a sports fan, I also loved the sports stories.

Included is an eight week program that helps you to incorporate the program laid out in the book, step by step.

If you suffer from joint pain and want to live healthy, I highly recommend this book!

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Book Review: The New Atkins Made Easy

The New Atkins Made Easy: A Faster, Simpler Way to Shed Weight and Feel Great -- Starting Today!The New Atkins Made Easy: A Faster, Simpler Way to Shed Weight and Feel Great — Starting Today! by Colette Heimowitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have known about the Atkins diet since Dr. Atkins’s first book that was published back in 1972. What I know is that a low carb food plan works for me.

In the intervening years, it would seem, from reading this book, that people were confused about the Atkins diet and so this book was written to give more detailed instructions on how to eat this way for life.

It’s not all bacon and butter! The first phase, now called Kick Start and formerly called Induction, is relatively restrictive. It includes proteins, foundation veggies (greens!), fats and cheese. I know over the years, I’ve know people who have thought this was the extent of the diet.

But there are several more phases where more food variety and more carbs are added to the maintenance level which shows you how to maintain your weight loss for the rest of your life.

The foundational Atkins principles are in this book. But added to them are really great explanations about how to increase the carbs and live healthy.

Included in this book are meal plans, shopping lists, FAQs, and for those who are really in a hurry, a description of how to use the Atkins food products in this plan.

I liked the fact that the program is spelled out clearly and that there are many options for the reader. You can choose how fast you wish to lose weight and which foods you want to include. Although exercise is encouraged, it’s not mandatory.

I also downloaded the Atkins iPhone app which is a handy little tool. I haven’t used it a lot but it’s pretty complete and you can even scan a product’s UPC code and get the nutritional information about it. I also looked at Atkins.com where you can find communities and forums for help and support.

I think this is a really great guide towards healthy eating and living. It’s easy to read and understand and let’s you get started straight away. 🙂

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