Do you get the 3:00 Slump? Solution: Shannon's Grain Bliss

Many of my clients complain about fatigue they experience every work day around 2:00 PM or 3:00 PM. That's generally when they reach for their second or third cup of coffee or caffeine of choice. By reconfiguring their lunches, I have probably helped well over 100 people to overcome this incredibly unpleasant slump! If you experience this slump, look at your lunches. Are you getting enough complex carbs (such as brown rice, millet, quinoa, wheat berries)? What about lean proteins? You need BOTH for energy!! An easy answer could be a turkey sandwich on sprouted bread (rich in protein and fiber). A tastier option is Shannon's Grain Bliss. I make this occasionally on Sundays and blend it in with green salads throughout the week. It's tasty on it's own too. It's yummy served warm or cold!

SHANNON's GRAIN BLISS!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup dry red lentils soaked overnight
1 cup wheat berries soaked overnight
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 can "no salt added" organic chickpeas
1/3 cup Israeli couscous

Dressing:
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
2 Tablespoons Tamari
3 Tablespoons agave nectar
1 Tablespoon hot sauce

Boil the wheat berries for 2-3 hours until tender in huge pot of water. Drain.
Cook lentils in boiling water for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain. Bring just over 1/2 cup of water to boil. Add couscous. simmer for 5-8 minutes until couscous is cooked and all water is soaked up.

Mix all ingredients. Combine all dressing ingredients. Stir well. Pour over grains and mix well!

Buffalo for Dinner: My Buffalo-Turkey Meatloaf

Many of my friends are still in shock that I consume meat at all so announcing that I had buffalo freaked many out to an extent. My recipe creations are based on the combination of taste and health. The food has to qualify as delicious and has to be healthful. I get it right most of the time. Of course, I won’t be publishing a blog about the rice pilaf that I burned or even the grilled healthy turkey Ruben sandwiches I made whereby the bread stuck to the pan and the sandwich was no longer consumable as a sandwich (fork and knife were required)!

Anyway, back to buffalo! It’s so good for you! It’s a great alternative to beef. It’s leaner than beef. It contains very high levels of the fat-blocker and anti-carcinogen, conjugated linolaic acid (CLA). CLA can help prevent cancer, obesity, diabetes, and a number of immune disorders. Buffalo is also high in iron and vitamin B12.

I decided to make a meatloaf using ground turkey and ground buffalo. It was delicious! This recipe is easy and uses a lot of ingredients that I tend to have on-hand in the pantry.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces ground buffalo
• 8 ounces ground turkey
• 1 egg whipped well
• 1 1/4 cup Trader Joe's bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 3/4 cup Newman's Own medium salsa (separated into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup)
• 5 mushrooms chopped in small pieces
• 1 small onion chopped and sauteed in olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic minced

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well, reserving ¼ cup of salsa. Form into 9X4 bread pan. Bake for 45 minutes at 375. Pull out spread ¼ cup salsa on the top and bake for 20 more minutes! Voila1 I served this with roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts.

Bloomberg to Require Restaurants to Reduce Salt!

New York City has been a model to follow when it comes to health initiatives. First it was no smoking in restaurants, and then no trans fats, and now watching the salt shaker. Mayor Bloomberg announced this week that he will take on the salt enemy with restaurants. This brings me much relief. Salt is a major risk factor when it comes to heart disease and for me, I find that often, "too much salt" is my only complaint at fine NYC restaurants. This move could lead to better health in a city where many people eat nearly all of their meals out.

Fight Depression with a Mediterranean Diet

So often people ask me what type of diet I follow. My eating style certainly doesn't fit "neatly" into any category, but if I had to classify it, I would have to say that it is a combination of clean and Mediterranean. I consume an abundance of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fish, and olives are my friends!

It makes perfect sense that the Mediterranean Diet helps fight depression. It is an extremely balanced and healthy way to eat. Naturally, if your diet is balanced and healthy, you feel more balanced mentally. Trust me, I know. Run into me after a few days of not eating optimally; I am not the most pleasant person (you can ask my husband!!). Also, monounsaturated fats are high in the Mediterranean Diet and these fats are shown to be excellent for brain health. STAY TUNED FOR "MY FAVORITE FATS" series. In 2010, I will be contributing at least one blog a month on my favorite fats. Why? Because many of you are afraid of fats; I once was too. Not anymore; I couldn't imagine my life without them. You'll learn why next year!

Meanwhile, check out this summary about the study that explored the connection between the Mediterranean Diet and Depression:

Mediterranean Diet Helps Prevent Depression
The benefits of eating the Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular disease risk are well known. Now it appears that adhering to this dietary pattern also may prevent incidence of depression. Researchers at University Las Palmas in Spain followed 10,094 individuals for four years who, at study entry, were not depressed. Those people who adhered the most to the Mediterranean diet through the study period had a 30-percent lower incidence of depression than individuals who did not. The Mediterranean diet consists of low meat intake, moderate intake of alcohol and dairy products, and high intake of fruits, nuts, vegetables, cereals, and fish. The researchers found dose-response relationships for fruits and nuts, the monounsaturated-to-saturated fats ratio, and legume intake.Archives of General Psychiatry 2009;66:1090-1098.

Powerful Parsley!

Are you looking for a quick antioxidant kick and aren't the biggest veggie lover on the planet? Great news!! Consuming parsley is just as good for you as those leafy greens you often hear me preach about (kale, boy choy, collards, and arguula). Parsley is high in Vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin A, and folate. Perhaps more important is the fact that parsley contains volatile oils and flavonoids, which protect our cells against oxidative damage. We could all use this protection. All of us are exposed to toxins on a daily basis (thanks to industrialization and processed foods) and these toxins damage our cells. We also create stress on our cells by doing healthy things, like exercising!

Try parsley in your diet today! It's great with fish and poultry. Awesome in soups! I have even used it as a "main green" in my salads!

A Homemade Thai Meal for a Hectic Life

People sometimes have this misconception that I cook intricate, time-consuming, healthy meals every single night. Unfortunately, I do not; like many of you, my lifestyle is not conducive to that. I have a 9-5 job in addition to my holistic health counseling practice, my daily exercise regimen, and important relationships that I nouirsh. There are only so many hours in the day!

I'm very conscientious about not consuming a lot of packaged foods, but there are some options that are free of crazy additives. For this recipe, I use Trader Joe's light coconut milk and Thai Kitchen's red curry paste. Isn't that great that even the simplest meals can be healthy?! I like whipping up this Thai dish. So simple.

Shannon's Simplest Thai
(Serves two)

• Get your rice cooker going with 1 cup brown rice and 2 cups of water!
  
• Chop 2 heads of broccoli into small florets.
• Steam the broccoli for 8 minutes
• Meanwhile, rinse 18 pre-peeled and deveined shrimp
• Chop 3 cloves of garlic into tiny pieces
• Sautee garlic in 1 Tablespoon of sesame oil for 1 minute.
  
• Add shrimp and cook until it turns pink.
• Toss in broccoli.
• Mix 1 Tablespoon of Thai red curry paste with 1/2 cup of lite coconut milk and pour over shrimp and broccoli.
• Serve on top of rice. Voila!

WHY NOT TO CONSUME SOY

Many of you already know that I am not a huge fan of soy. In fact, it really irks me when companies promote and tout soy as an ever-so-amazing health food. It's not; not the way we have come to use it here. Most soy products on the market today are genetically engineered--government subsidies have enticed farmers to convert many of their crops from “real food” to soy. What does this mean for food manufacturers? Because soy is a subsidized crop, it is CHEAP, so all packaged food companies jump on it and USE it! It is hard to find a packaged food product that does not contain soy.

Soy has harmed me personally. I was a vegetarian for 12 years. As I launched my career in holistic health back in 2002, I was simultaneously suffering from severe abdominal cramps that would at times paralyze me. After eliminating foods, I found that when I didn't eat soy, I didn't get those abdominal cramps! I had a soy intolerance! It was then that I became skeptical of soy. I learned that it wasn't healthy after all; that it raises estrogen levels and that because it's genetically engineered (when it's not organic), it can create a whole host of problems.

Interestingly, when I consumed soy, I had a horrible problem with ovarian cysts...and guess what? High levels of estrogen cause cysts! These days, I have eliminated all foods that have high estrogen levels (no more morning cups of Joe).

Today, seven years after my departure with soy, research continues to reveal the dangers in excess soy consumption. The latest: consuming large amounts could have harmful effects on female fertility and reproductive development.

I advise you to keep your soy consumption in check. If you are going to have it, choose the fermented types such as miso or tempeh and make sure it's organic! If you want to read more about the latest soy research, check out this article from Environmental Health News.