Skinny Spring Rolls

We made these spring rolls at my girlfriends house the other day. I really like the combination we came up with. These wraps are what made me loose 30 pounds after I was pregnant. They are not only low calories but they are healthy. Eating these will make you feel great. You are what you eat, right?!

We put white rice in them which I never recommend especially if your trying to change your lifestyle or loose some weight. My family eats plain white rice about once a month. Better alternatives are quinoa (my favorite) brown,red and black rice. When I really try to shed some weight, I cut all the grains out and eat fruit for my carbohydrates.

Ingredients:
Cilantro
Roasted Red Peppers
Avocado
Onions
Carrots
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Rice (optional)
Rice paper

Sauce:
Peanut butter
Housing Sauce
Broth, we used vegetarian.
Crushed peanuts

Add hoisin and peanut butter equal parts. Add broth to liquidify it. Top with crushed peanuts.

Get the rice paper wet. Layer veggies in then start rolling! It will take practice to get this down!


               Christine

Humans,Diet and Diseases

One of my childhood friends wrote about this the other day on Instagram. I wanted to share it because it is so true. Cutting down on meat and all animals products will make you feel amazing and so much more energized. I couldn't download his picture he shared so I found this chart online. It is pretty self explanatory. I haven't taken meat out of my diet completely but I have drastically taken it out of our diet tremendously. I am sure you have noticed with all my recipes, a lot being vegetarian. I know it is a hard lifestyle change but I promise you will feel sooooo much better.

This is what he wrote on his Instagram

Out of 32 teeth, humans have majority molar flat teeth. There are 4 fang like teeth which are used to open things like sugar cane which is a hard plant. If humans were meant to eat meat they would have a majority of sharp teeth like all flesh eaters have. Plants provide all of the amino acids and nutrients that are known to be essential for human or chimpanzee except for vitamin D(which they get from abundant sun) and vitamin B12(which comes from bacteria) Gorillas are the largest and most powerful leaving primate and yet are the closest to following what human beings would consider a vegan diet. Elephants are huge and they don't need meat as many think it is impossible to survive without meat protein. The truth is meat has been used by scavengers and nomad tribes for survival but has never been the primary diet of humans as many are thought to believe. All civilized priesthoods including the agent Egyptians and early Christian or Essenes were all vegetarian based. People think of meat as a source of protein but it's mainly a source of calories especially from fat. Chimpanzees are mainly fruit eater's but they also eat a lot of vegetables. The problem with fruit is that it's seasonal. The ability to use animals for food may have helped human being survive to the modern era especially in the Arctic but animal-based foods are a major cause of death and disability in the United States today. Chimpanzees probably eat less meat than just about any human population. Animal-based foods and fatty processed foods(along with pesticides and additives) Are the main contributing causes of the diseases of affluence. Beyond health reasons meat sits in the stomach for a year and is very heavy. This is just a little bit of info on why I chose to be a vegetarian over a year ago. I'm not telling anyone what to do just giving everyone some info on these subjects so you can be aware and have knowledge for yourself to make the best decision for yourself.


                             Christine

Veggie Patties

Some really good veggie patties I made.I make them and freeze them so I can have them whenever I want. They are much better then the pre bought and a lot less expensive. They are so easy especially when you have a rice cooker which I recommend getting. I cook all my grains in my rice cooker, quinoa , rice, etc and I always just press the white rice button. Everything has always come out really good.

For my patties I used a mixture of sweet brown rice, red beans, black beans, corn, mung beans, millet, green peas and black sweet rice. If you want you can use quinoa and black beans to make it easy. If you have anything eles on hand, throw it in there.

Ingredients:
2 cups mixed grains/beans. 

1/3 fresh herbs ( I used basil and parsley)

3 minced garlic cloves

Salt and pepper

1 cup of  shredded cheese ( I didn't use any but this will help it stick together)
1/2 chopped bell pepper
1/2 small red onion

Directions:
Cook grains/beans in rice cooker. I let them sit an hour first then cook them. 1:2 parts water. When they are finished add all ingredients and mix well. Add salt and pepper. Form patties. I made about 8 depending on the size you want.

I used a sandwhich thin for my sandwhich. For garnish I used avocado, romaine lettuce, red bell pepper, onions and a roasted red pepper hummus on the bread. It was very good! 

Laugh and Love

Christine

Linking up with 5 minutes for mom and The Healthy Moms

My Favorite Weight Loss Foods

I wanted to share my absolute favorite foods I ate for weight loss. There are many different ways to loose weight and everyone needs to find what works for them but these are what really made me loose weight.
I posted below spring rolls and hand rolls. Now I know these are typical oriental foods and people always tend to match them with oriental spices but I don't. I mixed them with anything and everything possible. There are two ingredients I always use, a type of protein and a type of vegetable. I stayed away from foods high in carbohydrates like rice, bread and noodles. The rice paper and seaweed are great substitutes for those. If I made tacos for my family I would replace my tacos with rice paper. I have also made mediterranean spring rolls with a greek yogurt sauce that were great also. What ever protein I cooked for my family whether it is steak, chicken, shrimp, beans, etc the list can go on and on I mixed with whatever veggies I have. These are really healthy and nutritious for you and are low calorie. They taste amazing also!

Another reason why I also recommend cutting out foods high in carbohydrates is because I don't feel tired everyday. I use to feel so sluggish and exhausted all the time I could barely get house work done. I feel full of energy now and I love it. I also don't feel bloated and full which is really nice.

Quick tip for seaweed rolls. Make sure whatever you put on the seaweed first is warm. I heat up my hummas then spread on the seaweed. The heat softens the seaweed so it won't break.

Roasted Seaweed handroll with hummas, clover sprouts, cilantro, red onions, cucumbers and mint. 

Spring roll with hummas, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, carrots, green bell peppers and red onion

Roasted Pine Nut Hummas

Laugh and Love

Christine

For more Spring Roll recipes you can use the search box to the left of my blog page. Type in the word spring roll. Thanks!! ;)