Cyd Notter

Author and Nutrition Educator, Founder of The "Plan A" Diet™

Olga – Improved Cognitive Function

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I met Cyd at a new church I attended in 2013 and we connected right off the bat. She invited me to spend a week or two with her in Florida just after a few weeks of meeting her. Since I’m retired, I jumped at the chance to leave Chicago weather to swim and sun in Florida.

Cyd was very open about how she chose to follow a whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet and asked if I had a problem with that. In my mind I’m saying, of course not, just invite me to Florida and I’ll eat whatever you’re making. So I jumped at the chance to spend time with my new friend and experience WFPB eating.

Read the rest of her story here.

Chocolate Ice Cream from Squash?

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Are you ready to try something completely different and EASY?

When the Engine 2 Team sent out a blog post showing Five Plant-Strong Squash Recipe ideas, I was eager to look into it because I love to bake squash in the fall. I was NOT expecting to see a recipe for Chocolate Ice Cream, however!

Just five simple ingredients. A bag of frozen squash, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (or cacao) powder, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and 1 tsp vanilla. Put all into a high-speed blender, using the tamper to mix the ingredients together until it reaches a sorbet consistency.

Don't do what I did, though. Using a Vitamix, it seemed like the texture wasn't getting very smooth and impatience got the best of me.  I added more almond milk when I shouldn't have, and it affected the consistency. It turned out a bit runny but still good. Lesson learned. Give the blender all the time it needs to process everything smooth, which is only a few minutes.

On a scale of 1-10, I'd give this recipe an 8 for flavor, and an 8 for texture (but my fault). My hubby liked it more than I did. Will I make it again? YES. Low-fat, nutritious chocolate ice cream in about 5 minutes? I'm in.

Butternut squash is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin C and Folate and a very good source of Vitamin A and Manganese.

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Which Veggie Burgers are considered C.R.A.P. (Calorie Rich and Processed)

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I read an interesting post today by Jeff Novick (Jeff is an expert dietitian affiliated in part with the McDougall program).

In the post, he describes an on-line debate that occurred over the "Beyond Meat" veggie burgers, and he gives reasons why the "Beyond Meat" burger is not a healthy choice. If we're going to purchase processed products once in a while, label reading is important! We usually don't have to go any further than the ingredient list.

Another interesting tip: Now that food manufacturers are no longer required to reveal the percentage of fat in a product, Jeff explains how we can tell the percentage of fat by doing just a bit of math. He mentions The Impossible Burger (I'm not familiar with that one) and shows how that product is 53% fat (with 41% of that being saturated fat).

Here's the link to Jeff's post.

Making your own plant-based burgers at home is easy and delicious! Here are just a few of the hundreds out there.

Fat Free Baked Mexican Black Bean Burgers (the Vegan 8)

Sweet Potato Curry Burgers (Jeff Novick)

McVeggie Burgers (Dr. McDougall)

White Bean, Wild Rice and Almond Burgers (Dr. Fuhrman)

Savory Lentil Mushroom Burgers (FatFree Vegan) 

I'd love to hear about your favorites too!

Leave a reply here. 

Addressing Biblical Objections to a Plant-Based Diet

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Diet is a Touchy Subject.

I discovered long ago that diet beliefs can be very divisive indeed. Together with the hot topics of politics and religion, our food choices can rank quite high as a personal issue to be handled with care.

I realize that most of you have preconceived beliefs about what constitutes a healthy diet, and I’ve heard some doozies in my day. But because The 'Plan A' Diet combines the two tenets of "diet and religion" into one conversation, many of you will write to me about passages that seem to promote or endorse meat eating.

Here I address some of the passages I hear most often, along with my response.

See how good and pleasant it is when brothers,
and sisters live together in harmony! (Psalm 133:1, GW)

Two Quick Fruit-Based Desserts

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If you have a few extra pears or apples in your fruit basket, these quick desserts will be right up your alley. I've made both of them this week!

 Raw Apple Crumble - a recipe by Cathy Fisher with the McDougall Program - is so delicious and has just the right combo of "tart and sweet." It's one of my hubby's favorites! There are no questionable ingredients and the only sweetener used is whole dates.  Do yourself a favor and give this one a try.  Then let me know how you like it!

 

Baked Pears were an easy experiment and very tasty indeed.  Simply cut two pears in half, scoop out the center seeds, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  I topped with a drizzle of honey (you could use maple syrup), walnuts, currants (or raisins) and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  The riper the bears, the better.  After these cooled, they were easy to just pick up and devour!  (Note: slice a little off the bottoms to make them sit upright if they're wobbly).  Do you have any other suggestions for the topping?

 

Good news, our monthly newsletter will be reinstated in 2018! The newsletter is a deeper form of communication with our friends who want to keep apprised of articles, classes and sneak peeks at my book in progress tentatively titled The 'Plan A' Diet: Enjoy the Starches You Were Designed to Eat. Giving you updates not only encourages me to make progress, but it's a great way for our group to engage in conversation as well. I truly welcome your feedback! Please sign up here, but take note there are two separate sign-ups, one for the blog and one for the newsletter (we would love to have you sign up for both!)

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Earthly fruit promotes health in our bodies, but Jesus told his followers
in John 15 about fruit with far greater benefits!

You did not choose Me. I chose you, and I orchestrated all of this so that you would be sent out and bear great and perpetual fruit. As you do this, anything you ask the Father in My name will be done.  (John 15:16, VOICE)

The Holy Spirit produces a different kind of fruit: unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. You won’t find any law opposed to fruit like this. (Gal. 5:22-23, VOICE)

Heavenly wisdom centers on purity, peace, gentleness, deference, mercy, and other good fruits untainted by hypocrisy.  (James 3:17, VOICE)

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