The REALLY Important Foods: GBOMBS

You might be asking yourself, "Am I eating enough of all the right foods?"  I will share what several  experts suggest that we include in our daily food consumption.  The easiest to remember is GBOMBS.  Dr. Joel Fuhrman, author of Eat To Live,  suggests we eat our GBOMBS everyday.  G-Greens, B-Beans, O-Onions, M- Mushrooms, B-Berries, S-Seeds/Nuts.  This is an easy acronym to remember.

And Dr. Michael Greger has his Daily Dozen:

Water/Coffee/Green Tea/Hibiscus Tea- 5 servings (12 oz each)

Whole grains, fruits, beans- 3 servings each

Greens, other veggies- 2 servings each

Berries, cruciferous veggies, flax seed, nuts, spices, exercise- 1 serving each

A few extra tips: When you have a meal, soup, salad, wrap or sandwich, think to yourself, "How can I make this meal healthier?"  I add flax meal to just about anything, and if I have a savory dish, I always add turmeric as well.  If I am having a salad, I'll add beans, nuts and seeds to get those added nutrients and protein.  If I am making a soup, I'll add whole or pureed beans/lentils or pureed cashews.  And when serving any soup, I'll chop up a handful of fresh greens, and ladle the hot soup right on top of it!  I also put onions and garlic in most every savory dish I make.  I'll add some of my homemade sweet spice blend (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, allspice) to my coffee, oatmeal, bread or cookie recipe.  Always be looking for ways to add the power cancer fighting foods to your meals.

Substitution Tips

I agree that it can be kind of intimidating switching from the Standard American Diet (SAD) over to a Whole Foods Plant Based (WFPB) way of eating.  But after eating, cooking, and living like this now for several years, I can tell you that it does become easier!  You will learn how to take any of your old favorite recipes, and adapt them to become compliant.  So today is devoted to suggestions for substitutions!  There are so many alternatives to choose from, and it depends on what you are cooking.  Say it is a sweet baked item and you need 1 egg; choose the flax meal egg, not the tomato paste.  Say you need a cream for a savory dish, use pureed potato, cashews or beans, not coconut milk.  So here are just a few.  Enjoy experimenting!

1 egg-      1 T flax Meal + 3 T water   or     1 T chia seed + 3 T water, 1/4 c silken tofu blended, 1/2 mashed banana, 1/4 c cooked oats, 1/4 c applesauce or pureed fruit, 3 T breadcrumbs, 2 T arrowroot, 3 T tomato paste, 1/4 c mashed potato, 1/2 c soy or rice yogurt

1/3 c oil-  1 banana, 1/3 c applesauce, 1 c flax meal, 1 avocado, 1/3 c plant milk

white flour- any whole grain flour (spelt, soft wheat, oat, barley...), bean/lentil flour

dairy milk- any nut or seed milk (almond, soy, flax, hemp, cashew..)

white sugar- date sugar, erythritol, coconut sugar, banana, molasses, pure maple syrup

creams- nut milks, coconut milk, pureed garbanzo beans, pureed tofu, pureed cashews, soy creamer, mashed potatoes

parmesan cheese-mixture of nutritional yeast, garlic powder, chopped nuts, chopped sunflower seeds (lots of recipes online)

queso-pureed soaked cashews blended with cooked onions, carrots, potatoes, nutritional yeast, spices (lots of recipes out there)

ricotta cheese- firm tofu, drained, pressed and then gently crumbled

How To Make A Power Smoothie

In a good blender, put at least the following:

• 1 banana
• 1/3 blender full of dark greens (kale, spinach, collard, swiss chard, beet greens...)
• 1/3 blender full of berries (alternate often: blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
• 1 peeled lemon/lime/orange
• 1 T flax meal
• 1 chunk fresh ginger root, 1 " in length
• 1 chunk fresh turmeric root, 1" in length
• 1 frozen small beet chunk for red color and sweetness
• Fill blender with green tea or hibiscus tea up to 2 inches from top.  No more, or you'll have a blender blowout, trust us!
• Puree for at least 2 minutes or more to get a nice smooth texture

Split the blenderful with a loved one, and consume over 32 ounces of power nutrients.  Serve with a shake straw that has bigger diameter than regular straw(Bed, Bath & Beyond, Walmart occasionally)

         *For added protein, add handful of nuts or plain cooked beans.

You can really add almost any fruit or veggie to your smoothie, but we like to get the power foods in the morning before we start our day.  Obviously, avoid bitter and spicy veggies like eggplant, grapefruit, citrus peel, etc. 

On days where we do not have our Power Smoothie for breakfast, we can tell a big difference in the way we feel.   Also, be prepared to have a bathroom close by within 30 minutes of finishing your smoothie, and this is NO JOKE! The fiber will do wonders to keep your digestive system on the move, and you need to be prepared!

You can also find 2 smoothie demo videos on my youtube channel. See below!

for more helpful kitchen/cooking how-to videos, visit the "How-To Video" page on this site!

Getting Started on a Whole Foods Plant Based Way of Eating

Where do you start?  The key is to have your fridge filled with prepped foods ready to assemble into a meal.  Once every 5-10 days, I spend a morning prepping veggies.  I cut up any of the following: onions, cabbage, red/yellow/green bells, jalapenos, carrot shreds, beet shreds, cilantro, etc, and place them in mason jars (quart or pint), labeled with date on jar(masking tape/sharpee).  Having the date on the jar helps me to know what to use first, so that I don't end up throwing away anything.  Then I will steam or cook broccoli, mushrooms and potatoes (red or sweet) to have for the week.  Next I will cook one pot of beans to use for the week.  Canned is fine, but I like to save money and cook my own when I have the time. So my fridge has veggies, beans, and a whole grain ready for use.  Now all I am missing are the greens.  Keep a large supply of mixed greens on hand. 

Ready to make a Buda bowl?  In a large bowl put a handful of greens, add whatever fresh and cooked veggies you want, and don't be stingy.  You'll eat more than you think you could, and that is ok!  It takes more to fill up your stomach when you are not eating oils, animal products and processed foods!  Top with salsa, and heat up in toaster oven or microwave.  Top with avocado, pumpkin seeds, squeeze of lime/lemon.  Stir and enjoy!