Menu for March 24, 2013 through March 30, 2013

This past week Mark and I watched a movie called Fat Head on Amazon Prime.  It's a comedy-documentary response to Super Size Me that we found interesting to watch.   His claim is that McDonalds (and other fast food places) are not to blame for the "obesity epidemic", and that in fact it is possible to lose weight while eating all your meals at McDonalds.  Speaking of the obesity epidemic, he also questions whether it even exists to the extent that everyone thinks it does.  He made some good points and brought up some good issues (though we also enjoyed finding holes/contradictions in his argument).  It made me realize that I grew up with the food pyramid pretty ingrained in my thinking, and I think that is why it has been hard for me in the last few years to be okay with eating a fair amount of good fats.  So, if you like those sorts of movies, check it out!

Along with that movie, I've read a couple of books recently that have talked about how eating an anti-inflammatory diet is important for good health (including lowering your risk for heart disease).  So of course I spent awhile looking up the top anti-inflammatory foods and the top inflammatory foods (there are a million lists out there, here is one). The good news is that kale, sweet potatoes, garlic, and blueberries, are all at the top of the anti-inflammatory lists.  The bad news is that sugar and refined grains are inflammatory, but I guess I already knew they weren't good for me! There is this calculator over at Self that gives most foods an inflammatory rating.  I plugged in a ton of different foods and laughed at the fact that the default serving is one cup (which for something like garlic is ridiculous).  I'm sure the way the rating is calculated is not at ALL perfect, but it was still interesting.

If you use Google Reader I'm sure you've been mourning it's imminent death like Mark and I have been.  I actually figured this was coming for awhile (my Google-employed brother told me how Google wasn't putting any work into it), but it is still sad to see the end coming.  I'm trying Feedly as a replacement.

On the menu for you this week is three new recipes to try-- all vegetarian again!  Spaghetti with Avocado Sauce for a big dose of green.  Quinoa Burgers, one of our absolute favorite meals!  And Open-Faced Pineapple BBQ Tempeh Sandwiches--- try making your own BBQ sauce!  Finally, an old tofu favorite of Mark's- Sweet Chili Glazed Tofu.   There is surprisingly no kale on the menu (although you could choose to have it as a side), but after being reminded of how much of a super food kale is, I'm sure that won't be common in the future!

Any recipe requests?

Dinners for the Week

Sunday:  Spaghetti with Avocado Sauce  (make only half the sauce but all of the spaghetti)

•  Make the full recipe and eat half tonight, have the leftovers on Wednesday

Monday: Quinoa Burgers over salad with cooked eggs on top.

• Make the full recipe and eat half tonight, have leftovers on Thursday

Tuesday: Sweet Chili Glazed Tofu over cooked bulgar (or grain of choice) with vegetables of choice on the side.

• Make the full recipe and eat half tonight, have leftovers on Friday

Wednesday: Leftover Spaghetti with Avocado Sauce (make the other half of the sauce while reheating)

Thursday: Leftover Quinoa Burgers

Friday:  Leftover Sweet Chili Glazed Tofu

Saturday: Open-Faced Pineapple BBQ Tempeh Sandwiches, on bread with salad and baked sweet potato fries on the side (or other sides!)


Have a great week!