This is a very flexible recipe – the kind that uses up the veggies in your refrigerator. If you don’t have the exact vegetables that are listed here, don’t be afraid to substitute with the things you have.
Also – this is much cheaper than take-out noodle bowl! And it doesn’t take much more time than waiting for delivery, either.
Noodle Bowl Blue * serves 4
1 pound long, skinny noodles – whole-wheat spaghetti, vermicelli, soba, udon… your choice
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, plus some for drizzling
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup shredded carrots
10 shiitake (or any) mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
1 large zucchini (or yellow summer squash) or 2 small, cut into half moons and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 large bok choy (with lots of green), cored and chopped*
6 cups vegetable stock
1 cup fresh bean sprouts, optional
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1/2 Tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 Tablespoon chili powder
Cayenne pepper, a pinch
Tamari (dark soy sauce)
Cook the noodles in boiling salted water as directed on the package. Drain and toss with a little bit of vegetable oil.
While the water is coming up to a boil to cook the spaghetti, heat a large soup pot on medium-high heat and add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion, garlic and shredded carrots and cook until the onions start to get tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, zucchini and bok choy (or cabbage and spinach) and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add stock, bring to a boil then simmer for 5 minutes. Add the bean sprouts the last minute.
In a small bowl, combine the toasted sesame seeds, ground coriander, chili powder and cayenne pepper and reserve for garnishing the soup.
To serve, place some of the spaghetti in a soup bowl and season it with a couple of splashes of tamari. Ladle the veggies and soup over the noodles. Sprinkle the sesame mixture on top and serve.
*If you can’t get bok choy, try 1/2 a small head of cabbage, chopped, plus 2 cups baby spinach, chopped. Or even chopped broccoli (peel and chop the stalks, too).
5 weekdays – Monday, October 5 through Friday, October 9
Where did your “default” behaviors come from? Who shaped your life?
What do you want to change about your life? How can you “rewrite” a legacy script?
What legacy did you inherit from your parents? What legacy are you passing on to your children?
The Living Legacy class will ask the hard questions to get to the core reasons for your behaviors and habits. You’ll be challenged to become your best self in one or two areas of your life in just 5 days with Marilu. This class is perfect for emotional eaters!
One of the legacies that was handed down to me is that every lunch and dinner ends in dessert. My mom always served dessert – whether it was homemade pie or canned fruit, every meal ended with something sweet. To this day (and I have lived away from my mother for over 25 years), a meal doesn’t seem complete unless it ends with something sweet. I have found that I will keep eating all night (nearly everything in sight), until I get that sweet taste. All I need is a taste, though. So I give myself a taste of dessert – a small bite of something – and then I’m okay with being done. It’s not a legacy I really need to hold on to.
~ Sheri, Marilu.com staff
Participate in class each day at your convenience. Receive daily emails from Marilu with challenging questions. Post your responses on our private Members-only message board. Chat live with Marilu Henner each day in our private chat room (transcripts available if you can’t make it).
Here’s some video from The Celebrity Good Life, taken in San Francisco last month. Marilu will be testifying before Congress in support of the Child Nutrition Act later this month.
Read more about the Child Nutrition Act here and check out the Healthy Kids tag over on the right. >>>
Hey! Good timing. We’ve been doing some posts on the labels we see on food and what they mean for us. And then we got yesterday’s request to support Farm Sanctuary’s Truth in Labeling campaign by telling the USDA that factory farming practices should not be labeled “natural.” (Read it here)
Here’s another label you might see regarding animal care. We’ve also added a link to Farm Sanctuary’s report summary on labeling at the end of this post – be sure to read that for more detailed info.
The Certified Humane Raised and Handled label comes from Humane Farm Animal Care, a nonprofit organization that uses the American Meat Institute Standards for certification
You can expect:
Meat or animal products come from facilities that use responsible farm-animal practices, including providing animals with ample space and shelter, clean water, and hormone-free feed.
Animals aren’t given antibiotics.
Cages and crates are prohibited.
The organization’s scientific committee writes the standards and inspectors conduct annual on-site inspections, including interviews, record reviews, observation and evaluation of operating procedures, and handling and slaughter inspections.
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Livestock and Seed Program verifies inspections.
Where you’ll see the Certified Humane Raised and Handled label: meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products
Read Farm Sanctuary’s position on the Humane Raised and Handled Certification, along with other certifications and labels used for animal welfare standards and labels.
Buy some free weights – 2, 3 and 5 pounds, or 3, 5 and 8 pounds to start. Then start weight training.
Don’t know what exercises to do? Pick up a fitness magazine and look for a beginner routine.
Weight training prevents bone loss, improves balance, boosts metabolism and tones your body. Just 30 minutes a day of weight training cuts your risk of cardiovascular disease by over 20 percent.
If you think you don’t have 30 minutes a day, double up your time. Put in a load of laundry, then do your weight routine while you’re watching the news or a favorite TV show.
This is a song that brings us to our happy, dance-y place. And since it’s Friday, it’s time for some happy, dance-y moves.
Whether you dance in the aisles of the grocery store (yeah – we do that), in your kitchen as you prepare dinner, or with your friends on a night on the town… please. Please get up and dance.
Do a foxtrot, do a waltz, do the tango.
Do some hip hop. Do some breakdancing.
Do a square dance, do a folk dance, do a little Bollywood.
Do a dance – any dance at all.
Farm Sanctuary spoke up, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is listening. In 2007, Farm Sanctuary formally petitioned the federal regulatory body to consider the treatment and living conditions of farm animals when creating rules allowing producers to label their meat and poultry products as “natural.” It took two years, but the agency has now officially acknowledged the petition and is requesting public comments on this issue.
Tell the USDA That Factory Farming Isn’t “Natural” – From now until November 13, you can contact the agency and let it know that allowing producers to label food products from animals raised in intensive confinement as “natural” is misleading and deceptive.
Don’t let the USDA condone animal cruelty in this way. Speak up today! (Don’t wait until November – speak up now!)
The peel of the apple contains more antioxidants and fiber than the flesh.
The only apple native to North America is the crabapple.
The more apples a person eats, the lower his or her risk of developing lung cancer.
Johnny Appleseed was the nickname for John Chapman, a kind and generous American pioneer born in 1774 who planted apple seeds in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
Here are a couple of simple apple recipes to please everyone in the family.
BUSY DAY APPLE BARS Yellow * Makes 16 bars
1/2 cup Earth Balance (1/4 tub)
1 cup flour (unbleached, or whole wheat pastry flour, or a combination)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup Sucanat® or evaporated cane juice crystals
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup apples, peeled, cored, and finely diced
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour an 8X8 inch pan.
In small saucepan, melt margarine over low heat. Pour into mixing bowl and combine with other ingredients, mixing well. Pour batter into pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes, until done.
SHERI’S APPLE CRISP Yellow * 15 servings
Filling
3/4 cup Sucanat®
1 Tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 cups cored and sliced tart apples (Haralson, Braeburn, Granny Smith) – peeled or unpeeled, your choice; about 10-12 apples
Crumb Topping
3/4 cup Sucanat®
1 cup Earth Balance (1/2 tub), really cold
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup quick oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 400F. Mix Filling dry ingredients in a large bowl, add apple slices and mix well. Spoon into greased 12×8 baking pan. Mix Crumb Topping ingredients with pastry blender or 2 forks until it is the consistency of coarse meal. Cover the apples with the crumb topping. Bake 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm or cold with Soy Delicious or Soy Dream Vanilla ice “cream.”
For a gluten-free version, substitute brown rice flour for all whole wheat pastry flour. Substitute ground pecans and walnuts for the oatmeal.
Here’s another label you might see regarding animal care. We’ve also added a link to Farm Sanctuary’s report summary on labeling at the end of this post – be sure to read that for more detailed info.
