Crunchy or Smooth. The Eternal Question.
Like any good plant-based family, we have a dozen types of nut and seed butters in our pantry at all times. Tahini has a lock on the seed department and finds its way into almost every meal. But the nut category is wide open. Everyone has their own jam if you will. Our oldest and youngest daughters are all crunchy salted peanut butter, all the time.
Whereas our middle daughter drifts between semi-smooth impossibly expensive pistachio butter, silky smooth almond hazelnut butter, and crunchy unsalted almond butter ground fresh from the magical grocery store nut butter machine. Pick your poison.
You can make your own, and sometimes we do, but once you have found the one, it’s hard to stop buying it, storing it, or devouring it with a spoon before it ever hits your banana. For me, it’s G.L. Alfieri Lightly Salted Crunchy Almond Butter. At $16 a jar, it’s not one you’ll want to share with loved ones. This is the stuff that makes you want to keep it to yourself, even though you know it’s wrong. I have overdosed on delicious things before, never to eat them again because the mere thought of eating them makes me wish I never had. But with this almond butter, the only reason I stop eating it is because it’s gone.
Tahini on Top
I have exactly two power moves when it comes to making so-so food taste really damn good. (And no, nutritional yeast doesn’t count.)
The first I learned from Heidi Swanson, the second from a Canadian co-worker named Vanessa. Heidi taught me to top absolutely everything with toasted nuts or seeds and yogurt. (She also taught me that fresh herbs elevate everything, but with four young kids, fresh herbs are somehow out of reach. Goals.) Vanessa showed me the power of tahini on top.
We were in the office open kitchen one day when I noticed that she dumped something creamy and somewhat mysterious onto her salad as she headed outside to enjoy the sun. “What is that?” I asked. “Tahini,” she responded, as if everyone knew what this was. I soon learned that like the toasted nuts and yogurt trick, tahini is basically good on everything; toast, salad, rice, potatoes, tacos, eggs (the Just kind), and even (close your eyes!) sushi and pasta. Made from ground sesame seeds, tahini is high in calcium, but honestly, who cares?! It’s creamy and delicious and satisfying; a savory low maintenance save for all meals that never really had a plan. Yes you can whisk it with lemon and water or stir it into miso soups or dressings. And, you can simply pour-it-on-top of whatever you’re eating. My six year old doesn’t even bother to pour; she drinks it straight from the bottle, leaving a gross but funny ring around her face.
Like nut butters, not all tahinis are created equal. Soom is delicious and as one of three sisters and a mother of lots of daughters, I love that it’s a sister run company. But to me, Whole Foods’ 365 organic tahini is perfection. Easy to stir and the perfect consistency for pouring, it’s neither too thick nor too thin. I put it on everything.Yum.
Protein!
Protein!
Protein!
How did this obsession with PROTEIN come about? The mom of two boys almost in their 20s, I've had to listen to them talk about protein for the better part of 15 years now. They and their friends were convinced that is the only macro nutrient they should be eating in order to be jacked. Never mind that up until recently neither of them touched the weights.
Recently, the weights started being lifted and as it turns out my vegetarian son, packed on 45 pounds of muscle in 6 months. I think they call this getting yoked. This was done on a plant based diet. His protein needs come from beans, tofu, legumes and good ol veggies. He does supplement with some vegan protein powder, but generally eats super clean and plant based. I say generally because he, like a lot of kids his age isn’t perfect, but he really cares about his food and knows that to make the “gainz” he needed to increase calories, but not necessarily become obsessed with protein.
He’s been accused of using steroid by lots of people at the gym which he takes as a large complement. I asked him if he tells them, it’s the plants, baby, and he shrugged and said no one would believe him. The protein myth is so engrained, that they would all just think he is mowing through chicken breasts and steak on the DL to get as ripped as he has. I've noticed as bodybuilders put on weight they often look, dare I say, bloated. As my son has put these muscle on he has stayed healthy and cut.
It’s a shame that we have been hit over the head so hard with this belief that we need a ton of protein to lose weight, gain muscle, stay fit and thrive. I think we owe the meat industry in large part for propagating this notion, but the food industry in general has piled on. Protein water, anyone? Ridiculous.
Crunchy or Smooth. The Eternal Question.
Like any good plant-based family, we have a dozen types of nut and seed butters in our pantry at all times. Tahini has a lock on the seed department and finds its way into almost every meal. But the nut category is wide open. Everyone has their own jam if you will. Our oldest and youngest daughters are all crunchy salted peanut butter, all the time. Whereas our middle daughter drifts between semi-smooth impossibly expensive pistachio butter, silky smooth almond hazelnut butter, and crunchy unsalted almond butter ground fresh from the magical grocery store nut butter machine. Pick your poison.
You can make your own, and sometimes we do, but once you have found the one, it’s hard to stop buying it, storing it, or devouring it with a spoon before it ever hits your banana. For me, it’s G.L. Alfieri Lightly Salted Crunchy Almond Butter. At $16 a jar, it’s not one you’ll want to share with loved ones. This is the stuff that makes you want to keep it to yourself, even though you know it’s wrong. I have overdosed on delicious things before, never to eat them again because the mere thought of eating them makes me wish I never had. But with this almond butter, the only reason I stop eating it is because it’s gone.
Tahini on Top
I have exactly two power moves when it comes to making so-so food taste really damn good. (And no, nutritional yeast doesn’t count.)
The first I learned from Heidi Swanson, the second from a Canadian co-worker named Vanessa. Heidi taught me to top absolutely everything with toasted nuts or seeds and yogurt. (She also taught me that fresh herbs elevate everything, but with four young kids, fresh herbs are somehow out of reach. Goals.) Vanessa showed me the power of tahini on top.
We were in the office open kitchen one day when I noticed that she dumped something creamy and somewhat mysterious onto her salad as she headed outside to enjoy the sun. “What is that?” I asked. “Tahini,” she responded, as if everyone knew what this was. I soon learned that like the toasted nuts and yogurt trick, tahini is basically good on everything; toast, salad, rice, potatoes, tacos, eggs (the Just kind), and even (close your eyes!) sushi and pasta. Made from ground sesame seeds, tahini is high in calcium, but honestly, who cares?! It’s creamy and delicious and satisfying; a savory low maintenance save for all meals that never really had a plan. Yes you can whisk it with lemon and water or stir it into miso soups or dressings. And, you can simply pour-it-on-top of whatever you’re eating. My six year old doesn’t even bother to pour; she drinks it straight from the bottle, leaving a gross but funny ring around her face.
Like nut butters, not all tahinis are created equal. Soom is delicious and as one of three sisters and a mother of lots of daughters, I love that it’s a sister run company. But to me, Whole Foods’ 365 organic tahini is perfection. Easy to stir and the perfect consistency for pouring, it’s neither too thick nor too thin. I put it on everything.Yum.
Protein!
Protein!
Protein!
How did this obsession with PROTEIN come about? The mom of two boys almost in their 20s, I've had to listen to them talk about protein for the better part of 15 years now. They and their friends were convinced that is the only macro nutrient they should be eating in order to be jacked. Never mind that up until recently neither of them touched the weights.
Recently, the weights started being lifted and as it turns out my vegetarian son, packed on 45 pounds of muscle in 6 months. I think they call this getting yoked. This was done on a plant based diet. His protein needs come from beans, tofu, legumes and good ol veggies. He does supplement with some vegan protein powder, but generally eats super clean and plant based. I say generally because he, like a lot of kids his age isn’t perfect, but he really cares about his food and knows that to make the “gainz” he needed to increase calories, but not necessarily become obsessed with protein.
He’s been accused of using steroid by lots of people at the gym which he takes as a large complement. I asked him if he tells them, it’s the plants, baby, and he shrugged and said no one would believe him. The protein myth is so engrained, that they would all just think he is mowing through chicken breasts and steak on the DL to get as ripped as he has. I've noticed as bodybuilders put on weight they often look, dare I say, bloated. As my son has put these muscle on he has stayed healthy and cut.
It’s a shame that we have been hit over the head so hard with this belief that we need a ton of protein to lose weight,gain muscle, stay fit and thrive. I think we owe the meat industry in large part for propagating this notion, but the food industry in general has piled on. Protein water, anyone? Ridiculous.
