Eggplant and Tomato Soup (more comfort food for fall....)

The theme with all of my recipe posts seems to be that I am trying to use up the veggies that come pouring in from my CSA. In this case it was eggplant --and one can only eat so much eggplant. I mean I love it fried and smothered in cheese and sauce but since my body no longer agrees with that dinner (my digestive system is all that was your gall bladders job girlfriend, if you try to make us do that we will make you pay!) I need to find another way to use eggplant. Much to my chagrin, I don't really like it minus the fried cheesy saucy goodness.

What I have found that I love about making soup is that it is hard to screw up and you can pretty much just dump stuff in a pot (aka cleaning out my fridge). It also freezes well, so I am not stuck with all the freezer burned veggies in January that  I lovingly tried to freeze correctly during the summer. Plus it is something I can throw in the crock pot, let reheat all day and come home to dinner. A dinner my toddler likes because it allows her to dunk things. Boom. It makes me feel awesome all around.

I originally saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen. (Which is a pretty awesome blog for really cool and
different recipes, although reader be warned most of them, while super delicious are not health recipes. Seriously the pictures alone will make your mouth water. So pin the super awesome dessert or grilled cheese ones for one of your cheat meals for sure!)  You can link to the original recipe here -- but this is what I did (my version involves much less measuring and more dumping and of course no dairy. Since I have found that processing diary was also part of my gall bladder's job description.)

Ingredients --

2 medium sized eggplants

tomatoes (in this case I used 2 large tomatoes and a handful of grape tomatoes I had on hand)

1 sweet onion

Garlic (in this case I used 2 heads of garlic but I love garlic so you can adujust this based on your personal relationship with garlic)

Olive oil

Balsamic Vinegar

32 ounces of vegetable broth

Turmeric

Salt to taste


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Chop eggplants onion and tomatoes in half  and place them on a large cookie sheet or two. (Or if using grape tomatoes just toss them on the cookie sheet.) Also add the garlic.

Drizzle veggies with olive oil (I used a Misto to spray my veggies with olive oil) and I splashed them with balsamic vinegar.

Place in the oven and let roast 40 minutes to an hour (they should be slightly browned and tender.) I did add my garlic 20-30 minutes in so it wouldn't burn. With that said, I have also forgotten to roast the garlic and just add it to the pot later. Either way it turns out fine.

Allow the roasted veggies to cool enough to touch. Skin the eggplant -- the skin should peel right off.

Toss everything in a large soup pot.

Add the veggie broth and any spices you want to use. (I think the beauty of this soup is that you can add whatever spices you love. I have been obsessed with turmeric lately so I just dumped some in.)

Bring the soup to a boil. Turn down and let simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

Allow it to cool slightly and puree. (You can do this in batches in a food processor or use an immersion blender. Side note -- I love my immersion blender and use it daily.) This is where I usually taste test and add salt or any other spices I feel it needs.

Super easy and really yummy. It is one of those soups that is perfect for a fall or winter night with some really good bread. (I mean what is soup without good bread?)

I had a big bowl and packed the rest away in the freezer for later.

I have actually made this recipe twice and have varied the amount of tomatoes each time (based on what I had to use up. The only difference being it just tasted more like a yummy tomato soup the more tomatoes I put in -- makes sense. But you still get the benefits of the eggplant. (For more info on why eggplants rock check this out.)

The Difference a Year Can Make (and yes this means I am putting my fat pic out there for the world to see)

This is one of those things I have been dreading since I started down the path to wellness. As part of my ownership of where I was and how far I have come, I feel that making my journey public has held me accountable to where I am going and not giving up. So I guess that means I have to share the terrible awful picture that made me get off my ass and do something (although I would rather burn it and delete off of hard drives than actually put it on the internet for the masses to see.) So here it goes....

I guess I could have blamed it on baby weight (and that was part of the problem) but I had always lived a super busy, crazy, never home, living out of my car kind of life. I worked non-stop, often at least two jobs or I was working and going to school full time. I didn't eat. And when I did it was take out, from the food court at the mall (I worked retail management for almost 7 years) or from the pretzel stand outside of our store. But I was always on my feet, so I didn't suffer from the ill effects of the way I was eating until later on. It wasn't until I was in a super stressful, crazy work situation that I started to gain weight. (Don't get me wrong, my weight has fluctuated my whole life, up and down like crazy, but in my 20's living a go-go-go-go life and consuming more calories in alcohol than actual food, I was hanging steady at a size 6/8 and wasn't thrilled but wasn't unhappy enough to change my lifestyle either.) I gained about 20 pounds and I couldn't get it to go away. I was working out like crazy with no results. So I quit. I figured why bust my ass when it isn't getting any smaller anyway.

A few years later I left my job to go back and get my masters (again another going to school full time with a full time internship--just my kind of crazy.) I got married and was still hanging onto the 20 pounds or so I gained a few years back and just couldn't get rid of. But at this point, I was too worried about going out and drinking microbrews and going to wine tastings than really focusing on what was going on. I also couldn't find a job with my new fancy masters degree, so I was nannying. Sitting on the floor (or couch) at someone else's house, playing with their kids and all that awesome kid junk food laying around (stuff my mom would never buy me growing up, ever.) And then I got pregnant. So add on the 38 pounds I gained with that and we arrive at that dreaded picture (I still don't want to acknowledge.)

That picture was taken on the Fourth of July 2012 which we spent in the Pacific Northwest. I had a dear friend of mine come out for the weekend so we were doing all sorts of fun touristy things (including taking lots of pictures). She sent me all the pictures she took of our time there a month or two later and I remember the gauntlet of feelings I had when I saw that picture. Disbelief, embarrassment, shame and then finally deciding I had to do something, anything. How had I gotten so out of control?

So I dusted off a copy of P90x that belonged to my hubby and stuck it out for about 3 weeks. I started
having pains in my abdomen that were terrible. I thought it was from the exercise and we had spent a weekend cleaning out my grandfather's house, so I was convinced I pulled something. The pain became spasms and then turned into full out attacks that were paralyzing and extremely painful. I went to the doctor and he immediately said it was my gall bladder. I was put on a no fat diet. I was pretty much eating oatmeal for every meal and the attacks just kept getting worse until at one point I had to call an ambulance. I was scheduled for surgery the next day. Through that whole mess I actually ended up losing about 12 pounds and went down a jean size. By the time all of this happened, it was November and cue the holidays. My weight loss (and smaller jean size) were short lived. By January, I was almost back to where I was in July.

Once the holidays were over, I knew I had to do something. I purchased a groupon for a morning bootcamp. 5 days a week at 5:30 in the morning. I thought maybe in doing something drastic, it would finally make a difference. I felt like no matter what I tried, or did, it didn't work. I spent a whole month busting my butt in this class. I was glad to see that I could hang (all that working out with Jillian Michaels paid off even if it wasn't consistent) but I didn't lose any weight. Not a pound. Not a half a pound.  Unfortunately, I hadn't learned about the other ways to measure progress (measurements, calipers, old jeans that didn't used to fit.) So I was angry, frustrated and quite frankly desperate.

Desperate enough that I logged on and ordered Insanity. I thought doing bootcamp workouts were going to be crazy and intense enough to finally work, so I my next logical thought was that if Insanity is supposed to be one of the hardest programs out there something HAS to happen. And it didn't.

I went for 3 weeks. I loved the intensity. I loved the fact that all I wanted to do was lay on the floor and not move when it was over. I loved that feeling of giving it all until I had nothing left to give. So if that was what I was doing, why was nothing happening?

So I emailed someone I used to work with who I knew was coaching. I signed up for a free account with her, joined a challenge group, added Shakeology and discovered clean eating. That in combination with the second half of Insanity resulted in a loss of 9 lbs, 9.5 inches overall including 2 inches off my waist. I was thrilled. (You can read more about my experience with Insanity here.) After Insanity I moved onto TurboFire and continued to see great results (a 5 pound weight loss in the first month!)


While I am no where near where I want to be, I thought it was important to reflect on how far I have come. I tend to just keep looking at where I want to go next, the next goal, the next program, the next size down and never look back. In doing this and consciously looking back, I have been able to see exactly what I have accomplished. Over the last few months, I have plateaued, switched programs due to an injury, adjusted to life back in Pittsburgh and the additional responsibilities I have here. But I have kept going, I keep pushing play, I keep cleaning up my eating and am finding new ways to motivate myself and others. I am running my own challenge groups now that allow people to pick goals, stick with them and stay motivated. They were a key piece in the puzzle for me and I am so glad to be able to possibly do this for someone else (and keep myself motivated at the same time).

If you are interested in joining me in a challenge group please send me a message or an email to scyobe@gmail.com I have new groups starting each month and I would love to continue on the journey with you! (To read about my October challenges click here.)

Happy Rocktober (and pumpkin flavored everything!)

October is here. Time for the nights to start getting colder (and for me to start freezing at Friday night football games) and for everything to officially become pumpkin flavored. Everything. (Sometimes I feel bad for other yummy fall members of the squash family. Like the butternut squash and the acorn squash which are both just as yummy -- if not yummier -- than the pumpkin.)

So other than October being the month where pumpkin should be running through our veins it also means that within the blink of an eye the holidays will be upon us. (And in a house where I am running around like a crazy person 99% of the time this is more like a half a blink.) 53 days until Thanksgiving. 79 days until Christmas. 86 days until New Years. Eeek! Time to start freaking out a little bit. (or a lot!) Christmas shopping, juggling family obligations, fighting about who is hosting what holiday and what they are going to make. (Because if I have to eat anyone's stuffing other than my mom's, there will be words. Hands down the best.) And of course there is the obligatory family photo for on the Christmas cards and the one relative who always had a camera attached to his face (and typically captures photos of me eating. Because honestly, when I am dead and gone that is what I want everyone to see. Me stuffing my face at every family get together.) So I spend much of my holiday dodging the sniper with a camera and buying at least a dozen outfits in an attempt to find one that makes me look the skinniest (because we all know those who get the Christmas cards are those we rarely see and the whole point is for them to know you are thinking of them and that you want them to see how great you look and how cute your kids are.)

So what if we could rock any outfit we choose (and skip the fashion show that happens right before the picture) and actually enjoy the fact that there is someone running around with a camera and embrace the "Me, me! Right here! I am ready for my close up" attitude?


Welcome to the Rocktober challenge!

Here is how it would work -- 

For 60 days I would put you in a closed Facebook group with others trying to achieve the same goal (including me! yay!) We will break our goals down into 30 day and 60 day goals. We will talk about clean eating, meal preparation, meal planning and everything you need to get set up for success. We will measure progress by not just using the scale but by measurements and photos (I know. Super scary but when you think you aren't making any progress it is amazing to see what you actually done in the photos. Believe me. I've been there! (To see the first part of my journey check this out.) We will do this on Day 1, Day 30 and Day 60.

We will post daily in the group and rate our day on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best and 1 being the worst. We will rate our diet and our exercise (basically how hard you brought it!) and whether or not we had our Shakeology.

We will commit to trying out Shakeology for 60 days. I know once I did it, I fell in love with the
energy I had and how great I felt from getting all the nutrients I need. (*Side note* my nails look awesome. Better than when I was on prenatal vitamins. It is my current obsession since I have struggled with weak and peeling nails forever! One of the perks I didn't know I was going to get.) So Shakeology is going to fuel your body (key word fuel) with the vitamins and nutrients you need throughout the day. And there is a 30 day guarantee on Shakeology so if it isn't working for you, we'll talk (and you get your money back.) --For more on my experience Shakeology read this. AND you can totally make pumpkin Shakeology. (It is awesome.)

We will eat clean. (For more info on what that means read this.) But basically just strive to eat real, whole food. No chemicals and no processed food. I will provide you with recipe ideas, meal planning and all the tools that have worked so far for me on this journey.

We will also commit to working out 5-6 days a week. I don't care if you run, walk or lift. Just get that body moving! If you already workout regularly think about stepping up your game. Adding some weight training to your cardio. If you don't have an exercise regimen we can talk about options. If you are interested in trying a Beachbody program, we can talk about that too and get you set up with something that totally works for you. There are so many options outside of P90x and Insanity (which I feel gets all the love) so if hard core intensity isn't for you, we can totally find something that is. I am currently doing TurboFire and am in LOVE with it. It really gives my inner cheerleader some much needed attention. I have found success with the at home programs from BeachBody because they are a killer workout and they all come with a schedule. So I can wake up, get my toddler some breakfast and toss in a movie, look at the schedule, pop in a DVD and press play. I don't have to worry about getting her ready to go to the gym with me or what series of exercises I am going to do that day. I know me and I need that schedule. I get really freaked out if I am going to miss a day and "mess up" the schedule or the order. But whatever works for you, we will make it happen.


Plus I will give you daily motivation, tips and tricks and share all the research I have accrued over the last few months.

If this sounds like something you would love to do contact me! I am going to have TWO groups enrolling this month. One starting October 14th and the other starting October 28th.

And honestly who wouldn't like to meet their New Years resolution before New Years? How amazing would that be?

Nutritionism - What Is It and Why Does It Matter (In Defense of Food review Part I)

On the cover of In Defense of Food there is a picture of a head of pretty lettuce (red leaf lettuce not
iceberg) and on the band that most grocery stores have around their heads of lettuce it reads not the plu number but "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants." Right away this book has my attention. (And maybe my heart.)

Before selecting this book, I was already very familiar with the author, Michael Pollan. I had recently read The Omnivore's Dilemma and really enjoyed his writing and the way in which he approached his research on food -- with four meals he sought out to represent conventional farming, organic farming, small sustainable family farming and foraging. It was written very well and left me waking my husband at one in the morning to just share one more thing I learned about corn (both fascinating and disgusting all at the same time...)

This book takes a different approach. And I am so into it that I am going to review each of it's three parts. (If that works out while I am reading. Flexibility and going with the flow -- they are on my personal goals list for this year.) So far so good. The first section is so full of information and fits in with what I have been thinking about for the last few months -- eating real food and not edible food like substances. And how focusing on "nutritionism" is what has lead us down this path in the first place.

So what is nutritionism?

According to Pollan, nutritionism is the focus on nutrients, not food. This term and idea first appeared in an essay called "Sorry Marge" written by Australian sociologist of science, Gyorgy Scrinis. The paper focusing on margarine and how it should be the "ultimate nutrionist product, able to shift its identity...depending on the prevailing winds of dietary opinion" (27). Or why in theory a bowl of fortified Lucky Charms, packed with all the vitamins we "need" should be healthier than an apple that only has some of the vitamins.  The ideology behind nutritionism is:

• "[W]hat matters most is not the food but the "nutrient"

• "[B]ecause nutrients are invisible and incomprehensible to everyone but scientists, we need expert help in deciding what to eat"

• "[T]he purpose of eating is to promote a narrow concept of physical health" (8).

This totally sounds like what we believe health to be (and what is promoted constantly!) Make sure you get x grams of protein a day and not go over x grams of cholesterol. Oh wait there is a difference between bad cholesterol not good cholesterol so make sure you eat enough good cholesterol to keep the bad down. And we should only consume x amount of calories and fat grams because fat is bad. Just kidding healthy fat isn't bad and it is actually essential to our diets and metabolism.

No wonder we are so confused about what to eat! It changes constantly. Pollan continues on to point out that this is why nutritionism is extremely flawed. He talks about how nutrients were discovered and which nutrients were deemed good and bad by scientists which then leads to vitamins and why they were deemed so important to our diets -- and how "it wasn't until late in the twentieth century that nutrients began to push food aside in the popular imagination of what to eat" (22).

Enter the dietary guidelines we are familiar with today. These didn't exist prior to the 70's. People didn't need to be told what to eat by scientists. Now we are being told what we should be eating and we are unhealthier than we have ever been.

Pollan quotes Joan Gussow, a Columbia University nutritionist who "argued agains the focus on nutrients rather than whole foods. 'The really important message in the epidemiology...was that some vegetables and citrus fruits seem to be protective agains cancer. But those sections of the [National Academy of Sciences report, Diet Nutrition and Cancer] were written as though it was the vitamin C in the citrus or the beta-carotene in the vegetables that was responsible for the effect...[H]ow do you know it's not one of the other things in the carrots or the broccoli? There are hundreds of carotenes'" (26).

That's a really crazy question -- especially when we have been taught from the time we were small to eat our oranges because of the vitamin C or to up our intake of vitamin C when we feel a cold coming on.

Pollan also talks about how focusing on the nutrients started (and when) and how it has really benefited the food industry. He explains other problems and pokes holes in the idea that nutrients should drive our diets as opposed to real food.

So has all of our focus on nutrients led us down the wrong path? Should we not worry so much about getting x grams of protein? I think no one knows for sure, but what we are being taught about food and nutrition isn't working. So I believe it is at least worth a conversation.

October #Unprocessed - Take the Pledge! (And the post with lots of links to other stuff)

I stumbled upon this today. Since I am kind of obsessed with Bob's Red Mill, I follow them through social media and this popped up on my news feed. A whole month without processed foods, taking a pledge and doing it for the entire month of October. And at the end, feeling better and (hopefully lighter.) This year sponsored by one of my favorite West Coast places to visit (and eat!), Bob's Red Mill so of course I was sucked in from the minute I clicked on the link.

I am generally pretty good with no processed foods but there are those few things that really get me. One being popcorn. And not air popped popcorn, but the yummy fluffy, white cheddar flavored kind...maybe after a month without I can cut the habit for good.

The whole idea of October #Unprocessed was started by a guy named Andrew in 2009 when he wanted to see what would happen if he went a whole month without processed foods. It was his quest to get healthy and feel better. He started a blog to help keep himself accountable and to influence others. Since then it has grown to having over 3,000 people take the pledge. Some pretty cool stuff. (And it doesn't hurt that he has read all the books I have including those by Michael Pollan.)

So what I have decided to do is to start a group. We will all pledge to take the October #Unprocessed challenge. We will post and share recipes. And encourage each other (plus I may need someone who is fairly close to come pry the cheese popcorn from my hands.)

Here are the rules --

Eat only foods that pass "The Kitchen Test" 

 I may have to "steal" this term. It is kind of awesome. There are so many definitions out there for clean eating and many of them are personal. This, however, is one of the best definitions I have seen yet. According to Andrew, "Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with whole-food ingredients."  I told you it was a pretty awesome way to distinguish processed from unprocessed. 

Eat only whole grains

So this means eating only 100% whole wheat flour or grains. Un-enriched and unbleached because you couldn't do this in your kitchen. For more info on whole grains check out this post http://www.eatingrules.com/2013/09/unprocessed-faq-flour-grains/

No High Fructose Corn Syrup

I would extend this to cover refined sugar (more info on sugar here http://www.eatingrules.com/2013/09/unprocessed-faq-sugar/ ) and artificial sweeteners besides stevia extract (which you can do at home if you have a stevia plant-- so it totally passes the kitchen test. For info on this check out this post http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/04/25/stevia-food-babe-investigates/#more-7559 

No Trans Fats

Why no trans fats? Because it is pretty well decided that they are not good for us to consume and are often added to processed foods because they extend the shelf life. (Here is a brief explanation on trans fats http://www.eatingrules.com/2011/01/about-trans-fat/ )  Fats like grapeseed oil, flaxseed oil, and fats from plant based foods like avocados, nuts, seeds and coconuts are considered good fats.  There is a lot of contradictory advice that comes with talking about saturated fat. My best advice is to research dietary fat and come to your own conclusions. 

What about my Shakeology?

It is no secret that I love Shakeology. I love how I feel, the energy I have and I really miss it if I don't have it as part of my daily diet. The beauty is that the majority of ingredients are from whole food sources (for more info check this out https://faq.shakeology.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1813/kw/whole%20food/~/“whole-food-ingredients”%2f-bioavailability ). The ingredients aren't chemically extracted, the foods are dried and powdered and then combined to make shakeology. If I had the formula and fancy dehydrating machines could I make it in my kitchen (aka does it pass the kitchen test?) Umm....maybe? Provided I could even find all the ingredients. (I mean can one buy yacon root at Giant Eagle?) Provided there are no chemicals, I am still going to continue to use Shakeology. Again, I feel that this falls in the personal realm of what is considered processed and what allowances are going to be made. 

So those are the rules for October #Unprocessed. Do you think you can hang? I am going to start a support group on Facebook so if you are interested in joining me please send me a message or an email to scyobe@gmail.com and I will add you to the group. 

Please visit http://www.eatingrules.com/october-unprocessed-2013/ for more information and to sign the pledge!

What Can You Do in 7 Days?

I had a little baby brain storm over the weekend as I was shopping for matte top coat online. I knew it would probably work and I would probably like it but I really wanted to try it first. Returning it via mail (and opened) would be such a pain if I hated it -- even though I knew I could return it and get my
money back. So what was stopping me was the convenience of being able to try it first with no commitment (which was soon solved with a trip to the mall.)

I have been talking about how much I love Shakeology for months now and I know a lot of people that want to try it but are hesitant to order it. It is a big commitment and even though there is a 30 day money back guarantee -- sometimes returning something (and a trip to the post office) can be a huge pain. So why not make it easy?

I decided to do a 7 day Shakeology mini-group. So what does this mean?

You get --

7 days of Shakeology
7 days of clean (and easy) dinner recipes
7 days of Shakeology recipes
7 days of motivation to get your body moving

and maybe some prizes and other stuff thrown in there too....It is the week after my birthday so I will be feeling super generous.

It's just a week....what can you accomplish in a week?

Send me a message or email to scyobe@gmail.com if you are interested!

Cucumber and Avocado Soup (and how green soup makes me feel super healthy)

I get a CSA every summer. And I love it. I get boxes of farm fresh just picked this morning veggies every week. Veggies and fruits that ripen on a plant and not in a warehouse. Super awesome deal.

But my husband travels for work all summer and I am a lazy cook when cooking for just myself (and a toddler who sometimes seems to survive on air and frozen peas.) Lots of the time these wonderful farm fresh veggies begin to fill up my fridge to the point where they are taking over. When I am dodging stray ears of corn when I open the door, I typically start googling for what I can make that will use up a lot of veggies and freeze well (until my husband gets home with his very large and uncomplaining appetite!) and this time it was soup to the rescue.

This time I decided to try cucumber soup. I found an awesome recipe from Eating Well (which you can check out here.) Having only ever really eaten cucumbers raw as snacks or in salads, I was a little hesitant to cook them (what if something weird happens when you cook them? If they were good cooked wouldn't more recipes called for sauteed cucumber? I mean how often do you ever see that?)

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the only bizarre thing that happens when you cook cumbers into soup is that they are delishous. This soup was amazing -- I may actually buy extra cucumbers from my CSA this week so I can make more of this soup.

So here is what I did ---

What you will need:

1 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 TBS white vinegar (the recipe originally called for lemon juice which I didn't have)
4 cups peeled, seeded and sliced cucumbers
32 oz vegetable broth
1 1/2 avocados, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste*

The original recipe called for everything minced or diced. Since I knew the soup was going to be pureed, I just roughly chopped everything. (I told you I was lazy...)

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add garlic and onion and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.

Add vinegar and cook for 1 minute.

Add the cucumber, broth and avocado and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook until the cucumbers are soft (between 5-10 minutes)

Transfer the soup to a blender or use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Salt and pepper to taste.

*The original recipe also called for a dash of cayenne pepper. Since I don't do spicy I always omit this kind of thing. But for those of you who love the heat, it might be a nice option.


It was delicious (even if the color is a little strange.) Not what I expected at all but really good. I actually packed it up for lunch the next day since the recipe said it could be served chilled. But it wasn't great. Room temperature or warmish was the way to go with this one! (With some yummy bread of course!)