The Best Vegan Spring Rolls - just in time for Spring!

Spring is a time of growth, beauty and the beginning of eating more fresh foods. As the days stay lighter longer and the temperatures start to get warmer, we all crave light, yet fulfilling foods. As odd as it might sound, I start to actually crave salad's. But you can only have so many salads before you want something else and that something else is Spring Rolls.

About a year or so ago a new Thai restaurant opened up near our house. We quickly became fans of their spring rolls. Each time we got an order, my husband would comment he thought he could figure out how to make these spring rolls, better and cheaper. When we found rice paper at Whole Foods, the spring roll making challenge began. After a few trial and errors, torn rice paper, some rolls tasting better than others, the Cowden Spring Roll was perfected, both cheaper and better than the Thai restaurant's spring rolls.

The best thing about making spring rolls besides the fresh taste? The process of making them. For those of you who love to hang out, drink some wine or beer and enjoy preparing food, this is it. Spring rolls take a little time to make but the end result is a taste explosion in your mouth. I happen to enjoy cooking as much as I do eating. There is something to be said for not rushing the cooking process. Slow cooking is becoming a lost art. Where once people spent hours and hours in the kitchen, now people complain if the microwave takes a few minutes to "cook" their meal. I think the art of just cooking with someone, enjoying their company, laughing over spills and then sitting down to eat your meal is an activity more fun than rushing to eat so you can watch TV or get on the Internet.

Cowden's Spring Rolls
Makes about 10 spring rolls

1 Container of button mushrooms
Enough lettuce and/or spinach to make about 3 cups when chopped
Rice paper (we found ours at Whole Foods and an Asian Market)
1/2 to 3/4 large Haas avocado, sliced
Fresh basil
About 3 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds (more or less to taste)
Ginger or other spices to taste

Cut up the lettuce and/or spinach

On low heat, stir fry the mushrooms in water until soft

Cut up the avocado into small bite size pieces

This is the trick...in warm water, place the rice paper for about 30 seconds to a minute

Place the rice paper on the counter top and add the veggies, avocado, basil, spices, etc. 

Roll up the rice paper like a burrito

Once you have a roll, you are done!

Enjoy! 

The benefits of detoxing from sugar

Sugar is probably one of the worst addictions many of us have. When there is tragedy, like the bombing at the Boston Marathon or the plant explosion in West, Texas, we all want something to comfort and soothe us. Many of us turn to sugary food to fill that comfort. We don't even realize we turn to food, our primal instincts kick in and we do it, without thinking. As I go through my yoga teacher training journey, I am reminded daily of all that I am learning, on and off the mat. Mindfulness. This mindfulness is permeating in all aspects of my life, especially with my food choices. I began to be reminded of what brought me on my food journey so many years ago...the connection between my emotional state and my food choices. I began to notice that I had "fallen off the wagon" and was reaching for something sugary each day. I'd make relatively good food choices all day, sometimes sneaking a piece of chocolate or two but for the most part, I was making healthy food choices. And then the night time would come. We'd eat a healthy dinner and the cravings would set in. AND OMG, I just couldn't resist the cravings. I'd eat malt-sweetened carob chips by the handfuls and off-set the sugary taste with some tortilla chips. I'd then weigh myself in the morning and not understand why I kept gaining weight despite the amount of time I spent working out and eating healthy. And the cycle would continue night after night.

(cc) skampy

I was finally inspired by two people in my life who have struggled with being overweight. One of which lost 40 pounds and the other person had lost 4. Both were on a journey to do something better for their bodies and both were resisting the urges and being mindful of their food intake. I decided I was going to quit this emotional eating food roller coaster and do something about it. While my goal may not seem like a lot to many of you and for those of you that know me you are probably thinking I don't need to lose weight but as you know, a little weight gain and next thing you know, you've gained a lot. As I'm aging, I know that this little bit can become a lot and I don't want that to happen. And so, I'm being mindful about what I'm eating. Here's what I'm doing...

For years I have had a smoothie in the morning that consisted of some sort of fruit, protein powder and greens. I liked starting my day off with greens but upon reflection, I think starting my day off without a complex carb caused my blood sugar to drop quickly, which means craving sugar. I decided to do an experiment. For the past week I've been eating oatmeal with a banana, soy milk and stevia sweetened. I am quite amazed at how long oatmeal sits with me and how my blood sugar doesn't seem to drop so quickly in the middle of the day. I have been experimenting with having the smoothie for lunch which seems to work out as long as I have some sort of protein for a snack before dinner. Not only have my sugar cravings at night all but ceased, I'm feeling a little bit more balanced throughout the day and I've had some weight loss!

What I enjoy most about this process, I'm being mindful about my food choices. Before I just shovel it in, I think about what I'm eating. What purpose does this food serve? Will it provide me with protein, complex carbs, potassium, calcium, iron, etc? Even when I drank alcohol this weekend, I took into account what I was drinking and how much.

Here's my daily meal and exercise plan:

First of all, I am using the app My Fitness Pal. I record all of my food intake on this app. For me, this can be a bit time consuming because I make so much of my own food but you can put in your recipe and then it calculates the calories, protein, carb, sugar, etc. The greatest part about this app is you put in your desired weight and it comes up with how many calories you should be consuming each day. You can also put in your exercises and it adjusts your daily caloric intake. One thing I've noticed is that just because you exercise, doesn't mean you can eat whatever. As we know, eating less and exercising means weight loss!

Breakfast: Oatmeal with 1/2 cup soy milk, water, banana and 1 tsp Stevia

Lunch: Green smoothie (apple, Vega protein powder, handful of spinach and chard/kale, cinnamon, 1/4 avocado, stevia to taste, ice and water to desired consistency)
-or-
Salad with avocado, beans and lime for dressing or homemade dressing

Dinner: salad or steamed veggies, complex carb (ex: 1/2 cup Quinoa) and maybe some beans (easy Friday night meal was 1 toasted sesame sprouted Ezekiel bread (4 grams of protein per slice!) with a veggie burger (I like Dr. Praeger's California burgers, 5 grams of protein per burger)

The beans and complex carbs will keep your blood sugar from spiking and thus your cravings for sugar will be less.

Enjoy and let me know if this helps you!