Fact: Lentils are one of the most nutritionally perfect foods on earth. Very low fat, nearly perfect carbs to protein ratio, and tons of fiber.
Problem: I hate lentils.
Naturally, as the good little problem solver that I am, I wanted to find a way to eat lentils and actually enjoy it. My general philosophy of problem solving goes something like, “If I can’t do/learn/etc something, it’s just because I haven’t figured out how yet. So…figure it out.”
So here’s my lentil soup recipe–it’s a result of a few different recipes I found and a lot of tinkering and experimentation. This has been my staple food since October 2009. Add hours to your week by cooking for 40 minutes on Sunday and eat it for the whole week.
It’s super cheap (about $10) and will probably feed you for a solid week.
Questions?
Twitter: @NPSchmitt
Email: Nathan [at] brainchocolateblog [dot] com
Ingredients
One bag of green lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 medium-large onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
10 oz frozen spinach, kale, or collard greens (20 oz fresh)
16 oz ham or your favorite pre-cooked meat
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt (pref. kosher)
Habanero powder (optional)
Greek yogurt (optional–stir a dollop into the soup after serving into your bowl)
1 poached egg per bowl of soup (optional)
Your favorite full-bodied red wine (optional but it adds good complexity. I use Malbec.)
2 cups water
Lentils: Rinse, pick over (remove rocks or any other small objects), and boil in water with a couple pinches of salt until reyhdrated–the same consistency you would normally eat beans (20-30 min).
This soup is a close second to my lentil soup in my “Best Healthy Fridge Food Ever Contest” and is incredibly cheap ($8-10, not including spices, or about $1 per meal) and healthy (see nutrition facts after the recipe).
My recipe is an alteration of this vegan recipe and would still be amazing with no meat. I altered the recipe enough that it’s pretty far from the original, but I gotta give props to Susan V for turning me on to the split pea/sweet potato combo!
Questions?
Twitter: @NPSchmitt
Email: Nathan [at] brainchocolateblog [dot] com
Ingredients
1 medium-large onion, diced
2 medium (or 1 large) sweet potatoes
3 cups dried split peas, picked over and rinsed
16 oz pot roast, ham, or your favorite pre-cooked meat
10 oz frozen spinach, kale, or collard greens (20 oz fresh)
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Olive oil
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1-2 tablespoons mild curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt
8 cups water
Prep
Dice the onion: The easiest, fastest way to do this is to cut the onion in half through the root, remove the peal, and make ~1 cm cuts horizontally (toward the root) and vertically (through to the board) as shown above. The purpose of the root is to hold the onion together for ease of dicing, so be sure not to cut all the way through on the first two sets of cuts. Finish by cutting across your first two axes as seen above. [Click the picture to enlarge it and inspect the onion if this doesn't make sense--it has the cross-cuts in it already.]
This is super healthy, quick to make, very tasty, and makes a great side to pretty much any meal. Add a teaspoon of flaxseed oil to a serving right before you eat for some good fat.
-18 oz. (510 g.) Spinach (Skip step 1 if you buy frozen spinach)
-1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
-1 Tbsp Sesame oil
-2 tspn sesame seeds
-1/2 clove garlic, or powder to taste
-Salt/pepper to taste
1. Wash spinach and cut off the stems if you buy in a bunch. Boil water and drop spinach in, stirring for ~20 seconds before removing to strainer (this is called blanching) and drenching with cold water to stop the cooking process.
2. Squeeze as much water out of the spinach as you can but don’t handle it too much–5 seconds per handful of spinach.
Because I’ve always been obsessed with music, I know exactly how the many genres and bands I listen to affect me psychologically, emotionally, motivationally, etc.
Need to relax and in the mood for something beautiful? “Sunset Road” or “More Love” by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Need to relax but feeling a little more contemplative? “Respiration” by Blackstar feat. Common or “Joe Metro” by Blue Scholars. How about getting motivated for a refreshing workout? “September” and “Serpentine Fire” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. Want to improve your mile-time without realizing your working harder? Flip the iPod to the playlist with “Where Do I Hide” by Nickelback and “Chop Suey” by System of a Down.
Of course, unless you have similar taste in music to me, your preferences will vary. If that’s the case, it doesn’t take long to throw together some playlists of your own in the same way that I have. Like anything you do that requires any degree judgment on your part (in this case, picking which songs fit), there are certain mental processing rules that you use to determine what makes the cut and what doesn’t. Below, I’ve distilled the processing rules that I implicitly use to decide what music to add to which playlist and why.
Putting together playlists is something most people can do on their own, but the following steps may help save you the frustration of stale, monotonous, and uninspiring playlists that can plague your iPod even if you like all the songs.
Seven Processing Rules for Effective Playlist Creation
1. What are the three top states that I’m most often in or want to put myself into? (Note: a “state” is just a term for an all encompassing feeling including general outlook, mood, motivation level, energy level, etc.)
*Relaxed, motivated to exercise, lighthearted optimism.
2. What genres of music generally correspond to these states? (i.e., when I’m in a certain state, which genres best sustain it?)
*Motivation to exercise= 90s alternative rock, Kanye-style hip hop, dance/party music.
*Lighthearted optimism= High production value: jazz fusion, hip hop in major keys, late 80s/90s pop, funk.
*Relaxed=Mellow jazz fusion, underground hip hop, instrumental guitar, classical.
3. Which five to ten artists in each genre have the highest volume of songs that fit the corresponding state?
*E.x. Motivation to exercise=Kanye’s “Graduation” album has 4 very good songs for this purpose. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Bad” albums have an unusually high number of songs that fit this purpose. Etc…
4. Create each playlist before you start populating them with songs–this helps make categorizing your songs much easier (if you don’t use iTunes, see rule 7). When populating your playlists, go through each artist you chose above and drag their songs to the appropriate playlist. This is much more efficient and effective than going through your playlists one at a time trying to think of artists and songs.
5. Have I heard these songs so many times I’m sick of them or will I be in the near future?
If there is a state you’re in more than the others (E.x. I spend a lot of time exercising so I listen to the playlists much more often), make at least three distinct playlists for that state with completely different songs to avoid monotony. By the time the third one gets old, the first will usually be fresh again. (See playlists below for examples)
6. Can’t think of/find enough songs?
Use last.fm to find similar artists—you can usually sample an artists top ~15 songs without having to register, pay, or anything. E.x. Artists similar to Kanye West
7. If you don’t use iTunes: Create desktop folder to copy/paste all songs into with sub-folders for each specific playlist. Once the folders are populated, just drag and drop these songs onto your iPod (skip the iTunes music library) then delete the folder off of your desktop if hard drive space is an issue.
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If you have similar taste in music to me (which is likely if you’re in your teens or 20s) then check out my playlists. Click the name of each playlist below to view a screen shot of it.
[Be sure to talk to your doctor so you know what you can and can't do before exercising!]
This last time around, three weeks after my last collapse I started getting ready for my surgery—at that point, I had three weeks to get ready. After my first surgery (VATS/pleurodesis) I was very slow to bounce back, to say the least, and didn’t do any sort of real exercise for probably about a year. That was a major mistake but this time I’m doing it right.
Since I have experience with good (so far…) and bad recoveries, I put together this video and information below to give you what I wish I had.
Real Quick…
Surgery comes with all kinds of weird internal sensations that you’ve never felt before and that result from nerve and muscle damage. If you’re doctor says “you can do anything you feel comfortable doing, just don’t lift more than 5 pounds with your surgery-side arm for six weeks” then don’t obsess over muscle twinges and pains as long as you’re sticking to what the doc says. If the pain or sensation is sudden or out of the ordinary and something definitely feels wrong, call an advice nurse but for the most part, if the surgeon says you’re solid, you are.
