Fooddaychallenge
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21 fooddaychallenge A 21-day whole food plant-based journey that will CHANGE YOUR LIFE forever 2 Introduction Hello and welcome to the 21-Day Food Day Challenge! This annual event is your opportunity to explore and commit to a whole food, plant-based diet for three weeks. You will find out more about plant-based nutrition and its contribution to health and longevity and have a chance to implement positive dietary changes while receiving online support from your fellow plant-based travelers. Plus you will experience the amazing flavor and variety of the plant-based lifestyle by trying simple and wholesome recipes. This Menu Book is designed to inspire and motivate you throughout this journey, but before we dive into recipes, we have a few important topics to cover. let’s get started! BeFORe You BegIN Crazy for Carbs Our theme for the 2017 Food Day Challenge is Crazy for Carbs, and you will learn to embrace whole starch-based foods and dismiss the myths associated with eating carbohydrates. Whole and intact carbohydrates—those that have not been stripped of fiber—are some of the most nutritious foods for your brain and your body. They contain fiber, which slows the absorption of glucose (sugar) in the blood and provides satiety and lasting energy. On the other hand, stripped carbohydrates have had their fiber taken away during the industrial process. They are usually an ingredient in low-satiety, low-nutrient, and high-energy-dense foods that provide short-lived energy and encourage overeating. This Menu Book offers a selection of recipes that showcase whole and intact carbohydrates and make starches the star of your meals. The sections on How to Use This Menu and Swaps will describe how to personalize a weekly menu that works for you and fits your specific needs. Go check them out and enjoy the journey! 2 21-Day Food Day Challenge Menu Book | © The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus IPHI, 2017. All rights reserved | ucdim.com How to Use This Menu Book We divided the recipes into three weeks, each with its own theme and starchy carbohydrate: • Week 1: Latin American Cuisine and Potatoes • Week 2: Mediterranean Cuisine and Pasta • Week 3: Asian Cuisine and Rice You will find unique suggestions for lunches and dinners for each of the 21 days. The recipes are simple and adaptable. You can try them in order, or focus on your favorite cuisine or staple carbohydrate. We have provided structure, but it is completely customizable to your preferences! In addition to weekly themes and daily recipes, this Menu Book includes: • Breakfasts: We have provided a sweet and a savory option using the starchy carbohydrate for each week. You can also keep it simple with fresh fruit, whole grain bread, and whole grain cereal, or get additional ideas in last year’s Menu Book. • Weekly Salad: We encourage you to eat salads every single day, whether as an appetizer or as your main meal. The section Building the Perfect Salad will help guide you. Plus, each week of the menu has a specific salad recipe that demonstrates these principles. • Weekly Soup: Soups are a great addition to a whole food, plant-based diet as they are easy to make and, when prepared in a big batch, can provide a nutrient-packed meal in a few minutes throughout the week. You will find two soup recipes for each week. • Dressings and Sauces: We included 30+ recipes for oil-free dressings and sauces at the back of the Menu Book. Feel free to experiment with them! continues on next page 3 21-Day Food Day Challenge Menu Book | © The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus IPHI, 2017. All rights reserved | ucdim.com A Word on Snacks When you eat whole and intact starchy carbohydrates in every meal, you should feel satiated for many hours. For those times when you want to ‘munch’ on something between meals, you are encouraged to eat whole fresh fruits, as they are nature’s most perfect sweet treats! When cooking for others or not ready to give up other types of treats, refer to last year’s Menu Book for additional snack ideas, both savory and sweet. Swaps Almost all recipes include the week's theme ingredient—potatoes, pasta, or rice. For those who would rather cook with a different starchy carbohydrate or ingredient, we suggest a few of our favorite swaps. • Potatoes: Cauliflower works well in recipes where potatoes are mashed or pureed. Root vegetables like cassava, taro, turnip, rutabaga and celery root are good alternatives when a recipe calls for roasting, baking or boiling. Popular swaps for sweet potatoes include yams, pumpkin and winter squash. • Pasta: Pasta can be of any shape and made out of any ingredient—e.g., whole wheat, brown rice, quinoa, corn, Jerusalem artichoke. You may also use spaghetti squash or spiralized vegetables in place of dry pasta, including zucchini, carrots and palm hearts. • Rice: Most recipes can be made with any type of rice—e.g., wild, brown, red, jasmine. You can also substitute other whole grains such as farro, quinoa, couscous or kamut. Lastly, a few dishes will also work with cauliflower 'rice'. A Word on Shirataki Shirataki are thin and translucent Japanese noodles made out of water and glucomannan, a water-soluble dietary fiber fromkonjac yam. They have little flavor of their own but need to be rinsed and/or parboiled to remove their unusual odor. Shirataki may be a good option for those looking for a high-fiber, low-energy replacement for pasta (or even rice) in recipes. 4 21-Day Food Day Challenge Menu Book | © The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus IPHI, 2017. All rights reserved | ucdim.com Your Daily Whole Food Plant-Based Guide This resource provides a visual representation of the whole plant foods you should eat on a daily basis. At a bare minimum, start with the Fab Four and make sure to consume a green, a bean, a berry and a seed (flaxseed!) every single day. Greens are mainly found in the leafy and cruciferous vegetables categories, and dark green leaves are especially nutritious and health promoting. Beans are high in protein, starches, and fiber, and along with greens, are a good source of folate and other micronutrients. Among fruit, berries have the highest amount of cancer-fighting phytochemicals and may also protect your brain as you age. Finally, one tablespoon of ground flaxseed a day will give you all the omega-3 you need! As you get comfortable with the plant-based lifestyle, start adding more whole plant foods to your meals until you can eat foods from each of the categories represented on the ‘wheel’ on a daily basis. That is your formula for health! continues on next page Food Plant-B Whole ased D aily iet r D Gui ou l) * » de Y 3 kca » – 9 286 ( 31 – 7 J 19 7 k k 8 J ( – 3 68 9 – 2 1 1 7 2 » k c a l) * » 4+ Servings 1+ Serving Fruits Starchy Vegetables 1+ Serving 3+ Servings Non-Starchy Whole Grains Vegetables Fab Four Greens, Beans, Berries & Seeds 1+ Serving *per 100g or 3.5oz 3+ Servings Cruciferous Legumes Vegetables 2+ Servings 1+ Serving Leafy Vegetables Nuts & Seeds « 5 5 – 1 8 « 0 * k l) J a ( kc 13 5 – 70 43 – kc 29 al) (5 * J « k 52 d. ,9 rve © – 2 se T 2,214 s re he « ht Reg ll rig ents 7. A of th I, 201 e Univ us IPH ersity of California, Davis camp 5 21-Day Food Day Challenge Menu Book | © The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus IPHI, 2017. All rights reserved | ucdim.com A Word on Energy Density Energy density is a measure of the amount of energy in a food compared to its weight. Energy density is represented by kilojoules (kJ) in all countries using the International System of Units or kilocalories (kcal) in the US. The energy density of any specific food or recipe will vary depending on its ingredients. The more water and fiber in a food, the lower its energy density, while the more fat in a food, the higher its energy density. Your Daily Whole Food Plant-Based Guide lists the energy density of different categories of whole plant foods. Whole foods that are high in fat and/or natural sugars can be part of a whole food, plant-based diet and some of them are particularly health promoting—e.g. walnut, chia, flaxseed. This Menu Book was purposely designed to omit the nutrition facts of the recipes so that you can learn to identify high energy-dense foods without having to pay attention to kilocalories per serving. Those high energy-dense foods are marked with a red dot throughout the Menu Book and the accompanying shopping lists. If you are following the challenge in an effort to lose weight, keep those foods to a minimum or omit them completely when they are listed as optional. If you choose to eat high energy-dense foods, keep consumption to under a single serving per day. The only exception is ground flaxseed, which should be consumed every single day due to its high omega-3 content. As long as you keep a balance between the amounts of food you eat from both sides of the wheel, you are on your way to better health without having to worry about your weight or being hungry ever again. 6 21-Day Food Day Challenge Menu Book | © The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus IPHI, 2017.