Cheryl L. Ilov's Blog, page 3

Vanishing Vegetable Soup

I love soup, and I love cooking it. However, sometimes the recipes end up being rather blah, and I’m left staring down a pot of leftovers thinking “meh.” I don’t want to eat that, and it ends up in the garbage disposal, which hurts my soul. I hate throwing food away.

But, true to my incomparably stubborn nature, I keep trying. And trying. Instead of following a recipe exactly as written, I have also begun taking a few liberties, using my imagination and whatever ingredients I have on hand that might work out. This vegetable soup recipe originally called for either beef or chicken, but I decided to use nothing but veggies.

The result? By the end of the second day, there wasn’t a spoonful of leftovers in sight. My husband and I ate the entire pot, and the garbage disposal had to go hungry. That’s when I knew I had a hit on my hands. Or at least in my soup pot.

I cleaned out the fridge and added two additional veggies that had been sitting in the crisper–broccoli and asparagus. I figured if it ruined the soup, so be it. Been there, done that. But obviously it didn’t. So, in the spirit of experimentation and cleaning out your fridge, feel free to add whatever vegetables float your boat. And do let me know how it turns out!

Ingredients:

32 oz beef broth

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, with juices

2 cups shredded cabbage

3 medium potatoes, cubed (I leave the skins on for their extraordinary health benefits)

3 carrots, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

10 stalks asparagus, cut into bite size pieces

2 cups broccoli florets

1 medium onion, chopped

3 gloves crushed garlic

1 TBS Italian seasoning

1 TBS crushed basil

1 can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

salt and pepper to taste before serving

Directions:

In a large pot combine beef broth, undrained tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, asparagus, broccoli, garlic, Italian seasoning, and basil. Bring to boiling, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Add beans, cook and stir for 3-5 minutes before serving. Cook’s tip: I make the soup early in the day, let the flavors blend, and reheat it before serving. It’s even better the second day. That is, if you have any leftover. Enjoy!

Fresh Green Veggies and Pasta

Nothing quite says spring has sprung like fresh green vegetables, even though this is a fast and fabulous recipe that you can enjoy all year long. It’s a great way to get more vegetables in your diet, and even though it has a cream and butter sauce, I like to think that the health benefits of the broccoli, asparagus, and snow peas levels the playing field. In my opinion the sauce isn’t nearly as rich and decadent as other cream based pasta sauces, but maybe I’m just kidding myself.

Regardless, it is a very tasty recipe that feels light and healthy. You can boost the health benefits by serving it with a fresh green salad with an olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing. See? Guilt free pasta in a delicious cream sauce!

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh broccoli florets

1 cup fresh asparagus, cut in 1-inch pieces

2 cups sliced fresh zucchini

1/2 cup fresh snow peas

1/2 cup thawed frozen green peas

12 ounces linguine

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup grated Parmesan-Romano cheese

2 T butter, softened and cut into small pieces

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place the half-and-half, butter, and grated cheese in a large serving bowl and set aside.

Cook linguine in boiling water for 7 minutes. Slowly add the broccoli and asparagus, slowly enough so the water doesn’t stop boiling. Cook 2 minutes, then add the zucchini, snow peas, and green peas. Cook 3 minutes longer. Drain, and add to the serving bowl with the butter, half-and-half, and cheese, tossing the pasta and vegetables until sauce is well distributed. Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

I love chicken. It’s versatile, high in protein, easy to digest, and if you cook it right it can be low in fat as well. It can also be easy to prepare for a low maintenance meal, leaving extra time for the things you really love to do. Like going to the dojo and beating up bad guys in my case. But that’s just me.

Which is why I love cooking with my crock pot. It’s just so darn easy, and it’s a great way to cook chicken. However, I prefer to use either a whole chicken or thighs and drumsticks rather than chicken breasts. I don’t like the texture of chicken breast cooked in the crock pot, but thighs and drumsticks turn out tender, juicy, and tasty.

In this particular recipe, I use bone in chicken thighs and remove the skin before cooking. Here is a quick and easy, down and dirty, but oh so succulent recipe for orange chicken in the crock pot.

Ingredients: 

6 bone in chicken thighs (approximately 2 pounds), skin removed and fat trimmed

salt and pepper to taste

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 TBS Italian seasoning

1 cup orange juice

2 oranges, peeled and separated into segments (you can substitute 1 8 ounce can mandarin oranges in light syrup, drained)

Directions:

Sprinkle thighs with salt and pepper to taste. Spray a large skillet with non stick cooking spray. Brown thighs on both sides on medium heat and place in crockpot. Sprinkle garlic and Italian seasoning over thighs. Add orange juice and orange segments, cover and cook on low for 5 hours. Spoon sauce over chicken before serving. Enjoy!

Creamy Mushroom Soup

I never learned how to cook until I moved away from my hometown and my mother’s cooking to Denver to seek my fame and fortune. Since then I have become a pretty good cook if I do say so myself. However, it was a steep learning curve and there were a lot of unpalatable mistakes along the way.

This mushroom soup was one of the first recipes I made that had any degree of success. Over the years, once my cooking skills improved, I changed the recipe a bit to make it even creamier, tastier, and more satisfying. In my humble opinion, it’s the best cream of mushroom soup I’ve ever had. And the health benefits of mushrooms are almost as amazing as the soup itself.

Ingredients:

1 pound button mushrooms, chopped

1 Portobello mushroom, chopped

1 bunch scallions

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups 2% milk

2 TBS olive oil

1 TBS cornstarch

3 TBS water

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Sauté the mushrooms and scallions in olive oil until soft and tender in a large pot or Dutch oven. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir into soup, cooking until soup begins to thicken. Put several scoops of hot soup in a small bowl and allow a few minutes to cool slightly. Thoroughly whisk the egg into the soup bowl, and add it to the pot. Use an immersion blender to blend, cream, and smooth the soup. Enjoy!

The Reluctant Ninja and the Big Reveal

For the past five years I have been busy working on my next book, The Reluctant Ninja: How A Middle-Aged Princess Became a Warrior Queen. The book chronicles my journey in the male-dominated, testosterone-infested, strange new world of men and martial arts. It was a wild ride, and the most incredible experience I’ve ever had. But, I certainly did not go willingly. I had to be dragged kicking and screaming, and not in a good way.

Marc, my Sensei, was my acupuncturist long before he became my teacher. It took him 3 long years to get me on the mat and train with him. I finally capitulated and agreed to take a few classes just to prove to him how much I was going to hate it. Ten years later I became his first female black belt. In 20 years of teaching, he never had a woman achieve such a high rank.

It took me 3 years to take the bait, 10 years to earn the black belt (although that was never my goal), and 5 years to write the book. And now I am patiently waiting for it to be revealed to the world. It is in the final phase of editing, and the cover design is completed. But, I’m just not ready to share it with you. Not quite yet, anyway.

However, I am ready to share the description of the book from the back cover. So here it is, the Big Reveal!

           Book Blurb for Back Cover

Cheryl Ilov surprised everyone, including herself, when she began training in an ancient Japanese martial art at the tender young age of 47. As a self-proclaimed middle-aged princess, she was the last person anyone would expect to study martial arts.

Cheryl had been living a charmed life until it all came crashing down after a traumatic experience thrust her into the vortex of hell known as PTSD. As she tried to deal with the devastating effects of the trauma, she slipped deeper and deeper into the dark pit of despair.

Her salvation came when her acupuncturist finally convinced her that taking some martial arts classes would help her heal from the trauma. Little did she know that decision would take her on a journey which would change her life forever.

Cheryl takes her readers on a roller coaster ride as she skillfully weaves her remarkable story of personal transformation and triumph as she overcame her fears, discovered her inner strength, and unleashed her warrior spirit.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Every year my garden treats us to a plethora of zucchini. As a matter of fact, we have so much zucchini that we have to give it away. Which means that by the end of the season, every time I walk out of my house with grocery bags full of garden zucchini, the sound of slamming shutters and blinds by my neighbors can be heard up and down the street. Yes, by October, even the neighbors are over it.

But, I love zucchini bread, but I also like to cut calories when I can, as long as I can come up with a palatable solution. Many years ago I took a traditional recipe and completely revamped it. I recently was craving a chocolate fix and added cocoa powder to my recipe. After all, chocolate is full of surprising health benefits, and the result was delicious.

I do love the taste of the rich dark chocolate, but I’m a purist, so the amount of sugar in the recipe is still much lower than a traditional recipe, so you can enjoy guilt-free chocolate zucchini bread.

Ingredients: 

4 cups grated zucchini

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp lemon peel

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup organic cacao powder

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat together zucchini, sugar, and egg. Add cooking oil and mix well.

In another bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, baking powder, and lemon peel. Stir dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture.

Spray an 8 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ x 2″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, and pour batter into pan. NOTE: The batter might seem a bit dry at first, but trust me, the bread ends up being incredibly moist, especially if you are using garden fresh zucchini. Bake for 60-70 minutes, until a toothpick or small knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

Cool of a cooling rack. When cool, remove from pan, wrap wrap with cling wrap and store in the refrigerator. But, you won’t need to store it for long, because it is that good! Enjoy!

Fabulous Fit Tip #6

FIT TIP #6: PERFECT POSTURE, Round Two

I am passionate about posture, because I understand how important it is to our overall health and well-being. After working with hundreds of clients over the years, I have seen the health benefits of good posture as well as the detrimental effects of faulty posture. Our posture and our structural alignment doesn’t just affect our joints. It also impacts our organs and other physiological functions as well.

Since this is a follow-up from my previous fit tip on posture, you might want to review Fit Tip #5. For more detailed information regarding posture, you can check out Chapter 6 of my book, “Forever Fit and Flexible.”

In the meantime, here are 3 additional movement lessons to help you find your way to perfect posture.

1). Hold a tray

Sit or stand with your elbows bent with your forearms at a 90 degree angle with your upper arms and the palms facing toward the ceiling. Pretend that someone places a heavy tray in your hands, causing you to press your shoulder blades firmly to the floor to prevent you from tipping or dropping the tray. Hold for a slow count of 10, remembering to breathe deeply as you hold your tray, and keep your neck relaxed. Repeat 3-5x, 2-3x/day.

2). Chair push ups

Sit on the edge of a firm chair with arm rests. Place your feet flat on the floor and sit with your spine long but relaxed. Place your hands on the armrests, and slowly press your arms down as if you were going to stand up from the chair. The goal isn’t to stand up, but to activate the muscles that stabilize your shoulder blades as well as activate the muscles that support your upper back, shoulders, and postural muscles. Hold for a slow count of 10, remember to breathe and keep your neck relaxed. Repeat 3-5x, 2-3x/day.

3). Doorway stretch

Stand in a doorway and place your forearm along the doorjamb with your elbow bent at a 90 degree angle to your upper arm and your palm facing forward with your fingers extended. Slowly rotate your body away from the doorjamb by moving your feet, (not twisting your body) until you feel a gentle stretch in the front of your shoulder and/or your upper chest. Breathe, relax, and hold for 15-30 seconds. Repeat other side. Do this stretch intermittently during the day, or anytime you feel tight.

All of us are spending way too much time sitting at our desks and on our computers, especially over the past eighteen months, causing us to have slumped shoulders, rounded backs, forward head positions and tight neck and shoulder muscles. The good news is that we can counter the effects of prolonged sitting and computer work by doing these simple exercises and stretches. And that’s just the beginning. As always, feel free to contact me anytime you have questions or want additional information. I’m here to help!

Keep moving, be healthy!

Cheryl Ilov, PT, GCFP

Singing Green Bean Soup

Fall is the perfect time time to enjoy this tasty and tangy green bean soup.  My sisters and I grew up on this soup, and we loved it so much that my mom renamed it Singing Soup, based on the sounds of “mmmmm….mmmmm…mmmm” that filled the kitchen anytime this soup was on the menu. Whether it’s fresh green beans from your own garden, your local Farmer’s Market, or your supermarket, green beans have some surprising health benefits. 

Paired with the humble and often overlooked potato (which also has a few surprising power-packed health benefits as well), this is one of my favorite recipes to enjoy this late summer-early fall specialty. True to form, I cut out the sour cream that was essential in my mom’s recipe and replaced it with low fat plain Greek yogurt.

Ingredients:

1# fresh green beans, ends removed and cut in bite size pieces

3 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced

1 cup Fage Greek low fat or fat free plain yogurt (I don’t mean to name drop, but this is my favorite brand. You can use whichever one you prefer).

1/8 cup butter

1 TBS arrowroot as a thickener, or you can substitute corn starch or flour. However, once you learn the health benefits of arrowroot powder, you might want to give it a try. HINT: Studies have shown it can stimulate immune cells and boost the immune system. And who isn’t interested in strengthening our immune system these days?

Dash white vinegar (to taste)

 

Directions:

Place bean in a large pot and cover with enough water to about 2-3 inches above the beans. Boil until beans are slightly softened, then add cubed potatoes. When potatoes are soft, add butter and turn heat to low. Add the arrowroot to 1/2 cup water and stir until dissolved. Add to soup. Add a small amount of soup to the Greek yogurt and stir to thin the yogurt before adding to the soup. Stir well. Add a dash of white vinegar to taste. Serve with salt and pepper. And get ready to start singing the song of Green Bean Soup!

Fabulous Fit Tip #5

Fit Tip #5: PERFECT POSTURE

Spoiler alert, there’s no such thing as perfect posture, at least not in my book. A lot of us have hang ups about our posture, especially if we have ever been told we have “bad posture.” Fantastic–one more thing to feel guilty about. However, posture is an important component for our fitness and our health. So, the first thing to do is to let go of the judgement, and follow these 3 easy tips to improve your posture.

1). Stand with your back up against a wall with your feet slightly in front of you. Gently press the back of your head, both shoulders, and your buttocks into the wall. Slowly add a bit more pressure against the wall, and notice how the shape of your spine changes. Stop and relax for a moment, and repeat this several times. This activates the postural muscles you need for a strong spine as well as a flatter tummy. Score!

2). Put a book on your head. No, I’m not kidding. Models and charm schools have practiced this little secret for years, because it works. You can start in sitting to get used to balancing the book on your head. Then progress to standing and walking with the book on your head. For an additional challenge, play with standing up from a chair, walking around, and sitting down again with the book on your head.

3). Lie down on the floor with your knees bent and your feet standing on the floor. This bent knee position eliminates the strain on your low back with your legs straight. Also, since most of us have a “forward head” position, you will need to put a pad or a firm pillow (or more) under your head to place your head in alignment with your spine. Open your arms out to the side with your palms facing the ceiling. Breathe, relax, and let gravity open your chest and extend your thoracic spine. Yes, it’s that easy.

There are so many health benefits of correcting your posture, and many detrimental conditions that result in poor postural alignment. Click on the links for more information.

Healthy Posture, Healthy Body

Effortless posture……finding your spine.

The Pilgrimage

I stood quietly in the middle of the dojo floor and listened respectfully while Sensei yelled at me.  He had progressed from yelling to screaming, and by now he had been screaming non-stop for thirty minutes. I was keeping track of the time by sneaking peeks at the clock on the wall at the end of the dojo.

It was quite impressive to witness Sensei’s ability to find new things to yell about, as well as his stamina for screaming. He certainly was a creative screamer, and apparently, I was giving him plenty of reasons to scream at me. I didn’t know where he was getting his energy from, but at least one of us had some staying power. Personally, I was exhausted, but knew better than to admit it.

Over the past half hour, we had established a predictable rhythm. My partner would attack me, I would defend myself, Sensei would scream, I would sweat, and when he finally stopped yelling at me long enough to take a breath, I would bow respectfully and shout, “Hai, Sensei!”

Every so often I would  swipe the sleeve of my gi top across my forehead in a futile attempt to wipe the sweat off my face. It was the middle of July in Southern California, and the air conditioning in the dojo wasn’t working. Not only was the heat unbearable, but I was also wearing a heavy black gi that was the equivalent of wearing a carpet, and I was suffering from hot flashes that were so intense they threatened to knock me over faster than my training partner did. I tried to be nonchalant when the heat began to rise from my neck to my face, while my face turned bright red, then purple, and back to bright red as the flash subsided which was clearly evident in the full length mirrors against the wall in front of me. To this day I am quite certain that I must have been the first and only black belt in our entire Federation who had to deal with hot flashes during training.

However, I couldn’t let that distract me. I already had enough to deal with and needed every bit of concentration and brain power available to me. Standing directly in front of me was Sensei’s top black belt instructor and right hand man, Angel. Angel was my uke, which is ninja speak for training partner, and seemed to take a perverse pleasure in my discomfort as well as Sensei’s many innovative ways to hurl insults at me. At least he was young, and easy on the eyes, which was some consolation.

Sensei was still yelling when another hot flash threatened to bowl me over. I surreptitiously shifted my weight and felt my left leg quivering with pain and fatigue. We had spent the first thirty minutes of class working on the same technique, over and over and over again. It was the first technique from a list of twenty-seven that were on the agenda for the evening. The movement pattern ended with a deep lunge onto my left leg as I slammed Angel face down onto the mat.

Apparently my lunge wasn’t deep enough, and Sensei had me repeat the movement so many times that my strong dancer’s legs threatened to completely give out. At one point I was afraid that my quadricep was going to rip right off my femur. Finally, to ward off serious bodily harm, I respectfully asked if we could switch sides to give my left leg a break. As Angel obligingly grabbed the opposite lapel of my gi, Sensei threw his hands up in the air and roared, “NO! You haven’t got the first side yet!” Dear God, I was in hell. And we still had twenty-six more techniques to go. “Hai, Sensei!” I shouted automatically as my partner returned to the original side. To respond otherwise, or to question Sensei’s instruction would be the epitome of disrespect, especially for a student at my level.

Sweat flowed down the curve of my low back and between my buttocks. Once again, I tried to wipe the sweat from my brow before it could get in my eyes. For a short moment I wondered if the claims of my magic new eye-popping mascara would really hold up under this kind of pressure. It was guaranteed not to smear, smudge, or run, even under the most vigorous workout. I was certainly putting through the acid test.

If my eyelashes stayed lush, thick, and smudge-free after this evening I would buy an entire case of the stuff and give the cosmetic company a resounding endorsement and glowing testimonial. Another thought floated through my mind as I wondered how many other black belts worried about their make-up when they were being attacked. Then I began to wonder what exactly it was that possessed me to go to L.A. by myself to train with Sensei, anyway?

The truth is, I had been having a serious test of faith over the past few weeks, and had arrived at another tipping point in my training. Which is my secret ninja code phrase meaning I was thinking about quitting. Again. I have probably thought about quitting more times than all of the dojo’s students over the long standing history of the school combined, and was a standing joke among a few of the senior black belts. At one point they even had a pool going to see when I would quit, because I was so far out of my comfort zone and the most unlikely person to ever step onto the mat and start training, especially in my first year of training. If I missed a class, at least one of the guys would ask Marc where I was, followed by the question, “Did we scare her off?” His answer was always the same. “No. Not yet.”

Although I only thought about quitting, after just a year into my training, I knew in my heart that I wouldn’t. It was too much a part of me and my life. However, this time it was different. I had been training for eleven years, and wasn’t sure if I should continue on, or call it good and close this chapter of my life. After all, I had gotten so much farther than anyone ever thought possible, including me. And I already had the distinct honor and privilege of becoming my Sensei’s first female black belt. In his twenty-year long history of teaching martial arts, I was The One, which is pretty remarkable considering that the man had to literally drag me onto the mat, kicking and screaming the entire time, and not in a good way. I guess the rest, as they say, is history.