cheezyvegan

Smlove Pie

2007-12-06T20:22:00.001-05:00

This is from Isa and Terry's new cookbook Veganomicon, which is outrageous. This pie is pretty outrageous also, it was so rich, nobody would have believed it was made out of tofu, but I did not tell anyone.......................... Whenever non-vegans hear the "T" word they usually put their forks down, so I did not mention a thing. I will make this again and again especially when I want to impress people with rich, decadent vegan cooking.

Thank You Dreena

2007-12-06T20:12:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture, I know FINALLY! of the Orange Sesame baked tofu I made a few weeks ago with Coconut Lime Basmati Rice, this is thanks to Dreena's new book Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. This was exceptional, I love it. This cookbook has become a staple around my kitchen lately, I find myself going to it for reference time and time again. I am dying the try the peanut sesame hummus and the cashew tofu. Everything in it sounds unique and memorable, I just wish I had more time and more money to cook everything. Thank you Dreena for all the help that you provide for me in the kitchen. Now, if only your friend Julie Hasson would write a vegan cookbook!

Take the Pressure Off

2007-12-06T14:35:00.000-05:00

I have decided that I am not going to follow a strict diet, I am going to just let myself enjoy my food and have fun with it. You know who does this is Christina Pirello, I love watching her cook, she has no fears she just throws together what she knows will taste good. She does not have any alarmist views on the use of oils, nuts, seeds, avocados, pasta etc etc etc etc etc...... Christina simply stays away from animal fats, animal proteins and cooks with a huge variety of unprocessed plant foods. I love it. I get so tired of analyzing everything I eat, it gets to be exhausting, then I end up binging. I know I wrote about this before but I have been struggling with this for the past year.

My eating plan will consist of: Veggies, fruit, whole grains/whole grain products(bread, pasta tortillas), beans/unprocessed bean products (tofu, tempeh,soymilk), nuts, seeds, and once in a while some faux meat products. I will use some extra virgin olive oil to cook with when I feel like it also I will use some avocado or macadamia nut oil to bake with. Christina gave me that tip and it is wonderful. No more pressure, seriously!

I still have some pictures to download, I made Bryanna's Neatball recipe and they were perfect, the really did not fall apart in the sauce. I also made Dreena's Orange Sesame Tofu with Coconut Lime Rice, Erik Marcus got me cooking that up. I promise I will download the pictures tonight.

Yes, I am still mad about the almonds and greens......... I am very glad to have gotten some feedback on this topic, though not a lot because nobody is aware of it, so scary!

I am so sorry I neglected you

2007-12-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

I am so sorry I have not been participating in veganmofo, I have gotten side tracked, once again. I am so easily distracted these days.

I want talk about Dreena's chicpea patties I made a few weeks ago and baked, they were okay. Well, today I took them out of the freezer this morning and then later for dinner I fried them in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, they were outrageously delicious!!! I also made some mashed potatoes with EB and green beans. It was so good, I am still dreaming about it two hours later.

I also want to know why(!!!!!) the pasteurization of raw almonds and organic leafy greens is not all over the news. The FDA is going to start spraying beautiful raw almonds with rocket fuel (a.k.a a known carcinogen also banned in Europe) and they are also considering doing this to leafy greens as well, all the while continuing to label them organic! Am I the only one who feels like this is the beginning of the end of organics? Maybe I am over reacting, but it is certainly a turn in the wrong direction for our health and the health of our planet. If there is anyone out there that knows of anything more I can do please let me know ASAP.

Pumpkins and Mushrooms and Lentils

2007-11-06T12:42:00.000-05:00

This weekend I made some Pumpkin Spice Bread from the PPK website, Thanks Isa. It was very low in fat and so good. I keep thinking about it and to bad it is already gone. I am glad the others who tried it enjoyed it as well, meaning, I did not devour the whole thing on my own. Sorry no pics yet!

Also this weekend I made a lentil walnut dip that I developed from a recipe on PPK website. My recipe went something like this:
1/2 cup brown lentils
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
sauteed shallot
sauteed garlic clove
olive oil
salt
pepper
fresh rosemary
ground sage (just a tiny pinch)
dried thyme (just a tiny pinch)
Galaxy Vegan Parmesan
lemon juice
teaspoon of tamari
(next time maybe a dash of red wine)
oh yeah and some no-chicken broth to get it moving in the food processor (instead of using more oil)
Blend, blend, blend! Serve with the following chips.
-Brush some whole wheat pitas with Earth balance and baked them for 20 minutes, then break them up to whatever size you perfer and you have chips to go with my dip. DELICIOUS!

I then had a portebello mushroom covered in pesto and sun dried tomatoes(made by my mother while watching the football game), this was baked in the oven at 325 for 1/2 hour, this was beautiful. Thanks Mom.

I also was thinking about an old favorite called the "Chinatown" which is a beef(the horror) burger simmered in teryaki sauce (beef!, gag me). So instead I got Amy's All American Burgers(grain based) and marinated them in a teryaki sauce with a little olive oil. I then grilled them on the stove top, they came out delicious, better then my old fave. I served this on a sprouted grain roll with french fries and it made a perfect "Saturday Night before a Halloween Party" meal. We loved it. I think I will make them again tonight and take some pictures.

I promise more pictures are on the way.......................................................

What I have been up to lately:

2007-11-02T16:01:00.000-04:00

I want to update you in words what I have cooked over the past two weeks. I don't have pics at the moment but I will start to take them again next week.

1) Chinese stir fry(I made this recipe up) It had tons of veggies, hoison sauce, seschueun sauce, sesame oil, a little agave nectar. I cooked all the veggies in white wine, great option, the whole thing came out great. I added a bit to much crushed red pepper flake and you needed to eat it with a gallon of water, next time I will cut back on that. Oh yeah and I added raw cashews to the dish as well, forgot about that. I give this recipe an A-, it would be an A if it were not for to much hot!

2) I have been loving Neal Barnard's updated website and his recipes, great low fat ideas. Anyway, last week I made his recipe called Seitan Cousselet from "Breaking the Food Seduction" I used store bought seitan, which was a little to sweet for me, I would rather have made my own, but it was quicker this way. I few things I added to the recipe were kitchen bouquet for a darker gravy and thyme and marjoram. The next time I make this I will use fresh rosemary, I love fresh rosemary. Anyway, the recipe was good with some potatoes, it is a good "meat" and potatoes meal. I give this recipe a B+

3) Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce, from the Millennium Cookbook (love this cookbook!) I served this with WW pasta and broccoli. I liked it, but I swear I can't find anything to taste as good as cheese, I just have to give it up. This recipe was not memorable but I did like it. I will give it a B- Next time I will add some earth balance, but last week when I cooked it I was on my McDougall kick. As you will see, I go on and off the low fat bandwagon every other week or so.

4) Chicpea Patties with Hain Golden Gravy. The chicpea patties are from Dreena's new book "Eat Drink and be Vegan" The patties were awesome, we loved them and the gravy made them even better with some mashed potatoes and veggies. I fried them and it made a crispy coating, delicious. I give this recipe a B+ because as I said I was on my McDougall kick and the fact that I fried them bugged me...........

5) Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies, again from Dreena's new cookbook. These were very healthy and delicious. I love how Dreena uses a lot of alternative flours, I love experimenting with them, there are so many. Anyway, this gets an A. Also instead of the three tablespoons of oil I used only two with 1 tbsp of applesauce.

6) Browines by Neal Barnard. These were fat free and so good. Again I got this recipe from the "Breaking the Food Seduction" book. I used silken tofu in this recipe so the brownies came out very moist and delicious, would have been good with some vanilla soy ice cream. A-

7) I got the DVD "Everyday Dish" with Bryanna Clark Grogan, Dreena Burton, and Julie Hasson. I loved it and I made a recipe from it right away. It was Julie's Deli Noodle Soup, so good and so nostalgic. It was just like the chicken noodle soup I used to eat as a kid. I have been eating this soup all week for lunches and a few dinners, it gets better everyday. I used TVP chunks in it, like real chicken, it is scary. We had this with some chewy Iggy's garlic bread with some Earth Balance. This gets an easy A.

8) I made the chicpea patties again only I baked them. I have to say I like them better fried (of course!) also I used Roads End Organics Shitake Gravy, it was not good at all. It was dry and flavorless. Anyway I give this a C, these will be fried for now on.

9) Tube of Polenta! I bought a tube of polenta at Whole Foods and sliced it up and grilled it with some zucchini, roasted reds, and portebellos, so good. I used olive oil spray to get those awesome grill marks. I also made some tomato garlic sauce to smother them in, then I added my fave Galaxy brand vegan parmesan to the top. I wanted to add cannelini beans but I did not have any, next time and maybe some toasted pine nuts. Easily an A.

10) Last Friday night I was dying for pizza (what's new) and I decided to make my own pizza crust. So I used the simplest recipe I could find, which was white whole wheat flour, baking powder and a bottle of beer. Also there was no need to knead the dough, just mix and spread on pizza stone. No fat. I also added roasted garlic, rosemary, roasted reds, tomatoes, portebellos, sun dried tomatoes and salt and pepper. The crust took forever to cook and I realized I should have let it cook on its own before I added the toppings. Next time. Anyway it also got stuck to the pizza stone it took a few minutes to get it unstuck. It was pretty good, it was crispy on the bottom and doughy and soft in the middle. A little too doughy so next time I will cook it before adding the toppings and I will add some fat, it did need it. Otherwise not bad, I will give it a B-.

I want to be back

2007-11-02T11:43:00.000-04:00

I have been away for awhile, trying to figure some things out. I had not been cooking much or eating well. I am back, I am ready to get cooking and spread the Vegan Word. I will start posting my recipes again. I want to mention that I will not be concentrating on any one type of vegan eating plan, for example, McDougall or Fuhrman as I have done in the past. Doing this really stifles my creativity, so I am going to just cook meals with tons of veggies, beans, grains, fruit, nuts and seeds........

I got two new cookbooks also, Dreena's and Veganomicon, I have not made anything from veganomnicon yet, maybe this weekend. In Dreena's book I made the chicpea patties and lemon poppyseed cookies, both were so good, of course the chicpea patties were better fried. Anyway I will keep you all updated.

Tofu Cutlets and Slashed Potatoes

2007-04-25T19:17:00.000-04:00

This meal is omni approved! I can't believe how great Jo Stepaniak's Oven Roasted Tom Tofu is. I have made it about three times and it is unbelievable to me how much it tastes like chicken.

I made this marinade last night, a mixture of soy sauce, water, nooch, garlic, onion, coriander, chili powder and I let the tofu soak in this over night and all day. Also I had frozen the tofu and thawed it before hand as well as pressed it so it really absorbed all the marinade and it was full of flavor. Then I breaded the tofu with a mixture of whole wheat breadcrumbs, cornmeal, nooch, black pepper, garlic. Step one dip tofu in flour, step two dip tofu in soy milk, step three dredge tofu through breadcrumb mixture. Then I placed the tofu on a wax paper covered pan and baked in a 400 degree oven for 40 mins. It was so crunchy on the outside and juicy and flavorful inside, it was incredible. Also I made slashed potatoes with baby red potatoes and I added some soy milk and shredded kale. I used the gravy from VwaV, the one I used the other night with the black eyed pea croquettes, the mushroom gravy. For a veggie I steamed broccoli and kale and covered it with a dressing I made which consisted of Dijon mustard, veggie broth, and agave nectar and a splash of a commercial honey mustard dressing I had in the fridge. Everything I made tonight was so perfect, I am so full I don't know if I can fit my ETL smoothie in tonight.

Miso Soup

2007-04-25T19:08:00.000-04:00

Last night I made Miso Noodle Soup, I was unable to take picture because my cameras battery wore out. I still have some leftover in the refrigerator that I will take a picture of and post. I love miso soup, it is one of my faves, of course it is not ETL because miso is so high in sodium, but I love it and I will enjoy it once in awhile. Anyway here is the recipe I threw together last night.

Miso Noodle Soup

brown rice noodles (however much you want)
2 tbsp dark miso
shredded carrots
chopped green onions
shitake mushrooms
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp lemon grass
sesame seeds
tofu diced
bok choy
broccoli
soy sauce
sesame oil

I did not measure anything except the miso, just add what veggies you like and how much of whatever veggies you like. Also I did measure the sesame oil, I added only one tbsp to the whole pot. Anyway this was very yummy, it will always be one of my fave soups and of course I adapted a recipe from fatfreevegan.com, that is my standby website when I am in doubt, she also follows Eat To Live so I have much trust in her recipes.

Black Eyed Pea Croquettes With Mashed Potatoes

2007-04-23T18:58:00.000-04:00

Here I made Black Eyed Peas Croquettes with mushroom gravy, green beans and mashed potatoes. I got this recipe from VwaV, my fave most worn down cookbook. I really don't know what I would do without this book. Of course this meal was A+ as are the rest of the recipes in this book.

Drea This Is For You

2007-04-21T15:24:00.000-04:00

My pal at work and I were discussing chicken fingers and how much she loved them. I told her I could tofu fingers that would be even better so I tried these, one batch was baked the other was fried. As you all know Eat To Live is my nutritional bible so I usually don't fry things that is why in the pictures above the plate with only two fingers are the ones that were fried, the other plate were the ones that were baked. The baked ones came out so much crispier then the fried, but the fried did taste a little better. I think I prefer the baked version that was very crispy, we loved them with barbecue sauce and honey mustard dressing

I marinated tofu in a recipe I adapted from Vegan Vittles called Tom Tofu, I know I can't post the recipe because Joanne Stepaniak does not like that. But I did marinate the tofu overnight in her marinade. The next morning I sliced the tofu into fingers and set up a line of whole wheat pastry flour on a plate, soy milk in a bowl, and a mix of Italian breadcrumbs, cornmeal, nooch, black pepper, garlic granules. I then dipped the marinated tofu in the flour, then soymilk, the dredged in the breadcrumb mixture. Next I put the four fingers in a 450 degrees oven for 20 mins, these were so crispy and tasty, I swear I was eating chicken. The marinade really gives it a meaty.poultry like flavor. Also I had used frozen tofu so the texture was meaty and chewy. Then the other two fingers I fried in one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil until they were browned, these were so tasty but did not get quite as crispy as the baked batch. Either way I will be making these again with fries and ketchup or with brown gravy and mashed potatoes. I will also share them with all my tofu-suspicious friends.

Ginger Almond Salad

2007-04-21T15:18:00.000-04:00

This is a dressing I got from the Eat To Live website it is called Ginger Almond Dressing and it goes like this:

1/4 cup soymilk
1/4 cup water
1/2 inch piece fresh ginger
1/2 cup almond butter
2 tbsp tahini
2 dates
Blend in a vitimix until smooth, I add a bit more water and soymilk to thin it out a bit and take away some of the sweetness, it is so sweet!

Today I made a salad with baby romaine, goji berries, walnuts, diced pears, diced zucchini and the ginger almond dressing. This all worked so well together, it may be my fave salad of the month. I love the taste of fresh ginger, I think I did add a bit more then the recipe called for, i can never just leave a recipe alone.

Quesadilla

2007-04-19T19:21:00.000-04:00

I made quesadillas tonight with Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas, I put some refried beans with some water sauteed onions, garlic, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, spinach in the quesadilla with a little bit of soy cheese. I also made some guacamole for the side, it was so good.

Quesadilla

2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 large onion sliced

1/2 red bell pepper diced

1 jalapeno diced

1 can refried beans

2 Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas

salsa and guacamole on the side.

saute garlic, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno until soft then set aside. Put first tortilla on skillet and spread refried beans on top then pile veggies on top with cheese, then place second tortilla on top. Keep flipping until brown and crispy. Top with guacamole and salsa.

Black Bean Burgers

2007-04-17T19:10:00.000-04:00

This was a recipe I adapted from Dr. Fuhrman's Website from a member named Stephanie. I did not measure anything so I will simply estimate what I threw in.

1 can of black beans

2 cloves garlic

1 shallot

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp Bragg's

2 tbsp 365 brand barbecue sauce

handful of vegan gourmet cheddar

diced jalapeno

1/2 diced red bell pepper

black pepper

crumbled tofu

breadcrumbs (whole wheat)

pinch of dried oregano

next time I will add some oat flour to make the burgers firmer

mash all ingredients together and let rest in the fridge for 1 hour. Form into patties and cook on skillet or in oven. I made some guacamole and put this on the burger with some salsa, it was really tasty.

Tomato Barley Stew

2007-04-16T19:01:00.000-04:00

This is a fabulous recipe I got from the Dr. Fuhrman Eat To Live website. This recipe is called Tomato Barley Stew, of course I had to change it a little bit. Also I made some polenta then fried it on a nonstick skillet. I served the soup over the polenta and we both loved it.

Tomato Barley Stew

2 cans of San Marzano tomatoes, blended smooth in a vita mix or other blender

2 carrots

1 zucchini

1 onion

1 cup veggie broth

1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes

4 portebello mushrooms sauteed on nonstick pan with a spray of olive oil

basil

rosemary

black pepper

1/3 cup soymilk

3/4 cup cooked barley

cook carrots, zucchini, onion in one cup of water and veggie broth until they are soft. Add to vita mix and blend until smooth. Blend tomatoes until smooth. Add tomatoes and onion blend to a pan and heat up again, add barley, chopped, sun dried tomatoes and sauteed portebello mushrooms chopped. Add tsp of dried basil and 1 tsp crushed dried rosemary, add pepper to taste.

Polenta

1/2 cup polenta and three cups of water

stir until thickened

add a handful of soy parmesan

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/3 cup soymilk

pepper

basil

rosemary

let polenta cool down and fry by the spoonful on a lightly sprayed skillet.

Place polenta circles on bottom of bowl and top with soup, add some more soy parmesan with crushed black pepper.

This recipe gets and A+

Quiche Disaster

2007-04-12T20:34:00.000-04:00

I made a quiche tonight, it was what you would call a flop. I got the recipe from the Enlightened Kitchen, the recipe sounded so tasty and it was. The recipe consisted of silken tofu, miso, sherry, soymilk, broccoli, shallots, garlic, bell pepper, and potato flakes. One thing I did was use chicpea flour instead of potato flakes. I searched for potato flakes but I could not find them at Wild Oats, of course. I can't find much at Wild Oats, they are always out of items I need. Anway that was my first mistake then I put the quiche in a small glass dish and it would not cook through, it was too thick. It took forever to cook and then it was way to soft, it was a big bowl of mush, but it tasted good, if only it held its shape. Oh well next time. I did not even bother taking a picture.

Some Easy Tacos

2007-04-11T19:05:00.000-04:00

I made some tacos out of TVP, black beans, Bearitos seasoning, cabbage, tomatoes and my guacamole. It was really good, it has been awhile since I ate a beef taco but tonight I felt very nostalgic of my high school days when Taco Bell Beef Tacos were a source of excitement. I made the guacamole with pressed garlic, onion powder (I was lazy), cilantro, black pepper, lime juice and a little salt. I was debating whether or not to get vegan gourmet cheddar and Toffuti sour cream but fortunately after reading Michael Pollan's article today I decided against it. He said, "if your great grandmother would not recognize it as food then don't buy it," I guess Toffuti and vegan gourmet fall perfectly into that category plus they are expensive. Also keep in mind I did use TVP, which is rare, but I feel I needed the protein boost.

Michael Pollan's Tips for Healthy Eating

2007-04-11T13:03:00.000-04:00

This article is so interesting, I think everyone should read this. I am considering now getting his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. It was easy to give up meat but this guy concentrates on all the horrible frankenstein foods we consume here in America. Anyway here are a list of rules Michael Pollen suggests we follow for health:

1. Eat food. Though in our current state of confusion, this is much easier said than done. So try this: Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. (Sorry, but at this point Moms are as confused as the rest of us, which is why we have to go back a couple of generations, to a time before the advent of modern food products.) There are a great many foodlike items in the supermarket your ancestors wouldn’t recognize as food (Go-Gurt? Breakfast-cereal bars? Nondairy creamer?); stay away from these.

2. Avoid even those food products that come bearing health claims. They’re apt to be heavily processed, and the claims are often dubious at best. Don’t forget that margarine, one of the first industrial foods to claim that it was more healthful than the traditional food it replaced, turned out to give people heart attacks. When Kellogg’s can boast about its Healthy Heart Strawberry Vanilla cereal bars, health claims have become hopelessly compromised. (The American Heart Association charges food makers for their endorsement.) Don’t take the silence of the yams as a sign that they have nothing valuable to say about health.

3. Especially avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number — or that contain high-fructose corn syrup.None of these characteristics are necessarily harmful in and of themselves, but all of them are reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed.

4. Get out of the supermarket whenever possible. You won’t find any high-fructose corn syrup at the farmer’s market; you also won’t find food harvested long ago and far away. What you will find are fresh whole foods picked at the peak of nutritional quality. Precisely the kind of food your great-great-grandmother would have recognized as food.

5. Pay more, eat less. The American food system has for a century devoted its energies and policies to increasing quantity and reducing price, not to improving quality. There’s no escaping the fact that better food — measured by taste or nutritional quality (which often correspond) — costs more, because it has been grown or raised less intensively and with more care. Not everyone can afford to eat well in America, which is shameful, but most of us can: Americans spend, on average, less than 10 percent of their income on food, down from 24 percent in 1947, and less than the citizens of any other nation. And those of us who can afford to eat well should. Paying more for food well grown in good soils — whether certified organic or not — will contribute not only to your health (by reducing exposure to pesticides) but also to the health of others who might not themselves be able to afford that sort of food: the people who grow it and the people who live downstream, and downwind, of the farms where it is grown.

“Eat less” is the most unwelcome advice of all, but in fact the scientific case for eating a lot less than we currently do is compelling. “Calorie restriction” has repeatedly been shown to slow aging in animals, and many researchers (including Walter Willett, the Harvard epidemiologist) believe it offers the single strongest link between diet and cancer prevention. Food abundance is a problem, but culture has helped here, too, by promoting the idea of moderation. Once one of the longest-lived people on earth, the Okinawans practiced a principle they called “Hara Hachi Bu”: eat until you are 80 percent full. To make the “eat less” message a bit more palatable, consider that quality may have a bearing on quantity: I don’t know about you, but the better the quality of the food I eat, the less of it I need to feel satisfied. All tomatoes are not created equal.

6. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves. Scientists may disagree on what’s so good about plants — the antioxidants? Fiber? Omega-3s? — but they do agree that they’re probably really good for you and certainly can’t hurt. Also, by eating a plant-based diet, you’ll be consuming far fewer calories, since plant foods (except seeds) are typically less “energy dense” than the other things you might eat. Vegetarians are healthier than carnivores, but near vegetarians (“flexitarians”) are as healthy as vegetarians. Thomas Jefferson was on to something when he advised treating meat more as a flavoring than a food.

7. Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks. Confounding factors aside, people who eat according to the rules of a traditional food culture are generally healthier than we are. Any traditional diet will do: if it weren’t a healthy diet, the people who follow it wouldn’t still be around. True, food cultures are embedded in societies and economies and ecologies, and some of them travel better than others: Inuit not so well as Italian. In borrowing from a food culture, pay attention to how a culture eats, as well as to what it eats. In the case of the French paradox, it may not be the dietary nutrients that keep the French healthy (lots of saturated fat and alcohol?!) so much as the dietary habits: small portions, no seconds or snacking, communal meals — and the serious pleasure taken in eating. (Worrying about diet can’t possibly be good for you.) Let culture be your guide, not science.

8. Cook. And if you can, plant a garden. To take part in the intricate and endlessly interesting processes of providing for our sustenance is the surest way to escape the culture of fast food and the values implicit in it: that food should be cheap and easy; that food is fuel and not communion. The culture of the kitchen, as embodied in those enduring traditions we call cuisines, contains more wisdom about diet and health than you are apt to find in any nutrition journal or journalism. Plus, the food you grow yourself contributes to your health long before you sit down to eat it. So you might want to think about putting down this article now and picking up a spatula or hoe.

9. Eat like an omnivore. Try to add new species, not just new foods, to your diet. The greater the diversity of species you eat, the more likely you are to cover all your nutritional bases. That of course is an argument from nutritionism, but there is a better one, one that takes a broader view of “health.” Biodiversity in the diet means less monoculture in the fields. What does that have to do with your health? Everything. The vast monocultures that now feed us require tremendous amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to keep from collapsing. Diversifying those fields will mean fewer chemicals, healthier soils, healthier plants and animals and, in turn, healthier people. It’s all connected, which is another way of saying that your health isn’t bordered by your body and that what’s good for the soil is probably good for you, too.
-Michael Pollan (article in the New York Times) here is the link to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=41a13b78e5cb87fb&ex=1176436800

John Robbins

2007-04-11T11:01:00.000-04:00

John Robbins is going to be on Dr. Joel Fuhrman's radio show today, he is a great author and I have read three of his books, I plan on reading his newest book. On this radio show he will discuss this book. I actually bought it for my parents for their anniversary, the book is called Healthy at 100. Here is the link to the radio show http://www.modavox.com/VoiceAmericaCMS/Webmodules/HostModaview.aspx?ShowId=185&channelurl=http://www.modavox.com/voiceamerica, I can't wait!

Blackened Tempeh Salad

2007-04-10T18:13:00.000-04:00

The dressing on this salad has to be one of the most amazing dressings I have ever tasted. It is called Casinera's Cesar Dressing, I got it from the Eat To Live website. Here are the ingredients:

1/2 cup raw cashews
1 cup plain soymilk
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoon of lemon juice
4-8 cloves of ROASTED garlic (I use one tablespoon of toasted garlic granules, I don't like too much garlic)
then blend up in a vita-mix or other powerful blender.

Eat To Live website has the best salad dressings and they only use whole food fats, a good example is the one above. There is not any extracted oil only ground nuts (good fat) which helps in digesting the nutrients in the salad. The rest of the salad is baby romaine with tomatoes and blackened tempeh from The Real Food Daily cookbook. All of it was very good.

Rustic Italian Stew with Kale

2007-04-09T18:47:00.000-04:00

This recipe is from http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/02/rustic-red-kale-and-white-bean-soup.html, her recipes are incredible and her blog is beautiful. I get so many good recipes from this blog. The Thai Coconut Mushroom Soup is also good, I made this a few weeks ago and it was the best soup I have had in a longtime. This Rustic Red Kale and White Bean Soup was very good I added some brown rice pasta to mine and I added some soy parmesan to it when I served it. The fat free vegan website I have linked, is one of my favorite standbys, she always makes low fat vegan recipes that are tasty. Check it out to those who have never seen it.

Blackened Tempeh

2007-04-09T18:43:00.000-04:00

I got the Real Food Daily cookbook the other day, I wish I could go there to eat, the menu looks incredible. I decided to make the blackened tempeh and the black bean and corn salad. It was so good. I did not add any oil to the marinade, it does not need it. I did have to spray the tempeh with olive oil in order for it to brown and crisp in the oven. I do love this cookbook but there is so much oil in all of the recipes, I don't think there is a need to add 1/2 cup of oil to every marinade, I just substitute veggie broth.

Quinoa Brekkie

2007-04-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

I have still been struggling with ETL, I want to do it but at the same time I don't. Anyway I am still eating Dr. Fuhrman approved meals whenever possible. Above is a breakfast I had this morning. Quinoa with raspberries, goji berries, dates, cashew butter, a little agave nectar. This was really good, I wish I had almond milk to pour over it, but that will be tomorrow's breakfast. Also quinoa is high in protein remember, it is a complete protein, not that we need to worry about that.

Mock Tuna Sandwiches

2007-04-05T18:44:00.000-04:00

I made mock tuna sandwiches with oven fries and green beans. I adapted the recipe from The Peaceful Palate and VwaV. Here is what I did

1 can of chicpeas

3 Tbsp of Veganiase

2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar

2 tsp onion powder

1 tbsp garlic flakes

1/2 cup shredded carrot

salt

black pepper

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

chopped celery (how much you want)

green onion (however much you want)

chopped pickles (to taste)

I mashed chicpeas with a potato masher and then added the rest of the ingredients. I put this mock tuna on two slices of sodium free Ezekial sprouted grain bread with raw collard greens. The oven fries where russet potatoes I sliced up and sprayed with a little extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of salt & paprika. I think I may leave out the apple cidar vinegar next time, I just don't like the taste of it. Otherwise it was all pretty good.

Cornbread and Stew

2007-04-05T16:23:00.000-04:00

I made cornbread last night from Neal Barnard's Food For Life, it contains a little bit of olive oil and whole wheat pastry flour. We had it with our Chipotle, Black Bean, Corn Stew from VwaV (I was not crazy about this stew) I did not take a picture of it unfortunately, it did look really good. I am not a fan of tomato based soups with tex mex flavor.

My Favorite Salad

2007-04-05T16:15:00.000-04:00

This is my lunch salad which I always make with baby romaine. This salad has pine nuts, baby bella mushrooms, celery, baby romaine, shallots, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, avocado, chicpeas, a little salt and the dressing is made from Kugen veggie juice(from comcentrate) with red wine vinegar, onion powder, oregano, basil, black pepper, and lemon juice. This salad is really good.

Let's Cook

2007-03-26T15:02:00.001-04:00

I am still ETLing and I am really getting thin, I am noticing more and more each day that I am losing so much weight on ETL. I have decided that I am going to the Dr. for a full blood work up. I have been getting sick too much lately and my hairdresser told me the other day that I lost too much hair when she washed and combed it(that really scared me). I could be missing some important nutritional component??? So I ordered vitamins today, I got a multi vitamin, a DHA supplement and a vitamin D supplement for healthy hair and nails. Also I think I may have to up my calories a bit.

Anyway as I mentioned before ETL is a fabulous way to eat but the recipes are a bit lacking, so the past few months I stuck to the same old stuff and was not really cooking anything interesting. The other day I took out all of my vegan cookbooks and decided to be creative and cook something fun again, only I would leave out the oil if possible and reduce salt to fit into ETL guidelines. Well I made a tofu basil lasagna that I will eat tonight, last night I made a Thai Coconut Curry soup, it was so good. Also I made a salad with greens, dried cherries, dried apricots, fresh organic strawberries, goji berries, orange slices, walnuts, sesame seeds and a cashew orange dressing (this is from DR. Fuhrmans site). I really need to start cooking again and eating more, I will keep everything ETL, meaning I will concentrate on beans and greens but I will not be afraid of a little tiny bit of oil for flavor.

I may even order a few new cookbooks to get me going. I want the Native Foods Cookbook and Real Food Daily Cookbook, they come in a set on Amazon so I may buy them tonight. Anyway I will keep you updated on my cooking. Also I have to say Vegan with a Vengeance is my absolute Fave, I was flipping through it the other day and I realized it is the only cookbook I have that I have cooked about half the recipes and loved all of them. I can't wait till she comes out with a new one.

Let's Cook

2007-03-26T15:02:00.000-04:00

So Far So Good

2007-03-07T16:29:00.000-05:00

I think I am better except for a little cough and a blocked ear. My body feels strong and awake again, finally! I have been eating ETL and have been doing pretty well. I made an African Peanut Stew on Friday which I was not crazy about at all. Sunday night I made pesto sauce with brown rice pasta, that was very good. Monday night I made a green Thai curry from scratch, it took me two hours to make it, I toasted and ground all of my own seeds, soaked my own chilies and it took forever. It was pretty good but a bit to spicy for me. The coconut milk really helped calm the spice down. Also I have been eating salads with beans and nuts for lunches. I made the best dressing today from garden veggie juice, basil, oregano, pepper, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, onion powder, this dressing was the best I have ever made. The juice I used is store bought and from concentrate, but I think it is okay if I am just using it as a dressing. Yes it has a bit of salt in it, but I am not done with salt just yet. I was thinking I could also use tomato puree or use tomato paste and water if I did not want to use juice concentrate.

Tonight I am making a Tuscan bean bake with polenta and steamed spinach with garlic. I am really looking forward to this, I am crazy for cannelini beans. If it comes out good I will leave the recipe tomorrow. You never know these days what will come out good, it seems it is 50/50 lately.

Also just so I can keep track my breakfasts have been soaked oatmeal with pecans or walnuts, bananas, frozen blueberries, and rice/soy milk unsweetened. This is really good. Also I have been really into apples lately, they really fill you up and the macs taste so good.

I am Sick Again

2007-02-23T21:36:00.000-05:00

I am sick again, this is the second time in one month. It is not as bad as the first time but I have a fever and that is bad enough. Due to the fact that I am sick my cravings are non existent, it has been easy to follow ETL like this. The thought of cheesy greasy foods make me feel sick.

Yesterday I finished my bridal registry with my mother, it was fun, I am so excited about the things I got. Anyway here was my menu yesterday

Breakfast- 2 slices of Ezekiel sprouted grain bread with mashed banana and apricot fruit spread, Brazil nuts, chamomile tea

lunch- portabello mushroom stew with added spinach

dinner- black bean soup with half a sandwich on whole grain bread with raw veggies and hummus; half a chocochip cookie; fruit and veggie smoothie/blended salad

today:

Breakfast- 2 slices of sprouted grain bread with apricot fruit spread, Brazil nuts, vanilla hazelnut tea

lunch- Italian stew with spinach; honeydew melon; kiwi

dinner- blended salad with kale, collards, strawberries, cherries, raw cashews, flax seeds, oat milk, 2 dates, cocoa powder, goji berries; herbal tea

I have not thought about Pizza Hut breadsticks once today, this is the first in a long time. Also I am still off caffeine and I did not add salt to any of my meals today, the Italian Stew I ate had no salt in it other then the little bit of low sodium veggie broth I used in making it also maybe there was a little in the tomato paste I used. I enjoyed it without the salt, this is another first. I hope I can continue on this track. Thanks to all of you at the forums.

White Flour and Salt = the arch enemy

2007-02-21T13:07:00.000-05:00

I had a really bad cravings day yesterday, all I could think about was cheese and bread. It was scary, I felt like a true addict must feel. So today I took ETL down a notch so that I would not fall off the wagon again like yesterday and eat a bagel with strawberry cream cheese and a piece of tirimisu. For breakfast I had soaked oatmeal in soy milk with goji berries, walnuts and banana. For lunch I had the portebello mushroom stew I made the other night but I added some ditilini pasta and it went down so much easier. Yesterday I tried eating it without pasta and I could not do it, I ended up eating a bagel because of that. For the rest of the way is a workout quads and biceps for dinner I am having a mini pizza on WW pita with broccoli, onions and mushrooms, tomatoes and a little soy cheese. Then I will have a smoothie with fruit and veggies. I am going to a friends house tonight and there will be wine and junk (poisonous foods) foods, none for me, though it will be tough because I am still sick and very tired. I need strength, I need will power. Help me stay away from cheese, white flour, and salt.

I thank all of the people at Dr. Furhman's forum for all of the support they have given me since I started, if it were not for them I can't say where I would be healthwise. I really want to give up all white foods and start working out. It would be such a blessing to not crave these foods anymore and instead crave excercise.

ETL ing it!

2007-02-20T09:31:00.000-05:00

I am still on ETL, I am still having cravings and I still miss cheese. But on a positive note I have not had coffee since last Weds, I think I am off it. I am feeling okay too, no bad withdrawls like before, I think switching to black tea really worked, thanks Dr. McDougall. Also I have been doing some cooking to keep this interesting. On Saturday I made a blueberry spice dressing which was made out of frozen blueberries blended with cashew butter, spicy pecan vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg and pom juice, it was delicious. I made a salad with this dressing and added some clementine slices, raw pistachios, and sesame seeds. Then I made a blow of water sauteed/steamed collards with garlic, paprika, pepper, ginger, onion flake, Chinese five spice, poultry seasoning, Bragg's, lemon, sprinkled with lightly toasted sesame seeds. Then I added some chicpeas and heated them through, this was also delicious.

I then proceeded to go to the gym and begin my workout I promised to begin. It was nice, I was so happy to get back into it again, also it helped that the gym was very quiet.

But then I went to the North End for dinner at Strega and I totally splurged, I ate a lot of cheesy food and white flour that night oh yeah and oil, it was all so good. Also there was wine involved. Then on Sunday I did not workout and I ate pizza with the cheese. It was all very bad.

On Monday I worked out and had a perfect ETL day listen to this:

breakfast- oatmeal soaked in almond/soy milk with goji berries, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, date sugar; clementines; ginger tea

lunch- green salad with carrots and tons of garbanzo beans, I made a dressing out of red wine vinegar, spicy brown mustard, onion powder, black pepper (tons). This was also really good.

Dinner- Lara bar; mushroom stew with portebellos, baby white mushrooms, spinach, green beans, white beans, red beans, onions, garlic, tomato paste, 1 "beef" bouillon, vegizest, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, marjoram, red pepper flake, parsley, red bell pepper; smoothie with kale, collards, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, goji berries, cocoa powder, 2 dates, hempseed, pom juice, soymilk.

I also am amazed that my cough is coming back, it is painful to cough, I can't believe it. I may have to get some more rest. We will see what happens...................

Day 2

2007-02-16T14:04:00.000-05:00

This is the longest I have gone without caffeine in a long time. I have been caffeine free for two whole days and it has not been painful. Usually when I try to give up coffee I get terrible headaches and a bad attitude. This time has been easier, think it is because I weened myself down to a cup every other day and then I switched to black tea, which is just not as stimulating. Now I am onto herbal tea, I have been drinking about 3 cups of it a day, my favorite is ginger tea. I am so proud of myself for not feeling like I may snap due to lack of caffeine.

Anyway, ETL has been going okay. My cravings are so unbearable, the are a force of their own. I keep thinking about pizza, asiago cheese bagel from Panera, and cheese croissants from DD's, do you think I miss cheese or what. I changed my diet to meat free and dairy free back in Sept 2006 and I still think and fantasize about cheese every single day, does it every go away? I still miss cheese in my salads, I used to be able to down a huge salad and enjoy because I would put feta, cheddar, or blue cheese on it and it would taste so good. Without the cheese I have to gag down a salad, I am just wondering when I will get used to it. I guess I have to admit when I go out to eat on Sat. nights I will cheat and have a little cheese, maybe that is why I can't get over my addiction. But anyway ETL is great other then the cravings I have been dealing with.

yesterday menu:

Breakfast- oatmeal, 2 clementines, banana, oatmeal, ginger tea

some chocolates left over from Valentines day

lunch- Italian stew

whoops, yogurt covered pretzels

dinner- pita pizza with broccoli, mushrooms, onions, garlic and a salad. Green smoothie.

today menu:

breakfast- oatmeal, 2 clementines, pecans, ginger tea

chocolate a little piece

lunch- Italian stew with steamed spinach

dinner- I am not sure yet which could spell trouble, I will try to eat ETL but Friday and Sat nights are the toughest.

also I have a workout plan all mapped out I will start this tomorrow, Amanda take note:

Saturday
chest workout

Sunday
shoulders and hamstrings

Monday
triceps and quads

Thurs
back and biceps

each of these days I will do 20-30 minutes cardio, I will start with walking on an incline. I really want to do this. I am hoping it will raise my energy level and help with my insane appetite.

Here They Come!

2007-02-14T09:10:00.000-05:00

This has happened to me before, after about a week of ETL I start getting rabid cravings. They get so bad that they actually scare me. I feel as though I have no control over the food I crave, especially when it is a sesame bagel with strawberry cream cheese and all I have to do is walk a few steps across the street to get it. Also I am trying to kick caffeine, which also sparks intense cravings. OHHHHH, what I would not do for an ice coffee with cream and a sesame bagel with strawberry cream cheese or/and a croissant with cheese. Ok this is tough. Also I brought in a salad today for lunch which is usually tough for me to eat. I wonder if this will ever go away.

Last night in class I was good and got a salad for dinner, I even brought some dressing I made at home, so there was no fat or salt in the salad. BUT then I proceeded to eat an almond croissant from Whole Foods, I don't know why I did it. It tasted so good but as soon as I was done I was so mad at myself, all I could think about was the croissant for the rest of the night. Why do we do this to ourselves, why do we do things that we don't want to do or things that we know are bad for us. I really need to read The Pleasure Trap, but I still have not gotten around to buying it. That will be the next book I purchase.

Here is my plan for today and I know this will be tough for me:

Breakfast- 2 clementines, banana, oats, almond milk, ginger tea, pecans

Lunch- salad with tomato, green bell pepper, avocado, red onion, tomato roasted red pepper dressing with garbanzo beans and pine nuts.

Dinner- I am not sure yet, maybe eggplant. Green smoothie

Wish me luck today, all I can think about is junk food today.

I think I am liking ETL

2007-02-13T09:34:00.000-05:00

I am on a road to recovery from SAD diet. I am working on ETL meals more and more, I am really enjoying them as well. This weekend I made the mishmash salad which has romaine, mixed greens, clementine pieces, strawberry slices, dried cherries, dried apricots, goji berries and walnuts. I made an orange cashew dressing to go over it and it was very good. Then I made Nicole's Italian Stew without the Boca sausage on Sunday. I used unsalted beans and tomatoes the only salt was the low sodium veggie broth I used. I really love salt and I feel eating without it is pointless.

Last night I made burritos with these fat free sprouted whole wheat tortillas I found at the Co-op last week, they are called Fat Flush and they were great. Also I made black beans with a sauce made of red onion, garlic, spinach, jalapeno pepper, green bell pepper, tomato, cilantro, chili powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, marjoram, cumin, lime, pepper, paprika. I simmered the beans in this sauce for an hour and then I made re fried beans with Bearitos seasoning, I did not eat much of this because of the sodium, but it was so good. I added some chopped avocado to the tops of the burritos. Also I had steamed kale with cashew cream sauce, this was pretty good but needed salt, I did not add any. Then after all that I had my green smoothie with collards and kale and goji berries, this was very good. I tried adding broccoli sprouts to my smoothie over the weekend and it tasted horrible, maybe I just put to many in.

I have class tonight so I will have to wing it for dinner. I may have a green smoothie before I go to class that way I can just get a small salad at Whole Foods for dinner and maybe a coffee. I am telling you giving up alcohol, caffeine, and salt are the hardest things for me. For now I am just going to greatly reduce my intake and from there I will see what happens. Also I am down to 119 lbs, this is the lowest I have been in a longtime, I may try for 115 but nothing lower then that.

my plan today:
Breakfast- 2 clementines, oats soaked in almond milk with banana, 1 small cup of coffee

lunch- Italian stew with added spinach, kiwi, ginger tea

dinner- green smoothie and salad, maybe a coffee during class.

also I must work on getting come cooked greens in each day also a difficult part for me.

Sweet Potato

2007-02-09T13:45:00.000-05:00

Last night was my first ETL dinner back on plan. I made a sweet potato, I was not that hungry. I steamed a sweet potato and stirred in some OJ, soy milk, dates, date sugar, walnuts, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, it was so good. I could not get over how perfect it tasted, then I followed that with a green smoothie made of, kale, collards, strawberries, cherries, 1 date, goji berries, oat milk, flax seed. I have to keep in mind that I must take this very slow and that is exactly what I am doing.

I am going to make and Italian Stew either tonight or Sunday, I am leaving the Boca sausage out even though it adds great flavor. Tomorrow I am going to make Dr. Fuhrman's Mishmash Salad with orange cashew dressing, this sounds really good, I really hope I like it. I have to be the pickiest eater in the universe.

here is my meal plan today
Breakfast- oats soaked in oat milk with banana and pecans, black tea

lunch- garden veggie soup from Panera with a whole grain roll, ginger tea

dinner- I will either eat Italian stew if I make it tonight or I will get a rice and bean burrito with guacamole, hot sauce, salsa. I am not sure because I already ate the high sodium soup from Panera so I would rather eat something I make with less sodium. We will see how the rest of the day goes. Also I have to stop at Whole Foods and pick up some supplies to make this soup and salad for the weekend. I will gauge my mood by how aggravating the trip to Whole Foods is then I will decide if I will make the soup tonight or not. ETL is so difficult on weekends, lets see how I do.

Green Smoothies and Ginger Tea

2007-02-08T12:46:00.000-05:00

Well I am now considering Eat To Live again. I am so all over the place aren't I? Anyway I am attempting to get back on the ETL wagon. I am nervous about it, I was so miserable at the end of December with this damn diet. I have forgotten all of the bad and can only think of the good. I think I am going to slowing get back into the diet, I am not going pure perfection as I did in the past. I am not cutting out salt yet, that will come later. Also I will have two servings of grain instead of one to start out and see where that takes me. I will eat oatmeal for breakfast and a grain with dinner, I think that will work better with my body. Also on ETL you can adjust to what suits you, as I am not trying to lose any weight.

I am going to look over the recipe sections again and make one or two new ones a week, I will not try to tackle the whole recipe section in one night and overwhelm myself as I did before. I will take it very slow and 100% ETL is my long term goal. My mini goal for now is no white flour, no white sugar, tons of fruit and vegetables, no animal fat, no dairy, less grains, more veggies. I second mini goal is to grow to love vegetables the same way I love bread and pasta now.

Today's plan so far is:

raw oats with unsweetened soy milk, banana, clementine

ginger tea

sweet potato with pineapple, orange juice, dates

green smoothie

I have not been hungry at all lately I think it is because I have been sick, my appetite is gone, which is a good thing. I am trying to skip lunch so I can feel true hunger by dinner time and see what that feels like.

Don't worry Dr. McDougall I may be back, you are my second fave DR.

McDougall and Fuhrman

2007-02-02T12:04:00.000-05:00

HI all,

I know it has been awhile but I have been so confused for the past month and a half. I had been doing ETL and I was failing miserably and switched to the all American SAD diet for Christmas and the holidays. I ate Alfredo sauces, white pasta, cake, pudding, beer, wine, scotch, Chinese food, cheeses, no meat but plenty of the dairy shit. Then I began to realize I was falling off the wagon. I tried to go back to 100% ETL but failed and ended up hating Dr. Fuhrman for it. So as a result I switched to McDougall plan, which is wonderful and easier than ETL. I am doing great on it and it fits perfectly into my lifestyle. My cravings have even subsided. SO I will continue with McDougall program, but Dr. Fuhrman also has some wonderful, smart points as well that I will add into in order to moderate my McDougall plan. Flax, raw nuts, seeds, and tons of greens. Oh and I never stopped the blended salads, I love those.

I am basically trying to end my addictions to food, I want to be healthy and energetic on most days and I want to look good as I age. That being said I am going to use Dr. McDougall's program as a main gauge or outline for my meal plans with Dr. Fuhrman's extra points as modifications to my main eating plan. They are both such great plans for different reasons. I like that Dr. Fuhrman pushed more veggies on me otherwise I may be tempted to skimp on them. Dr. McDougall wants us to eat grains as the main part of the meal which is great for me because it satisfies my appetite. Dr. Fuhrman and Dr. McDougall do see eye to eye on many points, it seems they articulate the points differently. One major difference is that Dr. McDougall firmly believes that white potatoes and nutritious whereas Fuhrman thinks they are a waste of calories. I love potatoes and I think they are very nutritious, I am glad to base my meals around them, basing my meals around them also helps me to get all of my veggies in. I have a very hard time eating veggies plain, I need the starch under them.

So I have been sick for the past 3 days and I am dying to go grocery shopping at Wild Oats or Whole Foods and restock my pantry. I am so low on everything I need to put a good healthy meal together. I think I will do this today after work. Fresh kale, collards, spinach, romaine, tomatoes, avocado etc etc etc etc etc..............................................................

Italian-ish Stew by Nicole

2006-12-14T20:32:00.000-05:00

Since I have been following ETL I have found some different blogs to check out and this is where I got this recipe from, a very hardworking ETL young woman named Nicole. Thank you Nicole this was so good. My new fave soup. Everyone who reads this must make this soup.
The recipe is:

2 cans of non salt cannelini beans
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups diced celery
3 medium onions diced
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 15oz cans of diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 cups of pearl barley
1 pkg of Boca Italian Sausage
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp fennel seed
2 tsp rosemary
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
water (a lot)
a little veggie stock 1 cup or so

water saute onions, carrots, celery and garlic until soft. Add tomatoes and paste and heat through. Add barley and fill pot with water bring to a boil and let simmer until barley is tender, but still chewy. Add sausage and seasonings. Add veggie stock and let simmer lightly for a good hour. Serve hot with black pepper.

Again this was extremely good and I am so happy I had a lot of leftovers to freeze. We did eat it three nights in a row and I did not even get sick of it.

Tonight I made a smoothie and it was so good, it has to be one of my favorites since starting on the ETL bandwagon. The recipe is:

1/2 cup frozen strawberries
3/4 cup frozen cherries
1 tbsp ground flax seed
handful of raw cashews
1 cup almond milk
handful of goji berries
handful of baby arugula
three kale leaves water
2 medjool dates
1 tbsp good quality cocoa powder

blend and enjoy. This is my new fave smoothie.

Also tonight I made a sauce to top steamed Kale(which I used to hate and I have trained my self to love). According to Dr Fuhrman over at ETL, kale is the most nutritious foods on the planet(literally), so this means I have to love kale. Anyway, he must know how gross kale tastes because he has all of these healthy, creative recipes for sauces to pour over steamed kale in order to help people get it down their throats. SO the sauce I made tonight was called Sweet Potato Almond Sauce, here is the recipe:

2 cups steamed sweet potato
1/4 cup raw almond butter
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 cup water
plain soy milk as needed to find desired consistency

blend all ingredients in blender and pour over steamed kale (super food!) enjoy.
So Dr. Fuhrman is brilliant. Not only did he come up with sauces that we can drown our steamed kale in but these sauces are extremely healthful, so there is not need to worry about overdoing it. I was so excited about this. Needless to say ETL is great, though it is harder then any diet I have ever done. But this is not a diet it is a new way of life. I want to develop into a person that craves salads instead of Pizza Hut cheese bread sticks. Let's see if I can do it.

Enchiladas

2006-12-07T18:45:00.000-05:00

Here are the enchiladas I made last night that were ETL friendly meaning, no processed anything, flour, sugar, oil, or salt. The recipe is:

Tofu Chorizo "sausage"

1 pound firm tofu
3 large dried ancho chiles
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp mild paprika
1 1/2 cumin seeds
1/8 tsp dried chili flake
4 whole cloves
1/4-inch piece cinnamon stick
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 1/4 cup vegetable stock

cut and press tofu. Meanwhile cut dried ancho chiles and get rid of seeds and stems, blister on a pan. Then crumble into a food processor with garlic, oregano, paprika, cumin seeds, chili flake, cloves, cinnamon stick, apple cider vinegar, PB, veggie stock. Food process until smooth and thick. Now marinate tofu and black beans in some of the sauce for one hour.

After marinating tofu and beans saute the tofu, beans and sauce in pan until most of the sauce is soaked up. Add the rest of the sauce to a glass pan and layer tofu/beans and corn tortillas with sauce. Bake in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes. Serve hot. "Not bad" was the verdict from the meat eater.

Okay Let's do Eat To Live

2006-12-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

Hi I am back. My creativity has been crushed due to my new interest in Eat To Live. I have been really going back and forth with it becuase it is quite a big step. I can't have meat(which is easy anway), no dairy(I have been doing this anyway), no oil, no added salt, no processed white flour or sugar. The white flour thing is killing me, I never realized how addicted I was to it until now.
Anyway I am going to attempt to follow the Eat To Live way of life though it is hard and I have to realize I am not perfect. I will stay as close to it as I can, I will use salted products from time to time, though I will not add salt and I will not add processed oil. I will use sweeteners such as dates or date sugar to sweeten different foods. I will cut out white flour and basically never eat it.

So I have been following this diet for a few days now and I feel great though my cravings are insane. I made an enchilada last night with tofu and black beans with some guacamole on the side. I will post the pics tonight.

"Beef" Stew

2006-11-30T19:21:00.000-05:00

This was really good, it was comfort food that I really needed after eating so many raw veggies and smoothies this week. Here is the recipe:

TVP Chunks 1 cup

2 potatoes

1 medium onion

4 carrots

1 garlic clove

1 bag frozen green beans

3 veggie bouillon cubes

vegetarian Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp

1 tbsp kitchen bouquet

pepper

2 tomatoes

pinch of allspice

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in water

2 bay leaves

salt optional ( I did not add it, there was enough I am sure in the bouillon)

first reconstitute the TVP chunks by boiling them in water then letting them simmer for 10 minutes. After this squeeze out excess water with paper towels. Marinate TVP in a mixture of veggie broth thyme, garlic powder, marjoram, kitchen bouquet, pepper, tomato paste. Let sit for one hour.

Chop onion, carrots, garlic, potatoes and saute in large soup pan for about 10-15 minutes. I saute the veggies in a bit of veggie broth instead of using oil, but that is your call. Add six cups of water and bring to a boil. Add green beans and veggie broth cubes. Set to a quick simmer and add tomatoes (diced), allspice, sugar, bay leaves, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, kitchen bouquet. Let simmer until veggies are soft. Add TVP and heat through. Add cornstarch mixture and stir until thick. Serve with more pepper. This was very delicious and the TVP was so much like meat, the texture was very similar to the beef I used to eat in beef stew, I don't know if that is a good thing or not.

Dr. Fuhrman's Radio Show in Voice America

2006-11-30T11:52:00.000-05:00

http://www.modavox.com/VoiceAmericaCMS/Webmodules/HostModaview.aspx?ShowId=185&channelurl=http://www.modavox.com/voiceamerica

Everyone should really check out this radio show, it is Dr. Fuhrman's new radio show. It shows how diet can actually reverse cancer. Very interesting.

No Eat To Live For me

2006-11-29T18:57:00.000-05:00

Okay so I made the post that I would begin the Eat To Live diet and I have changed my mind. When I talked to a girl on the website and she told me that cheating on Eat To Live consisted of using brown rice flour to make a cake I decided that this diet probably was not for me. I thought brown rice flour was the healthiest choice for a cake, well not according to Dr. Fuhrman. I guess it is considered a treat on the Eat To Live diet. So basically I decided I will take some words of wisdom from the book Eat To Live and simply stick to whole foods or unrefined foods meaning no refined salt, sugar, flour, or oil. I will indulge in as many veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, and whole grains as I feel I need to.

Anyway there are a few things that I did learn from the two days I was on the diet, one thing was I need to eat more raw greens, that is one goal I know I can handle. I can make blended salads, which means I can make smoothies with fruits, nuts and greens and just drink them down instead of wasting all that time chewing them. Above is a smoothie I made with:

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

2 large kale leaves

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 cup vanilla soy milk

2 tbsp raw cashews

1/2 cup cranberry juice

blend, blend, blend until smooth

Eat To Live

2006-11-27T14:36:00.000-05:00

Okay all so I am embarking on a new adventure, I read the book "Eat To Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. When I first read it I was so angry, I thought "how can this guy expect people to eat like this and enjoy life!" But after I had time to think about it I have decided at least to give it a try for one week. So this means not only will I not eat meat, dairy, cheese but I also have to cut out processed/refined sugar, oil, salt and white flour (my fave). We will see how it goes. Dr. Fuhrman recommends drinking smoothies, eating raw salads twice a day, soups, and sorbets in order to get all the fruits and vegetables in that are needed to meet his requirements. I am curious to see how I feel.

Spicy Autum Stew

2006-11-25T11:47:00.000-05:00

I was not to impressed with this one either. Both the Sweet Potato Pie and this stew I made for Thanksgiving, so I was dissapointed at both dishes I made on Thanksgiving.

Sweet Potato Pie

2006-11-25T11:39:00.000-05:00

I have never made sweet potato pie or even tried it. I love sweet potatoes but I was not to impressed with this pie. Anyway heres a look.

Introducing Spanky Lussier! AKA the little white man

2006-11-25T11:35:00.000-05:00

He is truly a pure bred beaut.......................

Tofu Sausage Scramble and Garlic Oven Fries

2006-11-20T18:41:00.000-05:00

Here is the tofu scramble with sausage and Garlic Oven Fries

Tofu Scramble
1/2 block of firm tofu, crumbled, soaked in veggie broth
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 small onion
2 large kale leaves, thrown in food processor
1 small red bell pepper
3 large baby bella mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
salt
pepper
garlic powder
paprika
2 Gardenburger Sausage patties ,crumbled

cook veggies until tender, add crumbled tofu and spices heat through. Add Gardenburger veggie breakfast sausage and heat through. Add nutritional yeast and mix through. Serve on whole wheat English muffin.

Garlic Oven Fries
2 russet potatoes cut in french fry shapes
1 tsp olive oil
Montreal steak seasoning
garlic powder
onion flake
salt
pepper
paprika

spread cut potatoes on baking sheet toss with olive oil and spices. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

More Squish Soup..........................................

More Squish Soup

2006-11-20T18:38:00.000-05:00

I made the Autum Squash Apple Soup from Venturesome Vegetarian, I gave it another try and it came out really good and thick this time. Check out this cookbook it is really great.

Thursday Night Nachos

2006-11-16T21:17:00.000-05:00

I made some nachos for dinner tonight, I will share the recipe:

Thursday Night Nachos (for one girl)

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup canned kidney beans

3 large baby bella mushrooms diced

1/2 onion sliced

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp safflower oil

1/2 chili pepper

1/2 cup tomato sauce

pinch of cumin

pinch of chili pepper

1 tsp cilantro (dried)

Vegan Gourmet Cheddar to taste

Tofutti Sour cream to taste

1/2 cup salsa

blue corn chips

saute veggies and spices until soft, add beans and heat through, add tomato sauce heat through. Put mixture on top of corn chips, spoonful of salsa and sour cream on top. Enjoy.

Very good.

If you are in a bad mood just look at this........

2006-11-15T19:43:00.000-05:00

Hungry?

2006-11-15T19:41:00.000-05:00

Eggplant Parmesan, Tofu Basil Ricotta, Pesto

2006-11-15T19:33:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of the eggplant parmesan before it went into the oven. Half of it has cheese on top and the other half does not. Cheeze needs cheese, he is addicted.

This came out really good. It was a lot of work but well worth it. Now we have leftovers for the rest of the week. Also in the layers of eggplant I have layers of pesto that I made last night and layers of tofu basil ricotta from VwaV. Then we had brown rice pasta with tomato sauce and pesto on the side. I am so full. And people ask Vegans "but what do you eat?!" what a silly question.

Last night was a Success

2006-11-15T08:11:00.000-05:00

Tonight is eggplant parm night, with tofu basil ricotta. I can't wait. I am still debating on weather to bake or fry the eggplant, I am leaning towards frying.

Last night I made pesto with brown rice fettuccine, it was very very good. I have not had pesto in years and I forgot how much I loved it. Even Cheez loved it, he asked me if it had butter in it. HA go figure, I told him no it did not have butter because you really don't need butter for great flavoring, this was proof to him. Also for the side I made some "grain balls", sounds appetizing right? I had some left over Bulgar wheat in the fridge so I mixed it with some crumbled tofu, WW breadcrumbs, kitchen bouquet, Bragg's, onion flakes, garlic flakes, bacco bits, tomato paste and some oat flour to hold it all together, I sauteed them in a little safflower oil, they were very good. I wanted to add baby bella's that I had but this was supposed to be a quick dinner and it was getting late. The texture was so much like meat it sort of gave me a chill. I brought them for lunch, I am going to smother them in mushroom gravy and make a sammich with some spinach. Oh and yeah I forgot to take a picture of this meal last night, I ended up eating it up to fast. It was damn good. Tonight there will be pics.

Squish Soup!

2006-11-14T07:09:00.001-05:00

Last night I decided to make a butternut squash apple soup. I completely messed it up in so many different ways. First I used vanilla almond milk instead of vanilla rice milk which the recipe called for. Second mistake was I was supposed to cut the squash (which took 1/2 hour to cut), onion, apples, carrots and boil them in just the rice milk, instead I boiled it in a ton of water and then added the almond milk (was supposed to be rice), which resulted in a super watery soup. It tasted good and even smelled like incense but the wateriness was very bad. I felt like I was drinking squash, not cool. Also I don't think almond milk is supposed to be boiled, it seemed to have curdled, mmmmmmmmm................................................ Anyway yes it was a failure so there are not any pictures, I ended up dumping it after we ate it for dinner, there was just no way I was going to ever reheat it, especially since it already looked curdled. I HATE throwing food away, especially organic veggies.

I also wanted to mention the website Compassionate Cooks, I discovered this website yesterday while listening to a podcast on Vegan Freak. Colleen Patrick Goudreau lives in the Bay Area in California (lucky!) and she runs this website, teaches cooking classes, and hosts the podcast that can be found on http://compassionatecooks.com/, it is so cool I listened all day while working yesterday. She gives so many vegan cooking tips, baking tips and transition tips. Also her website is so helpful. I wish I did not live a thousand miles away I would take her cooking class in a second. I will subscribe to her website today or tomorrow.

Another question, what is this I keep hearing about Wildwood soy products?! I have never heard or seen them before. All of a sudden everyone is talking about this product on different blogs and websites, I want to try it. Most people say it is the "best" tofu! they have ever had, they even make a super firm version which is great for grilling. If anyone on the East Coast knows about this product could you drop me a line. I can't even find Nigari Tofu around here, damn East Coast!

Also I am making a eggplant parmesan tomorrow with VwaV tofu basil ricotta, I will post a pic and verdict on how that turns out.

Oat Bran Breakfast

2006-11-13T07:34:00.000-05:00

I want to share a quick and tasty breakfast idea with you. I make this a lot on the weekends when I need something really quick, really tasty, and healthy. I am not one for measuring ingredients so I tend to be very vague with measurements, just bear with me.

1/3 cup oat bran
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp Earth Balance
couple splashed of plain soy milk
salt to taste

I nuke the oat bran with about a cup of water, once it is done I mix the rest of the ingredients in with the oat bran and it tastes like a cheesy polenta I used to eat. This breakfast is my default breakfast for example when I had a late night and proceed to sleep until noon on Saturday and need a hearty breakfast to get me going on my Saturday chores. I did not want to take a picture of this breakfast it is not very photogenic but it is tasty. My boyfriend watches me as I make it and each time he asks me "what is that? Sawdust?" each time I have to remind him that, "No, it is nutritional yeast." Which then is followed by a look of utter disgust because of the word "yeast." Oh well, more for me.

Topless Hummus

2006-11-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

Here is a pic of the topless hummus, I had it for lunch yesterday.

Easy Lunch Ideas

2006-11-10T06:55:00.000-05:00

For some reason or another I have the most difficult time planning lunches, which is a reason I bought Jennifer McCann's new book Vegan Lunchbox, but anyway when I think of a something different for lunch I tend to get excited. Thinking of what to make for lunch and actually making it causes me to be late for work every day. I tend to get sick of things quickly and I need a big variety and for some reason lunch is such a challenge to me. Anyway I have a few quick lunch ideas for anyone else who has the same dilemma.

Sweet Sun Sandwich

sunflower nut butter
agave nectar to taste
Cinnamon to taste
cloves to taste
2 slices of whole wheat bread

mix the agave, Cinnamon, and cloves with the nut butter and spread on the whole wheat or whichever bread you prefer. Enjoy.

Topless Hummus

2 slices of whole wheat (toast bread)
romaine lettuce
baby spinach
radish sliced
broccoli cut small
hummus
black pepper
salt

Pile on top of toasted bread and enjoy

I will keep adding simple and healthy lunch ideas along the way

Date Squares Tonight

2006-11-09T21:13:00.000-05:00

I made Date Squares tonight from one of Dreena's cookbooks, I believe it was Vive Le Vegan. These were delicious, they tasted like caramel bars that I used to eat as a kid. I used Medjool dates that I bought at Wild Oats today. I have never had Medjool dates before and I think that I may be in love. Before I made the Date Squares I was pitting the dates and stuffing them with pecans, it was heavan.

Introducing Bella!

2006-11-09T14:24:00.000-05:00

This is Bella and she is very nervous most days.

Another cute pup

2006-11-09T14:16:00.000-05:00

I will post pics of my fave animals until I start taking pictures of food I have cooked which should start tonight. Also I am learnign how this blogger thing works. Thanks for your patience.

Fennel Stir Fry

2006-11-09T10:20:00.000-05:00

Okay so I have never used fennel before and I have had a fennel bulb in my fridge for the past few weeks, finally last night I decided to use it. I got the idea from a recipe on recipezaar, though I changed this one around a lot.

it is as follows

Fennel Noodle Bowl

2 packs of ramen noodles cooked and drained
2 cm of fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, sliced or diced whichever you prefer
1 tablespoon of kitchen bouquet
2 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp of oil, I used safflower, I just recently found out canola is bad! (I never knew this)
1 tbsp sesame oil
sliced beef style seitan
1 bulb of fennel sliced into sticks
1 carrot sliced into sticks
3 small radish sliced into circles
1 package of beef broth or 1 tbsp of beef broth powder (vegetarian of course)

Directions: Add oil to pan along with sliced onion, minced garlic, minced ginger, carrots saute until softened a bit. Add fennel saute for a few minutes. Add water and beef broth powder bring to a boil and let simmer for about 30 mins (maybe even add some sake or mirin), until veggies are soft. While simmering add tamari, kitchen bouquet and seitan slices. Meanwhile prepare noodles (I used two packs of ramen noodles) and drain. Simple throw the sesame oil in the simmering broth and stir then serve this on top of noodles. You could sprinkle some sesame seeds on top if you like. I had this last night and it was so delicious I could not contain myself.

Linkage to Pindi Chana thanks to Erik Marcus

2006-11-09T09:58:00.000-05:00

http://www.punjabilok.com/rasoi/pindi_chana.htm

Here you can check out this recipe to the Pindi Chana I made the other night.

My camera is MIA!

2006-11-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

I got a gorgeous camera for Chirstmas last year and it is missing. I have been dying to take pics of all the cooking I have been doing but I can't, so I will proceed to just chat about what I made.

This past weekend I made an Indian dish called Pindi Chana that Eric Marcus suggested on his podcast. So me and my cheeze(fiance) had a romantic dinner by candlelight on Saturday. Saturday we took a trip to a Indian Store in Cambridge called "Shalimar" they had everything I needed for the recipe and it was cheap. I got coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, aeosfida, paan, garam masala, and tamarind all for under $10. I was so excited.

Anyway we also went to Whole Foods and got some Samosa and Pakora for apps. THose were very tasty. But the naan we got was so incredible, it was sweet like molasses. I could not get enough of it.

Now for the Pindi Chana it was incredible. There was a very unique taste to it, it was nothing like I have ever tasted. It was very rich in flavor so I could not eat to much of it. But it was a magical dish. Cheeze added chicken to his since he is totally anti-vegan. I wish I could have gotten a pic of this meal. Also ghee was called for in the recipe and instead I just doubled up on the olive oil.

Hi Everybody

2006-11-03T14:31:00.000-05:00

I am a 29 year old who lives in the Boston area. I recently have adopted a veganish diet and I don't know a single other soul who is Vegan. Many people in my life think I am completely out of my mind for snubbing meat and especially CHEESE!! I want to show the people I love and the world how beautiful, tasty, and exciting Vegan Food can be. I grew up on meat and potatoes and I was a complete junk food addict until about two months ago, I had to force myself to like vegetables, I succeeded and I know others can do the same.