French Bread

I've been making some really nice French bread lately. Just posted the recipe here. I'll post some pictures next time I make it. Delicious with salads or anything Italian. Also, pretty good dusted with a little garlic powder and browned in a non-stick skillet. It makes a nice garlic bread. Enjoy!

Blogworthy!

I know, I know! I haven't updated in a long time! We have been eating the same things over and over - not really in a rut - but not doing anything particularly creative that we haven't already shared.

Italian food is absolutely one of my favorite foods and I've had ravioli on my mind for quite a while now. We eat alot of whole wheat pasta - and occasionally a vegan pizza - every now and then some vegan lasagna - but ravioli is what I have wanted. Now, I don't have the attachments for my mixer - and I certainly haven't found any ready-made ravioli that is legal for our diet - so I needed lots of time for this.

Oh my goodness! These turned out really, really good! I posted the recipe here. I boiled most of them, threw a couple in a non-stick skillet and cooked them, and put a few in the oven on a cookie sheet. The boiled ones were definitely the best. I served them with some 365 brand fat-free pasta sauce from Whole Foods. Yummy!

Disclaimer: this recipe is time consuming and you must roll the pasta sheets very, very thin or you will have a gummy, not-delicious mess - however, it is definitely worth the trouble for a treat.

Health Stuff

It's been a pretty strange year for me health-wise. We both had a physical in January just to see where we stand. That was just opening Pandora's box. John had some issues with his heart - they thought - but further tests didn't show anything. I had some nodules on my thyroid which I finally had checked after I began to have some throat problems. The throat problems turned out to be a type of reflux (LPR) which I am controlling by not eating Junior Mints anymore. The meds the doctor prescribed made everything worse so I am so thankful that I can control it so easily by just giving up one thing. During the process, the endocrinologist found that I was still vitamin D deficient and my liver enzymes were out of whack. After more testing, she was just sure that I had Paget's disease and I had a bone scan last week.

The results were not at all what she expected and there IS no bone disease - well - just a little arthritis - but no Paget's. She wanted some x-rays but I did some research and found that it is normal for alkaline phosphatase to be elevated when vitamin D is deficient and it takes time to normalize once the vitamin D is back to normal. Since my D is just now back to a normal level, I talked her into giving me some time and rechecking my levels. I will go back in December for more blood work. A full year of horsing around with this - and I have actually been healthier as far as my sinuses, allergies and bronchitis is concerned. I have had one short bout of bronchitis this year - back in March - and have not had to see a doctor for being "sick" since then. I think I will take a break from the physical in 2010.

I am taking a good multi-vitamin now with 1000 units of vitamin D, a couple of Caltrates every day to get the calcium, and right now, while the flu is so widespread, I am taking Emergen-C that has tons of extra C and B vitamins. Also, we are making an effort to eat better. . . more veggies and fruit and lots less sugar. I'd like to drop another 20 pounds by the end of the year and see my cholesterol go below 150. It's 160 now. We are both still content not eating meat or dairy and, in spite of what the doctors would like to find, we believe we are healthier. Neither of us takes any meds besides our supplements. I guess for 55 and 61, that's not bad. :)

Blogworthy?

It's been too long since I've blogged here. Actually, we have been in quite a routine as far as our diet goes. Neither of us has lost any weight in about 4 months now but we have been nicely maintaining while we eat whatever we want. Whatever we want has increasingly meant cookies, muffins, cake, etc. I'm really happy that I haven't gained any weight back during this "rest and eat" time. :)

As far as our daily nutrition, naked burritos, stir fry, scrambled tofu, and chili with cornbread still lead the pack as our standards. We still eat lots of bananas, raisins, oatmeal, and whole wheat bread too.

I haven't done anything new for awhile now but a couple of days ago, I felt a little creative and did a change-up on our naked burritos. Here's what I did:
1. Put a little salsa in the bottom of a casserole dish.
2. Used a can of fat-free refried beans and covered the bottom of the dish.
3. Piled on a bunch of basmati rice on top of that.
4. Put some fresh chopped cilantro next.
5. Squeezed a lime over everything.
6. Sauteed a chopped onion and tomato seasoned with cumin and put over the top.
7. Served in a bowl with a dollop of fresh guacamole.

It was really delicious and the creamy refried beans really gave a different texture than the naked burritos with the black beans that I usually use. Maybe we'll call this one "Fajita Casserole". We will definitely have this one again. It was a great use for leftover rice.

Today I cooked some pinto beans (used some veggie broth and a chopped onion and cooked them all morning). We steamed some carrots in one of the Ziploc steamer bags and I made some corn fritters. They were really good. I used the regular recipe for cornbread except I used a can of cream style corn instead of the liquids (so no soy milk). I "fried" them in a non-stick skillet. They were pretty tasty and John loved them. They were kinda bread and kinda veggies and something a little different. I'm sure we'll add those to the rotation too.

More Muffins

I made the mandarin orange muffins today. I used a large can of mandarin orange slices packed in water with no sugar added - drained well, of course. I added a little almond flavoring to change it up a little and sprinkled a little coarse turbinado sugar on the tops before I baked them. Wow! These were awesome!

Muffin Update

The muffin recipe continues to be the hot hand at our house. Last week I did pumpkin muffins. I used 1 cup of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) along with 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg. I threw in a few raisins and they were awesome - moist and tender and delicious. Last night, I added about 1/4 c. cocoa and a cup of vegan chocolate chunks. Yummy! The original recipe is here.

We bought a can of mandarin oranges yesterday so we'll probably try those at some point this next week. Maybe combined with a little bit of pineapple. That should be good. :)

One year on the Journey

On August 18th, we celebrated our one year anniversary on this low-fat vegan diet. And, yes, we DID celebrate. I remember when we first discussed making the switch, we thought we would try it for one month and see how it went. When that month went by, we thought we would do it for 3 months. That was our last discussion.

We are thoroughly enjoying our meals. I cook more than I ever have and we eat out much less. Subway is the easiest place for us to eat but we also have had naked burritos at Qdoba, the California Chicken Salad (sans chicken and blue cheese crumbles) at O'Charleys, side salads and baked potatoes at Wendy's, and even a fresco bean burrito from Taco Bell (ok, that one probably wasn't the best - but only a little fat.)

We use our bread machine and rice steamer lots and my old black cast iron pot has never had so much use. Our meals are flavorful and hearty and there are many of them that we have fed to our non-vegan friends and family with good results. Sometimes they don't miss the meat until they are done. :) We have learned to cook with tofu and seitan and quinoa. We buy tons of produce at Sams and use it all up in a week or so. We buy rice in 15 pound bags. We sometimes buy 3 bunches of bananas in a week. John has learned to eat spinach, mushrooms, squash, onions, tofu, and probably a couple of other things he would never eat before.

I have lost 48 pounds and John has lost 25. Our cholesterol is well below 200, though not where we would like it to be. Though I have been diagnosed with LPR (laryngopharyngeal reflux), I have not had the sinus and allergy problems that I usually have - and I have not had a single recurrence of my asthmatic bronchitis! I attribute that to the removal of dairy from my diet.

Neither of us takes any daily meds - though I am supposed to for the LPR. (It makes the condition worse - not better and I am controlling with a couple of lifestyle changes.)

All in all, it's been a good year diet-wise. The switch was much easier than I EVER would have dreamed. We have adjusted well to travel and are learning to eat our meals before we go to church dinners - or take enough of our delicious foods to share with our friends.

I cheated only once (knowingly) and that was to eat a big ole brownie at church. I thought I had gotten away with it until about 3 hours later when my stomach began to grumble and roll and twist. I'm not too interested in having another non-vegan brownie anytime soon. :)

If you are thinking about making the switch, give it a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised. :)

Yummy Muffins!

I found a good basic muffin recipe and modified it to make a great one. It's posted here. The first couple of times I made them, I used fresh blueberries from the farmers market. Then I realized that I could use the base recipe and make all kinds of muffins! Last week, we used 1 cup of chopped apples and added some cinnamon to the recipe. I also made a batch using a cup of mashed banana and a few chopped walnuts. They were delicious and stayed moist for several days in a ziploc bag. They really made some pretty good "road food" for our trip to Chattanooga.

Today, I used a cup of shredded carrots, some raisins and a few chopped walnuts - along with a teaspoon of cinnamon. They were awesome. John loved them and he doesn't like carrot cake.

I can imagine using zucchini and spices for a batch. . . and how about some fresh peaches . . . or maybe some strawberries . . . or adding some cocoa and some vegan chocolate chips? John thinks we could use some mandarin oranges and maybe add some orange zest. Lots of possibilities with this easy recipe. Hope you enjoy it! :)

Long Time No Post - Rice and Chocolate Cake

Not together!

We eat so much rice these days - we finally broke down and bought a 10 cup rice cooker. It's probably the best purchase we've made for the kitchen - except for maybe the bread machine. We found a 15 pound bag of basmati rice at Sams and we have made a pretty good dent in it. Looks like it might last us 3 months - maybe. :) Anyway, if you are doing this food lifestyle, I highly recommend it. Dillards had the 10 cup cooker for $59 and Target has an 8 cup for $49.

Wendy, Sean and the family are coming for supper tonight. We are making the old standby - naked burritos. The rice cooker is full and I'll start chopping veggies soon. I wanted to have a nice dessert and I found the recipe for this chocolate cake. I only made 1 change - of course, no oil in our cake - so I used baby food prunes instead. The batter was to die for and the cake was even better. I baked mine in a 9 x 13 pan and it was just right. Frosting has always been an issue but this recipe is great. Again, it calls for 2 T. of oil - but I just left it out. Yummy! I'm not sure this would work for a stacked cake - might have to do a double batch if you try it - but it sure tastes good. NOTE: This is full of sugar! No Fat - but LOTS of sugar. John and I tried a piece - after all, we couldn't be serving anything to company that might not taste good :) This will definitely have to be a "company" recipe for a treat.

4th of July picnic fare - vegan style

What do vegans eat on the 4th of July? It really doesn't look much different than what others enjoy. . . fresh corn on the cob, a slice of home grown tomato, potato salad (made with soy nayonaisse), vegetarian baked beans, and some barbecue seitan for something new. I have posted the recipe here. I just made the recipe, adding a couple of teaspoons of bbq sauce, baked it like the recipe says, then took it out, dipped it in some sauce, placed it back on the parchment and put it back in the oven for about 10 minutes. It reminded me of McDonalds chicken nuggets - the dark meat ones. I think I pressed out my seitan a little too thin so they were a little chewy - but still pretty good for a change. I think we'll make some of our frozen banana "ice cream" in a little while.

Hard to Beat

It's just hard to beat a good stir fry. We found some brown rice in the frozen section at Kroger. That makes it even faster and easier. This skillet had onions, green peppers, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, green beans, pineapple and spinach. We topped it off with a little duck sauce and ate til we couldn't eat anymore. Leftovers for lunch tomorrow! Yummy.

Cornbread Chili Casserole

So yesterday I mentioned black bean chili with a cornbread top. I've had it on my mind since then so today was the day. Even though it was hot outside, we turned the thermostat down a degree or two and had chili anyway. This was delicious. I made my usual chili - a slightly smaller batch than usual - and added some whole kernel corn to the recipe this time. Then, when it had simmered and the beans were tender, I stirred up a batch of cornbread, poured it on top of the chili, and put it in the oven at 350 degrees til the cornbread was brown - probably 20-30 minutes I guess, I really didn't time it. (Recipes are in the links.)

Anyway, it was awesome! I was tasting the chili to make sure I had it seasoned right but it tasted really tomato-y so I added some cumin. That did the trick! It was a little spicy but not too - and it left a really happy taste in my mouth. This one is a winner.

Skillet Gardener's Pie - Revised for Italian Style

The last skillet gardener's pie that I made was so delicious that I knew I wanted to do it again. However, when I told Brad about it, he thought it sounded weird and told me how they make their shepherd pie. That got the old wheels to turning and so I modified his recipe to do a changeup. Here's what I did.

I prepared the mashed potatoes just like last time. This time, instead of being on top, they are on the bottom of the pan. Then, for the veggies in the middle, I sauteed onions, garlic, tomatoes and carrots and added tomato paste, and frozen corn, lima beans, and peas. I also had some leftover green beans that I cooked a couple of days ago so I threw them in the pot too. This time, instead of rosemary and thyme, I used Italian seasoning and parsley. I threw in enough liquid (part water and part veggie broth) and let the veggies simmer until they were tender.

Once they had cooked down and were thick and hearty, I put that mixture on top of the mashed potatoes.

Then, I had figured out how to make biscuits a few weeks ago using a little flax meal and water instead of oil. I used regular all purpose flour, some baking powder so they would rise, a little salt, the flax meal mixture and enough soy milk to make it the right consistency. I spooned the biscuit dough on top of the veggie mixture and then baked it at 350 for about 30 minutes until the biscuits were brown.

This was hearty, healthy, and delicious with very minimal fat. I started to add some Boca Crumbles but changed my mind. We don't eat many faux meats these days.

While we were eating, I was thinking about making a fajita pie using black beans, onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes and salsa, seasoned with some cumin and topping it with corn tortillas or some polenta - or maybe even cornbread! That could be interesting too, especially with a nice dollop of guacamole on top!

Skillet Gardener's Pie

Wow! This was really good!

I found this recipe quite awhile ago but didn't try it until today. Wow! Absolutely delicious! Here's the link to the recipe. Wish I could take credit - but I don't know how I could even do it better myself. We both enjoyed it and ate a couple of servings each. I'm not sure that it will even make it to the refrigerator - it'll probably be gone by bedtime. It takes some prep work - not one of those 10 minute meals - but maybe a 30 minute meal and it's definitely worth the effort.

Mixed Reviews

Since I didn't have to work today, it seemed like a good day to experiment in the kitchen. I made some black bean burgers, some sweet potato fries, some zucchini fritters and some cornbread for lunch. I loved the black bean burgers. John really didn't care for them. The fritters were pretty good - not outstanding - but something different. The surprise hit was the sweet potato fries. All I did was slice the uncooked sweet potatoes and put in a 400 degree oven until they were browned - about 30 minutes. I served all this up with some steamed matchstick carrots and a chunk of fresh pineapple. Not bad. . . not bad at all.

Taco Salad - and TVP

I have always loved taco salads - especially when I am "dieting" but I wasn't sure how a vegan version would look and taste. TVP is textured vegetable protein. It comes dried in bags and you reconstitute when you are ready to use it by pouring boiling water over it. I put some in a non-stick skillet and poured hot water over it til it soaked it all up. Then added a packet of taco seasoning, a can of kidney beans, a little salsa, and some sliced onion and cooked it until the onion was tender. In the meantime, I fixed a big bowl of lettuce, put some tomatoes on top, crumbled just a few Guiltless Gourmet tortilla chips, (they have just a little fat so go light on them) and then poured the taco mixture over the top. I topped with some Walden Farms Thousand Island dressing - John used the Honey Dijon. It was quite tasty. TVP has 12 grams of protein for 1/4 cup and zero fat. It takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it in so it's good for chili, spaghetti, and tacos. Doesn't taste or look like meat - but it adds "body" and texture to the dishes.

Lasagna Substitute

I had been wanting some lasagna for several weeks and finally started the process one day last week. I got the water boiling in my big pot and pulled out the fat-free spaghetti sauce (which, by the way, Kroger no longer carries). I started some fresh spinach cooking and got out my small package of silken tofu. Then it happened. I spent 20 minutes going thru the pantry with a fine tooth comb looking for my half used box of lasagna noodles and there were not any there! I guess I had undoubtably used them another time and didn't replace them. aaarrrggghhh. And that was definitely what I had my tastebuds set for.

Not to be deterred, I took a box of whole wheat elbow macaroni and dumped it in the now boiling water and continued on. When the pasta was tender, I rinsed it and put half of it in a layer in a casserole dish, poured some of the sauce over (right out of the jar) and prepared the tofu. Here's what I did:
Took the silken tofu and put it in the food processor and whirled it a little bit.
Added egg replacer prepared for 2 eggs. (1 Tbl of the replacer with 4 Tbl of warm water, stirred up good with a fork before adding to the mixture)
Added 1 clove of garlic, some Italian seasoning, some parsley flakes, some black pepper, and a little sea salt. Whirled it again til it was almost smooth.
Then, drained the cooked spinach to get as much of the liquid out as I could and added that to the food processor too. Whirled it again til it was mixed very well.

Then I took this mixture and put it on top of the layer of noodles and sauce and smoothed it out.

Added the rest of the pasta on top and put the rest of the jar of sauce. Baked it at 350 for about 30 minutes to let everything get really hot.

We served this up with some hot crusty bread and it was very, very good! I have used the tofu filling before to make lasagna - and that's what I really wanted this time - but sometimes you just gotta make do with what you've got. This made a good meal and there were great leftovers - but not for long! :)

Brownies!

OK. We eat waaayyy too much sugar - but sometimes you just gotta have a brownie. . . and it's even better warm with some ice cream. I took the old faithful family brownie recipe and veganized it (posted it here) and then made some of our new vegan "ice cream" (frozen banana, 1 Tbl. of cocoa, 3 packs of Splenda and a dab of soymilk mixed together in the small food processor). Wow. It was sooo good. Gotta be careful about that stuff. It's addictive. Can't make those brownies too often! I think we're OK with the ice cream though - what a great way to eat your fruit! :)

Sloppy Joes/ Manwich

I grew up eating what we called "chili burgers" - ground beef with onions, chili powder, and ketchup served open face over a hamburger bun with a healthy serving of pork and beans over the top - topped off with ketchup of course. Later that evolved to a can of manwich served in the same manner. Now THAT's comfort food. :)

With the vegan diet, we assumed those days were far behind us - but NO!! Manwich meets our dietary requirements - and what of that ground beef? BOCA makes Boca Crumbles - also meeting our requirements of no animal products and no added fats. I used the crumbles just like I would use the beef and then served them over my homemade sandwich buns, topped it with a spoonful of vegetarian style beans (think pork and beans without the pork), then squirted on our additive-free ketchup! Voila! Just like old times!

Bananas!

We eat a LOT of bananas. I've been reading about some recipes where you freeze ripe bananas and use them to make smoothies, ice cream, and sorbet. The only problem with that is our bananas don't stay around long enough to get ripe! We go through about 3 bunches a week these days. Saturday when we went to Kroger, they had bags of ripe bananas for $.39 per pound. We bought one bag of those and brought them home, peeled them, and put them in the freezer in a ziploc bag. (Well actually, we bought 5 pounds of the ripe ones and then another 6 pounds of some barely yellow and mostly green bananas!)

Tonight, I remembered the ice cream recipe and got out the small food processor. It was just the right size. I took 1 of the frozen bananas, 1/3 c. soymilk, about 1 T. of cocoa and 3 packets of Splenda and whirled it until the bananas were all blended. Actually, the recipe called for 1 tsp of vanilla too but I forgot. What a great treat! It was thick and rich and creamy and gave that whole ice cream "experience". Oh yeah! I can see banana split ice cream, strawberry/banana ice cream, maybe even plain old banana ice cream. And then you could add a little more soymilk and make milkshakes. Maybe water instead of the milk to make sorbet . . . and oh, we found out that Junior Mints are vegan! It would be good to throw a few of those in the mix as well! This could be really good! Hmmmm. Wonder what's next? :)

Homemade cinnamon rolls

So I think I've written about these before - but they are certainly worth documenting again. I use my regular white bread recipe to make these - adding only an additional 1/4 cup of sugar to the dough.

When the dough is done rising, I roll it out about 1/2 inch thick, brush with a little blue agave nectar (non-vegans could use butter but that defeats the purpose I guess), cover with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon, a small handful of brown sugar, and raisins if you like them. Obviously from the picture, I love raisins in my cinnamon rolls.

Then roll from either end - I usually roll the long side and get more rolls. You can roll from the short side and get fatter rolls. Once rolled up, pinch the end so it will stay sealed. Then use a serrated blade knife and cut the rolls about 1 inch thick. I get 9 or 10 rolls from 1 recipe of dough. You can double the recipe easily and get twice that many. Let the rolls rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size, then bake at 375 until they are lightly brown.

I used about a cup and a half of confectioners sugar, just a little soymilk and vanilla flavoring to make the icing. Use just enough liquid to make the consistency you like. Be careful, a little dab will do you. These things are awesome right out of the oven.

Pita Chips

I've always enjoyed pita chips but shopping for them as a low-fat vegan can be a challenge. This week I found some "legal" pita pockets at Kroger and later got the idea that I might could make some chips out of them. I did a Google search and got some ideas. Here's what I did: as you can see, the ones I bought were already cut in half. I cut each piece in 4 pieces - then split them front and back with a sharp knife - laid them on a baking sheet cut side up (that would be the inside of the pita pocket), lightly misted them with a water bottle, and very lightly went over the entire pan with my fresh ground sea salt. Baked them at 400 degrees for 10 minutes until they were lightly browned and - voila! Really delicious pita chips! I could see using other spices and herbs on these for different flavorings - garlic would be nice - maybe even a little Splenda and cinnamon for a sweet variation. Anyway, you get the idea. I served these up with some baba ganoush and took them to a gathering. We will definitely do this again.

Veggie Time

We tend to get a little slack sometimes in eating large amounts of veggies. It's always easy to just have a bowl of oatmeal or fruit and cereal - and then there is the ever-present loaf of homemade bread! I've been craving some soup for a few days and since it was less than 80 degrees today, this was the day. It was loaded with onions, some potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans, peas, and whole wheat pasta. I added lots of herbs and spices - sea salt and pepper of course - but rosemary, parsley, garlic, and bay leaves too. And then notice the cornbread on the side! It was sooo good. We had it for lunch and for supper too. There's just a little left for lunch tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary - Two years

Wow! I can't believe it's been 2 years - on one hand it seems like just a flash - and on the other, it seems as if we've been together all our lives. It's been a wonderful 2 years - we've traveled some, eaten alot, gained a bunch of weight, changed our diet, lost a bunch of weight, and generally had a wonderful time together. Happy Anniversary honey. I sure do love you!

Naked Burritos

OK. I admit it. I stole the name from Qdoba. We ate at Qdoba in Chattanooga last weekend with Brad and Chrissy and Anna. It's great to be able to eat out and not stray too far from our diet (I suspect the veggies may have had just a little oil - not positive). We enjoyed our naked burritos so much that I made them at home tonight.

Here's what I did: Cooked some brown rice and added some cilantro and a little lime juice when it was done. Served it on the plate. Then spooned over a generous serving of black beans, whole kernel corn and salsa (rinsed the beans, added the rest and heated it up on the stove), then spooned over a serving of sauteed onions, peppers and tomatoes. I did these in a non-stick skillet and added a little cumin, sea salt, and garlic powder. We topped it off with our one vice - a serving of homemade guacamole. It was as good at home as it was at Qdoba! This one is definitely a keeper. My mouth has such a happy taste :)

Baba Ganoush

So this was something new for me - also a new find from our Seattle trip. We ate at Jack and Pam's favorite Persian restaurant one day. They all got a big plate of basmati rice and veggies but I got baba ganoush - roasted eggplant with plenty of roasted garlic and spices. Kroger had some nice eggplants this weekend so I thought I'd give it a try. The recipe is posted here. It was really easy and tasty. It reminds me of hummus but it's not quite as heavy as hummus. I think it will be really good on a veggie sandwich loaded up with all the usuals - peppers, onions, tomatoes, etc.

Homemade Buns = Great Sandwiches

When we were in Seattle, Jack gave me a recipe for hamburger or sandwich rolls. We made it once there for Boca Burgers (Original Vegan - no added fats!) and they were really good. I made a batch this weekend and used one today to make a yummy veggie sandwich. I used Walden Farms Honey Dijon dressing instead of mayo and then added green pepper, tomatoes, thinly sliced onion, mushrooms and spinach. It was really good. You can shape them any way you want to so these were kind of sub-shaped. Last time I made them round for burgers. These are a keeper. The recipe is posted here on the family recipe page.

Quick Update

45 pounds gone today! Finally. . . but how can I saw "finally" when I ate over a dozen cookies yesterday! What a great eating plan when you can do that and still see your weight decrease. I still am NOT working out - though John goes to the DAC every day. Maybe in another 20 pounds. I tend to pack on lots of muscle - and though I lose lots of inches - I don't lose weight at ALL. I'm going to wait til I'm closer to where I want to be.

It's been 7 1/2 months now. I don't miss meat at all and we use meat substitutes only occasionally. Our favorite foods (in no particular order) are scrambled tofu, potato soup, homemade breads, John's famous craving cookies, and the tamale casserole. We haven't done homemade pizza or calzones in over a month I guess - and I'm about ready for that again. It's just amazing how your taste changes and how good veggies and fruits are and that we don't need alot of seasoning. Pretty amazing ride.

Now I'm gunning for 50 pounds. Slowly but surely. :)

Vacation Stuff

We are having a great time in Seattle/Olympia/Lacey/wherever we are! :) It really makes it easy to find good things to eat since Jack and Pam are also following a fat-free vegan diet. We've had some great food. Their kitchen is awesome - they have my dream stove - and Jack is becoming a great vegan cook. He has made some homemade bread and some awesome veggie soup. Last night we made some chocolate chip biscotti. It was a real experiment - and we really played with the recipe - but he has it posted on his website and it is (ok. it WAS) delicious! We commandeered the last two pieces for this picture and they are gone now.

Today the 4 of us met their sister Jeannie in Seattle and went to the Pike Place Market. We saw tons of farmer's market type items, (flowers and fruits and veggies) and lots and lots of fresh seafood. We stopped for a little while and watched the guys at the fish market throw fish. That was pretty cool. The weather only changed about 4 times during the day. We saw drizzle, sun, a torrential rain, and more overcast weather. We also saw the Space Needle and ate some great roasted eggplant and basmati rice at their favorite restaurant. All in all - a great vacation so far. It's been relaxing and fun to just catch up. We last saw Jack and Pam in Gulf Shores at Thanksgiving.

There are no particular plans for tomorrow but Sunday we will go to church with them and Monday morning early, we will catch a plane for our long flight home.

Comfort Food

Sometimes you just need some comfort food. I woke up in the night thinking about creamy mashed potatoes. Now how can you make mashed potatoes without milk and butter, you may ask. Well, we have learned that if you use a little of the water that you boil the potatoes in, a little veggie broth, and some soy milk, salt and pepper - and whip them with that big Kitchenaid mixer, you get some EXCELLENT mashed potatoes! I used a pack of that fake chicken that we like, browned it in a skillet with a little broth, and made some gravy with soymilk. We ladled that over the mashed potatoes, had some English peas and some cream style corn and a hunk of homemade bread that I made earlier today. Sounds like alot of food, doesn't it? Well, it WAS! And it was delicious and hearty. We may pay on the scale tomorrow for the quantity we ate - but there was only 8 grams of fat in the whole thing - not just one plate - the whole dinner. Yummy.

Rainy Weekend Cookery

I like to cook when it's raining. Well, honestly, I like to cook anyway. It's a good thing for us that I DO enjoy it. It keeps our menus varied and interesting.

I remember when I was very young (pre-teen) at First Baptist Church in Union City, Mrs. Posey used to make a kind of tamale casserole - it had a really soft cornbread (almost mushy) topping. She called it Johnny something. I don't remember that but for some reason, I have been thinking of it lately. I did some Google searches for tamale casserole and came up with this. It's not exactly what I was thinking of - but man was it good! I used some Boca crumbles (all legal for us) instead of the Gimme Lean (also legal I believe) and used a can of Rotel tomatoes instead of plain canned tomatoes. Next time I probably won't even use a meat sub. It really didn't need it. We got 2 BIG meals out of this. Would have been more if we had had a nice salad or another side dish with it but it was good all by itself. I wouldn't hesitate to make this for Care Group just like this. It would probably be good for all you non-vegans with some cheese on top and some dollops of sour cream.

I usually make bread at least a couple of times each week. I've been a little remiss this week and John reminded me that we are out and there is no toast. :( There is a loaf of whole wheat bread baking right now and it smells awesome! UPDATE: Bread is done. mmmmmmmm.

While that was cooking, I took a recipe that my Mom got from my Aunt and veganized it. (Is that a word?) Anyway, the applesauce raisin muffins were absolutely delicious! I used half raisins and half chocolate chips. Yummy. The recipe links to the Family Recipes at nanapudding.com.

Earlier today, I did a little shopping. For the first time in I'm not sure how many years, I shopped in the Petites Department at Kohls and Dillards. They had some nice sales and I was able to pick up a few things that I can wear now and through the spring as well as some things that don't quite fit yet. Hey, when nice dress pants are on sale for $9, you gotta do that! I will hopefully need them within the next month. 42.5 pounds gone as of today.

6 month update

Six months ago today, we began a new journey into healthy eating that has been a real adventure. I have now officially lost 40 pounds - actually just lack .2 losing 41 pounds as of today - and John has lost 24. He's within 3-4 pounds of his ideal weight according to the doctor. I lack MUCH more than that but am heading in the right direction. Our cholesterol numbers are greatly improved. (His 137, mine 164)

My tight size 22 jeans are gone and replaced by much more comfortable 14's and 16's. It's getting harder to get dressed to go anywhere because most of my clothes just hang on me and don't look very nice. My winter coat and my bathrobe will wrap around me 1.5 times each.

It is very significant that I have not been sick this winter. Usually I fight asthmatic bronchitis all winter long but not this year. Aside from a very light case of the flu that I caught back last September when I was traveling, I have not been sick at all. I find that on the few occasions that my allergies have flared up, I can take 1/2 of a Zyrtec and that takes care of it - and I only have had to take it just a couple of times.

John has discovered that he likes to bake - and he is eating foods that he has either never liked (mushrooms and spinach) or that hurt his stomach (onions, peppers, garlic). Cabbage is still a no-go. :) We cook at home mostly but we can manage if we need to eat out. We have not cheated. I have refined my cooking skills to avoid meat, dairy and added oils. Our food is very delicious and our friends agree (some agree reluctantly).

It's been an interesting ride. We have not even discussed NOT continuing. People assume that it's difficult and requires great commitment. We don't even MISS the other stuff anymore and we feel so much better, any perceived trade-offs are worth it.

I'll try to post some pictures soon.

Country Lunch . . . and Dinner too

I love fresh green beans. It's obviously part of my Mitchell heritage. I'm sure Mamaw would roll over in her grave though if she knew I was cooking them without a big old hunk of pork in the pot. Kroger had some good looking fresh green beans this weekend so I bought a big bag and some new potatoes. I cooked them together in my iron pot with some veggie broth and onion, and then put some corn on the cob on top and finished it up. Steamed some carrots in the microwave in one of those handy dandy steaming ziploc bags and made a skillet of cornbread. Also had a few green onions with it. Yum. We had a big pot that served us for lunch and supper both. Sure was delicious.

Whodathunkit?

Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think that scrambled tofu would become a regular part of our meal rotations! Oh, I thought occasionally I might make it - but this has become one of our favorite meals. Today after church, I took frozen diced potatoes, a frozen mix of red, green, and yellow peppers with onions, and some fresh mushrooms and cooked in a non-stick skillet until they were tender. Then I added the tofu mixture (firm tofu diced, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and tumeric) along with a double handful of fresh chopped spinach. I scrambled it all together until the spinach wilted and then served with toast made from our homemade whole wheat bread and some sugar-free jam.

This was a beautiful, colorful dish and delicious and nutritious. Amazing.

Tonight is Care Group night and I am making a veggie lasagna (zucchini and spinach) using silken tofu with egg replacer, Italian seasoning, parsley, and garlic instead of cheese. There's a loaf of french bread in the bread machine to go with it. Should be delicious. It sure smells good.

Nothing to Hide

What a HUGE step! I no longer have to hide onions, spinach, and mushrooms in our meals anymore! This sure makes it easier for me to cook. I love all of these things but John wouldn't eat them. Maybe a few onions here and there but they gave him heartburn - NO MORE! Since we've been eating a vegan diet, the heartburn is gone so the onions have re-appeared. He just simply would not eat spinach or mushrooms but now he's eating them.

Today I put onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach in a pot with just a little veggie broth - enough to saute the veggies. Then I added a prepared spaghetti squash, some garlic, and just a little fat-free pasta sauce. We had it with a nice hunk of hot crusty bread right out of the bread machine and it was a wonderful lunch. Yummy!

Everything but the kitchen sink

We usually have stir fry once a week. Both of us enjoy it and it's different every time - sometimes exceptionally delicious. Tonight we did stir fry and I wanted something different. We used half brown basmati rice and half jasmine rice. Then, this is what I threw in the skillet:

• lo-sodium soy sauce for sauteing
• onion
• red and green bell pepper strips
• mushrooms
• carrots
• green beans
• water chestnuts
• bamboo shoots
• edamame
• crushed pineapple
• chopped pear
• orange sections
• banana slices
• just a handful of chopped walnuts

I let it cook til everything was still just a little crispy and then served it over the rice with a dash of additional soy sauce and some duck sauce. Absolutely delicious! The banana really was a delight in this dish. The only fat is what is natural in the edamame and the little dab of walnuts, and it wasn't much- and I can't imagine how many servings of veggies and fruits it was, but we both ate a huge bowl and we have plenty for leftovers for tomorrow.

Bagel Update

Cherry chocolate chip. Awesome! I found some dried cherries and I chopped them up and added a few along with a few vegan chocolate chips. It doesn't take but about a quarter of a cup total of any add-ins for the bagel recipe. These were very good.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

John is turning into quite the baker! He made this pineapple upside down cake tonight and it is outrageously delicious!

Looking good!

John has lost 22 pounds now - only 4 pounds from his goal weight. Here's a picture that I took Sunday before Church. He's really looking good isn't he?

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

John found a recipe for bagels last week and sent it to Jack (his brother). Jack promptly made them and absolutely RAVED about how great they are. I took a day off today and decided it was a good time to do them. It's not that they take a long time or are difficult or anything - but today I had time to fiddle around in the kitchen. Wow. I used the bread machine on manual cycle to make the dough. Then divided it into 6 fairly equal pieces, rolled it in a ball and stuck my finger through the middle to make it look like a doughnut. You drop the doughnuts in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then bake for about 20 minutes. We use parchment paper for all our baking. The recipe called for a lightly greased cookie sheet but the parchment works great and there is no mess. We will definitely do this again! I thought it might be an issue eating them plain - I usually like cream cheese or peanut butter on mine - but they were soooo good. Not an issue at all. :)

Gross - or not Gross???

John hates cabbage. He doesn't like it boiled, sauerkraut, coleslaw, nothing - zip - nada. Doesn't even want to smell it. I can't even HIDE it from him in other dishes! I like it. Not too many ways I won't eat it - except with corned beef hash - and since we no longer eat meat - that's not an issue.

From time to time, I like to fix a pot of cabbage and something - usually onions, carrots, etc. Today I cooked some blackeye peas with an onion in some veggie broth til the peas were tender. Then I added some stuff I found in the fridge - a couple of roma tomatoes, about a third of a head of cabbage diced, a big handful of fresh spinach, some baby carrots, some garlic. . . I let it cook til the cabbage and spinach were wilted and then dished it up. It was quite tasty! :) I had it for lunch and I had it for supper. He ate leftover corn chowder. Sometimes I just have to cook for myself.

Makin' Seitan (and other stuff)

As I wrote before, seitan is a good source of very low fat protein. The link in the post goes to a recipe and instructions for making it yourself, so of course, I had to try it. I had thought it might be good fixed like chicken salad and eaten in a pita. Well, it was just OK. It's really pretty easy to make but the last step is simmering it in veggie broth for about an hour or so. I'm not sure I cooked it long enough. It tasted ok but seemed a little watery. I was a little disappointed. However, I diced some up and heated it up in a non-stick skillet, added some spaghetti sauce, and served it over steamed spinach with a little garlic. Now THAT was excellent!

I think it would be really good in stir fry or fajitas - maybe even in a taco salad. It seems pretty versatile and I keep thinking if I could find some sausage seasoning to add while I'm making it, it would be good heated up to eat with pancakes. I'll keep my eyes open for the seasoning. I know I used to buy it in Dyersburg at Pierces Market but they are long gone.

I've been making bread at least a couple of times a week. Tuesday I did a HUGE loaf of raisin bread for Jeannie as a belated Christmas present, then made a loaf of taco bread to go with our potato soup. It would be really good if Papa Johns Pizza would quit showing that chocolate pastry commercial. I made another batch of those too. Today I made a loaf of regular white wheat bread. We finally figured out that you cut it in half down vertically down the middle and then slice it. Now it will fit in the toaster.

Eat your veggies!

We love stir fry. It's the best way to get John to eat veggies he's really not too crazy about - like onions and spinach and broccoli. Today after church, I came home and did some quick chopping and put together a nice skillet of veggies to serve over some brown basmati rice. I added all of the above plus a big double handful of fresh chopped spinach. Today we added something new - seitan. It's actually protein made from wheat - low fat, high protein and a consistency and flavor like chicken. We don't do lots of meat substitutes - but we found this during our last trip to the hippie store and I thought we'd give it a try. It was really good and we'll do it again - though we are finding that we don't really NEED the illusion of meat in our dishes. Still, it would make good fajitas I think - and maybe even a nice "chicken" salad for a pita.