Mushrooms

I am working on transitioning to a plant based diet. There are days that are easier than others. One of the hardest is the whole cookout/burger times. There is something to be said about a big juicy slab on a bun, topped with stuff.

I am not a big fan of meatless burgers-they usually taste like cardboard and are expensive. 
Enter Portobello.

I love mushrooms. I really do, and like the avocado, I can add to just about everything. Portobello caps are just about the right size for a bun, and are versatile.

My favorite is making them Mediterranean style. I sauté garlic in a bit of olive oil, then add the mushroom cap. I sear it on both sides and then let cook through for about 7 minutes. I top it with capers, roasted red peppers, cashew cream and spinach. It’s so good, so filling and so healthy

 

Cashew cream

1 c raw cashews

1 c water

1/3 c almond or coconut milk

 

Soak the cashews overnight in 1 c water. Drain. Puree with the non dairy milk. Can be used as sour cream, ricotta cheese, mayonnaise, cream sauce, Alfred sauce…possibilities are endless!

Game-Set-Match

I love tennis. I love playing and I love watching it on tv. I especially love watching Wimbledon. Out of the four majors, it's my favorite. There's something elegant and timeless about it, and I look forward to it each year.

My favorite out of the fortnight is breakfast at Wimbledon, the men's final.

As a child, we would have a proper breakfast with my aunt, grandmother and I glued to the tv. I grew up with jimmy Connors, Billie Jean king, Chrissy evert and John McEnroe. In the 90's and later, tennis took an awesome turn and you had a few superstars emerge-Martina Hingis, Steffi Graff, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi-then the Williams sisters later on. 

It became fierce.

My grandmother loved Pete Sampras, but in her endearing way, she used to call him Pete Sampson.

I was an Andre Agassi fan. What can I say? I liked the bad boys.

We both liked Patrick Rafter.

This year, I will brew some English breakfast tea.

And have some balsamic strawberries with cashew cream.

To make: 

Strawberries

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Finely chopped mint leaves

1 tsp coconut sugar

1 c raw cashews, soaked in water overnight

1/3 c non dairy milk

Halve the strawberries. Put in a bowl, add vinegar & sugar. Toss to coat. Add mint.

Drain cashews. Purée in blender with milk. 

To serve: put a layer of cream in serving dish. Top with berries.

To finish up, I will toast my grama & aunt with a virgin Pimms.

16 oz ginger ale

1 lime, juiced

1 lemon juiced

Fresh basil

Star anise

Juniper berries, crushed

Fresh mint

1 cucumber sliced thinly

Pour ginger ale, lime & lemon juices and berries into a pitcher. Add anise, mint, basil & cucumber. Chill & let flavors combine for 4 hours before serving.

Skin

As I make the transition to living a more yogic lifestyle, I am shedding a lot of skin. For many years, I was a compulsive overeater. I used my weight as a form of protection. I was guarding my heart and soul from a lot of things that were hurtful. On the subconscious level, I looked at it as being fat was a better excuse than facing up to the actual situation. Its easier to be fat than to admit you are surrounding yourself with people who are not supportive and caring about you (rather what you can do for them). I used to eat to stuff my emotions, and it was definitely a case of what was eating me.

 

I had a health crisis that caused me to completely re-examine my life and my choices. The first thing I did was eliminate animal based products from my diet. Yes, I went vegan for good. For me, the hardest thing is the fact that the Big Man doesn’t like most of what I eat, so I wind up making multiple meals. I have friends whose spouses went along on the journey with them. That is not true in my case. I also added in whole, home cooked foods. I stopped eating processed junk and soda, and I started to watch the weight drop off me. I lost almost 10% of my body weight in just over 6 weeks by not eating fast food or chips or having cokes multiple times a day.

The second big thing I did was I began to focus on mindful eating. I made each meal an experience. No more eating at my desk at work or during meetings. No more surfing the web or reading a book while I ate. I focused on eating. I say a prayer of gratitude for what I am about to eat. I make it an experience. I eat off real plates, with real silverware. I drink out of real glasses (no more disposable for me!). When I can, I add candles and table clothes, because eating should be an experience. I have noticed I eat less, not intentionally, but it just seems to work out that way.

 

The third thing is I am now owning my feelings. I journal more, and I focus on what needs to be resolved and with whom. I no longer let things fester or be stuffed down. I know I don’t like confrontation, but sometimes I need to do that in order to preserve my health. I am also slowly eliminating the 3 p’s of toxicity: people, places and products.

 

Fourth, I am eating when I am hungry. I don’t feel guilty over what I am eating either. Diets as we commonly know them don’t work. I am living proof of that. If it’s a commercially available diet, I have probably been on it. I could count points, grams, whatever. Since I stopped counting calories, I am losing weight. I am more focused on the quality of food that I am eating. I choose organic, whole foods versus anything that contains products made in lab. Since I started eating real food, my chronic aches and pains have been reduced. I don’t feel foggy headed. I am not constantly tired.  Yes, it is much more work. However, my health is important to me and it’s a sacrifice I am willing to make.

Lettuce Entertain You

My Facebook feed has been filled with all sorts of posts about growing new vegetables from scraps. I have to admit, I was incredibly skeptical. Yeah, right, like this is going to work...

So in the interest of proving this to be wrong, I decided to try it out with some romaine lettuce. 

I took the end, put it in some water, and waited.

And waited.

And waited. And changed the water a few times.

And after a few days, I had lettuce leaves sprouting up.

I guess Facebook can be educational

Goddess

I started reading labels while grocery shopping years ago. I go in phases, reading things closely to just throwing random junk in my cart. Over the last few years, I have seen my weight go up, my energy level go down and my overall health & we'll being plummet. I knew something had to change, so I decided to be more aware of what I was putting in my body (as well as on it) and made some big changes.

I have always eaten a lot of salad. In fact, I probably eat at least two a day with lunch and dinner. I keep it in a big bowl in my fridge and just grab it and go. I also love my salad dressing, which I began to realize was a bit of a problem. Reading labels, I discovered some of my favorite dressings had lots of bad stuff in there, including high fructose corn syrup, MSG and lots of chemicals.

What's a semi-crunchy mom to do?

Make my own.

It's actually pretty easy. I love green goddess dressing (you would think with a name like that, it's good for you) but none were healthy. Since my little health crisis, I made the conscious choice I need to eat more "cleanly"-whole, unprocessed foods. That was not green goddess dressing, at least in the supermarket.

I was watching the movie Food Matters, and there was a discussion on spirulina, which is an algae. Before you get grossed out, it's actually pretty good and has tons of health benefits.

And it's green.

I found my new green goddess dressing.

1 pkg silken tofu, soft

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp spirulina powder

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp coconut oil

Dash of sriachia sauce

1/4 c non dairy milk

Put all ingredients in a blender, purée. Keeps for about 5 days in the fridge

Animal

I have been an animal lover since I was a little girl. My neighbor, Mrs. Meeks, was involved with the local animal shelter and taught me about caring for cats. I learned about providing shelter for feral cats, as well as animal rescue. As I got older, I became involved more hands on with both dogs and cats. That passion has not abated after all these years. When I was in high school, I had to take biology. One of the things we were supposed to do in it was dissect animals-frogs, worms, pigs-and I just couldn’t do it. I told my teacher that I was not going to cut open an animal to see what was inside. My grade suffered, but I felt morally right. It was one of the first times I stood up for my beliefs, and it opened my eyes to animal cruelty.

 

I started to take a stand against animal cruelty, and protested against labs that used animals as part of their research. I thought hunting & fishing for sport was inhumane. I voted with my pocketbook, and would not use products tested on animals. I was a vegetarian, did not wear leather or wool, and volunteered with SAVE (no kill shelter) in Princeton, NJ up until I got married 12 years ago. This was part of my lifestyle. As time went on, I slipped up and stopped being as vigilant about my choices. The Big Man isn’t as crunchy as I am, and I slacked off on buying cruelty free products and other moral choices. In fact, this Is one of issues we are worlds apart on. I It was only fairly recently that I really took a long hard look at my lifestyle choices. Am I teaching my son compassion by buying products that are tested on animals? One of his favorite questions to ask is, what is more important looks or function? In the case of animal testing, I’d rather buy a product that doesn’t maim or kill innocent creatures that the Lord God made all.

 

Some facts to consider when it comes to animal testing:

 

Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned and abused in U.S. labs every year

92% of experimental drugs that are safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials because they are too dangerous or don’t work. Some of the biggest drug failures of the last two decades that have caused death or irreparable harm included the cholesterol drug Baycol and the diabetes drug Rezulin. Both were deemed safe and effective for human consumption after being tested on animals.

Several cosmetic tests commonly performed on mice, rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs include: skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed on shaved skin or dripped into the eyes without any pain relief.

 

One of the lifestyle changes I made was I stopped wearing leather and wool. I gave up my Coach purses and leather boots and found non-animal replacements. In fact, in most cases, no one knows the difference. I phased animal products out of my diet. I make as many products myself, from plant based sources, to avoid animal testing. What is unfortunate is all prescription medications approved by the FDA require an animal testing phase as part of the process. Knowing that, I made a vow to myself that I was going to make lifestyle choices to enable me to not need prescription medications anymore. All the reasons why I am on medications are related to lifestyle choices, and by making healthier choices I will be able to eliminate them eventually. I again am checking websites like www.leapingbunny.org andwww.crueltyfree.com  for a listing of products not tested on animals. I understand that it  may be virtually impossible to avoid all products tested on animals, I can limit my complicity in purchasing or consuming them.  

 

If you haven’t seen the you tube video of the beagles walking on the grass for the first time, you need to watch it. They were rescued from a lab, kept caged and never got to be dogs. Just click the link and watch. It may change your mind.

 

http://youtu.be/6qt42JMxBMw

 

 

You're my angel

I can't deny that I have a sweet tooth. I love dessert. However, it isn't always the healthiest choice I can make. 

That means it's been reduced to an occasional treat versus a regular thing.

I can justify it with this, however.

Angel food cake.

Fresh blueberries.

Cashew cream.

Easy, elegant, less bad for you.

Oatmeal raisin cookies

After each of my son's piano recitals,

 there is a reception with punch and cookies. 

It's a reward for a job well done. 

For today's spring recital, I made something super special: oatmeal cookies.

They are both dairy and gluten free and vegan. 

Meaning: they are good for you and taste great.

1 c gluten free oats

1 c rice flour

1 c coconut milk

1/2 c currants or raisins 

1 banana mashed

1 tbsp flax seed mixed with water

1 tbsp agave nectar 

Mix everything together. Drop onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, let cool.

Protein pancakes

I have never been much of a breakfast eater. Growing up I never really ate breakfast. My grandmother & aunt were always weight conscious, so they "saved" calories by skipping it. I learned to do it too, which continued into adulthood.

It's only been in the last few years, as I've begun to heal from the inside out, that I'm eating breakfast and enjoying it. Most mornings I have oatmeal, because it's quick & easy as well as portable.

Some days, I just need more.

A lot of healthy eating websites have protein pancakes and there are some great variations.

Mine is super easy and super yummy.

You need:

Egg replacer

1 banana

1/4 c oatmeal

1 heaping tablespoon peanut or nut butter

1/4 c almond milk

1/2 c frozen fruit

Coconut oil to cook

Make your egg replacer:

1 tbsp flax seeds mixed with water. Let sit for 15 minutes. I actually keep some on hand in the fridge.

I buy my oatmeal in bulk at the Co-Op or Pomegranate. 

I purée all the ingredients in the blender. 

Melt coconut oil. Pour batter in pan & cook.

Make sure you flip & cook both sides!

Cucumber Mojito juice

There are 2 definite camps in regards to juicing: either you love it or you hate it. I am in the love it group. For me, it replaces soda-sometimes I even add it to carbonated water for that kick. Most mornings I make fresh juice in my juicer. It's a great addition to the breakfast table, and it encourages me to try vegetables that I don't normally eat, like beets. 

After I do my weekend grocery shopping, I peel my veggies for juice. I keep them in a container in the fridge so it's easy to get my morning going. If I know the next day is going to be crazy, I will make my juice the night before. My juices all have a basic formula:

Ginger

Lime or lemon

Celery

Pear or apple

Kale or spinach 

Carrots

After that, I go a little crazy. So,stones it's beets, sometimes it's cucumbers. Many times it's both.

This morning, I wanted something a little more jazzy. I tried cucumber Mojito juice.

My basic juice recipe (I used pear, lime & kale)

1 cucumber

Handful of fresh mint

I ran everything through the juicer. 

Then drink up buttercup.

Broccoli rabe

One of my favorite vegetables is broccoli rabe.

 In New Jersey, you can find it everywhere. South Dakota, not so much.

It's like broccoli, only less flowery. It's got a slightly bitter taste, like chard. I don't think it could be eaten raw (it wouldn't taste good anyway). 

I blanch mine first, then the magic begins. 

Next I sauté it in olive oil with garlic, then I serve it with either polenta or pasta. Or plain.

I added roasted tomatoes & red peppers, over polenta.

Naked Burrito

I love burritos. The love affair started at Bonneville Junior High, in Salt Lake City in the early 1980's. Sometimes, I'd get off my bus with my friend who lived at the other end of 6400 South, near 11th East. There was a 7-11 on the corner, and I had my first taste of a burrito.

It was love at first bite.

I still love them, even though they aren't the healthiest thing for me.

I've tried to find a way to make them healthier, but I hadn't had much luck.

Until now.

We've had some crazy weeks lately, between the Big Man being back in the hospital earlier this month,

Pinewood Derby 

and piano recitals

and competitions.

Then I got sick, causing an asthma flare.

As a result, lots of takeout and junk, which means feeling bloated and just plain yucky. In addition, grocery shopping was on the back burner, so cupboards were lacking the good stuff.

I was throwing together a quick dinner the other night, and didn't have anything jump out and scream cook me. It was like an episode of Chopped.  I had a sweet potato, some cooked kidney beans, a can of Rotel tomatoes, green onions, cashew cream, avocado, and some daiya shreds. 

Challenge accepted.

Time to make a naked burrito bowl.

What makes it naked is no tortilla. 

I cooked the sweet potato, then sliced it. I sprinkled some chili powder on it.

I reheated the beans with the tomatoes. Diced some green onions, added them. Heated them through. 

Diced some avocado and topped it all with cashew cream.

It was so good. 

Breakfast in Bed

I was never much of a breakfast eater growing up, and even into my twenties. I always tried to "save" my calories for later in the day. However, it constantly  backfired on me, and I would be starving all day long and pig out. I started to consistently eat breakfast, and are able (most days) make better choices. Fast forward to motherhood. I know have three people to get out of the house this morning, look decent for work and take care of pets. I love make ahead meals, and breakfast is no exception. This is the easiest and so super filling, and keeps you full till lunch time.

You need:

1 c cooked quinoa 

Fruit, sliced (I used apples & pears)

Cinnamon 

Honey or stevia

Flax or chia seeds

Nuts (I used almonds)

1 c milk (I used almond milk)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix quinoa, flax & milk together in a baking dish. Stir in sweetener.

Add fruit and nuts. Top with cinnamon. Bake for 30-45 minutes.

To serve: slice and microwave 30 seconds.

Keeps for about a week in the fridge.