I follow the plantstrong regimen and that means no oil. I wanted to try roasted veggies and all the recipes call for oil. So I improvised and it turned out very well!
Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Cauliflower
cut the sweet potatoes into bite size pieces (I leave the skin on but wash thoroughly)
separate cauliflower into small florets
I used 2 small/med sweet potatoes and about a Cup to a Cup and 1/2 of cauliflower. It filled the pan without crowding the veggies too much.
In a small bowl mix the following:
3-4 TBS of veggie broth (depends on the amount of veggies you use)
2 TBS of tamari sauce
1 tsp of garam masala Indian spice
These are rough measures - I just put a few shakes in:
1/8 -1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 -1/4 tsp curry powder
1/8 -1/4 tsp cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp pepper (or use red pepper, white pepper as you like)
Put a few pieces of the veggies at a time into the bowl and coat, then place on a no-stick baking pan.
Drizzle any leftover "sauce" over the veggies on the pan
The spice (especially the garam massala) makes the "sauce" slightly thick and helps it coat the veggies. Who needs oil!
Cook in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.
The veggies will probably stick a bit to the pan, so use a wooden spatula to get them off the pan. The outside of the veggies will be slightly crispy so using the spatula won't squish the veggies. They'll come right up.
I like a peppery flavor and a lot of spice. You may want to adjust to your own tastes.
Yummie!!
Onward <3
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Friday, January 28, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Easy, Healthy Soup
I know everyone has seen a zillion soup recipes for vegan and plantstrong regimens. But this one is particularly easy, tasty, and nutritious. I grabbed the recipe off the Whole Foods iphone app.
Italian Spinach and Pasta Soup
15 oz kidney beans (1 can)
15 oz diced tomatoes (1 can)
Italian seasoning (unless the tomatoes are already seasoned), I added some garlic
4 C veggie broth
fresh spinach (chopped or whole baby leaves)
pasta
Cook the pasta separately. It will be put in the bottom of your bowl and you ladle the soup over it.
Bring the broth to a boil, turn down the heat a bit, add beans, tomatoes, seasonings. I used dried beans that I had cooked, so I did not have any liquid from a can of beans. Send in the entire can of tomatoes and juice.
Heat that mix back to simmer and let it cook for a bit (the recipe says bring back to simmer). I like the flavors to mingle. Then add the spinach and cook until the leaves shrivel a bit and darken. Don't cook it to death.
Put the pasta in your bowl and ladle the soup over it. About 30-40 minutes start to finish for me.
I use
Pacific Natural Organic Veggie Broth (comes in a box)
organic dried kidney beans
Hodgson Mill whole wheat (eggless) pasta
Muir Glenn Organic diced tomatoes
I cooked enough pasta for my meal tonight and will have the leftover soup, sans pasta tomorrow!
Italian Spinach and Pasta Soup
15 oz kidney beans (1 can)
15 oz diced tomatoes (1 can)
Italian seasoning (unless the tomatoes are already seasoned), I added some garlic
4 C veggie broth
fresh spinach (chopped or whole baby leaves)
pasta
Cook the pasta separately. It will be put in the bottom of your bowl and you ladle the soup over it.
Bring the broth to a boil, turn down the heat a bit, add beans, tomatoes, seasonings. I used dried beans that I had cooked, so I did not have any liquid from a can of beans. Send in the entire can of tomatoes and juice.
Heat that mix back to simmer and let it cook for a bit (the recipe says bring back to simmer). I like the flavors to mingle. Then add the spinach and cook until the leaves shrivel a bit and darken. Don't cook it to death.
Put the pasta in your bowl and ladle the soup over it. About 30-40 minutes start to finish for me.
I use
Pacific Natural Organic Veggie Broth (comes in a box)
organic dried kidney beans
Hodgson Mill whole wheat (eggless) pasta
Muir Glenn Organic diced tomatoes
I cooked enough pasta for my meal tonight and will have the leftover soup, sans pasta tomorrow!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Eating Well, Eating Right
Plantstrong and vegan are great eating regimens. My body really responds well to the nutrition I'm putting in and the junk I am not!! But the brain is a whole 'nuther animal. My brain, when given just the slightest taste of sugar or other fat/oil-based food, loses all control. A little taste today, becomes more tomorrow, and a full-blown loss of control by the end of the week. I'm dramatizing a bit, but it FEELS like that. And that is the problem with the emotional and chemical addiction that sits in our brains - it FEELS REAL. It's almost like, if I don't have this sugar now, I WILL expire.
What I have managed to stick to is a vegan regimen. No dairy, no eggs, no fish. What I have trouble sticking with is the no oil plantstrong regimen - no nuts, no chips, nothing fried, no oil, no HFCS products, basically no candy. It's a bit draconian - but then I have been a wanton Roman for most of life, eating as I please and not worrying about tomorrow. Well, tomorrow is here and now I have to tow the line for a while.
I'm having a great supper of giant portobella mushroom caps filled with my own stuffing - I process a few mushrooms, and some veggies - I chose green pepper and leeks. Then stir in some Japanese bread crumbs (because they are vegan) and add just enough veggie broth to moisten a bit to keep the bread crumbs in. Then spoon that mix onto the mushroom caps. Put about a half/spoonful of veggie broth on the baking sheet and rub the cap on the broth. Keeps it from sticking while baking without any oil. I cook in in 350 degree oven for about 20 min. I should have cooked for 30 min tonight because the caps were thick and the green pepper releases a lot of water. Live and learn, but it is tasty! I would season with salt, pepper, and whatever your taste buds like, but I had a very spicy lunch and wanted something with just natural flavors!
I have a friend that has gradually gone vegetarian, mainly because he hangs around me and others who are vegetarians. But he has taken on a challenge to go dairy-free/egg free for a month. I promised that his palette would change for the better. He's already not into fried foods and a lot of oil, so I am hoping he has amazing results. We'll see how it goes!
Meanwhile, the clothes keep getting bigger as I keep getting smaller, slowly, but surely. Rome wasn't built in a day, so it will take time to deconstruct it :)
Onward <3
What I have managed to stick to is a vegan regimen. No dairy, no eggs, no fish. What I have trouble sticking with is the no oil plantstrong regimen - no nuts, no chips, nothing fried, no oil, no HFCS products, basically no candy. It's a bit draconian - but then I have been a wanton Roman for most of life, eating as I please and not worrying about tomorrow. Well, tomorrow is here and now I have to tow the line for a while.
I'm having a great supper of giant portobella mushroom caps filled with my own stuffing - I process a few mushrooms, and some veggies - I chose green pepper and leeks. Then stir in some Japanese bread crumbs (because they are vegan) and add just enough veggie broth to moisten a bit to keep the bread crumbs in. Then spoon that mix onto the mushroom caps. Put about a half/spoonful of veggie broth on the baking sheet and rub the cap on the broth. Keeps it from sticking while baking without any oil. I cook in in 350 degree oven for about 20 min. I should have cooked for 30 min tonight because the caps were thick and the green pepper releases a lot of water. Live and learn, but it is tasty! I would season with salt, pepper, and whatever your taste buds like, but I had a very spicy lunch and wanted something with just natural flavors!
I have a friend that has gradually gone vegetarian, mainly because he hangs around me and others who are vegetarians. But he has taken on a challenge to go dairy-free/egg free for a month. I promised that his palette would change for the better. He's already not into fried foods and a lot of oil, so I am hoping he has amazing results. We'll see how it goes!
Meanwhile, the clothes keep getting bigger as I keep getting smaller, slowly, but surely. Rome wasn't built in a day, so it will take time to deconstruct it :)
Onward <3
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Happy Heart Healthy New Year!
January - a time of resolutions, diets, fads, commitment, failure. Many people have or will (including me) committed to resolutions to get fit, lose weight, only to lose steam by February and slowly give up. Radical change is hard, very hard. Willpower does not exist. Either you get over the addiction to whatever foods you are addicted to by stop putting them in your mouth or you won't. Either you will commit to your health and accept that you need to break the emotional ties you have built up with your food "friends" or you won't. If you are massively overweight (like me), you can't have your cake and eat it too. It won't work.
You can, however, ease into a plant strong regimen. But at some point, sooner rather than later, you will have to quit cold turkey certain food items.
Suggestions for you:
1. go vegetarian - heavy on the vegetables and whole grains, light on the cheese, dairy, and snacks.
2. If you are a sort-of vegetarian like I was (avoid meat), commit to 100% vegan for a few weeks. See if you don't notice a difference. 2 or 3 weeks in your life will not kill you, will not be a burden compared to the years you have indulged yourself.
3. If you are a vegan-ish eater, but still can't lose weight and are F-A-T (and I don't mean, oh I need to lose 10 pounds), then you probably need to drop the sugar, drop the processed foods (anything in a box - even all veggie), and drop the vegan cheese, vegan-aise, vegan yogurt, vegan ice cream - the fat and the sugar are killing any attempts to permanently drop the weight.
I indulged over the holidays - which for me meant eating a lot of seafood while in Seattle. Oh yum! Eating nuts and those Japanese wasabi snack mixes - because they were there! I even indulged in a chocolate bar - a 60% cocoa with caramel delicious heaven :D
But since I've been back home, I have gotten back onto my plant strong regimen.
Yesterday I had Mills whole wheat angel hair pasta and homemade sauce - Muir Glenn organic tomato sauce (no oil), organic diced tomatoes, shredded carrots, italian seasoning.
Tonight is Pacific Natural Organic Mushroom Broth with leeks, mushrooms, and fresh peas. I had a wonderful lunch at my neighborhood Cafe -- Bimimbap - a Korean dish with rice, spinach, tofu, lettuce, carrots, and other good stuff.
Since I've been home, I've had soy "ice cream" and some natural potato-veggie "chips." I'm easing back into normalcy and will cut out all unhealthy foods by tomorrow.
I do it because I am committed to my health and I like losing weight. Cheating is only killing me. I really don't have a death wish. The emotional satisfaction I get out of certain foods is omnipresent, but I can work on that. The chemical addictions I have reawakened can be tamed.
If you really understand what you are up against, you will be successful. If you just kid yourself, you will not succeed.
next up, physical activity. Have I said that before? hmmmm.
Onward!
You can, however, ease into a plant strong regimen. But at some point, sooner rather than later, you will have to quit cold turkey certain food items.
Suggestions for you:
1. go vegetarian - heavy on the vegetables and whole grains, light on the cheese, dairy, and snacks.
2. If you are a sort-of vegetarian like I was (avoid meat), commit to 100% vegan for a few weeks. See if you don't notice a difference. 2 or 3 weeks in your life will not kill you, will not be a burden compared to the years you have indulged yourself.
3. If you are a vegan-ish eater, but still can't lose weight and are F-A-T (and I don't mean, oh I need to lose 10 pounds), then you probably need to drop the sugar, drop the processed foods (anything in a box - even all veggie), and drop the vegan cheese, vegan-aise, vegan yogurt, vegan ice cream - the fat and the sugar are killing any attempts to permanently drop the weight.
I indulged over the holidays - which for me meant eating a lot of seafood while in Seattle. Oh yum! Eating nuts and those Japanese wasabi snack mixes - because they were there! I even indulged in a chocolate bar - a 60% cocoa with caramel delicious heaven :D
But since I've been back home, I have gotten back onto my plant strong regimen.
Yesterday I had Mills whole wheat angel hair pasta and homemade sauce - Muir Glenn organic tomato sauce (no oil), organic diced tomatoes, shredded carrots, italian seasoning.
Tonight is Pacific Natural Organic Mushroom Broth with leeks, mushrooms, and fresh peas. I had a wonderful lunch at my neighborhood Cafe -- Bimimbap - a Korean dish with rice, spinach, tofu, lettuce, carrots, and other good stuff.
Since I've been home, I've had soy "ice cream" and some natural potato-veggie "chips." I'm easing back into normalcy and will cut out all unhealthy foods by tomorrow.
I do it because I am committed to my health and I like losing weight. Cheating is only killing me. I really don't have a death wish. The emotional satisfaction I get out of certain foods is omnipresent, but I can work on that. The chemical addictions I have reawakened can be tamed.
If you really understand what you are up against, you will be successful. If you just kid yourself, you will not succeed.
next up, physical activity. Have I said that before? hmmmm.
Onward!
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