Switching to warm foods as Winter sets in

Been busy lately as well as sick :(

Today was the first day in about 2 weeks that I actually cooked and felt good about it. I'ld say that means I have turned the health corner!

Tonight I made 2 yummy dishes based on recipes I've been reading (including the ever popular Happy Herbivore cook book!).

Mustard Mashed Potatoes and Ginger Mixed Veggies

Mustard Mashed Potatoes
I like to boil my washed potatoes, cut in large chunks or thirds, in a broth of 1/2 water and 1/2 mushroom broth. I leave the skins on just because I like their taste!
I cooked about 5 small and medium sized russet potatoes.

Once boiled, drained, and mashed (I put them back in the warm pot), I add the following:
1-2 tablespoons of spicy mustard
3 cloves of garlic finely minced
pepper to taste (I like a lot!)
celery salt to taste (just for a little extra flavor)

Thin the mashed potatoes using almond milk (or rice milk or soy milk) but don't use the super flavored kind with extra vanilla.

These mashed taters taste a little like warm potato salad and have a great zing!

Ginger Mixed Veggies
What veggies do you have on hand? Make your own mix. I had some frozen peas, frozen brocoli crowns, and fresh baby carrots. I cooked the carrots first in some veggie broth - basically steaming them in the pot by keeping a good lid on the pot. Then I added the peas and brocoli so they didn't turn to mush :)

When the veggies are nearly done, fix the sauce.

Ginger Sauce
minced ginger - 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of finely mashed ginger from the jar or equivalent of fresh ginger finely minced and mashed.
2 TBS or so of Tamari sauce
1/4-1/2 tsp of Siracha sauce
pepper to taste
1/4 tsp of sesame seeds

mix all

add to the sauce as much as you want of a separately mixed combination of 1 TBS cornstarch and 1/2 cup water. For this dish I used about half to 3/4 of what I mixed up.

Put the entire sauce into a saucepan or Corning Ware dish and stir constantly over a medium heat until the sauce thickens. Pour over the veggies and stir to coat.

The two dishes actually complement each other. The mustard zing of the potatoes goes well with the hot sauce infused ginger sauce on the veggies.

Enjoy!!

Eating Herbivore on a Budget

A big perceived barrier to eating herbivore is the cost. I have friends who say - oh, it's too expensive.  When you factor in the spoilage factor it can get really expensive. After all, if I make a box of Mac-N-Cheese for a $1, I will eat it all - because it never goes bad with all the chemicals in it, lol. I may not eat a complete bunch of kale before it goes limp.

I am currently on a budget which is new to me. My employment situation for the year has changed and I have to count my pennies. I'm currently visiting my brother and his family for a couple of weeks in a non-herbivore but herbivore-friendly household. I have prepared a few things for them and they have pulled out some of their meatless recipes. It's all good. But I went to the grocery today with $20. How much could I buy and what can I do with it?  I did not plan this out with any great sophistication or forethought. But I thought I would share what you CAN do with an herbivore grocery run and limited funds.

Here is what I bought:
canned organic black beans (store label) - 1
canned organic chick peas (store label) - 1
canned organic fire-roasted tomatos (Muir Glenn) - 1
canned organic chili bean mix (Westbrae Natural) - 1
bananas - 4
fresh ear corn - 1
large white mushrooms - 5
fresh spinach bunch - 1
fresh kale bunch - 1
fresh cilantro bunch - 1
extra firm tofu pack - 1
organic baby carrots pack - 1

I spent $19.77 and donated .23 cents to Breast Cancer charity (the store was doing a promo).

I'll combine these foods with stuff already on-hand - quinoa, whole wheat burrito wrappers, tomatoes, onions, asparagus, salad greens, condiments, almond milk, fruit juice, and frozen fruit.

I made Chick Pea Tacos for lunch from the Happy Herbivore web site. I love them. I could not convince my brother that chick pea is an adequate substitute for ground beef. He passed. More for me.
I loaded my burrito wrapper (as a soft taco shell) with chopped onion, tomato, cilantro, and topped with fresh spinach leaves (instead of the low nutrient iceberg lettuce).  Delicious.

I'll make chili with the beans and canned tomatos. Quinoa will go with mushrooms and black beans and kale.  Kale can be eaten raw on a sandwich or salad, cooked liked spinach, or in the oven as kale chips.

Corn will go with tofu, mushrooms, and spinach in a breakfast scramble. I'll throw in any leftover beans too :)  Carrots are for munching. Bananas are for smoothies or snacks.

Part of what you have to do as an herbivore is get creative and use good recipes (Happyherbivore.com).  You can eat well, be full, and enjoy your meals - even on a budget.

Happy eating!

I am Herbivore

I am Herbivore.  I am joining the Lindsay Nixon movement of inclusive plant eaters and not restrictive vegans!  I am so tired of having to defend myself - to vegans who are nit-pickers and to non-vegans who see me as the food police.  Over at the Happy Herbivore there is a plant-based kinship being created that fits with exactly why I have adopted the plant-based diet, a great group of people who celebrate what we are doing, and fantastic recipes - as I have noted in my previous post here :)

Here is the HH blog post on vegan to Herbivore.

And I just got the Happy Herbivore cookbook on Kindle! Yeah! and remember- you can get the free software for kindle to read any kindle book on your pc, mac, or smartphone.  No excuses not to be trying these delicious recipes!!

Happy Eating Herbivore :)

Vegan Chickpea Tacos - yep, delish!

I am in love with the recipes at Happy Herbivore!! The cook, Lindsay, is a genius.  Grab some recipes and get cooking :)  I still want to buy the book, but until then, I am trying the online recipes.

Tonight I tried the Chickpea Taco made with chickpeas of course. I was skeptical, but based on the other fabulous dishes that came out of dubious recipes in her book, I knew I needed to try it. The recipe did not disappoint. Here is the link to Chickpea Tacos.  And here are recipes I have not yet tried - a page of recipes for Mexican dishes.

So the secret to this recipe is to bake the chickpeas after having coated them in tamari, lemon juice, and taco seasoning. They bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes and get crispy outside, but soft in the middle. Then make your taco as you wish.

I like whole wheat soft taco shells made in Kansas (which is easy to get since I live in KC MO). I like spicy salsa and I had some leftover brown rice (that I make with mushroom broth) and I used that as well. I topped the tacos with raw kale. These were really, really, good!!  The best part - no grease!

Here is where I let my vegan conscious take a break. I did not look at the ingredient list on the taco shells. Since they are from a local company, I don't know if they are made authentic with lard or just shortening. But they are made with whole wheat and that is worth the having :)

Bon Apetite, mucho gusto, and Enjoy!

Guess I've Been Away Too Long! Kale Chips, Tofu Scramble, and Juicing

A friend reminded me today that I had not been posting on this blog for some time. I have been so wrapped up in working on food access issues here in the urban core of Kansas City, that I have neglected to share my food life of late.

Summer is nearly over and the horrible heat of July/August is behind us. I can't cook in that weather. I got a window A/C unit so I could cool off the kitchen in order to make a salad or smoothie!  But now the oven can come on, the stove can be fired up, and food served warm can be done.  Today I had a food hodgepodge.

I juiced after my morning walk of 2.5 miles. I have a juicer and throw in carrots, cucumber, celery, tomato, and apples. Then I throw the juice in the blender with ice and add my Spirulina powder. I find that I cannot get it to infuse in liquid unless I use the blender. I always add a fruit to the veg juice to give it a little sweetness and to downplay any bitterness of the vegetables.

At lunch I decided to do brunch and create a breakfast meal. I pressed some extra firm tofu and added turmeric for color and pepper for flavor and made "eggs."  I grated some potatoes and made hash "browns." I use air quotes there because I don't like to cook with oil and so something like fried potatoes are not fried and don't become brown and crispy. But they do turn out tasty with some spices or with salsa or ketchup added :)  Finally, I prepared the veggie part of the meal with garlic, onion, fresh pablano chile pepper (mild), mushrooms, red bell pepper, and fresh corn. Served with salsa and it was yummy!

Late in the afternoon I tried a recipe for Kale "chips" that a friend posted on FB. I bought some fresh kale from a local urban garden on Saturday and left it out to dry out some. Then you cut it up as you wish (I think larger pieces including the stem are better). Toss in a ziplok bag with olive oil and seasoning. I used a bit of sea salt and minced some garlic that I had roasted in the oven the other day. Put the kale on a cooky sheet and put in a 425 degree oven for 8-15 minutes. Too much oil leads to burnt kale (my first batch). Watch carefully and at first hint of brown, take them out of the oven.

The texture is almost like ash when it hits your mouth. It practically disintegrates. But the flavor of the Kale is good and the seasoning was great for my taste (great fan of garlic!).  You can't store the chips because if they regain moisture, they get soggy (like a potato chip. So you have to eat them all, lol.

I like kale raw and not cooked to death like a green with ham in a pot. Yuck. Raw is good in salad. Now I have another way to eat it.

An update on my biggest loser gym and fitness quest...

I failed at my gym program and my biggest loser effort. But failed just means I didn't do it in a way that I was able to succeed. So I have restructured my effort. I wasn't strong enough to use the gym equipment and was completely under-confident about using it. So I went to a more structured and monitored style of gym - Curves. This is a circuit exercise program just for women. The "gyms" have a dozen machines and you work on each one in 30 second intervals and then have a 30 second of running in place or other aerobic activity in between each machine. You work out for 30 minutes continuously and then have the option to do stretching or other exercises at the end - which I do. It works every muscle group in your body and I have already seen results!  It is increasing my core strength to the point that I can take up yoga again :)  I also am able to walk in the parks here (now that the 100+ days are gone) and use Runkeeper to take me on a 2.5 mile walk. If you walk or jog or run - try the Runkeeper app on your smart phone. It coaches you as you walk and links to your music playlist. At some point I hope to outgrow Curves and return to a regular gym. But for now, it is just what I need.

Corn Syrup - keeps popping up in my diet

I gave up sodas years ago and dropping diet coke was a challenge. I dropped everything that was an obvious high fructose corn syrup item. I now find that it is in my favorite treats.

I don't eat chocolate since going vegan - yeah, that's a challenge. But I love "Good & Plenty" licorice. But upon reading the label, I find that corn syrup is the #2 ingredient. Dang!

I love icee drinks in the summer - Slushes from Sonic, Freezoni from Quick Trip. No doubt you have something like this at your convenience mart. Corn Syrup is how they make it so sweet. Duh. I also learned that a Freezoni has 110 calories in 8 oz. Have you ever even seen an 8oz cup at the convenience mart? I like the 32oz size myself - 440 calories and 112 grams of carbs - yep, that's your corn syrup. Uh, no wonder my fitness is stymied.

I guess we see what we want to see and ignore the rest. I am bummed. But I would be more bummed if I dropped with a heart attack because I couldn't give up corn syrup.  It's good to remind yourself now and again to pay even closer attention to what you eat. I'll find substitutes without corn syrup and enjoy them. But there really is no obvious substitute for the 79 cent Freezoni. Insidious isn't it?

Need a Reason to Go Organic? Watch this!

A simple science project provides illumination for why we should go organic. Straightforward, not complicated, it just is.