Weekend update and a book review

Sorry I missed posting on Sunday. It was a busy weekend here and is going to be a busy week.  I am going to try to post everyday this week though. Wish me luck.

Saturday dinner:

As expected we weren’t terribly hungry when dinner time came around so we had the end of the country miso soup from Friday. I was feeling lazy and didn’t take a picture but it looked exactly like yesterday. ;-)

Sunday:

It was another cold and dark morning when we left for the farmers’ market. Yes it really was that dark when we left. Only crazy people would leave for the farmers’ market before the sun comes up, LOL.

Rudy was about half set up when we got there so Dan jumped into the truck and I helped carry the containers to the table. We shared an article about the cancer and vitamin D with Rudy and chatted about that for a while. Thank you for sending the article Courtney, Rudy also said thank you very much! ;-)

We brought home a ridiculous haul of local organic produce from the market this morning, between Rudy and Pam we had: 5 bunches of kale, 1 bunch each regular and Chioggia (aka candy stripe) beets, 9 cucumbers, 2 celery roots (with the tops), ½ pound fresh ginger, 2 eggplant, 1 butternut squash, 2 bags tatsoi (an Asian lettuce in the cruciferous family), 1 big rutabaga, 1 quart of white potatoes, 1 quart of sweet potatoes, 2 big daikon radishes (with the greens), 6 yellow zucchini, and 1 quart of green beans. There was probably other stuff but that is what I remember.

My refrigerator is jammed full like normal. Since I always mention how full my refrigerator is I thought I would show you. This is how it looked Monday morning after I had made a little room in it from eating four meals. There is a second refrigerator in the basement for the overflow but this gives you a good idea of how much produce we eat in a week. I was not kidding when I said it looks like a couple of rabbits live here. ;-)

I got these adorable little decorative gourds from Rudy. How cute are they? And they are organic which means when the cats lick them, which they will, I won’t need to panic. :-p For those of you that are wondering yes the gourds are in a Murano glass bowl. Any one will tell you my house has Italy sprinkled throughout every room. ;-)

Breakfast:

Since we had green smoothies yesterday Dan wanted oatmeal this morning. He had his favorite fruit and nut oats with mixed frozen berries (raspberries, wild blueberries, and Marion berries), ground flaxseeds, cinnamon, ginger, walnuts and bit of stevia. Dan has a sweet tooth so I have to add just a bit of sweetness to his oats. *rolls eyes* I am still working on him with this but I won’t give up.

For my breakfast I had my new favorite addiction … savory oatmeal. This time I used: ½ cup oats, 1 cup water, 1 ½ cups broccoli, 3 Roma tomatoes diced, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, freshly ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed, 2 tablespoons salsa, ½ tablespoon raw sunflower seeds and a sprinkle of dehydrated leeks. I could eat this stuff breakfast, lunch and dinner. Thank you again Courtney for sharing this. I LOVE IT! ;-)

Lunch:

I opted to take the easy route today for lunch. I made a huge pot of caponata for lunch today and to have in the refrigerator to top salads. If you haven’t tried cold caponata on salad I highly recommend it. I think I like it almost as much as salsa and hummus which was my prior favorite salad topping. It is more work than hummus but I love it so that is fine with me.

The second dish I made included a quick basil, walnut and lemon pesto. This as simple as it sounds, fresh basil, a handful of walnuts, the zest and juice of one lemon blended in the food processer. Add water until you like the consistency and season (pepper, fresh garlic and salt if you must) as desired. I tossed lightly steamed green beans and fresh cucumber cut like green beans in the pesto and refrigerated. The flavor of these is best at room temp but cold works too.

The last dish I made for lunch was a saffron brown rice pilaf with dried fruit, fresh cilantro and sliced almonds. Cook the rice like normal but add a good pinch of saffron threads. When the rice is finished fluff with a fork, add diced dried fruit of your choice, fresh minced cilantro and sliced almonds. I like this best room temp but hot, or cold also work.

The best part of this meal is that it was quick, no fuss and I have leftovers for Dan’s lunch bag tomorrow. I do love my planned leftovers. ;-)

Dinner/snack:

Dan got hungry about 6:30 this evening and thought a bowl of the split pea soup from yesterday would make a great snack.

I wasn’t initially hungry until I smelled his soup. I decided I would have a little of the okara “cheeze” experiment I am working on, some caponata and cucumber slices. I also grabbed a handful of walnuts and a banana that I didn’t photograph.

Dessert:

It will come as no surprise that Dan decided he “needed” strawberry banana soft serve tonight for dessert. Like normal I had a few spoons of the frozen dessert but Dan had the vast majority of it. In case you hadn’t noticed it is his single favorite thing I make. I have tried to show him how to do it but he claims it wouldn’t taste the same if he made it. Translation, he really doesn’t want to know how to do it himself.

Breakfast:

Dan was very sweet this morning and let me sleep in because I was tossing and turning all night. This was mostly due to rambunctious felines knocking things over and chasing each other across the bed while we were trying to sleep. While it was very nice that he let me sleep in but it started my day on a rushed note. This meant no fresh juice in Dan’s lunch this morning. I was not awake enough to be using a sharp knife without harming myself. ;-)

Since I had my intentional leftovers in the refrigerator packing his lunch wasn’t a problem and came together very quickly. For breakfast he decided that he wanted to have a green smoothie of: 4 kale leaves/stems, 2 frozen bananas, 1 handful walnuts (love those omega 3 fatty acids they contain in addition to the richness they add), 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds (more omega 3 fatty acids), ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger (both spices added for flavor and antioxidants). Since this was for Dan I added a pinch of stevia. I love that I can make a healthy breakfast in a just a few minutes. What would I do without my Vitamix? I hope I don’t have to find out.

My breakfast was a bit unorthodox which by now is no surprise I am sure. I opted for two collard wraps with the okara cheeze experiment from late last week and caponata from yesterday. Collard wraps are one of my favorite things. I like knowing I am eating raw cruciferous veggies since they are most nutritious raw of lightly cooked and of course I like having a sandwich without bread. I also like to make this same wrap using hummus or almond feta.

Book Review: The Kind Diet by Alicia Siverstone

This book is written for someone that isn’t a vegan but is considering the idea. The book points out the nutritional and environmental problems associated with consuming meat and dairy. Additionally it addresses some of the common questions new vegans have like, where will I get my protein, calcium, etc.

I like that the author discusses eating local organic food. The fact that she emphasizes the concept of reduce, reuse and recycle is also very positive. This is something I believe in as well though I don’t discuss it on the blog.

There is some questionable nutritional advice in the book. The idea that you should use herbs and spice sparingly is one example, but there are many others. Herbs and spices are a rich source of antioxidants which is why I use them liberally. Not to mention that bland food isn’t exactly appealing, IMO.  Additionally those of you that are vegan may be put off by her comment of having bites of friend's sushi with fish when she is out which really surprised me.

The author separates the book between flirting with veganism and being a superhero. I would describe this as degrees of healthiness which includes different levels of commercial food consumption (including those with soy protein isolates) which you all know by now I don’t eat for health reasons.

The book is categorized as follows:

Part I: Kind versus Nasty

1. What’s So Kind about Dieting?
2. Nasty Food #1: Meat
3. Nasty Food #2: Dairy
4. More Nasty Stuff: White Sugar and Processed Foods
5. Kind Foods
6. Nutritional FAQs

Part II: Living the Kind Life

7. Flirting
8. Going Vegan
9. Becoming a Superhero
10. The Kind Kitchen
11. Kind Away from Home
12. Getting Fit, Inside and Out
13. We Are All Activists

Part III: The Recipes

14. Vegan Recipes
15. Superhero Recipes

This is a book I expected to like and that I wanted to like.  That being said I am glad that I got this from the library. The recipes are okay, they aren’t as healthy as mine. Overall I suggest you check this one out from the library before buying.

Signing out:

That is going to be it for me this morning. I have a busy week in front of me and today is no exception. I hope to be back later today with another post but time may get away from me. I am off to be productive. Talk to again as soon as I can.