Curried Red Lentil Soup with Tomato and Coconut

If I haven’t said recently how much I appreciate all of you please know that I do. Your kind comments, emails, texts and phone calls have been extremely thoughtful and very helpful. I am feeling much better this morning. Our doctor appointment Wednesday morning was completely uneventful which is precisely what I needed. I feel as though one huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

The problem now is that my blue mood is coming and going. To try not to think about things I have been trying to keep myself busy so that I don’t have time to think. Thinking is how I get myself into trouble. Dan teases me that I can dark faster than anyone he knows and he is probably right. I have been doing a lot of nutrition reading, listening to instrumental jazz and sipping green and white tea while curled up in my favorite chair.

On the positive front I am now more up than down which feels like progress. My plan at the moment is to continue to stay as busy as possible and focus on the positives in my life. I will keep you informed how this works for me. Wish me luck; I think I still need it. ;-)

Yesterday I decided to get my schedule under control. To do this I starting tracking how I am currently spending my time. This is something I used to do at work for cost accounting purposes or time and motions studies but never tried it at home. I plan to keep track of my time for a week so I can create a realistic plan for myself to make certain that I get everything done. Something tells me I am going to be surprised how I spend my time. At the very least it will be eye opening.

I am also trying to increase my water intake which some days is zero, shameful I know. When you drink as much green and white tea as I do water seems to get left behind. As you may have guessed I am also tracking my water consumption. This may turn into a food journal but I haven’t done one of those in years because all the measuring is annoying. ;-)

Here is what we have been up to since I last talked to you:

Wednesday:

Here is a picture I took as we were leaving the house Wednesday morning. We got just enough snow to leave a beautiful light blanket of white snow but not enough to cause any real traffic problems. There is something so pretty about a light coating of snow.

Since we had to leave the house early for the appointment it meant skipping the gym. I am one of those ladies that take a while to get ready. I hate blow drying my hair and it takes hours to dry by itself because of the length. This all meant no gym and while I wasn’t happy about it that is just the way it had to be this morning.

For breakfast we had our usual green smoothies: kale, frozen banana, cinnamon, powdered ginger, freshly ground flaxseeds, walnuts and water. The big news this morning …. No stevia in Dan’s smoothie. I have been making mine without stevia but not Dan’s. I had him try his smoothie without stevia this morning and he was good with it. Mind you he did say it is better with stevia but thought it was fine without it too. I imagine you are wondering why I am trying to reduce our stevia use right?

From what I have read thus far stevia is safe but I am trying to reduce our use of anything processed. Also given how the digestion system works it would make sense that the taste of sweet may be enough to get the digestion system to start releasing hormones and enzymes. I read something that an MD wrote about this possibly being why consuming diet soda isn’t linked to weight loss. If diet soda may raise insulin I thought stevia may be similar. I will continue to use stevia where it is necessary but want to get our overall intake down.

After the appointment we stopped at Costco since the car needed gas. While Dan got gas I ran through the store to pick up produce, walnuts, and a few exercise DVDs. How is that we are always short on fresh veggies? I swear our refrigerators always look like a family of rabbits live here. LOL

Once we got home I made us a quick salad of: mesclun, salsa, grape tomatoes, red bell pepper, cucumber, and raw pumpkin seeds.

To go with that there was a quick bowl of soup. I combined a canned of Amy’s lentil soup, with 1 pint (2 cups) of diced canned tomatoes, ¼ teaspoon turmeric, ¼ teaspoon coriander, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ¼ teaspoon ginger and a generous grinding of black pepper (to increase the bioavailability of the curcumin in the turmeric).

Once Dan left for work I changed clothes put away the non-perishable groceries and did my strength training. The TRX is working out quite nicely for me so far. Dan is planning to workout before he leaves his office tonight. He has been hitting the gym at work with one of the young guys (20 somethings) on days when we don’t make it to the gym in the morning. I am so proud of him for making a commitment to exercise regularly since he doesn’t actually enjoy exercise. As Dan always says he prefers being a couch potato but knows that exercise is better for him. Exercise is great at reducing your blood sugar if that is a problem for you. Even for us, who have normal fasting blood glucose numbers, we can see a drop as the result of exercise.

My mid-day snack was my usual orange and 2 Brazil nuts.

I wanted to share a cooking problem from Tuesday night before I forget. I tried to make a fast pot of split pea soup but that didn’t work out. Even though I knew that acid can interfere with the ability of beans to soften I thought that 2 cups of tomatoes to 10 cups of liquid wouldn’t be a problem. Wrong! I cooked the beans for almost 2 hours and the exterior remained crunchy. This was an epic fail, LOL, but humbling. It actually made me laugh since I knew better but did it anyway. I wanted to tell you about it before I forgot so that you don’t make the same mistake.

I had some things that I wanted to get finished while Dan was at work so I made a big pot of soup for us to eat for a few days starting with dinner Wednesday night. To make the soup a little different I added the ½ can reduced fat coconut soup that I had frozen last week (or the week before now I don’t remember when it was). I always pour the extra coconut milk into a mason jar large enough to leave at least a one inch air space and freeze the milk. It will stay fresh in a freezer a month that way. It may be good for longer than that but I have typically used it before it has been stored much longer than that. Here is the soup I made for dinner on Wednesday:

Curried Red Lentil and Coconut Soup
Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 pound dried red lentils, picked through and rinsed
½ cup barley
1 large red or yellow onion, peeled and finely diced (the onion was approx the size of a grapefruit and was about 4 cups)
8 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
½ tablespoon of freshly minced/grated ginger
10 cups water
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons coriander seed
4 teaspoons black mustard seed
freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I used about a teaspoon)
½ - 14 ounce can reduced fat coconut milk (this is the what I had frozen from the last time I used coconut milk)
2 quarts (or 4-15 ounce cans) canned diced tomatoes preferably no or low salt
1 lime zested and juiced

Directions:

Combine the beans, water, aromatics and spices and cook until the beans are soft. Stir occasionally to keep the soup from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You may also have to add water depending on how much evaporates during cooking. I tend to cook soups mostly covered. I do this by placing a wooden spoon on the edge of the pot and then putting the lid on. This closes the lid, mostly but still allows some evaporation.

Once the beans are tender (in about 20 minutes) add the remaining ingredients (but not the lime). When you are ready to serve add the lime zest and lime juice and stir it into the soup.

Nutritional Information (assumes no salt tomatoes):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 311.22
Calories From Fat (12%) - 36.96

Total Fat - 4.13g
Saturated Fat - 1.61g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 25.7mg
Potassium - 803.11mg
Total Carbohydrates - 54.35g
Fiber - 11.26g
Sugar - 4.36g
Protein - 17.93g

Comments:

This was a simple soup with a subtle Indian flavor. I also liked that it was filling and simple to prepare. That is one of the great things about soup it practically cooks itself.

After dinner Dan thought he “needed” calories so you all know what that means. Of course he had two bowls of strawberry banana soft serve. My hubby loves cold creamy desserts and always has. In the bad old days he used to eat ice cream from serving bowls and would sometimes go back for seconds. He has been a dessert boy for as long as I can remember.

Thursday:

The weather has turned extremely cold again. It was a balmy 19 degrees this morning (heavy sarcasm). Brrrr! Have I said recently that I am not a huge fan of the cold? Seriously we need to move south for the winter. The older I get the more I understand the “snow birds” that move south for the winter. I used to laugh at those old folks and I am slowly turning into one of them. LOL

Breakfast was a simple bowl to oatmeal made with: ½ cup oats, 1 cup water, ¾ cup wild frozen blueberries, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger, and 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed. I would have added a tablespoon or two of chopped walnuts to the oats but they were all in my overflow pantry and I didn’t feel like hiking the stairs to get them. I am not kidding when I say that I am not a morning person. ;-)

While I was relaxing with a little jazz and some hot tea I decided to pressure cook some garbanzo beans. Like I promised this time I made them without oil and they were fine. To one pound of beans, I added 9 cups of water, 2 bay leaves, 6 cloves of garlic and cooked them under high pressure for 32 minutes and let the pressure release naturally. They were soft but not mushy if that makes sense. Overall my no oil pressure cooked bean test went off without a hitch. Thanks again for tipping me off that it would work.

I also made a batch of macadamia nut cheese and sun dried tomato spread on Thursday. I will include those recipes in my next post.

Lunch was a simple bowl of leftover curried red lentil soup.

To accompany the soup I had a navel orange cut into 8 wedges and two Brazil nuts. For those of you that don’t like to peel oranges cut those into wedges makes them much quicker and easier to eat.

Not knowing when Dan was going to get home from work I made myself a fairly big salad as a late afternoon snack. I was craving fresh veggies so my salad included: mesclun, salsa, chickpeas, marinated mushrooms, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, and raw pumpkin seeds.

Dan went to the dentist today to have two old fillings removed and replaced. He came home saying that this hurt worse than the wisdom tooth removal. Apparently his mouth was sore from being held open with instruments while they worked on two back teeth. He was doing much better Friday morning though.

Dan ended up coming home from work and relaxing instead of working. Sometimes you just need to relax and listen to jazz. We are both big fans of instrumental jazz which you probably guessed after we went to see the Rippingtons. ;-)

Dinner for us was salad. This time I made myself a salad with fruit and nut. My salad last night contained: mesclun, tangerine, grapes, strawberries and sliced almonds. Since the fruit was so juicy I didn’t add any dressing and the salad was still great.

After dinner Dan had two bowls of his favorite strawberry banana soft serve.

As usual after dinner there was more jazz and I got back to reading the nutritional textbook I started about a week ago.

Happy thoughts:

I have to say I don’t actually feel like writing this section at the moment. However I also assume that is because I really need to if you know what I mean. Here are my happy thoughts today:

• I am most happy that the dark cloud seems to be lifting. Apparently it just took a while for the latest cancer to sink in for me. I suppose the worse part for me is that it is the same type of cancer so it felt even close to home and caused me to personalize things.

• We had a pretty little snow fall this week that made the neighborhood look a little like a story book. Too bad I didn’t have my camera with me (or time to stop and use it) since it would have made beautiful pictures for Christmas cards. If we get another snow fall this year I will take my camera out so that I can memorialize it.

• Thursday night we had a gorgeous cloudless sunset. The sky went from orange, to yellow to light blue to dark blue. The colors were surreal in their gradation. I took the time to enjoy the colors while sipping tea. Massimo also enjoyed the sunset from my shoulders. ;-) I am always “wearing” cats.

• I am happy to have the time to do things I enjoy like read nutrition textbooks. The latest book I have been reading has been an excellent read. As soon as I am finished the book I will review it for you.

• I am very thankful to now be craving healthy food. Who does that? When I crave things like salad I know that means that my body has gotten accustomed to eating a high nutrient diet and it makes me feel good about my progress.

• Since today is Friday I am reminded how fortunate I am to have the time to look after the people I care about (my parents and my husband). I am certain I couldn’t do the things that I do if I were still working the crazy hours that I used to.

• I am very thankful for all your wonderful comments, emails, texts, direct messages and words. You guys are the best and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you very much for trying to help my mood. Sometimes I just need to ride it out and I appreciate your understanding.

Signing out:

Today is Friday which means I have my usual errands. I need to check on my folks, do a little light cleaning at their house. If my folks need anything from the grocery store I need to take care of that as well. Then I want to get back into my nutrition textbook which I hope to finish reading in the next week.

My plan is to get back to my daily posting schedule. This weekend is up in the air but I am sure it will be good provided Dan doesn’t need to go into the office.

I will talk to you again tomorrow. Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Indian Spiced Green Beans and Cashews in Tomato Sauce Over Quinoa

Friday was another day with a down undertone for me. It is tough for me to think of other people struggling with cancer particularly when there isn’t much I can do to help. Cancer is a terrible disease and one I have grown to hate. I wish more doctors understood the value of a healthy diet and lifestyle on the health of a cancer patient and survivor. It is very frustrating that more health care professionals don’t preach of even understand the benefits of living a healthy life. If I could make one change in the world it would be for everyone to understand the impact diet, exercise, stress reduction and sleep have on health. Oh well, maybe one day more people will “get it”. For now I am trying to remain happy and upbeat that I can share healthy recipes that hopefully most of you also think taste good. Change is slow but if all we take one step at time we can get there together. ;-)

Dan had his favorite oatmeal for breakfast before heading to jury duty. His oatmeal contained cinnamon, powdered ginger, frozen wild blueberries, a little stevia, ground flaxseeds and chopped walnuts.

Once Dan left for downtown I worked out and then had breakfast. Today I decided to have something healthier than yesterday’s chocolate chips and walnuts. *rolls eyes* This morning for breakfast I had a salad with mesclun, farro, tomato sauce with lentils and porcinis, cucumbers, red bell pepper and raw pumpkin seeds.

For lunch I had a simple bowl of quinoa with black beans.

Since I had an early breakfast and a light lunch I was feeling a little snacky and had an orange with Brazil nuts (for selenium).

For some reason I was feeling hungry during the afternoon and had another snack of grapes with walnuts.

Dan worked late Friday evening since he went back to work after jury duty. Since dinner was delayed I needed yet another snack. This time it was red bell pepper strips and sun dried tomato and cashew dressing. Something tells me I was snacking to push down the cancer anxiety but that is only a guess.

Friday I couldn’t focus long enough to actually plan dinner. When I am in a funk I am basically useless. I decided to make something simple with items from the pantry. Since the last Indian meal had been a few days ago I opted to make an Indian spiced red sauce that can be used with many veggies. I will give you options for how to use this sauce in the comment section. Here is what I did:

Indian Spiced Green Beans and Cashews in Tomato Sauce Over Quinoa

Sauce Serves 4

Sauce Ingredients:

½ red onion, peeled and finely diced
5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
16 ounces tomato sauce, no salt added
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
½ teaspoon black mustard seed
¼ teaspoon cumin seed
¼ teaspoon coriander seed
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cardamom powder

Variable Ingredients:

3 cups frozen green beans
¼ cup cashews, roughly chopped
Cooked quinoa for the base of the plate

Directions:

I started the quinoa cooking before I made the sauce. Next chop the onions and garlic and set a timer for 10 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the pot and cover. When 10 minutes have pasted turn the heat to low and simmer the sauce covered, stirring every few minutes. The onions should be cooked in about 10 minutes. You can add the veggies you want to use directly to the sauce to cook or microwave them to place on top the sauce which makes a prettier presentation. I plated the dish as quinoa, sauce, green beans and garnished with cashews.

Nutritional Information (only for the sauce):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 42.4
Calories From Fat (9%) - 3.7

Total Fat - 0.44g
Saturated Fat - 0.05g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 596.63mg
Potassium - 405.52mg
Total Carbohydrates - 9.16g
Fiber - 2.28g
Sugar - 4.9g
Protein - 2.08g

Comments:

This is the basic sauce I use when I want to slide some turmeric into our diet or and I haven’t planned a meal. You can change this by making it more like Italian red sauce by using diced tomatoes. Alternately you can add a splash of reduced fat coconut milk, reduced fat peanut butter or cashew crème to give the sauce a richer background. You can also simmer the veggies in the sauce for a homier dish.

Almost all veggies will work with this sauce and I have used the following: carrot, white potato, sweet potato, cauliflower, artichoke, green beans, zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, kale and mushrooms. I suggest you use your favorite veggie or whatever you have on hand. The only veggie I can think of that I wouldn’t use is beets but other than that I think most things would work.

Dietary Guidelines We Follow (part 2):

After rereading what I wrote yesterday I realize there is a lot more I could have written. I may need to update this section for a while and create a tag for it so you can find it later. Here are a few more things I try to keep in mind when cooking and preparing meals:

• As most of you know I always slice/mince my onions and garlic and allow them to stand 10 minutes before heating so the chemical reactions can take place making them more nutritious.

• Additionally I try to add onions and garlic into our food as often and as much as possible for the nutrition benefits.

• Regarding onions I usually buy red onions, then yellow and finally white if I have no other option. The reason I do this is that I read years ago that was the order of total antioxidant content. Thankfully being Italian I prefer the red onions.

• We minimize the amount of flour (yes even whole wheat) we eat by only having products made with flour (like my beloved pizza) when we are out.

• When I remember, which isn’t often I will admit, I try to have roasted soy nuts with my green tea because soy and green tea when consumed together allows the antioxidants to be more bioavailable. However this does not apply to putting soy milk in your tea which blocks the absorption. I assume this is the same chemical reaction that happens when you place dairy milk in your tea and the Flavonoids bind to the dairy protein although I am only guessing.

I could keep writing this section but I need to get a post up tonight. Expect to see this section as a recurring theme until I run out of factoids to include.

A Little Bit About Me:

It occurred to me today that there are many things about me that most of you don’t know. I thought knowing more about who I am would help you to put the things I write into perspective.

I have been a champion of the underdog for as long as I can remember. A million years ago when I was in high school I was the cheerleader. However I wasn’t the snobby type that didn’t talk to anyone. On the contrary I made friends with everyone and went to the prom with someone I liked as a person who was a bit of a social outcast. I was never much for the clichés that formed when we were kids. I suppose you could say I have always wanted everyone to be happy.

When I moved to Baltimore to go to college I “adopted” my next door neighbor who was a sweet little old lady probably in her 80’s that lived alone in a big house with her cat. She had been a friend of my grandmother for 30+ years. Every few days I would go to visit her, since she didn’t get much company. I would sit and talk to her for hours and take her food that she could warm up for dinner. Also I would always stop at her house before I would go grocery shopping and pick up what she needed too. I can’t stand to see people be lonely either.

I am also the type of person that will get out of her car in traffic to save puppies or cats in the road and have almost been hit by cars trying to do this. My husband tells me I am too nice for my own good and he may be right but it is just who I am.

I would describe myself as very sensitive and someone who cries easily. However unless you know me extremely well you will never see me cry. I have a tough veneer and typically prefer to keep my sensitive side to myself. I get my feelings hurt easily and also get very upset when others are in pain.

The reason I am telling you this is to put my mood into perspective regarding our friend. I would do anything if I could fix things but of course I realize that I can’t. I get very emotionally involved when I care for people. It will probably take me a week or so to process this latest cancer incident and emotionally accept that I can’t make the changes for my friend. If I could make a cancer diagnosis easier for anyone I would.

I wanted you all to know that this mood is just who and I am and it will pass.  It takes a while for my emotional brain to catch up with my rational brain. However I will be back to my "old self" in a week or so. At least I hope I will rebound that quickly. ;-)  I do realize that my fretting over this isn't good for me either.

Happy thoughts:

I have many things to be thankful for today and those are:

• First I want to thank everyone that commented or sent an email yesterday or today about our friend. I appreciate your kindness more than I can express. Thank you all for being so kind!

• I am so thankful that the most recent east coast snow storm that missed Baltimore. We were prepared for snow but the storm tracked further to the east so we only had a dusting of snow. It seems like this is our year to avoid snow which is wonderful after the back to back blizzards last year.

• Dan and I had a nice day at home and he didn’t spend any of it working. We had lots of time to chat and even watched a couple of movies. It was a wonderful relaxing day for us.

• My parents both liked the barley I made in the risotto style today for lunch. I am always pleased when I can get healthy food into them without much complaining. Yes I will be posting that recipe tomorrow. ;-)

• There a beautiful bright sliver of the moon in the sky tonight. It was so sharp and clear it was like you could reach out and grab it. Seeing that made me wonder what the night sky looks like from someplace without city pollution and lights. I imagine the moon tonight was gorgeous from the countryside.

• Finally I am thankful that Dan and I are both happy and reasonably healthy now. Once you have experienced cancer you learn to be thankful for every healthy day you have and never take things for granted. As much as I hate cancer it did teach me to appreciate every moment of my life.

Signing:

Like usual I am late getting this posted. Where does the time go? It seems like I am going to be late for my own funeral. ;-) Well that is someplace I would like to be late for but you get the idea.

Tomorrow we need to run out and pick up kale and few odds and ends before I can get into the kitchen. I have no idea what I am going to cook for my parents. Cooking for my parents is always tough for me since their diet is so unhealthy and ours the opposite it is difficult to find things that we all enjoy. Gee I wonder why? LOL

I need to make Dan some strawberry banana soft serve and turn in. I hope you had a great Saturday. Talk to you again tomorrow.

Winter Veg and Dahl in an Indian Flavored Tomato Coconut Sauce over Yellow Rice

We had another day of sleeping in this Sunday which will be our last for a while since the gym reopened on Monday. For breakfast I had a cup of leftover miso soup and Dan had his favorite green smoothie.

Even though we had a late breakfast we both were a little hungry around 1:30 and decided a little snack would hold us over until the 3pm meal with my parents. We decided to have an orange with two Brazil nuts for the selenium.

My omni parents seem to be more comfortable with soups and stews than most of my dishes which is why you see those quite often on the weekend. We hadn’t had Indian food in a few days so I wanted to make that for lunch. I love that Indian food is typically easy, quick and healthy since I consider that to be the perfect combination in a recipe. ;-) Here is what I did:

Winter Veg and Dahl in an Indian Flavored Tomato Coconut Sauce over Yellow Rice
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup channa dahl (or substitute yellow split peas or red lentils)
4 cups water (you may need to add more depending on whether you fully or partially cover the pot during cooking)
1 quart canned tomatoes (no salt) or 2 – 15 ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 large red onion, peeled and chopped into bite sized chunks
8 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (approximately 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander seed, ground (grinding is optional)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground (grinding is optional)
2 teaspoons black mustard seed
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
2 carrots, cut into bite sized chunks
2 peeled sweet potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 small head cauliflower, separated into bite sized florets
½ of a 14 ounce can light coconut milk (freeze the remainder for another dish)
1 lime, zested and juiced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
yellow rice or other grain to serve as a bed – optional
¼ cup roasted cashews, roughly chopped for garnish

Directions:

Combine the beans and water and cook until they are tender, about 30 minutes but if the beans are older it can take longer to cook.

Once the beans are tender add the onions, garlic, tomatoes and spices and cook until the veggies are tender (about 20 minutes). Add the remaining veggies and coconut milk and cook until these veggies are tender (about 30 minutes). Just before serving add the lime zest and lime juice and stir it into the pot. Taste the dish for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Stir the cilantro in at the last minute so it will retain it vibrant color and flavor.

Serve as is of over yellow rice. We had ours over yellow rice on Sunday but without it on Monday.

Nutritional Information (without the yellow rice or cashews):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 296.74
Calories From Fat (12%) - 36.97

Total Fat - 4.03g
Saturated Fat - 2.02g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 135.11mg
Potassium - 1741.43mg
Total Carbohydrates - 55.71g
Fiber - 19.71g
Sugar - 13.29g
Protein - 15.35g

Comments:

This is a simple crowd pleaser and was enjoyed by the omnis and vegans at the table. I love Indian food because everyone seems to like it. The flavor is rich from the coconut milk but not overly fatty since I only used ½ a can of the reduced fat version.

Did you notice the fiber on this dish? I am certain that is why it was so filling. I have read many times that the average American consumes 12 grams of fiber per day on average. But when I made individual dishes with almost 20 grams I find it hard to imagine why people are so low on fiber. However I suppose if most of you calories are coming from meat, dairy, oil, and processed a food that is why their fiber content is so low.

You can make this dish with any number of vegetables. I vary those depending on what I have on hand. Dried or fresh mushrooms are also good in this. I had intended to add dried mushrooms but forgot about them until the last minute. That is what happens when you don’t plan.

After I cleaned up from the late afternoon meal with my folks Dan and I headed to the library and Wegman’s. No surprise I had a few books that were due back to the library on Monday and I always need something from the grocery store so we took care of both tasks since they are near each other.

As we were heading to the expressway I saw the most brilliant sunset and snapped a pic through the windshield with my phone. Of course, Dan was driving so I could do this safely in case you were wondering. ;-)

This is what I love about Wegman’s they have everything including things you didn't know you needed. How often do you see Turkish Pine nuts in the bulk section of your local market? *shakes head*

When we got home from the store and got things put away I still needed to write a post and get dinner and be in bed early to get up at 5am for the gym. Needless to say dinner had to be quick since the others things were more or less fixed. Dan and I discussed having smoothies or oatmeal for dinner (since we had no leftovers) but decided on salad. Our dinner salad contained: mesclun, red bell pepper, cucumber, Mississippi caviar, avocado and red wine vinegar. The leftover black eyed peas were very good in salad. I will be exploring variations of this in the future.

After our salad Dan had his favorite dessert, strawberry banana soft serve before bed. As usual I had few spoons after I gave him 95%+ of the batch. While Dan needs the calories I don’t so I keep my portion to nothing more than a taste.

It was really tough to turn in as early as we intended. It would have been much easier if we had stayed on our usual sleeping schedule. It is hard to go from being a night owl to a morning person but we are trying to do it. I am hoping it gets easier the longer we do it. ;-)

Happy Thoughts:

It is amazing how easy it is to find things to be happy about in your life when you just look for them. I know many people that seem to revel in being unhappy. However I think life is too short for that. We can all find things to complain about or we can look for what went right in our day. This is section of my blog is remind me and you that good things can be found anywhere if you just look. Here are my happy thoughts:

• Coming home from for Wegman’s last night I happen to notice this in the window of a house in our neighborhood. I could not stop giggling. How great is it that someone has the lamp from “The Christmas Story” in their window. That really does dispel the myth that Roland Park is stodgy. LOL

• I am always happy when I realize that both Dan and I enjoy salad for dinner. There was a time when salad would have been nothing but a warm up and now it is our meal. It amazes me when I realize how far we have come in cleaning up our diet.

• Sunday evening we got to see the most beautiful sunset because we were out running errands. Even going to the grocery store you can find a reason to be happy if you look. ;-)

• After dinner last night Dan and were discussing life and the future and he is still encouraging me to follow my dream regarding nutrition. I am not yet ready to devote years to going back to college for another grad degree but I am starting to think more about taking a few courses. I am very thankful to be in a position to follow my dream if I decide to.

• I am also grateful to still have both my parents. While they know how to push my buttons I am still happy to have them around and to be able to look in on them and make certain they are okay.

• I almost forgot to mention my major accomplishments for 2010; I ended the year weighing less, with lower blood pressure, a lower resting heart rate and wearing a smaller size. Not bad considering I will be 49 this year. The best part is that I feel like I have a much better relationship with food now and can’t imagine “falling off the wagon” as I have in years past.

Signing out:

It is almost time for Dan to head home from work so I need to run. I am trying to live up to my 2011 goal of being a better wife and spending less time on the computer or with my nose in a book when my hubby is home.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Monday and a great start to 2011. Talk to you again tomorrow.

Two Different Soups on Sunday

Sorry I didn’t get this posted last night. Somehow we ended up out much later than either of us expected. By the time we got home, had the car unpacked, things put away and had dinner the day was gone. Getting up at 5 am for the gym means going to bed early too.

Since I didn’t get Sunday posted yesterday today I will be posting Sunday and Monday in two different posts. Monday isn’t written yet so that won’t be up until later today.

Sunday:

I am happy to report we ate all our meals at home for a change on Sunday. The whole eating out thing was getting way out of control and I was watching the devastation on the scale every morning. *ugh* Time to get back to eating healthy before things get out of control. ;-)

As you may remember we belong to our college gym (from 30 years ago) and it doesn’t open until late on Sunday. We ended up skipping the gym all together. Sunday seems I have turned into a morning exerciser. Who said that? Seriously I never thought it would happen but it seems to have. I am not sure how long it will last but for now we will be concentrating on going to the gym first thing in the morning.

When I got up my feet were still hurting from those darn shoes I tried to wear on Saturday. I even decided not to go to farmers’ market which tells you how bad it was. Instead we took our time getting up and had a leisurely mug of double green tea (with powdered ascorbate C to help absorb the EGCG). This was followed by a bowl of oatmeal with wild blueberries, cinnamon, ginger, ground flax seeds and chopped walnuts.

We had a nice leisurely day at home which was nice. Sometimes I need to be at home doing nothing but the occasional life administration task (which is what I call cooking and cleaning). The times I spend at home nesting seem to help me recharge my batteries so to speak.

Knowing that I was going to make soup today I soaked a pound of chickpeas overnight and starting them cooking first thing in the morning. Since the chickpeas were fresh and soaked more than 8 hours they were tender in about 30 minutes. I find that bean cooking times are never predictable. If the beans are more recently dried they cook faster. It always pays to check your beans often so that you don’t get mushy beans.

While I was making soup I also made another batch of the reduced-fat peanut butter. If you haven’t tried that I highly recommend it. We have been eating it this way for so long I think that full fat peanut butter would taste far too fatty now. I like that the reduced fat peanut butter is creamier and less fatty.

Sunday late morning early afternoon I spent the making two pots of soup knowing that Monday was going to be a little hectic. Here is what I made:

Curried Tomato, Coconut and Peanut Butter Veggie Soup
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion
10 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh minced ginger
28 ounces diced tomato
28 ounces tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 cup light coconut milk
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ground
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, ground
water if necessary to adjust the texture
2 stalks celery, finely diced
4 small red potatoes, cut into bite sized chunks
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
2 leaves green cabbage, cut into approximately 2 inch by ¼ inch slices
1 ¾ cups cooked chickpeas, no salt added (or 15 ounce can)
approximately ¼ cup reduced-fat peanut butter, to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

As always mince the onions and garlic and then allow them to stand for 10 minutes before heating them. Add the remaining ingredients through the coriander and simmer covered for at least 30 minutes to develop the flavor and cook the onions.

Add the remaining veggies and beans and cook until they are done. Add peanut butter and black pepper to taste.

If desired you can finish this with fresh minced parsley or cilantro, cashew cream fraiche, or chopped peanuts.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories 307.61
Calories From Fat (24%) - 72.49

Total Fat - 8.14g
Saturated Fat - 1.59g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 771.23mg
Potassium - 1489.37mg
Total Carbohydrates - 50.11g
Fiber - 11.33g
Sugar - 15.98g
Protein - 12.41g

Comments:

I served this Sunday afternoon to my omnivore parents and it disappeared. Clearly this one is omni approved. We think it is a nice rich cold weather soup. If you have any leftovers it would also be good over brown rice.

To accompany the soup we had a simple salad. I whisked together white miso and apple cider to use for dressing. The salad also included mesclun greens, parsnips and chopped walnuts. It always amazes me how good something so simple can be.

The second soup I made used the same vegetables but had a chowder base. I used the same vegetables because I wanted to prove to myself (and Dan) that the seasoning is what makes food taste different. These two soups could not be more different. This one has a much lighter flavor making it a better dinner soup. Here is what I did:

Vegetable Chowder
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 small yellow onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup almonds
7 cups water
1 cup light coconut milk
2 stalks celery, finely diced
¼ teaspoon ginger powder
½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (just enough to be buttery not enough to be cheezy)
4 small red potatoes, cut into bite sized chunks
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
2 leaves green cabbage, cut into approximately 2 inch by ¼ inch slices
1 ¾ cup chickpeas cooked without salt (or 15 ounce can chickpeas)
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop the onions and garlic and allow and don’t heat them for 10 minutes.

While you are waiting for the alliums (onions and garlic) make the almond milk. Combine the almonds and water in your blender and process until the almonds have been obliterated.  If you aren't using a large blender you may want to make this is two batches. Strain the almond milk to remove the pulp. The pulp can be saved in the freezer to add to veggie burgers or vegetable pate.

In a soup pot combine the almond milk, onions, garlic, coconut milk, celery and seasonings. Cook to allow the celery to soften and the flavors to blend. After 30 minutes add the veggies and beans and cook until the veggies are tender. Add the cornstarch slurry thicken the soup.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving

Calories - 359.01 **
Calories From Fat (34%) - 123.74 **

Total Fat - 14.19g **
Saturated Fat - 1.6g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium- 56.71m
Potassium - 1009.1mg
Total Carbohydrates - 46.31g
Fiber - 10.02g **
Sugar - 6.88g
Protein - 12.42g  **

** The calories are overstated by the almond pulp that wasn’t included in the final dish. Since I had no way to accurately measure that I didn’t guess at the adjustment. However I can tell you that calories, fat, fiber and protein are all overstated by some amount.

Comment:

This soup is similar to traditional chowder but the base has a little more flavor because that is what we prefer. We had this soup last night for dinner and it made a nice light meal. You can vary this by changing the vegetables. It would also be good with tempeh, mushrooms, celery root, carrot, turnip, etc.

Happy Thoughts:

We had a very good Sunday and Monday which means I have much to be thankful for. Here are my happy thoughts today:

• It was wonderful to spend Monday afternoon with Dan even though we had things to do and places to be. I always enjoy my time with Dan.

• This morning I was thankful for arctic running gear to get me to and from the gym because we had a wind chill of 16 degrees when we left the house. Major brrr. I was also thankful for my Thinsulate gloves. ;-)

• I was very happy my knee didn’t give out this morning. Long story and I will fill you in soon. Bottom line is my knee is acting up again. *ugh* Have I said recently how much I love the whole getting old thing? ;-)

• It was wonderful to come hometo our warm house after the gym and have a nice hot bowl of oatmeal.

• Monday was a productive day. Before and after our appointments we did a little shopping. This resulted in two more pair of arctic running pants for me. They came in very handy this morning.

• It is darn cold here today and I am thankful that I can spend my day inside. I think there may have to be another big pot of soup in my future. When it is cold like this nothing seems to taste as good as hot soup.

Signing out:

That is going to be it for me this morning. I need to get caught up around the house and then write the post about Monday. I hope all of you are having a great week. Ours has been good but so cold. This morning it was 28 with a wind-chill of 16 when we got back from the gym. It is definitely a day to bundle up and stay warm. Talk to all again soon, hopefully later this evening.

Vegan MoFo 13.1: Masi Cat Recovery and Curried “Unfried” Rice

Friday morning Masi was better but still a little wobbly when he tried to walk. Additionally he was not judging distance well when jumped which meant I was worried. Of course I called the vet’s office first thing in the morning and since Masi was improving, eating and drinking they said I shouldn’t worry … yet. Apparently long haired cats tend to have difficulty recovering from anesthesia. Since we hadn’t had any problem with anesthesia recovery previously this was new info for me. My plan was to keep a watchful eye on my cat clan during the day which meant no running my usual Friday errands.

Breakfast for me was collard wraps with fat-free hummus, red pepper strips, broccoli sprouts and raw sunflower seeds. I eat these often because they are quick, filling and nutritious.

By mid-afternoon my little Masi was napping so that I could do a few things. You don’t realize how busy cats actually are until you try to follow one around all day to make certain he is stable when he jumps. No wonder my boy cats are so slender. If they are awake they are moving. That is probably a good tip for all of us. ;-)

I had planned to spend some time in the kitchen but never really got the chance with the feline surveillance. I did find time to make some brown rice to put in the refrigerator for later. Both Dan and I enjoyed the “unfried” rice from earlier in the week so I decided I would make another variation of it for dinner tonight. Since the rice was ready it only took 5 minutes to prep the veggies and then less than 10 minutes to cook dinner. I need to make more of this type of meal. I think this may be my current favorite fast meal.

Curried “Unfried” Rice
Serves 4

Ingredients:

¾ cup brown basmati rice
1 ½ cup water for cooking the rice
½ yellow onion, peeled and diced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating so the thiopropanal sulfoxide can develop)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating so the allicin can develop)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely minced
1 ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seed
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
14 ounce can diced tomatoes (or 2 cups of fresh peeled diced tomatoes with the juice)
1 carrot, thinly sliced on a mandoline or you can julienne
1 parsnip, thinly sliced on a mandoline or you can julienne
2 cups cauliflower, minced so it cooks quickly
2 tablespoons hot crushed peppers (wet hots)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste (be generous the piperine in the black pepper keeps the turmeric bioavailable longer so you absorb more of it)
2 cups spicy greens, thinly sliced
¼ cup cilantro, finely minced
¼ cup roasted cashews for garnish

Directions:

Cook the rice and store it in the refrigerator until needed. Cold rice seems to make better fried rice than hot rice. I learned this long ago making the traditional version and it does seem to result in a final dish that is free of clumps of rice. Try using cold rice I think you will be surprised how well it works.

To make the “unfried” rice place the onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, carrot, parsnip, cauliflower, and spices (and hot peppers) in a wok over high heat. Cook, stirring often, until the veggies are just starting to become tender. Now add the rice breaking it up with your hands as you add it. This helps to separate the grains. Stir to incorporate the spices and veggies with the rice. When the rice is hot and the veggies are as tender as you like turn off the heat and add the spicy greens and cilantro.

To serve, place a pile of the curried “unfried” rice on the plate and top with cashews.

Any veggies will work in this dish the important part is the spice combination. If you are not fond of turmeric you can add a little coconut milk or tahini to the pan to blunt the bitter taste of the spice. We are so accustomed to the flavor of turmeric I didn’t add either coconut milk or tahini but it would work if you think it is necessary. I added the cashews to this dish to provide fat since curcumin (in the turmeric) is fat soluble and I wanted to make certain that we were able to absorb as much as possible.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 301.67
Calories From Fat (17%) - 51.88

Total Fat - 6.2g
Saturated Fat - 1.17g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 72mg
Potassium - 1040.25mg
Total Carbohydrates - 56.96g
Fiber - 9.79g
Sugar - 9.8g
Protein - 8.54g

Comments:

This is one of those recipes that you can make in moments. It is quick and nutritious my favorite combination in a recipe. If you prepare the veggies the night before the entire dish can be on the table in 10 minutes. Who wouldn’t love that on busy weeknight? In additional to being quick it also tastes good.

Thanksgiving menu:

The Thanksgiving menu options will be in tomorrow’s post. We ended up going out for dinner tonight (Saturday) which meant less computer time than I expected.

Happy Thoughts:

In keeping with my recent happy thoughts to end the post here are mine from today:

• Masi is about 95% back to normal now. Yay! Two feline dental procedures down one to go.
• Dan didn’t need to work today! You know how much I love that. LOL
• Tonight we went out for dinner. It was date night and we had a great time.  There will be details tomorrow since I got some tasty recipe ideas.  That is why I love eating Ian's food.  I always come home with a happy stomach as well as recipe ideas. ;-)
• We were able to spend time with our precious Aimee this evening which is always a pleasure. She is one of those people you can't help but love.

Signing out:

Since 6 am comes early it is time for us to wind down. Talk to you again tomorrow. I hope all of you are having a fabulous weekend.

Vegan Mofo 1.1: Veggies in Curried Tomato & Peanut Butter Sauce over Brown Basmati

Happy first day of Vegan Mofo everyone! I hadn’t intended to sign up this year because my November is crazy but then I realized there was no reason not to. I am going to try my best to post at least once a day. With a little luck that will happen. My plan is to number my posts by day and then post within the day. For example 1.1 would be the first post of the first day. If there is a second post that day it would be 1.2, etc. I am going to do that for my long time readers that have gotten used to one post per day so they don’t miss anything. I expect my posts will be shorter this month due to my schedule.

For those of you that don’t know me I a foodie who became vegan a few years ago due to cancer. My husband (Dan) and I both love good food with a lot of flavor. The recipes I post are full of flavor. However I also try to make them as healthy as I can. I always cook with health as well as flavor in mind.

Some of our favorite cuisines are Italian, Indian, Japanese, and Thai. I am of Italian heritage so Italian is hands down my favorite. Indian food is something that I have cooked for almost 3 decades since college when my best friend had come to the US for school from Madras, India. Tonight I made an Indian inspired dish because we had not had any in a few days.

Since the post of our Sunday activities is going to be huge (and probably require more than a few separate entries) I decided to start Vegan Mofo with our dinner tonight which was a simple affair. I made quick and easy curried veggies over brown rice. Here is what I did:

Veggies in a Curried Tomato and Peanut Butter Sauce over Brown Basmati
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, peeled and diced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating)
½ tablespoon fresh ginger, minced or grated (if it is organic you can leave the skin just be sure to clean it well)
4 cups fresh or 28 ounces canned peeled diced tomatoes (fresh has much less sodium)
4 cups water
½ tablespoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
½ tablespoon coriander seed
½ tablespoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
¼ teaspoon ajowan seeds
freshly ground black pepper, to taste (be generous since the piperine in the black pepper makes the turmeric more bioavailable)
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
3 tablespoons reduced-fat peanut butter, or to taste
2 carrots, cut into bite-size chunks
2 parsnips, cut into bite-size chunks
2 Japanese eggplants, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 crowns broccoli, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 ½ cups brown basmati rice
3 cups water

Directions:

Combine the onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, water, spices, carrots and parsnips. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has begun to thick, about 30 minutes.

Combine the rice and water and cook. Depending on the type of pan you are using the rice will take anywhere from 35 (using enameled cast iron) to 50 (using stainless steel) minutes to cook including the time to bring the liquid to a simmer. Start the rice at the time appropriate for the material of the pot. Having the rice finished a little early isn’t as much of a problem as too late since the rice will hold better than the veggies.

Add the peanut butter (to taste) to the sauce and mix to combine. Next add the eggplants and cook for 10 – 15 minutes. The broccoli gets incorporated the last 15 minutes of cooking so it doesn’t get overcooked. To finish add lime zest and lime juice and stir to combine. Serve over rice.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 375.32
Calories From Fat (14%) - 53.25

Total Fat - 6.37g
Saturated Fat - 1.15g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 61.13mg
Potassium - 1325.55mg
Total Carbohydra tes -73.74g
Fiber - 13.7g
Sugar - 13.49g
Protein - 11.05g

Comments:

This dish has a lot of flavor. It is certainly not traditional. I used reduced fat peanut butter for the fat component rather than coconut milk (or even light coconut milk) to reduce the saturated fat. The broccoli was added at the end to retain the maximum amount of nutrition. If you are okay with adding more fat this dish would be great finished with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts, slivered almonds or roasted cashews for texture. The cilantro and spinach rice I made a few days ago would also be great with this dish and would add extra vitamins and minerals.

Signing out:

Tomorrow will start out early here since it is Election Day which means it is time for me to sign out. Talk to you again tomorrow.  I hope everyone had the best Monday possible.

Some Weeks are Not the Best …..

Have you ever had one of those weeks were nothing seems to be enough to make you happy? I have a feeling this is another example of the joy of being perimenopausal. At least that is what I am trying to convince myself has been happening. It didn’t help that my father was having follow up cancer tests this week. It just seems like cancer follows me everywhere I go. *rolls eyes* While the colors of fall can be beautiful I also think knowing that plants are dying and/or going dormant isn’t helping my attitude either. I have been trying to pull myself out of my funk but nothing seems to be helping. Dan has two projects to file early next week which means he is working long hours, including this weekend. Not having my sweetie home over the weekend has not helped my mood as you probably guessed. Since I didn’t want to spread my gloom I decided to withdrawal for a few days. When I realized that I hadn’t posted since Wednesday I knew that was too long. Sorry about the downer of an opening but I wanted to share what is going through my head at the moment. The happy me should be back soon. *fingers crossed*

Today I decided to tackle overdue projects at home hoping that would make me feel better. Can’t say it helped my mood but it did get a few things accomplished so that part is good. I have started Christmas files of fun presents, decorating ideas, and recipe ideas. Given how much I love Christmas that was the most fun I have had this week. I am starting to look forward to the holiday. With a little luck that will be enough to pull me out of my funk.

If anyone has any idea of fun things to do I am all ears. Please feel free to share.

New Cast Iron Bodum Tea Pot:

As you all know both Dan and I love green tea and drink it all day. I ordered each of us this 1 liter cast iron enamel coated tea pot from Tuesday Morning.

I love that they are fully enamel lined, contain a fine metal press inside and are cast iron. They hold heat well and the lid is heavy so it doesn’t topple off when you pour. Additionally Tuesday morning has them at a great price and they ship directly to your door which I love. If you have any tea lovers on your holiday list I wanted to mention this. I had originally intended this to be a present for Dan for Christmas but I am not good at keeping a secret so he got it early.

Indian food Italian-American Style:

I have adored Indian food since I was in college when I was introduced to it by my best friend who had come from Madras for college. The smells in her home were unlike anything I had ever experienced. The aroma alone pulled me in and I was smitten from the start. I have been enjoying eating and making Indian food for the last 30 years. My food is not traditional but I think it is still delicious. Here is what I made from dinner on Thursday:

Sweet and Sour Chickpeas
Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 cups chickpeas, cooked with about ½ cup of the cooking liquid
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 scoop stevia
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
¼ teaspoon black mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon fenugreek
¼ teaspoon nigella seed
3 tablespoon dark raisins
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons amchoor powder (mango powder)
½ teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved (to tighten the sauce)

Directions:

Combine everything but the cornstarch and cook until the chickpeas are hot. Add the cornstarch slurry and stir to distribute it evenly throughout. Cook until the sauce tightens and then store in a covered dish until ready to serve. I like to serve this over brown rice but flat bread is also good.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 297.15
Calories From Fat (13%) - 37.38

Total Fat - 4.48g
Saturated Fat - 0.47g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 14.06mg
Potassium - 552.12mg
Total Carbohydrates - 52.06g
Fiber - 13.08g
Sugar - 11.94g
Protein - 15.01g

Comments:

If you are a fan of Indian food and sweet and sour this is a good dish. I like the complexity of flavor. It is only slightly sweet but when you get a raisin you get a pop of sweetness that is unexpected but nice. This dish is traditionally made with lentils but any bean will work.

To go with the garbanzo bean dish I knew we needed a vegetable so I used the cauliflower we picked up at the market on Sunday. Here is what I did:

Cauliflower and Tomato with Coconut
Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons urad dahl
2 teaspoons coriander seed
1 pinch chili flakes
½ cup reduced fat coconut flakes
2 teaspoons tamarind concentrate
2 teaspoons turmeric
¾ to 1 cup of water (what is necessary see directions below)
1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
2 cups peeled diced tomatoes, and the juices

Directions:

Toast the urad dahl, coriander seeds, chilis and coconut until they the coconut is a light brown and you have an unmistakable aroma from the pot. Move the toasted coconut and spices to your blender to cool. Once they have cooled for about 10 minutes add the tamarind, turmeric and enough water to make a pourable liquid.

Water sauté the onion until it is soft, add the cauliflower and spicy coconut sauce. Add the tomatoes and their liquid and cook until the cauliflower is tender.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 170.24
Calories From Fat (24%) - 41.27

Total Fat - 4.58g
Saturated Fat - 2.64g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 118.87mg
Potassium - 1389.03mg
Total Carbohydrates - 30.6g
Fiber - 12.67g
Sugar - 11.96g
Protein - 9.63g

Comments:

This is not a traditional dish. The sauce is similar to one that is made with using ghee or oil but the tomato was my addition. The traditional version I learned years ago also had a little jaggery (a form of Indian sugar use brown sugar if you want sweetness in this) but I don’t find that necessary now.

The flavor of the dish is not what most Americans are used to. I can’t say I have had this at an Indian restaurant so I assume it is a homey dish. I enjoy the complexity of the sauce and the richness the coconut adds. When I serve this dish I like to add fresh cilantro and green onion to brighten the flavor but this is another non-traditional element.

If you like Indian flavors you will probably enjoy this. I serve it over brown basmati rice but whole wheat flat bread would be a great choice as well.

Saturday night:

Dan is still at the office working on his projects. I will be very happy when these go out so he can take a little time to relax. Who knows maybe I will be able to talk him into taking a day or two off. Well that is what I have in mind we will see if he agrees.

Signing out:

Time for me to start winding down for our early morning trip to the market. I hope you all have a good evening. Talk to you again soon, and by soon I do mean tomorrow. ;-)

Oh yeah, I also have a few comments and emails to either post and/or respond to.  I won't have time tonight but I will get to those first thing in the morning once we get back from the market and Dan heads back downtown to work. I also need to get caught up on your blogs.  It is a little overwhelming how far behind you get being off line for just a few days.

Cabbage and Seitan Dish and Indian-spiced Lentil, Barley Soup

Vegan Mofo:

How many of you are taking part in Vegan Mofo in November? I participated last year but I don’t know that I can post every day this year so I was considering bailing out this year. However if many of you are doing it too I may give it a go again this year. I want to hear your thoughts on this.

Wednesday:

The sun finally peaked out for the first time in days. It was great to see blue sky peaking from behind the clouds for a while today. I am definitely a girl that needs her sunlight. Do you have any tricks for surviving long bouts of gray weather?

Lunch:

As you know by now I try to eat greens every day either in my smoothies or in salad, and sometimes both. I was craving salad so that is what I made myself for lunch. This one contained a head of romaine, 3 Roma tomatoes, ½ shaved cucumber, 1 shaved carrot, a tablespoon’ish of dried cranberries and a sprinkle of slivered almonds. I used my current favorite dressing of Dijon, red wine vinegar and stevia. There is just something about eating a big salad that feels right.

Snack:

Like usual I got hungry mid afternoon and had a snack. I feel as though if I get a little something to eat when I am hungry I end up eating less dinner which is always a good thing. Since most of us are doing nothing more than lounging on the sofa after dinner I feel like dinner should be a small meal. There is no science behind that I know of, it is just what I try to do and it seems to work.

My afternoon snack today was about a cup of frozen grapes and a few walnut halves.

Dinner:

I was in the mood to cook but had no idea what I wanted to make. Doesn’t that always seem to happen? Since it is apple season I decided that a dish that included them would be a good call. Here is what I made:

Sweet and Savory Red Cabbage, Apple and Onion over Quinoa
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water to cook quinoa
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced (allow to stand 10 minutes before cooking)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced (allow to stand 10 minutes before cooking)
2 apples, cored and cut into bite sized chunks
2 vegan sausages, but into bite sized pieces (I used seitan sausage with quatre epices)
¼ cup water
½ cup apple cider
1 tablespoon apricot preserves
¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
6 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced
black pepper to taste

Directions:

Begin by starting the quinoa since it takes a few minutes more than the topping

Cook the onion, garlic, apples and sausage in water, apple cider, apricot preserves and ginger in a covered pan. Cook until the onions are beginning to get tender about 5 minutes. Give the ingredients and stir and place the cabbage on top and recover the pan. The cabbage will be cooked in less than 5 minutes. Remember to cook cabbage as quickly as possible to retain the most nutrition.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 429.69
Calories From Fat (9%) - 38.27

Total Fat - 4.3g
Saturated Fat - 0.48g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 81.55mg
Potassium - 1266.26mg
Total Carbohydrates - 73.36g
Fiber - 13.9g
Sugar - 9.36g
Protein - 29.46g

Comments:

This was a nice autumn dish more sweet than I anticipated but still good. I think it would have been enhanced by a touch or Dijon in the sauce or few nuts on top for crunch and I would make one or both of those changes the next time.

Twitter and Foursquare:

Those of you who have been reading for a while know that I have been resisting Twitter for some reason. I can say that I finally understand the appeal. It is not intuitive, or at least it wasn’t for this technology dinosaur but it can be a lot of fun. You can follow me @VeganEpicurean.

While on Twitter I also found a few local suggestions from someone on Foursquare. Since Twitter worked out so well I also signed up for Foursquare about a week ago. If you want to follow me on Foursquare I am Vegan Epicurean there too. In only a few days I have already gotten some great tips from Foursquare you may want to check it out.

Thursday:

This morning was much nicer than it has been. It was windy overnight but by morning that had died down and temps were in the mid 50’s. By 9am we were up to 62 and it was beginning to feel like a nice fall morning.

Breakfast:

Dan opted to have a green smoothie this morning for breakfast since it was a bit warmer today. His smoothie contained: 2 frozen bananas, 4 kale leaves/stems, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 1 handful walnuts, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger and water to process.

I asked him if he was learning to tolerate the green smoothies yet and he said, “They have always been good, but they aren’t strawberry banana soft serve.” I have to say this was a better reaction than I had expected. I am not sure why but I didn’t think he liked it I guess that was because of the fussing that I mistook for actual dislike. *rolls eyes* I will never understand men or guy humor.

Guess who actually made fresh veggie and fruit juice again this morning? Yes it was me. However the funny thing was that I forget to put it in Dan’s lunch. Can I be any less functional in the morning? LOL, I am SO not a morning person. I store his juice in the freezer after I make it and until he is ready to leave for work and completely forgot to pack it this morning. *sigh*

I even made a huge batch of juice so that Dan could have it in his lunch and I could have a couple of cups for my breakfast. For some reason I have really come to enjoy the taste of the fresh juice. I like the acidity from the lemon, the zip from the fresh ginger and the sweetness from the apple, carrot and beet.

The picture above is the prepped veggies and fruit on an 11 by 17 inch pan before being run through the juicer. This amount becomes approximately 7 ½ cups of juice. Today’s juice contained: 1 head romaine, 6 leaves kale, 5 apples, 2 lemons, 2 inches fresh ginger, 8 carrots, and one huge beet.

I try to include juice in our diet to provided additional nutrition. Fresh juice is not a substitute for whole fruits and veggies but in addition to them. It is important to also eat your veggies and fruit whole to ensure you are getting enough fiber. Since we almost always exceed 40 grams of fiber per day that isn’t an issue for us but the average American gets 12 of less grams of fiber and for those people juice may not be the best solution.

Soup for the week:

After breakfast I decided it was time to make an enormous pot of soup for Dan and I to eat for a few days. I love making soup because it gets better as it sits in the refrigerator. Today I decided to do something different and I broke out the crock pot. Here is the soup I made today:

Indian-spiced Red Lentil, Barley and Shitake Soup
Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 red onions
10 cloves garlic
2 inches fresh ginger
3 carrots, finely diced
3 stalks celery, finely diced
½ pound shitake mushrooms, but into bite sized pieces (I used shitake but any variety will work including dried)
1 cup red lentils
1 cup hulled barley
1 tablespoon turmeric
½ tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
½ tablespoon paprika
¼ teaspoon ajowan seeds (or substitute thyme)
1 dash asafetida (not too much as this has a funky smell)
1 dash cardamom powder
1 dash cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste (add generously since the piperine has a synergistic effect with the turmeric)
¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
¼ teaspoon saffron threads
water to cover everything by 2 inches

Directions:

Place everything in your crock pot (I used a 6.5 quart model) and set on low. Cook for at least 8 hours. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your taste. Something happens when you cook in a crock pot that seems to mute the seasonings which typically has been tweaking then at the end of cooking.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 229.93
Calories From Fat (7%) - 15.33

Total Fat - 1.83g
Saturated Fat-  0.27g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 53.61mg
Potassium - 507.38mg
Total Carbohydrates - 45.07g
Fiber - 10.02g
Sugar - 2.88g
Protein - 10.71g

Comments:

This is a lightly spiced soup that is very healthy. The lentils and barley provided fiber to help keep cholesterol down and your GI system working properly. The mushrooms and turmeric have antiproliferative properties. In addition to being healthy it is a tasty soup. Both Dan and I enjoyed this, and it is a good thing because we have plenty of leftovers.

Dinner tonight was soup for both of us followed up with strawberry banana soft serve for Dan. Just another typical day at our house. ;-)

Lunch:

It will be no surprise that lunch was leftovers from dinner from the night. I find that making intentional leftovers works very well for me in terms of total time spent cooking. As much as I enjoy cooking I just don’t have time to spend hours in it each day. Since we eat a whole food plant-based diet if we didn’t have leftovers for lunch I would spend a lot more time in the kitchen.

Dehydrated food:

Today I spent more time drying Roma tomatoes and leeks for the pantry. I feel a bit like a squirrel putting away nuts for the winter. ;-)

Mozzarella cheese:

Today I made my version of a mozzarella recipe that my friend Courtney gave me. It is still cooling so I can’t share it yet since I haven't tasted it. However you can expect that tomorrow.

Signing out:

That is going to be it for me today. It was a busy day here getting prepped for the seasonal change. I must say I am going to miss my sandals and I am not looking forward to wearing a coat. However I do like the change of seasons so I am trying to focus on that aspect of things.

Talk to you all again tomorrow after I get finished with my Friday errands. I have high hopes for the mozzarella in the refrigerator now, and this version doesn’t require agar. ;-)

Mixed Mushroom Dahl and 2 Movies Today

I love sleeping in on Saturday morning. It is the only day we get up when are bodies naturally want to wake up and it makes for a much nicer start to the day.

Guess who had another double shot of espresso this morning? Yep, it was me. I need to get a handle on this immediately. Having a machine at home that you press a button and espresso arrives magically is not good when you love the stuff like I do. I am a bit disappointed that I had a double shot of espresso two days in a row. My goal is to go back to avoiding the stuff. We will see if I can do it. I will report in if I fall off the wagon again. *rolls eyes*

Breakfast:

This morning Dan had a smoothie made with: 2 tablespoons oats (grind into a powder first if not using a high speed blender), 2 frozen bananas, 1 cup frozen wild blueberries, 2 kale leaves and stems, 2 collard leaves and stems, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger and water to process. I would have used cold processed green tea but I didn’t wake up early enough to make it before breakfast.

My breakfast, other than the double shot of espresso, consisted of nothing more than 4 large glasses of iced water with lemon slices and cucumber. After my espresso this morning I decided I needed to encourage my body to eliminate the caffeine. Clearly this vicious cycle needs to stop before it gets out of hand like prior times in my life.

Lunch:

As usual we had my parents over for a late mid day meal. I had no idea what I was going to make for since cooking for my unhealthy omni parents is always a bit of a challenge. I ended up making my variation of mixed mushroom dahl over brown basmati rice. Here is what I did:

Mixed Mushroom Dahl
Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 cups moong dahl (split mung beans)
8 cups water or no salt veggie stock
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
1 ¾ teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds (crush in your hands before adding)
½ teaspoon cardamom powder
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 red onion, minced
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced or grated
3 carrots, finely diced
14 ounces reduced fat organic coconut milk
1 poblano pepper, finely minced (use a jalapeno or serrano if everyone at the table likes heat)
½ pound fresh criminis, thinly sliced
¼ pound fresh shitake stems, thinly sliced
4 diced Roma tomatoes, for garnish
cooked brown rice to serve under the dahl (I cooked 1 ½ cups brown basmati)

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients except the tomatoes and rice and simmer until the beans are tender. If desired you can use a little cornstarch to thicken the soup. Just before serving add the diced tomatoes so that they can heat through. Serve on top of the cooked rice.

Nutritional Information (includes the brown rice):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 394.51
Calories From Fat (12%)-  48.39

Total Fat - 5.21g
Saturated Fat - 2.94g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 48.29mg
Potassium - 1199.5mg
Total Carbohydrates - 70.65g
Fiber - 12.65g
Sugar - 8.11g
Protein - 17.77g

Comments:

Three of the four of us loved this. Oddly my parents didn’t even add salt which was quite the shock. No surprise my mother thought this was entirely too hot even though we thought the heat level was mild. If you like heat add more red pepper flakes or use a hotter fresh pepper. If my mother is any indication this is too hot for children or the elderly. *rolls eyes*

To go with the dahl I made a quick salad. The best part of the salad was the dressing which I put together quickly and without measuring. Sorry about that I was running behind schedule.  It was a very simple dressing of Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar and stevia. This took my under a minute to make and it reminded me of honey mustard only without the honey and its resulting increase in serum blood glucose. This dressing will be happening at my house often from now on.

Dinner:

We opted for a quick salad tonight for dinner after we finished watching our second movie of the day. Since we weren’t exactly active today we thought something on the light side was in order. This salad, which we shared contained: 1 head of romaine, 1 cucumber, 2 carrots, 4 Roma tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of cashew crème fraiche and ½ avocado.

For dessert I made an extra big batch of strawberry banana soft serve in the Vitamix. These measurements are approximate but should be close: 1 handful walnuts, 3 frozen bananas, 2’ish cups frozen strawberries, ½ teaspoons cinnamon, ½ teaspoon powdered ginger and about a cup of water to process. If you still use sweeteners you may want to add a little stevia to the mixture. The Vitamix turns that into a delicious thick frozen dessert that my husband is addicted to. Tonight I had a little of the soft serve with him (about 1/4th of the total) since I had not had much to eat today.

Movies today:

Dan picked the movies today and I didn’t pay a lot of attention. The first one was “From Paris with Love” with John Travolta. It was definitely an action movie which means it was not my thing. The second movie was “Knowing” with Nicholas Cage. I would describe it as a mystery, sci fi sort of thing. It was okay, better than the first movie but not something I would have chosen to watch. As you can tell Dan and I have very different tastes in movies.

Signing out:

Tomorrow is the farmers’ market which means an early morning for us. I hope everyone had a great Saturday and stayed cool in the unseasonably hot weather we had on the east coast today. Things are supposed to cool off tonight and tomorrow at least. Rumor has it we go back to fall tomorrow. I hope the weathermen are right this time. Talk to you tomorrow. :-)