Pasta with Raw Sauce

Guess who has been too busy to do much cooking lately? Yep, it would be me. There has been a lot of activity surrounding the sailboat and when you add that to an already hectic life something has to give. We have been eating things like green smoothies, strawberry/banana soft serve, oatmeal, black bean soup, cold veg and grain salads and fruit bowls.

Wednesday night Dan and I watched a sailing video. We both thought a refresher was in order and I will admit we needed to do that. However sailing seems to be like riding a bike and things are coming back to us quickly. Good thing huh? ;-)

Since I had not made pasta for dinner in ages I thought that would be a nice treat. While the whole wheat pasta cooked I made the sauce which is very simple and fast. This is a sauce I have made for years even before we were vegan.

Take a regular onion (not the huge ones from Costco), peel it and then thinly slice it on a mandoline. Place the onion in a bowl large enough to hold the pasta and sauce. Add some wine vinegar on top of the onion (about 2 – 3 tablespoons) and toss the onion in the vinegar. Now add some crushed red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and black pepper. Grate or finely mince two cloves of garlic. Chop two to three large tomatoes and add those to the bowl as well. Toss to coat everything and taste for seasoning. When the pasta is cooked (I made about 1/2 pound so we had leftovers for Dan's lunch) add it to the raw sauce. I also julienned a big handful of fresh basil and added that to the dish. Simple, delicious and ready in the time it took to cook the pasta. This is definitely fast food my way. ;-)

Thank you!:

I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the breakfast suggestions. Since I rely so heavily on my Vitamix I was a bit stumped on what we were going to do on the boat. Hopefully making smoothies at home and freezing them will work well but in case it doesn’t... I really wanted a back-up plan. I loved the creative ideas you provided. My head is spinning with variations on your suggestions which I will share as I make them.

On the breakfast front I am making another batch of no-sugar no-oil granola today. I am hoping the third time is the charm and that I will be ready to share that recipe very soon. Keep your fingers crossed that I get the spices and sweetness right this time. :-)

Happy thoughts:

Wow, what a week we are having. Don’t misunderstand that wasn’t meant in a bad way. Things are crazy here at the moment because of the addition of the sailboat activity.

• Both Dan and I are thrilled with everything that Island Dreams is doing to coordinate the work on the boat. Every time we see a new round of pictures she is looking more beautiful. :-) If you ever find yourself in Grenada on a boat you need to look these guys up. Not only are they efficient and professional but very nice as well. We are very fortunate to have found them thanks to our surveyor Robert Goodchild. As you can tell everything is going well with the boat and we are both ecstatic.

• Thursday is going to be a relaxing day at my house. At least that is what I have planned at the moment, we will see if life agrees with me. *fingers crossed* I would like a little down time before the weekend.

• I haven’t even thought about what we are going to do for the Fourth of July weekend. However I am very much looking forward to long weekend with my sweetie. Whatever we do I am sure it will be great. Maybe some time on the water is in order. I need to get some sun before the boat her since I am a little too pale at the moment.

• Our weather has been really pretty this week. There has been a little rain but mostly it has been fabulous. I need to get outside and enjoy some of this beautiful weather this morning before it starts to heat up. :-)

Signing Out:

I have a lot to do this morning so that I can get to my relaxing. If I stay on the computer it won’t get done. I hope you are having a fantastic week and I will talk to you again soon. :-)

Quick and Simple Breakfasts

I have been spending a lot of time recently thinking about food that would be good on the sailboat. Obviously I don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking on the boat but I also want healthy food on board.  Breakfast was the meal that I am the most concerned about because I don’t want to haul my Vitamix back and forth nor do I want to buy a second one for the boat because that seems wasteful (like a sailboat is the height of practicality as we all know, LOL).

I suppose I could make some green smoothies at home and freeze them solid in the deep freeze. Then I could let me thaw in the boat refrigerator or cooler and maybe they still be cold and slushy the next morning. However I will have to experiment to see how well that works.

We could always take fruit with us and eat that with some cashew yogurt and homemade granola for breakfast. That would make a nice breakfast and one that doesn’t take too much effort to put together on the boat. I will have to make the cashew yogurt and no-sugar no-oil granola at home but neither are difficult so they will both show up on the boat a lot I suspect.

It also occurred to me that I can take oatmeal on the boat. Lately I have been making steel cut oats at home which I cook in water with golden raisins, cinnamon, powdered ginger and cardamom. When the oats are cooked I stir in raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds and sliced almonds. Typically I pour a little almond milk over the top. You could also add some fresh fruit to the oatmeal.

Another option is non-breakfast food which I am fine with but Dan doesn’t love as much.

Other than these few ideas I am a bit at loss for what to make for breakfast on the sailboat. I am hoping that you have an idea or two about healthy breakfasts that require minimal prep time. If you have ideas please share I would greatly appreciate any and all suggestions.

Happy Thoughts:

What a crazy week I am having again. There has been a lot of activity at our place. So much for “dolce far niente”, personally I can’t wait for the sweetness of nothing to begin. However I suppose we have to do the work to get to the nothing part right?

• Things are moving along nicely with the sailboat. We are both thrilled with the progress so far and are very anxious to get our new baby home. Everything is starting to come together just as we had hoped. :-)

• Tuesday I had to run to the veterinarian to pick up meds for Her Royal Highness Luca Belle. Doc wants us to start to wean her off the steroids because of the side effects which are scary to say the very least. Please keep our little princess in your thoughts. We need to keep her asthma under control so that she can have surgery while also minimizing her exposure to the steroids.

• I spent some time yesterday watching the nutrition course from The Great Courses and enjoyed that. You know that I love that stuff right? It didn’t include much new information for me but I enjoyed it none the same. I never get tired of reading or hearing about nutrition. Can you say geek? LOL

• Don’t you love that it is Wednesday already and that we are half way through another week! *woo hoo*. I am already looking forward to the weekend. How about you?

Signing Out:

I have a lot of things to do around the house today so I need to run. Talk to you again soon. :-)

Pumpkin Pie Mousse

I have no idea where my week has gone but I have been swamped running errands and going to cooking class last night. I will give you more details soon but for now I wanted to share a very quick recipe I whipped up this morning for breakfast. Here it is:

Pumpkin Pie Mousse
Serves 2

Ingredients:

½ cup raw cashews soaked in water overnight in the refrigerator and well drained
15 ounce can organic pumpkin (nothing added just pumpkin)
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 tablespoon raw organic maca powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
1 pinch stevia (or to taste)

Directions:

Toss everything in your high speed blender (I used my Vitamix) and process until smooth. To serve top with a little sliced banana, sliced almonds and/or granola if desired.

Nutritional Information (does not include the banana, nuts or granola):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 273.5
Calories From Fat (41%) - 111.58

Total Fat - 13.43g
Saturated Fat - 2.41g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 5.87mg
Potassium - 611.69mg
Total Carbohydrates - 34.72g
Fiber - 11.6g
Sugar - 8.44g
Protein - 9.42g

Comments:

This reminds me of pumpkin pie only without the guilt. I love that in included omega 3 fatty acids (from the chia seeds), and beta-carotene (from the pumpkin). This may be good for you but it tastes delicious.

Signing Out:

Talk to you again soon. I am off to catch up on things at home. I hope to get another post up very soon. Wish me luck.

Tips for Making Healthy Fast Food

As you have probably already guessed Monday is a complete blur to me by now. Sadly Tuesday feels very similar but at least it is in a good way.

Healthy Food Fast:

My week is a tad overscheduled which means I have been rushing from place to place and just trying to keep my head above water. When my schedule is out of control like this I rely on very fast food for our sustenance. Since many of you say you don’t have time I wanted to tell you what I do when I only have a few minutes to devote to any particular meal.
First, smoothies are always an option. You can toss any number of things into your blender and come up with something that this both delicious and nutritious. Never underestimate the power of your blender.

Second, dinner leftovers are great on salad. This one was baby spinach dressed with a little sherry vinegar and then the fruited quinoa, Brussels sprouts and bell peppers from Sunday. I have been known to put almost any leftover sauté on top of salad and they always work for me.

Third, fruit and nuts always work. Bananas make great portable food since you don’t even need a bag. Little snack containers are great to hold nuts. I also like to keep washed oranges and apples in bags in the refrigerator along with a few nuts. That way I can grab the bag and toss it in my purse and run out the door.

Fourth, soup in the Vitamix is also a great quick meal. If you want something creamy add a few raw cashews to the soup. This is one of my favorite uses for the Vitamix. A simple “cream” soup has come to my rescue many times. All you need to add is salad and you have a meal. If you have leftover cooked whole grains in the refrigerator they are great to stir into the soup for texture.

Fifth, use your refrigerator as part of your pantry. Leftover soup came in very handy the last two days for me. The same thing applies to keeping cooked beans on hand in your refrigerator. You can turn them into a salad, use them to top a green salad, add them to soups or sautés. The options for beans are almost endless. I also like to keep cooked whole grains on hand like: barley, farro, and brown rice.

Sixth, the microwave is great for cooking a fast white or sweet potato that you can top with salsa, marinated mushrooms, or leftover beans. You could also add the potato to your salad or soup if you like.

Seventh, quinoa only takes 15 minutes to cook. While the quinoa is cooking you can make a quick vegetable sauté for on top of the quinoa. Add a few nuts and you have a healthy and nutritious meal.

Eight, black-eyed peas only need to cook 6 minutes under high pressure in the pressure cooker. I can turn them into soup in well under 30 minutes even allowing 10 minutes for the onions to sit after I have chopped them.

Ninth, if you have stashed some leftovers in the freezer days when you have not time is the perfect time to pull those out. Tofu lasagna, mushroom ragu, all soups and stews and seitan all freezer extremely well.

Tenth, savory oatmeal is very quick and probably feels more like dinner than breakfast to most of you. Add any veggies you have in the refrigerator or freezer and you have a complete meal in well under 10 minutes.

Eleventh, keep your freezer stocked with vegetables. I use this often to make simple salads, add to grains, put in soups or on top of savory oatmeal.

Twelfth, if you have nut butter in the house you can make sandwiches or fill in into celery. I like to have celery and nut butter with my salad. This was celery stuffed with homemade cashew and macadamia nut butter that I had in the refrigerator. The nice thing about homemade nut butter is that it keeps a long time under refrigeration.

Thirteenth, when you really don’t feel like cooking anything you can always hit the salad bar at your local grocery store. This isn’t terribly cost effective but it is better a lot of options.

Fourteenth, if you don’t even feel like going to the store find a local Asian carry out place that has brown rice. You can order the steamed veggies with the sauce on the side. Dan likes to have them add cashews rather than tofu (he claims to only like my tofu) to his meals. Seriously, steamed veggies over brown rice with a little drizzle of sauce and you are good to go. If you are really lucky they may also have some veggie sushi or a vegetarian miso soup that you can pick up. Just a quick note on miso soup, traditionally it is made with dashi (that included dried fish) but many of our local Asian restaurants also have vegetarian versions (which are actually vegan though they call them vegetarian).

I hope that gives you some ideas of how to make food quickly when you don’t have a lot of time. Since many of you ask me that quick I wanted to share a few tips that have been relevant for me the last couple of days.

Did you notice that my felines have not gotten the memo that they are carnivores? I didn’t have time to scoot them out of the photos the last few days. But as you can tell my babies like their mommy’s cooking a bit too much. LOL

Monday:

I spend most of my Monday sleep deprived because a certain little fuzzy angel didn’t want his mommy to sleep Sunday night/Monday morning. All I can say is it a good thing that I love my little children otherwise somebody would have been in a lot of trouble yesterday for keeping me up for hours.  However it is hard to get upset with them when they are being cute and wanting to cuddle. I do wish they would not require two hours of cuddling though.  *rolls eyes*

Tuesday:

I went to see Will give his presentation on theatre and food in the afternoon. Knowing nothing about theatre I had no idea what to expect. The food part I understood but the theatre aspect when over my head. Even so I thought he did a nice job and the professor seemed to agree from what I saw and heard.

Dan, Walid, Jackie and I are going to see Ottmar Liebert tonight in Annapolis. After I bought two tickets I also won two and you have guessed the rest. As luck would have it Jackie actually was also a fan of Ottmar so I am sure we will have blast. I have my camera in my purse and will try to get a few shots for you tonight.

Happy thoughts:

• It has been a beautiful few days weather wise here in Baltimore. We have had sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70’s. I love that spring is finally here.

• I am really looking forward to the concert tonight. Being a fan of Ottmar for over 20 years I am sure this is going to be great. I will tell you all about it tomorrow.

• I really enjoyed watching Will give his presentation this afternoon. It was very nice of him to let me tag along. Although I am sure the other students were wondering if I was him mom. *sigh* Nothing like spending time on a college campus to remind you that you aren’t a kid anymore. ;-)

• Monday I had a little time to do some weeding in my herb garden. Seriously I really needed to spend more time out in the garden but I had too much to do to lose more than an hour out there. How did I ever get things accomplished at home when I also had a job? That still boggles my mind. All I can say is that my standards had to have been lower then.

• My toe is finally starting to show noticeable improvement. Though it still hurts at least I can touch it now. I think tomorrow I am going to try putting on my running shoes to see how that works.

Signing out:

I need to start getting ready for the concert tonight. I have no idea where my Tuesday went. Tomorrow will be another busy one for me but Thursday should bring a little down time. *fingers crossed*

I will talk to you again tomorrow with the concert update. Here is hoping that you are having good week too.

Friday Update and Slow versus Fast Food

We started our morning bright and early at the gym on Friday. Woo hoo! *happy dance* Yeah, I know I am not right. It was so dark this morning when we arrived it looked like night though it wasn’t. There is something wrong about getting to the gym at 6am but I am learning to get over that. ;-) I spent the majority of my time on the indoor track and my knee was only a little sore later in the day. Needless to say I am calling this a major success.

After leaving the gym we had to run to the lab for blood draws. Both Dan and I have appointments with our internist soon so we wanted to get this out of the way. I do not like having my blood drawn. Honestly I am not fond of needles in general but blood draws are the worst. I am “blessed” with veins that roll which means they have a hard time hitting them when I need to give blood. The vein situation is so bad that it makes other people queasy.

About a decade ago I had signed up to donate blood through the hospital where I worked. My boss, a former marine, was sitting next to me and after the fourth stick and watching the person dig around inside my arm with the needle to hit a vein he told I had to go back to work because he couldn’t watch any more. When you make a battle hardened former marine nauseas you know it is bad. Thankfully the person at the lab got me with one stick and only had to adjust the needle on the third vial. Nonetheless I am happy to have this little task behind me for a while.

Once we got home we both had a bowl of oatmeal with mixed wild berries, freshly ground flaxseeds, cinnamon, powdered ginger, and walnuts. Dan had the same thing but a larger serving and his contained a little stevia and soymilk in place of water.

Since it was Friday I had my usual errands to run which included checking on my parents and do a little cleaning for them to give my dad a hand. It was late when I got home so I had a big veggie salad with beans and salsa.

While I had a little time at home I made a pot of Southern Italian tomato sauce with fennel seeds and hot peppers. I made a large pot of sauce so that this could be used in a couple different meals over the coming days. If there is any leftover on Monday it will go into the freezer in small containers to use later.

Dan worked late on Friday so I made myself something I call pizza veggies. I take whatever veggies I have on hand and top them with tomato sauce and walnut parmesan. This is something I have made for over 30 years. I started eating this in high school only then I used dairy parmesan. It is a tasty combination with the flavors of pizza but no refined carbs (dough) or animal fat (from the cheese).

You will not be surprised to hear that Dan had his favorite dessert tonight. Yes I made him another batch of strawberry banana soft serve. I need to find him a new dessert. LOL!

After dinner we watched another episode of season six of Criminal Minds. I think we have two episodes left and we are caught up on this year.

Food Philosophy:

For some reason I was thinking about food today and I realized that the biggest thing that separates my food from society is the fact that it is “slow food”. What I mean by that is that since my food is homemade it takes longer to cook. However I think this is also what makes me feel better. I know that when I used to eat processed food I didn’t have the vitality that I have now. If you are currently eat a diet of canned, bagged or other processed/chemically preserved food I would suggest that you try eating homemade food for one week and see if you feel different.

I am not sure how to describe how I feel now. But I can say that compared to how I used to feel now I am somehow lighter and have more energy. It is as though the food has nourished me on a different level. Cravings that I used to have for unhealthy food, sugar, flour and even wine are now rare. I think that the cravings left because I am better nourished though I can’t prove that is why. All I know is that I feel much better eating food that is minimally processed. I think if you try it you will understand what I am struggling to describe.

Happy Thoughts:

The weekend is starting well here. Here are the things I am thankful for now:

• Friday and Saturday have been good days for us. Any day that you wake up is by definition a good one. This is something that we used to take for granted but I try to remember that each day is precious and enjoy it to the fullest.

• As always I am thankful that I have the time to take care of my family (Dan and the fur babies) and help out my parents. In the end relationships and people are what matters in life.

• Saturday we slept in and both enjoyed that luxury. We both relish our Friday night, Saturday mornings to recharge from the prior week. ;-)

• My Teavana on-line order arrived and we had a chance to enjoy one of the new white teas. I really do enjoy the purity of the products are Teavana. The teas they sell aren’t exactly inexpensive but they are good.

• Saturday Dan and I made a trek to one of our local health food stores (The Health Concern) and picked up some dried herbs for tea. I was thrilled to find all but one item on my list. The tea book that Aimee and Michael gave us for Christmas is coming in very handy. :-) Dan pointed out that I was beaming at the herb counter. Clearly I enjoy this whole food lifestyle. I am becoming very granola in my old age. LOL

• We also made a run to Whole Foods and picked up organic kale for green smoothies since Dan was having withdrawal. I never thought he would learn to love green smoothies but I am extremely happy that he has. I appreciate that Dan indulges my "healthy tendencies" since I know not all men are as cooperative.

• Saturday we watched “The Future of Food” and another documentary “The Giant Buddhas” on the Buddhas in Afghanistan that the Taliban blew up. Both films were good and I will be watching them again. If you have Netflix I recommend them both. They are both available streaming on Netflix if you are interested.

Signing out:

It is time for me to log out and relax before bed. I hope all of you are having a good weekend. Talk to you again tomorrow.

Curried Carrot Soup & Smoky Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Saturday started off well with a temperature over 30. Okay so it was only 31 but we have had days where we didn’t reach that so I was thrilled to see any temperature that in the 30’s even if it was just barely.

Given Dan’s dental surgery yesterday we had our usual green smoothie for breakfast. When we first starting drinking green smoothies I always used spinach because I was “afraid” that kale would result in a bitter smoothie that Dan wouldn't drink. I don’t know whether our taste buds have adjusted to the kale or it isn’t bitter but either way the kale smoothies don’t taste bitter to us.

Did you see this article about the impact of exercising before eating breakfast?  In the article it discusses the impact of nutrion on health and I was surprised by how quickly an unhealthy diet can impact your health. Specifically the article said:

“A recent study by scientists in Australia found that after only three days, an extremely high-fat, high-calorie diet can lead to increased blood sugar and insulin resistance, potentially increasing the risk for Type 2 diabetes.”

I have read many studies about the impact of diet on health but a measurable difference in three days surprised even me.

A separate study feed participants an unhealthy high fat diet and had one group not exercise, another had breakfast then exercised and the third worked out on an empty study. Those that exercised before breakfast were best able to handle the unhealthy diet. This is not to suggest that I agree with eating an unhealthy diet only the idea of exercising on an empty stomach.

I am mention this because we have been going to the gym and exercising before breakfast and that seems to work well for us. Exercising on an empty stomach probably isn’t going to enhance our exercise performance but that doesn’t matter to us. We are exercising for fitness not to win any sort of competition. I hope you find the article as interesting as I did.

When do you like to exercise? Do you eat first or not?

I made a quick afternoon snack for myself to tide me over until the 3pm meal with my folks. I decided on a small bowl of marinated artichokes, topped with salsa and a few pumpkin seeds. This is one of my favorite snacks at the moment. Do you have any favorite snacks?  I would love to know what they are since I am always looking for ideas. ;-)

Since I didn’t want Dan eating anything chunky yet I made him soup in the Vitamix.

I decided a curried cream of carrot soup in the Vitamix for a snack for Dan. Here is what I did:

Curried Cream of Carrot Soup for One
Serves 1

Ingredients:

2 carrots, cut into chunks
¼ cup raw cashews
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon coriander seeds
¼ teaspoon black mustard seeds
black pepper, to taste (remember to be generous since the piperine in the black pepper makes the curcumin in the turmeric more bioavailable – meaning you absorb more of it)
water necessary to get a smooth soup (I used 10 tablespoons)

Directions:

Toss everything in your Vitamix and process until smooth and hot, about 3 minutes.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 208.13
Calories From Fat (45%) - 94.61

Total Fat - 11.31g
Saturated Fat - 1.96g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 120.42mg
Potassium - 717.05mg
Total Carbohydrates - 24.13g
Fiber - 5.93g
Sugar - 9.16g
Protein - 6.29g

Comments:

This is a very simple soup that tastes better than the amount of time and effort it takes to prepare. Making quick soups is one of my favorite things to do with my Vitamix.

The mid-day meal with my parents was also something simple and pureed so that Dan could enjoy it too. I decided to make a simple smoky roasted red pepper and tomato soup. Here is what I did:

Smoky Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
Serves 4 generously

Ingredients:

64 ounces homemade canned tomatoes or 4 – 15 ounce cans of tomato, whole or diced (preferably no salt added)
1 cup raw cashews
6 roasted red peppers that have been peeled and seeded
3 carrots, scrubs and cut into rough chunks
6 cloves garlic, peeled
½ tablespoon smoked paprika
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Process everything in your Vitamix, you will need to do this in stages. As you process the soup pour in a soup pot. Simmer until the soup is hot and the flavors have married.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 283.01
Calories From Fat (35%) - 99.08

Total Fat - 11.84g
Saturated Fat - 2.05g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 71.15mg
Potassium - 1698.99mg
Total Carbohydrates - 41.29g
Fiber - 11.39g
Sugar - 16.34g
Protein - 10.47g

Comments:

Everyone enjoyed this soup today. It is always surprisingly to me when the omnivores and vegans in the extended family can agree on a dish.

I liked the lightly smoky background from the smoked paprika and the definite presence of the red pepper (roasted and smoked). My taller half (Dan) thought it needed more tomato flavor but that wasn’t where I was going. I guess it looked like tomato soup so that was what he expected to taste first.

Since Dan assured me he could eat a salad I made a small side salad to accompany the soup. I used mesclun greens, marinated artichokes (can I tell I love those?), marinated portabellas (to boost our immune systems) and roasted red pepper strips. For my parents there was a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on the salad. We thought the marinated veggies added more than enough flavor and juiciness to the greens.

I had someone ask where I buy my marinated artichokes saying they could only find them packed in oil. I have a few ideas for how to get around that. First check the Italian section in your grocery store and you may find marinated artichokes without oil.  I can buy them at Wegman’s and Giant. If your store doesn’t carry them check the freezer section they usually carry frozen artichokes and those would work fine. If all you can find are the oil packed variety buy those and rinse them under hot water to remove most of the oil. It won’t get all of it but it will get most of it. I did this with ground meat for years to eliminate any excess fat on the exterior of the meat and it works very well but you need to use warm or hot water. Cold water makes the oil coagulate. I hope that helped.

We are actually experiencing a heat wave today. When we checked the weather channel at 5pm it was actually 37 degrees. It hasn’t been that warm in at least a week, maybe longer. Too bad I didn’t get a chance to enjoy it.

Speaking of enjoying I had to share this picture of our little baby with you. Isn’t Binky just precious when he is sleeping? There really isn’t much cuter than a sleeping fur baby. Too bad he can’t be that angelic when he is awake, LOL. Well he might be bad but we absolutely adore that little troublemaker.

Another comment or question I get often is about how nice it is that we have my parents for lunch/supper so often. This started a few years back when my mother was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetic). I said I could show her how to eat that would keep her from progressing to a diabetic. Since my mother hates to cook she immediately took me up on the offer. Of course she has learned nothing about how to cook healthy. The only thing she has learned is that she doesn’t like my “healthy rabbit food” as she so lovingly calls it. Believe it or not she actually ate everything today but the mesclun greens. It is amazing how she always seems to leave behind the most nutritious part of the meal. *sigh*

Before you ask my mother did progress to a full blown diabetic and is on two oral medications now. She won’t listen to anything I have to say about health. If I had a dime for every time she pointed out that my undergrad and grad degrees are both in finance and not nutrition I would be rich. *rolls eyes* I am telling you this because recently I have gotten a lot of feedback from other ladies about how they have a difficult relationship with their mother. Let’s just say I can completely relate and I feel your pain. Things are never quite as they seem are they? ;-) Now you know another reason why health is so important to me. I don’t want to "grow up" to be my mother. *shivers*

Dan and I both had an orange, I had Brazil nuts which he didn’t have.

Dinner was more of the black bean soup, pureed for Dan and chunky for me. I gave Dan a huge bowl and I had a smaller one. He claims I am stuffing him so he doesn’t have room of soft serve. *rolls eyes* Men!

Surprisingly Dan is having very little pain from the wisdom teeth removal and no swelling. I can’t understand why this is so easy but I am very happy it is.

Happy Thoughts:

Saturday was a good day for us. Here are my happy thoughts:

• I am thrilled that Dan is doing so well in the aftermath of the procedure.

• The smoky red pepper and tomato soup turned out extremely well today and was quick. If I were making a smaller amount it would have been a Vitamix only soup and those are always the easiest. ;-)

• The weather is a tiny bit warmer here but that is still good. It is nice not to feel the cold so straight through you the minute you go outside.

• Christmas is starting to come together, slowly but surely. Now I am starting to look forward to New Years Eve.

Signing out:

We started our morning at Whole Foods in Mt. Washington to stock up on kale and other organic yummies. Then we came home for green smoothies. Sometimes we are too predictable.

Now it is time for me to figure out what I am making for the mid day meal with my parents that will work well for Dan too. It will be nice when I can make my usual food again.  As quickly as Dan is recovering it won't be long until we are back to normal. Woo hoo!

I hope all of you are having a great weekend. Talk to you again soon.

Simple Roasted Veggies with Vegan Queso just another Monday

It was nice to head back to the gym bright and early this morning. I never get tired of this place. Who said that? LOL

Since my knee is still not 100%, though it did improve after a weekend without cardio, we opted to cut the workout short and call it quits after 45 minutes today. I didn’t want to push my knee too far a risk a relapse since it has improved so much over the weekend.

This morning we were back to oatmeal with mixed frozen berries, cinnamon, powdered ginger, ground flaxseed, and sliced almonds.

Lunch was a bowl of ribolitta leftover from yesterday.

Then it was off to the dentist for me. With all the other doctor appointments lately I have been remiss in getting to the dentist which means extra deep cleaning and scraping for me. Yay! Not really. Good thing I like Regan so much or this would be much more painful. Regan did a great job (without any needles woo hoo) on keeping the discomfort to a minimum. This is coming from someone with a dentist phobia too. I go back to the dentist again Wednesday and then I am finished. Gotta love that right?

After my dental appointment I ran out the library to pick up an exercise DVD I had put on hold and came out with 3 more books and another DVD. Seriously when do I think I am going to find time to read and watch this stuff. *shakes head* Given that I have been too busy to finish all the Christmas decorations up yet I need to have my head examined LOL. I did pick up Ani Phyo’s newest book “Ani’s Raw food Essentials” that I hope to read in the next few days. As soon as I do I will let you know what I think.

When I got home I had a quick snack of an orange and two Brazil nuts. I try to eat two Brazil nuts everyday for the selenium. Most days I remember to eat them though I am better at giving them to Dan than I am eating them myself. I should worry a little more about me. I know that would make Dan happy since he fusses at me about this particular issue often.

By the time I was ready to start dinner it was after 6pm and like usual I had no idea what I was going to make. I had a couple of acorn squash that I could use and today seemed like a good day to get one into the oven given that the cold weather is back again. I decided to roast everything in the oven and make a quick 5 minute sauce to top the veggies. This is one of those dinners that take 10 minutes of work, and some oven time and dinner is on the table. This is more of a method than a recipe but here is what I did:

Simple Roasted Veggies with Vegan Queso
Serves 3 (dinner for both of us last night and leftovers for Dan’s lunch)

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash, cut in half, seeds removed then cut into bite-sized chunks
3 parsnips, sliced reasonably thinly
2 sweet potatoes, cut into bites-sized chunks
2 poblano peppers, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 onion, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
I batch of vegan queso (my numbers assume you used 1/3 of it)
1 green onion, thinly sliced
6 sprigs of fresh cilantro, minced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees convection. Place the veggies on a half sheet pan keeping them in quadrants by veggie to make it easier to remove any that are cooked sooner than others. Bake for 30 minutes and check to make certain the harder veggies (the squash and potatoes) are tender. Mine cooked for approximately 40 minutes.

When the veggies are almost ready, probably at the 30 minute mark, start the vegan queso. I roughly followed the recipe I linked to above except I added nutrition yeast, chili powder and cumin to taste. I wanted this version to be more flavorful since the veggies were plain.

To serve top the roasted veggies with a little sauce and sprinkle with the green onion and cilantro.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 417.56
Calories From Fat (7%) - 30.74

Total Fat - 3.67g
Saturated Fat - 0.66g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 88.54mg
Potassium - 2150.79mg
Total Carbohydrates - 94.78g
Fiber - 20.56g
Sugar - 21.49g
Protein - 8.85g

Comments:

What I like about meals like this is that they take very little work from the chef. I was literally in the kitchen less than 10 minutes and most of that was watching the sauce to make sure it didn’t stick. This is one of those incredibly easy meals that I turn to often when it is cold outside and I am not much in a mood to cook. This is also good over a bed of whole grains (quinoa, brown rice, or millet).

Typically this is the type of meal that I wouldn’t bother to post in detail because it is so easy. But then I realized that there are many nights other people don’t to fuss in the kitchen either. I think you will find yourself turning to this method often this winter when you just need healthy food fast.

You can vary this dish with any veggies you have on hand. That is how this type of dinner comes together for me. Mushrooms are good in this, so is cauliflower and cherry tomatoes.

Why are the holidays for indulgence?

I am going to start this by saying that I realize what I wrote on this topic goes against the vast majority of Americans. However I think it is important to point out the deleterious health impact of holiday baking.

Staying away from cookies, candy and cake this time of year takes an almost herculean effort. Why do most Americans think the holidays are reason to indulge or worse over indulge? Don’t they understand the impact that sugar has on the immune system? Gee I wonder why there are so many colds during the winter. Between the lack of sunshine (vitamin D) and the sugar coma it isn’t really surprising. Throw in that people aren’t as active when it is cold outside reducing the immune system even more and I think the increase in the incidence in colds makes complete sense.

Don’t get me wrong we used to do the same thing here. I would make a half dozen different flavors of homemade marshmallows frequently chocolate covered to give to friends. But that was before I completely understood the impact of sugar on health. Now that I know better I can’t get on board with the idea of holiday baking. Just because something is a tradition doesn’t make it a good idea. Vegans would be the first one to say Turkey though traditional isn’t necessary for Thanksgiving. Somehow women (vegan or not) have equated the holidays with baked goods. It is as though they think that if they “deprive” their family of baked goods they are being mean. I see it exactly the other way. Most baked goods are nasty unhealthy concoctions to me and I wouldn’t have them in my house.

Which brings me to a question …. What is your opinion of baked good (cookies, cakes, etc.)? Do you feel that you have to make them for your family? If yes I would love to hear why. Is it that you need more information on the detrimental health impact or is it something else?

Happy Thoughts:

It is hard to believe that today is only Tuesday. I feels much later in the week to me than that. I guess it was because our weekend wasn’t as restful as normal. Here are my happy thoughts:

• My dental appointment went well (no needles or pain) and I will be finished with this phase by Wednesday. Yay!

• Tuesday afternoon watched the PBS documentary “Anti Cancer” by the doctor that wrote the book. It was good and follows the book fairly closely. If you are someone that remembers things that they watch and hear better than something you read this would be for you. I picked this up from the library yesterday.  I will include my review soon. I want to watch it twice first.

• I very briefly considered making some vegan cookies to give away during the holidays. Thankfully I came to my senses first. I would feel bad afterwards knowing that something I did for the people that mean the most to me was unhealthy.

Signing out:

That is going to be it for me today. I need to get ready to run to the gym. Since the gym didn’t open until 11am today we decided to go after work rather than work out at home. I hope all of you are having a happy and healthy Tuesday. Talk to you again tomorrow.

Easy Meals for days when you are exhausted

Good Morning! Sorry I went MIA on you yesterday. It has been a very long four days at our house. I have not slept well for the last four days and yesterday I was a zombie until I got a 2 hour nap in late in the day. Of course that meant I didn’t sleep well again last night. *shakes head* However I feel much better this morning than I did yesterday.

Given my lack of energy the last few days I have been making very simple meals as that is all I have been able to manage. Initially I wasn’t going to post these but then I realized this may be useful for other people that don’t have time or energy to cook but still want something healthy.

Monday night for dinner we had a simple meal of brown rice which I tossed with the quick pickled veggies that I julienned. I also added a couple of black olives and diced tomato. I served this with sliced heirloom tomatoes with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a few red lentil and millet bites from the freezer.

For breakfast the next morning I made myself a bowl of curried veggie and mushroom soup and two collard wraps with lentil and walnut pate and more marinated veggies. This is actually my favorite use for the marinated veggies. They are so good on sandwiches.

Yesterday I made a big batch (3 cups) of dried black beans which I cooked in my slow cooker, in case I fell asleep. Cooking dried beans in your slow cooker works well if you don’t have time to make them on the stove. I do like to soak them for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight, before I cook them. I think you have less issues with flatulence when the beans are cold soaked (but this may be all in my head). Place the soaked and drained beans in your slow cooker, cover with fresh water that is at least 2 inches about the level of the beans. Add a whole onion, a few bay leaves and garlic cloves and cook on low for 2 hours then check the beans for tenderness. The exact time they take to cook will depend on the age of the beans and how long they soaked. If you want the beans to cook for 8 hours then don’t soak them first and 8 hours on low is about right. Again it depends on the age of the beans.

Once the beans are cooked you can add them to salads, make a bean dip, combine them with rice or make a marinated bean and veggie salad. All of these are fast and hold well in the refrigerator to eat later. I tend to keep the beans in the refrigerator and use them in different ways. If you find you made too many beans they can be frozen (in their cooking liquid) until you need them.

I also made a batch of quinoa to add to meals. This is great to add to the soup, for more calories and protein, which I did for Dan. You can also turn it into a cold salad with diced veggies. If you are really tired just toss the quinoa with a little salsa and raw sunflower seeds.

The remainder of my day was spent eating “fast food”, like trail mix, peanut butter stuffed dates, or salad with salsa. Nothing too exciting, just anything I could make with very little effort as that was all I could manage.

Yesterday I was so exhausted there was no exercise, nothing. That is highly unusual around here. Other than a few crunches I didn’t exercise yesterday. I honestly don’t really feel up to it today either but two days without exercise isn’t going to happen. As tired as I am I know I will feel better after I finish exercising. At least that is what I am telling myself now. I will let you know if that works or not. I need to go exercise and then figure out what I am doing today. I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday. Talk to you again soon.

Lightly Cooked Veggies with Fermented Black Bean Sauce over Brown Rice

Today started early since Dan had a morning meeting in Annapolis and wanted to stop at his office for a while before heading south. I hate moving early in the morning. Let’s just say I have never been nor will I ever be a morning person. After Dan had his breakfast I did a little exercise and got on line while I waited for the TV to be delivered. The TV arrived about 10am so I didn’t have to wait long, which was very nice. If anyone is in the market for electronics HHGregg has a great selection, reasonable prices and they deliver.

I spent a little time in my garden this morning watering and weeding. I need to spend more time out in the garden tomorrow and this weekend. There is a lot of work to be done. I have decided gardening is like housework it is never finished. However, my tomatoes have quite a few little yellow flowers and the lettuce is growing very well. It is so nice to have fresh salad in the summer directly from the garden to the plate.

Dan ended up having lunch in Annapolis at McCormick and Schmick's with our friend Carmella after the meeting. Apparently the restaurant has a nice cucumber and strawberry salad with white balsamic that Dan really liked. He also ordered an asparagus side, no butter sauce. The only down side of the meal was Carmella wanted to substitute the fries for a salad and was told they don’t allow substitutions. Not the best customer service I would say. They clearly did not the customer is always right memo.

During the afternoon I went back to trying out exercise DVDs on Netflix. I am enjoying the variety of instructors and exercises. No DVDs have stood out yet as must haves, but I have many more to work through so there is still plenty of time. ;-)

Like usual I did not plan dinner but decided to go with the flow. I tend to look in the refrigerator and decide what needs to be used and start with that. Since the bok choy and shitakes were the oldest that meant Asian food to me. I added other veggies to the dish to make it substantial enough for 4 servings, dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. Here is what I did:

Lightly Cooked Veggies with Fermented Black Bean Sauce over Brown Rice
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups brown rice (I used brown basmati)
3 cups water
7 ounces tofu, baked until lightly browned (brush with ½ tablespoon liquid aminos before baking)
½ large yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced tip to root
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (allow to stand 10 minutes before cooking so the allicin has time to develop)
½ inch fresh ginger, finely minced or grated (if it is organic you don’t need to peel it just clean it well under running water with a vegetable brush)
2 medium bok choy, thinly sliced (approximately 6 cups)
2 leaves kale, julienned
½ pound fresh shitakes, stems removed and caps thinly sliced (save the stems in a freezer bag for mushroom stock when you need it)
4 carrots, julienned
2 tablespoons fermented black bean sauce
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or mirin
Sriracha, to taste if you want a little heat - optional
¼ cup fresh cilantro, to garnish
Cashews for garnish if you choose (Dan thinks these are a must have item) you can also use peanuts or omit this completely - optional

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tofu into 6 even slabs and coat it in the liquid aminos. Place the seasoned tofu in a well seasoned cast iron pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven allow the tofu to cool for a few minutes so it will release easily from the pan and flip it over. Bake for another 30 minutes to form a crust on the second side.

While the tofu is baking combine the rice and water and bring to a boil. Cover the pan, reduce to a simmer and cook until the water is absorbed. If you use an enameled cast iron pan the rice will be ready in approximately 30 - 35 minutes. I allow my rice to stand covered for 10 minutes once I turn off the heat this makes fluffier rice.

While the rice is standing combine the veggies and ¼ cup of water and sauté quickly. Whisk the fermented black bean sauce and rice wine vinegar together and add to the pan with the veggies. Toss to coat the veggies with the sauce. If you are using sriracha add it to the sauce before combining with the veggies.

To serve plate the brown rice, top with veggies and finish with cilantro and cashews (if desired).

Nutritional Analysis (does not include the optional nuts):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 436.83
Calories From Fat (11%) - 50.07

Total Fat - 6.17g
Saturated Fat - 0.81g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 833.32mg
Potassium - 1092.72mg
Total Carbohydrates-  88.43g
Fiber - 9.19g
Sugar - 12.08g
Protein - 15.64g

Comments:

This is one of those quick weeknight dinners that I fall back on regularly. You can vary this by using any veggies you have on hand. Additionally is just as good with lo mein as it is with rice.

If you are used to eating Asian food from a restaurant you will think this dish needs salt. I intentionally used less black bean sauce so the sodium wasn’t through the roof. You can either add more black bean sauce or liquid aminos to suit your taste buds.

Each serving of this dish contains approximately 20,950IU of vitamin A, 80mg of vitamin C, 295mg of calcium, 135mcg of folate, 195mcg vitamin K, 415mg of phosphorus, 180mg of magnesium, and 38mcg of selenium. I would have preferred a lower sodium count, but this is just what happens with Asian food. However, comparing the saltiness of this dish to restaurant Asian food now I know why I always retain water after eating Chinese. It must contain three days of sodium at a minimum.

Unrelated note:

Dan actually came home at a decent time today. I wonder if the TV had anything to do with it? ;-) Hmmmm. Well he didn’t get it set up yet but there was lots of measuring so he could decide about the furniture to go around it. I am getting more bookshelves. Yay! I may be as happy about that as he is the TV. Those of you that know me well know that books are everywhere in my home and I always buy more. In fact I ordered three more books last night from Amazon, three textbooks on nutrition actually. I can’t wait for them to arrive. I just love learning new things. ;-)

We were about half way through dinner when I realized I forgot to put the tofu on top the dish. Duh! That is why the picture doesn’t include tofu. I added it far too late to get a picture. But it looks just like the tofu I baked for the recipe on tofu with satay sauce posted here.

After dinner we decided to watch the first episode of “Thirty Something”. I was so excited to see this on the Netflix instant options. I was obsessed with this show when it was on in the late 80’s and early 90’s. So far it is just as entertaining now as it was all those years ago. However, they were a little whiny and self absorbed. But I am still enjoying it.

I did get some time in the kitchen today but I will need to fill you all in on that tomorrow. For now I am signing off to relax before turning in. I hope everyone had a great Thursday.

Spiralized Zucchini and Radish Topped with Walnut and Spinach Sauce

The weather is hotter today than it has been. When the weather turns warm I tend to gravitate toward more raw food. This is a simple dish or spiralized veggies dressed with a nut sauce. It takes longer to clean the equipment (mandoline and blender) than it does to make the dinner. Here is what I did:

Spiralized Zucchini and Radish Topped with Walnut and Spinach Sauce
Serves 2 as a entrée with a salad on the side

Ingredients:

1 zucchini, spiralized
5 radishes, spiralized
½ cup walnuts
2 cups spinach, tightly packed
½ cup water
½ lemon, juiced
½ clove garlic, peeled (not a huge clove less is better in this sauce)
½ cup basil leaves, julienned
1 tablespoon pine nuts for garnish (optional but adds nice texture)

Directions:

Place zucchini and radish threads on a plate.

Combine the walnuts, spinach, water, lemon juice, and garlic in your blender and process until completely smooth. Pour the sauce over the plates of vegetable threads. Sprinkle the dish with basil and top with pine nuts

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 251.69
Calories From Fat (74%) - 187.03

Total Fat - 22.36g
Saturated Fat - 2.06g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 38.38mg
Potassium - 645.74mg
Total Carbohydrates - 11.22g
Fiber - 4.18g
Sugar - 3.32g
Protein - 7.51g

Comments:

This dish is rich and flavorful but is not an entire meal. I combine it with a spinach salad topped with beans and salsa to add more calories and reduce the overall fat percentage to something more manageable. Like many raw dishes you need to be careful to add non fat or low fat foods to it to bring the fat percentage in line.

Each serving of this dish contains 3,300IU of vitamin A, 35mg of vitamin C, 89mg of calcium, 125mcg of folate, 175mcg of vitamin K, 190mg of phosphorus, and 105mg of magnesium. Nice nutrition but higher in fat that is good to make a meal by itself.

For those of you that are wondering other than a tablespoon of ground flaxseed in my oatmeal this was the only fat I have had today.  I try to keep my total fat intake on average at 25 grams per day. That is the target that works for me. You may another level works better for you.

Unrelated note:

Things have gotten a little hectic at my house this evening. I will try to get the grain and potato chart up tomorrow. I ran out of time to fiddle with the file this evening.

I hope you are all having a good evening. Talk to you tomorrow.

An Unorthodox Breakfast: Collard Wraps with Almond Feta and Veg

Dan is feeling much better this morning. So much so that he has gone back to work. This is a great sign. He almost never takes a sick day. When he took off Friday, Monday and was home on Tuesday I knew that he felt really horrible. Needing to make him a smoothie this morning for breakfast as well as cream of broccoli soup to go in his lunch with the lasagna my Vitamix had quite the workout this morning. By the time I had cleaned the blender twice I was not in the mood to do it again. Since I had breakfast once Dan had left for work I picked something that was crunchy. Here is what I made myself from breakfast this morning:

Collard Wraps with Almond Feta and Veg
Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 large collard leaf, thick stem sliced fat to bottom or removed (it is easier to roll if you don’t remove the stem completely)
¼ cup almond feta – no oil version
4 inches English cucumber, sliced into sticks
¼ red bell pepper, thinly sliced

Directions:

Place the collard leaf on a board light green side up. Spread the leaf with a thin layer of almond feta. Top with cucumber and red bell pepper. You can add anything else you like to the wrap. Olives would be good, so would sun-dried tomatoes, anything works in this. Roll the leaf up like you are making sushi. Secure with toothpicks and slice into bite sized pieces.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 255.73
Calories From Fat (62%) - 158.03

Total Fat - 18.84g
Saturated Fat - 1.45g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 278.37mg
Potassium - 600.59mg
Total Carbohydrates - 16.38g
Fiber - 7.08g
Sugar - 5.86g
Protein - 10.15g
Comments:

These are a little difficult to roll tightly. It helps to use more nut cheese but that really ups the fat content so I try to hold that to minimum. If you want to take this in your lunch I would suggest packing the components separately or wrapping the entire thing in waxed paper followed by cling film and slicing when you are ready to eat it.

I made this today since I was craving a little fat. Nut cheese and but butter is my main source of fat and I need to keep an eye on make certain I eat enough of it. There are days when I have only had 100 calories of fat and that is not enough. Your skin will get dry if you do that for too long, I don’t recommend it. Also the fat seems to keep my satisfied longer. Since I had this for breakfast I won’t add much if any nuts or seeds to my lunch today.

This little wrap contained approximately 3,650IU of vitamin A, 70mg of vitamin C, 160mg of calcium, 10IU of vitamin E, 110mcg of folate, 200mcg of vitamin K, 220mg of phosphorus, and 125mg of magnesium. Pretty good for less than 260 calories I think.

Unrelated note:

Sine Dan felt so lousy this weekend I didn’t get any of my “work” done around the house. Today and tomorrow are going to be cleaning days at our house. Ugh! I love to cook, but cleaning is not my favorite activity. Martha Stewart has nothing to worry about from me. LOL.

I have been very unproductive so far today. I really need to run and get some things accomplished before the day gets away from me. I will be back tonight, if not sooner. I hope you are all having a great Wednesday.

Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans

Since Dan was home today I needed to whip something together for lunch. If I had been home alone I would have made a salad or quick soup in the Vitamix. Somehow that doesn’t seem to me to be an adequate meal for my hubby. When I want something quick that has a nice amount of protein I frequently turn to quinoa. This is what we had for lunch today with a little leftover for Dan’s lunch tomorrow:

Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans
Serves 3

Ingredients:

1 red onion, peeled and finely minced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
¼ cup water to sauté aromatics
1 chipotle in adobo, finely minced (2 if you like heat)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1 teaspoon paprika
(chili powder, to taste, see note in comments section)
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 cup black beans, cooked without salt
1 lemon, zested and juiced (or lime if you have one)
8 cups raw baby spinach, julienned
6 olives, pitted and slivered
3 tablespoons macadamia and pumpkin seed cheese
3 sun dried Roma tomato halves, julienned (not the ones in oil)

Directions:

Water sauté the onions and garlic until tender. Add to the pan the ingredient through beans and cook until the quinoa is tender (about 15 minutes). If you don’t want the quinoa to take on color from the beans you can add them after the quinoa is cooked. Taste for seasoning. You may want to add a little more heat (wet hots) or spice to taste.

To serve, top the raw spinach with quinoa (or stir it into the quinoa if you prefer it to wilt more). Top the quinoa with lemon zest, lemon juice, olives, nut cheese and tomatoes. This dish is good hot or cold.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 405.58
Calories From Fat (22%) - 88.54

Total Fat - 10.31g
Saturated Fat - 1.5g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 224.98mg
Potassium - 1276.57mg
Total Carbohydrates - 64.91g
Fiber - 13.96g
Sugar - 3.22g
Protein - 18.02g

Comments:

This turned out a little milder than I had anticipated. Next time I will use two chipotles and maybe a teaspoon of chili powder. But overall the flavor was good and the nutritional stats were nice for a one dish meal in less than 20 minutes. Fresh cilantro, corn and jalapeno would also be good in here if you have them on hand.

Each serving of this dish contains approximately 8,550IU of vitamin A, 50mg of vitamin C, 180mg of calcium, 7.9mg of iron, 360mcg of folate, 395mcg of vitamin K, 440mg of phosphorus, 250mg of magnesium, and 7mcg of selenium. Not too bad for under 20 minutes of work. I also like the fiber and protein content of this meal.

Unrelated Note:

My day is not going at all as I had originally planned. Having my hubby home until 2pm disrupted my schedule. ;-) Fortunately Dan’s head started feeling better and he has gone downtown to his office. We will see if I can get back on schedule. I am not hopeful. But tomorrow is another day.

For now I need to run so that I can get a few things accomplished before dinner. I hope you are all having a fabulous Wednesday. We are halfway to the weekend! Talk to you all again soon.

Quick Snack: Broccoli and Onion Flax Cracker with Nut Cheese and Veggies

I wanted to post this to give you some ideas of what to do with the broccoli and flax crackers and nut cheese in addition to the raw pizza. As I have mentioned before I prefer to snack until dinner time. At lunchtime today we had fresh vegetable and fruit juice and this nut cheese topped cracker. Of course Dan had more than one cracker, but this with the juice one cracker was enough for me. Here is what I did.

Broccoli and Onion Flax Cracker with Nut Cheese and Veggies
Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 broccoli and onion flax cracker/bread
½ tablespoon lemony pine nut and macadamia ricotta
1 grape tomato, thinly sliced
3 very thin slices of cucumber (about ¼ inch in total)
1 pinch oregano
1 pinch pepper

Directions:

Spread nut cheese on cracker, top with cucumber, tomato, oregano, and pepper.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 154.39
Calories From Fat (59%) - 91.65

Total Fat - 10.54g
Saturated Fat - 1.05g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 102.11mg
Potassium - 231.53mg
Total Carbohydrates - 11.53g
Fiber - 6.19g
Sugar - 1.4g
Protein - 5.17g

Comments:

This reminds me very much of a crostini that I used to make with strained ricotta that I flavored with lemon and herbs. The nice thing about this particular recipe is that when everything is in the refrigerator it is literally a two minute item. When I am not in the mood to cook (and yes that even happens to me) I love quick things like this. It would also be good with sliced olive, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, anything you can dream up.

For those of you that are concerned about protein this one little snack has 5 grams. While that doesn’t sound like much those grams add up quickly. Since I have been getting quite a few protein emails recently I may write a post on that early next week. Hopefully I will have the time.   There are so many things I want to do I know some of them will have to wait.

This one little cracker contained approximately 710IU of vitamin A, 23mg of vitamin C, 28mg of calcium, 28mcg of folate, 51mg of phosphorus and 24mg of magnesium. Considering how small this was that is quite a bit of nutrition. This is also great to have with a salad, in place of baked bread, or with a nice soup.

Unrelated note:

Today has been less productive that I had hoped, but tomorrow is another day. Finger crossed that I can make up the ground I lost today on my projects. My to-do list seems to get longer by the day.

For our new vegan reader I wanted to outline what we ate today (with recipes to follow tomorrow on a few items). We started the morning with oatmeal, topped with cinnamon, wild blueberries, ground flaxseeds and walnuts. To go with this we had our green tea with ginger and our green drink. Lunch was fresh veggie and fruit juice with this nut cheese topped cracker. Dinner was enchiladas filled with black beans, brown rice and veggies topped with tofu and tahini sauce and a fresh salsa on the side. I will post the dinner recipes tomorrow. After dinner we did have a cookie dough truffle. Even the parents approved whole heartedly of dessert. Before bed we will have another fresh veggie and fruit juice and green drink. If once I calculate all our nutrition for the day the calorie count seems light Dan may have another snack.

For now I need to get back to my to-do list. I hope to be back tomorrow morning with the recipes from dinner tonight. I have also changed our veggie and fruit juice and wanted to share that with you in addition to why I changed it. Because you all know there was a nutritional reason for the change.

I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend. Talk to you again soon.

Where has that woman been?

Sorry I disappeared on you guys for a few days. Things are incredibly hectic at the moment but in a good way. Fingers crossed! However there is a lot of research to be done in a short period of time. I have been cooking a little but haven’t had time to document it let alone run nutrition numbers. I am hoping things will we back to normal sooner rather than later. You should know we have some things going on here that will result in my being mostly off line for about a week or so. But I will warn you before that happens.

Today has been busy again, but a little better than the last few days. I wanted to post dinner from last night, but as a method rather than a recipe. This is one of those things I make when I need a quick nutritious meal.

I water sauté onion and garlic and add a diced chipotle pepper, quartered crimini mushrooms, black beans and diced red bell pepper. Next add cumin, chili powder and cayenne to taste. I use this to top sweet potatoes that I cooked in the microwave. Next I topped the dish with fresh diced grape tomatoes, cilantro and squeeze of lime. I also added some avocado on the side to cool the heat from the chipotle and cayenne. If you need a quick meal this one can be ready in less than 10 minutes. Sometimes I need things that are no fuss like this. If you had tofu or cashew sour cream in the refrigerator that would also be great on top this.

Unrelated note:

My wheat grass seems to be doing well growing inside. There are many little shoots sprouting. It is too soon to call the project a success but I am definitely more hopeful than when I started. As soon as we have our first crop I will write a post on specifically how it is done and whether it is worth doing.

I need to get back to my research and also get my exercise in. But I hope to have more time this afternoon to make a proper dinner and post a recipe. That is my plan at the moment. Wish me luck. Cooking is something I find very therapeutic so I need a little kitchen time to help me get centered.

I hope you are all having a wonderful day. The skies are beautiful and blue here with hardly a cloud. I am going to try to spend a little time outside today. Talk to you again soon.

Artichoke and Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

Yesterday was a lazy and relaxing day for me. After I finished with my “must do” list I spent the rest of the day doing things I enjoy, specifically yoga and reading. It was a great “ all about me” day. I really need to do that a little more often.

Since I was so busy, doing nothing, I didn’t plan dinner. This is the sort of meal I make when I need something healthy that doesn’t take a lot of time. In the past I would have used olive oil and pancetta to sauté the veggies (but no more) and this would have been over pasta, and finished with parmesan cheese. My tastes have changed so much that I don’t miss the oil, pancetta or cheese at all. (Who am I?) I added the lemon to this to add fresh acidity to the dish for extra flavor since I have eliminated so many other flavorful components. Fresh parsley would have been great in this, but I am out.

This recipe works just as well with frozen or canned artichokes. I have even made it with marinated artichokes and that works surprisingly well and adds more acidity, which I love. If you need a quick dinner one night this is a good one. Here is what we had last night for dinner over brown rice.

Artichoke and Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce
Serves 2 hungry adults

Ingredients:

1 yellow or red onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced (allow to stand 10 minutes before cooking so allicin can develop)
½ cup water
10 baby artichokes cleaned and quartered (or use frozen artichokes)
28 ounces fire roasted tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon Chianti vinegar (or any wine vinegar)
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon wedges – for serving
Brown rice or pasta to serve sauce over

Directions:

Water sauté the onion and garlic until tender. Add the artichokes, tomatoes, vinegar, and seasonings and simmer until the artichokes are tender.

Serve over rice or pasta with a lemon wedge on the side to squeeze over the dish for a little fresh acidic bite.

Nutritional Information (does not include the rice):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 240.39
Calories From Fat (7%) - 17.91

Total Fat - 2.14g
Saturated Fat - 0.41g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 619.26mg
Potassium - 1736.58mg
Total Carbohydrates - 52.67g
Fiber - 16.82g
Sugar - 4.08g
Protein  - 12.9g

Comments:

This is one of my go to sauces when I haven’t planned dinner. I like knowing that artichokes are very high in antioxidants. My hubby likes anything with a tomato based sauce, so we are both happy. Each serving of this sauce contains 2,800IU of vitamin A, 50mg of vitamin C, 210mg of calcium, 7mg of iron, 260mcg of folate, 260mg of phosphorus, and 140mg of magnesium. I also like that this dish is so high in potassium and fiber.

Unrelated Note:

Today my plan is to get one or two of my backlogged recipes posted and spend some time in the kitchen. I have a pound of white beans cooking now. I like to make beans ahead of time and keep them in the freezer in 1 cup containers to use like canned beans (which I gave up buying to try to reduce our overall BPA consumption). The white beans will be used for one of my “cream” soups without cream tonight.

Before Dan left for work today he saw the white beans soaking and immediately said, “Are you making white chili? I love your white chili.” (Big smile) Well, I wasn’t going to make white chili but it looks like I am now. He knows how to get his way doesn’t he? It must be nice to be king. ;) As he likes to say, “It is all about him.” Don’t tell him, but it really is all about him. I don’t want it to go to his head.

I will be back later with another recipe as soon as I get a few things accomplished at home. The feline royalty needs to be attended to now. Nothing like cat grooming to make my morning complete, and potentially bloody. Wish me luck.

Easy Veggie: Cream of Tomato Soup – raw cashew version

Yesterday I spent a bunch of time on the computer emailing Rose working out the details on the Healthy Cooking Challenge. We had many ideas but weren’t certain how to proceed. Although now that so many of you have expressed interest we will get the details nailed down today so you can all get started. I must say I am really looking forward to this. I think it is going to be great fun and a good learning experience for all of us.

We started our day with a mixed berry smoothie. For lunch we had a big salad with fat-free hummus and salsa, with cucumber, tomatoes and hempseeds and leftover stir-fry from the prior day. For dinner we had this cream of tomato soup and another green salad with hummus and salsa. Overall it was healthy food day, but a little boring.

This soup recipe goes out to Oraphan at Easy Veggie. She is having a contest on her blog and since she is sweet enough to comment regularly on my blog I knew I wanted to participate in her contest. Oraphan, this is my easy veggie cream of tomato soup for you!

I love to make soup when it is cold outside. This specific soup came together in less than 20 minutes, and most of that time it was simmering while I did something else. I have tried to make other low fat cream of tomato soups and have not been pleased by the results, which is why you didn’t see them. This version of the soup however is excellent, so I knew I had to post the details. Here is what we had last night as part of our dinner.

Easy Veggie: Cream of Tomato Soup – raw cashew version
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 cup red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating so allicin can develop)
¼ cup of water or dry white wine (I suggest pinot grigio)
1/2 cup raw cashews
28 ounces of canned tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon of basil oil for garnish, optional

Directions:

Sauté the red onion and garlic in water or white wine until soft. Place the onions, garlic and any remaining liquid in your blender. Add the canned tomatoes and process until smooth.

If you have a Vitamix you can cook the soup in the blender in a few minutes (which is what I did). Otherwise you can heat the pureed soup in a saucepan on the stove or in your microwave.

I served ours with a drizzle (about ¼ teaspoon for each serving) of basil oil. If you don’t want to use basil oil add a little basil or oregano to the soup while heating.

Nutritional Information (does not include optional ingredients):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 292.4
Calories From Fat (33%) - 97.62

Total Fat - 11.68g
Saturated Fat - 2.03g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 530.56mg
Potassium - 1338.02mg
Total Carbohydrates - 43.79g
Fiber - 9.7g
Sugar - 1.45g
Protein - 11.95g

Comments:

This soup really reminded me of the cream of tomato soup we ate as children. My mother has never been much of a cook so I ate the familiar “canned tomato soup” as a child.

Each serving of this soup contains approximately 2,275IU of vitamin A, 40mg of vitamin C, 170mg of calcium, 7mg of iron, 60mcg of folate, 275mg of phosphorus, 150mg of magnesium, and 8mcg of selenium. This soup is a little higher in fat than many of my recipes. However, since other than a few hempseeds on our salad and flaxseeds in our morning smoothie, our overall daily fat percentage was quite reasonable.

If you are looking for a quick dinner this is a nice soup. I will definitely make it again. Both the hubby and I enjoyed this soup quite a bit.

Unrelated note:

I have been very pleasantly surprised by the initial interest in the Healthy Cooking Challenge. Today I am going to finalize the details so I can get it posted. I am looking forward to seeing what you all come up with. I love to share recipes and can’t wait to see all of yours.

For now I am off do to a little cleaning, exercising and need to catch up on my blog reading. After that I will be back with the post on the Healthy Cooking Challenge details. I hope you are all having a wonderful day.