31 Days to Better Health - Day 6

*Woo Hoo* Today is my favorite day or the week. Hello Friday, I have missed you. Not only is it Friday but we are expecting temperatures in the upper 50’s today. Wow, what a treat for January! I woke up today with a big smile on my face anticipating a wonderful weather day and a gorgeous start to the weekend. I hope your Friday started off this well. :-)

I have been enjoying the recap of what we have done so far because I find it encouraging. Here are the tasks we tackled during the first 5 days:

Day 1 – Defined Success and What is/was Holding Us Back

Day 2 – Determined our Purpose and Looked at Passion

Day 3 – Listed Our Goals for January

Day 4 – Listed the Things We Have Needed to Work on for a While

Day 5 – Looked at Optimism vs. Pessimism and Fear vs. Intuition

How are you feeling about the posts so far? Have my words caused you to look at your life and your reactions to events in different ways? I hope so, I want as many people to learn from my life, and my mistakes as possible. The one benefit of be the ripe old age of 49 is that I have had plenty of time to make mistakes. Additionally you can view those mistakes as things from which you learn and grow or as just mistakes. Doesn’t it make much more sense to see your mistakes as learning opportunities?

Conscious Eating:

Today I want to talk with you about conscious eating. I am going to look at this from a number of different angles. The classic approach is to be aware of what you are eating so that you don’t eat mindlessly and I will discuss that. But first I want us all to look at what we are eating. Remember it is not a cliché that we are what we eat so the composition of our food intake is important.

First let’s look at what we eat. Please take out your notebook and jot down what you had for breakfast, lunch and dinner yesterday. List as many ingredients in your meals as you can. For example if you had a sandwich for lunch list what type and brand of bread, all the fillings, basically as many details as you can. Do this for all your meals for the day.

Second, next to each item on the list I want you to write, animal, produce/natural, or processed. Animal would be meat, fish, poultry, dairy, butter, and honey. Processed would be anything that came from a factory and has more than one item in its ingredient list, this would apply to bread, condiments, lunch meat, frozen meals (yes even Amy’s brand), protein powder, etc. Any item that didn’t fit in one of those categories would most likely be produce. If you think a category that I missed please let me know.

Third, now mark if these items were organic or not. If you don’t know because you ate out assume it wasn’t organic unless is specifically indicated that is was.

Finally, what was the country of origin of the food? Most of us aren’t used to looking for this information so you might not know. But this is important and as you become more interested in nutrition you will find yourself buying food closer and closer to your geographic location for a number of reasons.

Here is my list from Thursday:

breakfast: savory oatmeal
oats – produce – conventional - Ireland
nutritional yeast – produce/processed – ? Bob’s Red Mill - ?
oregano – produce – organic - US
paprika – produce – organic - US
spinach – produce – organic - US
mushrooms – produce – organic - US
raw pumpkin seeds – produce – organic - US

lunch: Ezekiel wrap with veggies and hummus
Ezekiel wrap – processed – organic - US
hummus – organic - ?
spinach – organic - US
broccoli – organic - US
pine nuts - ? - Turkey

dinner: brown rice risotto and salad
short grain brown rice – organic - US
nutritional yeast – produce/processed – ? Bob’s Red Mill - ?
truffles – produce – organic - Italy
shitakes – produce – organic - US
onions – produce – conventional - ?
garlic – produce – organic - US
spinach – produce – organic - US
salsa – produce – organic - US
cucumber – produce – conventional - US
avocado – produce – conventional - US

beverages: tea with citrus and cinnamon
green and white tea – produce – organic - Japan
fresh squeezed grapefruit juice – produce – conventional - US
cinnamon – produce – organic - US

Other than the Ezekiel wrap I did pretty well today. Admittedly I don’t usually eat Ezekiel wraps but I really wanted a sandwich-type thing and I had them in the freezer so I had one and I really enjoyed it I might add. I debated about whether to list nutritional yeast as processed or not, I think that one could go either way which is why I listed it in both categories. But overall I thought my list was clean and I felt as though I made good choices on Thursday.

You may notice that some of the items have a ? listed as my response. I tend to throw out containers that the items come in when purchased which means that I wasn’t certain of the country of origin and therefore left it blank.

I hope you also noticed that many of the items on my list are conventional. While I try to buy organic I will also buy conventional produce. However if I purchased meat or dairy (which I don’t) those I would only buy organic. The reason for this is that animal products contain much higher levels of pesticides and chemicals than produce ever contains. Remember that the toxins that the animal consumes are stored in its fat. Given how much food the animals eat in order to grow one can only imagine the levels of toxins that are stored in the animals. No you can’t trim the fat or skin and remove the toxins. All animals have subcutaneous and intramuscular fat. You can’t trim away the intramuscular fat. I wanted to point that since this was a topic of conversation with a friend of mine recently.

Now review the list you created of the items you ate. What do you notice? Did you know where your food came from, where it was grown, what was in it, and whether it was organic or not? Are you happy with your choices or do you think that you might want to make some changes now that you have looked at your list?

The next part of the assignment is to contemplate how our food came to us. Do you know the farmer or did your food come from a grocery store? Do you have any idea how the workers on the farm are treated? That is one of the benefits of buying locally and/or belonging to a CSA. If you eat meat and animal products do you know how those animals were treated and raised? This is probably something that you don’t want to think about but that is precisely the reason that you should be thinking about it. Many of us avoid thinking about things that are unpleasant because that way we can also avoid taking action.

Now let’s think about the reasons behind why we ate. Was it simply time to eat, like lunchtime? Were you physically hungry each time you ate a meal or was there some emotion driving you to eat? Many people eat to avoid feeling something that is unpleasant. Those feelings could be: anger, loneliness, boredom or sadness as well as many other emotions. If you aren’t sure if you were eating out of hunger or emotion ask yourself if your hunger came on slowly and built over time or it came on quickly. True hunger builds slowly but emotional causes of hunger happen fast. If you are eating due to emotions don’t judge yourself but be aware of it so that you can spot it the next time it happens. It is good to keep in mind that none of us can change what we aren’t aware of. Awareness is the first step to making any change.

Did you stop eating once your hunger was satisfied or did you keep eating until your plate was empty? If you aren’t sure think back to if you left anything behind on your plate. Lots of us grew up being told to clean our plates and we eat everything without ever thinking of leaving anything behind. I will talk about this later in the month and give you some ideas for how to cope with this if it is a problem you struggle with.

The final part of this exercise is to determine if you truly enjoyed your food. Most people in our culture eat too fast. They try to slip in meal time between meetings, errands, taking care of the kids or some other activity. However this means that they aren’t fully present to what they are doing which in this case if fueling their bodies. Have you ever eaten a meal and then not really remembered doing so? If you find yourself eating too fast that is also a sign of mindless eating. To remind ourselves to eat with awareness I have an exercise for you when you eat your next meal. I thought it was over the top before I tried it but once I was finished I had to admit that it was a very pleasant way to eat, though I will admit that I am not sure that I would do it with anyone other than my husband. Here is what you do:

1. Set the table with your favorite dishes and glasses. You might want to add some fresh flowers and a special cloth napkin. I played some very quiet instrumental background music too. If you normally watch TV or read the paper when you eat, don’t. Instead of being distracted concentrate all your attention on the food.

2. Plate your meal as nicely as you can and sit down to dinner.

3. Pay special attention to the food. Observe the following:
a. What does it look like?
b. How does it smell?
c. Is it hot or cold?
d. What is the texture?
e. Does it remind you of any food memories, like something you mother used to prepare for you?

4. Place a bit of food on your fork and bring it to your nose and smell it before you put it into your mouth.

5. Once the food is in your mouth put your utensil down. Notice the following:
a. How does the food feel on your tongue? Roll it around a little before you start to chew.
b. What is the texture of the food between your teeth?
c. Is the food hot, warm or cold?
d. Does it taste like you expected it to based on the smell?
e. Make certain to chew the food well, until it has no substance left before you swallow.
f. How does the food feel as it travels down your throat?

6. Place another bite of food on your utensil and repeat the process.

7. Pay attention while you are eating to whether your hunger has been satisfied or if you are still hungry. Stop when you are satisfied and but the leftovers away.

8. Now reflect on what this experience was like for you. Answer the following questions in your notebook:
a. How did this experience differ from your usual meal time?
b. Was the food more satisfying eating this way or was it frustrating for you?
c. Were you satisfied with less food than usual?
d. Did eating this way cause you to slow down?

I found that his practice made me much more aware of what I was eating. The flavors of the food were much more intense than usual. I also realized that when I ate this way I tended to close my eyes and concentrate on the experience. If you haven’t tried this exercise at least one please do. You may be surprised by the things that you notice. You can do this with an entire meal or just a piece a fruit. It doesn’t matter what you use just take your time and notice everything about the food and your experience with it.

If you want to share what this is experience is like for you I would love to hear it. I was surprised by how much I learned when I did this.

Progress on my goals:

1. Newsletters – spent 60 minutes on this Thursday and the first month is looking good. Soon I will be working on the second newsletter. *woo hoo*

2. Body Bugg – four days in a row wearing my bugg and going strong.

3. Date with Dan – Dan came home early on Thursday and we watched a meditation lesson before my webinar. Not a date in the classic sense of the word but it works for us.

4. Measuring calorie dense food – I am still doing this, and it is annoying me a little less. As a result I am adding more seeds and nuts to my food.

5. Working on my business – I spent 60 minutes focused on my new business which was very productive and made me happy.

Are you making progress on your goals? I continue to review mine each morning after I finish my reading and meditation and it seems to help me to stay focused. If you are having difficulty making progress on your goals try my technique of reviewing yours each morning. Alternately you could write your goals down and post them in prominent places around your house, in your car, on your desk, etc. Maybe you could make your goals your screen saver at work. Another idea would be to set an alarm in your phone to remind you to work on a task at a particular time. Keep trying different ideas until something works for you. If you find something that works for you please share the technique with others to help them be successful too.

Thursday:

Dan had fruity oatmeal with nuts and seeds again because we were out of kale. But since I made my way to the store for kale later in the day I don’t have to tell you what he is having on Friday do I? I love it that my husband enjoys healthy food enough that he requests it. You have no idea how far we have come. Trust me when I say that if we can eat a healthful diet anyone can do it. Less than 10 years ago I would have told you that we weren’t capable of being this healthy. It is so good to have exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds.

My breakfast was a bowl of savory oatmeal once Dan was out the door to work. Unlike my husband I feel no particular need to have something sweet in the morning, or really any time of the day. I was never the type of person who craved sweets. However Dan was a huge sweets person and he says that after a couple of months of not eating them his cravings literally disappeared. I ask him about this all the time because I am looking for insight to share with those of you who are battling the dessert demons. According to Dan understanding the impact of eating the sweets made it much easier for him to avoid them initially. He went on to say that after a while the cravings disappeared and then he was fine. He thinks that smoothies, fruity oatmeal and strawberry and banana soft serve also helped him to get over his desire for sweets. I hope those tips help you.

Back to the food, my savory oatmeal yesterday had nutritional yeast, cumin, paprika, no-salt seasoning, garlic, fresh spinach, mushrooms and a little salsa. I finished it with a teaspoon of raw pumpkin seeds. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. ;-)

Lunch was one of my favorite comfort foods. I heated an Ezekiel wrap over the grate of my stove until it was hot and a little crispy. Then I smeared it with hummus, and topped it with spinach, broccoli and pine nuts. *yum*

Dinner was a truffled short grain brown rice risotto with shitakes. I added a little nutritional yeast for umami and topped the risotto with fresh parsley and walnuts.

To accompany the risotto we had a simple salad of shredded romaine, cucumber, avocado, salsa and no-salt seasoning.

After dinner I had a webinar while Dan relaxed with his little fur child. They were curled up in their favorite chair doing Sudoku. BTW I picked up a few tid-bits during this webinar that I am going to research and experiment with on my own. If they work for me I will share them with you soon.

Happy thoughts:

• It was wonderful to have the weather warm up so much today. It was in the upper 50s here so it was completely comfortable outside in a T-shirt when I walked to the store. This is a wonderful treat for us in January. Tomorrow we may reach 60 which I think will mean and boat relaxing time. *woo hoo*

• I got carried away again with the mindful meditation DVDs from The Great Courses. I am have finished watching 9 of the 12 hours in a just a few days. When I ordered this I knew I would enjoy the subject matter but had no idea how much. I can already tell you that I will be watching this over and over. The level of detail that the professor covers is fabulous. I have gained a lot of insight about myself and expect this to continue with multiple viewings at least for a while. I will review this properly once we are in February and I have more time. Additionally I now feel like I need to learn more about Buddhism which is a big step for a girl who went to a Jesuit college (Loyola).

• I am happy that I am learning to accept my perfectionism and disregard it. Earlier today I felt like I should turn off the mindfulness meditation DVDs and attend to my to-do list. However I recognized this as my drive to be perfect and consciously disregarded getting to my to-do list. This is a huge step for me and I was proud of myself for making the decision to disregard what I “knew I should be doing”.

• Dan called to tell me that carpenter repaired the teak door to the V-berth and delivered it to his office today. *nice* I can’t wait to get that reinstalled on the boat. Now we need to schedule a time to meet the carpenter at the boat so he can look at the woodwork and give us a bid on replacing some of the teak that is weather damaged in the galley.

• I am really looking forward to a little boat time tomorrow. With weather in the 60s it should be a wonderful day to sit in the cockpit, drink tea, talk to the neighbors and just kick back with our feet up. There really is nothing like relaxing on the boat.

• I love Fridays as you know by now. Needless to say I am very happy that today is Friday and that means extra time with my hubby. *woo hoo*

Signing Out:

Dan is on his way home from work so that is my cue to finish up this post. I was so involved in my mindfulness meditation DVDs that I haven’t even started to think about dinner. Nothing like planning on my part huh? ;-)

For those of you who want to know what is coming up for tomorrow that post will be an extension of conscious eating. Specifically the post will be about the Japanese concept of hara hachi bu.

I hope you had a wonderful week and have some fun planned for your weekend. Talk with you again tomorrow.

Italian Rice and Why I Blog

Yesterday for some reason I was busy all day long, not that I can remember doing what mind you. Sometimes life just gets away from me and I busy all day doing who knows what. Do you ever had days like that?

When Dan texted me and said that he was going to be home earlier than normal I knew that I needed to scramble to make something for dinner. Fortunately Sofia had sent me a message asking what I was making for dinner and of course I hadn’t thought about it. She mentioned that she was making risotto and apparently rice was stuck in my head. At first I was going to make Mexican rice and then I thought of paella. In the end I made what can is best described as Italian paella with raw veggies. Here is what I did:

Italian Rice
8 good sized servings – but will depend on how many raw veggies you add to the dish

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups short grain brown rice
2 cups homemade canned diced tomatoes (no salt) or 14. 5 ounce can
2 ½ cups water
10 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large red onion, peeled and finely diced
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine the rice, tomatoes, water, garlic, onion and Italian seasoning and cook until all the water has been absorbed. Allow the rice to stand for 10 minutes (covered) so that it can finish steaming. Fluff the rice with a fork.

Now add any thinly sliced veggies that you want to add (I added raw shaved carrot, raw shaved zucchini, and marinated mushrooms). Artichoke quarters or shaved fennel would also be good in this. You could also add a few thinly olives or capers if you choose. This would also be a good place for freshly minced herbs like parsley, oregano, or thyme. You could finish this with pine nuts or walnut parmesan; either would be good to finish this dish.

I added the raw veggies at the end for a few reasons. First I wanted the preserve some of the heat soluble vitamins in the veggies and adding them after cooking was a good way to do that. Also I like the textural contrast of raw and cooked foods. Finally I was hoping that this would also be good cold as a leftover, making it good boat food.  :-)

Why I blog:

I had to share this comment  with you because it brought tears to my eyes. This is why I spend the time that I do blogging for moments when I get to read things like this:

I love your blog! I read it every day and there is always something new to inspire me. I am on a long journey of healing from chronic illness and the conventional treatments that were supposed to help me, but instead left me worse off. I used to eat the Standard American Diet and it shows. Now, thanks to your blog I'm a vegan and I can't believe I filled myself with poison for most of my life. Thanks for all you do.

I cannot imagine a comment that would have touched me more than this one. Since this came through Survey Monkey I have no idea who wrote it. I apologize for not getting your permission before posting it here but I had no idea how to get in touch with you. If you would like to chat please send me an email at veganepicurean@gmail.com. I would love to hear what about my blog inspired you to change your lifestyle. Also I would love to hear about your journey and to be available to assist you any way that I can. Thank you again for such a lovely comment. I was humbled by your comment and am still in shock.

Happy thoughts:

After reading that comment above as you can imagine I am in a fantastic mood. How could I be anything but happy after reading that?

• The boys (Massimo and Nicco) were wrestling in the bed last night. Since this is the first time that I have seen them do this in weeks I was thrilled. It is wonderful to have my fur children back to normal. If I had to choose between sleep and happy, healthy fur babies the sleep has to go. However I may change my mind if they start waking me up every night. We all want what we don’t have afterall. ;-)

• Thank you to everyone who has answered the survey so far. If you haven’t taken a look yet please consider doing so. I would love to know what you think about what you like about the blog and what you would like to see more of. It will help me to know what topics to focus on when I am writing. Thanks again!

• I finally made time to get the online book club started and I am very glad that I did. With all the activities going on around here I should have done this sooner but didn’t have time. I am looking for to this, particularly the first book. It should be a lot of fun. If you have any desire to read “The China Study” please consider joining us. Since I finished the e-Cornell certificate program on plant based nutrition last year I think this first book should be a great book for me to moderate. *fingers crossed*

• The weather was glorious on Friday so Dan decided that we should go out to dinner and I wasn’t going to argue with that. It seems like weeks since we saw everyone at the restaurant though I am sure that is mostly in my head. We had a wonderful dinner outside on the patio and loved catching up with everyone. I think everyone who works at the restaurant is looking forward to the boat arriving as much as we are. I can’t wait to teach them all how to sail. Clearly I am going to be busy while Dan is at work. Poor Dan I hope he gets to take a little time off to enjoy the boat once she arrives.

• I am also looking forward to dinner with Louis this weekend. It is too bad Louis doesn’t live around the corner like he used it. I was surprised when he mentioned that he has been in Delaware for 7 years already. Where did that time go? Oh well, I am just happy that we still talk every few days and see each other as frequently as we do.  You know someone is a good friend when distance isn't a problem in your relationship.

Signing out:

It is getting late here and it is time for me to wind down. It has been a long week but it definitely ended on a high note. Who wouldn’t like to spend Friday evening relaxing on the patio and dining al fresco surrounded by people they like?

Talk to you again soon. I hope you have something fun planned for the weekend.

New Year’s Day, Black-Eyed Pea Caviar and Pecan Dirty Rice

Since we were up later than usual on New Year’s Eve (NYE) we opted to sleep in on New Year’s Day (NYD). It is going to be tough to be back to our 5 am wake up schedule for the gym.

This morning we decided to have leftover miso veggie soup with okara for breakfast. While that sounds weird to some miso soup is a traditional Japanese breakfast. If you like savory food in the morning it makes a good breakfast. To increase Dan’s calories he also had the leftover Asian green beans and mushrooms over quinoa. As you can see I make great use of my intentional leftovers. While I love to cook I also like having readymade “fast” food.

My father is from the south and black eyed peas are traditionally served on NYD at our house. I wasn’t really in the mood for Hoppin’ John so I decided to make a little black-eyed pea caviar. I have seen this referred to as both Mississippi and Texas caviar. Do any of you know which name is more commonly used? Here is how I made the black eyed pea caviar:

Mississippi/Texas Caviar
serves 8 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

1 cup dried black eyed peas, sorted, rinsed and cooked until tender
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced or grated on a microplane
1 teaspoon hot crushed peppers (wet hots)
¼ teaspoon dried dill weed
1 little pinch of stevia to round out the flavor but not enough to make it sweet
½ red or orange pepper, very finely diced
2 tablespoons red onion, very finely diced
½ cup parsley, fined minced

Directions:

Cook the black eyed peas until tender and place them in a colander to drain.

Whisk together the Dijon, wine vinegar, garlic, wet hots, dill and tiny amount of stevia to round out the flavor. Combine the dressing with the still warm/hot black eyed peas. The hot peas will more effectively soak up the dressing. Now refrigerate the beans until they are cold.

Once the beans are thoroughly chilled add the veggies and refrigerate until ready to serve.

I sliced cucumber thickly and used a melon baller to hollow out the inside so they would hold more of the beans.

Nutritional stats (for 1/8th of the recipe doesn’t include the cucumbers):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 32.43
Calories From Fat (7%) - 2.14

Total Fat - 0.26g
Saturated Fat - 0.04g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 29.82mg
Potassium - 106.95mg
Total Carbohydrates - 5.85g
Fiber - 1.82g
Sugar - 1.14g
Protein - 2.01g

Comments:

The beans had a nice flavor but weren’t too spicy. I was cooking with my mother in mind. We had the leftover beans on top of a green salad on Sunday and that worked well too. I may try other beans flavored similarly for on top of salad in the future.

Next I had to make something for dinner. Like always I had not planned a thing. I looked through “The Artful Vegan” for ideas and say they had a dirty rice with pecans. That dish became my inspiration. Here is what I did”

Pecan Dirty Brown Rice
Inspired by “The Artful Vegan”
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup brown basmati rice
1 3/4 cups water
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
4 whole allspice berries
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup pecans, finely chopped

Directions:

This is one of those really simple recipes. Combine everything in a heavy pot with a lid and cook as though it was plain brown rice. When it is finished (time will depend on the pan you used and the heat level) allow it to stand covered for 10 minutes so the rice will finish steaming then fluff with a fork.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 275.51
Calories From Fat (35%) - 96.71

Total Fat - 11.18g
Saturated Fat - 1.12g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 6.53mg
Potassium - 164.12mg
Total Carbohydrates - 37.99g
Fiber - 3.08g
Sugar - 0.94g
Protein - 4.96g

Comments:

I was surprised by how well this rice dish turned out. It is higher in calories than most of my grain dishes but it also had more oomph if you know what I mean. Even Dan who isn’t the biggest fan of rice said this was really good. I would highly recommend this recipe if you are looking for a way to add something to your boring rice.

As you know we are eating more mushrooms these days for the immune boosting effects. I thought a spicy and lemony mushroom topping would be good on the dirty rice. Here is what I did:

Spicy and Lemony Mushrooms
Serves 2

Ingredients:

¾ pound crimini mushrooms, sliced into ¼ inch pieces
¼ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, finely minced or finely grated on a microplane
1 lemon, zested and juiced
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

This is another easy recipe. Combine everything in a heavy pan with a lid. I use Le Creuset. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes and then turn off the pan allowing the mushrooms to cool slightly before serving.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 59.68
Calories From Fat (3%) - 1.8

Total Fat - 0.21g
Saturated Fat - 0.03g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 11.29mg
Potassium - 816.96mg
Total Carbohydrates - 11.14g
Fiber - 1.58g
Sugar - 3.79g
Protein - 4.62g

Comments:

I am a huge fan of lemon so I loved these. If you don’t love lemon you may want to use half the amount of lemon juice. On their own (without the rice) the lemon flavor may has been too assertive but I thought it was perfect with the rice.

I sliced baby spinach and put that on the base of the plate topped the spinach with the hot rice and ‘shrooms. The spinach was added for both color on the plate and nutrition. It was a nice dish that reminded me of the south.

After dinner while I worked on my New Year’s Eve post Dan decided to start watching a movie. He picked “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. It was too violent for my taste though the mystery angle was good.

As usual we stayed up far too late. The gym reopens Monday morning at 6am which means we need to get up at 5. Can’t say I am looking forward to shifting our schedule by that much this evening. I have my fingers crossed that we can do it. ;-)

Happy Thoughts:

Saturday was the perfect day at our house after two days of running around. Here are my happy thoughts:

• I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day in running pants, a T-shirt and slippers with my hair in a pony tail and no makeup. After two days of running around a low key day was what I needed to feel recharged. Dan enjoyed relaxing too. He watched some old Twilight Zone episodes and other sci fi things and spent a lot of the day cuddling with Binky.

• We had a chance to sample all our new teas which were all fabulous. “The Kids” bought us more tea from teavana and a new tea pot among other things. They know us too well.  :-)  We both loved the Youthberry tea (which is white) with acai. That may become a new obsession. Thank you guys!

• My parents eat a taco salad no chips without complaint. Who are these people? I expected my mother to ask for chips at the very least. Who knows maybe they are growing accustomed to my food. Nah! LOL

• Both Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed the pecan dirty rice topped with mushrooms for dinner. That rice will be showing up again. It has huge flavor and the pecans do a great job of bringing the “dirty” aspect to the dish.

• I had another day without knee pain for which I am thoroughly grateful. My knee was bothering me so much this time I thought I was going to have to learn to live with knee pain. I feel a little like a dodged a bullet so I am going to be much more careful now.  Also I picked up a knee brace Sunday evening while we were at Wegman's.  I am hoping that helps.

• We are both grateful to have the gym reopening tomorrow. I have missed getting up early getting my exercise out of the way and enjoying the sunrise. It will be nice to get back to that Monday morning.

• I saw the most glorious sunset tonight on the way to Wegman’s. If I don’t forget I will share it with you in the post tomorrow.  You can see a thumbnail of it in the Twitpics on the left.

Signing out:

I need to sign out and head to bed soon or there is no way I will be up at 5am tomorrow for the gym. I hope to have time tomorrow afternoon to get caught up replying to all your comments over the last few days and reading and commenting on the blogs I follow. It is amazing how far behind I can get in 4 days. *rolls eyes*

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a wonderful start to the New Year. Talk to you again tomorrow.

Tuesday a Lentil Loaf Experiment and Xmas Menu

I must not slept have well Monday night because when the alarm went off at 5 I turned it off then crawled back into bed and feel fast asleep. Typically I turn the alarm off and get back in bed but get up 5 – 10 minutes later after I have started waking up. That plan didn’t work for me this Tuesday morning. Dan woke up after 7 and got me up. So much for our morning trip to the gym. *rolls eyes* I get annoyed with myself when I oversleep. However being realistic we both must have needed the rest or we would have woken up sooner rather than later. I had to remind myself that getting adequate rest is just as important as a healthy diet and exercise.

I made our usual green smoothies this morning for breakfast (frozen banana, kale, walnuts, ground flaxseeds, cinnamon, powdered ginger, and stevia to taste). Dan had his smoothie to go and I had mine at home.

I spent the morning exercising, catching up on my email and cleaning and organizing the kitchen.

For my mid morning snack I had my usual orange and two Brazil nuts (for selenium).

Lunch was another snack this time cucumber slices with salsa and white bean cheeze. I used the cucumbers as a stand in for crackers and spread the cheeze on top and finished with salsa.

My afternoon snack was a banana and reduced fat peanut butter.

Dinner was a lentil loaf, and spinach salad with sweet potato and grapes topped with a quick dressing of Dijon, red wine vinegar and stevia. The lentil loaf was a recipe I found here. I decided to make this because our friends that went to “Forks Over Knives” with us borrowed my book from Dr. Esselstyn and made the loaf over the weekend and liked it. I thought I should give it a try and looked for the recipe on line. The flavor was good but the loaf would not come out of the pan in one piece or even in two pieces. It actually didn’t stick together at all. I have tried so many lentil loaf recipes and they almost always do this. Clearly I need to make one up myself. Oh well at least it tasted good. I plan to use the leftovers in collard wraps to make “sandwiches”.

Black Rice:

My friend Sheila sent me a link to this article about black rice. If you haven’t tried black (or forbidden) rice I like it. I have seen the Lotus brand at Whole Foods and Wegman’s. However check your local Asian market as I have purchased a large (3 lb I think) bag of organic black rice there for much less.

Black rice, which is more purple hued when cooked, also contains anthocyanins like other purple/blue foods. If you are having difficulty consuming those every day maybe black rice would be good for you.

Removing Tea Stains from your Ceramics:

As you all know we drink a lot of tea in this house usually white or green. All that tea means ugly stains in my favorite mugs. Tuesday I decided to try something unorthodox to remove them since making a paste of baking soda didn’t work. Remember I mentioned buying denture tablets to clean my juicer? I thought they are supposed to remove stains from false teeth they should remove stains from my ceramics. The verdict? Much to my surprise it worked beautifully. The mugs are not sparkling white but in one application that are “almost” back to new. I added warm water from the tap and one tablet to each mug and allowed them to sit undisturbed for about 6 hours. I put them in a cabinet with a closed door to keep the cats out of them.

Christmas Menu:

I have finally had a little time to think about our Christmas menu. It is not finalized yet although I need to get that done today or tomorrow since I am running out of time. However at the moment here is what I am thinking of making, subject to change of course:

• lasagna (Italians love lasagna and it shows up for many national holidays)
• acorn squash stuffed with fruit (I am thinking apples, dried fruit and nuts or mostarda)
• cauliflower and millet mashed potatoes (maybe with a few white beans this time)
• sauerkraut with apples and onions
• spicy cranberry relish
• green salad possibly with roasted vegetables
• marinated veggie tray
• cranberry orange granita

The funny thing is when I looked at this typed out my thought was it wasn’t enough veggies. However when I looked again I realized that was ridiculous since it is nothing but veggies and fruit with a little tofu and pasta.

What are you making for the Christmas or are you going to be a guest and not a cook? Will your meal be 100% vegan or are you also serving omnivores?

Happy thoughts:

Tuesday was a little stressful but that was completely self-induced. I probably should stay focused on Christmas rather than adding other things to my to do list now. ;-) Here are my happy thoughts today:

• I am looking forward to another holiday season with Dan. We always have such wonderful holidays together. I am very thankful to be married to my best friend and to know how much I am loved.

• I am very thankful for my friend Louis. He has always been there when I needed him frequently before I even asked him for help. Thank you for being calm and putting things into perspective when I get too emotional. There have been many times you were the only reason I remained “somewhat” calm. Hugs!

• It is wonderful to know that I am ending 2010 more healthy than it started. I love being able to see positive change in my life year to year.

• My knee was acting up a bit again yesterday and this morning so today my cardio was on the exercise bike at home. I am thankful to have an option for elevating my heart rate at home that isn’t hard on my knee.

• I made good progress yesterday on my to do list and hope to get more crossed off today. I am thankful to have time to do the things that need to be done. Life isn’t perfect and I am always behind schedule lately it seems but it could always be worse. At least I have time to do things that many have to cram into their weekend.

• Luca Belle (our female feline) seems to be responding well to the prednisone that was prescribed for her asthma. We worry about our little fur babies when they aren’t 100%. I am very thankful to have a wonderful carrying veterinarian that treats my animals as though they are his own. I have known our vet longer than I have known Dan and can’t imagine anyone else taking care of my babies.

• It is very exciting that it still looks like we will have snow falling on Christmas this year. I am looking forward to my first White Christmas in probably 30 years. I love to sip hot chocolate and watch the snow fall. Seriously I am just a big kid.

Signing out:

I have many things on my to do list that I need to take care of today. Christmas is always a little hectic around here but it is worth it in the end.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week and are looking forward to the holiday. Talk to you again tomorrow.

Vegan Mofo 22.1: Sunday Update and Lemon Mustard Rosemary Roasted Veggies

Sunday morning started bright and early today for the farmers’ market. In fact we actually set the alarms for 5:45 am to get up a bit earlier in prep for changing our sleep schedule to get to the gym early in the morning. Now we just need to get into bed early every night. Only time will tell if that really happens. ;-)

This is a picture I took from the car (Dan was driving) to give you a sense of the trip to the market. The market itself is off the left exit (directly down the ramp ahead). The market is set up under this expressway.

Having the farmers’ market under the expressway protects people from the weather but makes it dark which means it is hard to take pictures. I wanted to give you a sense of the place. There are about 75 vendors the picture above was taken outsdie the shortest side (the area is a long thin rectangle) of the market.  The tents you see are vendors set up outside the market.

We took our time getting to the market since we were up earlier than usual. It turned out that wasn’t the best plan since we forgot the farmers had warned up to get there early since the market before Thanksgiving was always more crowded. Wow, they were not kidding. We had a little difficulty getting a parking place at 6:30 and the market doesn’t officially open until 7am. Some people were leaving with food when we arrived.

When we arrived at the market Rudy (Cat’s Paw Organic) wasn’t there at all so we started with our CSA (Calvert Farm). Not long after we started selecting produce from the CSA Rudy pulled in. Pam (from Calvert Farm) was kind enough to let us keep our bags there while we ran over to help Rudy unload. Since Rudy sells a lot of baked goods Thanksgiving is a bigger day than normal for him and he was late getting the truck packed. Between Rudy, Dan, the two ladies that help him and me we had the truck unloaded in less than 5 minutes. As one of you pointed out before that does bring new meaning to community supported agriculture. I loved that line so I had to use it. LOL

We headed back to our CSA to finish picking out our items there before the “good stuff” was gone. The market was definitely packed this morning. But you know us we came home with tons of good stuff. Our haul this morning included: kale, watercress, portabella caps to stuff, parsnips, beets, apple cider, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cilantro, parsley, celery, garlic, broccoli rabe, green onions, green beans, spicy greens, and baby spinach. Like usual we were able to fill five (5) reusable grocery bags with produce. I am really going to miss the farmers’ market when it closes on Dec 19th. *sigh*

Lunch with my folks was a simple miso soup with diced carrot, and julienned baby spinach to start.

The lunch entrée was green beans, carrots, onion, garlic, ginger and liquid aminos over brown rice and topped with walnuts and hot pepper flakes (for 3 out of 4 of us).

Since I had time I roasted a few veggies to include with lunch on Monday. This is a very simple recipe but it tastes great and is easy so I thought some of you would be interested. Here is what I did:

Lemon Mustard Rosemary Roasted Veggies
Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 lemon, zested and juiced
approximately 12 inches fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and minced (about 1 tablespoon minced)
black pepper to taste
1 head cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
1 quart (4 cups) Brussels sprouts, bases trimmed and cut in half

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees convection. Line two half sheet pans with parchment, easy release aluminum foil or silpat.

Combine the Dijon, lemon zest, lemon juice, rosemary and black pepper in a big bowl and whisk. Add the cauliflower and toss to coat. Place a single layer of cauliflower on one of the sheet pans.

Place the Brussels sprouts in the bowl and toss to coat with the dressing. Place the Brussels sprouts on a single layer on the second sheet pan. Roast the veggies until they are the texture you desire. I roasted mine for 30 minutes and they were lightly browned and tender crisp.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 140.88
Calories From Fat (6%) - 8.29

Total Fat - 1g
Saturated Fat - 0.14g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 226.86mg
Potassium - 1493.85mg
Total Carbohydrates - 29.58g
Fiber - 13.07g
Sugar - 11.2g
Protein - 10.73g

Comments:

These are good tossed with greens or cold cooked grains. Our favorite way to eat them is on salad but there are versatile. We like them hot out of the oven, warm or cold. Roasted veggies are one of my favorite intentional leftovers due to their flexibility.

Monday:

The alarm was set for 5:30 this morning and we actually got up then without using the snooze button. Will miracles never cease? We were at the gym by 6:06 so we were almost on schedule. The gym was fairly empty but the pool was filled with the swim team. We decided it was best to get in the habit of getting up and going to the gym and start out easy. We did an hour of cardio. There was a little warm up on the padded track (nice), and then we grabbed two elliptical machines. I used the treadmill on an incline while Dan used the rowing machine. It was fabulous to get my blood pumping so early in the morning. I plan to do my strength training at home for a while since the idea is an hour at the gym in the morning before Dan goes to work.

I took a few pictures as we left the gym. This is the view as you come out the door. Loyola really has a lovely campus.  As you can see it was foggy this morning.  I will take more pictures of the gym in the coming weeks to share.

This is a picture of the front of the gym as you come up from the parking lot. We are very lucky to have such a nice gym in the neighborhood and at a very reasonable price.

Here is the best part of the trip to the gym this morning, other than those in the pool most of the people in the gym were my age or older. I have to admit that was a relief. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of working out with people 1/3 my age.  It was nice to have some people my own age around. ;-)

Happy Thoughts:

I had a great weekend but it was really busy. Here are the things I am thankful for this morning:

• I enjoyed being around so many people that wanted to learn about health at the conference on Saturday.

• We had a lovely dinner out on Saturday and got a chance to see our sweet Aimee which we always enjoy.

• The farmers’ market was a blast and I picked up almost everything I need for Thanksgiving.

• My father is completely on board with a vegan Thanksgiving. Who is this man and what did he do with my father? LOL

• Our first morning at the gym was great. I was able to knock out an hour of cardio before I would have normally been awake. I loved that, but I am not right. Dan said the gym wasn’t bad, which I thought was a great sign. I was thrilled when he suggested joining the gym. It makes me happy that he has started exercising.

• It is almost time to decorate for Christmas. That is my favorite thing to do. I start decorating the day after Thanksgiving while most people are shopping. I love Christmas decorations, the little white lights and shiny baubles. There is nothing like turning out the lights (except the decorations) and sipping hot chocolate and listening to music. Can you tell how much I love Christmas? LOL

Signing out:

I need to run to the store for bananas to get into the freezer (for smoothies and soft serve). Then I have to get my strength training in and start my day. I will be back later with at least one recipe (maybe two) that I made last week that I haven’t had time to post yet. I also have a lot of blog reading to catch up on. It has been a busy week and I am way behind schedule. Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday. Dan and I had a good day but it was busy.

Talk to you all again later today. I hope everyone has a great Monday.

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 3.2: Slow Cooked Tempeh, Roasted Red Pepper and Chanterelles over Brown Rice

Much to my surprise I actually ended up using tempeh in our dinner tonight as I mentioned in the earlier post. This was a bit of shock since I typically can’t plan our meals more than a few minutes ahead. Since the weather has turned cool here I wanted something for dinner that was comfort food. This dish was perfect for a cool evening. Here is what I made:

Slow Cooked Tempeh, Roasted Red Pepper and Chanterelles over Brown Rice
Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 medium or 1 large yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced (will be approximately 2 cups)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 cups fresh or 28 ounces canned peeled diced tomatoes
4 roasted red peppers, cut into strips
12 ounces beer (or you can substitute white wine, veg stock or water)
2 tablespoon paprika
1 ½ teaspoon dill weed (dried)
1 teaspoon caraway seed
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 ounces tempeh, cut into small cubes (I used organic three grain with millet, brown rice and barley)
½ ounce dried chanterelle mushrooms, soaked in 3 cups of water and drained (soaking liquid reserved to add to braising liquid)
½ cup raw cashews
¼ cup dry oatmeal
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, or to taste
2 stalks fresh dill (about 2 tablespoons finely diced)
1 ½ cups brown basmati rice
3 cups water

Directions:

Combine the onions, garlic, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, beer, paprika, dill, caraway, dry mustard, black pepper, tempeh, chanterelles, and the strained soaking liquid from the chanterelles and simmer for at least 30 minutes though longer is fine.

While the veggies and tempeh are simmering cook the brown rice.

When you are almost ready to serve place the raw cashews in your blender with the dry oatmeal. Using a ladle remove at least 2 cups of liquid from the simmering pot and add that to the blender. Process the cashews and oats until smooth. I used a Vitamix for this and it processes the nuts and oats quickly. Pour the cashew and oat mixture into the simmering pot and stir to combine.

Now it is time to taste the mixture and see if you think it needs the red wine vinegar to bring a little spark to the flavor. I added a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. The vinegar does similar things that salt would do to a dish but without the deleterious health impact.

Nutritional Information (for 1/6th of the recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories 387.44
Calories From Fat (21%) - 81.28

Total Fat - 9.71g
Saturated Fat - 1.86g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 27.75mg
Potassium - 824.61mg
Total Carbohydrates - 60.31g
Fiber - 6.03g
Sugar - 6.62g
Protein - 15.32g

Comments:

This dish screams comfort food to me. It tastes much richer than it actually is. The flavor is mild yet complex. The sauce is creamy without being fatty. I think this is the perfect cold weather dish. If you are worried about this tasting like beer it doesn’t. The beer gives the dish a very mild background flavor that my husband was unable to detect what it was. Speaking of beer since some portion of the alcohol evaporated during cooking the calorie count is overstated by that.

Signing out:

We need to get our rest tonight since Binky (aka Nicco) is going to the vet early tomorrow to have his dental work and Dan is flying to Norfolk for the day. Hopefully taking the dry cat food up tonight doesn’t result in an insurrection this evening. Our children tend to get very vocal when their food bowl is low so I can’t imagine what they will do with it missing. Wish up luck getting some rest this evening.

I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday. Talk to you all tomorrow.

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.

Smokey Black-Eyed Peas and Mushrooms over Green Rice ... a winner!

What a nice morning it was today. It was 65 and sunny this morning with projected highs in the mid to upper 70’s. It is extremely hard to believe it is the end of October. What a nice respite before the cold winter sets in. Both Dan and I are hoping we don’t get much snow this year. I don’t think anyone in the Mid-Atlantic wants a repeat of last winter.

For breakfast this morning Dan wanted to have his favorite oatmeal with mixed berries and nuts. For his lunch and dinner I packed the leftover baked tofu and Asian veggies with quinoa. I also packed sliced almonds for him to add to the veggies for crunch and calories. This means I am out of intentional leftovers again which means there will be more cooking today. I am thinking I may do something with cabbage but that could change a dozen times before I actually start cooking. Food planning is not something that happens here. ;-)

For my breakfast I had another version of savory oats and this one might be my favorite so far. Here is what I did: ½ cup of oats and 1 cup of water cooked half way; add 2 cups of baby spinach roughly chopped and cook until the spinach is lightly wilted; now top with 2 tablespoons nutrition yeast, 2 tablespoons of salsa, 1 teaspoon raw sunflower seeds and 1 tablespoon dehydrated leeks. Finish with freshly ground black pepper and no salt seasoning. Stir and enjoy. Here is the nutrition:

Calories - 251.39
Calories From Fat (13%) - 32.67

Total Fat - 2.83g
Saturated Fat - 0.39g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 248.5mg
Potassium - 655.97mg
Total Carbohydrates - 36.22g
Fiber - 7.11g
Sugar - 2.48g
Protein - 7.56g

Additionally this contains: 5,700IU of vitamin A, 95mg of calcium, 135mcg of folate, 290mcg of vitamin K, 200mg of phosphorus, 110mg of magnesium, and 20mcg of selenium. Fairly impressive nutrition for so few calories I think.

Thanks for the fresh spinach suggestion Courtney this is really good. :-)

Electronic Vision Boards:

Since Laura Jill mentioned her last vision board was electronic I had to see if they could be done without buying special software. For those of you that have Photoshop here is a tutorial. I also think you can do the same thing with Word but I haven’t tried that yet.

Glorious Day:

It was so nice outside I had to spend some time in the yard today. I took a few pictures that I thought you might like. It is very surprising to me that so many things are still blooming.

But first look at this fuzzy little creature I found on the sidewalk. Isn’t he/she adorable? I wanted to bring it in but knew the cats would terrorize it to death even if I could figure out how to keep it alive so I left it outside. If anyone knows exactly what this is and will become I would love to know. It is mostly black (or a very dark brown) with deep red stripes.

Oddly my rosemary bush is sending up little flowers.

Next I noticed that my lavender had some sporadic blooms.

Here is the wild clematis I have growing on my garden arch reaching for the sky.

I thought we needed a little color so here are the dahlias.

I hope you enjoyed the end of the blooms this year. Soon I fear I will be sharing snow pictures like last winter.

I wasn’t terribly hungry today so I had two dried peach halves (no sugar added) with 2 Brazil nuts (for the selenium) at mid-day.

After my snack I did a few things at home and decided to walk to the grocery store. We were out of bananas again and it is nice walk to the store so I enjoy going especially in this weather. It was so nice outside I was able to wear sandals, yoga pants and T-shirt and be perfectly comfortable. While I was at the Rotunda I stopped at the drug store and then went to grocery store. The fresh fennel looked great today as did the oranges which meant I will be making my favorite Sicilian salad soon.

Once back from the store I did a few things around the house, talked on the phone too long and listened to some jazz. I was a relaxing day and really needed one of those.

Intentional Leftovers:

Since Dan took all the leftover baked tofu and Asian veggies for lunch today I needed to make more intentional leftovers. As I stood in the pantry looking the bean inventory I realized we haven’t had black-eyed peas in a while. Like usual while the beans were soaking and cooking I had no idea what I was going to do with them. Nothing like planning right? When I needed to flavor the beans I thought maybe Hoppin' John would be good but I had to change it which is when I added tomato and the changed the rice from being included in the bean pot to a separate green rice side dish. I think this turned out really well. Here is what I did:

Smoky Black Eyed Peas and Mushrooms over Green Rice
Serves 6

Bean Ingredients:

2 cups dried black eyed peas, picked through rinsed and soaked
water to cover the beans by an inch
10 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
½ red onion, peeled and finely minced
2 cups peeled, diced tomatoes
1 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced (fresh or dried will work I used fresh shitake caps don’t forget to save the stems in the freezer for stock)
2 tablespoons no salt seasoning
½ teaspoon cumin
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ tablespoon’ish cornstarch to thicken bean “gravy”, if necessary
dash of liquid smoke, to taste (or you can substitute smoked paprika this is to mimic the smokiness of bacon)

Green Rice Ingredients:

1 cup brown basmati rice
2 cups water
10 ounces frozen spinach, thoroughly drained, finely minced and heated so it won’t cool off the rice
1 lime, zested and juiced
½ cup cilantro, minced

Directions:

Cook the beans until they are tender. Then add the remaining ingredients (except the cornstarch) and simmer uncovered to evaporate the excess liquid for at least 30 minutes. Use as much cornstarch as is necessary to tighten up the bean liquid.

Start the brown rice just before the beans are tender so that both the rice and beans are ready at the same time. Cook the rice and water until the water has been absorbed. The time will be different depending on the construction of the pot you are using. I have found that used an enameled cast iron pan means the brown rice will cook in 30 – 35 minutes so that is what I use. When the rice is cooked add in the spinach, lime zest, lime juice and cilantro and combine the ingredients by fluffing the rice with a fork. If you use a spoon you will mash the rice. I always use a fork.

To serve top the green rice with the smoky beans or serve them side by side. If desired you can make a fresh salsa to go on top the beans. I would probably opt for diced avocado, cucumber, radish, cilantro and lime juice but anything would work. The point of the fresh salsa it so add temperature and textural contrast as well as acidity from the vinegar.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 252.72
Calories From Fat (6%) - 15.83

Total Fat - 1.88g
Saturated Fat - 0.33g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 59.47mg
Potassium - 748.95mg
Total Carbohydrates - 49.96g
Fiber-  9.8g
Sugar - 5.85g
Protein - 11.24g

Comments:

If you like Hoppin’ John I think you will like this more flavorful version of rice and black-eyed peas. Sometimes beans and rice can be a little bland and boring but that is not the case with these. I love the brightness the green rice adds to the dish. If you want to take it to the next level (and show off) top it with a fresh acidic salsa like I mentioned above. Normally I would have been I was not in the mood this evening for whatever reason.

This dish turned out really well. I am going to have a difficult time making rice any other way now that I have made it this way. I would describe this as a party in your mouth. It is amazing how much flavor this has considering the is no added fat or sodium. Both Dan and I think this is one of the better dishes I have made in the last couple of weeks. It is definitely a very flavorful legume and rice dish. *pats self on back* ;-)

PSA levels:

On a side note I want to share the impact of eating like we do on the PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) level. Dan’s level was low 6 months ago coming in at 1.0 (below 4.0 is normal) and has now declined to 0.7. Let’s hear it for a healthy diet! I wanted to share this in case any of you have a husband with a PSA level that is increasing. Over last six month we have tried to make our diet healthier and it seems to be showing unexpected dividends. Obviously given Dan’s low PSA to start with we weren’t concerned about this but we both take this as a sign that enhancing our nutrition is working to improve our overall health. Between the PSA and blood pressure and cholesterol I can say that what we eat is having a big impact all around.

Window markers?:

Those of you that have kids probably have seen this already but they were new to me. I bought them at our local drug store to see if they were any different than using dry erase markers on windows or mirrors. I have used dry erase markers on mirrors for years. In my kitchen I have a mirror that I use to jot down my grocery list. That works well for me since it is easily removed with a paper towel.

I find it works best if I write things down as soon as notice we are out. Having the ability to jot down items on the mirror while cooking has been very useful. I tried a caulk board in the kitchen for the grocery list but that absorbs grease so it didn’t work well. The caulk board might be fine now since I don’t cook with oil. Since the mirror works so well I probably won’t try it though. I like the light the mirror adds to the room as well as how easy it is to erase.

However these may also work well for leaving my hubby love notes on his bathroom mirror. ;-) 

Signing out:

That is going to be it for me tonight. I hope you try the recipes from today. It was a very good food day at my house.

I loved the savory oatmeal with spinach and the green rice is amazing and would work with so many dishes. It is seriously going to be tough to come up with a more flavorful healthy rice side dish, but you know I will keep working on it. I hope you are having a good evening.