A Healthy Challenge & Soup Recipe

Hi ya!  It's Wednesday so you know what that means.  Yes! A new soup recipe. I'll get to that in a minute, but I must share with you that today is Day 3 of the Healthy Vegan Challenge which is the brainchild of fellow blogger, Carrie.  I know I have mentioned her name many, many times in previous posts, but she is an amazing woman and is such an inspiration.  So what does Day 3 bring?  First I should start with what this challenge started out to be for me.  I want to decrease my grain consumption, exercise harder & work on my studies for the NET program.

It seems that when I'm in a craving mood or really, really hungry I want something baked, whether it be toast, a pita or a tortilla, I want something bread-y.  I do find that, though this dietstyle allows one to two servings a day (1 cup or so max), I tend to stretch that a little far.  How do you measure toast in cups?  Ha ha!  I can roll up a slice of bread (or two) quite nicely and fit it in a measuring cup.  Obviously measuring oatmeal, etc is easier.  So last night when I got home from work and was "starrrrrving" I really wanted to stick a pita in the toaster to warm it up and dive into some hummus, but I didn't.  I threw out my life line to my "buddy" and waited for the soup to cook.  Knowing my support person would eventually get back to me and I would have to tell her I went nuts and ate every slice of bread in the house, I refrained.  Instead, I set the soup to simmer and, head down, got my gym bag and work clothes ready for the next day!  That took about as much time as the soup did to cook, so it was a perfect distraction.  I paired the soup with a huge salad and for dessert it was an apple with almond butter.  After dinner I even had time for some studying.  Reading about water soluble vitamins can be sooooo very interesting -- either that or works just like a sleeping aide.  I call Day 2 a success!  Let's see how Day 3 and the next 53 go.

So what is the soup, you say?  This week I tried out Dr. Fuhrman's Broccoli Mushroom Bisque.  It was pretty good.  I have to say that I didn't have some of the ingredients, as is typical, and so subbed in potatoes and left out the onion, obviously, for the allergic in the house.  It really does keep harmony in a marriage to leave out those nasty things.

Here's the recipe & a picture or two.  It made more than four servings and, like usual, there is plenty left over for lunches!

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

 

Ingredients:

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

3 carrots, coarsely chopped

1 cup coarsely chopped celery

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons Dr. Fuhrman's VegiZest* (or 2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash no-salt seasoning blend)

2 cups carrot juice (2 pounds of carrots, juiced)

4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/2 cup raw Mediterranean pine nuts

Instructions: Place all the ingredients except the cashews and pine nuts in a soup pot. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are just tender.

In a food processor or high powered blender, blend two-thirds of the soup liquid and vegetables with the cashews and pine nuts until smooth and creamy. Return to the pot and reheat before serving.

lots of goodness in the pot

After a trip thru the Vitamix, we're ready to go!

I did this one on the stovetop, as the ingredients are all fairly quick cooking, so no need for a pressure cooker this time.  

I have started using an online food journal program called My Fitness Pal.  I have journaled my food the old-fashioned way previously and knew that food was a huge focus of my day, but using the online version brings it clearer to me that I do EAT A LOT!  Most of the things I eat aren't in the database, so right now I'm at the stage of entering recipes, etc.  I'm not really doing this to count calories, as calorie counting is sort of frowned upon by Dr. Fuhrman and others who eat a plant-based, whole-foods diet because some of the foods we consume are admittedly high in calories.  Take avocados and beans, for example. But we know that with beans, not all of the calories are available to our bodies due to the fact that they are so high in fiber and no digestion takes place, so the calories just slide on out.  Don't you love that?  I wish the same thing were true with chocolate!  I'm excited to see over the next few months how my appetite will change if I  eat only when truly hungry.  Maybe the quantity of food I eat will decrease.  With the Healthy Vegan Challenge taking us up to the end of April, that will leave two months before I head off to Dr. Fuhrman's Health Getaway in San Diego.  I think I'll be in perfect eating condition to spend a week learning more & eating even healthier than I do at home.  I've been looking forward to going to this getaway since last year's in Florida.  I did not attend that event and promised myself I would make it to this year's.  It is so easy since it's on the West Coast this time & happens to fall during my pre-arranged vacation time.  Speaking of the getaway, tomorrow is the last day for early-bird pricing.  If you'd like to go, click the link above to save $100 through the end of February.  I would love it if just one of my readers went.  How fun would that be?! 

I'm gonna call it a wrap for today.  Speaking of wraps, that sounds kind of tasty. 
See you all on Friday!

Monday Musings & A Challenge for YOU!

Ahhh, we made it through the weekend and back to work we go.  Sometimes the weekends can be just as busy as the workweek and getting back to the ol' grind can be relaxing.  Not for me for the next few weeks.  It seems when it rains, it pours.  I have a lot of work on my to-do list; all with fairly tight timelines.  That's okay.  I'm a gal who works best under pressure and a timeline is much like a goal.  For me, at it as a challenge.

I like challenges, not that I'm competitive and have the need to win, but I really like to put myself to the test and see what I can do.  Which brings me to the 2013 Spring Healthy Vegan Challenge.  You don't have to be vegan or even striving to be vegan to join us in this challenge.  We start today, but you can join us when you are ready.  There's a group of us -- led by fellow blogger & friend, Carrie -- who are putting our best feet forward and nourishing our bodies with the healthiest foods we can.  Why not start with US when it comes to wiping out diabetes, obesity and cancer?  Who wouldn't want to live their life without pain & sickness?  I know I would love to make it to a ripe old age with a great quality of life.  You can too.  Join us as we spend the next eight weeks getting rid of the old & bringing in the new.

My goals for the challenge may be a bit different than yours and yours may be different than someone else's.  See, since Lent began back on February 13th, I've been following a no-sugar diet.  Sugar has been my weakness and something I haven't been able to break.  It seems easier this time around.  Maybe because it's the only thing I'm focusing on right now, rather than trying to be super-nute and do it all at once.  So with sugar out of the picture, I'm going to try to limit processed grains to just one serving a day (if at all).  I also would like to take the next two months to finish up my studying to take the first exam for certification as a Nutritional Education Trainer.  I'd love to coach people on this diet-style (and maybe get paid for it, too.)  With the eight weeks I should easily be able to take the first exam and maybe the second; but I don't want to set my sights too high and will be happy with the first one being completed.  The challenge even has it's own group on Facebook if you'd like to join us.  Just click here to join & Carrie will get you all set up.

This weekend, I sort of went on strike.  Okay, it was only for a day.  I thought I would take the whole weekend off and eat from the foods that have been hanging out in the freezer.  That only worked for one day.  And I didn't go crazy and make a whole ton of new things... well, only a half a ton.  I tried to stay out of the kitchen on Sunday, but that lasted until about 2 p.m. when I started making my sauces for the week.  I made a cheese sauce, a peanut sauce & dijon date salad dressing.  The intent was to just make them and be done, but one thing let to another & I ended up creating some quinoa patties, chocolate mousse & almond shortbread cookies. (I will post those recipes later this week.)  All this food prep was in addition to what we were having for dinner -- an old standby... lentil tacos and mushroom fajitas.  I love being in the kitchen.  And, really, it's great for my sciatic nerve which tends to flare up with too much sitting.  It's clear to me I can't go on strike for long without being called back. 

Quinoa Patties before baking - recipe coming soon!

baked to perfection!

Chocolate mousse with strawberries and almond shortbread

I had some help with the pictures as I was struggling with the lighting, so please forgive me.  Daylight ambiance is much better in our kitchen/dining area, but once the sun goes down and you turn on the overhead lights it doesn't work so well.  I hope you get the gist of the food & will try some of the recipes yourself.  Remember, we don't use onion in our house because of an allergy; feel free to add it wherever you deem appropriate.

Well, it's time for me to get going with the Healthy Vegan Challenge.  We're about ready to begin a great adventure!  Please, won't you join me?

Wednesday Recipe & a check-in

Hello, happy, healthy eaters!

It's Wednesday already.  My days are all mixed up this week because I had Monday off from work.  I'm not sure if I'm a day behind or a day ahead.  In any event, I'm off kilter a little bit.  Maybe it's because on Monday I shared a soup recipe with you and I normally do soups in Wednesday's post.  I do have a recipe for you today, but it's for a salad instead.  I'll get to that in a bit.

I wanted to share a little quote with you today that I pulled from a page I "like" on Facebook.  It's from the Catholic Community Services of Western Washington page.  It says, "Fast from worry; feast on hope."  For those of us who observe Lent, this is a great fast/feast comparison.  I think I will make this my mantra for the next five years while Alex is serving Active Duty in the Army.  I do have to say that I'm coming to grips with the whole thing and I'm settling in to a certain amount of comfort in the idea.  Notice I said "certain amount."  That is like an eensy-weensy bit of comfort.  I think it's because I know we have a large support group -- people whose kids have been-there-done-that, friends who were or are military themselves and have lived to tell about it -- and we have our faith on our side too.  See, I'm a worrier (bet you couldn't have guessed that).  And like most moms I want the best for my kiddo and want him to be safe.  So this Lent as I'm fasting from sugary foods and feasting on nutrient-dense fruits & vegetables, I will also turn my efforts toward feasting on hope.

If you've been a relatively healthy eater and maybe backslid over the holidays or just want to ramp it up a little bit and work on a certain area -- like me and losing the sugar habit -- or are a newbie to the whole-foods eating style, I encourage you to join me and a group of others just like us for the next eight weeks as we embark on a challenge introduced by fellow nutritarian & blogger, Carrie.  You can read about her Healthy Vegan Challenge on her website.  I think it comes at a perfect time for me as I've committed to no added sugars for Lent.  Lent is a good time for making a change, no matter the type, but it's always easy to slide a little bit because there's not much accountability.  Well, you're accountable to the big guy upstairs, but He doesn't tend to call you out on things like eating sugar when you know it's not healthy.  I'm not sure anybody in the challenge will confront us either, but we definitely can use the challenge for support when we're struggling.  Just like that support system we have that will support us when Alex leaves, the folks in the challenge will be your support system for the next eight weeks.  Consider this a little mini-boot camp or Basic Training for a healthy life to come.  We all know it takes a lot of hard work, and I bet there will be a drill sergeant among us!

The other day a friend sent me a recipe for a salad.  It looked intriguing so I figured I'd give it a try.  I actually emailed her back and asked her if it was correct that there was no dressing on it.  She confirmed and noted that she prefers to get a blueberry in every bite.  Ahhh... Makes sense.  The "recipe" is just a list of ingredients with no measurements listed.  I was a bit skeptical, but I noticed at the bottom it said something like, "cut the broccoli & kale into bite-sized pieces and be generous with the ingredients you love the most."  Makes even more sense, right?  The salad was delicious.  I've always been a lettuce, peppers, cucumber, celery salad eater.  Now, this is something new!

Here's the recipe.

broccoli
kale
edamame beans
grape tomatoes
carrots
dried cranberries
blueberries
sunflower seeds
cashews, raw & unsalted
pecans- toasted

You literally mix it all together and enjoy!

As is standard for me I wanted to try this salad immediately, but I didn't have ALL of the ingredients so I substituted some things.  I think if you use mild-flavored vegetables and have a fruit, you're good to go.  I subbed cucumber for the carrots; strawberries for the blueberries; and currants for the cranberries (added sugar).  Getting a strawberry bit in every bite is key.  All of the flavors blend nicely and it stores great in the fridge for a couple of days.  That reminds me... I brought some of the leftovers in my lunch today!  Oh, is it noon yet?

I do have some exciting news to share... I am now registered for the Dr. Fuhrman Health Getaway in San Diego.  It's in June and I can't wait to go.  But then again, getting to June means I have to get through April which is when Alex leaves.  Can you see the angst?  But I will deal with that another day.  I am so looking forward to sunshine, learning, eating healthy foods, a little more sunshine & warm weather and a whole lot more eating (of meals I don't have to prepare).  If anybody is going to join me, let me know!  I can always use a roomie.

Well, I'll call it a wrap and come back on Friday when I'll share my view of something.  Not sure what, but it will be something.  I promise!

Is it Wednesday? Cuz I have a soup recipe!

It's Monday and I'm off work today thanks to Presidents Lincoln & Washington.  I hope you had a grand weekend and if you're off today you're doing something fun.  I will be spending hours basking in the warmth of.... the heated rooms and soaking in the tubs at the Olympus Spa.  I love this place and I try when I have a weekday off to get there and treat myself.  My loving husband gave me not one, but two gift certificates for Christmas so I can treat myself many times over.

Because I don't do well in the cold weather, this is the perfect time to go and heat up my body.  I just wish I could store it somehow.  I've been dreaming of a warmer climate, trying to figure out where we could go for a week in the early spring.  I am soooo looking forward to going to the Fuhrman Getaway in San Diego at the end of June.  It seems so far off in the future, though.  April sounds like the perfect time to get away to somewhere sunny too!

Until I can get into the sun and bask like a lizard, I will have to do some warming from the inside out and for me that comes in the form of a soup.  I know, I know... it's not Wednesday and I'm handing out a soup recipe.  I'm just so darned excited for this one I can't wait.  I created the recipe myself -- Yes, no stealing or borrowing from anyone else!  So let me share...

The corn getting browned

Corn Chowder
RECIPE:

1 onion

16 oz bag of frozen corn

1 clove garlic, minced

5 c. water

4 small red potatoes, cubed

1 zucchini 

1 Tbsp. parsley

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1/4 c. nutritional yeast

1/2 c. unsweetened soy milk

1/3 c. cashews

1 roasted red pepper, chopped

fresh ground pepper, to taste

Water saute the onion and garlic until very soft.  Add the corn kernels and cook on a high temp until brown.  (They will actually be sticking to the pan)  Add the water and potatoes.  Boil for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Puree 2 to 3 cups of the soup with the zucchini and add back into the pot.  Blend the liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, soy milk & cashews in a blender until smooth.  Stir back into the pot.  Add in the roasted red pepper and parsley, season with freshly ground pepper.  Heat through & serve.

Confession time:  We didn't actually eat the soup for dinner!  I made it and put it in the fridge for tonight's dinner.  We had company Sunday night, so I made a pasta sauce that we served over spaghetti squash.  This recipe I did steal from my friend Carrie's blog.  She posts a wonderful group of vegan recipes on Fridays.  I will include the link to the sauce here.  It is fairly involved, but very much worth the effort.  It makes a LOT of sauce and I now have four jars in my freezer, plus leftovers from dinner that will satisfy many lunches throughout the week.

I think I was feeling a little extra adventurous Sunday evening because I created my own dessert too.  The idea came from my craving of frozen yogurt from the local shoppe that is a mere five-minute drive from our house.  That makes it a little too convenient and dangerously addictable (is that a word?)  Maybe it is actually the candy toppings that I pile on top that I was really craving.  In any event, because I'm really not wanting to eat added sugars except what is already in my soy milk for my hot beverages and other treats, my loving husband helped me decide NOT going to the yogurt shop was a good idea and that my frozen dessert was much better for us.  I actually said it tasted better too, but I'm not sure he was completely convinced.  Let's just say there were no leftovers so it couldn't have been that bad! 

We even had spoons from the frozen yogurt shop.

Here's what I did:

Strawberry "Ice Dream"

4 dates
1/4 c. vanilla soy milk
1-1/2 c. frozen strawberries
cacoa nibs for garnish

In a high-speed blender, blend the dates and soy milk until the dates are chopped up fairly small.  Add in the frozen strawberries and using the tamper, continue to blend until you have a nice soft-serve consistency.  Top with a sprinkling of cacoa nibs & enjoy!

Making new recipes takes a little bit of creativity and now that I've been doing this for a while, have tried others recipes and know what flavors I like, it is getting easier to come up with some of my own experiments -- some better than others.  I hope to be able to continue doing that.  Of course, I will still share other dishes that I try from my trusted sources and give credit where it is due.

I hope you have a good start to your week.  Check back here on Wednesday where I'll give my review of a recipe a fellow nutritarian shared with me.  Think... salad with no dressing.  Is that possible?  Oh, and it's got kale in it.  I can't wait to give it a try!

Friday Happenings and Weekly Recap

"Fast from thought of illness; feast on the healing power of God"

                  -- taken from Fasting and Feasting by William Arthur Ward

I would also add to the above quote "... and kale."  Not to minimize the healing power of God, because I've seen it, but I think kale is pretty darned good at healing -- well, not just kale, but all veggies!  As a matter of fact, I couldn't wait until lunch.  I grazed on my kale salad as soon as I was out of court and, boy, was it good!  But now what will I eat for lunch, my breakfast?  I guess that's an option.

Did you have a nice Valentine's Day?  Mine was special with a beautiful bouquet  of flowers from my sweetheart and a quick dinner at the local sandwich shop(pe) -- there, doesn't that make it sound more elite to say "shoppe"?  I had every intent on making a nice spaghetti squash with a superb sauce for the top since it was just the two lovebirds at home (uh, that's me & my honey), but because a spaghetti squash takes almost an hour to bake and is usually cooked by the time I get home but it wasn't this time because of a late appointment, I looked to my empty fridge for something quick and that's when those magical words were spoken... "Let's go for Valentine Thai."  I declined the invite for Thai after our last bad experience at this particular restaurant, so we settled on veggie sandwiches, which I love anyway!  We had the whole "shoppe" to ourselves.  It was pretty funny.

We came home and had some Teeccino, breakfast cookies, and brownies with nut icing.  It was an evening made in heaven. 

I am so thankful today is Friday.  I am also thankful that Monday is a holiday.  Thank you, Mr.s Lincoln and Washington!  I will be thinking of you as I soak in the pools at the spa on Monday!  (That is if I have time.)

This week has seemed so long.  I think maybe it's because this Mama's stress level has been through the roof for three weeks now.  You see, our son (our only child, mind you) told us exactly three weeks ago today that he had gone to the Armed Services Recruiting Office to talk to somebody.  What does that mean, you say?  That means he has gone through the process and yesterday enlisted in the Army!  In two months he will be leaving for Basic Training.  Because of his chosen MOS -- Military Police -- his Advanced Training comes right after Basic, so there is no break, no graduation, no visit home... nothin' for 19 weeks (and one day).  

Am I okay with this?  Well, what's a mom to do?  Can't very well tell an adult what to do, now can we?  The more we protest, the more determined kids get. I am very proud of him for wanting to serve our country, and a smidge extra proud that he's following his dad's lead in becoming a police officer.  I'm gonna miss him like crazy and even as I sit here typing this, I tear up, get a lump in my throat and want to call up the recruiting office and make up some good story about why he can't go.  But I won't do that.  That would not be good for either of us.  At some point we must let our babies go.  Oh, sure, he's gone many times.  He has worked at Boy Scout camps during the summer since he was 14; last year he went on an adventure for two and a half months that took him all the way across the country.  He's done many things that make me worry, but this takes the cake!  It's a big commitment.  Five years is a long time away from home.  

Remember how I said dinners were important to me, spending time around the table sharing stories and laughing?  Well, there will be one less laugh at the table for a while, one less plate to set, one fewer story to hear.  I just hope he remembers where we live and will find his way back us eventually.  So it looks like for the next five years we've got a couple of open seats at the table if anyone would like to join us.  I promise only a small serving of kale and Brussels sprouts!

This pencil holder was made when Alex was just two
I still have it on my desk.
He's come a long way from macaroni art

Well, enough of my sob story.  I'm gonna hold it together, I promise.  That is, until April when I bid him farewell.

Have a great weekend.  And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a phone call to make... I wonder if I look under "Army" or under "Recruiters" in the Yellow Pages.  

A breakfast cookie recipe & some exercise to boot!

To all of my friends who observe Lent, I wish you a "Happy Ash Wednesday."  I hope you enjoyed Fat Tuesday, but not too much.  I recently learned that a Welsh tradition is to eat pancakes on Fat Tuesday.  I forgot all about it until after dinner last night.  Oh, well.  I'm not Welsh anyway, although my husband is... a teensy, weensy bit.  We will have to remember this old tradition next year.  I make a killer blueberry pancake that would have fit the bill quite nicely, even if it is a bit indulgent for our style of eating.

This girl settled for stirfry for Fat Tuesday.  I did mess around in the kitchen a bit afterwards coming up with a breakfast cookie that I thought was do-able.  See, I work out early in the morning and then head off to work.   I hit the office about 20 minutes before my start time so I usually eat my breakfast then.  Sometimes, though, especially if I've had a really good workout, I'm really, really hungry on the ride in and need a little somethin' somethin' to hold me over til I get to the office.  A breakfast cookie or granola bar is perfect to eat in the car.  I'm still going to tweak this recipe a bit to get it a little lighter.  The "dough" is fairly heavy, and I found two cookies to be very satisfying as a meal.

The ingredient list is long and I did feel like I just opened up the cupboard, adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  I think you can make adjustments where you feel it necessary, adding different spices, etc.  I used a large cookie scoop -- the kind you use for making muffins -- so my cookies were fairly large.  I bet they probably have 3 Tbsp or so of dough in each cookie.

Here's the recipe:

3 bananas, mashed
1 Tbsp nut milk
1 Tbsp pomegranate juice
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp maple syrup
1 c. whole oats (not instant)
1/2 to 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 c. unsweetened coconut
1/4 c. raisins or other dried fruit
1/4 c. peanut butter (or other nut butter)
2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
Mix all ingredients together in large bowl.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Using a large scoop, place about 3 Tbsp of dough onto baking sheet and press down gently with damp fingers.  Bake 20 minutes or until slightly brown and firm to the touch.  Cool and remove to racks. 

 These cookies will provide you a lot of energy to power up your workout or to fuel you after sweatin' to the oldies and to keep you going until lunch.

Speaking of exercise, I thought I would share with you two of my favorite exercises I do on a regular basis.  Monday is my leg workout day and at the gym, I usually find an empty room (the basketball court is nice) and do some crazy moves, working all the muscles in my legs.  One of those exercises I love is killer for the outside of the hip/butt area.  I've heard it referred to as a windshield wiper, but when I "googled" that exercise I got something totally different that I think only Hercules himself could do.  I'm going to try to explain as best I can and then you give it a shot.  Maybe one day I'll let someone make a video of me doing it (it will be a cold day somewhere when THAT happens).

So you're in a downward dog position.  That's where you're on your hands and feet in an upside down "V". Right? Like this:

downward dog

Then you lift the right leg up high and twist it over the left leg and touch it to the floor. Do this ten time on each side.  Trust me, you'll feel it in the upper leg and glute. 

Another exercise that I like starts in the same down dog position.  Now, stretch yourself out to an upward dog position.  Do this quickly.  Now quickly return yourself to the down dog position.  Do that cycle ten times without stopping.  This is a great stretch for your back, your abs and a good shoulder workout in the process.

upward dog

It would seem that the names I was given for these two exercises both are either wrong or are not the common name because when I Googled "banana swing" this is definitely not what I got.  In any event, try these two out and if you come up with a name for them, let me know.

Enjoy your midweek & I will be back her Friday with some sort of mumbling.  I'm off to begin my Lenten journey.

Test Kitchen Tastes & My Weekend Activities

Good Morning!  I hope you had a good weekend.  I sure did.  The weather both days was nice.  Saturday we got out again for another great walk on the local "Rails-to-Trails" path.  We put in a little over six miles in about an hour and a half so that was our cardio workout for the day.  It was a little sunnier than the prior weekend where we were blessed with a chilly fog.  I even took off my gloves part way through!  I'm bummed that I forgot my camera as the shot would have been much nicer than the one I posted last Monday.  There will be many more opportunities for landscape photos, I am sure.

My cooking took a little bit of a back seat this weekend.  I didn't spend hours upon hours in the kitchen because my schedule was a bit busy and I've sort of gotten in a rut where we have about two weeks worth of menu items that just seem to keep repeating.  I do like to keep things simple for the three of us who are at the table day after day.  It's the days that I'd like to have guests for dinner and am stressed about what to serve to people who don't necessarily eat like we do that motivates me to open up the Glaze Family Test Kitchen.  I was thinking about this over the weekend and what the intent of my blog is.  Fellow blogger, Carrie, is so good about creating her own recipes, and I often steal her recipes am moved by her to try something new, but I'm not as creative as she is, nor do I have the culinary expertise to know what ingredients go together to make dishes that may be palatable.

So what is the point of my blog? I asked myself that question and I think I've come up with a good answer.  I am a test kitchen of sorts.  I send out a lot of recipes that I think look good to friends.  I do this with permission of the original author.  Sometimes my friends and fellow nutritarians are a little skeptical to try new recipes for fear of wasting time and valuable ingredients.  I'll do that for you and report what my taste testers say!  Sometimes I create new recipes and I'll post those here too.  I'm still trying to figure out a good-tasting, healthy corn chowder.  I thought I would get to that this weekend, but I will try next week.

Saturday between that invigorating walk and meeting up with a couple of friends of ours, I made these brownies... again!  This time I made a double batch and split the batter between two pans so I could make some with almond butter frosting rather than peanut butter for my hubby, since he really shouldn't eat peanuts.  If you click on the link, you'll get the original recipe.  I will post mine below so you can see how I modified it to remove some of the coconut oil. Unfortunately, the brownies didn't cool enough for me to take with me to share with our friends.  I'm sure they would have liked them.  More for us!

Brownie Ingredients: 

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup peanut butter (or 2 tbsp. almond butter & 2 tbsp. tahini)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon coconut butter (melted)

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350.  Blend up all brownie ingredients in a food processor or blender until incorporated and smooth.  It will be thick.  Using a spatula, spread into a small baking dish (I used one of those little rectangle pyrex containers).  Mixture will be very sticky.  Bake for 20 minutes.
While brownies are baking, stir together the frosting ingredients in a small bowl.  It will be ready to spread on the brownies shortly after they come out of the oven.  Store in the fridge or freezer.

 

Lunch on Saturday started out as black bean wraps, but the romaine lettuce I had wasn't quite large enough to make wraps, so I chopped it up and the bean filling became a topper on the lettuce.  The addition of some chunks of pineapple really gave this salad a tropical feel.  To make the black bean wraps, mash an avocado, add a can of drained/rinsed black beans, 1/4 cup of salsa, 1/2 tsp of cumin, a little minced garlic & the juice of 1/2 lime.  Stir it all together and use as a filling in a few romaine leaves.  A nice cool, crunchy lunch!

All that giggling with our friends made me hungry for veggies when I got home, so I steamed up a huge bowl of veggies and topped it with a red lentil sauce.  The sauce had a little too much cumin (it takes a LOT to make it too much for me).  The next day I added some cranberry pear vinegar to the sauce and it made it much better!  The leftover veggies were served over the extra quinoa that I had from making the brownies.  I'm probably one of the few people who likes to eat leftovers.  I get satisfaction out of having an empty refrigerator.  Success!

Sunday morning came early with our weekly trip for "coffee and connecting." (A ritual my husband and I have been participating in for nearly 10 years).  I really enjoy this time we spend together.  Recently, I think it has become a little more special since we have really cut down our latte/mocha consumption to just one or two a week.  Of course, it's still as special from the standpoint that we get to catch up on everything that each other has done in the past week and what we have coming up. 

I was proud of myself and was quite productive between our coffee date and when I left for church in that I got an all-veggie lasagna made.  This was a recipe that was recently sent out by Dr. Fuhrman.  This is where the test kitchen comes in.  The recipe is posted below and I will tell you... I ate three way too many pieces!  It was delicious!  We don't eat eggplant for a variety of reasons, but I don't think we missed it.  The white sauce really tasted "cheesy" and I might use that base recipe in other dishes as well.  The instructions seem detailed, but it really didn't take long to put it all together and it is definitely well worth the energy to make it.  The layers actually held together better than a regular lasagna with noodles.

Ingredients: For the Red Sauce: 1 carrot, finely chopped 1 celery stalk, finely chopped 1 onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped 2 tablespoons fresh basil, divided For the White Sauce: 1/2 cup raw cashews or brazil nuts 1/2 cup water 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 2 teaspoons onion powder 2 teaspoons VegiZest or other salt subsitute For Lasagna Layers: 2-4 carrots, cut into thin strips 1 large eggplant, cut into thin strips 2-3 zucchini, cut into thin strips 1 bunch rainbow chard, tough stems removed 1/3 cup arrowroot powder
Instructions: Heat oven to 375 degrees F. To prepare the red sauce: Heat 2-3 tablespoons water in a skillet and water saute onion, carrot and garlic until soft, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and half the basil. Add tomatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes, remove from heat and add remaining basil. If desired, use immersion blender to make sauce uniform but leave in a few lumps. Set aside. To prepare the white sauce: Blend cashews, water, arrowroot powder, nutritional yeast, onion powder and VegiZest until smooth. Pour into a small pan, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Add more water as needed, it needs to be the consistency of very thick pancake batter. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Set aside. To Prepare Lasagna: Blanche carrots in boiling water for 2 min. Pat dry and set aside. Sprinkle arrowroot powder on a large plate. Press zucchini and eggplant slices one by one into the arrowroot, lightly coating both cut sides. set aside. Lightly spray 8 x 8 square baking dish with cooking spray or lightly wipe with olive oil. Place half of the white sauce on the bottom of the pan. Layer half of the chard, followed by half the carrots, eggplant and zucchini. Top with the second half of the white sauce and layer the remaining vegetables. Press down if needed, the chard layer will will flatten during baking Top with red sauce, sprinkle top with roughly chopped nuts if desired. Bake in 375 degree oven until most of the juices evaporate and top is firm, about an hour. Initially, vegetables will produce a lot of liquid, keep baking until it is evaporated.

Before baking -- I made it early in the morning
and refrigerated it til baking time

Served with a green salad, a lovely dinner!

I will wrap up today's post since it's getting a little long.   

Wednesday is the beginning of Lent.  Do you observe Lent?  If so, do you give something up? Attempt to make a change in your life?  It is coming early this year, so it may be a good time to re-affirm a New Year's resolution if you've made one.  It is also an opportunity to make a healthy change in your life.  I've heard that it takes 28 days to break a habit.  Lent is 40 days long, so it's a great time to break a habit or make a change.  Some years I've "given up" things from chocolate to ALL sugar.  In my years of not eating as healthy as I do, I questioned by sanity by about Day 4.  It's funny because during that time of Lent, all I could think about was Easter and eating chocolate (or whatever it was I gave up) as soon as Lent was over!  I don't think I would look at it the same now.  I think this year I'm going to focus my energy on being accepting of difference and to work on keeping an open mind.

Have a great week and I will be back here on Wednesday, maybe with a soup recipe, but definitely with some exercise tips! Toodles.

  

I'm Getting Old

TGIF!  It's been a busy week.  You know what I like, though?  I like it best when work is busy and home is quiet.  I love coming home from a day filled with fast-talking lawyers, expert witnesses and runaway juries to the quietness of my house.  I like balance.  See, with just three of us there it's like a little getaway every evening.  Coming home and making dinner, sitting around the table swapping stories, and after cleanup, plopping down on the couch is what it's all about!  Some nights when I get home, my handsome husband will say something like "I was thinking about (fill in a certain food here)" and that's his way of saying, "Babe, take the night off."  So that's what we do!  Those nights are particularly wonderful for me.

My two most favorite guys
I don't think they planned the color coordination;
it's just the way they think

We have a local Thai restaurant that we like to go to.  We thought we had trained them quite well to our eating style.  With onions being poison off limits in Hubby's diet, the owner sat down with us once and marked up a takeout menu for him so he knew what he could order without getting ill.  And recently I started ordering my food "water sauteed."  That was met with resistance at first; she told us it was the oil that binds the sauce.  Huh?  Well, the vegetables taste even more amazing.  I'm sure there's not so good stuff in the sauce that they make (sodium for starters), but the amount that I actually consume is less because it's very thin and the veggies aren't cooked in the sauce, but rather in water.  I love it!  This week was not such a great experience.  A rogue onion was found in Hubby's dinner and the dish I ordered, though it said "spicy" and I knew it would be hot, was almost inedible!  Maybe that oil would have diluted the spice.  The onion was the more important issue and it might be a while before we go back.  It's so hard when you have food allergies to trust someone again.  I know it's difficult as a chef to keep all the food separate in the kitchen and as a consumer with an allergy, you can't expect perfection and it's a risk you take with eating out..  We understand that.  I won't expect next week to hear "Don't cook tonight" and I will have a week's worth of meals planned by Monday.

So the title of my blog today is "I'm getting old" and I'm sure you're wondering how the above paragraphs have anything to do with me getting old.  Well, I'll spill it right now!  Last week I had an eye exam because I was sure I had something wrong with my eyes.  Within the last few months my eyesight had significantly deteriorated to the point I thought for sure I was going blind.  I wore my "cheater" glasses for reading everything from recipes in the kitchen, notes I wrote in my office and even sometimes for looking at the computer.  See, I had glasses from the time I was in ninth grade until I was about 33 much younger than I am now.  I've spent the last 11 or 12 years being glasses free thanks to a little thing called LASIK!  The freakiest thing I've ever done, but the best thing too, for myself (besides becoming a nutritarian).  As your eyes age and change, weird things start happening.  No longer can I see the little print.  Shoot! -- sometimes I can't even see the LARGER print. 

So the doc whips out the funky machine.  Click, click, click. "Better with 1 or 2; 3 or 4?" we go.  In the end... "I'll be writing you a prescription for BIFOCALS!"  Are you kidding me?  My mom wore bifocals.  So does my dad.  Actually, I think my mom wore trifocals.  Those things are for old people, I say to myself.  Oh, there's no line on my glasses that anyone else can see, so no one will know, right?  Except for all the head bobbing that's going on.  Glasses add so much to a wardrobe, she says convincingly.  I know there are folks who actually wear glasses with clear lenses to enhance their appearance.  I was kind of looking forward to the idea of a new look.

First, have you ever tried to choose a pair of glasses and try them on (never mind reading the price tag) when your eyes are dilated?  Thank you to the sweet lady at the eye glasses place that helped me.  She did quite nicely picking out a "petite" pair, thank you very much.  I wait a week, continuing to wear my "cheaters" that are HUGE for my face purchased from the local big-box store at a very reasonable price.  I have a pair on each floor of the house and one in my purse for reading labels at the grocery store.  After a week I get the call and swing by on my way home to pick up my new style.  I'm sort of excited at this point until I put them on.  Huh?  Am I supposed to be able to see better with these things?  There's a lot of neck shifting, head bobbing and eyeball movement going on.  After a week of wearing them, I'm still getting used to the idea that (A) maybe I'm not really old, just that my eyes have spent way too much time staring at a computer; (B) no one has moved the stairs, I just need to look at them differently; and (C) maybe I look okay as a bobblehead.

So here I am modeling my glasses for you!  Things are getting better and I'm adjusting to the view.  I can't believe how bright things are.

Well, it is Friday.  That means the weekend is nearly upon us.  I have no great plans, though the weather is supposed to be dry -- we'll see, after last weekend's promise of good weather and my attempt at a hike.  Next week brings the start of Lent, so I need to seriously consider my Lenten promise and what that looks like for me this year.  How will I spend those weeks in the desert?  I also will be thinking about Valentine's Day and a special meal to fix for my sweetheart.  I already know what my blog will be about next Friday! 

Here's a variation of my favorite snack... I was trying to make something akin to an Almond Joy, but the apple just wasn't the appropriate vehicle in which to deliver such a tasty morsel to my mouth.  It did have almond butter, cocoa nibs, currants, and coconut.  It was good, but I'll work on a different fruit.

Have a super weekend and check back here Monday for a snapshot of the foods I make this weekend.

Wednesday's Soup & A Little Midlife Mumbling

I hope your week is going well.  I've been in a funk lately which has contributed to a little bit of poor eating.  Not the end of the world, but just not where I would like to be emotionally when it comes to what's going into my body.  It's so easy to revert back to old habits, choosing food as a comfort or to fill a void.  But you know what?  FOOD LIES!  Food doesn't give you comfort or fill a void.  Nope.  Personally, I just feel gross when I eat things my body doesn't like -- my mouth may like them, but my body doesn't.  It's not really so much about feeling guilty when I indulge as it is about feeling bloated or sluggish.  So there's always the unanswered question... why do I do it?  If anyone cares to solve the mystery, feel free!

Metolius River ~ Bend, OR

 As I have done in weeks past, I have a soup recipe to share.  I usually make said soup on Tuesday evening or over the weekend and share pictures.  Well, last night I wanted to try my hands at corn chowder, but I'm still working on how to get the "creamy" part of the base correct (plus I didn't have some of the ingredients I needed and didn't feel like stopping at the store).  I've got some ideas and I'll give it a shot this coming weekend.  Promise.  The recipe below is one of my favorite soups from Dr. Fuhrman and I've made it several times over the past year and a half I've been following a nutritarian lifestyle.  A friend even made it for us for lunch not too long ago and they really liked it.  It seems like a time-consuming recipe, but as with most vegetarian recipes, it's the prep that takes the time.  I hope you'll try it.  The recipe makes enough for a meal and then to freeze quite a few jars worth.

I don't have any pictures to share because.... well, we had stir fry instead of soup!  Tonight I'll pull a couple of jars of this tasty soup from the freezer, serve up a nice, big salad and I'll have dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes!

Creamy Lentil Soup
Ingredients:

8 cups water

2 cups carrot juice, fresh or bottled

3 cups tomatoes, chopped or 2 (15 ounce) cans no salt added diced tomatos

4 tablespoons Dr. Fuhrman's VegiZest or other no-salt seasoning to taste

2 onions, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 pound dried green lentils, rinsed

1 red pepper, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

2 small zucchini, chopped

1 yam, chopped (optional)

1 (7 ounce) box frozen lima beans (optional)

1 (5 ounce) bag baby spinach or 1 box (7 ounce) frozen spinach or 1 bunch kale, chopped*

3 tablespoons Dr. Fuhrman's Riesling Raisin Vinegar or other fruit flavored vinegar

3/4 cup raw cashews

Instructions:
Place all ingredients except yam, lima beans, spinach, vinegar and cashews in a large soup pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes. Add yam and lima beans, if desired. Simmer another 15 minutes, or until yam and lima beans are tender. Remove from heat and add spinach. Stir occasionally until spinach has wilted, or thawed if using frozen. Add vinegar. Put 2 cups or more of soup and raw cashews in a food processor or high powered blender and blend until very smooth. Stir back into soup.

*If using chopped Kale, add with frozen lima beans and chopped yam.

Today being Wednesday, I feel like I should share some wise thoughts, but I don't have any today.  I do have a few mumblings.  You know, as a midlifer, a working woman, a wife, a mom, sometimes I wonder what it's all about.   There are days that it's harder than others to understand, days when I question God and say "Is this it?  Was this your plan for me?"  Don't get me wrong.  I love my family.  My husband is an amazing man who gave 26 years of his life to protecting people, keeping streets safe and never gave up hope on humanity.  Together we have an incredible son who has so much zest for life that it makes me tired just trying to keep up with his dreams!  I think we've done pretty good raising him to love life and others.   Here is where I think... "Now what?"  I enjoy the work that I do, the church community in which I am involved, and the friends I spend time with, but I really need to find something for what I call "life after."  That is, the life after the kids are raised and the house is a little quieter.  That's the reason I started this blog so long ago; I felt like I was having a midlife crisis.  Today, I think the initial angst has passe, but here I am again wondering what it will be like when it's just the two of us at home.  

My hobby right now is an intense focus on healthy eating and getting my body well so I can enjoy my later years.  I am working on making that hobby into something more.  I have a pile of books that I really don't like reading.  They're textbooks, you see, and it's been a very long time since I've had to do any studying.  A really, really long time.  I don't even know how to do it.  I've started and stopped many times a self-paced program through Dr. Fuhrman's "university" that will certify me as  Nutritional Education Trainer.  What that is is basically a coach to help people realize the powerful effects of a high-nutrient eating style.  I have all sorts of ideas of how I can do this once I'm certified.  Once I'm certified.  Yeah, I've got to do the work to get the certification.  I'm working on it.  Very slowly.  I wish I had as much motivation to get the studying done as I do to cook healthy meals and to eat right.  I will get there.  I promise.

All photos courtesy of my handsome and talented hubby

So there you have it, a little midlife mumbling -- the original intent of my blog.  I like how it's morphed, though, into something more positive, so I look forward to coming back here on Friday and blogging about something exciting.  I shall see you then! 

Weekend cooking & a football game? Where?

Greetings!  If you're checking in to see where I am, I'm here!  Sorry about Friday's post.  As my mom used to tell me when I asked an uncomfortable question, "I'll tell you why when you're old enough to understand."  Let's just say, I don't think I was ever old enough.  Sunday would have been my Mom's 76th birthday.  Amazing to me that she died when she was just 64.  Unfortunately, her lifestyle led to her time being cut short.  So many things they didn't know back in the 50, including that smoking is cool.  I consider myself blessed that I have had a healthy life and have learned so much in the last few years that I do not plan to go back to the few unhealthy things that I used to do.

So here we are on Monday & I did some cooking this weekend.  Just a little bit. There was a football game on that usually involves a lot of food planning and I, too, got wrapped up in the excitement of lots of food.  We were supposed to have a few teenagers come for a visit, but that didn't happen. I had already made my menu and purchased extra food, so I went with it for just Hubby and me.  But before I get to Sunday, let's start with Friday.

Friday night Alex was playing a gig at a local coffee/dessert house, and I was looking forward to some nice music & a date of sorts with my handsome man.  Alex's girlfriend was over for dinner and though she is a vegetarian, she's not quite as extreme as we are, but she is a nice young lady, goes with the flow and eats what I prepare without saying a word about it unless it's a sweet compliment.  Friday I made what we call Rice & Bean bowls, which I have since come to understand really should be referred to as Buddha Bowls -- they have a grain (in our case, quinoa), a protein (black beans), lots of veggies (corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, avocado) and a dressing (salsa).  We love these.  They're different each time and since I serve them sort of as a buffet, you can leave off what you don't like.  I wasn't in the groove and didn't take a picture.  Sorry. 

Before we headed out the door, I made these brownies with the leftover quinoa from dinner.  I got the recipe from my friend Carrie's blog.  Every Friday she shares other people's vegan recipes.  And it was just way to tempting.  I have to say these brownies are THE BEST!  Too good even.  Because the frosting has peanuts in it, they were off limits to my husband -- though, he did try a couple -- and that left the rest of the pan to me. (It was a small pan, come on.)  I made a couple of modifications to the recipe, subbing almond butter for coconut oil in the "dough" mixture.  It is possible to overeat on healthy food, and I think that's what I did. 

Later that night it was off to the coffee shop to listen to Alex play a few songs.  There were quite a few people who had come to see him, so it was nice to see some friends and chat with Alex's girlfriend a little bit.  She has been in the picture for just shy of two years, and I'm hoping she stays around much longer.  I am no longer outnumbered by males when she is around.  We really enjoy her company.  If you click here you can get a little taste of what we heard that night while we sipped some tea.  I can't believe how far he's come in his guitar playing and his singing since he started all those years ago.  Lessons and practice have definitely paid off.  His playing and singing is one of the things I miss when he's away from home for extended periods.  It is so much of who he is.


On to the rest of the weekend.  Except for going to work, I have been at home and inside so much lately -- I think because of the cold weather (I don't tolerate it well) -- that I was itching to get outside!  Mr. Weatherman said it was to be foggy in the morning and in the low 50s later, so I had great ambitions to go hiking.  Well, since Mr. Weatherman did say it would be foggy, I won't hold it against him, but the fog didn't lift until about 3:30 Saturday afternoon.  There would have been no way to wait that long, so we headed out at about 10 a.m. to an old railroad bed that's been made into a trail.  We got in a very chilly six-mile walk.  It was nice to breathe in the cool air and get the heart pumping outside of the gym.  Plus, who can argue with some hubby time?  We did stop to take a quick little picture. 

I need a step stool for self portraits!  I'm really not THAT short... am I? It's not the greatest picture what with the hat hair and all...

I was pretty tired on Saturday afternoon since my cat had decided to wake me up at 4 a.m. so I did something I don't normally do... I took a nap.  That took me straight through to late, late afternoon and I wasn't prepared for dinner, so we just had huge salads.

Sunday was the day of the "Big Game."  Apparently, the "S" word is copyrighted so I won't be saying it.  I started off by making a baked oatmeal.  It was just what we needed for a chilly morning, chock full of berries, bananas, heart-healthy oats & flax.

baked oatmeal ingredients

After breakfast things really got cooking!  On the menu: for snacks: stuffed mushrooms and crispy garbanzo beans.  For dinner: Enchiladas and fruit.  I had intentions of doing a veggie tray or a salad and something for dessert, but as the morning and early afternoon went on, I lost my enthusiasm so we just had the few things.  It's okay.  It was all healthy.  I didn't get in any greens (except the cooked ones in the enchiladas), but I'll make up for it today.

First for the stuffed mushrooms.  Feast your eyes on these for a while.  Chef AJ has a great recipe.  I can't find it online right now, except for a video of her making them.  Trust me when I say they are delish!  I will get that recipe on here soon! 

I also made some chickpea snacks.  At first I didn't think these were very good, but they're kind of addicting.  They are easy to make.  I will post the recipe later as I don't want to overwhelm the system here -- or yours for that matter. 

crunchy little buggers! Perfect for movie watching -- and they're healthy!

And now for the enchiladas:
I love my food processor.  Sometimes I don't use it for small tasks because I don't want to clean it, but it really cuts (pun intended) the prep time incredibly!  I first used the chopping blade and chopped the peppers, then took that out and added the slicing blade and shredded two carrots and a zucchini.  This is what it looked like all in the bowl.

 

Then I chopped up about two cups of greens.  I happened to have some Swiss chard and collard greens on hand, but any dark green leafy veggie will work fine.  Put it all in a pot with a couple cloves of garlic (minced) and about a cup each of corn and black beans (left over from Friday).  Let that go for a few minutes and then it will be ready to use as a stuffing for the enchiladas.

I know the tortillas I used aren't the "best" but they are good, have only a couple of ingredients (which are NOT salt or lard) and are pliable for enchiladas after a few seconds of heating.

I like these corn tortillas, found in the fresh case near the cheese

Here's what they looked like with some mooshed avocados

And what goes with enchiladas?  Tropical fruit salad, of course!  I'm not sure that it goes better than anything else, but I dig it, so that's what I made.  Pineapple, kiwi, mango, starfruit (not a fan) and oranges rounded out the dish quite nicely.

So that was our spread for watching the game.  I was in the kitchen during the plays and was in the room to watch the commercials.  I really liked the farmer one narrated by Paul Harvey.  I was surprised that it was a Dodge advertisement, but the underlying message was good.  I will hold my comments about the other commercials, but suffice it to say that I don't think it's a family-friendly activity anymore.  I told my husband that I thought the whole four hours was definitely targeting men and he said "not this man."  Maybe next year we'll have something else to do on game day!

In any event, I hope you have a great week.  Make it a healthy one, and I'll be back on Wednesday with yet ANOTHER soup recipe.