Nutritarian Recipes

The Happy Rehab Doc: Best of the Blogosphere From the Last Week!! Holiday Meal Ideas, Bon Appetit's Best Vegan, Gluten Free Blogs & Health Care Savings!! AND, the Recipe of the Week!

2012-01-02T11:32:00.001-05:00

How fun! I just found this blog yesterday and was reading through some recent posts this morning, and what do I find? A link to my own Nutritarian Recipes blog, as the Recipe of the Week! It's a sign. I really do need to get back here, for many reasons. Stay tuned . . .

And now for the particular post from "Dr. Cat":

The Happy Rehab Doc: Best of the Blogosphere From the Last Week!! Holiday Meal Ideas, Bon Appetit's Best Vegan, Gluten Free Blogs & Health Care Savings!! AND, the Recipe of the Week!

Thanksgiving, Continued

2011-11-24T22:32:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of other things I made for Thanksgiving, in addition to a nutritarian-friendly dressing of whole-grain dried breads, lowfat homemade cornbread, celery and onions, dried cranberries, currants, sage, marjoram, and thyme, plus stock:

Orange-Apricot Glazed Brussels Sprouts
4 cups fresh brussels sprouts
1/2 cup orange juice
4-6 dried apricot halves, snipped into small pieces
2 teaspoons crumbled rosemary leaves

Steam brussels sprouts and set aside. In a saucepan large enough to hold the sprouts, boil orange juice until reduced by half, adding the apricots and rosemary during the process. Once the apricots are softened and the juice reduced, add the sprouts, stirring to coat with the glaze.

Verdict: Very Good. I had some of these cold when others were breaking out the leftovers in the late evening.

Crisp Asparagus Spears
1 bunch slender asparagus, tough ends cut or snapped off
1/3 cup Amazing Creamy Garlic Dressing (see previous post)

Lightly steam asparagus, leaving still very crisp, then plunge into cold water. Arrange in serving dish and provide dressing on the side as a dip.

Verdict: Very Good. You just can't go wrong with this condiment.

Clear and Elegant Gravy
3 cups high-quality stock, defatted
1/2 cup white wine
2 teaspoons cornstarch and a little water to dissolve (may use more for thicker consistency)

Cook down the stock until 1/3 to 1/2 the original volume, then add the wine and cook down a bit more, adding the dissolved cornstarch near the end to thicken a bit. The idea is not to have a thick and gloppy gravy but to give the naturally-thin stock a bit more body for serving over potatoes, dressing, etc.

Verdict: Excellent. The trick is in the stock, no doubt. It must be a high-quality thing, never bouillon or (horrors!) canned stuff or sloppily-thrown-together vegetable or meat water. It is beyond my expertise to explain stock well myself, as I do it by instinct and taste and sight. I'll have to leave you to your own instincts or investigations.

Here's To A Healthy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T18:54:00.002-05:00

Having begun the 2011 Holiday Challenge of Dr. Joel Fuhrman this week, I am committed to making Thanksgiving as healthy as possible. So here are a few things I'm doing for our feast.

Most important of all, I am alert and aware of all the things for which I am thankful, not being in a food coma already this week--I mean, to get in all the treats that are available for Thanksgiving, you really need a week! Pumpkin rolls, egg nog, cute frosted cookies, pies of every sort, chocolate treats (though I associate chocolate with Christmas instead), an enormous turkey, creamed this and that, dips and cheese balls and punches and sauces . . . it's all too much!

First strategy: Avoidance - purchase or make less-tempting-to-me versions of favorites. For example, I purchased brown-and-serve rolls from the grocery instead of making the heavenly ice-box rolls that are a family tradition. Yes, we love them, but why not put off having them until maybe Christmas, when one missing family member will be here? Also, I'm skipping making a pecan pie because that's my favorite. We'll have pumpkin and apple, and I'm going to find or dream up a date-and-pecan kind of treat that will keep me happy--I'm thinking a ball/truffle kind of thing.

Second strategy: Indulgence - purchase the nicest versions of fully nutritarian items, like unsweetened coconut, fresh pineapple, gorgeous pears, brussels sprouts on the stalk, and nuts and dried fruits for special treats.

Third strategy: Creativity - make dishes nutritarian-friendly to begin with or make my own versions to serve alongside the versions the family will have. With that goal in mind, I share a few of the things I've made today . . . (no verdict yet on the ones I haven't tried beyond initial tasting)

Mashed Potatoes
2 cups boiled white potatoes
1/4 cup Amazing Creamy Garlic Dressing (see below)
2 tablespoons dried chives
pepper to taste

Mash the potatoes, mix in the other ingredients, and serve. I put mine in a small casserole dish to reheat for Thanksgiving and after.

Amazing Creamy Garlic Dressing
1 cup raw cashews
3 cloves garlic
juice of one lime
1/2 - 1 cup water

Whirl all in a high-powered blender until completely smooth, and store in a jar in the fridge.

Verdict: Excellent. I have enjoyed this on salads this week, and when I put it on steamed collard greens last night the family was sure it was butter.

Simple Skinny Sweet Potatoes
1 cup baked sweet potato
1/3 cup minced fresh pineapple
dash each cloves, ginger, and cinnamon, with more cinnamon for the top
1 tablespoon chopped pecans

Mash sweet potato with the pineapple and mix in spices, then put into a non-stick-spray-coated custard cup and top with pecans and more cinnamon

Elegant Ambrosia
3 quarts Valencia or Navel oranges (make that about 6 pounds oranges, which yields 3 quarts of sections)
2/3 cup unsweetened flaked coconut, toasted or not, as you prefer
1/3 cup Cointreau (optional)

Peel and section the oranges, then tear each segment in two, to release the juice somewhat. If you're really OCD, remove all the membranes, but I think they include important nutrients. Add coconut and toss, then pour Cointreau on and toss again. Refrigerate at least overnight to let the flavors meld, stirring occasionally.

Verdict: Excellent! This is one of my all-time favorite holiday dishes (especially for Christmas), even without the Cointreau, though I've traditionally had it with sweetened coconut. I usually serve it at the table with the meal, but for Thanksgiving this year I'm serving it as a dessert, so I won't notice the pie I'm not eating! It's better as the days go by, so that's why I make so much to begin with.

To be continued . . .

Jewel Salad

2011-11-18T16:49:00.000-05:00

My lunchtime salads are pretty routine for me, and if you search through "salad ideas" from the tags, you'll see a lot of the same things going on: base of lots of dark green lettuce, assorted other veggies for crunch and variety, a cup or so of beans, a half ounce or so of nuts or seeds (or some blended into a dressing), and some canned beets or diced fruit or occasionally dried fruit. Yesterday I made a "micro salad" of all of that kind of thing, including some kale, and everything was chopped very small.

In an effort to simplify and to quit being dependent on the lazy answer of SAD dressings (as I have resorted to in recent ~~weeks~~ months), I'm working to make sure that the salad is moist enough (without seeming just soggy) and flavorful enough. Yesterday's salad was just right with diced pear and a sprinkle of balsamic vinaigrette. And here's what I did today, a beautiful salad that reminded me of rubies:

Jewel Salad

4 - 6 cups red leaf lettuce and romaine, torn in small pieces
1/2 cup diced canned beets
3/4 cup black beans
1/3 cup red grapes, halved
1 green onion, chopped (or red onion would work, too!)
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced on top
1/3 - 1/2 oz. sliced or chopped nuts (I used pecan meal, lightly toasted)

Carefully toss all ingredients together and enjoy a 400-or-so-calorie giant and filling lunch.

Verdict: Excellent. And beautiful, too! I realized one of the things I miss from bottled dressings (or from the blended nut/seed ones) is a strong bite of garlic, and I thought I'd experiment with just putting pressed garlic on top to mix through the salad, and it worked beautifully. Garlic provides a deep, rich flavor and fullness to a salad.

Quick and Satisfying Supper

2011-11-18T12:09:00.000-05:00

Last evening I made a quick and satisfying supper I wanted to share:

Sherried Peas and Mushrooms

1/2 onion, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
16 oz. bag frozen peas
Tablespoon of sherry

Water-saute the onion and mushrooms until softened, then stir in the bag of peas and cook on medium until the peas are done, stirring occasionally--no need for additional liquid. Just before serving, stir in the sherry.

Verdict: Very Good. This was a hearty and satisfying flavor, keeping me from missing the creamed tuna and noodles the rest of the family had with it. :-)

Clementine-Fennel Green Beans

1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and broken or cut into 2-inch pieces
juice from 3 small or 2 regular clementines
1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed

Steam the green beans and then dress with the clementine juice and fennel seeds. I ate this at room temperature as a salad, but it would be good warm, too.

Verdict: Very Good. I like the citrus combination with fennel seed--it's a "bright" flavor

I had about a cup each of these dishes, and an apple with sliced almonds, for my supper.

My Salad Today

2011-11-11T12:09:00.001-05:00

I love the concept of Pinterest but don't dare delve into it just now. But sometimes I just want to share great stuff. So here's the salad I'm enjoying for lunch today . . .

Essentials Pear Green Salad

4 cups packed mixed baby greens
1 cup broccoli slaw
1/4 small red onion, sliced
1 large red pear (green will do!), diced
1/2 oz lightly toasted raw cashews
1 T. bleu cheese crumbles (optional for vegans)
a few shakes red wine vinegar

Toss all ingredients together and enjoy the luxury.

Verdict: Excellent! This is such a bright, fresh combination, and yes, it would still be good without the cheese, if necessary.

Leftovers Surprise

2011-11-01T19:56:00.001-04:00

Today I launched into grading for my first quarter of my writing class with 64 online students, and with hubby away at suppertime and some easygoing kids in the house, I didn't need to do more than paw through the leftovers to figure out what to make us for supper. Here's what I wound up with, presented with the hope that it will give you hope for your leftovers!

Middle-and-Far-Eastern Bowl

Assembled from:
Brown rice
Tasty Bite Madras Lentils (1 pouch)
Cooked cauliflower (2 cups)
Black beans (1/2 can)
Falafel dough/batter (which is it, really?)
Asian Green Pepper Salad* (see below)

First in the bowl goes some brown rice. I combined the lentils, cauliflower, and black beans and microwaved them, then browned little "patties" of the falafel mixture in a skillet to kind of crumble on top. And on my serving I put some of the pepper salad, which made a beautiful garnish.

Verdict: Pretty good. This made enough to serve four generously. The falafel part could easily be left out, or substituted with hummus. The peppers on top were great. Now for the peppers recipe . . .

Asian Green Pepper Salad

4 large green peppers, cut into matchsticks
1/4 onion, minced
1 stalk celery, diced fine
1 T. rice vinegar (I used the kind with sugar)
1 T. sesame oil
1 T. roasted sesame seeds (in the spice aisle at an Asian grocery)
1 T. snipped cilantro

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Verdict: Excellent. I really like this combination of flavors, and it makes a great garnish on the above leftovers even two days after making it.

While I'm on surprises, I'll share a great salad I enjoyed today:

Black Bean and Pineapple Salad

Mixed baby greens and romaine lettuce (I used about four cups packed)
1/2 small onion, sliced
1/2 can black beans
several chunks fresh pineapple, cut into small bits
1-2 tablespoons creamy dressing of your choice (optional)

Combine and enjoy! Verdict: Very Good. This would be nice more dressed up, but it was just a quick lunch for me today.

Almond Joy Dessert

2011-10-09T16:16:00.000-04:00

I made up a great little frozen dessert for Sunday dinner today. I didn't measure, but the plan below is a good one to start from.

Almond Joy Dessert
(Serves 3 or 4)

3 frozen bananas in chunks
2-3 T. cocoa powder

1/4 - 1/2 cup milk of your choice
4 T. unsweetened coconut flakes (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 ounce blanched sliced almonds

Put the frozen bananas in a high-powered blender with the cocoa powder and milk and blend until the proper consistency (like a Wendy's Frosty, if I dare say so)

Spoon into dessert dishes and top with the almonds and coconut, then pop into the freezer until a bit more firm.

Verdict: Excellent! Even the guys in the house like it!

Gorgeous Chard

2011-10-09T16:03:00.000-04:00

I don't have a photo of our own chard from the garden we had for lunch today, but I promise it looked just like this. Even cooked (chopped and sauteed with a squeeze of lemon) it was pretty, and the flavor was satisfying, too.

Two cups of raw chard have just under 14 calories--1 calorie from fat, the rest divided between carbs and protein, and as much fiber as protein. These 14 little calories give you 88% of the RDA of Vitamin A, 36% of Vitamin C, 15% of Magnesium, and 13% of Manganese, with 8% of Potassium. That's a lot of food value! Eat your rainbows!

Photo from 6 Foods You Should Be Eating--But Probably Aren't!

Moroccan Eggplant-Chickpea Stew and The Latest Green Smoothie

2011-09-10T22:57:00.000-04:00

Subscribers to drfuhrman.com received this week a recipe for "Moroccan Spiced Eggplant and Chickpea Stew," and I made the most of our garden bounty today with that for supper, with alterations, of course. The original recipe is fairly bland and needs a little more sweetness (raisins) AND hotness (fresh hot pepper), as well as the bite of vinegar in the hot sauce I added. You can see the original at the website in the recipes section if you're a paying member, or you can see a similar recipe here. Here's my version:

MOROCCAN EGGPLANT-CHICKPEA STEW

1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1/2 green pepper, chopped (The original called for red, which would be pretty, as would yellow)
6 small Japanese eggplants (1 large one is fine, but I liked the coin-like slices of mine)
2 large tomatoes, diced (You may want to save one of them to add late in the cooking to retain discernible pieces)
water to give the right consistency (I added probably about three cups)
1 teaspoon each cinnamon and cumin
1/2 teaspoon each coriander (fresh-mortared is great!) and paprika (I think you could leave this out--it didn't add much to mine)
1 minced hot pepper, 1/4 tsp dry cayenne pepper, and/or a dash or two of hot sauce to taste (I used all three, but not a lot)
1/4 - 1/3 cup raisins
1/2 tsp salt if you need it as much as I (and my family) did :-)

Water-saute the onion and carrot and garlic until softened, then add the other ingredients in turn, waiting for the spices until the pepper is softened, and simmer for at least 30 minutes, up to an hour, perhaps reserving the raisins and part of the tomato and the salt (taste it all first!) until the last 15 minutes of cooking. I suspect this will be better the next day or two or three.

Verdict: Very Good. My husband thought it was Excellent! We ate this in small bowls at supper, with other things on the side, but it would be very nice over rice or couscous or with a flatbread on the side.

Green smoothies can actually come in all kinds of colors, including a deep, dense purple brown from lots of dark berries. Those are pretty ugly, however delicious. But I really like it when a green smoothie is just pretty. Today's was bright, vibrant green from the addition of golden fruits:

GOLDEN-GREEN SMOOTHIE

1 frozen pear (I put the whole fruit in the freezer and then microwave briefly to make it possible to slice down against the core on three or four sides to separate the fruit from the stem and seeds)
several chunks of fresh pineapple
several chunks of frozen mango
2 large kale leaves
about two cups water

Combine all ingredients in the Vita-Mix or other blender and blend until the kale is smoothly incorporated with only tiny discernible flecks. Add a tablespoon of flax seed meal to the first of two tall glasses of this concoction and enjoy!

Verdict: Excellent, as green smoothies usually are. The nice thing is that I can taste at the end and add a little of this or that to correct the flavor. Usually I find a new smoothie experiment needs a bit of citrus to brighten it up.

Swamp Salad

2011-08-29T13:54:00.000-04:00

It doesn't sound too good, does it, "Swamp Salad?" But that's really what it's like. And like many nutritarian foods--think green smoothies and pureed bean dips--it can quickly become a favorite, a craving, even! I was really hungry at lunch today, so I had more of this than I usually would have--see the notes.

It started with a hankering for some Tasty Bite Madras Lentils I have had my eye on in the cabinet lately. (I used them in a previous post, too, as I have several Tasty Bite products.) I knew they'd be spicy and comfort-food-y with a lot of sauce for the amount of lentils. They do have a bit of oil and cream, but it's only 50 calories of fat per 150 calories (with 7 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber) of the product. My idea grew from there to the kind of salad I read of many nutritarians making--with soup on top instead of dressing. That's what makes it a swamp. :-)

SWAMP SALAD

About 4 cups chopped green leaf lettuce
1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 small bell pepper, minced
1 diced tomato
1/3 cup fresh corn kernels (optional)*
1 package (or 1/2 package if you're not as hungry as I was today) Tasty Bite Madras Lentils

*But then this salad is really a method suggestion, so everything is optional, interchangeable, inspirational

Toss together all the veggies, and pour the warmed pouch of lentils over the top. Stir, savor, and be satisfied!

Verdict: Excellent! Of course this salad has endless variations, limited only by what sort of soupy stuff you're willing to put over your salad. Or, think of it this way: instead of topping pasta or rice or couscous or a tortilla with a savory (or any!) sauce, put that stuff over a salad and make it really nutritious.

Zucchini "Fries?"

2011-08-09T08:11:00.000-04:00

Is it appropriate to call a food "fries" if there's no frying involved?

I have to get creative to deal with all the produce coming in now, like the 30-pound bucket of cucumbers dh hauled up from the garden last night. Okayyyy . . . Did I mention I'm the main cucumber consumer in the house and dh doesn't even like them?

And of course there's always zucchini. I made a zucchini frittata (Joy of Cooking) the other day, and a stir-fry with sausage--no recipes here for obvious reasons. But here's a nutritarian-friendly dish I created last night, vaguely inspired by some recipes I've seen lately, like this one from Vegan Mama for eggplant fries.

CRISPY BAKED ZUCCHINI SPEARS

1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt (soy should be fine)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves (or dry if necessary)
a few grinds of pepper
a sprinkle of salt (optional)
4 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise into about sixths and then halved, for finger-sized spears
2 large slices whole-grain bread, in crumbs
1-2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast if you do that, or omit altogether and try another spice or herb with the crumbs)

Combine yogurt, garlic powder, basil, pepper, and salt and allow to stand while preparing the zucchini. Coat each zucchini spear with the yogurt mixture and set aside on a plate until all are done. Then roll the spears in the mixture of crumbs and parmesan until partially coated on all sides, and arrange on a large cookie sheet which has been smeared with a bit of oil or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. It might be a good idea to add the crumbs to a plate in batches so they're not all moistened by the end of the process, and do note that you won't have enough crumbs to completely coat the spears--but getting enough to hold the zucchini off the cookie sheet surface will allow for a crispier result. Slide the pan of prepared spears into the fridge for a little while and pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake for about twenty minutes, until the zucchini is tender and the crumbs are crispy. Serve with a sauce like the lemon-dill sauce in Vegan Mama's recipe above. I mixed horseradish sauce with more plain yogurt and that was very nice, too.

Verdict: Excellent! We really enjoyed these, a great way to use up that zucchini! This made VERY generous servings for four and would easily feed eight people a moderate serving.

Now to use my friend Pam's Bang Bang Chicken recipe, with variations, to work with some of those cucumbers! Her recipe, from the book Extending the Table, has a sauce component similar to this one on video: Bang Bang Chicken. I will report later . . .

Salads Redux

2011-08-06T13:25:00.001-04:00

I've just had a delightful salad for lunch, made possible by earlier salads I've made this week. Here are the components, then my combination for today:

CUCUMBER SALAD
From The Joy of Cooking (1997), pp. 218-219. This amazingly simple combination of rice vinegar, toasted sesame seeds, and a little sugar, in which slices or chunks of cucumber are marinated, is excellent on its own. I scored the cucumbers with a fork and cut them lengthwise into sixths and then crosswise into little chunks.

CREAMY ONION-BALSAMIC DRESSING

1/2 cup raw cashews, lightly toasted if desired
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic
1/2 - 1 cup water

Combine all ingredients in blender and whirl until cashews are smoothed into the liquid.

Verdict: Excellent. I like my dressings thin, so I used the full cup of water. I had it first on a salad of home-grown leaf lettuce and arugula, with cucumber, canned beets, canned red beans, and a few raisins.

TODAY'S VERSION

Today I created a salad of home-grown leaf lettuce and arugula, sliced red onion, and halved red grapes, then added a portion of the cucumber salad and a drizzle of the balsamic dressing. The combination is outstanding--I think a judicious touch of fruit in a savory salad is a magic secret ingredient!

A Bit of Wisdom

2011-07-25T15:43:00.000-04:00

In describing how her life used to revolve around doing a Martha-Stewart-type holiday season, Emily Boller shared some wit and wisdom I should keep in mind as the school year approaches:

Overachievers need a lot of food to keep them going!
I like to focus on 'being' now instead. It removes the overachieving insanity.

How about you?

Today's Salad

2011-07-11T13:00:00.000-04:00

I have a mixing-bowl-sized salad almost every day for lunch, and though it's pretty similar most days, I try to make interesting variations. In general I start with about the equivalent of a romaine heart in quantity of two or three different dark lettuces, then add a half cup to one-and-a-half cups chopped other vegetables, a cup of beans, and often a fruit of some sort, then I top it with a nut- or seed-based homemade salad dressing. Here is today's:

Torn-up green leaf lettuce and romaine
Handful of broccoli slaw (convenience item)
snipped scallion
1/2 small bell pepper
1/3 chopped cucumber
1 cup rinsed canned black beans
chopped white-flesh nectarine
1/2 cup Creamy Asian Dressing

CREAMY ASIAN DRESSING
The ingredients are pretty specialized to my kitchen, but use it for inspiration from yours!

2 T. natural peanut butter solids*
2 T. roasted sesame seeds (the kind sold in big spice containers in Asian groceries -- equivalent tahini is fine)
1 clove garlic
flesh and zest from a small lime
1/2 to 1 tsp. soy sauce or equivalent
2 T. spiced peach preserves or chutney or similar sweet fruit concoction
about 1 cup warm water
(1 T. or to-taste amount of tarragon or other vinegar)

Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix until the seeds are incorporated and smooth. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. This is the point at which I added the vinegar. Makes about 1-1/2 cups, a half cup a good amount for a giant salad.

Verdict: Very Good. The toasted sesame seeds and the preserves and the lime and vinegar as well as the garlic create that great marriage of flavors I like in a nut-based dressing--fresh, deep, peppery, and--this time--sweet. I'm enjoying this whole salad as I create this post.

*The stuff left at the bottom of the jar when all the oil is gone, the stuff that won't spread and seems pretty useless. Use it for this! Of course regular-consistency peanut butter would be fine, too.

Cabbage Part 2

2011-07-08T10:01:00.001-04:00

After the cabbage rolls (see last post), today I had the partly-cooked inner portion of my gorgeous giant green cabbage to work with, plus the fresh small red potatoes from the produce place. Vegans will have to think "veggie stock" when reading this recipe. We loved it!

SHADES-OF-GREEN CABBAGE SOUP

1 chopped onion
2 chopped stalks celery
1 large clove garlic, minced or mashed
1 small cabbage (or the inside of a giant one left over after making cabbage rolls), raw or blanched, roughly chopped
4 oz chopped mushrooms (optional)
4-8 plum-sized new potatoes, chopped bite-size
2 turnips, chopped (optional)
2 quarts quality stock (I used defatted chicken and turkey, but veggie stock is fine!)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed
garlic powder and dehydrated onion flakes, if desired, and to taste
black pepper to taste
1-3 cups packed chopped or torn kale leaves
salt if you must

Dry- or water- or stock-saute the onion and celery until softened a bit, then add the garlic and cook a bit more, then dump in the cabbage, optional mushrooms, potatoes, and optional turnips as you get them chopped, topping off with the stock and enough water to cover all the veggies in the pot. (Mine was up to the tippy-top of a 6.5-quart pot.) Add the fennel and some pepper and garlic powder and dried onion if desired, bring to a boil, and simmer for about 20 - 50 minutes, until the potatoes are tender, adding the kale near the end of cooking time, depending on how wilted or fully-cooked you like it, and correct seasoning.

Verdict: Excellent. It helps that I started with an excellent stock, and I confess that it had some salt in it, but I usually cook with no additional salt, and my tastes have acclimated to it--it happens! The family loved this, too, and the cold leftovers smell great this morning.

I added turnips only because I had two completely dried-out ones in my onion bowl and wondered if I could rehydrate them -- worked great! I fished them out of the pot near the end of cooking and snipped them up (still a bit tough) and added them back into the pot. Turnip greens could easily be substituted for the kale, and carrots would be another nice addition, but I wanted to have the green color more prominent.

I served this with a gorgeous fruit salad of watermelon chunks, black raspberries, blueberries, and chopped mango with a little squeeze of lime. Lovely.

Moosewood Mutation

2011-07-06T20:35:00.001-04:00

Sometimes cooking is such a creative adventure! This morning I accepted a friend's invitation to visit The Apple Castle in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, a local produce store that celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Even out of season their Melrose apples are excellent, and I got several interesting items to try, including Skinner's Vaporizing Salve and "No-Bite-Me," as well as some Three-Pepper Lemon hot sauce, pickles, licorice all-sorts, sorghum molasses, local dark honey, red potatoes, a few tomatoes, and a GORGEOUS giant green cabbage. That cabbage was my inspiration for supper.

UPDATE: The "No-Bite-Me" doesn't seem to be very effective. I put some on before going out about 10 p.m. for some fireworks, and I swatted at least three mosquitoes from my arms in the first five minutes. Now perhaps the stuff slows them down so they're swattable? I'm willing to try again . . . but as Lifehacker says, DEET is pretty much the only way to go.

I was thinking of a soup using the potatoes and cabbage, but then I came across "Stuffed Cabbage" in the 1992 Moosewood Cookbook. That recipe, p. 155, calls for ricotta cheese, so I decided to play with it a bit and try to use some leftover hummus and kidney beans, plus diced zucchini, to approximate the substance of ricotta for the filling. I also wanted to cut down on the fat and left out the butter (for the veggie saute) and the 3/4 cup minced cashews (optional) in the original recipe, but I increased the carrot and celery. I also reduced the soy sauce substantially. So this is a nutritarian improvement on what was originally a great recipe. (I seem to remember making it years ago.) If you need help with techniques, please refer to the original recipe.

MOOSEWOOD-INSPIRED STUFFED CABBAGE

1 large head green cabbage
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, or combination
1-1/2 cups mashed beans (white are probably best--I had a combination of leftover dry hummus and kidney beans)
1 small apple, chopped
1/4 cup raisins or currants
juice of one lime or lemon
1-2 tsp soy sauce (or tamari)
fresh-ground black pepper

Core the cabbage and boil it for about 10 minutes in a big pot of water, then carefully pull off 12 of the outer leaves. While the cabbage is boiling, prepare the filling: dry-saute or water-saute the onion, celery, and carrot, then zucchini and garlic. When tender, add the seeds or nuts and the beans, then the apple, raisins, citrus juice, and soy sauce and pepper. Taste and correct the seasoning.

When the cabbage leaves are cooled (keep the remainder of the cabbage for another purpose), divide the filling into 12 portions and roll it up in the leaves, beginning at the base and folding in the sides, then place the rolled pieces into a 9x13 dish you have sprayed with cooking spray or a light smear of oil. Bake covered* at 325 for about 30 minutes.

*I forgot to cover them and they came out fine--plenty moist.

The original recipe calls for a cashew-ginger sauce (with honey, vinegar, and garlic, to make two cups) on top of the rolls. I substituted a similar sauce thrown together from an existing mustard-tahini sauce with the addition of maple syrup, ginger, and peanut butter, to make about a cup, and my husband said he'd prefer the cabbage rolls without the sauce, or with just a dab.

Verdict: Very Good. I really enjoyed these and am thrilled I have leftovers for another day. I think the mashed beans and zucchini replaced the ricotta very nicely, and I'm glad I left out the original recipe's honey and used half the amount of sauce called for. The filling seemed a little skimpy for the size of the leaves I had, but the final product is fine in proportions of cabbage and filling. I did use a sauce but did not cover these while they baked, and I think I had mine in the oven shy of the 30 minutes, though they heated through nicely. Without sauce two of these equal 1/6 oz. nuts/seeds, 1/4 fruit, 1/4 cup beans, and about a cup of cooked veggies. You MIGHT want to try a traditional tomato sauce on these, but not too much, and probably sweetened with a date or raisins in the food processor.

Real-Life Survival and Celebration on Vacation

2011-07-05T15:49:00.000-04:00

Hubby and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary (today!) last week with a wonderful trip to the Boston area. We had five full days of eating out in one form or another, and I thought I'd cover some things that worked well for me without mentioning too much about getting off-track from nutritarian eating.

In my carry-on I had two clementines, two apples, a sandwich bag of almonds, and a sandwich bag of several types of dried fruit, plus a small bag of green grapes. When I returned I had one of the apples in the car on the way home from the airport, and the other is still withering in the bag. We had the citrus the first day, and most of the grapes (discarded the others), and a few pieces of the nuts and dried fruit through the days. I liked the feeling of knowing I had these things for when other choices weren't good ones.

We found a grocery the first evening and I bought some nice peaches and a box of Hodgson Mill muesli, plus some strawberries, I think, plus a little jar of peanut butter and I think some crackers to put it on (we had such a good time I've forgotten!). I also got sugar snap peas and carrots combined in a little bag, and I kept them on ice. Even without a fridge in our room we had a little coffee maker, and for breakfast three days I added hot water to a little muesli and a cut-up peach and was good to go for many hours. The fourth morning our hotel (Best Western Plus Plymouth) provided breakfast (and I was out of peaches), so I had their lovely untreated melon fruit bowl with a boiled egg and a slice of whole wheat toast.

Don't trust the waitress or the chef. In one family-type Italian restaurant I ordered a veggie-strong chicken dish (and it did have a lot of veggies) but asked that it be prepared with as little additional oil as possible. No go. It was covered with sauce (kind of a garlicky one, but not an Alfredo). On the other hand, at Sam Diego's Plymouth I ordered a vegetarian burrito and asked that they omit the cream cheese inside and the cheese on the outside, and the chef took the clue and also left off the sour cream, giving me extra guacamole, I think. A nice touch!

Fish is often the best choice in a restaurant, if you can get it without added oil or as little as possible for the recipe. At Legal Sea Foods at Long Wharf in Boston I had a deliciously light luncheon-portion Cajun-spiced pollock with diced mango, pineapple, and jicama, alongside asparagus and some jasmine rice. Yes, I noticed that Legal Sea Foods had a "vegetarian box," but I was at Long Wharf in Boston on the first day of my anniversary trip! :-) At The Franklin Cape Ann (which we kind of stumbled into when another great restaurant we'd enjoyed 18 months ago seemed to have disappeared) we shared the amazing Grilled Asparagus Salad and I got the Pan Seared Atlantic Haddock. Only now as I look at the website do I see that they have a vegetarian menu, too. If I were visiting again, I might try anything on that menu (though skipping the mozzarella salad). On the other hand, they have an English pea soup listed there with both crispy bacon and creme fraiche! So perhaps they don't know what they're talking about when they say "vegetarian." Probably my favorite find as a nutritarian from the sticks (and an hour from the nearest Whole Foods Market) was the WF directly next door to the Cambridge church we visited on Sunday morning, so I experienced the "Whole Paycheck" phenomenon with a big salad bar container that cost me $15! I couldn't finish it, but it was delicious and about 95% nutritarian. That was nice. Now that I've mentioned just about every other place we ate, I have to mention Rang Indian Bistro in Stoneham. Gorgeous, delicious food, including Aloo Tikka Chat for an appetizer, and I think I got the Dal Makhani.

I'm glad I'm not a "drinker." Hubby and I shared a glass of wine at one dinner and a glass of sparkling wine at another, and we even had a first for us and each had a mixed drink in a hotel lounge one late afternoon. I'm glad to have enjoyed these drinks but also glad to have them be so special and not a routine part of life. I have enough challenges with other calorie options out there! Weight Maven has a good post on this idea of specialness here.

My eating degenerates over the days of a trip. I start with the best of intentions and practices, and the availability of amazing fun foods and the celebration mentality kind of get to me. So I had a wrap (grilled veggies with some cheese) sandwich in the airport on the way home, and a donut from the airport Dunkin Donuts afterwards, then both a Diet Coke (my first of the trip!) and salty packaged snacks on the plane. My last hurrah, I guess. The scale was up a few pounds the first day home, but I'm thankful that just a week later I'm down a pound from when I left. I'm especially thankful that because I eat mostly nutritarian I didn't have a lot of detox to go through upon my return to nutritarian eating.

It was fun, but it's good to be home! Our grocery stores (even in the sticks) are paradises of produce compared to what's "out there" on city streets and in restaurants and airports!

Salad Dressing Variation, Banana-Raspberry Soft Serve

2011-07-05T14:36:00.000-04:00

With a giant salad my usual lunchtime centerpiece of the day, I like to find easy and delicious variations. I keep coming back to a combination of a nut or seed or butter thereof, citrus juice, and garlic. Today I made a new dressing inspired partly by "Hail to the Kale" in Chef A.J.'s and Julieanna Hever's video, linked here:

ALMOND-LIME SALAD DRESSING

2 dates
clove of garlic
2 oz. almonds
grape-sized piece of ginger
zest and flesh of half a small lime
1 to 1-1/2 cups water

Combine all ingredients and whirl them in the Vita-Mix. A 1/4-cup serving made with 1-1/2 cups water is 1/3 oz. nuts.

Verdict: Excellent. Creamy and yet with full coverage of the salad when made with the larger amount of water suggested. Is it strange that I like the garlic aftertaste? I had this on a salad of artisan lettuces and green leaf lettuce, chopped cucumber, red bell pepper, and scallion, with 3/4 cup home-cooked pinto beans, and a fruit cup on the side.

--------------

BANANA-RASPBERRY SOFT SERVE

We are blessed to have black raspberries growing on the side of an old barn adjacent to our property, and hubby and kids have gathered a couple of gallons of them so far, I think. For Sunday dinner I made a coulis (1 pint raspberries, 3 T. sugar, 2 tsp. lemon juice blended in the blender and then pushed through a sieve) to serve on vanilla ice cream. For me I just added to the coulis-coated blender container 1-1/2 bananas and a little water (and, I confess, a dollop of ice cream) to get the consistency right. I got a beautifully rosy product very similar to soft-serve ice cream (or facsimile thereof) and every bit as satisfying as what the rest of the family were having. That helps make nutritarian eating more workable. (By the way, I think it would have worked better with more banana, as there wasn't enough to form up correctly around the blades, necessitating the water and possibly justifying the ice cream addition.)

Bananas are magic in the Vita-Mix. With a chocolate craving last week I put a heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder and a little instant decaf coffee into a quarter cup or so of hot water to dissolve, then added them into the blender with 1-1/2 bananas, for a completely satisfying dessert treat.

Verdict: Excellent on both of these, as well as a toasted-walnut variation I've tried in the past.

Salad Party Boats

2011-06-20T16:35:00.000-04:00

I can't find my own post about the original idea for this, but I saw in a magazine the idea for portable Caesar salads: romaine lettuce leaf "boats" with fillings like croutons and other things you'd see in a Caesar salad. Last night we had some friends over to watch the sunset (well, just to visit, since it was cloudy, but the deck was nice anyway), and I put out some quick foods to feed the six of us. I created my own version.

SALAD PARTY BOATS

Romaine lettuce leaves of various sizes, left whole
Hummus
Diced cucumber
Diced radishes
Snipped green onions
Chopped tomato
Dressing of your choice (I used a variation on my usual Lemon-Tahini Dressing, to which I added some grated ginger)
Optional: croutons of whatever sort you like

Put these ingredients and whatever else strikes your fancy in attractive serving dishes, and each diner will assemble his own. Into the depression of a single romaine leaf, spread some hummus to anchor the addition of the pieces of the other ingredients, then drizzle a little dressing over the top. It should then be eaten by hand in a kind of open-faced burrito sort of way.

Verdict: Very Good. I really enjoyed mine, and I could see this being a standard "funky salad" offering when we have people over. Of course the nutritional profile will change according to the ingredients used, but it makes for a great option for nutritarian and other guests at a party. Nutritarians might prefer to be issued a mixing bowl into which to break up their romaine leaves, or they could just be polite and eat like other folks for this one meal. ;-)

Depressing, But I'm Not Giving Up!

2011-06-20T16:19:00.000-04:00

Dr. Arya Sharma posts this: "Why Diet and Exercise is Not a Treatment For Obesity."

It turns out that "keeping it off" is much harder for those of us who have had to lose it. I'm almost 20% lighter than my highest weight, but I have a distance yet to go. But like my dad always said, "Life is not fair." :-)

Telling final quote: "Whoever said that treating obesity was simply a matter of ‘eating less and moving more’ (ELMM) probably also believes that they [sic] can live forever by simply breathing less."

Triple-A Salad and a Cookbook Tip

2011-06-15T20:08:00.000-04:00

Hubby has the two kids who are home this summer out working in the fields, but supper is ready to go whenever they show up here. I baked sweet potatoes, broiled chicken legs, sauteed turnip greens, and created this Triple-A Salad:

TRIPLE-A SALAD

1 cup broccoli slaw (packaged or make your own--just shreds or matchsticks of broccoli stem with some carrot and probably a bit of cabbage)
1/2 cup matchstick carrots (packaged or make your own)
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 radishes, sliced thin (I quartered the slices)
4-6 snipped-up dried apricot halves
1 navel orange, diced (making sure all the juice goes in the bowl!)
1 small apple, diced
1 teaspoons grated fresh ginger (or 1/2 tsp dried, if you must)
1 oz toasted chopped almonds (Get it? The bold items are the A's. :-) )

Combine all ingredients and let sit for a half hour to combine flavors.

Verdict: EXCELLENT. This is another variation on a theme I've come to enjoy--a crisp, bright salad of cruciferous veggies and fruit, along the lines of a carrot salad. Most of the ones I've made include the base of broccoli slaw or cabbage slaw, carrots, dried fruit (currants are nice), and apple or pear with some kind of citrus. Nuts really dress it up.

Here's a tip: The Joy of Cooking (1997 edition) has a recipe on p. 281, "Lentils and Tomato Sauce With Elbow Macaroni and Fried Onions," and Egyptian/Syrian dish that can be easily adapted to nutritarian purposes. Its distinctive is a lovely seasoning of cumin, coriander, and allspice in a diced-tomato and onion sauce over pasta. I served it with a topping of raita (cucumber and a little honey with fresh mint in plain lowfat yogurt).

What's in a Name?

2011-06-11T10:21:00.000-04:00

I've been calling myself a "nutritarian," or saying that I follow "nutritarian principles," for a while now. I like the fact that the word, coined by Dr. Fuhrman, I believe, focuses on the goal of this eating style--to get in the most nutrition possible per calorie. But it's unfamiliar and confusing to people.

I've also told people that I eat "mostly vegan," but that sounds like I have an ideology that shuns animal foods. Plus, a lot of vegans eat junk--processed vegan junk food. I don't mind it that I'm contributing dramatically less to the factory-farm food industry (See Food, Inc., available in different versions on YouTube), but I have no ethical/moral/aesthetic problem with animal foods. I eat small amounts of meat and dairy and eggs when I'm eating healthy, and more than that when I'm just indulging. Michael Pollan, whose books I haven't read, seems to have a reasonable approach.

Another term has been going around among the blogs I read, "Plant Strong." I like that concept--it captures the idea that we should be eating mostly plants, focusing on those. But it doesn't necessarily shun animal products. An emphasis on "whole foods" is also a good one, though that tends to go the way of people eating the WHOLE pig and such--not quite what I have in mind.

If anyone's out there reading, what are your thoughts about these terms or others and how well they describe what YOUR eating plan is?

Resuming

2011-06-11T09:06:00.000-04:00

Despite my silence here, I've been keeping daily food logs for months at drfuhrman.com . I've decided to post again here--if not every day, then when I have something interesting to share from a day's menu, in the way of a recipe or method. This is a summer endeavor--I may cave to time pressures again in the fall.

ITALIAN STIR-FRY

2 tsp olive oil
8 oz. bag frozen Italian-style green beans (the flat, diagonally-cut ones)
1 red bell pepper cut into strips (I used the delicious long "Ancient Sweets" in a plastic bag)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
big tablespoon pesto (mine is frozen homemade from last summer)
big handful (2 oz?) fresh spinach
grated asiago cheese to garnish

Heat the oil in a pan and add the green beans, stirring a bit before adding the pepper, onion, and garlic, then pesto, and finally spinach at the end to wilt it. The idea is to leave the peppers and onion the slightest bit crunchy and colorful.

Optional: I tossed my portion of this with whole grain penne and topped it with a little jarred marinara heated with a dash of wine

Verdict: VERY GOOD. I really enjoyed this satisfying recipe for supper. (I had about half of it with 2/3 cup pasta and a couple of tablespoons of marinara and a grating of asiago.) It's probably fine to omit the tiny bit of oil and the asiago, but you need something in the way of the pesto to perk it up, especially with no added salt.

PEACHY-GREEN SMOOTHIE

1 peach and 1 nectarine, pits removed
1 navel orange, peeled
3 hand-sized leaves of kale
a tray of ice cubes and a cup or so of water

Combine in blender (Vita-Mix is best!) and whirl until smooth, with little flecks of nectarine skin.

Verdict: VERY GOOD. It's good this way but has a slightly sulfur cast. I threw in a couple of chunks of fresh pineapple to improve the second glass. Lemon would probably fix it, too. This makes over a quart, and I add a tablespoon of flax seed meal to my first glass.

Doesn't look like much for breakfast? Remember it's over a quart of smoothie, sweet and refreshing, so it's satisfying and filling, for sure. I ran the nutrition on this recipe (including flax, not counting pineapple), and it's under 250 calories, with 7 grams of protein (about the same as a small egg), 4 grams of fat (mostly from the flax), and 10 grams of fiber. It has over twice the RDA of Vitamin C, almost all the RDA of Vitamin A, half the RDA of copper and manganese, and at least a quarter of the RDA of Vitamin B6, magnesium, phosophorus, thiamin, and niacin. And it's all fresh ingredients, the flax seed meal the only processed item. Having this at 8 a.m. will have me properly hungry for lunch about noon.

I'm a Winner!

2011-06-09T13:56:00.000-04:00

Life has been really busy the last several months, and creative nutritarian cooking (or assembling?) has not been my first priority. Perhaps with the summer months . . .

But I had to stop in and share an exciting announcement: I was chosen as First Runner-Up in the Holiday Challenge Contest at Dr. Fuhrman's website, drfuhrman.com! Read all about it here!

My prize is a set of DVD's from last year's week-long immersion retreat, plus a booklet of recipes from that event, plus a Platinum Membership to extend my current membership at the website. I'm excited and now I need to keep going!

Puny DiGiorno Personal Pizza vs. Powerful Pear Salad!

2011-04-09T14:41:00.001-04:00

Today at lunchtime my 13yo asked if he could have a Digiorno Small Pizza. I looked at the label and said he could have half--390 calories! It's a puny thing, about six inches in diameter, though the box indicates two servings (unlike the one 790-calorie serving labeled on the website). His little puny half-pizza nets 390 calories, 18 grams fat (7 of those saturated), 16 grams protein, and 3 grams fiber, plus almost 750 mg sodium.

While that was cooking for him I made my lunch salad:

POWERFUL PEAR SALAD

4 cups torn leaf lettuce
1 diced bosc pear
2/3 cup broccoli slaw
1/2 cup matchstick carrots
1/2 cup navy beans
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 oz toasted sliced almonds
2 T. plain lowfat yogurt
1 T. light honey mustard salad dressing (25 cal, 1 g fat)
dash each of cinnamon and powdered ginger

Combine all vegetables and fruits, top with yogurt and dressing and spices, then toss. Top with almonds and eat right from the mixing bowl.

Verdict--EXCELLENT. This is a beautiful sunshiny salad with a bright, fresh flavor. I think some lemon juice in the dressing would be good in the future.

Here's the nutrition comparison (and I calculated mine in my head after I made it, figuring it was about the same as the little puny half pizza--I was right!):

Powerful Pear Salad
430 calories, 10 g fat (1 g saturated), 19 g protein, 22 g fiber, and 210 mg sodium (half of that from the tiny tablespoon of bottled salad dressing!)

Puny Personal Pizza
390 calories, 18 grams fat (7 of those saturated), 16 g protein, 3 g fiber, and almost 750 mg sodium.

The pizza serving weighs just 140 g. (about 4.7 oz.) and my salad weighs 650 g, about 22 oz., or 1-1/3 pounds! Which is more satisfying, do you think?

In other nutrients here's the score:

Pizza has 13% of daily Vitamin A and 15% of calcium (all that cheese, don't you know?), plus 5% each of daily iron and Vitamin C.
Salad has 147% of Vitamin A and 31% of calcium (only 1/6 of that from the yogurt), plus 36% iron and 234% of Vitamin C.

Everybody agrees that salad is more nutritious than pizza, but that much more?! Yes, indeed.

I just told the pizza consumer to have an apple. That will give him 72 additional calories, double his lunchtime fiber intake, and triple the Vitamin C.

Another win for the nutritarian approach to eating.

Drive-By Post

2011-02-10T11:30:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd stop in and share an amazing and funny and true and inspiring blog post by Robin at "Lean to the Sun":

Abundance

Fun With Curry!

2011-01-31T21:53:00.000-05:00

Boy, I had a good time experimenting with things for supper tonight. I created a plate with a serving of couscous* (cooked in plain water) topped with chopped steamed collard greens topped with SWEET RED LENTILS topped with CURRIED YELLOW SQUASH topped with COCONUT YOGURT. The combination was Excellent!

SWEET RED LENTILS
Flexible serving sizes, but at least eight

16 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
1-2 cups red lentils (they are tiny and cook very quickly)
2 T. dried minced onion
2 T. diced dried pineapple
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
water sufficient to cook lentils and mostly cook off by the end -- 1/2 to 1-1/2 cups

Combine all ingredients with 1/2 cup of the water and bring to a boil, then a simmer, until lentils are done, about ten minutes, adding water as needed to keep lentils submerged but not soupy at the end.

Verdict: Excellent, especially with the other items mentioned above. The sweetness works beautifully with the heat of the curry.

CURRIED YELLOW SQUASH
Flexible serving sizes, but about four

2 teaspoons oil
2 small onions, diced
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 large crookneck squash, cubed
2 teaspoons red curry powder

Saute onion, then pepper, then squash and garlic in oil until slightly softened and browned on the edges, then stir in curry powder and cook on low until desired texture--not too soft! Serve over a grain or lentils or chopped steamed greens or whatever you have!

Verdict: Excellent. The heat of the red curry powder (McCormick) was just right, especially in combination with the things below.

COCONUT YOGURT
Topping for 4-6 servings

1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1/8 - 1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 teaspoon minced candied ginger

Combine and serve as the final topping on a hot and savory curry.

Verdict: Excellent. Just the thing to cool the dish and provide a little sweetness.

*I know rice would be the expected ground for this creation, but I didn't have 90 minutes to wait on brown rice in my rice cooker, and couscous takes just five minutes. :-)

Southern Comfort Food

2011-01-25T11:58:00.001-05:00

Today I'm enjoying for lunch a combination that perhaps only a gal from Dixie could love, but it's nutritarian friendly and I highly recommend it!

SOUTHERN COMFORT GRITS, 'PEAS, AND GREENS

In Three Parts:

Bob's Red Mill Yellow Corn Grits (Polenta)--1/4 cup cooked in 3/4 cup water
Black-eyed Peas--about 3/4 cup
Turnip Greens (or other chopped cooked greens like collards or mustard greens)--1/2 - 1 cup

Arrange these three components in three divisions of a large, wide bowl, then dress with chopped onion and a little vinegar (I like the malt type) on the greens. Eat in a variety of combinations of grits and peas, peas and greens, greens and grits . . . you get the idea.

Verdict: Excellent. I am quite hungry this lunchtime, and I had the greens and peas on hand, already cooked. The grits cook up in no time, and they're 130 calories, 2 grams of fiber, 2 grams of protein, 27 grams of carb for this size serving.

This recipe reminds me of a "favorite" cookbook whose cover always makes me laugh:

Ginger-Apple Oatmeal and Three-Month Progress Report

2011-01-24T17:33:00.000-05:00

This morning it was four degrees below zero and I wanted a warm and comforting breakfast, so I made this:

GINGER-APPLE OATMEAL
Serves 2

1 cup water
1 large Braeburn apple, cut into chunks
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
tiny sprinkle of salt

Start the water boiling in a small pot on the stove, and cut up the apple into the water, then add the oats and stir occasionally, cooking on low until the oats are the desired consistency. Add ginger and spices near the end of cooking.

Verdict: Very Good. Simple, sweet, and ginger-spicy. I topped mine with roasted unsalted pistachios. I have oatmeal two or three times a week, usually. It's best fresh, but I often make extra and just reheat quickly for subsequent breakfasts. This is typical of my usual method, though I have done variations with dried blueberries, dried peaches, fresh pears, frozen blueberries, frozen peaches, and occasionally some sliced banana. I change the spices to match the fruit--including the above seasonings as well as nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and occasionally a dash of vanilla. For the top I try different nuts (cashews, pecans, walnuts, almonds), usually toasted, and usually about half an ounce. Dr. Fuhrman counsels that those trying to lose weight have no more than a cup of grain and an ounce of nuts/seeds per day. This breakfast (one serving) provides half of that allowance of each, leaving some leeway in the rest of my day to enjoy grain or nuts.

I've spent the last three months pursuing a nutritarian lifestyle based on these daily parameters outlined in Dr. Fuhrman's book (recently updated) Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss

one ounce nuts or seeds
one cup (200 calories) whole grain or starchy vegetable
goal of one pound raw veggies
goal of one pound cooked veggies
goal of one cup beans
at least four fruits
1 T. flax seed meal

(I add 1-3 oz. animal product--usually fish or chicken--zero to three times a week, and though Dr. F. allows up to 2 oz. avocado per day, I usually have only 1-2 oz. per week.)

No or absolutely minimal added oil, salt, sugar, white flour

I do still drink coffee (mostly decaf) with a little 1% milk in it, and I usually have 50-100 calories of "extras" in a day--a little feta cheese, a bit of ham in the beans I cooked for the family, a little jelly on a cracker, a dollop of lowfat plain yogurt on a curry dish.

I also had several weeks of indulgence--limited ones for a couple of days at Thanksgiving and more treats for a couple of weeks at Christmas/New Year's. That stalled my progress in weight loss, but by a week into the New Year I was basically at the same point I'd been a few days before Christmas, and that was okay.

In three months of nutritarian eating, with reasonable deviations, I have lost 25 pounds. I have not felt uncomfortable hunger and always have the option to have more beans, greens, or fruit to help with that. I exercised regularly at the beginning of that time but schedule and weather have gotten me out of it lately. I look forward to more regular exercise in the weeks to come. And I plan to keep losing weight, because I need to.

Feta Fusion Rice and Beans

2011-01-22T23:13:00.000-05:00

I had my first outing to a Whole Foods Market in Pittsburgh the other evening and brought home a number of lovely things, including golden and regular beets I made into a beautiful dish last night with a recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals. It calls for a simple dressing of vinegar, lemon, and toasted sesame seeds, and the beets were gorgeous in wedges.

This evening I needed a quick supper while grading final exams, so I brainstormed this:

FETA FUSION RICE AND BEANS
Makes 1 serving

1/2 cup rice (I used white but would usually use brown)
1/2 - 1 cup black beans (another color would work fine, too)
1/2 tomato, diced
1/3 cucumber, diced
1 scallion, chopped
2 T. Mediterranean Feta Salsa (from Whole Foods Market--a blend of feta, oregano, onion, tomatoes, kalamata olives, etc.)
2 T. hummus (I used Whole Foods Lemon Hummus), optional

Heat the rice and beans, then toss in the rest of the items and enjoy!

Verdict: Excellent. I really enjoyed this satisfying supper. This includes no more than 1 Tablespoon of feta--I believe in the nutritarian option of using small amounts of animal products to enhance mostly-veggie dishes. Dr. Fuhrman says that if 90% of our calories come from whole plant foods, we can have these variations on the side.

Breakfast Salad?

2011-01-13T08:09:00.000-05:00

I am a traditionalist. I like breakfast in its recognizable forms, especially--hot or cold cereal, eggs and grits, waffles, citrus fruits, cheese toast, bagels, that kind of thing. On a nutritarian life plan only the hot cereal and citrus fruits make the cut. So I have oatmeal two or three times a week and green fruit smoothies the other days, and that works pretty well. I've thought "yuck" when I've seen other nutritarians' breakfast reports including leftover chili, big salads with tomatoes and vinegar dressings, and so forth.

What's a girl to do?

Well, I think about what I expect from breakfast--warm comfort or bright flavors--and I go from there. Several times I have actually made a breakfast salad, based on what sounds good as I approach the kitchen, and one successful recipe, Apple-Carrot Salad, was a good option a time or two--my recipe was accepted on the Member Center recipe collection on drfuhrman.com .

This morning I probably had that recipe in mind when I put together this one, a nice variation, that sneaks in some green veggie as well:

PEAR BREAKFAST SALAD
(Serves one)

1 cup broccoli slaw
1/2 cup shredded or matchstick carrots
2 dried apricot halves, snipped (optional)
2 tablespoons plain lowfat yogurt or substitute
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon powdered ginger (fresh would be fine, better, probably!)
1 pear, diced
1/2 oz. toasted slivered almonds (optional)

Combine broccoli, carrots, and apricot snips. Top with yogurt and spices, stirred together on top of the salad and then combined. Dice the pear over the top and stir to combine, then top with the almonds.

Verdict: Excellent. The veggies and nuts are crunchy, the pear meltingly cool and sweet, and the occasional apricot bits chewy and sweet. This is kind of like a deconstructed smoothie, with broccoli instead of greens. I added my daily flax seed meal to this, and it blends in nicely.

Clean-the-Kitchen Curry

2011-01-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

Since October I have been living a pretty consistent nutritarian lifestyle, but I have also been quite busy. Many times the foods I have made have not really qualified as "recipes," and sometimes I have but I just haven't been able to post them. I do keep this blog in mind and hope to begin posting more frequently.

For supper tonight I made a spectacular curry, if I do say so myself! :-) I'm going to type up the recipe as I recall it, for posterity.

Clean-the-Kitchen Curry

2 teaspoons peanut oil (I actually used 1 T. but could have cut it)
3 cubed small potatoes
1/2 cup baby carrots
1/2 chopped onion
3 medium cloves garlic, sliced
12 oz. frozen green beans, chopped into one-inch pieces
1 cup cauliflower florets
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 cups stewed tomatoes (mine were from our garden, reduced, with basil)
1 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
1-2 T. red curry powder
small dried hot pepper
1/2 cup light coconut milk (75 calories -- I used 2/3 cup but could have cut it)

Saute potato, carrot, and then onion and garlic in oil, add green beans and cauliflower, then pepper, and when nearly tender add tomatoes with spices and hot pepper. Near the end, taste and correct seasoning, then add coconut milk.

Serve over rice or lentils, with condiments like raisins, green onion, apple with lemon and fresh ginger, toasted coconut, toasted almonds, and diced tomatoes. (I had mine on lentils and offered the family a dish with roasted pork to add to theirs.)

Not counting the condiments or the base (rice or lentils), the recipe analyzes as follows:
1100 calories
41 grams fat (13 saturated, 11 polyunsaturated, 16 monounsaturated)
175 grams carbs (35 grams fiber)
26 grams protein

Per serving (1/4 of recipe makes a LARGE serving)
253 calories
10 grams fat
44 grams carbs (9 grams fiber)
7 grams protein

RDAs
Vitamin A - 40%
Vitamin B6 - 53%
Vitamin C - 106%
Vitamin E - 13%
Calcium - 9%
Copper - 45%
Iron - 11%
Manganese - 33%
Niacin - 23%
Pantothenic Acid - 21%
Phosphorus - 20%
Potassium - 23%
Riboflavin - 17%
Selenium - 2%
Thiamin - 23%
Zinc - 12%

Interesting that that serving also contributes 400 grams of water, or about 1-1/2 cups :-)

The 2/3 cup of lentils I had this on top of raises the one serving by
150 calories
1/2 gram fat
25 grams carbohydrate (10 from fiber)
12 grams protein

The lentils also add significant (more than 20% RDA of) potassium, phosphorus, iron, and manganese, with more than 10% of thiamin, vitamin B6, copper, magnesium, and zinc.

That's a pretty powerful supper! 400 calories, 10 grams fat, 70 grams carbs (19 from fiber), 14 grams protein

OK, I've analyzed that to death. I just have to do that from time to time. :-)

Green Salad With Pineapple and Dried Tomato

2010-12-29T19:26:00.000-05:00

Today I got home late for lunch and had been dreaming up a nice salad along the way, inspired by a visit to a Harry and David store.

GREEN SALAD WITH PINEAPPLE AND DRIED TOMATO
Makes one nutritarian-sized lunch or up to four small side salads :-)

Six cups mixed greens (I had leaf lettuce, spinach, and confetti slaw)
1/4 cup red onion, sliced into rings
1/2 cup fresh pineapple, cut into tidbits
1/2 small yellow (or other color) bell pepper, chopped
2 Tablespoons crumbled dried tomatoes
1-2 Tablespoons juice from fresh pineapple
1 Tablespoon Harry and David Charred Pineapple Relish (or a pineapple salsa)
3/4 cup canned white beans, rinsed (optional)

Combine greens, onion, pineapple, and pepper. In a small dish combine dried tomato and pineapple juice and microwave, adding water if needed, to soften tomato. Top salad with white beans, then tomatoes and relish, and toss to combine.

Verdict--Very good. I enjoyed this thoroughly, and I am sure it would be good with fresh tomatoes and canned pineapple if necessary, or rinsed black beans instead of the white. The relish was leftover from Christmas and had just a nice zing of heat to intensify the salad. A more nutritarian version could substitute a bit more pineapple and a hot pepper for the relish. In any case, the relish was only 25 calories for that amount, similar to what a low- or non-fat dressing might be, and the salad was lovely without any additional dressing.

AWOL

2010-12-20T11:56:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to note for those who read here that I'm going great guns with the Six-Week Holiday Challenge at drfuhrman.com . I'm spending a lot of time posting there, especially my daily food lists, and though I'm trying some recipes, I just have too much else going on to put them in here. Progress so far--in eight weeks of pretty dedicated nutritarian principles, I've lost 19 pounds, and that's a boost over Thanksgiving and leading up to Christmas!

Last night I made a good salad dressing with a big over-ripe pear, 1/2 cup cashews, 1/3 cup Riesling vinegar, and a half a kumquat I threw in at the last second (a bit of lemon would do the trick, too, with rind). It was very nice! And one quarter of the recipe is a good amount of dressing for less than an ounce of nuts.

In general I have the following:

Breakfast--green smoothie with about two fruits and a handful of kale or spinach OR a half cup of oatmeal with fruit and a few nuts

Lunch--big salad (six cups of greens and such) with tahini-based dressing or a lowfat Italian or salsa for a Mexican bent, and with beans, or with bean soup on the side, and a piece of fruit

Snack--fruit with nuts

Supper--cooked veggies (usually two different ones, a cup or so each), more beans if needed, a couple of times a week a couple of ounces of fish or chicken or even beef, and any fruit or nut or grain left for the day

Doctors Discuss "Best Weight"

2010-12-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

Arya M. Sharma, M.D., and Yoni Freedhof, M.D. both deal extensively with weight management in their medical practices, and both blog on these topics in intelligent, compassionate, science-based, reality-based ways. They've now come out with a publication for physicians to be used in advising patients about weight management. Dr. Sharma is going to be sharing excerpts on his blog, and here is the first. Highlights in my own words:

A patient's "best weight" is that weight he can maintain while still enjoying his life.
Exercise should be encouraged but not to the point of exhaustion, injury, obsession, or neglect of other important things in life.
If there is no room for celebrations, for resting, for comfort, for pleasure, then any weight management strategy is too restrictive and cannot be maintained.

It seems to me on the one hand that these ideas make sense, and on the other hand that some of us need stricter life guidelines for weight management. For me, eating nutritarian feels good, tastes good, and IS good for me nutritionally. And I know I have to be very careful with celebratory foods--had just a bite or two of most Thanksgiving treats last week, for example. But I don't want to come to the dangerous place of calling foods "forbidden." A little here and there of meat, oil, sweets, even chips is not deadly. However, it can be dangerous to me, since indulging even a little CAN trigger me into losing control.

It's always balance, isn't it, and knowing ourselves, and applying wisdom?

Copyright Law/Ethics and Recipes?

2010-11-29T20:35:00.000-05:00

I have been posting cookbook recipes to this blog when I have found them, or their near-equivalents, already posted online. But today when I was looking up a couple I started to have a qualm about it. I'd appreciate your thoughts about what to do in such a case.

For example, you can Google the names of the two recipes I made today from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals book I bought several weeks ago, and you'll find the exact recipes (one even seems to be a pdf from another version of this book!).

For now I'll just name the recipes, mention the main and interesting ingredients, and give a review. That should encourage you to buy the book, and then I'm doing the publishers a favor, right?

First up is SOUTHEAST ASIAN COCONUT ZUCCHINI, which is a sauteed mixture of cubed zucchini, garlic, turmeric, a hot pepper, and coconut milk, with accents of fresh basil, mint, and lime juice. It was very pretty and very good (if spicy) over brown rice for my supper. And it used up one of our many remaining zucchini from the summer.

Then I tried JAPANESE SESAME SPINACH, but with Swiss chard, a very simple dish of the steamed green dressed with a paste of toasted and ground sesame seed, sugar, and soy sauce. Excellent.

Third in my veggie trio was my own concoction and something to get in part of my bean allowance for the day:

GREEN PEAS AND MUSHROOMS

6-8 ounces quartered mushrooms (I used baby Bella)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 12-oz bag frozen peas
2 "ice cubes" of frozen stock

Dry saute the quartered mushrooms and garlic, then add the frozen peas and the stock and simmer until the peas are done. Or overcook and have the family say that slightly-charred peas aren't so bad after all!

Verdict: Very Good. What a simple, filling staple

Supper tonight was hearty servings of all these items with a half cup of brown basmati rice. Very nice.

Just for the sake of recording it, I'll provide the rest of my food for today:

Breakfast--half cup of oatmeal cooked with pear, a banana, and 1/2 oz. toasted almond slivers

Lunch--can of Amy's organic minestrone soup (180 calories, 6 g. fiber, 6 g. protein) fortified with extra water, 1 cup of home-cooked pinto beans and about three ounces of fresh spinach, with a little garlic powder, dehydrated onion, and marjoram. I intended to eat all of this but stopped at about 3/4. Also had an orange.

Snack--big Jonagold apple

And that makes a nutritarian day:
At least 1 cup beans
At least 1 lb. cooked veggies (had more like 1.5 pounds)
At least 1 lb. fresh veggies (skimpy on that today! But I had giant six-cup spring mix salads every day for most of the last week.)
At least 4 fruits (I've had about 3.5 today, so if I quit being full before bedtime I'll have a bit more)
No more than 1 cup grain/starch (was a little over today, which can make up for the calories but not the nutrition of that bit of extra fruit)
No more than 1 oz. nuts

Thai Curry With Bok Choy

2010-11-26T20:19:00.001-05:00

Participants in Dr. Fuhrman's "Six-Week Holiday Challenge" receive daily recipes via email, and today's is for Thai Vegetable Curry. As I glanced over the ingredients I realized I had most of what the recipe calls for, but I'm never willing to just let things alone, so I created my own version.

Dr. F's recipe calls for basically boiling all the veggies in carrot juice for a while, then stirring in peanut butter, coconut milk, and so forth. That just didn't inspire me, and I don't have any carrot juice nor any firm tofu (which the family wouldn't want anyway), so I made this variation:

THAI CURRY WITH BOK CHOY

1 T. peanut oil
1 cup diced carrots
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. grated fresh ginger
2 T. each, chopped fresh: mint, Thai basil, and cilantro
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 large eggplant, cubed
2-3 cups green beans, in pieces
3 cups sliced mushrooms
1 head bok choy, chopped
1-1/2 t. red curry powder (for a spicier dish, or yellow for milder)
2 T. natural peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut milk (didn't have the light called for in the original recipe)
1/3 cup peanuts
2 T. chopped dried mango

Heat oil in a wok or very large skillet and stir fry carrot and onion. When those begin to go tender, add peppers and green beans, then mushrooms, then bok choy, allowing five minutes or so between additions. Cook until crisp-tender, adding garlic, ginger, chopped herbs, and curry powder between stirrings. Then add peanut butter, coconut milk, peanuts, and mango, plus up to a half cup or so of water if needed, covering pan to simmer a bit and combine flavors. Serve alone or over brown basmati rice. Serves 8 (or 4 very hungry nutritarians).

Verdict: Excellent. I don't know about the boiled carrot-juice original, but mine is wonderful! :-) I had 1/4 of the recipe over a half cup of the recommended rice. I think fresh bok choy is definitely superior to canned bamboo shoots and lots of watercress (though the watercress is nutritionally superior to bok choy, no doubt). It's more fat than I'm used to having in a dish, but I cut back from the recommended amount of nuts while using full-fat coconut milk and that tablespoon of oil. I could have cut the oil back to 2 teaspoons easily, but I think it was a good first try. I estimate that my version is 150 calories per 1/8 of the recipe while the original is 200 calories for the same amount. So my 1/4 of the recipe was 300 calories, plus the rice.

Personal Pumpkin Tart

2010-11-24T18:14:00.000-05:00

Oh boy, was I happy with this experiment I tried yesterday! It all started here, with Lilibeth. She linked to a recipe for a crust made with just almonds and oats. I noted the proportions and then lit out on my own, and with a filling of my own, too.

Part of what makes a traditional pumpkin pie so creamy and nice is the evaporated milk in most recipes. I learned years ago that if I simmered my own fresh milk, even letting it scald a bit, reducing it by half or more, I had a better product. So that explains the bit of milk in this recipe.

PERSONAL PUMPKIN TART

Crust

1/4 cup oats chopped very fine with 2 T. raw almonds
1/2 t. tahini (can’t find my almond butter or I’d have used that)
1/8 t. each nutmeg and powdered ginger

Combine these ingredients with just enough water to make the mixture stick together to press into a large custard dish, then bake at 425 until toasty brown. Meanwhile, prepare filling:

Filling

1/4 c. low-fat milk (soy might work)
1/2 cup fresh baked pumpkin, mashed or pureed (canned would be okay)
2 dates, snipped very fine
1/4 t. cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves

In a small saucepan simmer milk until reduced by half--scalding it is fine. Stir in pumpkin, dates, and spices and cook gently, stirring as needed, until thickened. Spoon into crust and bake at 350 until further firmed up and slightly browned on top.

Verdict: Excellent and Amazing, and it uses only half a day’s nuts and grain (ala drfuhrman), then the additional calories of the milk (25) and the two dates.

For Thanksgiving at my sister's tomorrow (about a dozen people) I'm taking the following:

Baba Ganouj (or Dr. Fuhrman's Eggplant Hummus--same thing) with carrot and cucumber and blanched fine green beans and peppers as dippers

Ambrosia--just Valencia and Cara-Cara oranges with coconut, though I'm going to throw in some pomegranate arils I splurged on at Costco the other day

Winter Squash Soup I made the other day (see previous post)

Lower-Fat Yogurt Pound Cake (Joy of Cooking) with a tipsy elderberry sauce I made up. No, this is not really healthy, but I was assigned a dessert. :-)

Warm and Creamy Winter Squash Soup and a Method for Broth

2010-11-22T13:06:00.000-05:00

Another two down of our butternut squash inventory, but I'm adjusting the recipe to one squash, for normal people. :-) The warmth in this comes from the fresh ginger and a little chile.

WARM AND CREAMY WINTER SQUASH SOUP

1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp olive oil
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 small chile pepper, minced
1 pint high-quality broth (see below)
1 sprig rosemary (optional--I just floated a stem sprig in the pot at the last minute)

Heat oil in a large saucepan and add onion, stirring occasionally to brown evenly while you're preparing the squash. Use a potato peeler to take off the outer skin, then cube the squash with a heavy knife, removing seeds. Add squash cubes to onions and continue browning with occasional stirring while you prep and add the other ingredients. Add water as needed to cover squash cubes. Simmer all for about thirty minutes, until squash is soft, then puree in batches and serve.

Verdict: Excellent. Smooth and satisfying, with sweet body and a kick from the pepper. I didn't even notice the lack of salt (though my broth may have had some) I had two small bowls of this to start off my lunch, being willing to use up a significant portion of my starch allowance on it today. The only disappointment about this squash is that it doesn't have any fiber! But I get plenty of fiber elsewhere. :-)

I think I'm taking this to my sister's for Thanksgiving, with some fresh rosemary to decorate the top of custard-size bowls of soup.

Inspiration for this recipe comes from my friend Renee and from The Joy of Cooking.

VEGETABLE BROTH

This is a method I am initiating this week, and I thought I'd record what I'm doing. Beginning several days ago I started freezing a gallon zip-loc bag with vegetable trimmings (onion skins with some adhering onion, garlic peel, the rind of a lemon, several brussels sprouts bottoms, some bell and pimiento pepper stems, butternut squash peel and fiber and a few seeds, the butt of a bunch of celery, etc.), and today with a full bag I dumped the contents into a pot with some water and boiled it for about an hour, then drained it and had a beautiful brown broth which tastes a bit weak only because it doesn't have any salt. I am freezing it in ice cube trays to then keep in a bag so I can pop a few cubes into a dish as I'm cooking later.

Holiday Challenge and Apple-Carrot Salad

2010-11-19T16:34:00.003-05:00

Drfuhrman.com is having a Six-Week Holiday Challenge to help people maintain and even increase their health during the holidays. You can join for free and get six weeks' membership in the Member Center and a Vook (video-enhanced e-book) of Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss. There's a new version of this book coming out in January, I believe.

In joining the challenge you're pledging to eat every day a big salad, a plate of steamed greens (though I'm sure having them in soup or otherwise is fine, too), three fruits, and a cup of beans, and to avoid white flour and sugar (as well as sugar substitutes). With that much fruit every day, you should find your sweet tooth diminished, actually. Dr. Fuhrman is a kind and reasonable man, and he believes you CAN have a little splurge on the holiDAY, but most of us take that way too far and make it a holiMONTH or similar.

If you decide to join the challenge, look for my thread there and join me for daily accountability! I've been doing this with focus for a bit under a month and have lost over ten pounds already.

Below is a recipe I submitted to the drfuhrman.com Member Center Recipe Guide, and it was accepted today. I have others on this blog--please search by the tag.

APPLE-CARROT SALAD

1 large apple, in chunks

1/2 cup matchstick or shredded carrot

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/2 ounce chopped nuts, toasted if desired (optional)

1/3 cup plain lowfat yogurt or non dairy substitute

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

a few drops vanilla

Combine apple, veggies, and nuts in a bowl. In a separate dish combine yogurt with spices and vanilla, then toss with the apple mixture. Verdict: Excellent! The day's flax seed meal works nicely with this as well. I think the cinnamon and vanilla help cut the need for any other sweetening, but if it's too tart for you, try adding in some clementine or pear.

Two Wobblies and a Winner

2010-11-18T13:31:00.000-05:00

The other day I tried a couple of recipes from my new Moosewood Lowfat Favorites book, and I'm sorry to say they're not that great, though I will make use of the leftovers of one when I'm hungry and need to fill up with "beans and greens," and the other was definitely better the next day. I tend to find that with some of these nutritarian recipes--I don't enjoy them a lot the first day, but the leftovers are fine. Maybe it's overexposure to all the ingredients while preparing the food, maybe it's a need for the flavors to meld . . .

Black-Eyed Peas 'N' Greens <--The discussion on the page where this recipe is linked pretty much explain the problem--dry and kind of bland. Scallions on top and the malt vinegar I tried help somewhat. But I think the real thing to do with the leftovers is to make this: Black-Eyed Peas and Greens Soup. In a nutshell, add water, tomatoes, and oregano and see where to go from there.

Baked Sweet Potato Salad except that I used butternut squash, which has half the calories and none of the fiber of sweet potatoes--so pick your poison/magic. :-) This is a beautiful salad and definitely better the next day, and the book suggests either the dressing on this link or a curried mango yogurt dressing, which would be sweeter but I'm not sure better. It was just not too inspiring. The Cilantro Lime Yogurt Dressing is very promising for other purposes, too--I look forward to using it later.

But here's a real winner, thanks to my friend Marci:

McDougall's Curried Swiss Chard Soup
This quick soup of leek (or onion), broth, tomatoes, white beans, fresh ginger and curry powder (I used McCormick's red), and fresh Swiss chard (I used red) is really wonderful. Half the recipe is a BIG bowlful for a nutritarian lunch, including two cups of chard and 3/4 cup beans. EXCELLENT.

Dr. McDougall has a lot of the same approach as Dr. Fuhrman, except McDougall emphasizes using grains central to the diet and eliminating nuts and not allowing any animal products, if I've got that straight (and am not mixed up with Esselstyn) . So stricter in some ways, easier in some ways, but with a lot of overlap, so the recipes work well both ways.

Marinated Mushroom Dressing

2010-11-14T19:00:00.000-05:00

I have many favorite recipes from Traditions: A Taste of the Good Life, a 1983 cookbook by the Junior League of Little Rock, Arkansas--received as a wedding gift in 1986. I once saw this cookbook reviewed as a classic in perhaps a San Francisco newspaper. I agree. The carrot cake is fought over by two of the May birthday people in my family.

One favorite recipe in that book is for a fairly simple mushroom salad, in which a mustard vinaigrette ("garden dressing") is poured over a salad of mixed greens and sliced mushrooms. Really simple. But I discovered years ago that marinating the mushrooms in the dressing first made it really luscious. Today I made a variation on that recipe to make it more nutritarian-friendly:

Marinated Mushroom Dressing

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup good vinegar (I used a homemade tarragon-red-wine vinegar)
1 tablespoon olive oil (the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons minced red or green bell pepper (I used fresh red pimiento pepper, which is "meaty")
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons good dijon-type mustard
2 teaspoons dried herb (I used marjoram) or 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp. cayenne

Combine all ingredients and let marinate in a shakeable container for at least an hour, then serve over mixed greens. Even better the next day.

Verdict: Very Good. I started with less honey and just felt I had to increase it to cut the harshness of the vinegar. Anyone have suggestions on how to do that more successfully? I had half of this on a very large salad of red leaf lettuce, spinach, and romaine, with some red cabbage shreds and yellow bell pepper, plus diced beets (that helped sweeten it up a bit) and a cup of rinsed canned navy beans.

My New Cookbook

2010-11-14T09:07:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I had a lovely outing in a community about 25 miles away for supper and book-browsing with a group of lady friends. You see, we live in and on the outskirts of small towns and have to do without Target, Starbucks, interesting and healthy restaurants, and even Super WalMart! So a trip to the exurb of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania is quite a tame little adventure for us. And of course the company makes the outing--seven in an assortment of married, single, and widowed, with children ranging from toddlers to one about forty. Thanks, ladies!

We gathered at Aladdin's Eatery and had a wide range of things from hummus and falafel through soup and salads and lamb entrees to some take-home desserts (for those who were too stuffed to eat cake there). I had V-9 soup, a clear-broth veggie soup in which we identified peas, celery, onion, pepper, yellow squash, tomato, parsley, and I've forgotten what else. I also got the almond salad--a bed of romaine, mostly, with mushrooms and cucumbers and some slivered toasted almonds, with a dressing of buttermilk, sour cream, almond paste, and sauteed almonds I just had to try. I had about half my dressing and brought the rest home to enjoy on something another day. It was very interesting, and creamy was good, but only in small doses for a nutritarian, don't you know! I had a pita, two, which I wrapped up and brought home for a family member (whoever gets to it first). And since hubby was home alone for the evening, I brought him a little pastry I thought they called a baba, which is a sticky-sweet hard shell of phyllo-like dough around a filling of Turkish pistachios. I had a tiny fragment of this to taste, and it was very nice.

Anyway, when we got to Barnes and Noble, supposedly for coffee, though I skipped it after three mugs of herbal mint tea at Aladdin's, I headed back to the healthy/vegetarian cookbooks section and browsed through a few. I'm not into fake meat things like seitan and too much tofu, so some things didn't appeal at all because of heavy use of these ingredients. Others use a lot of syrups and other sweet things--nope, didn't want that, either. Nor too much of grains. I was not really wowed by the famous Veganomicon, but then I spied a winner: Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites.

I have loved the original Moosewood Cookbook since I think my sister gave it to me a decade or two ago, and, as a friend says, there's nothing bad in it--everything is delicious.

So I browsed through the Low-Fat Favorites book and saw some potential winners, though I was surprised at a fish section. For Sunday dinner I'm going to make Fish Tagine with Chermoulla (this link is exactly the same recipe except for the swordfish or halibut in the Internet recipe), white fish baked on top of a bed of carrots and onions, with a sauce of blended cilantro, garlic, ginger, cumin, lemon juice, chile, and tomato, then served on couscous, which I just happened to buy the other day.

Since we have a lot of peppers around, still, I think I'm going to try soon Middle Eastern Tofu-Stuffed Peppers, which include carrot, tomato, tofu, soy sauce, dill, lemon, couscous, and currants. Maybe I'll even skip the tofu. A Mexican stuffed pepper recipe uses corn and black beans. How about Garlicky Black-Eyed Peas 'N' Greens? To use some nice cauliflower in the fridge I might try Lentil Sambar, which includes some exotic spices like coriander (just harvested from our garden) and fenugreek (never used it--might look for a substitute).

I'm looking forward to this!

Asian Cabbage and Sweet and Simple Squash

2010-11-12T21:39:00.001-05:00

Today I made a couple of experiments that turned out very nicely, and they're now part of the drfuhrman.com Member Center Recipe Guide. :-)

Asian Cabbage

1/2 oz sesame seeds
1 cup baby carrots
1 small head of napa cabbage, cut crosswise into shreds
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 cup sugar snap peas
a few drops of soy sauce, to taste

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet on a medium burner until browned, then set aside. In the same skillet add some water to mostly cover the carrots and cover, simmering until they're nearly tender. Then add the cabbage, onion, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, uncovered, until cabbage is tender and water has mostly cooked off. Add sugar snap peas and cover again until those are tender. To serve, toss hot vegetables with sesame seeds and sprinkle on a few drops of soy sauce.

Verdict: Excellent. I confess I added 1/8 of a package of ramen noodles to the sesame seeds to toast, because I wanted the crunchiness, and I even reserved the seasoning packet in case I needed it. But in the end I hardly noticed the noodles and won't make it that way again. And I left the seasoning package untouched--it was really lovely just like it was.

Sweet and Simple Squash

2 cups butternut squash, cubed
1/2 cup raw cranberries
a few big chunks of fresh pineapple (about 3/4 cup?)

Simmer squash cubes in 1/2 inch of water in a small covered saucepan. When almost tender add the cranberries and simmer covered, stirring occasionally, until they pop, adding water if needed. Then break the pineapple chunks into smaller pieces over the pot, simmering until the pineapple is warm and melded into the squash. Enjoy!

Verdict: Excellent. I just had a little bowl of this (half the "recipe") and loved every bite. Good thing I like this, as we have about thirty remaining butternut squashes and a dozen pumpkins harvested from our garden!

Kitchen Work

2010-11-12T06:12:00.001-05:00

When you're eating nutritarian, you have a lot of food prep to do, unless you're into an ascetic minimalist approach (apple and banana for breakfast, can of beans poured over bagged salad for lunch, boiled zucchini and a baked acorn squash for supper). I'm really loving my Vita-Mix, but I'm beginning to lament my knives.

I have a pretty knife block with red-handled knives I got on clearance at Wal-Mart, and I have a single high-carbon knife that I use for "strong" things, as it has a heavy long blade. I have another ancient cleaver-type high-carbon knife that we inherited with our first home, built in 1958. But I don't sharpen these. And then I like those little colored-handle paring knives that come in a set of three for $1 - $3 and break easily, though they are sharp while they last. My favorite cutting tool lately is my julienne peeler from Pampered Chef--it's perfect for making zucchini "spaghetti" that can be tossed in a pot (sometimes with just a few noodles) to create a satisfying nutritarian base for a veggie sauce.

My usual experience is that I suffer through dull or wrongly-shaped knives for most of my chopping and paring.

I think I need a knife makeover. With a busy household of careless people, I dare not buy several great knives and toss all the mediocre ones. The good ones will be misplaced, misused . . . I just don't trust those folks. But after seeing this blog and watching the embedded Jamie Oliver video, . . . I think I need a real chef's knife. At least to start with, and a good sharpener--is that sword-thing he used sufficient? My dad used to have a sword ritual with one of those before cutting roast beef or turkey, but it was only occasional and, I think, superstitious rather than effectual. But it's an indelible and pleasant memory. :-)

Improving Canned Soup

2010-11-09T13:15:00.000-05:00

Today I wanted a quick lunch and thought I'd just pop open a can of Progresso split pea soup. The can has two servings, each totaling something like 160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber--fine so far--but almost 700 grams of sodium! I've gotten used to very little salt added to things, and when I tasted this soup I decided it was just too much for me. So here's what I did to improve it, in the form of a recipe:

Super Split Pea Soup

1/2 cup shredded or matchstick carrots
1 small white potato, shredded
tablespoon dehydrated onion flakes
2 large kale leaves, snipped into shreds
water to cover veggies
1 can Progresso Green Split Pea Soup With Bacon

In a medium saucepan, combine veggies and water to cover and simmer for about ten minutes, until soft or tender-crisp (my choice). Then add the can of soup and heat to desired temperature. Makes two large bowls (one sufficient for my lunch).

Verdict: Very Good. This is a great improvement over the soup by itself. And I'm not tempted to eat the whole can. And I have a nice lunch waiting for me in the fridge on another day. Instead of having a bowl of soup with almost 1400 mg sodium, I have a bigger bowl of much more interesting and healthy soup with less than 700 mg sodium. Yes, it's more than I want, but it's better than what I was going to do, and much better than a lot of other things I could have had for lunch. Win win all around.

I use mostly fresh items, but there are times when the canned and frozen are a blessing. Now I'll be restocking my shelves with low-sodium versions of canned goods!

Nutritarianism Explained

2010-11-07T09:09:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Darryl McCullough, a math professor at University of Oklahoma and a nutritarian, I would like to present a big one-page summary of nutritarian principles:

How to Eat

Darryl does a good job explaining the basics for those who want to understand the science of the nutrition. In my own "best practice,"* I have a few differences:

occasional alcohol and the equivalent of one mug of caffeinated coffee per day
use of 1% cow's milk or yogurt instead of soy or nut milks and soft tofu in small amounts in recipes
use of "regular" vitamins (Costco Kirkland brand multi-vitamin/mineral) with a 2:1 calcium/magnesium supplement (Kirkland) for heart palpitations and a single D3 (Kirkland again) bead each day
occasional tiny amounts of regular sugar (in amounts like a spice) and salt, though I'm getting away from any additional salt in my recipes
with just a couple of animal product servings per week, I plan to make use of the grass-fed beef we're buying from friends soon, but for no more than one serving per week, carefully planned

I just don't see a need to be so ultimately purist. For example, this week I had some grapefruit in a smoothie and someone suggested that it's been associated with higher estrogen levels and strongly associated with breast cancer in post-menopausal women. I'm not there yet :-), but I passed on the article/study to hubby, who is a biophysicist who has studied some of these toxicology/metabolism issues. I take his counsel on things like this. Handy to have around!

*Note that "best practice" does not mean "what I do every day, without exception." It means what I do when I'm doing what I know I should be doing. :-)

Lemon-Tahini Dressing

2010-11-04T20:04:00.000-04:00

I saw a message board mention of a great salad dressing someone had had, and the idea just sounded great to me, too, so I made it. I looked at one or two online, and then I did this:

Lemon-Tahini Dressing

2 tablespoons tahini
grated rind of one lemon (or a lazy attempt at getting most of it)
juice of one lemon
minced garlic clove
shake of coarse ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar (of course a date would do fine if you were blending it)
1/3 cup hot water

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake, or blend in a blender (I'd hate to mess up the blender for such a small amount)

Verdict: Excellent! I put about 1/3 of this recipe on a seriously-huge salad (2 quart serving bowl) of spring mix, sliced canned beets, green onion, matchstick carrots, defrosted green peas, and sliced almonds. Yum.

Ongoing Review : "Aggressive Weight Loss Plan (non-vegetarian)" Part Two

2010-11-03T12:10:00.000-04:00

Go here for Part One.

The one-week plan is stretching out to about ten days for me, and I will not get to all the recipes, since the groceries I have on hand don't match and/or the remaining recipes don't look too great. So I need to make a menu and a grocery list and start over today or tomorrow, and in the meantime I'm having a lot of leftover this and that. What's great about the nutritarian recipes is that I know I can grab this or that and be confident that it's "on plan" for the most part. If it has a starch in it I'll skip it today, since I had oatmeal for breakfast. If it has nuts I'll consider how that fits with the other nut/seed things I have had for the day. And after about nine days I've lost about seven pounds, so that's a nice aggressive start! :-)

I read somewhere recently that the new books (Eat for Health) have better recipes than the old one (Eat to Live). But for those who are serious, ETL has the quick start and the more science-oriented discussions. I really look forward to working through the recipes site at drfuhrman.com in the Member Center and getting great new ideas from others.

I'm definitely enjoying the leftovers, though I'm often "tired" enough of a recipe by the time I serve it that it doesn't appeal too much the first time around.

So, without further ado, here are my impressions of several more recipes from the "Aggressive Weight Loss Plan (non-vegetarian)" :

Excellent

Roasted Mixed Vegetables (photo here, and it does look a lot like mine) (very tasty mix of cruciferous veggies and carrots and asparagus, with garlic, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce roasted at 450 and finished at 350 to keep them from getting too dry -- and I added the asparagus late for just that reason. I even skipped the brown rice in the original recipe, because I was having butternut squash seasoned with pineapple tidbits and dates, plus a bit of plain potato with my Great Greens -- see below.)
Tasty Hummus (went VERY simple on this one -- the recipe in the plan calls for the addition of soy sauce and horseradish, but no thanks -- mine is garbanzos, tahini [less than you might think], lemon juice, and garlic, and it is fabulous -- I'm craving it)

Pretty Good

Great Greens (simple steamed mix of kale, chard, and spinach, dressed with garlic, wine vinegar or balsamic or similar, fresh dill, and basil)
Rolled Eggplant or "Roulade" (eggplant slices marinated in balsamic vinegar and water, then rolled around a filling of red and green bell pepper., onion, garlic, tomato sauce and tomatoes, and herbs that have been simmered together for a while, with more of the sauce on top -- the whole thing baked for a while)
Bean Enchiladas (I made this a layered casserole of corn tortillas with a simmered mixture of green pepper, onion, salsa verde [though the original called for regular salsa], black and white and pinto beans, frozen corn, cumin, and cilantro -- and I encouraged the family to melt cheese on top of theirs if they liked)

What I'm Not Making

Chard and Vegetable Medley (onion, garlic, yellow squash, chard, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, balsamic vinegar -- just too much like the other stuff I've been eating, and I'm out of greens)
Cream of Asparagus Soup (steamed asparagus blended with soy milk [I'd use regular lowfat milk], soy sauce [or liquid aminos], raw cashews, cilantro for garnish, and -- really? -- four dates. I may actually make this since I have the ingredients, but I'm not sure.)
Dijon Pistachio Dressing/Dip (may try it later but just haven't needed it -- pistachios, lemon juice, ground flax, mustard, soy sauce, garlic, and a date)
Lisa's Lovely Lentil Stew (just haven't gotten to it -- lentils, onion, basil, tomatoes, celery -- I'll probably be more adventurous)
Russian Fig Dressing/Dip (blecch! pasta sauce, almond butter, sunflower seeds, fig vinegar)

Happy Reformation Day!

2010-10-31T09:17:00.000-04:00

I usually make a special meal for Sunday afternoons, a great time of rest and fellowship between church services and usually unencumbered by the typical rush of all those six work days. What a great idea God had at Creation! :-)

Today is a really special Sunday, because we celebrate Reformation Day, this evening with a combined gathering of several local churches in our area--churches that share a common appreciation of the men (and women) who have served the Lord by preserving and preaching and suffering for the truth of the Gospel found in the Bible. Because Luther got the whole thing started, we tend to like to have German, fall-ish foods, too. So I'm making for the family a pork roast with sauerkraut and red cabbage (from the garden!) and lots of nice herbs (from the garden!) and beer, and for myself a nutritarian version of Braised Red Cabbage with Apple .

I found two versions of this recipe online, both of which say they come from Joy of Cooking. But my ancient 1997 version uses caraway instead of fennel, and red wine vinegar (I used Riesling wine vinegar) instead of balsamic. I tweaked it down to a teaspoon of olive oil instead of bacon drippings, and just a teaspoon or two of honey. (My 1997 version calls for a tablespoon or more, I think.)

To go with this fare I'm making some mashed potatoes from our garden. (I'll have a bit, and probably some braised kale or other deep green, and I think I'm going to bake a butternut squash with some toppings.) I know people will want dessert, but that will have to be an afterthought.

For breakfast I made myself a wonderful

BREAKFAST WALDORF SALAD

1 rib chopped celery (about 1/3-1/2 cup)
1/3 - 1/2 cup matchstick carrots
1 apple, coarsely chopped (I prefer a golden)
1 clementine (mine was tiny), broken into sections and then each section torn in two to release juice
1/2 - 1 small pear (mine was canned)
1-2 tablespoons plain nonfat or lowfat yogurt
1/4 teaspoon cardamom (well, I just sprinkled it, but that's how I do things)
several pecan halves, lightly toasted

Combine all the ingredients except nuts, which go on top. I let my salad sit for a half hour or so before eating, and I think it helped meld the flavors.

Verdict: Excellent! I was really craving this as I constructed it, and it was lovely. I could use more. :-) I'm not into non-traditional breakfasts (well, a green smoothie is pretty breakfast-y), but I could see having this on shredded romaine or even spinach. It's a legacy from the excellent pear-walnut salad I had earlier this week (mentioned in my last post).

Ongoing Review: "Aggressive Weight Loss (non-vegetarian)"

2010-10-30T17:18:00.000-04:00

In an effort to jump back into nutritarian eating more fully, with some quick jump-start results, I decided to try the "Aggressive Weight Loss (non-vegetarian)" plan available within the members' area at drfuhrman.com . This plan offers a week's menus with recipes, and I thought I'd review a few of the recipes, because they're definitely a mixed bag! Where possible, I'm providing links to the recipes available outside the members' center.

The plan follows the six-week entry into nutritarian eating outlined in the Eat to Live books, here:

Some of the recipes are repeated for later meals, and I've mostly been following the recipes pretty closely (especially for me!). I haven't finished up my week yet, so perhaps I'll post a follow-up later. But here's the deal so far . . .

Excellent

Broccoli Oriental (sauce of a touch of sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce [or liquid aminos], tiny amount of sugar and cornstarch)
Walnut-Pear Green Salad
Banana-Walnut "Ice Cream" (simple smoothie of frozen banana, a few walnuts [I confess I toasted mine], and a bit of milk to combine--I added nutmeg)

Pretty Good

Black Bean Mango Salad (blogging friend Ali has a a fancy twist on this recipe, but the original is a nice combo of the named ingredients with red bell pepper, lime, cilantro, garlic, corn, green onions, cumin, and chili powder marinated together and then served over romaine)
Black Bean Lettuce Bundles (I just used the ingredients to top a salad, subbing the orange-avocado dressing below for the avocado in the original recipe. A similar recipe is here, but leave out the oil.)
Blueberry Orange Smoothie (no need for the dates--plenty sweet)

Not Bad

Quick and Creamy Vegetable-Bean Soup (includes canned tomato soup, broccoli, spinach, carrot juice, white beans, onions, tomatoes, basil, garlic powder, and then blended cashews and pine nuts for creaminess)
Special Oatmeal (too much fruit! But I liked the coriander. This link also has a reference to and photo of the anti-cancer soup below.)
Spaghetti Squash Primavera (squash served separately from the rest, and I tossed mine with some pesto instead of the pasta sauce)

So-So

Dr. Fuhrman's Famous Anti-Cancer Soup (not very inspiring, but the mushroom addition at the end is nice, and I'm glad to have plenty frozen for quick meals later)
Eat Your Greens Fruit Smoothie (boy is this green, and muddy green, too -- I'm better at making these myself, and I'd rather have the extra greens content in my salad, so it doesn't overwhelm the drink)
Avocado Orange Dressing (maybe it's better with the papaya, but I used some canned apricots as a sub--just a blend of avocado, orange, papaya, and a sweet vinegar)
Scrambled Veggies and Eggs (again, I'd rather have some of the veggies on the side and taste the egg more, especially since it's a rare inclusion on this menu--only two animal product meals this week)

Emily Boller mentions a number of these items in her review of Dr. Fuhrman's Health Getaway. I look forward to trying some of her favorites in that listing, as they're in the Eat for Health book, I believe.

Footnote on Surviving This Menu Out in the World

At a ladies' retreat at church today I took a peek at the offered lunch and had to duck out and walk six blocks to a convenience store / gas station and scan the shelves--I'd been hoping for a lentil soup or something. The closest working thing there was pork and beans (not bad--140 calories a serving, 15 from fat). But then I noticed they had a sub station with wraps, and I saw I could get a veggie wrap (whole wheat) with some good ingredients in it. But I stood in line for about ten minutes behind a single person ordering a LOT of deli meat (odd store) from a slow clerk. I finally gave up and grabbed the beans, took them back to church and heated half the can in the microwave and grabbed some banana chunks from the continental breakfast spread (which also had o.j. and donuts I left alone). It was enough--and the whole focus of the retreat was on contentment, so that works, doesn't it?!

Movie Time!

2010-10-28T15:40:00.000-04:00

Crock Pot Chuck Chili

2010-10-17T09:15:00.000-04:00

I just have too much fun with titles, sometimes. Forgive me. "Chuck" refers to method, not to meat. However, my version did have some leftover roast beef people didn't eat in their sandwiches earlier. I am convinced this would be perfectly wonderful without any of it, so I'm writing the "recipe" that way. I just "chucked" things into the crock pot and let it bubble all afternoon. I made this a couple of days ago, so I hope I remember it well enough:

CROCK POT CHUCK CHILI

Into a large crock pot set on high, "chuck" the following:

2 large onions, chopped (ours are very strong, from the garden)
A dozen roughly-chopped roma tomatoes or smaller quantity of others
About 3 ribs of celery, chopped
Some leftover cooked-down tomato puree or paste (see previous entries) -- I think I had a cup or so
About 3 tablespoons chili seasoning (I had the last of a container of this to use up) or larger quantities of the following I also added
About 2 teaspoons each chili powder and cumin
About 1 teaspoon garlic powder (mellower flavor than fresh garlic)

Let this simmer for a few hours, and then in the last hour or two, add the following:

4-5 cloves garlic, chopped/smashed/minced
3 assorted fresh bell peppers, chopped (I used red and yellow)
2-3 16-oz. cans red kidney beans, mostly drained but not rinsed (One husband around here is only tolerant of kidney beans, so I kept the quantity smaller.)

Adjust seasonings and serve as is or over rice, or cook down further and use as a burrito filling. I provided for the family shredded taco cheese and a mixture of sour cream and yogurt to dollop on top, but these are certainly not necessary.

Verdict: Excellent, and especially nice for a hardly-think-about it meal with lots of leftovers for later. Of course you could do all sorts of additions--corn, black beans, fresh cilantro (Would you believe I was too lazy/tired to get any cilantro from the garden? But if I told you what I do all week, you'd understand.)

Amazing Eggplant Enchiladas

2010-10-16T20:00:00.000-04:00

I just served Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas with Mole Sauce via Ali, the Vegan Epicurean. Although I was forced to use ricotta instead of tofu for my family :-) , I followed the recipe pretty closely otherwise. Hubby's verdict? "Those are great! That one's a winner!" He will tell you that he likes vegetarian things when they're done right, which of course I try to do! Still, they make fun of me if I do tofu for much of anything, unless I don't tell them. :-) I doubled the recipe for five of us (including three men, essentially, since the 12yo is growing like a weed) and have about 40% of it left for another day. Yay!

Small details: I used some of the homegrown tomatoes that I'd cooked way down in recent weeks, so I didn't have to cook the sauce as long, and since I had no sesame seeds nor pumpkin seeds, I used some sunflower seeds and a bit of tahini for the sauce. My garnish was simply chopped tomatoes, and mostly just for me. (I caught two of the guys melting some cheddar cheese on top of their second servings.) I think the idea of cooking the enchiladas on top of sliced fresh tomatoes is brilliant--thanks, Ali!

"A Quiet Soup" from Orangette

2010-09-30T20:00:00.000-04:00

A very pretty but mostly-retired blog, Orangette, had a post the other day for a "quiet soup" I had just the ingredients to do myself.

The link above will take you there. It features red lentils (really orange), lemon, tomato paste, chicken broth, onions and garlic, a bit of heat, and cilantro. It can probably take further nutritarian adjustments (like veggie broth instead of chicken, and dry or wet sauteing of the onions instead of with oil), but I increased the lentil content a bit to use up the amount I had on hand, and I used only two tablespoons of olive oil instead of the four called for. It is very nice, excellent, even, and I think it will be even better tomorrow.

To the left is the cookbook it comes from.

In other news, I haven't posted much lately, but I've been doing a lot of nutritarian-friendly things in the kitchen, mostly dehydrating tomatoes, with this:

The romas are the prettiest. I peel them by plunging them into boiling water for about two minutes, then into cold water, then slipping the skins off. I then slice them into pretty rounds and arrange them on the trays. They take a good 18 or more hours to dry.

Beefsteak tomatoes work, too, but they need a good squeezing after peeling to get out the excess liquid and seeds before arranging the pieces on the dehydrator trays. A better technique with the beefsteaks is just cooking them down for hours on a low burner in a big pot, stirring occasionally so they don't stick to the bottom. The result is something between a puree and tomato paste, intensely flavored and sweet, with a kind of smokiness, perhaps from caramelization in the long, slow cooking. I used some of this "reduced puree" in place of the tomato paste in the lentil soup recipe, and it is lovely.

Vroom Vroom Vitamix!

2010-09-11T14:34:00.000-04:00

I guess I've entered the ranks of the crazy folks -- I bought a Vitamix! I didn't get exactly the one in this ad, but similar, and I paid less (remanufactured) at the Vitamix site. For $400 I was expecting a lot, so I couldn't help but be a bit concerned at the plastic container, after the nice glass one on my Oster Fusion (RIP). But I've decided to give it a chance and so far I'm getting more optimistic.

SALSA MEXICANO

In the instruction booklet they advise that you start with their recipes and branch out after that. So I made their version of salsa, which consists of only tomatoes, a bit of tomato paste I omitted, cilantro, jalapenos, and some salt. It was okay for what it was, but the machine didn't process the slightly leathery peppers I dropped in without getting to the point of liquefying the tomatoes, so I just picked out the big hunks of pepper afterwards. I then used the chopping feature to do some onion and garlic since we like that in our salsa, then I did another batch (2 cups) of their recipe. Mixed all together, it's very nice.

SMOOTHIE

This morning I tried my first smoothie, with a frozen banana, about 1/3 cup frozen peaches from a local farm (our trees didn't bear this year), an orange, and about one medium windfall apple (Gala type) from down the road. I added a bit of water to get the right consistency, and then I added flax seed meal to my glass afteward. That was nice, too, and I saved about a third of it as a smoothie starter for another time. This was not their recipe, but quantities as in the Vitamix booklet recommendation.

After following the instructions for cleaning the container with warm water and a couple of drops of dish liquid, then running it on high for 30 seconds, I could still detect some apple residue (I'm guessing) on the sides of the container, so I'm a little concerned about getting it really clean between uses.

PESTO SAUCE
(My reduced-fat variation)

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup parmesan, grated
3 cloves garlic
2-3 cups packed fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons toasted walnuts

We have a big crop of basil and I was looking forward to making some pesto once I had some kind of workable machine in the house. (My wedding-gift Sunbeam food processor has only the shredding/slicing attachments functional now, so it's limited, and the Oster Fusion blender died, so I was READY for a Vitamix!) Of course I discovered that I didn't have any pine nuts left, but I did have walnuts, and they work just fine. I reduced the oil and parmesan in the Vitamix booklet recipe by 30% or so and increased the basil, and the result was EXCELLENT, with no need for the salt and pepper in the recipe. The texture is very smooth, which is fine with me, and the flavor is nicely balanced. Now, to increase the nutritional value, I want to cut back even more severely on the oil and cheese and see how little I can get away with. I have in the past frozen a basil puree that I use as I would pesto in some applications.

I saved about a quart (four batches) of the Vitamix (but reduced-fat) pesto in four snack-size Ziploc bags in a quart-size Ziploc bag in the freezer. I hope to use it in those quantities or even clip the corner of the bag and squeeze out what I need--I expect that's going to be messy. I even saved a little in the fridge so we can use it in the next few days.

I was concerned that I couldn't get all the pesto out of the container beneath the blades, and the Vitamix people want me to remove the blade assembly only if absolutely necessary (and they'll then sell me a tool to do it with). To be fair, since I used less oil I created a bit more of a problem for myself. But I solved it in part by adding water to the container at the end and swishing it around by hand, then dumping it into a bean/pasta soup I was making for my lunch. It was perfect! After the soapy cleaning routine I thought I could feel a bit of oil residue, so I'm not crazy about that.

This afternoon I need to start processing some other produce--mostly tomatoes and green beans. I'll report back if I decide to use my Vitamix for any of it. :-) I also had fun browsing through the 3-ring recipe book they included--some good things in there!

Moosewood Eggplant Scallopini Marsala (or Sherried)

2010-09-01T20:31:00.000-04:00

This afternoon I kept pretty close to the recipe for Mollie Katzen's "Eggplant Scallopini Marsala" from this cookbook.

<--

Someone has posted a pretty close list of the ingredients here. Katzen offers the substitution of sherry for marsala, so I did that, not having any marsala around the house. However, this list reads "2 teaspoons" of oil while the original calls for 2-3 tablespoons of oil. I might have skimped except I was making it for a church potluck and felt that 2 tablespoons of oil (plus another tossed in the pasta) was not too much for a good dozen servings. The recipe says it's for six, but those are giant servings, a one-bowl meal each.

It was a joy to work with the gorgeous small, shiny, firm eggplants my husband has grown this summer, plus his peppers, onions, tomatoes, and basil. I did use canned mushrooms--alas. This is a delicious meal--recommended!

Healthy Foods Myths?

2010-08-06T08:20:00.000-04:00

Here is a good, sane article on the health effects of Raw Food Vegan Diets. Too often I see folks in a vegan-type health lifestyle who fall prey to superstitions and pursue (usually expensive) purist paths of one sort or another. In that light, I have a few questions. (Caveat: I am setting aside the "ethical vegetarian" concern about avoiding animal foods. That's a discussion of another sort--I'm thinking mostly about health.)

How are liquid aminos nutritionally superior to traditional soy sauce? I realize the sodium content is lower, but equivalent to lower-sodium soy sauce. Where do these aminos come from, besides the high-priced health-food store?

The article discusses raw food enzymes, but I wonder about how the process of long dehydration (even at low temperatures) really preserves any nutritional content better than other methods of cooking.

Are the fats in nuts and avocado SO superior to the fats in oils that a free hand with nut purees and such is really better for us than a bit of olive oil or other oil (or even butter!)?

The same goes for cheeses--recently I've seen on at least one blog that folks are excited about a new vegan cheez (great spelling!) that will make their meals look and taste just as cheesy as the SAD meals, but with nutritional superiority (I assume). I wonder whether the intensive processing that goes into making such a product results in something that is inherently nutritionally superior to regular old cheese (or a lower-fat version)?

It seems to me that creating vegan versions of omni foods sometimes goes to the point of ridiculousness, especially for those vegans who aren't really watching the calories. It reminds me of the tradition I once heard of whereby strictly-vegetarian Buddhists create mostly tofu-based foods that mimic animal foods to the point of looking just like a fish on the plate, for example.

Is it REALLY that important to substitute stevia or a pureed date for a tiny half-teaspoon of sugar in my fresh-picked blackberries from the garden?

How much of the "current practice" of many vegans and vegetarians is powered by the marketing power of product manufacturers?

I won't even get into the "organic" thing, but that's a particular interest of those who really focus on whole foods. Seems like some marketing gets in there, too! My husband the scientist (with work in toxicology and DNA damage and repair) is not impressed with the superiority of organics in many cases, though he's happy to avoid treating things in our garden when possible!

I'm trying to eat nutritarian for health reasons, so my recipes often include small amounts of things many purists eschew (what a great word!) when I don't see a real advantage to the vegan alternative, though it's certainly others' prerogative to make those substitutions. And I feel like a bit of a slacker when I post those ingredients, too! :-)

Zucchagna!

2010-08-02T20:11:00.000-04:00

My husband estimates he's picked about 200 pounds so far of summer squashes, mostly zucchini, with more to come, so I'm trying to find various ways to use it. A couple of weeks ago I dehydrated some thin longitudinal slices to emulate lasagna noodles, hoping to create something that would not have the wateriness that regular zucchini would lend to such a dish. My thought was that if the dry slices could absorb flavored moisture from the sauce, the whole thing would turn out nicely.

I was right!

Because I had some cheeses for traditional lasagna, this recipe is not as "clean" as I would like to try later, but it's a good start for the experiment. Try it with tofu filling, non-dairy cheeses, etc., if you like.

ZUCCHAGNA

Makes a 9x13 and a 7x11 dish

5-6 cups marinara sauce (I used the 43-oz. jar of Ragu from Costco)
Dehydrated longitudinal slices of zucchini to make two layers in each dish (I didn't count!)
48-oz. carton lowfat ricotta cheese
48-oz. carton lowfat cottage cheese
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder
handful of freshly-picked basil, oregano, and rosemary (or smaller amounts of dried--about 2 tablespoons)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups mozzarella shreds

Spread enough marinara sauce to cover the bottom of each dish, then arrange dried zucchini in a single layer. Combine ricotta and cottage cheese with parmesan, garlic powder, and herbs and divide between the two dishes. Sprinkle with about 1/3 of the mozzarella (divided between the dishes). Arrange another layer of zucchini slices in each dish and top with the remaining sauce. Seal with foil and bake at 360 for about 30-40 minutes (large dish), then remove foil, sprinkle with remaining mozzarella, and bake until bubbly, about ten minutes.

Verdict: Excellent! Everybody liked this, and now I think I can dial back the dairy and try some other variations. The zucchini was chewy and satisfying, with a sweet flavor that I think would lend itself to some Middle Eastern variations.

Now I'm dehydrating another load of zucchini with a lot more to go after that!

Customizing Curry

2010-08-02T13:07:00.000-04:00

Last fall I posted "Craving Curry" to share a great healthy meal. We have curry of some sort about once a month, and the perennial favorite is a casserole of broccoli topped with chicken breast and then a sauce of cream-of-mushroom soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, curry powder, lemon juice, and cheddar cheese. You get the picture. So yesterday I wasn't sure how a new recipe would be received, but they loved it!

I started with this recipe for Spicy Thai Chicken, using half the coconut milk called for, and chicken breast chunks instead of thighs. I made some other tweaks, but mine is basically what is here. Having the chicken breast in chunks allows for each serving to incorporate the quantity of chicken that person desires. For Sunday dinner I served this to the family over brown basmati rice with fresh broccoli from our garden on the side, and condiments of diced tomato, shredded coconut, raisins, and chopped onion. I chopped up my broccoli into a small amount of rice and used only a couple of ounces of the chicken in my serving. (I had some other leftover veggies on the side.) Everybody enjoyed it, especially customizing the condiments.

Today for lunch I picked out about an ounce of the chicken and a bunch of carrots from the leftovers, with the only fat being the coconut milk floating on top that clung to the carrots as I fished them out. I steamed some fresh broccoli again and added about a third of a cup of the rice and mixed it all together with a tablespoon of raisins and some chopped tomato and onion leftovers from yesterday, with a squeeze of lemon and a few peanuts on top. Excellent lunch!!

For breakfast today I had oatmeal with chopped fresh peaches from our tree, a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar, and some roasted edamame. I realize how much I like having something a bit crunchy in something soft. With the rice yesterday and oatmeal this morning, I probably should have skipped the bit of rice in my lunch. I'll try to figure out something non-grain for supper . . .

Nutritarian Nirvana

2010-07-30T11:09:00.000-04:00

I'm not into Eastern religions (nor even some of the Western ones!), but this post title just works.

Emily Boller has posted a great glimpse at the food served at a recent Health Getaway with Dr. Fuhrman.

Click here to see the whole thing. Amazing--makes me want to pull out that book of recipes!

A Lecture that Might Change Your Life

2010-07-25T20:33:00.000-04:00

I found this ninety minutes or so from Dr. Fuhrman very motivational: 2010 Health Getaway Presentation on Food Addictions.

If you have the time to spend on this video, you will learn . . .

Why a "beans and greens" diet is optimal
What "toxic hunger" is and how to beat it
How diabetes really CAN be reversed, and who doesn't want you to know that
Why those of us who naturally gain weight easily can have the MOST optimal mature years--can you believe we actually have an advantage somewhere?

(This is one of our basil plants -- wonderful addition to many nutritarian dishes!)

Why Drugs Won't Work in the Long Run

2010-07-24T08:51:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Yoni Freedhoff of Weighty Matters (7-24-10), here is a sensible article about the drug approach to weight loss: "Weight Loss and Wonder Drugs: Something is Fishy." Dr. David Katz says that when we gain weight on the diet and inactivity of our modern life our bodies are not betraying us but doing exactly what they were meant to do--storing up in time of abundance for a time of want. The problem is that we never really come to that famine time so we just keep adding to our stores. It's a natural survival mechanism of the body, betrayed by our prosperity.

And when we turn to drugs--to raise our metabolism, to block our hunger, to control our insulin--of necessity we have to introduce powerful pharmaceutical changes to counteract the way our bodies are designed by God (or "Nature" or evolution) to function. And those drugs have potentially and have demonstrated repeatedly to cause very serious side effects. An excerpt:

When one considers that the problem we are asking weight control drugs to fix -- a body turning surplus calories into an energy reserve -- is normal human physiology, the conclusion that they may prove to be elusive not just now, but forever, is hard to avoid. . . .

None of this is to deny the important insights that will doubtless derive from the scrupulous pursuit of scientific details relating to weight control. Rather, it is to note we miss the forest- the fundamentals of human metabolism in native context -- for the densely clustered hormonal, neurochemical, and genetic trees- at our evident peril.

In a word, the ease with which many of us gain weight in our culture (I've noted a lot more heavy brides lately than when I married 24 years ago, and though I was "overweight" at the time I was slimmer than most of the current chubby brides I'm thinking of.) has a lot to do with our individual responses to our culture. Advertising and abundance can suggest that we really do "deserve a break today" and need to "indulge" and luxuriate in the foods that only kings and queens could have had in years gone by--ice cream, for one! But I think our amazing prosperity can be used to benefit our health if we take advantage of the opportunity and learn to really value the rainbow of produce available at even a modest modern grocery store. I'm learning not to look at the prices of the upscale salads in fast food restaurants because I know that a couple of dollars more will get me a really healthy choice. I deserve THAT break today! And that is part of my survival strategy.

Funky Thai Salad

2010-07-15T12:42:00.000-04:00

I made something for lunch today that I feared would be just TOO fusion cuisine. But I made it anyway and then looked up some of the ingredients and, lo and behold, I made something akin to this recipe for Thai summer rolls!

I started with the inspiration of the Thai basil in our garden. This herb is much like regular basil but has smaller leaves, purple stems, and an anise-type flavor note.

FUNKY THAI SALAD

3 cups tender salad greens (we have butter lettuce from the garden)
1/2 cup cooked beet chunks (julienned would have been more Thai-summer-roll)
1/2 cup blanched broccoli (we have baby broccoli sprouts from the garden)
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
scattering of roasted edamame
(I also had a couple of tablespoons of green peas that escaped into the strainer in which I was blanching the broccoli, and they made a nice addition.)

THAI BASIL DRESSING (what I intended, anyway)

Tablespoon of tahini (peanut butter or crushed peanuts would be more authentic)
Tablespoon of fresh Thai basil, crushed or minced
Tablespoon of rice vinegar (either the sweetened kind or plain with a dash of sugar)

THAI BASIL DRESSING (what I made do with)

Tablespoon of tahini
Tablespoon of fresh Thai basil, crushed
Tablespoon of saki
Teaspoon of tarragon vinegar
Sprinkle of sugar

Verdict? Very good. I really like the way the beets, basil, and tahini meld together. It makes a beautiful salad, too, more composed and accented with the dressing than tossed and drenched.

Super Foods

2010-07-14T14:04:00.000-04:00

How many Super Foods do you eat in a week's time?

Read more here, at Wise Bread.

Blueberries
Beans
Broccoli
Oats
Oranges
Pumpkin
Wild Salmon
Soy
Spinach
Tea (Green or Black)
Tomatoes
Turkey
Walnuts
Yogurt

This week I've had all the ones in bold. I usually have lots of dark leafy greens, but since we have so much fresh salad in the garden I haven't had spinach or kale or turnip/collard/mustard greens in the last couple of weeks. I've just finished a course of Cipro (antibiotic) and am having plain yogurt to try to build up my friendly organisms, but I don't usually have yogurt regularly.

Sassy Salad

2010-07-12T13:00:00.003-04:00

For lunch today I'm enjoying an intensely satisfying salad I want to share. It fills a small serving bowl and comes in under 350 calories.

3-4 cups tender butter lettuce and mesclun from the garden
1/2 cup carrot slices
half a can of beet chunks
half a package of Tasty Bite Chunky Chickpeas
2 teaspoons or so ranch dressing

This salad has a nice mix of earthy colors, sweetness, and spiciness.

I'll finish up with some watermelon, I think.

Zucchini Harvest Has Begun

2010-07-10T18:44:00.003-04:00

Hubby brought in about 25 pounds of zucchini today from the garden, so I need to start using it creatively. I want to start with my new Excalibur Food Dehydrator, and this blog post from Walnut Spinney has some great ideas for that and for other uses.

Traditionally we use a recipe I once found in Farm Woman Magazine, which in the late 80s changed its name to Country Woman, and actually started out as Farm Wife! Here's where I figured that out.

These ladies knew what to do with a lot of extra zucchini. Though this recipe starts with sausage you could use something vegan if you wanted to, or otherwise add flavor as desired. The real bonus is that it uses up a LOT of zucchini:

In the biggest skillet you have, brown about one-half to one pound of sliced sausage (kielbasa, smoked sausage, Italian sausage, etc.) Add to the skillet a couple of chopped onions and a couple of cloves of garlic, smashed. When the onion has softened, add a huge pile of shredded zucchini and cook down until the zucchini has softened and some of the liquid has evaporated. Add a can of chopped tomatoes, or fresh, and just before serving add some oregano, basil, salt and pepper, and the secret ingredient, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. You may add parmesan at the end if you like and eat like a stew in a bowl, with or without a side of crusty bread, or on top of pasta or our favorite, rice. Depending on how you steer the seasonings, you can go more Italian, Creole, Middle Eastern, Indian, or in another direction entirely.

Tonight I'm making a variation on this, starting with chunks from a giant zucchini, olive oil (not much), onion, garlic, a jarred roasted red pepper, a can of diced tomatoes, several marinated green olives, a dash of balsamic vinegar, fresh oregano and basil, and several turkey meatballs (the nutritarians can leave these behind in the skillet :-) ). I'm making whole-wheat spaghetti to serve it over.

And now to go start making some of those zucchini chips for the dehydrator!

Thrifty-Wonderful Exotic Fruit Soda

2010-06-28T07:54:00.004-04:00

Warning: non-nutritarian content below, though the main concept is pretty sound :-)

Being the miserly mom I am, it just kills me to "discard" valuable things in recipes. So I have a container of ten egg whites in the fridge right now, waiting to have something done with them, for instance. But even more valuable are the products of our garden, especially our fruits, which have uncertain yields from year to year and are usually available for only a short time.

So in the process of making Raspberry Ripple ice cream for Father's Day, using two to three cups of fresh-picked raspberries that grow wild by the old barn that adjoins our property, I wound up with a good cup or more of slightly sweetened raspberry seed pulp that wasn't going into the ice cream but should NOT have been wasted. So I grabbed a handy bottle of seltzer and slowly poured it over the pulp in the sieve, "rinsing" it through with additional seltzer a couple of times more. The resulting jeweled raspberry soda over ice was a kingly pre-Father's Day treat for the dad (and tasting family members). What a treat!

Now I have plans for the similar seedy-but-flavorful "discards" of our summer processing of elderberries and blackberries, when those are ripe. I think this technique could easily be adapted to ginger ale, tonic water, Sprite, club soda, and even plain/filtered/reverse-osmosis/certified-elite WATER. I'll let you know how it goes.

Exercise is Good, But Food Makes the Difference

2010-06-28T07:33:00.003-04:00

Just read a post at "Weighty Matters" on an interesting study. Here's the relevant commentary:

The folks who reported a marked increase in exercise over a decade found themselves a whole 1.2lbs lighter ten years later than the folks who didn't and had waist circumferences half a centimetre (roughly a fifth of an inch) smaller.

Huzzah?

This of course leads me to conclude that this study is in fact consistent with the bulk of the evidence which suggests that in the absence of dietary interventions exercise does not dramatically impact on weight over time. It also leads me once again to beg researchers to stop focusing on weight as an exercise study's primary endpoint and instead focus on those things more likely to demonstrate the incredible benefits of exercise - things such as high blood pressure, cholesterol levels, arthritis, cardiovascular fitness and overall quality of life.

This is a good reminder to me of what I (and Dr. Freedhoff) know by experience is true!

Lentils and Leftovers Lunch

2010-05-24T11:51:00.003-04:00

I visited a cultured grocery store, McGinnis Sisters, with friends on Saturday, and I got some treats, including red lentils. Today for lunch I wanted to start with those and add things as the inspiration (and inspection of the fridge and pantry) came to me. I post the ingredients first, but I really only added things as I went along.

RED LENTIL LUNCH

1/2 cup chopped canned tomatoes and their juice
1/3 cup dry red lentils
About 2/3 cup water
Tablespoon of dehydrated minced onion
Salt, pepper, and a teaspoon of Garam Masala
Tablespoon or two of raisins
2-3 big leaves of kale, snipped into ribbons with scissors

Put tomatoes, lentils, water, and onion into a small pot and bring to a boil, then a quiet simmer. Add seasonings and stir in raisins to soften. Top the simmering mixture with kale and cover to steam the kale on top. When the kale is done, stir all together and serve with a topping of your choice.

TOPPINGS

I think diced cucumber and mint or a full-fledged raita would be good on this.
Or sauteed zucchini and onion
Or chopped cooked green beans (cold) and walnuts with raspberry vinaigrette
Or any of a number of things
But I cubed up cold leftover potato and baby carrots from a pot roast last week

VERDICT? Very Good. I wanted something healthy and flavorful and filling, and this fit the bill all around. I have enough left that I can have a smaller serving tomorrow, maybe with the raita, or I can treat hubby with it when he comes home for lunch.

Speaking of hubby, he bravely and happily ate my leftover Emerald Tofu from Thai Place Restaurant. I had the vegetarian Tom Yum, Emerald Tofu, and brown rice. Delicious and very healthy!

Sweet Success

2010-05-22T08:07:00.003-04:00

Last evening my 12yo son and I were the only ones at home after his school program, and he asked if I could make him some kind of dessert. (I think others may have been going to a local ice cream shop.) I considered what I had around the house and then asked if a smoothie sounded good, and he said yes!

So we discussed what kinds of fruits I had to make one--bananas, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, pineapple, oranges, pears, etc., and I suggested some of the more "treat-like" ingredients, like coconut and peanut butter, proposing some interesting combos. Finally he decided that banana, strawberry, and blueberry sounded the best, and no, he didn't want any milk or yogurt in it.

So I filled the blender with about two cups of frozen blueberries, one banana, and eight or so big frozen strawberries, adding water to get a good consistency. I asked him to taste it to see if he wanted me to add any sugar or Crystal Light, as I feared it might not seem enough like a dessert. But he tasted it, thought a moment, and said, "That's just right!" I smiled, handed him his, added some flax seed meal to mine, and we both lived happily ever after. :-)

Very Veggie Lasagne

2010-05-07T21:21:00.005-04:00

Today I needed to clean out some items in the fridge, and I decided to make a lasagne, though without a ricotta-like filling I don't know whether it can be called that. Does the noodle make the difference? Anyway, here goes:

VERY VEGGIE LASAGNE

--The Filling--
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped (chunky, and the same below)
3-5 cloves garlic, sliced
4 medium zucchini, chopped
1 large eggplant, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, chopped
1/4-1/3 cup pesto (I used the jarred russo type from Aldi)
1/4 cup or so white wine (I used the last of a bottle of homemade mead)
a few shakes each Italian herbs and garlic powder, salt to taste

--The Other Stuff--
Large Costco-sized jar of Ragu
1/2-1 cup canned chopped tomatoes (what was leftover in my fridge)
1-1/2 boxes whole wheat lasagne noodles, not cooked (you need about 22 noodles)
1-pound bag shredded Italian cheeses (You're welcome to substitute "cheez" if desired, but my recipe yields about one ounce of cheese per generous serving.)

--The Method--
Heat the olive oil and add first the onions, then the garlic, then the other ingredients in the order listed, according to needed cooking time (you don't want the eggplant a complete mush), with the seasonings last and to taste. Total simmering time should be about a half hour.

In each of two 9x13 glass pans, pour enough Ragu or other sauce to just cover the bottoms, then arrange three DRY noodles lengthwise and break another to fill up the remaining space at the end of each pan. Top the noodles in each pan with a bit more than a quarter of the veggie filling, then sprinkle about three ounces of cheese into each pan.

Add a thin layer of Ragu over the cheese in each pan and top with another layer of noodles, pressing down to even the filling. Distribute the last of the veggie filling over the noodles and add three more ounces of cheese to each pan.

Finally, place another layer of noodles directly onto the last layer of cheese and press down lightly, then add the chopped tomatoes to the Ragu jar and shake it up, distributing the contents over the two pans to moisten the top noodles thoroughly.

Cover each pan with foil, oiled or sprayed with cooking spray if the filling will touch the foil. I baked one and refrigerated one for later.

To bake, put foil-covered pan (at room temperature) into a cold oven and bake at 375 for about ninety minutes. Near the end of baking time, remove the foil and test for softness of the noodles, then sprinkle with remaining two ounces of cheese (for each pan) and bake until melted.

Verdict? Excellent. We didn't miss the ricotta much at all--this was quite satisfying, though improved by a nice crusty roll on the side. :-) My lasagne sometimes fails with hard noodle bits on top, too-dry a result, or slight burning, especially of the top. But this was just right, and cuts up nicely, too, for neat leftovers in microwaved lunches.

Notes: This recipe is definitely a bit skimpy on the cheese, so be advised. The veggies can be water-sauteed, too, especially if you're adding pesto with oil/nuts. One eighth of a pan is a generous serving and includes an ounce of cheese, less than 1-1/2 noodles, half a cup of sauce and tomatoes, half a zucchini, an ounce of mushrooms, 1/16 of a big eggplant, and some onion and garlic as well. I have nothing against ricotta, or a mixture of ricotta and cottage cheese, or even a tofu replacement, but I just didn't have any on hand. The trick to baking lasagne with dry noodles is to make sure they're touching wet ingredients and that the casserole is baked closed for most of its time in the oven.

Vegan Epicurean: Our Favorite Foods

2010-05-05T07:59:00.001-04:00

Vegan Epicurean: Our Favorite Foods

View the amazing inspirations of my blog-friend Alicia. Her creations take a special genius and the time and diligence my own life and inclination do not allow. :-)

Nutritarianizing Supper: Burrito Burgers and Tropical Smoothie Fizz

2010-04-24T20:49:00.004-04:00

I've been trying to eat more in the nutritarian way the last few days, and though I've not been as purist with it as I should, overall it does make me feel better even done modestly!

Today I had leftover steel-cut oatmeal with pears and apples mixed with some other steel-cut oatmeal I made another day with apples and sour cherries I preserved last summer in a bit of light syrup. I put leftover toasted pecans and a few cashews on top.

For lunch I had "beans and greens" at an Italian restaurant--a bowl of spinach (pretty sure about that) and white beans and chicken stock that didn't seem to be very fatty. I also had a couple of ounces of hubby's stromboli.

For supper I needed something quick for the family, and I had some Costco sirloin burgers, so I cooked them in the oven with some taco seasoning sprinkled on top. For the regular servings I made a "Burrito Burger" for each person, centering the cooked patty on a flour tortilla, topping the patty with a slice of good cheddar and then folded over the tortilla so just a bit of cheese peeked through the hole in the middle. I then flipped the package into a hot, dry skillet, open side down, and toasted it until I heard the cheese melt enough to sizzle, then I flipped it over and toasted the other side. I slid each of these onto a plate and people could dress them as they liked with the side items.

I modified mine as follows, and this recipe could easily be adapted to a veggie burger:

BURRITO BURGER

1/3 cup refried beans, heated
Hamburger patty, cooked and sliced crosswise into a thin patty
OR whole veggie burger, cooked
Whole wheat flour tortilla large enough to wrap around the sides of the patty and meet in the middle (or almost)
One third slice of cheddar cheese (or weird veggie "cheez" if you must)

Preheat a dry skillet. Spread the refried beans in the center of the tortilla, topping them with the burger and then the slice of cheese, then wrap the edges of the tortilla around to meet in the middle. Holding the package carefully, place it open side down in the hot skillet and toast until desired brownness, then flip and toast the other side. Transfer the package to a plate and surround with "fixings."

Verdict: Very Good. No, I should say Excellent since my 12yo said this new experiment (his was the full-burger version without beans, plus a full slice of cheese) should win the Nobel Prize of cooking. Well! :-) I topped my package with salsa and then built a salad to the side of shredded romaine, purple onion, chopped tomato, and a few dollops of guacamole. It was very satisfying to cut into the toasty package to get a bite followed by a bite of the salad.

On the side we had . . .

TROPICAL SMOOTHIE FIZZ

One frozen banana
One cup frozen strawberries (home grown from last year!)
One cup fresh pineapple and a bit of the juice from the container (Costco special)
Juice and flesh of one lime
Can of diet 7-Up or, for purists, perhaps some club soda?

Combine fruits and juice in the blender with water as needed, then pour enough into glasses to leave room to add the soda to the remainder, then top each glass with the soda/smoothie mixture. For adults, add a splash of Cointreau. :-)

This is a beautiful blush color and retains a fizzy top until each serving is gone. It makes enough for four LARGE servings or six medium ones.

Verdict: Very Good. It's a biting recipe, not terribly sweet (except for the addition of the soda), but celebratory and refreshing, which is what I was going for on a Saturday night with salsa in the main dish.

Super Simple Supper

2010-03-10T11:15:00.004-05:00

Last evening I got home after suppertime but was able to have food on the table for the family in about fifteen minutes. Before I left for some errands I put rice in the rice cooker, and that made all the difference.

SUPER SIMPLE SUPPER
For Nutritarians and Those They Love

Rice prepared in rice cooker ahead of time

Three cans black beans
Big dollop of salsa
Sliced lite kielbasa
Diced onion
Diced tomato
Mixture of 2/3 plain nonfat yogurt and 1/3 sour cream

Brown kielbasa slices in a skillet. Combine the cans of beans in a saucepan and add salsa, heating on medium. Meanwhile, dice up onion and tomato (green pepper would be nice, too) and mix yogurt/sour cream topping.

Have diners create their own plates with rice as a base, beans and sausage on the base, and toppings as desired. I used a token amount of rice and mostly beans, with three small sausage slices and lots of tomato and onion, with a squiggle of yogurt/cream on top, and I had a big navel orange on the side.

Verdict: Excellent. Everybody enjoyed it completely, especially as each was able to assemble his or her own plate as desired.

Simple Substitution

2010-03-09T15:08:00.005-05:00

I was tempted to have a Wendy's Frosty today at lunch, and when I got home I made an alternative that was very satisfying on many levels. It is utterly simple.

COCOA-BANANA FROSTY

3 frozen bananas, slightly softened
3 tablespoons or so cocoa powder

Combine in the blender until perfectly smooth, then top with nuts if desired.

Verdict: Excellent. I wasn't sure this would quite do the trick for my craving, but it did, really, and with virtue to boot! This makes two good servings.

Side note--I had the Mandarin Chicken Salad at Wendy's, using less than half the dressing, for a total of about 400 calories--romaine and spring mix greens, mandarin orange pieces, grilled chicken breast, sliced toasted almonds, crunchy noodles for the top (only about 60 calories). Not bad for eating out.

Food as Drug

2010-03-08T07:56:00.003-05:00

This article nicely summarizes some of the trouble . . . As I've said before, the food does matter:

"Many of us are wired in the brain to eat" from the Edmonton Journal.

(Thanks to www.drsharma.ca )

N-Friendly Fusion

2010-03-01T17:57:00.005-05:00

For supper tonight I am throwing together a kind of buffet of Middle-Eastern / Indian items that are nutritarian-friendly, if not purist. I thought I'd share . . .

SPICED LENTILS AND BEEF (beef optional)

Tasty-Bite Madras Lentils (one package)
2 cups cooked, crumbled ground beef (could be substituted with cooked lentils or red beans or TVP if you like TVP)
3 dates, snipped up
3 slivers candied ginger, snipped up (authentically prepared by my friend M. in Jordan!)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coriander (ground my own!)
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Combine with water to a good consistency, heat

LEMONY SQUASH AND TOMATOES

1 bag frozen zucchini and yellow squash slices
1/2 onion, sliced
1 can chopped tomatoes (mine were accidentally "chili-ready")
small segments of sliced lemon, with peel
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 cloves garlic, sliced

Combine and heat, adding salt to taste

ON THE TABLE:

Tasty Bite Chunky Chickpeas

Steamed Rice

Cooked frozen green peas

Plain yogurt with cucumber dressing, cilantro (I freeze little patties of pureed cilantro in the summer), and honey stirred in

Sourdough bread (homemade by daughter)

Verdict: Excellent! The lemony veggies with the sweet lentils/meat worked very nicely, and the yogurt sauce was good on the latter. It all worked well together as a meal, and I threw it together in just thirty minutes or so (plus extra time for the rice). This is a good use of prepared items with additions from my own produce and staples.

Crock Pot Experiment

2010-02-16T08:18:00.003-05:00

Last night as I cleaned up the kitchen and thought of this morning's early breakfast for the family, I thought I'd try a crock pot oatmeal recipe. I found the only dried fruits we had (apricots and cranberries gone) were raisins and dates and some candied ginger, if that counts. So daughter and I conferred and came up with this:

CROCK POT BARLEY OATMEAL

1-1/2 cups steel-cut oats
1/2 cup pearled barley
5 or more cups water
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup snipped dates
2 slices candied ginger, snipped up
teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for eight hours.

Verdict: Good. The recipe is corrected for a better guess on the water, as my four-plus cups resulted in oatmeal too dry and stuck to the top edges, so this morning I added a cup or so of milk. It was still dense and sticky, but nicely chewy. The family added butter and sugar to theirs and I added some applesauce to mine.

For the future I think I'd enjoy adding some frozen fruit on top just before cranking it up, to slow the cooking a bit, and using "lighter" dried fruits like apricots or dried apples. I will definitely try this again, and I like being a bit adventurous with the barley!

Splendid Oatmeal

2010-02-02T16:42:00.002-05:00

I made this one up this morning, as I rummaged about for a couple of elderly apples I wanted to use up (didn't find them, so we got nicer ones) and thought of dried apricots to enhance the flavor . . .

APPLE-APRICOT-GINGER OATMEAL
Serves 6 with leftovers

6 cups water (I actually used two cups of milk in mine)
3 apples, diced
6 dried apricots, snipped up small (I thought I had more in the package than that!)
3 slices crystallized ginger (each slice about the size of a quarter)
3 cups regular oats
dash of salt (to taste)

Start water boiling and cut up apples, then apricots, then ginger into it. When it comes to a boil, add oats and turn down to low, cooking to desired consistency.

Verdict: Excellent. I think everyone in the family liked this, though with added sugar at the end. I think it could easily be made with grated fresh ginger as well, and more apricots (if you have more than I did!).

Ack--Too Much Life Lately

2010-02-01T15:02:00.004-05:00

Well, I have had a couple of nice smoothies this last week, a good apple oatmeal, some giant salads, and a beautiful array of fresh fruit (kiwis, blueberries, strawberries, cara cara oranges, excellent apples, etc.). But I've also had some large distractions (death in the extended family, severe illness in the nearer extended family, potential trips to other states in blizzard weather, and a significant job offer [see 2/1/10]). And then there are other difficulties nearer home, nearer my heart, that I'd rather not mention here.

In any case I've been distracted and distressed, excited and over-extended, and I just haven't been able to be systematic about my eating. And yesterday I was just simply in comfort mode, not consistent with nutritarian principles (though I know that real nurture is more consistent with nutritarian principles). But I just cannot do it all. So here I am to say that for the next stretch of time, I will be content with myself to post when I come across just the right inspiration for a great nutritarian meal or dish, and I'll share that then.

Thanks for reading!

I'm Back

2010-01-23T22:43:00.003-05:00

I'm heading off to bed with a compelling book, but first I want to get back into the groove here:

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Smoothie of frozen banana, small cara-cara orange, 3/4-1 cup frozen blueberries, handful of fresh spinach, tablespoon or so of flax seed meal, and water to blend

Lunch--Dry-sauteed large zucchini, half an onion, clove of garlic, and several mushrooms, with a half cup or so of garbanzo beans, several garlic-stuffed olives, and 1/3 cup or so pasta sauce; golden apple with peanut butter

Snack--Small handful (ounce or so?) roasted almonds

Supper--Half grapefruit (in chunks before supper); iceberg lettuce (all we've got!) topped with refried beans, sauteed green peppers and onion (picked out of the fajita mix I made for everyone with beef), a stray sliver of beef here and there, raw onion and pepper and tomato, mix of guacamole and plain yogurt for dressing, topped with some salsa, and a single corn taco shell on the side

Snack/Dessert (because I'm hungry at almost 11 p.m.)--130 calories or so of roasted edamame and another apple (I need to do some grocery shopping soon)

Day on the Fly

2010-01-07T14:40:00.006-05:00

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Smoothie of strawberry, banana, flax seed meal, and lots of spinach--this was greener than I would normally like, and I added a little Crystal Light to it for flavor. If I'd had more time I would have added some more fruit.

Lunch--Leftover CREAMY POTATO-TURNIP SOUP, Giant Eagle Prince Edward Medley vegetables (mine aren't quite what the link has, but close enough, and wonderful!) topped with FUSION HUMMUS--ITALIAN, golden apple

Snack--Roasted edamame, unsalted roasted peanuts (tablespoon), snipped dates (about four), for a total of about 1/2 cup

Supper--2/3 cup canned baked beans with <2 ounces crumbled sirloin burger; salad of spring greens with pear and a couple of walnuts and dijon vinaigrette (homemade by another talented daughter); generous slice of homemade sourdough bread with a bit of butter; orange

Satisfying Sandwich

2010-01-06T12:49:00.005-05:00

TOMATO-PEPPER HUMMUS SANDWICH

South Beach Multigrain Wrap (110 calories, 8g fiber)
1/3 cup FUSION HUMMUS--MIDDLE EASTERN
small tomato, chopped
small yellow pepper, chopped

Lightly toast the wrap, then spread with hummus and top with tomato and pepper.

Verdict: Excellent. This "sandwich" was especially good to me today--sweet peppers and tart-sweet tomato, spicy-rich hummus (this one is lowfat), and substantial "bread."

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Leftover oatmeal with apples, raisins, cinnamon, and pecans

Lunch--Salad lovingly prepared by my daughter, so it tasted great: spring mix, romaine, matchstick carrots, raisins, dried cranberries, pecans, a bit of feta, and low-cal Italian dressing; TOMATO-PEPPER HUMMUS SANDWICH; navel orange

Snack--Apple with peanut butter (about a tablespoon), half cup of lentils/brown rice/quinoa with pasta sauce

Supper--Yellow squash and zucchini with onions (boiled), two ounces pork loin, kiwi and banana.

Plus, unfortunately, the several chocolate coins I had this afternoon and several bites of the buttered noodles I made the family for supper. I shouldn't have expected that easing out of the holiday treat-mobile would be easy!!!

It's Good To Be Back

2010-01-05T16:55:00.008-05:00

I've really enjoyed my healthy eating today, and I'm experimenting with supper a bit. I went to the Mom&Pop grocery in Grove City (Bi-Lo) and got the best produce they had (which isn't saying a whole lot)--navel oranges, kiwis, the two best green peppers, the half of the zucchini and of the yellow squash that weren't limp, some broccoli crowns, red onions, and three little turnips. The latter were what got supper going for me . . .

CREAMY POTATO-TURNIP SOUP
Inspiration here

One onion, diced
Four potatoes, cubed
Three small turnips, cubed
8 oz. (about 2/3 of a bag, or 2-3 cups) broccoli slaw
2-3 cups stock (I used chicken)
Teaspoon nutmeg
Salt to taste
Water for desired texture

Combine vegetables and stock in a pot and simmer about an hour, until the vegetables are soft. Cool a bit and then puree the soup in a blender and return to the pot to reheat. Season and add water to taste.

Verdict: Before the puree, not so good. I am not looking forward to this for supper. After the puree, Very Good! :-) The soup is creamy with a fatty feel, but there isn't more than a teaspoon or two of fat (from the chicken stock) in the whole pot.

ROASTED ZUCCHINI AND ONIONS

3 or 4 zucchini, cut into finger-sized slices
2 small onions, quartered
drizzle of olive oil (I had about a tablespoon at most)
Italian seasoning blend (basil, oregano, etc.)
Montreal steak seasoning
Parmesan cheese to dust

Put the cut vegetables on a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with the seasonings and toss all around. Roast in 375-400-degree oven for fifteen minutes or so, turning with a spatula partway through. The idea is to get some of the edges browned and a little crispy, if possible, with the rest at least cooked through, but not mushy. To serve, put some on a plate and dust with parmesan.

Verdict: Excellent (and I'm just smelling it!). Still Excellent after eating it. I'd prefer a crisper kind of thing, but wilty is good, too.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Oatmeal with apples, raisins, cinnamon, and pecans

Lunch--Lentils, brown rice, and quinoa (leftover frozen KUSHERIE from last month) topped with pasta sauce (I even picked out the meatballs I'd originally heated into the sauce and fed them to the dog. :-) ) ; salad of spring greens, celery, slivers of bell pepper (all colors), and radish slices, with a dressing of watered-down FUSION HUMMUS--ITALIAN. (Today this hummus as a salad dressing was reminiscent of egg salad.)

Snack--Large pink and gold apple

Supper--CREAMY TURNIP-POTATO SOUP, ROASTED ZUCCHINI AND ONIONS, navel orange

Party--Yes, another party. :-) I had the smallest slice of chocolate cake available (I cut it myself) and a small serving of ice cream.

Fusion Hummus

2010-01-04T14:52:00.005-05:00

I have a party to go to this evening, and I have a refrigerated container full of what's left after you take two or three cups of garbanzo beans out of an institutional-sized can of the things. So I'm doing hummus. I have been looking at the things on my shelves and getting some inspiration recently for an Italian take on hummus, so here it is:

FUSION HUMMUS -- ITALIAN

3 large cloves garlic
3 cups canned garbanzo beans, rinsed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lightly toasted pine nuts
9 garlic-stuffed green olives
white wine as needed to blend (I used 1/3 - 1/2 cup)
one whole jarred roasted red pepper (no oil), snipped into small pieces

Whirl garlic, garbanzo beans, olive oil, pine nuts, and olives in blender, adding white wine as needed for proper consistency. Remove to bowl and stir in snipped pepper pieces. Option that might be pretty--reserve olives or some olives to snip into the blended mixture at the end.

Verdict--Excellent. This is more "fancy" or indulgent (read: contains more fat) than I'd want to use for everyday, but I have leftover garbanzo beans still and can puree them with this hummus for my own use in the days to come. Does hummus freeze well?

FUSION HUMMUS--MIDDLE EASTERN

3 large cloves garlic
1/2 cup tahini (mine was heavy on solids, light on oil, at the end of the jar)
3 cups canned garbanzo beans, rinsed
half a lemon, flesh and all, with the zest from the rind
tablespoon Garam Masala (mine is homemade and on the dark side, but not strong because it's been on the shelf for a few months)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
water (I used about 1/2 cup) and olive oil (I used a tablespoon, I think) to blend
dried parsley
salt to taste

Whirl garlic, tahini, garbanzo beans, lemon, and spices, with water and oil to proper consistency. Then turn out to a bowl and stir in parsley and salt as needed.

Verdict--Excellent. Hummus is just plain good, and I love the variations on it. I wanted a "warmer," sweeter version for this one. I think a fresher garam masala or some good coriander (mine was too shelf-old) would be good for it, maybe even a touch of cinnamon or cloves.

Simple Start and Progress Report

2010-01-04T08:37:00.004-05:00

No, I don't have any exciting progress to report from my holiday hiatus. In fact, I'm not going to weigh in officially until next Monday, so I have a week of "recovery" and a new starting point. I need it.

Today it all starts simply with a big banana for breakfast. I need to do some snow shoveling so the mail carrier can get to our box, and I need to do some video lectures to get our homeschooling week started. But I wanted to report my blood work results from last month:

I'm afraid I don't have spectacular details of blood work to show the benefits of nutritarian eating, as my numbers are pretty similar to those of two years ago, when I weighed about thirteen pounds less and was exercising more vigorously than I have been lately. But two years ago I had also been on Wellbutrin for the previous nine months and that threw my blood pressure up higher at that time and may also have had some effect on blood work. (When I got off the W. my weight shot right up almost 30 pounds in six months.) Three years ago, though, I weighed 30 pounds more than I did when this latest blood work was done, and that provides an interesting comparison. Here are all the numbers:

Year (within 2 mos. of December) . . . 2006 . . . 2007 . . . 2009

Weight (compared to December 2009) . . . +30 . . . -13 . . . 0 (after losing about 18 pounds in under three months)

Regimen . . . None . . . Wellbutrin, small portions, and vigorous exercise . . . Nutritarian and light exercise

Blood Pressure . . . 135/82 . . . 140/80 . . . 120/80 (I had the same reading a few months ago)

Fasting Glucose . . . 91 . . . "Fine" . . . 92

Total Cholesterol . . . 194 . . . 181 . . . 181

HDL . . . 39 . . . 48 . . . 39

LDL . . . 137 . . . 123 . . . 121

Triglycerides . . . 89 . . . 51 . . . 105

At age 48 I'm happy with my blood pressure and LDL. I can get the HDL higher (best above 50) with more exercise and perhaps some red wine, as well as getting off more weight (though I understand the HDL can be suppressed during and soon after weight loss). I don't know a lot about triglycerides, but even though they're elevated they're still good numbers.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--large banana, two tiny clementines, half ounce roasted edamame

Lunch--Campbell's Healthy Request Italian Wedding Soup (about a cup) with added red kidney beans (about 2/3 cup) and a big handful of fresh spinach wilted into the soup; gala apple

Snack--tastes of FUSION HUMMUS--ITALIAN and --MIDDLE EASTERN

Supper--Appetizer party at a friend's. I had a lot of good fresh veggie and fruit choices, but I had several other sorts of things, too. We had some car/snow trauma this evening that set me up with few resources to deal with temptation in the aftermath of stress. But still it was better than it could have been, and I had a lovely time with old friends.

Happy New Year! Inspiration

2010-01-01T16:35:00.006-05:00

At the Diseaseproof.com blog Deanna noted a new blog (like mine on steroids), janadrjoel.blogspot.com . Jana Diedrich is working her way through Dr. Fuhrman's recipes in Julie/Julia (great movie, so-so book) style, with beautiful photos of her everyday experiments. It's a great documentary of sorts of what Dr. F's nutritarian principles look like in real life, albeit carefully-created real life.

Now since both Jana and the Vegan Epicurean Alicia are ladies in their forties, like me, but without the four-child household I manage, I see them as inspirations and refuse to be discouraged by the many ways in which I find it difficult to keep up the daily excellence at the table that they can manage. But I am nevertheless inspired and want to inspire you, too!

If you're interested in taking the nutritarian plunge ala drfuhrman.com , I am considering joining the Member Center there but don't need the e-book that comes as part of membership. If you'd like the e-book at a discount, please contact me and we can arrange for me to pass on my "license" for it to you. I bought the book last year.

I'm still in holiday mode here and will hit the ground running on Monday, but I plan to be back in the swing of nutritarian eating and cooking in the first full week of the new year.

Blessings to all!
Cindy

Holiday Realities

2009-12-23T08:34:00.003-05:00

Okay, it's just sort of running over me now, this last-minute press of activities for Christmas. I have decided not to post until after the weekend, unless I just get inspired to come pop something in here in the meantime.

But I made an interesting discovery yesterday. Despite a great start with a great smoothie and good choices for lunch and supper (no details here, but I'm trustworthy on that), in between I had too much temptation and too much succumbing to the treats I was making--so basically an overload of fat and sugar and refined flour, with some oats and nuts in there, too. I'm guessing I wound up with about 2500 calories altogether yesterday, only 1000 of it from my meals. And I didn't feel good! I had to take a Tums before bed (and this was HOURS after supper and a homemade caramel or two) and I woke up with a headache and vague ill feelings. So I guess I'm really getting used to eating good things most of the time! Yay!

I thought this post was particularly appropriate for me this morning--enjoy!

Holiday Strategy? No Wrist-Slaps and No Write-Offs

Now I'm off into the Christmas fray again--mostly planning a series of small and larger feasts over the next several days, and basking in the amazing wonder of it all: that the God of the Universe loved us so much that He took on flesh and dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth. And it all began with an angel messenger, a baby, and a star . . . Rejoice!

On the Run . . .

2009-12-22T11:36:00.003-05:00

I usually just throw a few things together to make my smoothies several mornings a week, but this one is worth an actual recipe:

BLUEBERRY-GRAPEFRUIT SMOOTHIE

Frozen banana
Two cups (maybe 1-1/2) frozen blueberries
One pink grapefruit
Handful of kale
Tablespoon or two flax seed meal
Water to blend

Combine all in blender and whirl.

Verdict--Excellent. The combination of grapefruit and blueberry was beautifully refreshing, and the color was luscious. I tried with a smaller amount of blueberries at first, but it was too tart, so I tipped in the rest of the bag. :-)

TODAY'S MENU

Can't do it today!

Rescuing the Day

2009-12-21T18:08:00.006-05:00

Well, I had a great day until late afternoon, and then it pretty much fell apart. I think sometimes that my success actually leads to my stumbles. But now it's nearing suppertime and I'm back in the right place again. Thanks, Lord.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Banana and peanut butter in half a South Beach Multigrain Wrap

Lunch--Half cup of VEGETARIAN CHILI, 1-1/2 cups of vegetable-beef soup, gingerbread muffin, clementine, EGGPLANT HUMMUS with carrot and red pepper and celery to dip

Late-Afternoon Meltdown--It started at a little party--Spinach dip and crackers, cookie, little petit-four kind of thing, small piece of chocolate, a few caramel rice cakes. Then at home I felt I'd blown it so I might as well have some of the last of the potato chips, another gingerbread muffin, and a couple of cookies. Brother!!!

Supper--Lundberg Jubilee brown rice mix, green beans, small portion of beef tips in gravy; clementine

PROGRESS REPORT

Down one pound for a total of eighteen down in ten weeks! I had blood work today and am interested to see what the results are, as I have an interesting marker at two years ago when I weighed about the same as now but was not eating as healthfully. Although I am significantly overweight, I am "metabolically healthy," so my numbers are pretty good and don't have anything dramatic to show, I expect. Stay tuned . . .

Church Dinner Choices

2009-12-20T15:52:00.006-05:00

I was pleased with how the church dinner went today--I was satisfied with my healthy choices. Since I have blood work after a 14-hour fast in the morning, I'm eating a bit past full for supper, which I'm having at about 5:30.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Smoothie of 2/3 pink grapefruit, banana, frozen homegrown peach chunks (yum!), kale, and flax seed meal

Lunch--VEGETARIAN CHILI (about one cup); one serving each (about 3 cups total?) pre-prepared salads at church dinner--one was Greek with a smidgen of tomato and olive and feta and great dressing, and the other spring greens and balsamic dressing; small homemade shortbread cookie

Snack--Half a Harry and David pear; one ounce mixed roasted nuts

Dinner--Half a cup of Lundberg Jubilee rice (prepared yesterday--see that post) with two ounces baked chicken and about 2/3 cup steamed broccoli florets; mini whole wheat bagel (about 80 calories) spread with EGGPLANT HUMMUS; two or three melon chunks

Cooking Saturday

2009-12-19T08:52:00.005-05:00

We have a dinner at church tomorrow, and I was asked to bring a crock pot of chili, so I asked if I could do a vegetarian version. To save time and effort, I also made a vegetable-beef soup at the same time, so all my vegetable chopping and seasoning could go both ways. The soup is seasoned with garlic, onion, worcestershire, bay leaf, and chili powder, with stew beef and tomato juice for the base--I will add frozen mixed vegetables and additional water the day we eat it, but the "guts" are ready to freeze. The chili is below.

VEGETARIAN CHILI
(All measurements are approximate--I can't be absolutely sure of the number of cans of tomatoes, for example.)

Tablespoon of oil
2 green peppers, chopped
1 very large onion, chopped
Three cloves of garlic, sliced
Two to three ribs of celery, chopped
Two large cans chopped tomatoes (might be three)
2-3 tablespoons McCormick chili seasoning
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
Additional garlic powder and dehydrated onion to taste
Chopped hot peppers to taste--my homegrown "Anaheims" are too hot for the name, so I put in a handful and then tasted the chili and quickly removed most of the pieces of those peppers!
Spoonful of sugar and dash of salt if needed to correct seasoning
Two large cans kidney beans, drained (I used one dark and one light)

Saute the onion, peppers, celery, and garlic until soft, then add tomatoes and seasonings and cook down for an hour or so. Check seasoning, add beans, reheat, and taste again. Refrigerate overnight and reheat for best flavor.

Verdict--Excellent. I had a cup soon after it was all put together, and it's got a nice hotter-than-medium kick to it. It's a little on the "tomato-ey" side, but I'll taste it again tomorrow before serving to be sure that's still the case.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Leftover apple/raisin oatmeal with toasted almond slices (burned two batches and barely salvaged the third--shame on me!)

Lunch--Amy's Black Bean Enchiladas (yes, I ate both of the ones in the package, for a total of 6g fiber and 100 calories of fat out of 360 calories total) over a salad of spring mix and romaine; larger half of a giant Harry and David pear; sliver of ciabatta sub and of banana coffee cake, about three potato chips, and three chocolate-covered cashews

Snack--Cup of VEGETARIAN CHILI

Supper--Chicken drumstick (baked in the oven with a soy/ginger/honey marinade); 2/3 cup of Lundberg Jubilee Gourmet Blend of Whole Grain Brown Rice cooked in my rice cooker with chicken broth (canned), adding near the end canned sliced mushrooms and a dash of sherry--this was EXCELLENT!; green beans steamed over the rice near the end of cooking time

Snack/Dessert--Will probably have something because we had supper early, but we'll see.

Another Eggplant Hummus

2009-12-18T08:44:00.003-05:00

I have a recipe for Eggplant Hummus earlier in this blog, but I didn't refer to it when I made this one tonight.

EGGPLANT HUMMUS

Small eggplant, baked to softness
Can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
Two to three ounces of tahini
Four cloves garlic
Two teaspoons parsley
Juice of half a lemon
Salt to taste

Combine all in blender and blend to a smooth, creamy consistency, adding a bit of water if needed. Serve as a salad topper, sandwich spread, or dip.

Verdict--Excellent. This makes at least four cups, and I look forward to enjoying it for many days to come. It's particularly spicy/biting from the garlic and eggplant. I like that the eggplant and smallish amount of tahini make for a lower-fat version than is usual.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Smoothie of frozen banana, strawberries, a few blackberries, kale, and flax seed meal

Lunch--One cup leftover KUSHERIE base (lentils, brown and white rice, quinoa) with a large zucchini dry-sauteed with one small onion and a clove of garlic, garnished with a tablespoon of reduced-fat feta cheese; honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon chunks

Snack--Ounce of mixed roasted nuts and a large Pink Lady apple

Supper--Large salad of spring greens and a bit of romaine, with green peppers and onion, topped with about half a cup of EGGPLANT HUMMUS and a drizzle of low-cal Italian dressing; small sliver of ciabatta sub sandwich the family was having; small serving of potato chips

Snack/Dessert--Half ounce or so of the banana coffee cake the family was having; two tiny clementines

Catching Up

2009-12-17T15:32:00.006-05:00

I'm having trouble catching up to my life this week since I got back online, and every time I think of this blog I'm doing something else I cannot leave. So I'm just going to start in with what I've eaten today.

Christmas temptations are getting to me. We have goodies people have made us, goodies we've made for various functions we've been going to, and more goodies planned for the next week and more (a birthday two days after Christmas). I hate to commit to it because I don't want to cut off my options, but I really need to. I want to plan to have one small indulgence each day over these holidays, so I can look forward to something each day and keep to that limit. Lots of veggies and fruits will help in that.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Leftover oatmeal with apples, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and pecan pieces

Lunch (too late!)--Bowl of watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe chunks (got a good deal on a prepared tray at the grocery); leftover 2/3 cup Dreamfields pasta (I'm suspicious of this stuff) with 1/4 cup leftover prepared Macaroni Grill lasagne and jarred red sauce, with 1/2 cup cauliflower; single chocolate-cranberry cookie

Supper--Sauteed spinach on a small baked potato; half cup of leftover Kusherie (just the lentils and rice and quinoa) with two-plus ounces of meatloaf; a few bites of dessert cookies

I'm Back! Progress Report

2009-12-14T20:26:00.003-05:00

Since my modem died last Wednesday I've had a different sort of life. I've played a lot of Spider Solitaire while listening to an audio book (Desiring God -- nicely read here!) during some of those times when I would normally be checking my Google Reader, doing email, that kind of thing. I also decided to just move through my days without recording everything I was cooking and eating. I found I tended to get sloppy around the edges of things, so that today, for example, I nibbled on a piece of cinnamon toast every few hours throughout the day. Did I really need that? No. Could I have done better? Sure.

I also made a huge pot of Kusherie (the browned onions always run out before the rest of it does, so make lots extra) from the More-With-Less Cookbook late last week and have eaten it for lunch or supper every day since. That's not such a great idea, either. I browned my onions with less oil, and I used part brown rice and part white rice and part quinoa for the grain--it just took some interesting timing to make all the parts come out right in the end.

The first evening of not blogging I made a casserole of stuffing mix (included whole wheat bread, prepared mostly for the family, but I had a little) with catfish baked on top, with a bruschetta-type topping--tomatoes, olives, herbs. It was good, but I'm not really interested in the leftovers we still have around. I made a nice slaw to go with it (let's see if I can remember it):

APPLE-BROCCOLI SLAW

one diced apple
tablespoon or two of homemade tarragon vinegar
handful or two of broccoli slaw
tablespoon of cucumber dressing (creamy type)
possibly a tablespoon or so of plain lowfat yogurt (I can't remember!)

Dice apple and toss with the vinegar to prevent browning. Add slaw and dressing and toss to coat everything well. Let stand for an hour or so before eating.

Verdict: Very Good. This was a nice, bright complement to the mellow fish and stuffing.

PROGRESS REPORT

Two pounds down in one week, total of seventeen pounds down in nine weeks. Not bad for a not-so-great week! I had a physical today (blood work later--that will be interesting to see, though I had good numbers before, despite my weight) and my blood pressure was 120/80, not bad for a 48yo mom not enjoying being there for her physical. :-)

Blackberry-Pear Smoothie and Offline For a While

2009-12-09T08:05:00.007-05:00

It seems an extravagance to put a perfectly beautiful Harry and David Royal Riviera pear in a smoothie, but when I start feeling sorry for myself about what I don't get to eat, I figure I should have something that makes me feel privileged. So there.

My modem died today and I will not have another until perhaps Monday or so, so I will be suspending my entries here for several days. I hope to have a good report for Monday anyway!

BLACKBERRY-PEAR SMOOTHIE

One large ripe pear
Cup frozen blackberries (from our garden)
Frozen banana
Leaves from one large stem of kale
Water to blend

Combine all ingredients and blend to smoothness.

Verdict--Exellent. The pear and banana give it smoothness and the blackberries tart depth. I left out flax seed meal today because I figured the kale and berries would put in plenty of graininess--they do. I had about 3/4 of this and saved the rest for NEVER-ENDING SMOOTHIE. :-)

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--BLACKBERRY-PEAR SMOOTHIE

Snack--(was feeling a little nauseated) 1/3 piece of leftover cheese toast

Lunch--1/2 package Tasty Bite Multigrain Pilaf topped with leftover RATATOUILLE SAUCE, navel orange, 100+ calories' worth of chocolate with almonds

Supper--Half ounce of peanuts; apple; 2/3 cup of leftover brown rice, two ounces or so baked chicken (no skin), 1/3 cup canned diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup diced red onion, blop of salsa--I microwaved all the but last two ingredients to take with me for a supper on the run. I will probably have something else when I get home after posting this.

Another Tuesday, Another Restaurant

2009-12-08T08:21:00.006-05:00

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Oatmeal with peaches frozen from our garden, cinnamon, nutmeg, and toasted pecans

Lunch--At the Iron Bridge Inn, one of a very few good restaurants in our area, I had a lunch menu item of Asian Stir-Fry vegetables with an orange sauce, minus the rice. I could tell there was oil on it, but the veggies were nice--a mix of green and red peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, and I cannot recall what else--maybe carrots, celery . . . ? I had hoped they'd give me extra vegetables in lieu of the rice but they didn't, so the veggies looked kind of lonesome in that giant platter. Our waitress agreed and brought me the side of the day, brussels sprouts. Not my favorite, but healthy and decently done. I had about four of hubby's amazing fries and a couple of bites of his prime rib panini and a few sips of his Lobster Ale. I love the atmosphere in that place, especially with all the Christmas decorations! Good memories of good times there, too.

Snack--Ounce of roasted peanuts, most of a Harry and David pear, two-plus squares cherry-chili chocolate

Supper--Giant salad of mixed leaf lettuce and dark romaine, tomatoes, red onion, tablespoon ranch with tablespoon or two of lowfat plain yogurt for dressing; bowl of MOTLEY CHILI SOUP

Progress Report

2009-12-07T08:01:00.006-05:00

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Leftover NEVER-ENDING SMOOTHIE (I think I'm ending it for now!)

Lunch--Salad of mixed dark lettuces, purple cabbage, radish, red bell pepper, and red onion topped with 1/2 cup Tasty Bite pilaf (mixed grain and bean) and a half dozen Spanish olives, dressed with a drizzle of low-cal Italian dressing; cup of MINESTRONE SOUP; half a Harry and David pear

Snack--Half ounce of roasted peanuts early, banana with peanut butter and flax seed meal late

Supper--Three ounces baked chicken breast (no skin), 1/2 ounce acorn squash with cinnamon, two cups broccoli, 2/3 cup macaroni and cheese (shouldn't have done that, but it was a lower-fat version I made up for the family), navel orange

PROGRESS REPORT

Same weight today as last week (when I'd lost four in a week). After my slipup yesterday, it makes sense. But that's still fifteen pounds in eight weeks. :-)