Routine Oatmeal

Sounds boring, doesn't it?

But I really enjoy my morning oatmeal--it satisfies and sticks with me to a late lunch.  Here's what I've been doing lately--give it a try!

Basic Plan
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 fruit, diced
2/3 cup water, give or take, depending on the moisture in the fruit
1/2 oz nuts, chopped and lightly toasted (I use my toaster oven and the chopper I keep right beside it)
spices to complement the fruit
(sweetening if needed -- I keep it to about 1/2 teaspoon of sugar with sour fruits, but dates or other sweeteners will do the job if you prefer those. Taste it first, then try the least sweetening possible.)

Combine the oats and fruit and water in a large bowl and microwave for one minute. Stir, add spices, and microwave for one additional minute. Top with toasted nuts and enjoy!

Variations
Apple with walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg
Apple with almonds, ginger, and cardamom
Pear with almonds and cardamom
Peach** with pecans and allspice
Banana (added for only the second minute) with walnuts and cinnamon
Sour cherry** with pecans (definitely needs some sweetening, perhaps with apple)
Blueberry (added AFTER the oatmeal is cooked) with almonds and nutmeg

Do you have an oatmeal favorite combo?  

** I use peaches and cherries from our trees that I dehydrated with my Excalibur last summer--no additives!

Leftovers Surprise

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.

Fun With Curry!

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

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

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

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.

Thai Curry With Bok Choy

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

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. :-)

My New Cookbook

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!

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

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?!

Customizing Curry

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 . . .

Lentils and Leftovers Lunch

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!

Vegan Epicurean: Our Favorite Foods

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. :-)

N-Friendly Fusion

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

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

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!).

Church Dinner Choices

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

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.

Blackberry-Pear Smoothie and Offline For a While

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

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