Great Weekend!

I'm having a great weekend. My girl April and her husband Maurice threw a great shindig yesterday and I broke a few dietary restrictions. The beautiful thing is I didn't need a benadryl! This is a good thing since I left my benadryl at home by accident. Now it's Sunday which means it's cooking day! On the menu today is tuna salad, quesadilla's and banana chocolate empandas. I saw the empanada recipe on She Knows Miso Vegan website http://vegan.sheknows.com/. She's amazing. I will let you know how it turns out! I may even bring some to work, if there is any left...

Health Fair!

Welcome to my blog! If I didn't get to meet you at the Health fair, perhaps another time. If you're here, that means that you took a slip for some awesome recipes. I would like to give kudos to Lauren Langgut for her recipes and her work on this health fair/healthy eating presentation. I was only along for the ride. Below are some of the recipes you heard about and more will be added in the future so please check back!

Dairy and Egg Free Tuna Salad

by M'Isha Thompson

Ingredients:

3-4 can tuna in water

1 package of extra firm tofu

Yellow Mustard Dill Relish

1 cup chopped mixed vegetables (white onion, green and red peppers, celery)

Veganaise

Nutritional yeast (optional)

Directions:

Open cans of tuna and drain water. Dump drained tuna into a big bowl. Break tofu up into small chunks big enough to fit in the palm of your hand (about six pieces). Squeeze the tofu in your hands to get as much water out as possible (this can get messy). Crumble it up into the bowl with the tuna. Add the chopped vegetables of choice. Add about 2 tablespoons of dill relish, 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard and stir. Add about 3 heaping tablespoons of veganaise and stir very well. Add about 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast and stir again very well. Add more veganaise if needed. 

Kale and Lentil Soup

by Lauren Langutt

 serves 6-8

total time: 45 minutes

total hands on time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup dried lentils

1 small onion, diced

2 tsps fresh chopped garlic

1/2 of an eggplant, diced (skin on)*

*NOTE: I make my version with potatoes instead of eggplant, but that's just a personal preference. Works fine either way!

3 cups raw kale, torn or cut into small pieces

1/4 cup of white wine

at least a tsp of dried basil

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 qts broth

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Put the lentils in a saucepan with just enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for about 20 minutes or until lentils are soft. Rinse the lentils in a colander and set aside.

2. Dice the onion and saute on medium-high in olive oil until soft and translucent, about 6 or 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer.

3. Next, add the chopped eggplant, a dash of salt and a good amount of dried basil and stir well. Saute for another few minutes, adding more olive oil if neccessary.

4. Pour in the white wine and cook until liquid is reduced.

5. Add the lentils, broth and bay leaf and cook on medium-low for 15-20 minutes. The liquid should have a good simmer, but never come to a complete boil. 

6. Toss in the kale and cook until it's very well-wilted. You might also add in some additional seasonings here, such as a little bit of a Mediterraean herb blend. 

Tofu Scramble

by M'Isha Thompson

Ingredients:

1/3 block of extra firm tofu crumbled

1/4 cup white onion chopped

1/4 cup green pepper chopped

1/4 cup white mushrooms sliced

1/4 cup nutritional yeast salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil for sautéing

1 tsp. earth balance spread

Directions:

I sautéed the onion and green pepper in a small skillet with the olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and stir for one more minute. Add earth balance and allow to melt. Add crumbled tofu and nutritional yeast. I had issues before because I liked my eggs cooked hard and all the tofu scrambles looked soft or medium. So I turned the fire up to med/high and allowed the mixture to brown on both sides. I added and salt and pepper and it was delicious.

"Chocolate Pudding"

by Lauren Langutt

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados

1/4 C agave nectar

1/4-1/2 C cocoa powder 

1/4-1/2 C almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Use 1/4 cocoa powder for 'milk' chocolate and 1/2 cocoa powder for dark chocolate. (If you use vegan cocoa, this whole recipe becomes vegan.) Use only as much almond milk as needed to achieve desired consistency. Eat right away or chill for about 4 hours to help it gel more. Depending on how big your avocados are, this makes about 4 half cup servings. 

Kale Chips

by Lauren Langutt

There are plenty of ways to make these, but I love to cut my kale into decent size pieces (cutting the leaf in half should be fine), and brush them with some olive oil toasted sesame oil. Place these on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper is easiest), and bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes, or until crispy. Once cooled, dip in some soy sauce and enjoy!

Tips: Tuscan kale tends to work best for this use due to the shape of the leaves. Before cutting the kale, let it soak in cool water to remove any excess debris, then gently rinse and pat dry. 

Healthy Eating

It appears I've fallen off the vegan wagon. I tried Paleo eating for a while which is lean meats (preferably grass-fed) and vegetables. No legumes, grains, dairy or gluten. I can truly say that after being vegan for 7 months, and then going straight into Paleo, my body really didn't have an adjustment period. What I did find out during my 7 month vegan stint is that I'm allergic to milk; like break out in hives and throat closing allergy. I tested cheese and I don't have any allergy to it; yay me! Now on to the Paleo diet. I only tried this for 2 weeks. I must say there was a difference. In just two weeks my midsection was noticeably smaller. There is something to having good gut health. Now I'm working on healthy eating. I'm leaning more toward vegan with limited legumes, grains and gluten. So now onto my first recipe. This recipe is geared toward the healthy eater, but does contain fish. My inspiration came from Jimmy Johns tuna. I really liked their tuna sandwich but when I stopped eating eggs, I needed to find a healthy alternative. This is packed with protein, good fats and Omega-3 and B-12. Tuna Salad Ingredients: 3-4 can tuna in water 1 package of extra firm tofu Yellow Mustard Dill Relish 1 cup chopped mixed vegetables (white onion, green and red peppers) Veganaise Nutritional yeast (optional) Direction: Open cans of tuna and drain water. Dump tuna into a big bowl. Break tofu up into small chunks big enough to fit in the palm of your hand (about six pieces). Squeeze the tofu in your hands to get as much water out as possible (this can get messy). Crumble it up into the bowl with the tuna. Add the chopped vegetables of choice. Add about 2 tablespoons of dill relish, 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard and stir. Add about 3 heaping tablespoons of veganaise and stir very well. Add about 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast and stir again very well. Add more veganaise if needed. This tastes so close to Jimmy Johns, it fulfilled a craving! Thanks for stopping by!

The road to being vegan

I am so still in transition. I am still not ready to give up seafood yet. I hear the Asian markets have great faux seafood that I can't wait to try. The good news is I've finally got the tofu scramble under control after almost 6 months of trying. My recipe: 1/3 block of extra firm tofu crumbled 1/4 cup white onion chopped 1/4 cup green pepper chopped 1/4 cup white mushrooms sliced 1/4 cup nutritional yeast salt and pepper to taste Olive oil for sauteeing 1 tsp earth balance spread I sauteed the onion and green pepper in a small skillet with the olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and stir for one more minute. Add earth balance and allow to melt. Add crumbled tofu and nutritional yeast. I had issues before because I liked my eggs cooked hard and all the tofu scrambles looked soft or medium. So I turned the fire up to med/high and allowed the mixture to brown on both sides. I added and salt and pepper and it was delicious. A picture is posted on FB. Enjoy!

The road to being vegan

I have discovered so many new foods since starting my transition! I love, love, love, love Daiya cheese. I can't tell you how much I love this cheese. I had other brands in my fridge and I don't even want them now. I have also discovered Biscoff spread which is such a treat I'm scared to indulge. Earth Balance vegan spread is aweseome. I didn't even realize the other margarine wasn't vegan until about 3 weeks ago! I've also discovered the green smoothie. I'm having so much fun making smoothies. I wish I lived in a warm climate so I would feel like drinking them after my 2 hour commute home. Last night, I needed the confort food of a mushroom and vegan pepperoni quesadilla. I'm going to post some before pictures and then in a couple of days (after I take some snapsots), I will post some current pictures so you can see the progress I've made visually.

Thanks for reading!

The road to being vegan

Ok. This is not easy. I broke down and ate shrimp. Twice. I'm learning so much about healthy eating and cooking. I've found the tofu section at the grocery store. Making soy protein shakes are awesome. The kids even want some. I hope to stop eating junk and seafood. Not eating meat products eliminates stuff I would've eaten before so I found new junk. Until next time..

The road to being vegan

I've decided I'm tired of being sick and tired of food allergies that cause asthma. I'm also tired of being fat. So I'm changing my eating lifestyle to vegan. I know it's a little drastic, but it's been building for a while. Eating dead animinals doesn't sit well with me anymore. Eating dead animals who are full of disease and sickness that pass those diseases and illnesses to humans is unacceptable. Period. So I'm going to learn to like vegetables. This is day 6 of no animal or animal products including seafood. I had one day of serious stomach cramping but it passed. I'm kind of grumpy and I'm craving an Epic Burger and anyting fried or cheesy, but I'll be ok. One person on a vegan diet can save 100 animals a year. That's huge. Hopefully, I'll remember to check back in and blog on my progress.