A Vegan Trifecta

Last week a cookbook was recommended to me by a friend, Scott, who is a far better cook than me. In fact, he's really a chef, only he's a lawyer who cooks just for fun. He is also a self-proclaimed meat addict. But he really put himself outside of his comfort zone and signed on to do the Whole Foods 28 Day Engine 2 Challenge. I'd like to think that I had something to do with inspiring him to try out this plant strong way of eating, after seeing my transformation. We'll never know.

I think Scott considers himself officially "plant strong" now, if not completely vegan. He's gone through quite a transformation himself, both physically and psychologically. Not only has he dropped more than 30 pounds since dropping the meat, he's dropped the emotional ups and downs that he used to experience. His testimony is actually quite moving.

So when Scott told me about a cookbook that he was getting a lot of inspiration from, I ordered it that day from Amazon. It's called Clean Food and the author is Terry Walters. If you are looking for an incredible variety of easy, fast vegan recipes full of unique, healthy ingredients, this cookbook is a must. There are four sections, one for each season, so you can even stick to eating what is in season if you'd like. The only thing that could make this cookbook better is photographs, but I guess I'll have to supply those for us!

In one day, Ms. Walters has already inspired me to cook my own aduki beans (instead of using canned), purchase a pomegranate, use up the millet that was in my pantry and much, much more. I just picked three things from the book that seemed appealing to me and figured I would serve them all up at once for dinner. The results? Beautiful, tasty, filling and ultimately nutritious.

Millet, Aduki Beans and Corn with Lemon Dressing

Warm Greens with Citrus Dressing and Pomegranate

Curried Parsnips

I do want to mention that Ms. Walter's recipes often include olive oil or grapeseed oil. I chose to eliminate it altogether and opted to saute in broth instead for the Curried Parsnips. In the case of the other two recipes, I reduced the amount of oil called for the in the recipe by 50%. None of the recipes that I tested seemed affected at all by these changes, which is generally what I find with all recipes!



Amazing Vegan Restaurant: Inn Season Cafe

One of the really cool things for me about being "almost" vegan now is the fun that I have exploring vegan restaurants. They are few and far between here in the Midwest, but they do exist. So when my husband and I went with some friends to Detroit this past weekend for a Sufjan Stevens concert (see below if you are at all interested, it was great!), I couldn't help but to want to explore Vegan Detroit, if in fact there was one.


Lucky for me, my friend Jill grew up in Detroit and recommended a place called The Inn Season Cafe in the Royal Oak section. I was completely shocked. The food at this almost 30 year old restaurant was amazing and the menu was long. If you are ever in Detroit, go and enjoy. My friend and I split two of the specials and we couldn't even finish, there was so much amazing vegan food on each plate. I hopped on their website and even found that they sell a cookbook. Needless to say, I ordered it immediately. Can't wait to share with you what transpires!

What is your favorite healthy restaurant? Leave a comment . . . we want to know!

How I Got Started and Healthy Convenience Food, Part II

Good morning! I received a great question by way of Facebook this morning and I thought I would share it and my response with everyone here on the blogosphere.

"hey wendy,
i am in the middle of eat to live and jon and i are starting it tomorrow. i have been avidly reading your blog and luuuurve it!!! i had a question. did you start with dr. f's 6 week plan? how much did you lose in those initial 6 weeks? did you start with a diff. diet? do you mind answering my terribly nosy questions? thanks."

I actually started the old fashioned way . . . with my umpteenth trip to Weight Watchers. It was at a Weight Watchers meeting that a fellow member mentioned a website called Peer Trainer. The PeerTrainer site was instrumental in the transformation of the way that I eat. There is a lot going on at that website that I won't go into here, but that is where a lot of people were talking about Dr. Fuhrman and Eat to Live. Now a days, you can just walk into any Whole Foods Market and discover him, but this was before all of that.

So I got a copy of Eat to Live and read it. I was going to Weight Watchers and counting points and recording what I ate and losing weight at a nice rate. But my experience with the Weight Watchers program in the past has always been that I lose the weight, end up feeling extremely deprived and out of control, then I go off the diet because I just can't stand it anymore, and gain all of the weight back plus more. Pretty typical (the statistics on this are horrifying).

At about the same time that I picked up a copy of Eat to Live I was also introduced to a book called Volumetrics. The authors of both of these books ascribe to the same philosophy that in order to lose weight and keep it off in the long run you must consume a large volume of healthy, low calorie food. It's pretty simple actually. Fill your plate with lots and lots of vegetables, fruits, beans and real whole grains, a little bit of nuts, seeds and avocado and let nature do the rest. Low fat dairy, low fat animal protein and oils may be consumed sparingly, if at all. The rest of the food that's out there--all of the processed garbage that fills every supermarket shelf--just leave it there. It doesn't belong in the human body.

Pretty big shift from how I had been eating, even how I had been eating on Weight Watchers. But I was intrigued by all of this because I absolutely knew where following the Weight Watchers plan had ended me in the past. Not that I don't think that Weight Watchers has many amazing things to offer, it's just far from perfect.

So I started incorporating the principles of Eat to Live and Volumetrics while counting Weight Watchers points and I lost all of the weight that I needed to relatively quickly and without much fuss. It took me about a year and I lost 50 pounds. That's about one pound per week. To expect more than that is to set yourself up for failure. A long term solution to this problem is what I know we are all after. Not a quick fix that will never withstand the test of time. Now you and your husband may lose a lot of weight at first following the Eat to Live plan--consider it a bonus, but that was not my experience. It was all a rather uneventful slow and steady loss.

About a year into this, I reached my "goal" weight with Weight Watchers. I was thinner than I had been since I was 15 years old. This new low didn't last but a moment. I had trouble continuing to count points, something that I struggle with to this day. I wish I could get back to that place of religiously tracking what I eat, but I haven't been able to. What I have not struggled with FOR A SECOND is continuing to eat a no-added-fat, vegan diet that is high in vegetables, fruit and beans. It is this that is the lasting change with food that I have been searching for my entire life. My new relationship with food is unrecognizable to my old one. I am a new person. I'm not nearly as thin as I was six months ago, but I am a healthy and happy version of myself, free of food addiction and hating my body. I feel confident and strong, finally!

Here's an easy idea for dinner (served with a salad) or lunch for school or work: whole wheat pasta + black beans + corn + your favorite salsa. That's it!

Healthy Convenience Food

Every once in a while an idea comes across my path that really makes a difference in my life. Well folks, the idea that I am about to share with you fits that qualification. The concept was presented to me last week at Whole Foods Market, where, as most of you know, my ten-year-old daughter and I have been participating in 28-day Engine 2 vegan food challenges. We're now well into our second challenge and still loving it and learning a lot.

At last week's meeting bowls of various foods were laid out on tables and we were given a container to concoct our own unique dinner on the spot. What was in those bowls was so simple that it could be categorized as follows:

(1) cooked whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, barley, whole wheat cous cous, etc., etc.)

(2) canned beans (kidney, black, canelli, garbanzo, fava, etc., etc.), drained and rinsed

(3) cooked or raw vegetables (cooked broccoli, corn, string beans, spinach, chopped tomatoes, etc., etc.)

(4) seasonings (any dry spice/herb, any salt free seasoning, low-sodium soy sauce, and vinegar)

What resulted was surprisingly delicious. I started my bowl with whole wheat shell noodles, added a variety of beans, cooked broccoli, corn and string beans, and topped it all off with a dusting of sesame seeds. That's all. And it was good. Real good.

And I thought, this would be the perfect equation to prepare a never ending variety of hot lunches for my kids! Yipee! Eureka! (Those of you trying to prepare healthy lunches for kids every day know how challenging this is.)

So my first attempt at home involved the following:

one bag of frozen brown rice from Trader Joes, cooked

one bag of frozen broccoli from Trader Joes, cooked

one can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 Tbsp mirin (a Japanese wine vinegar)

I just mixed everything in a large bowl. It was tasty and delicious. It went in my daughter's lunch box. But then, the leftovers became . . . DINNER! 

I had made a batch of Choosing Raw's Cheesy Red Pepper Hemp Dip in the morning. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but the recipe intrigued me and I had faith that something good would come of it. Well, it was delicious served over the leftover mix of brown rice, veggie and bean. So delicious that I find that I am craving the whole business right now as I type this! Served with a side of roasted acorn squash, it was a perfect healthy vegan meal!

Roasted Acorn Squash

1 squash generally serves 2 people as a side dish

acorn squash, washed, cut in half, seeds removed

cooking oil spray, I used coconut oil

salt

maple syrup or agave syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place acorn squash halves, cut side up, on cookie sheet. Spray lightly with cooking oil spray, sprinkle lightly with salt, and drizzle syrup lightly on top. Bake in oven for one hour. Serve immediately, but keeps nicely in the refrigerator and tastes great cold too!

Spinach and Sprout Smoothie--Yes, it's Amazing

What have you been eating for breakfast lately? I tend to go in major waves when it comes to breakfast. I will eat the same thing for months on end because it tastes so delicious to me that I just don't want anything else. This habit started with my breakfast sammy and transitioned into smoothies of all varieties.  I know a woman who has been eating oatmeal with 1 Tbsp. peanut butter, fresh or frozen berries, 1 tsp. maple syrup and 6 almonds (yes, six) for over 20 years. (I've tried it, it's AMAZING, and tastes like PB&J oatmeal.)

This photograph is of my new breakfast du jour. Does this look like a radical breakfast to you? I think it once would have to me!

It's been a slow and natural progression for me into the world of green smoothies. And this is my greenest one yet. It was inspired by the Green Goddess Smoothie I have been ordering from Organic Energy here in Cleveland and really enjoying. So I thought, 'Why have all of this green goodness only when I am at the restaurant?"

Now this green smoothie is probably not for the faint of heart. But if you are ready, go for it! It is totally delicious to me and has become my breakfast of choice for the past 4 days.

Very Verdant Smoothie
serves one

1 small apple, cut into large chunks
1 small frozen banana, broken into chunks
1/4-1/3 ripe avocado
1 very large handful fresh spinach
1 handful alfalfa sprouts
1/2 cup water
6 ice cubes
Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.