Day 15; Healthy Vegan Diet

Two week check up;

Well, we are half way through our month of a healthy vegan diet.  I am feeling pretty good.  My body is really happy and feeling lighter.  No more sugar and fat highs and lows.  I am glad to be waking up feeling good every morning, no more 'heavy meal hangovers' (that friday night pizza!).

Now, this diet really isn't much different than how I really eat on a normal basis.  To my surprise, I don't miss the cheese on my pizza one bit.  I do have silly little cravings for it now and then, though.  I do have some soy cheese and that seems to cease those needs a little, plus, I still do need a treat now and then.

I have also re-discovered packaged bread crumbs.  What a wonderful (and cheaper than soy) alternative to parmesan cheese!  I am putting it on all my pastas, yum!

I have been checking my weight periodically and discovered (before Thanksgiving!!) that I had lost a pound so far this month.  That is pretty impressive since I don't have a ton of excess to loose!

I then weighed myself after Thanksgiving and noticed that my pound had creeped back.  Well, maybe it wasn't a good idea to weigh myself so soon after a big feast.  I will check again later this week. (as soon as all that leftover pie is gone!!)  Maybe November and December are the worst months to try to loose weight and get healthier.  

Oh, well.  Maybe in January I will try this again and be stricter.  Holiday treats have been just a little to tempting this season.

For the rest of this month I will keep a food diary.  I know this will help me limit my 'holiday treats' (low sugar vegan cookies, breads and wine!)  I also have not been eating enough fruit, this new food diary will help me monitor that as well.  And, I need to be better about doing my yoga EVERY DAY.

Can't wait to see where I am at next week!

just my vegetarian rant...

I have such a problem with the popular 'Turkey Pardon' done each year. President Bush Senior did not start a heartwarming tradition in my mind.

How can one feel so high and mighty making such a big deal pardoning ONE turkey its life? Later the next day supporting the killing of another. How about all the other 45 million turkeys killed each Thanksgiving?

Do something good Mr. President, pardon the rest of them as well.

Really healthy Friday night dinner.

Day 7 of our Healthy, Healthy Vegan Month;



What a great dinner we had last night. The vegan pizza turned out really well, and I am a little surprised after the bread dough incident.

I made this great whole wheat pizza dough recipe for the first time in my bread machine. When the dough was done it looked bad. Very runny and had sunk a ton after rising. I took it out, and after some advice from my mother, kneaded some white flour back into it. Well, it was a little hard to work with, kept falling apart, but I'd say it was still a success as we loved it. I am not sure if I made a mistake or the recipe was not designed for a bread machine and thats what caused it. If I try it again I will let you all know!!

What did turn out wonderful was the pizza sauce I made. I figured since we were going to be cheese-less, then the sauce better be darn good. Hunts Pasta Sauce in a can just wasn't going to cut it. I did double the oregano and the garlic in the recipe and we felt that was a very wise choice, it was to die for. I am planning to make this again and freeze a bunch.

We snacked on a fresh veggie tray and water while we cooked. My husband even put some peanut butter down some of the celery for a special treat. Mmmmmmm...

Next were the cookies. I have been searching for a good vegan, sugar free, fat free, whole wheat cookie. Oh, and I wont use artificial sugar 'substitutes' either, not even Splenda (NOT natural, by the way). Of course I could not find what I wanted on the web, so I adapted a recipe and came up with some pretty wonderful Oatmeal Cookies. Half the batch had raisins, half did not. We preferred the raisin batch. My daughter loved them both the same (she is one). I did put a little sugar in them, 1/4 cup, but that is not terrible dispersed out between a couple dozen big cookies.

Here is my recipe. (or scroll down to previous post) Try them, they are so very quick and easy to make. I was done with the dough before the oven was even warmed up!!

Oatmeal Cookies

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 tsp baking soda

2 Tbs pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbs liquid stevia
lots and lots of raisins

Preheat oven to 275 F degrees. Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients. Mix well. Stir in raisins. Drop onto greased cookie sheet by large spoonfuls. Be sure to flatten each (with the back of a greased spoon) a little bit as dough will not spread at all. Bake 23 minutes. Try to let them cool on rack before eating to avoid burnt fingers!

30 day Vegans

We have decided to stick to a 100% healthy vegan diet for the next 30 days.

Well, actually we've already started Saturday, just planning to go through the weekend, but thought it best to do this for a whole month.

Usually we eat 'almost vegan'.  I cook primarily vegan with the exception of parmesan cheese and light sour cream, my two favorites.  We also do have cheese on our pizza on fridays, sometimes ice cream and other treats containing dairy on occasion.  I don't touch meat, and due to mercury/breastfeeding concerns no seafood for me as well. (don't worry, I do take a hight quality fish oil supplement) 

My husband does have some meat and dairy when he buys lunch during his workdays when I don't get time to make him a healthy sack lunch.  We also have been eating a large amount of treats lately.  Be it Halloween candy, goodies when guests are in town, lots of birthday cakes and other yummy indulgences as well.

We are going to swear off all dairy (99%, I won't worry about milk powder in prepared breads and the like), stay away from sugar and desserts, and keep excess fat out of our diets.  All this for 30 days.  We are both excited to see the results.  

I have a few more pounds I want to shed to make some of my pre-baby (and pre-secretary jobs!) clothes fit better.  I am so excited that I can once again fit into some really nice pairs of pants I bought just 6 years ago and just 2-3 pounds more and they will actually look right!!  Thus feeds my desire to lean down a bit.

My husband will continue working out 2-3 times per week after work, as he has started to do a few weeks ago.  I have started to do yoga in my living room (with daughter laughing at my feet) last week.

Wish us luck and I will share our progress and some really, REALLY healthy recipes.

Tofu Sour Cream

On of my favorite foods is Sour Cream. I love regular dairy sour cream, light sour cream, IMO (ever had that?) and even tofu sour cream. As I know that dairy is harmful to our bodies, plus make us fat, I try to eat as many substitutes as possible. There are excellent substitutions on the market but they are all so expensive. I have found a great recipe, after changing a few to my liking. Try this sometime, it is quite tasty.
Tofu Sour Cream

1 box Firm Silken tofu ( appx 10oz)
4 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp Braggs liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
1/2 or 1 tsp salt
1 Tbs olive oil
A few drops stevia (or 1 tsp sugar)

Place all items in food processor, scoop tofu out of container by spoon to make it fit. Blend well, end product to be creamy and yummy!

Chill and enjoy!

A Vegetarian Thanksgiving.

I have been asked maybe a million times what I eat for Thanksgiving. Gee, most foods served at the table are vegetarian and all can even be made vegan using margarine instead of butter and soy instead of milk, ect. Potatoes, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, mmmmm....

Except that darn turkey. There is just no substitute for a dead.... okay, I'll be nice. There is no substitute for genuine poultry , unless you try Tofurkey. Tofurkey is an awesome vegan turkey substitute for people stuck in the old fashioned tradition of having to have a cooked animal on display for the holiday gatherings. We love it!

I have eaten my fair share of Tofurkeys and particularly love the package meal-deal that comes with everything from the 'bird', to the stuffing, and cranberries. They also come in just the roast, which is more affordable.

I buy mine at my local Central Market but Im sure most natural grocers sell them as well. Print off your $1.50 coupon here and see how your family likes it this year!

Coconut Curry Carrot Soup

Quite a title but oh so yummy. I have been working on modifying this recipe for a while now and have come up with one that is really tasty. My husband loved it and he isn't even the carrot enthusiast that I am.

all soft and ready to puree

Coconut Curry Carrot Soup

1 large 2 lb bag of organic carrots (they taste much better)

1 onion

2 small baking apples (or one regular, peeled?)

2 med sized red potatoes
4 veggie boullion cubes

2-3 cloves garlic, or a heaping tsp of crushed

1 tsp crushed ginger if you have it or less amount of dried would do as well

2 Tbs Hot Madras curry powder (or whatever you have)
2 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
1 tsp black pepper, or next time I will try white pepper

1 can coconut milk (reserve 2-3 Tbs for garnish if you remember)

next time I will garnish with coconut milk

Wash and scrub all vegetables, don't peel except for the onion and apple if skin seems tough. Coarsely chop all in large chunks. Place in large stock pot and cover with water, about 1/2 to 1'' over veggies.

Bring to a boil and simmer till fork tender, maybe 1-2 hours??

When soft, add seasonings and blend with a stick blender. A regular blender would work for this as well, it would just be a lot more work, and I don't like extra work!!

Once smooth to your liking bring to a simmer. This soup seems to taste better after simmering. When you are ready to eat turn off the heat, add coconut milk and stir in.

Serve hot. It would be nice to garnish with a swirl of coconut milk on top as well. Next time I will!!