Day 1 of Being a Superhero!!

Well, Day 1 has been completed - not without a few hitches...but overall my tummy was a happy camper with all the delicious food I tried today. Here are some pictures and reviews...




Above was my brunch. This morning I got up and went for a run then did a little shopping, so by the time I got home, I was ready to eat! This meal was HUGE! It was Mochi waffles with walnut syrup, scrambled tofu (with lots of veggies), smart bacon, and steamed collard greens. First off, I found out that I had thawed out the wrong kind of tofu, so I had to dethaw in the microwave which was kind of lame, but the scrambled tofu was AMAZING! So flavorful and delicious. This is a dish that you can just use up any leftover veggies that you haven't cooked up for the week. The smart bacon was another mishap - I thought I was supposed to keep it in the freezer, but I was wrong. It came out like a brick. I got a little bit off, and that is the red stuff on the plate. It didn't taste very good anyway. Not something I will be buying again. The greens were greens - nothing exciting, but I love steamed greens, so that was fine.
And then the mochi waffles. I had never heard of mochi, and it took me a while to find it at the store. It is some crazy stuff. It comes in this thin brick that is really hard and hard to slice. It is basically mushed up sweet brown rice, so that is what it kind of tastes like. So anyway, you cut (saw) it up into strips and throw it in the waffle maker, then like magic they puff up to look like the perfect waffles you see here. They were kind of weird, but I think I would have liked them more with maple syrup instead of brown rice syrup.
Overall the meal was so big, that I couldn't eat quite all of it, but it was good. I sat outside to eat it, and it was a nice morning brunch. I will definitely be making scrambled tofu often.





I wasn't hungry for dinner until late - probably 7 or so, which isn't like me. I think all the yummies from brunch kept me filled up. So, dinner was Azuki beans with Yellow Squash, Rice and Barley, and steamed spinach. Again, a pretty big meal, but oh-so good. I really like the beans. I think all beans have just a little bit of a different flavor, so this was a good one to add to the mix. Basically it was the beans, a yellow squash, some ground kelp (it tastes like salt - a good substitute actually), and a little soy sauce. The barley and rice were an easy side dish - I just threw a half a cup of brown rice and half a cup of hulled barley in the rice maker and left it. The beans took about 45 minutes or so, but I didn't have to stand by the stove so they were easy. Again, a very filling meal. Yet, I didn't feel overly full and "ugh" like I would feel after a big meaty/fatty meal.



And now, for one of my new most FAVORITE things EVER!! This is a Candied Pear with Almond syrup. Absolutely amazng. Ridiculously good. The basics of this was steaming the pear in apple juice, then grinding almonds to mix with syrup to make the filling. Then I used the leftover juice mixed with a little ginger to make a syrup to pour over the whole thing. SO GOOD. Please let me come over and make it for you sometime. As you can see below, there wasn't any left of this. One of the good things about living alone is that manners go right out the window, so licking the plate is not off limits...no one will ever know...unless you post it on your blog. Oops! ...


All in all it was a good day. Eating from scratch really works so much better on my stomach. I think I got in a good 5 servings of veggies at least today, which is good. I got lots of whole grains, and a good variety of all the nutrients I need. AND my kitchen is even clean - I did all the dishes (which is rare for me...hehe). I'm not levitating yet and I am suffering a major headache from the lack of caffeine in my body today...BUT I love that I am learning to put together new foods that are good for my body in a way in which I feel like I'm getting a special day out at a restuarant everyday!!

Tomorrow, I am cooking breakfast and dinner, then going to Pasta House with the family for lunch. Should be another yummy day in store for me!!

Day 1 = success!

The Niki's-A-Freakin'-Superhero Experiment

Okay, so here it goes. One of the books that has really given me a lot of information to my new vegan lifestyle is The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone (you know, Clueless?! - great movie). I like her style of introducing a vegan lifestyle in a very forgiving way. Its not all or nothing, and there's a lot of yummy recipes. Alicia has a section of her book, called the Superhero diet which is what she normally follows - from the very little that I understand about it, it is basically a macrobiotic diet.
She begins the chapter by explaining that is loosely based on the macrobiotic diet which is basically fresh whole foods, grown locally and in season. Very based in getting a balance of all nutrients. Its a step above the vegan lifestyle from what she says in the book, but it is still following all the principles. She gives an example meal plan in the book for one week. I must say there is some WEIRD stuff on this meal plan, but it looks interesting. Lots of sea vegetables. She claims that on this meal plan she feels her best. She also goes into a lot of health claims which have no REAL base in science, but I will forgive her for that since there is nothing harmful about a plant based diet.

So here is my experiment. I will follow the one week meal plan to a T, and report on the dishes and whether I feel I can "levitate" as she once mentions. Plus I get to try a bunch of funky stuff that sounds like a lot of fun!! I won't write in all the recipes because I think that if you really want to try it, its only fair to buy the book yourself. I will try to take pictures of everything too.

I bought all the food today, so my pantry and fridge are fully stocked. Since there were a lot of ingredients/that I don't already have stocked it was an expensive trip...but I think if I were to do it again, it wouldn't be too expensive since I will have a lot of the ingredients already. Plus, I really don't mind spending more money on food. I think about all the dumb things we waste our money on like expensive cell phone plans and cable, and Starbucks, yet food is one of the most important ways to keep our bodies healthy. If I need to cut back on spending, I will look at other areas first...anyway...I digress. Back to the experiment...

I will start tomorrow with a Sunday brunch of Mochi Waffles drizzled with Lemon-walnut-Rice Syrup and tempeh bacon, Scrambled Tofu, and steamed collard green. In the evenning I will have Rice with barley, Azuki Beans with Squash, steamed greens and Candied Ginger Pears for dessert. I know - weird, right? Can't wait!

If interested, you can check out www.thekindlife.com to get more info on her online community and the book.

What is Normal Eating??

Well, this has been a crappy week (besides my fun family night for Ryan's birthday of course). I won't bore you with the details. The good (GREAT) thing is that right smack dab in the middle of the crappiness, I got a delivery on my door step. I have heard about the Sweet & Sara vegan marshmallows and treats, and ordered some to try. As seen in the first picture, I got a pack of vanilla marshmallows, a rice crispy treat, and a big honkin' s'more. The second picture is the s'more up close. This was my favorite. So....this week I decided to eat every darn emotion I had, and I don't think I have to say that Sweet & Sara made me a much happier camper. The treats are pretty expensive with shipping, and I wasn't thrilled with the rice crispy treat, but the marshmallows and s'mores are FAB!

For those of you who don't know why marshmallows aren't vegan - they are made with geletin, which is made up of lots of gross animal bones and skin and stuff. I love marshmallows, but that's just gross!

If you are interested in these yummy treats, you can go to the website www.sweetandsara.com

Since I mentioned emotional eating, I wanted to include my favorite quote about eating from the dietitian who literally wrote the book on how to feed your kids.

"Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue to eat
until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and
truly get enough of it - not just stop eating because you think you
should.
Normal eating is being able to use some moderate constraint in your food
selection to get the right food, but not being so restrictive that you miss out
on pleasurable foods. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat
sometimes because you are happy, sad, bored, or just because it feels
good.
Normal eating is three meals a day, most of the time, but can also be
choosing to munch along. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you
know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they
taste so wonderful when they are fresh.
Normal eating is overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. It
is also under-eating at times and wishing you had more.
Normal eating trusts your body to make up for your mistakes in
eating.
Normal eating takes up some of our time and attention, but it keeps its
place as only one important area of your life.
In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your
emotions, your schedule, your hunger, and your proximity to food."
Source: "HOW TO GET YOUR KID TO EAT" by Ellen Satter, R.D., MS

I think that if we all lived this way, we would have a lot healthier and happier country. It makes me so sad to see this hate-relationship that so many people (especially women) have with food. Chocolate is not sinful, nor should we feel guilt in eating it. And everything that tastes good isn't bad for us. I hope we can all take time to think about how we are filling our bodies, and learn to appreciate food more.

I don't feel guilty eating some sweets during this craptastic week, because I know that I also have eaten foods that are really good for my body, and because I am learning to trust my body to make up for my mistakes in eating, just as the quote says.

Happy Birthday, Big Brother

Well, my OLD brother turned 31 this week (yesterday) and tonight we had a celebration with the family. So, I want to send a shout-out to the old man. Happy Birthday, and I have a feeling that this is going to be a really good year for you (because the parenthesis are important).

Anyway, it got me thinking about food. Of course. Everything has me thinking about food. Food is wonderful, and delicious, and an important way that we celebrate, mourn, gather, thank. Food is a part of who we are. And, although I will talk about this some other time, it pains me to see the love-hate relationship so many people have with food. Food should be a good thing, not a battle (but like I said, that is for another blog). So anyway, I think its been a bit of a transition with family dinners, since my family are generally meat eaters. My mom has been great. I've assured her that she needn't change a thing about what she fixes. I think my only request has been to leave butter off of the vegetables, which she has done - thank you. If I need to, I bring my own protein source, and the whole thing doesn't have to be a big deal. Tonight, my brother requested steak - my dad does make the most amazing steak. I partook (is this even a word?) in the rest of the meal.

As we digested after dinner before going out to Maggie Moo's, my brother asked if I was even going to be able to eat anything at the ice cream joint. That's when I remembered the other thing about family gatherings. As much as food is there to be enjoyed, the gathering is about the people, not the food. I love getting to spend time with my wonderful family (even if it took us until after freaking 9pm to leave the house for ice cream...hehe), and not getting to have ice cream was no sacrifice at all. I just wanted to be with them.

I think this is universal for all people. Maybe you are diabetic, or have heart problems. Maybe you are trying to lose weight or just eat healthier in general. Remember that the gathering is about the people. You shouldn't have to spend your time worrying about the meal. Nobody will remember that you didn't have seconds of potatoes, or a big piece of steak, but they will remember your smile, and your laugh, and that you were there. That's what's important.

Okay, that was your after-school special for the day.

As a side note for all you vegans or lactose intolerant people out there...Maggie Moo's has two dairy free sorbets (which are yummy), and a lactose free vanilla (still contains dairy though). I had raspberry sorbet with blueberries after being pleasantly surprised that they had dairy free products at a place with "Moo" in the title. Yummy!

Herbivore's Dilema

So here is what I pondered this weekend (thanks to my mother...). Is it wrong for a vegan to eat animal crackers, even if they contain no actual animal or animal byproducts? Is the sheer suggestion of eating little cookies that look like harmless animals a hypocrisy to all that I stand for? In eating the cookie, am I also saying that I'm okay with eating animals? Something to think about. Here is what I decided... :)

DELICIOUS!

Farmer's Bounty!! ...and a pizza recipe

Finally - a clean kitchen!! It took...well...it took much longer to get my butt to clean this kitchen than it ever should have...but its clean!! I've made a new pact with myself not to cook anything that I don't have time to clean up after...we'll see if that works...now, on to my day.





I headed up to the FABULOUS Tower Grove Market. It was so nice to be out this morning. The weather was finally beautiful, and you could tell that everyone was ready to get out. I hope you will consider using your local farmers' market this summer - it helps to support local farming, and encourages us to eat more veggies! Here is a picture of my bounty...which even included some special treats for Lucy!!






By the time I got home, I was starvin'! So I thought I would include my favorite new pizza recipe. It is no joke that I was crazy about Imo's in my cheese-eating days. But I don't even want it now that I've found this pizza. So delicious!





Spinach Pizza

Start with your favorite pizza dough - homemade or store bought. This is an easy whole wheat crust I picked up off of a website. I'm not very good at making circles...Cook the dough if it isn't premade.

In a bowl, add about 4-5 cups of spinach. I also added a green onion and watercress from the farmers' market. You really can add any greens that you like. Then mix with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and cracked black pepper - mix with your hands until well mixed. Spread on top of pizza.

Add soy cheese. Here I grated Follow Your Heart mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese. You can use as much as you would like, and regular cheese-eaters can add their own. Spread on top of spinach.



Place pizza back in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the spinach just begins to wilt. I also use the broiler for a few minutes to help melt the cheese after the spinach wilts.



Then enjoy!! Its fresh and delicious, and still light. You don't get that overly full and greasy feeling with this pizza.


Let me know if you try it and what variations you make!!

...

The Anti-Vegetarian

Okay, so yeah...Jim Gaffigan is like the anti-vegetarian...but he's still oh-so funny. So this morning as a prepare to go to the farmer's market I thought I would share Jim Gaffigan's vegetarian bit. We all need to make fun of ourselves sometimes...

Finding Balance...and a Beer

Well, I'm learning. That's all I can say. I promise I'm not complaining, because I know people are busy like crazy...I'm just learning. I used to have two people handling the chores of a family size home...but now, its just me.

Tonight, my plan was to not do any cooking but to clean the kitchen and the basement. As you can see one side effect of a love of cooking is dishes. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I HATE dishes. I used to have a phobia of dishwater...well, I still kind of do and try to not have to stick my hand in it - yuck! Anyway, so as you can see, the kitchen needs a little cleaning. However, this being one of the few nights I have this week to mow the grass - a chore I've NEVER really had to bother with (that was my brother's job at my parents house, and you-know-whose-job at this house). And seriously, I was starting to be that neighbor who doesn't take care of her yard. It was a little embarrassing. So out I went to mow. Whew!! That's a good workout. I took a picture of the shotty job I did (in my defense, the grass was still wet, and I couldn't get around very well).

Despite the clumps and missed weeds, I was pretty freaking proud of myself. One really cool thing about being "independent" (still looking for the right word) is that there are so many little things I'm learning that I can do. I know - its just grass. But, it is very empowering to know you can do it all yourself. So...as I was admiring my work and patting myself on the back, I noticed something...

As you can see, I TOTALLY FORGOT an entire side of my house!! My poor, poor neighbors are going to wonder what kind of crack I was on tonight. I could have gotten out the mower again. I could have been good. Instead, I laughed hysterically, and decided to leave it as is. So yes, I AM the weird neighbor who doesn't take care of her yard...and I'm proud of it.

I need a shower, its getting late, and there's Biggest Loser to watch. I've exercised, yoga'd, and mowed the lawn. As much as it bothers me to leave it, the dishes will be there for me tomorrow. I will probably wake up tomorrow and be bothered by my messy house...but I guess this is part of living a balanced life (a hard lesson for a Type A such as myself).

Now, as I write this, I am drinking a nice cold beer. I love beer. Beer is good. I usually can't drink it because it doesn't agree with me...but I think having a good laugh put me in a good mood and I should be fine

So cheers!

Successful Night for Niki and Lucy!!

woohoo! So after the miserable fail with the lasagna, I decided to move on to a personal favorite of mine - Potato Soup! I have a favorite recipe that I have used for years, so I was more than a little skeptical of the recipe I found to veganize it. For all you meat eaters out there - there is nothing funny about this recipe. The only change is that I use oil and soymilk instead of butter and cow's milk. And, this one was actually easier to make. It came from the Complete Vegan Kitchen Cookbook by Jannequin Bennett. Here is the basic recipe (there are lots of variations in the book, but I like to make my own variations):

Heat 1-2 tsp oil in soup pot and add 1 tsp minced garlic (I used a tbsp), one diced onion and one leek (stem only, cut into 1/4" strips) - you can use 2 onions if you don't like leeks. As a side note, you should like leeks - they are amazing. Maybe I should do a whole blog on my favorite vegetable! Anyway cook, until onion is translucent. Add 3-4# of your favorite potatoes (I used cheap baking potatoes) and enough water to cover about 3" above the potatoes. Boil until they are soft. Remove most of the water (about 3/4th of it) and puree using an immersion blender (this is where my recipe veered off - I left some chunks of potato) adding a quart of soy milk as you go. Voila! You have simple potato soup in about a half hour. Add soy cheddar and salt and pepper to taste. It really is very good!

In other news, Lucy had a very successful night at tricks and games class. She is learning to "pray". Hopefully I will have a picture of it soon. She also performed her nose balancing trick to perfection.

Happy Eating!!

1st attempt; needs work...

So, I spent 2 whole hours this evenning working on a Roasted Vegetable Lasagna from the Complete Vegan Kitchen cookbook. I ate it...but it was bad...really bad. The noodles were gummy and gross. The veggies were good - broccoli, tomatoes, onions, zucchini, squash, bell peppers, and eggplant...but it just was, well, weird. Don't you worry though - this is only a first try. I will try again, and I will succeed!

The first picture is the lasagna completed (I should have taken a picture of building it - it looked pretty then), and the second is of the piece I took which fell apart.


So, now instead of pouting, I will eat some hemp milk ice cream. One of the best foods ever. For those of you who are lactose intolerant try this. IT IS REALLY REALLY GOOD. It tastes like ice cream. Even my brother liked it...and he doesn't like anything :)
Happy Sunday!

Introduction

Okay, so I know blogging was SO 2004, but people still blog and add a million pictures for their kids, right? So I can blog and post pictures of my recipes. Its only fair.

As many of you know, I have gone through a lot of changes in my life this year. Well, half way through the year now, I can definitely say that I have been blessed with good friends and family, and lots of new experiences. Included in those is my new venture into veganism. Since then, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about why I would do such a crazy thing, if I’m getting enough protein, am I missing meat, and can I write out that recipe I was talking about. So, here I am with a few answers, and hopefully lots of new recipes that vegans, vegetarians, AND meat eaters will enjoy. Also as I am learning about a lifestyle that is better for the environment, I'll try to share when I find great products or hear good ideas.

Why I became vegan: I didn’t do it for health. I know that I’m a dietitian, and that I’m eating healthier than I ever have, but health is just a great side effect of my choice. Since I was a little girl, I’ve always been a little over-emotional about animals. I remember on a fishing trip (I was all about catch and release), I let my fish be killed for dinner, and I cried about it. In another instance, I tried to be a vegetarian when I was 12 after reading an animal rights book, but I didn’t like vegetables then, so I just ate Kraft mac and cheese for 3 months. Eventually, my dad made a delicious steak and I caved. In college a professor made us visit a slaughterhouse for a grade, and that was another 6 months without meat.
Fast forward to present. I am newly…independent (still searching for a good word for ‘single’ that doesn’t elicit the automatic response, of “oh don’t worry – you’ll find someone else.” Ugh – definitely not my objective...but I digress…). I have a lot of time on my hands, and I am in a way starting all over again. In re-learning about the things that are important to me, I realized that this was a great time to revisit my constant struggle I have with the ethics of eating animals. I decided to become vegetarian, and within a week I changed it to becoming vegan.

Why I am not 100% vegan: True vegans don’t eat honey. When I was a little girl my brother and I were attacked by bees and I came out with 12 stings. I have no care for the life of bees, and I will happily eat honey, and kill any bee that comes within striking distance. Hehe

Why I don’t miss meat: My poor parents had to live with the pickiest children on earth, so only now am I discovering some of the most amazing foods ever. I don’t have time to miss meat. There are so many wonderful, and yummy foods, that I don’t even think about it. I was scared I would miss cheese, but that has not been a problem. I’m not saying that I don’t love a good Imo’s pizza – they taste good…but I have a great spinach pizza recipe that I would rather have any day. I am loving all the new recipes that I am trying.

Why I won't try to make you vegan: Basically, its not my business. I like what I am doing, but I respect your choices. If you want to know more, I'm happy to talk with you, but if not that's cool too. If we have dinner together, I won't make you eat tofu, and if you are cooking, I am more than sure that I can find plenty to eat without you making any special changes. :)

Okay, now to the recipes. Here is what I was eating while writing this first blog. I was a little leery about making this. Tofu isn’t my favorite, but wow – these were good!
Scrambled Tofu:

Chop and onion and green pepper, and cook in a little olive oil until onion is soft. Add crumbled tofu (about 8 oz) - works best if you squeeze it through your fingers. Has a good scrambled egg texture. Add 1 tsp turmeric (I used cumin this time), 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast, and 3 tsp of soy sauce. Mix well and cook through.
*for meat eaters, skip the tofu and nutritional yeast and add a few eggs to scramble
Hope you enjoy!

I am making a veggie lasagna tonight, so hopefully I will be able to post that soon!