The Vegan Chronicles: Recipes and Ideas. The Gift of Sharing.
I thought it has been long overdue to put this next installment of the Vegan Chronicles out. Having embraced Veganism for more than three months (almost four actually at this point), I have found it to be easy and an uplifting experience. From dramatic weight loss to heightened levels of energy, the positive effects of this cant be underestimated. The notion of the scrawny, malnourished, underfed vegan has been shattered through actual experience, study, and dedication. The one thing you never want to do is make a dramatic change in your lifestyle without doing some research first. That is where those scrawny leaf eaters come into play...making life change without the proper knowledge. These days, that mistake is easy to avoid with the internet, and a wide selection of informative books, classes, movies, and even schools dedicated to this topic.
Anyway, I open this article to offer a place to ask questions, offer such advice as you have available for everybody, exchange recipes and ideas, and discuss personal experiences. You dont need to be Vegan to participate however. You simply need to have a desire to improve your diet, and in doing so, improve your physical and mental well being.
Cheers!
Hey Jonathon,
You were asking about some ways to prepare quinoa, and i completely spaced one of my favorites. I looking through the posts on my last Vegan Chronicles article, and was reminded of it. Simply cook your quinoa (15 minutes in boiling water, with salt). While that is going, begin a simple marinara (saute some onion, garlic, and tomato (we use Muir's Diced Tomatoes) together and let the liquid cook out a little). When the quinoa is ready, simply add it to the sauce and stir together. You want a fair amount of sauce for this. We also saute and add seitan, which is basically compressed and poached wheat gluten (used as a substitute for chicken generally), although you could legitimately use any protein, vegan or otherwise (I used to cook shrimp and chicken in with this when i ate meat). Anyways, simply finish by adding any salt and pepper you might like to taste, and some fresh chopped parsley. Often, we saute kale or dandelion greensand cook it with our marinara as well.
Larry, the way for me to begin was to start with the toughest choice (raw, plant based diet) and work my way back to where i wanted to be (vegan). That way, the inevitable drop off in intensity didnt allow me to lose focus while it was still fairly new to me.
I do some carrots, broccoli, cauliflower; favorites being green beans andtomatoeswhen in season. Like beans, do a fair amount of nuts and a protein shake about every other day. Moderateexercisewith lots of walking and occasional light weight work. Never had any issues at all until just a few years ago. I have gradually stopped eating so much crap, but I really have no discipline to my diet and am going to change that. I can do the going with out meat I think, if I find tasty substitutes.
So, whats with these vegan shakes?
What are the pitfalls to watch out for?
Pitfalls. For one, dont eat too many nuts, lol. An ounce a day is the recommended amount. Essentially, that means a small handful. Second, watch the amount of oil you consume. 1 ounce is 100 calories. Avoid bleached sugar and flour as well. No nutritional value to speak of but plenty of calories.
The shakes can be anything you can imagine. I like to mix kale, apples, banana, mango, and mint with water, ice, and flaxseed meal. That one is proabably my fave.
Kinda tough to find fresh stuff sometimes; I've heard before that frozen berries are fairly good nutrition-wise is that true? And how about other frozen items?
OK,
Work until monday afternoon...then food shopping and starting on Tuesday. Start with smoothies with protein whey.Even though I'm in decent shape, my lipids have always beenreally high (genetics) so I will doa base-line lipid panel along with liver enzymes (thinkin I need to try Niacin) and begin a diary (I'll share my results with you all of course).
OMG, this is so funny. I just happened to look at the activity feed and saw that you were doing a new installment and what do I find, smoothies! Well, I have been doing it all this week and I feel great. I have lost some weight, which has been impossible for me to loose with any other diet. I have been keeping it mostly fruits, protein power, juice, milk (skim). The veggies I just eat raw, or as a soup (usuallytomato). I had read about this diet in First Mag and I saw it on the today show, and heck, my friend Debby is a vegan blogger.,.. so she keeps me on the straight and narrow, since I am the only one in my family doing it. But now, finding it going on in here, it's like having a nice friendly support group!
This is a meal smoothie that I love
Peanut Butter Smoothie
Ingredients:
Method:
Blend all ingredients together until the desired consistency is reached. Add more water as needed.
Thanks for the recipes guys, I'll take all of them I can get.
Starting Tomorrow!
Now let me ask you this Peter, what is with no dairy? I understand it not being purely vegan, I just wonder about the health aspects.
That's worth trying. I've been looking for something simple to add to the quinoa to make it more flavorful without adding in calories. I'll let you know how it goes.
Dairy contains an animal protein called "casein" which has been shown in scientific studies to promote cancer cell growth. I urge you to read "The China Study" by T.Colin Campbell which talks about "casein" and its direct correlation with cancer (among other things!!). Jonathan- try adding cranberries and toasted slivered almonds to your quinoa and a very small amount of some type of flavored oil such as toasted sesame oil(but only a tiny amount). I am working on a recipe for a "Thai Quinoa" bowl which i will be posting on my new website next week. Stay tuned at veganamericanprincess.com
Btw, cut out the cow's milk in your smoothies right now, Perrie!!! I care about you and, in any event, vanilla almond milk tastes much better in a smoothie!!!!!
I forgot to mention that I totally agree with D'Wayne about limiting your oil intake and nuts. I also ditto D'Wayne about white pasta, white bread, refined flour, etc. Good work, D'Wayne!!! You know your stuff!!! For the record, the brand "Ezekiel" makes great whole grain breads, english muffins, tortilla wraps and pasta!!! Nothin' wrong with that!!
Perrie-- I wanted to make comments here as replies, but I don't see any :reply" link to click....So I will make replies in the "Add Comment" box instead.
Hi Debby-- nice to meet you
BTW, I looked at you blog-- really great! ISomw of the recipes look really delicious-- I will be trying them.
I had been familiar with many of these principle for years, and had implemented some-- but didn't become strictly vegan until about 2 months ago. Shortly after beginning, I read Fuhrman's book Super Immunity. It validates many of the concepts mentionned here (he backs up everything he says with references to quality research studies-- from The China Study (2006) to some of the most recent research).
Among other things he mentioned:
1. Animal protein (Including milk protein) increases the risk of cancer. Even if its organic. But plant protein does not.
2. Another difference: Animal protein increases the body's tendency to store fat-- plant protein does not.
3. Some of the finding go against popular beliefs. For example, one of the reason there's so much Osteoporosis is the over-cnsumtion f diry products! (Yes, you read that right
2.
I use unsweetened soy milk-- I love the taste.
Until recently I avoided Soy, but I am currently sticking to Fuhrman's eating plan-- he feels moderate amounts of Soy are OK if its relatively unprocessed (artificail soy based meat imitations, for example, are not OK).
I realize this goes against conventional wisdom, but he make a good case for this.
Hi Larry.
People are different, of course, but from what I've seen, I think there's a good chance your blood chemistry will change radically for the better if you go on a vegan eating plan (and that means no dairy, not even lo fat or non-fat).
Most of the experts seem to agree that frozen berries are good. Also frozen vegetables (One of the main nutritionists working with Whole Foods even recommends keeping several pckgs of frozen veggies on hand).
Btw, both Trader Joes & Whole Foods have their own brands of frozen berries-- they are less expensive than fresh berries and it would seem nutritionally almost as good if not totally as good.
The consensus amongst those in the know seems to be to eat a whole cup of berries once a day-- because of their amount of phytonutrients they are considered a "superfood". (In addition most have a much lower glycemic load than most fruits)
Ok and cool, thanks Krish.
Got breakfast for the morning ready to go. Frozen berries and fresh veggies,,,wish me luck!
:~)
And it begins .
Got none of them up here!
But what I am finding is that there are fairly large shelve space denoted for this in most groceries.
Somebody puts a whole foods in Grand Forks ND is gonna make a killin'! Lots of local producers and people with money.
Frozen fruits and veggies are fine!!!
Gottchya.
So what about yogurt, always thought it was healthy food but hear it talked about much anymore.
And what about rice? Some kinds are better than others it seems. I'm reading that black rice is now the best or something ... we eat mostly wild rice 'cause so much grows here.
Larry, there is a Farmers Market in Grand Forks.
As far as yogurt, the ultimate bottom line is the same. However, there are some pretty tasty non-dairy yogurts out there, made from coconut, almond, soy, rice, etc....just look to see if they have some dairy product in it, like milk lecithin, casein, whey, and so on.
As a rule, the more colorful something is in nature, the better for you it is. Black is all colors of the spectrum, and so black rice must be the best (it certainly tastes the best). If you are getting rice locally, and it isnt bleached or GMO, then you are all good. Actually, another rule is the less time it takes for something to travel from where it is raised/grown to your cupboard or refrigerator, the better off you are. Also, most farms will take you on a tour if you call them up, and many even do impromptu ones. So...if it is local, you can see what happens behind the scenes, and all real farmers are proud of their land and their goods, and want to show it off.
Thanks Debbie for the participation and the compliment.
Krishna, you as well, of course (i guess i just take it for granted that you will have insightful things to say about health and well being).
Thanks also to Perrie, Larry, and Jonathon for your participation (and Shelly, who reads this and shares in my vision). I feel we're off to a great start here.
The GF farmers market is good, it runs for a few hours on Saturday, but really once the harvest season sets in almost all the veggies and fruit is gone within an hour. Right across the street from that is Amazing Grains , Grand Forks' food coop...really nice place, there again any fresh produce stuff goes immediately. We actually have a small farmers market that started up right here in our small town last year. Every Wednesday through the season, with a promise that all produce is picked within the last 24 hours. Similar to GF's but not as big of course; items are jams, sauces and mostly baked goods (yum!). These are popping up all over in small towns around here.
Here's what I find so interesting. This is absolutely the sweetest most fertile soil you can imagine. Dirt black as coal and food grows fantastic in our longer summer days. But farmers have been turning a huge profit SELLING food like sugar and grains, but have found not enough in selling fresh produce. Farmers around here might have a garden for themselves but it's only recently that more have started growing produce for profit. I think that if the infrastructure was in place to make the produce market from the farm to the table more streamlined, it would make huge money and meet an important demand.
Thanks for the info on the yogurt and I will try those you mentioned.
Larry...NO YOGURT. May I suggest a soy yogurt by the brand "Whole Soy and Co". The cherry flavor is my "fave" but they are all good!!! All brown and whole grain rices are FAB but NOT white rice!!! D'Wayne's comments about farmer's markets, eating local and colorful foods are "right on"!!! You go, D'Wayne!!!
Thanks Debbie! Just GoogledWhole Soy and Co and they sell it at the above mentioned Amazing Grains as well as the Hugos Grocery stores!
The conventional wisdom used to be that yoghurt (dairy) was great-- for both the healthy bacteria as well as Cakcium. And many felt that fermented foods such as yoghurt, Sauerkraut, etc were excellent.
I really like the approach advocated by Fuhrman (and adopted, btw, by the nutritionists at Whole Foods)--much of it is consistent with recent knowledge, but some of the latest research indicates quite strongly that dairy is not good-- even yoghurt.
Much of what we hear is propaganda from the dairy lobby....
As D'Wayne mentioned, there re non-dairy yoghurts.. I used to eat Soy Yogurt, but now don't as its a somewhat processed food.
Btw, I believe a much higher percentage of Calcium in most plants is absorbed (compared to Ca in animal products).
Hi Debbie
I've heard that as well-- basically to avoid processed foods, and eat only whole foods. Whole grains, not processed grains-- not white rice but brown rice, brown Basmati rice, are great.
And Wild Rice. Even Yams/Sweet Potatoes and other starches that are whole unprocessed foods,, Whole grain pasta, etc are great. (But not regular "white" spaghetti)
I've also heard what D'Wayne mentioned-- Black Rice ("Chinese Forbidden Rice") is especially nutritious. (But Brown Rice is also very good-- Brown Rice and White Rice are the same plant-- its just that they process the rice to make it into white rice-- they take the healthy parts out!).
Wow, so ok , I go to Google and see that it is quite the topic and somewhat debated. I'm going to take your suggestion and get Fuhrman's book ; everything I'm researching points in his direction.
And the entire "whole" concept is starting to make more sense now. Ok duh, common sense, the moreunprocessedand quicker from the farm, the better.
Try some ground flax seeds in the Whole Soy & Co. cherry yogurt!! Very good!!!
Greens have an incredibly high amount of calcium which the body absorbs much better than calcium from animal products (which could lead to kidney stones). Get your greens every day!! Except spinach is not great for calcium (but good for other stuff) because spinach has oxalic acid which interferes with calcium absorption.
Thanks again Debbie, quite helpful. Researched, Iron absorption (among otherbenefits) up, but calcium down, actually very interesting
Now, how about alcoholic beverages. like a beer now and then and know it needs to be factored in caloric-wise, just wondering if there's anything in particular to watch out for?
We need to put together a cook-book of our vegan meals.
Cookbook sounds like great idea!!! I could recommend some fabulous vegan cookbooks if you want to buy any!!!
Just for the record, I have been a militant vegan since November 2009 and I just started a blog about my vegan lifestyle. I have read EVERY book on the subject and am totally updated on the scientific evidence. The vegan diet ( if done without total indulgence in oreos and chips) is hands-down the way to be healthy.
For the record, most German beers are vegan. Many traditional British beers use animal products. All kosher wines are vegan. If a wine bottle says wine is "unfiltered" it's vegan. Not all organic wines are vegan. Some of the beers and wines are filtered using animal products.
This is fun-- sitting around and sharing recipes.
I feel like I'm "one of the girls",
I think D'Wayne knows a lot of good vegan recipes.
There are a lot on Debbie's blog that look really great. I intend to make some of them, but haven't yet because first I want to try a few more from Fuhrman's book.
Cool and thanks Debbie!
I've noticed that there are more-and-more unfiltered beers available and also noticed that they taste pretty darn good too!
Absolutely!
I'm lookin' into "Vegan News Talkers" aprons...the colors are appaling but some nice patterns out there.
:~)
I vote for Larry to model the aprons
I will model, but will not shave my legs!
Ok another question because I am getting conflicting views...Is honey vegan?
Honey is NOT vegan!!!
Thanks for the info. Went on the hunt last night and was surprised by what I dug up researching this...
I know that a vegan does not consume honey, but how about syrup or maple syrup? Are they suitable for a vegan?
That's very interesting and now have some new rescources too!
100 % pure maple syrup is a STAPLE item for a vegan. It is used as a natural sweetener in many recipes and as a topper for vegan breakfast items, etc. I suggest that you drop your traditional "name brand" maple syrup and use 100% pure maple syrup. It is a simple and healthier choice!!!
Agave nectar is also a good option.
Yes; agave nectar is a good option!
Hey thanks and... btw...had some agave the other night...and it was good!
Spring Blonde wheat ale with agave nectar by Blue Moon .
I have lovedPeanutButter and maple Syrup as a combosinceI was a kid.
Btw, there are some other interesting nut butters-- I have tried Almond Butter, Walnut Butter, and Cashew Butter. And there re many others (they tend to be fairly expensive compared to Peanut Butter-- but thete is quite a lot of vriety in the various tastes).
I believe that all you have to do to make nut butter is put some nuts into a powerful blender. (It works with a Vitamix-- I've never tried it with ordinary blenders).
Super tasty. I really do like like all kinds and every butter I've ever tried (walnut and pecan) were both very good. But this reminds me of something else. Just how fun this actually is. I mean the whole shopping and enjoying tasty new foods is a cool rut-breaker for a past middle aged-dude. My wife is not on a vegan diet, but she also enjoys all the great fruit andvegetablevarietyas well. And I feel great! So far, the most enjoyable diet experience I've ever had!
That is something I was going to bring up. My old blender don't wanta cut it sometimes. Lookin' at an upgrade and wonder if folks might have somerecommendations?
See my post on Justin's nut butters on my website They are great and you could buy individual foil packets for travel or individual use. To make nut butters in the Vitamix, you must soak the nuts overnight first.
If you think you will be really serious about cooking, there's really only one way to go-- get a Vitamix. Think of it as an investment in your future! (I believe they are guaranteed for life-- and even, possibly for the next several reincarnations as well...). If you are really serious, there's nothing that comes close.
(One small downside-- the last time I looked, they are going for $525.00. But it seems they are worth it..)
Gosh those look great Debbie, the butters and the cups and thank you.Great site you have there!
Thank you so much Krish. I've been attempting to research, it's like swimming through syrup trying to cull through all the marketing that gets in the way! Nice to have an opinion for a change.
Looking on their site now and it appears they actually have manyvarietiesbut yeah, that price is about the average. Honestly I'm old and cheap-assed...sometimes slower is faster andexpensive is cheaper.
The Healthmaster (Montel Williams product) is supposed to be great too!!!
Btw, Larry...Thanks for compliment about my site!!
Your welcome Debby, my pleasure!
:~)
There is a great little Thai resturaunt we go to that has a fantastic noodle cocnut curry dish. Looking around to see what I can find but wondered if anyone has a suggestion? I like the spiciness and the creaminess from the coconut is really yummy!