Thursday, January 31, 2008

What I've been doing lately

I forgot to mention what my starting weight was on Monday morning, the day that I restarted the program, yet again. I got on the scale and my weight was 184.4. So, we'll see what it is this coming Monday.

I have weighed myself a couple of times this week, but you know how weight fluctuates, so I don't want to tell everyone how much I've lost, in case it goes up by Monday despite sticking to the program (which I full intend on doing!).

I've been meaning to have one of my kids take a picture of my face, so that I can compare what it looks like now to when I lose weight. I love seeing changes in photos! I can't wait to feel the change in my clothing!

I've been reading Dr. F's books again, Eat to Live as well as Disease-Proof Your Child and I'm very inspired! My kids aren't as thrilled with me getting back on track because it means no more organic cookies or chips in the house. I just can't have them here or I'll cave!

I read a blog, recently, about a woman who lived on green smoothies for 6 mos. Her caloric intake was horrifically low for a 500 lb. woman, at 600-800 calories per day, but I was inspired and have used some of her ideas to get me back on track.

I have decided to eat only green smoothies (big, huge ones!) for breakfast and lunch. Since my smoothies usually have about 400-500 calories in them, I'm sure I'm getting plenty of calories. I am breastfeeding, so am shooting for about 1500 per day.

For dinner, I am trying to eat some kind of bean-vegetable dish. So far, so good.

In the past, I have had a problem with consuming too many nuts. Once I take a handful of cashews and bite into the crunchy, creamy goodness, I just can't control myself. So, I'm only eating my nuts in my smoothies and since I'm eating 2 smoothies per day, I'm having 2 ounces of nuts per day.

Dr. Fuhrman told me that I should have 2 ounces of nuts per day and 1/2 an avocado per day (because I'm breastfeeding), but he did say that it would be OK to have either the 2 oz. of nuts or 1/2 the avocado and 1 ounce of nuts. He didn't sound too thrilled about it, though! So, I am going to try and get at least a 1/4 avocado in most days.

The key to my success is being prepared ahead of time. I've been making menus (I used to do dinner menus, but never breakfast and lunch.) and have been sticking to them. The kids like being able to get up in the morning and see what they're eating for the day. (Mom, guess which one likes that the most?)

Part of being prepared is having yummy, healthy foods prepared for the kids. They frequently make themselves green smoothies and OH! my 15 yr. old has actually started to add spinach to his!! This is HUGE! He has been balking at that for the longest time! Today, he took a small handful and put it into his smoothie. The 12 and 10 yr. olds put 2 handfuls in theirs and I'm hoping my 15 yr. old will add more gradually. He said that as long as it's not green, he thinks he can handle it.

My 3 yr. old seems to be on a banana kick. I'm waiting for the day that the cashier at the grocery store asks me if I have monkeys. LOL. Actually, I have 5 of them! Anyways, Jack, my 3 yr. old loves bananas with almond butter on them and "sprinkles," which is shredded coconut sprinkled on top. He eats 3 or 4 of these per day.

He also likes to take spoonfuls of almond butter and just eat that. I used to love to do that until they stopped making raw almond butter. :( Now, the jarred almond butter tastes stale to me and the almond butter I make just isn't the same. I'm glad Jack likes it, though!

It's getting late, so I'll post another time about feeding the kids. I have more to say regarding what I read in Dr. F's book, so will try and get that written up tomorrow. You know how that goes, though......

Corn, White Beans, and Green Beans in Green Onion Sauce

Here's another great recipe from Marilyn Diamond's cookbook. I have to say that there is lots of great information in here other than recipes! You should really have this on your shelf. :) I see that Dr. F. may have been inspired by her cookbook as she has a cashew cream sauce recipe and I know Dr. F. says cashew cream sauce is one of his favorites.

Anyways, here's a recipe that the kids liked, but it was hard to get them to try it after they saw that the sauce was green. Once you pour it into the "stew," it isn't green anymore, but they saw it in the Vitamix after I had prepared it.


Corn, White Beans, and Green Beans in Green Onion Sauce


2 medium green onions
2 T. whole wheat flour
1 c. soymilk
1/2 tsp. crushed garlic
Salt-free seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper
2 c. green beans, trimmed and cut in 1-inch segments (I used frozen, since they were to be cooked anyways. IMO, there should have been double the amount of green beans in this stew.)
3/4 c. chicken-flavored vegetable stock, or 2 tsp. light miso, dissolved in 3/4 c. boiling water (I used regular vegetable stock, as that is what I had on hand.)
4 ears fresh corn, cut from the cob (approx. 4 c.--I used frozen, but did not use this much...I doubled the recipe and used 5 c. of corn in total and I still think that was too much. I'll probably use 3 next time.)
2 1/2 c. cooked Great Northern or navy beans (I forgot to cook some, so used 2 cans in my doubled recipe, but I should have used 3 cans.)


The sauce in the book calls for 1/3 c. of olive oil instead of the soymilk and flour, but I wanted this to be free of so much oil, so I made a different sauce.


1. Pour a little bit of soymilk into a large saucepan. Add the flour while whisking and continue to add the rest of the soymilk, slowly. Continue whisking until it is well mixed and let it come to a boil. Let boil until nice and thick and add more soymilk while whisking if you think it needs more.
2. Pour this mixture into your Vitamix (or blender) and add the green onions and garlic and whirl it all together. Set aside.
3. Steam your green beans until tender. Set aside.
4. Heat broth in same saucepan. Add corn and simmer 5 minutes or until tender.
5. If using prepared beans from a jar or can, rinse under cold water. Add to corn with green beans and bring to a boil. Add sauce and heat mixture over medium heat, stirring for several minutes, until well blended and heated through. Adjust seasonings.


Like I said, this had too much corn and not enough white or green beans, so I'd add more next time.

Cream of Celery Soup and Broccoli, Red Pepper, Corn Salad

This soup is a yummy one. It's from--surprise!--The American Vegetarian Cookbook.

Old Fashioned Cream of Celery Soup

1 c. finely chopped onion
2 T. olive oil (I omitted this and used water to saute' the onions.)
2 T. whole-wheat pastry flour
5 1/2 c. water
1/3 c. soymilk
4 c. diced celery
2 c. peeled and diced potatoes
3 T. light miso or chicken-flavored vegetable broth (I used vegetable broth, since it was all I had.)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Fresh pepper

1. In a medium soup pot, heat onion with oil and saute' for 2 minutes, stiring. Add flour and stir well. Slowly add 2 c. water, stirring to avoid lumping. Bring to a boil and stir until thick and smooth.
2. Combine the soymilk and remaining water. Add to soup pot and bring to a boil. Add celery and potatoes, return soup to a boil, and simmer 15 minutes or until celery is very tender.
3. Remove 1/2 c. of broth from soup. Dissolve miso in it, then return to soup pot and stir well for an additional minute. Cool briefly.
4. Puree half of the vegetables from the soup with a hand blender or food processor, taking as much potato as possible to be pureed. (You don't want too many chunks of potato, since this is cream of celery soup.) Return puree to soup and stir well. Add pepper to taste.

Serves 6



For the salad, I just chopped up a whole bunch of broccoli, stripped the corn off of 3 ears of corn, diced 2 red peppers and sliced up about 1/2 c. of green onions. I threw them all together and squeezed lemon juice over it and put a tiny bit of olive oil as well, although, I think it would have tasted better without it. My husband just piled the salad into his soup and the kids used ranch dressing. Sigh...


Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Easy Bean Tostada

I made another tostada recipe from The American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen again. This time, it was a bean tostada.

Easy Bean Tostada

The salsa and guacamole recipes are the same as this recipe.

Tostada

4 cups shredded Iceberg lettuce
4 cups shredded Romaine lettuce (I didn't use Iceberg and used Romain and baby spring greens.)
1 c. corn, cut from cob and steamed with 1/4 c. minced green onions (I used frozen.)
1 c. alfalfa sprouts
1/4 c. finely grated carrot
1 c. cubed tomato (I forgot this ingredient...are you noticing a trend here?)
1 1/2 c. refried pinto beans, heated
3 corn tortillas, heated on a dry skillet until soft (Only the kids had these.)
Olives, for garnish (I didn't use these.)

1. Prepare salsa by combining the chopped and minced ingredients. Stier in the olive oil and seasonings.

2. Prepare guacamole by mashing the avocado in a bowl and mixing in the other ingredients.

3. Place the shredded lettuces in a large salad bowl. Add the corn mixture, alfalfa sprouts, carrot and tomato. Add 3/4 c. of the salsa and toss well.

4. Place hot tortillas on 3 large salad plates. Top with refried beans and equal portions of salad. Top with guacamole. Drizzle extra salsa over the top and garnish with olives.

We just layered all of the ingredients on our separate plates, rather than combining everything in a big bowl first. I don't do very well when it comes to reading directions. :) (Remember, you can click on the pictures for a larger view to see the yummy details.)


Indian Tacos

I'm behind again...

We had
Indian Tacos for dinner a few nights ago. They were very good, but the "Fry" bread (which I baked instead of frying) turned out a little hard. It still tasted good, though.

Here's the fry bread (made with freshly ground whole wheat flour)





Here is the Indian taco filling:


Here it is on the plate. Fry bread on the bottom, filling on top and topped with Romaine.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Black Bean, Corn and Red Pepper Fajitas

Oh, I LOVED tonight's dinner! I served Sandie's Black Bean, Corn and Red Pepper Fajitas with a green salad. These fajitas are SO yummy! My kids loved them, too. I served them on whole wheat tortillas, but can't wait for tomorrow because I want to have it for lunch on a big bed of greens.



I didn't have any coriander, so left it out and put a little extra lime in there because I love lime juice in black beans. My kids kept wondering who had the horrible B.O. after I added the cumin, but that was before I stirred it all up. It's funny, because I use cumin all of the time and they've never said that before!



Here is the yummy goodness:


Mashed Potatoes with Kale and Vegan Gravy

Today for lunch, I fed my kids mashed potatoes, which is something they love. I know I've been on a potato theme lately, but I'm trying to transition off of chips and cookies, so potatoes are helping. I didn't eat the potatoes today, though. I decided to try and sneak some kale in there, for the kids. I chopped it up in very small pieces and steamed it over the potato pot as the potatoes were cooking.

Of course, they knew there was kale in there because it was obvious by the green flecks, but you really can hide the taste that way. With vegan gravy, they're delish! The kids ate a big mound of potatoes and a big green salad. Unfortunately, they put ranch dressing on their salads, but they are putting less and less on nowadays as I tell them how unhealthy it is for them. It's like a competition between them. Who can put the least amount of dressing on their salad and still be able to eat it all? LOL.



Here is a picture of their mashed potatoes and vegan gravy:



This is the gravy I used. So quick and so easy. As it says on the package, "Just add water."


Dr. F's Healthy Slaw and Homemade Hamburger Buns

Last night was the last night that my in-laws would be here for dinner, so I made hamburgers (veggie burgers for Jack and me) with homemade wheat buns, roasted green beans and Dr. F's Healthy Slaw from the 5 Day Detox. I just LOVE that stuff!

For those who don't know the recipe, here it is:

Dr. Fuhrman's Healthy Slaw


1/2 cup shredded raw cabbage
1/2 cup shredded raw beets
1/2 cup shredded raw carrots
1 cup shredded apple
1/4 cup raisins

Toss and serve.


I am a sucker for homemade bread, which I shouldn't even be eating, but I didn't want my family eating the junk that you buy in the store, so I made some. Yum.



Chop Suey and Baked Egg Rolls

Last week, I made Sandie's Chop Suey and Baked Egg Rolls . The chop suey turned out well, but I put a little too much tamari in it. Next time, I'll go easy on it. The egg rolls tasted awful. The filling was delicious, but the wrappers were awful baked. I could not find egg-free wrappers as Sandie suggests on her web page, so got regular ones. I think I'll try to find an egg-free wrapper recipe online next time. I loved the filling, so with a good wrapper, the egg rolls would be delicious!

Here are step-by-step pics of my son making the egg rolls...


Lay down the wrapper and add about 2 Tbsp. filling


Bring up the bottom corner of the wrapper to cover the filling


Fold sides in like you do when making a burrito



Roll up from the bottom



Place on a cookie sheet, lined with unbleached parchment paper and cook.



Serve with Chop Suey and enjoy!

Potato Lover's Salad

This is another recipe from The American Vegetarian Cookbook. (Did I tell you how much I love this book?) I had my in-laws here over the weekend, so I thought it would be a good meat-and-potato-lover's meal. I was planning on making lentil soup to go with it, but my MIL decided to order pizza despite my efforts to tell her that I had already planned the meals and that it was no trouble and that I enjoyed cooking for them! Then, I thought that she might not like lentil soup, so let her order pizza. The kids were thrilled.

Here's the salad recipe:


Potato-Lover's Salad


Salad

3 c. red potatoes, cut in 1/2-1 inch cubes and steamed 10-15 mins. or until just tender. 1 T. olive oil
1/4 tsp. minced garlic, or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, or 1/4 tsp. chicken-flavored vegetable broth
6 c. Butter lettuce (also called Boston or Bibb lettuce), in 1/4 inch slivers
2 c. Romaine (I used a combo of Romaine and Baby Greens instead of the Butter lettuce.), Salad Bowl or Iceberg lettuce, in 1/4 inch slivers
2 c. coarsely chopped spinach
1 c. alfalfa sprouts
1 c. coarsely chopped sunflower sprouts (I couldn't find these and didn't have time to make them.)
1/2 c. finely slivered red cabbage or finely chopped tomato
3 c. thin broccoli florets, steamed until bright green and just tender, about 3-4 minutes


Dressing (I just let everyone choose from various dressings I had or freshly-squeezed lemon juice and a smidgen of olive oil.)


4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. dairy-free mayonnaise or Almonnaise (p. 98)
1 medium garlic clove, pressed
1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Dijon-style mustard (optional)
1/2 tsp. kelp powder or other salt-free seasoning
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
Freshly ground pepper to taste (optional)


1. Toss potatoes in olive oil and garlic and spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Place in preheated broiler and broil 4 inches from heat for 5 minutes, turning once, or until potatoes are crusty and golden.
2. Prepare dressing in a large salad bowl. Measure ingredients directly into bowl and beat until creamy with a whisk.
3. Add greens, sprouts and cabbage to bowl. Toss in potatoes and steamed broccoli. Toss very well.


Variation: Add 1 c. sliced onion rings to potatoes and toss together in the olive oil and garlic. Spread onion rings, halved, or quartered, on cookie sheet with potatoes and broil as indicated. Toss both into salad.





Remember that you can click on the pictures to enlarge them for more detail, if you'd like.

Baked Potato Bar

Another meal I like to cook for the family is a baked potato bar. I usually cook some chicken because my husband and older boys like that and I add salsa, steamed vegetables, creamed corn, beans, vegan gravy, tamari or anything else I can think of that we have leftover in the fridge.


I had one with steamed broccoli and salsa. I usually put beans on as well, but I wanted something lighter this particular night.



Easy Tostada

We had this a few nights ago from the recipe in The American Vegetarian Cookbook. I just love this book! I've had it for years, but haven't cooked out of it for awhile.

I love the combination of the warm vegetables with the cold lettuce, creamy guacamole and spicy salsa. Yum! There's a somewhat sweet taste to the vegetables that adds a yummy flavor.


Here's the recipe:



Easy Tostada


You can use a commercial salsa (which I did because I didn't feel like making salsa that day) for this salad (one that has no sugar or preservatives), or you can make your own very easily. Substituting vegetables for the beans makes this a light, California-style Mexican meal. It's great for a summer picnic with Tomburgers (page 187).



Vegetables



1 c. frozen petite peas
1 c. fresh corn, cut from the cob (I used frozen.)
1 c. diced carrots
1 c. diced string beans



Salsa



1 1/2 c. chopped tomatoes (peeling is optional)
1/2 c. minced red onion
1/2 c. minced red bell pepper
1/2 c. minced green pepper
3 Tbsp. minced cilantro
1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (I would have omitted this had I made salsa.)
Chili powder and cayenne to taste


Guacamole



1 large avocado
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. dried oregano


Salad



8 c. shredded iceberg lettuce (I used all romaine.)
4 c. shredded romaine lettuce
Corn chips (I didn't use these.)
olives for garnish



1. Place peas, corn, carrots, and beans in a steamer over boiling water and steam until tender.
2. Prepare salsa by chopping and mincing all vegetables and combining them in a medium bowl. Add olive oil, chili powder, and cayenne and mix well.
3. Prepare guacamole by mashing avocado in a bowl and mixing in other ingredients.
4. Place shredded lettuces in a large salad bowl. Add steamed vegetables and 3/4 c. salsa. Toss well.
5. To serve, transfer salad to 4 large plates and surround each serving with a ring of corn chips. Spoon a dollop of guacamole on top of each tostada, then garnish with olives. Pass remaining salsa to be drizzled over tostadas, if desired.




Chili Fries

Something I forgot to mention in my last post is that sometimes when I make chili, I bake up some potato wedges, so that the kids can have some chili fries. They love a dinner of chili fries and salad.







Yum!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Veggie Chili and Carrot Salad


I'm back after a long hiatus. I still weigh about the same...sigh...


Anyways, my in laws are here this weekend and we had chili, cornbread and carrot salad for dinner last night. My 10 yr. old said to me, "This is the first time I've ever liked Mom's chili!" My husband said, "I'll have to agree with you there!" They don't like chili that I make with tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes. Usually, I put a few cans of one of those in my chili. The recipe I used last night had just a 1/2 c. of tomato sauce.

The recipe I used was from Marilyn Diamond's book, The American Vegetarian Cookbook From the Fit For Life Kitchen. I have to say I LOVE this cookbook! There are several recipes that I make often from Marilyn Diamond's cookbooks. She is a great chef, in my opinion! It seems that just about everything I make using her recipes tastes really, really yummy. Of course, I Fuhrmanize them.

Anyways, here is the recipe:

Blue Ribbon Chili (p. 306 in the book)


2 t. safflower or sunflower oil (I omitted this.)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 c. crumbled tofu (optional....I didn't add this because I don't really like tofu)
3 c. cooked pinto beans
2 c. fresh or canned tomatoes, seeds and juice squeezed out (I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes because I doubled the recipe.)
1/4 c. ketchup or tomato sauce
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen corn
3 teaspoons paprika (I used 3 t. paprika and 3 t. smoked paprika for the doubled recipe.)
1 t. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground rock salt
4 Tbsp. masa (optional....I did not use.)


1. Heat oil, garlic, onion, and carrot in a Dutch oven. Saute' until onion begins to soften, then add tofu and saute' several minutes.

2. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and corn. Mix well. Stir in spices and masa. Cover and simmer over very low heat until flavors have combined, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Serves 8.

Note: If you are rushing, cook the chili for a much shorter time (15-30 mins.), and it will still be wonderful. The longer cooking time allows the flavors to come through.


I think the smoked paprika is the key to why this tasted so good. I doubled the recipe and it was barely enough to feed 7 people and 1 preschooler. People went back for seconds, even. Here is what it looked like in the pan:



I also made a carrot salad from Recipes For Life from God's Garden by Rhonda Malkmus of Hallelujah Acres. Another great book!


Here's the recipe:


Sunshine Carrot Salad


3 c. carrot, shredded
1 Red Delicious apple, peeled, cored and shredded
1/2 c. organic raisins (I just remembered I forgot to add the raisins!!)
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped.

Combine all ingredients above in a bowl and toss. Mix in the following dressing:

1 Red Delicious Apple
2 c. grated carrot
1/2 c. almonds
fresh apple juice or distilled water (I used water and highly recommend using juice instead because the water made it a little bland.)

In a blender, chop 1/2 c of almonds, add 1 Red Delicious apple, peeled and cored and 2 c. grated carrot; blend until creamy. Add a small amount of distilled water or fresh apple juice to reach consistency desired. (I just threw it all in the Vitamix and blended.)

Here's a picture of the finished product (minus the raisins! SIGH!):



I also served Vegan Cornbread. I will add that I doubled the recipe, but only used the amount of oil called for in the single recipe. It was plenty wet, so I don't think I'll use any oil next time.


Here's a picture of the whole meal (Minus those #@!* raisins!):



Phew! I have a few more meals to blog about, but I'll do that later.