Whiskey-Glazed Carrots

My younger brother and his family joined us this year for Thanksgiving and I struggled with the menu until I came up with a working compromise.  My brother deperately wanted me to cook a turkey, stuffing in the bird, and turkey gravy.  Turkey has never been a favorite of mine, so I didn't anticipate any problems with temptation.  My husband prepared and stuffed the turkey, and I made the veggies and desserts.  This recipe for carrots is a new one that I tried and everyone raved. My brother reheated a leftover serving the next day and went home with the recipe.  In January we are having a family party and I have been assigned a few vegetable dishes and this will be one of them. This recipe makes a large quanity so adjust to suit. I would estimate that it make about 8-10 servings. The recipe and picture were borrowed from www.thepioneerwoman.com

1/2 cup of Earth Balance butter
3 Lbs of carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2"pieces
1/2 cup of Jack Daniels
3/4 cup of Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
Chopped chives if desired

Melt 1 Tablespoon of butter in large frying pan over high heat (I used my big cast iron pan). Add 1/2 the carrots and saute for 60-90 seconds.  Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining carrots.  Remove and put with the other carrots.  In the hot empty skillet add the Jack Daniels (or other whiskey) and allow to evaporate for 30 seconds.  Reduce heat to medium and add the rest of the butter.  When butter has melted, sprinkle the brown sugar over the top and stir well.  Add the carrots and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove lid and add salt.  Continue cooking with the lid off for another 5 minutes until carrots are tender and glaze is thick.  WARNING:  not low-fat!  But very delicious.....

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

I love chocolate frosting, but some of my family prefer buttercream instead and this is a great recipe.

BUTTERCREAM  FROSTING

1/2 cup of Earth Balance non-dairy butter
2 cups of confectioners sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 TBLS of nondairy milk (or a little more as needed)
food coloring (optional)

With an electric mixer cream the butter then add the confectioners sugar, vanilla, milk and food coloring if using. Beat on high speed for several minutes until light and fluffy.  Add more milk if it is too dry, but just add a few drops at a time.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

You can make any frosting recipe vegan by using nondairy milk and Earth Balance type of butter spread, as long as the spread is non-hydrogenated.  But this recipe is excellent and I use it whenever a recipe calls for Chocolate frosting.  It makes a lot so cut the recipe in 1/2 if making a one-layer cake.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup of Earth Balance, softened
3 cups of confectioners sugar
1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3-4 Tablespoons of nondairy milk

With an electric mixer cream the butter for 60-90 seconds. Add the confectioners sugar and cream for another 2 minutes (the mixture will be dry but you want to make sure that the butter and sugar mix well). Add the cocoa, vanilla and milk and beat on high speed for about 3 minutes until the frosting is really creamy and  smooth.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

I make these cookies and pop them into a large freezer bag and freeze them.  When hubby feels like a snack with his evening coffee he takes a couple out of the freezer and microwaves them for 25 seconds and they taste like they just came out of the oven.  I tried this system when my daughter was visiting with her family but it was a waste of time....they were sneaking into the freezer all day and the cookies were gone that same day!  You may want to think about doubling this recipe if you really like peanut butter cookies. These are from The Joy of Vegan Baking http://www.compassionatecooks.com/ 

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 3/4 cups of flour
3/4 tsp of baking soda
3/4 tsp of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons fo Ener-G-Egg Replacer (see note at the bottom of the page)
2 TBLS of water
1 1/4 cup of packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup of smooth or crunchy peanut butter
1/2 Earth Balance nondairy butter
3 TBLS of nondairy milk
1 TBLS of vanilla extract


Preheat over to 375 and line three cookie sheets with parchment paper or use non-stick cookie sheets.  Even with non-stick sheets I still use the parchment paper.  I find that the cookies brown evenly so I use parchment paper for all my cookies recipes.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt and put bowl to the side.  Whip the egg replacer and water together until thick and creamy.  A food process with the small bowl attachment is perfect for this.

In a large bowl combine the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter, milk and vanilla.  Beat at medium speed until well blended.  Add the egg replacer mixture and blend again.  Add the flour mixture and beat again until just blended.

Take a rounded tablespoon of the mixture and roll it with your hands into a ball and put on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Then flatten slightly in a criss-cross pattern with a fork. Bake of 10-12 minutes until they just begin to brown. Do not overbake.  Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 3-5 minutes them transfer them to a rack to cool them.

NOTE:  Ener-G-Egg Replacer is available at Whole Foods and health food stores.  In come in a box and is in a powder form.  A lot of vegan baking recipes use this egg replacer so it won't go to waste.

SMASH CRASH POTATOES

The name comes from my grandaughter, and the recipe from http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ .  You'll love her website and recipes.  She is not a vegan so I search for her veggies recipes and they are always really good. These potates are amazing!  They have been a hit with everyone I have served them to. Our neighbors came to dinner one night and these potatoes were part of the menu along with the Tomato Basil Bruschetta and she went home and made both the next day. One of the things that I love about this recipe is that you can prepare them ahead of time, then pop them into the oven when you are 1/2 hour away from eating.  Hot, crispy and sizzling.

SMASH CRASH POTATOES

-12 whole new potatoes
-3 Tbls of olive oil
-sea salt
-black pepper
-maybe some fresh rosemary if you like that taste
-fresh chopped chives would also be nice

Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 30 minutes until they are fork tender.  On a cookie sheet drizzle some olive oil.  Put the cooked potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving some space between them.  Crush them with a potato masher gently until the skin splits (I sometimes have to help this process by making an X on the skin with a sharp knife).  Then turn the pan 90 degrees and mash them again.  Brush the tops generously with olive oil and sprinkle with the sea salt and spices if using.

Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes until crispy and golden.

Chocolate Cake or Cupcakes

Vegans can have their cake and eat it too!  I know that is corny but this eggless cake is amazing.  I had another recipe that I thought was great also, but this one has become number one. The best part is that it is so easy to make and you don't even need to drag out the electric mixer.  You can just stir it well with a large spoon and you're done. It makes a 9"cake or 8 cupcakes....double recipe for a double layer cake.  Frosting recipes to follow. Another recipe from the Colleen Patrick-Goudreau http://www.compassionatecooks.com/

CHOCOLATE CAKE

Set over to 350 and lightly grease cake pan or muffin tins

-1 1/2 ups of flour
-3/4 cups of sugar
-1/2 teaspoon of salt
-1 teaspoon of baking soda
-1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
-1/3 cup of canola oil
-1 Tbls of white vinegar
-1 cup of cold water

Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well.  Make a well in the middle and all the liquid ingredients and stir just until combined.  Pour into prepared pan (s)
Bake for about 30 min for cakes, and approx 15 minutes for cupcakes.  Insert tooth pick in the center until it comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack.  Frost when cool.

Mrs. Foster's Casserole

When I was in 6th grade, my mother was hospitalized and had surgery.  She was gone for several days and my father struggled to feed us kids.  The lady next door, Mrs Foster, sent over a casserole one night for our dinner. We all loved it and my mother continued to make this casserole while I was growing up.  When I had my children the tradition carried on and it became one of their favorites too. My daughter was visiting recently and we veganized Mrs. Foster's Casserole simply by substituting the ground beef for the store bought veggies crumbles.  Everything else was already plant based so it was a snap to convert this recipe.  It only takes a minute to put together and we have always served this with fresh biscuits. I'll post a recipe for vegan biscuits next.  You use only one dish!

13 X 9 Pyrex baking dish
2 cans of tomato soup'
1 1/2 cans of water
1 can of kernel corn
1 small green pepper diced small
1 small onion diced small
2 large potatoes peeled and diced
1 package of veggies ground beef

***You can leave the potatoes raw  and cook them in the casserole, but I have always found that they are not quite tender enough for my taste, so I boil them for 7-8 minutes, drain them, and add to the casserole.
****the veggies crumbles can be left out and the casserole is equally as tasty.  But since my family relates to the old ground beef recipe I use the crumbles.  Saute the crumbles in a frying pan until they are crispy.


put all the ingredients into the Pyrex dish and mix to combine.  Bake in 350 over for an hour.

Easy Smoothie

I love this smoothie because there are only a few ingredients, you don't have to use ice, and it incorporates a protein and a green veggie.  The recipe makes 1 smoothie so adjust the ingredients accordingly for more servings. The spinach is optional but it doesn't alter the taste so why not?.....just don't let the kids see it going into the blender and they will be none the wiser. You can have this for breakfast, as a snack, or as a dessert. I'll make this mid-morning and split with my husband for a little pick me up.

1/2 cup frozen peach slices

1/2 cup of any other frozen berry or combo....I think my favorite is strawberry

1/2 cup of soy milk or other non dairy milk

1/2 cup apple or orange juice
1 Tbl of protein powder
handful of spinach ---optional

Put in the blender and let it whirl for a minute or so.

EGG LESS PANCAKES

I made these recently for visiting family and they were easy and tasted great.  Our youngest granddaughter is allergic to eggs so I can't wait to try them on her.  Add some cinnamon to the dry ingredients if you like that taste. You can add fruit like blueberries and bananas, but I find that they pancake doesn't cook properly and gets doughy around the fruit.  I like to add the fruit on top instead.

EGG LESS PANCAKES

1 cup of unbleached all purpose flour (or half whole wheat)
1 Tbl of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
1 cup non dairy milk
2 Tbl of canola oil or melted Earth Balance
3 Tbl of liquid sweetener like maple syrup, apple juice, orange juice

Heat the griddle or skillet using a little bit of canola oil. Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl mix the liquid ingredients.  Add to the flour mixture and mix just until moistened.  If you over mix the pancakes will be tough. If griddle is hot enough proceed to make the pancakes as you would normally do. I use about 1/4 cup per pancake.

 adapted from the Joy of Vegan Baking http://www.compassionatecooks.com/

Daniel's Veggie Pie

This recipe came from our son Daniel, who lives in San Francisco. The actual origin of the recipe is unknown.  I bought two frozen vegan pie crusts, the Wholly Wholesome brand from Whole Foods....several people online recommended these ones and they were great!  http://www.whollywholesome.com/
I usually make my own pastry because it is so much better, and I enjoy the process of making things from scratch.  But in a pinch I tried these frozen crusts and they were surprisingly good.  I let them thaw in their tinfoil containers, then transfered one to my own pie plate and rolled the other one out flat for the top.  I have a wonderful recipe for a vegetarian pie crust and I'll post that another time.   This veggie pie is really good and you could have fun substituting alternate vegetables to your taste.  I personally found that there was too much cabbage and carrots so I have made some suggestions below. Thanks Daniel! (or "Dan" as everyone else calls him...but I'm his mother and he is Daniel to me)

DANIEL'S VEGGIE PIE

2 vegetarian Wholly Wholesome frozen pie crusts, thawed
2 Tbl of Earth Balance Spread or oil
1 yellow onion chopped
1/2 head of cabbage chopped
2 cups of carrots thinly sliced
1lb of soy sausage.  Daniel used Morningstar Breakfast Patties and I used spicy Gimme Lean in the tube
1 cup hot water
1 envelope of vegetarian instant brown gravy mix
2 Tbl of fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of savory (or sage and thyme) this is optional.  Depends on whether you like the taste of these spices.
1/4 tsp of pepper

Alternate
-substitute 1 cup of the sliced carrots with 1 cup of frozen peas.  I didn't like that many carrots
-add some mushrooms with the onion, cabbage and carrots.
-use 1/4 head of cabbage and add some broccoli.

Heat over to 400 degrees. Saute the onion, carrots and cabbage in butter/oil til browned about 15 min.  Remove to large bowl...at this point add the peas if you are using.  They can be put into the mixture frozen. In a large skillet heat the sausage (if using frozen sausage microwave first and break it up....or if using the Gimme Lean heat in the skillet just like you would ground beef). Add the water and the gravy package and spices.  Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the sausage mixture to the veggie bowl and mix. Pour into the bottom crust and cover with the top crust and crimp the edges together.  Using a sharp knife cuts slits for the steam to escape. Bake for 30 minutes.  Serve with a salad or sliced tomatoes.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Like the Mock Tuna recipe, hummus is very versatile and full of protein.  I hate the store bought versions and have ultimately thrown them out they tasted so bad. This is great on crackers, pita chips,  pita sandwich with veggies, on quesadillas, spread on celery, used as a dip with veggies.  I have tired other recipes but this is my favorite.  If you like more heat add Tabasco, or the Delallo Hot Pepper Garlic Sauce I mentioned on 9/1/10.  This is made with roasted red peppers in a jar, but I have been meaning to try roasting my own.  It appears to be easy and will probably taste even better. The original recipe called for 1/3 cup of lemon juice but I found it too lemony so I reduced it to 2 Tbl.

ROASTED RED PEPPER HUMMUS

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 (15 oz) can of garbanzo beans

1/3 cup of tahini

2 Tbl of lemon juice
1/2 cup roasted red peppers
1/4 tsp of basil

Drain and rinse the beans.  In a food processor combine the beans, garlic, tahini and lemon juice. Process until smooth, then add the peppers and basil and pulse the food processor just until the peppers are chopped.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Potato Salad

Everyone in our family loves potato salad, and now we have a granddaughter who is alergic to eggs, so this recipe is great for her since it utilizes eggless vegenaise instead of mayonaise.  I challenge you to tell the difference.  My daughter had a jar of vegenaise that she threw out swearing that she hated it.  But she gobbled up this salad!  I have tried another brand of eggless mayonaise and didn't like it nearly as much as Vegenaise.  I bought the grapeseed oil version. www.followyourheart.com

POTATO SALAD

8 medium  yellow potatoes like Yukon Gold.  I also love using red potatoes.
1/2 cup vegenaise
4 green onions
1 stalk of celery finely chopped
1/2 cup of finely diced red onion (add more to taste)
1/2 cup of thinly sliced radishes (optional)
1 tsp of salt
fresh ground pepper

Boil potatoes until fork tender (don't overcook or the salad will be mushy!) Drain and cool and cut into bite size cubes. (i put the strainer into the fridge to cool them faster.)

Mix everything together in a large bowl and adjust the seasonings and vegenaise to taste. Cover and put in the fridge until chilled.  

Warm Spinach Salad

This salad is wonderful, especially if you take the time to make the caramelized walnuts.  I make a double recipe of the walnuts and freeze them for future salads.  They only take a few minutes and they really take the salad to a different level.  The salad recipe makes at least 6 servings, so I make the dressing and warm it up again the next night. This is another recipe from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's "The Vegan Table."
http://www.vegantable.com/

WARM SPINACH SALAD

12-14 oz of baby spinach
1 medium red onion thinly sliced
1 cup caramelized walnuts (or pecans)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove pressed
1 cup balsamic vinegar (I use raspberry balsamic) 
1 Tbl of molasses
fresh ground pepper

Combine spinach, onion and prepared walnuts in a large salad bowl.
In a small saucepan, warm olive oil and saute garlic over low heat just to warm up the oil. After a few minutes add the vinegar, molasses and pepper. Whisking constantly, bring almost to a boil and remove from heat and let cool until it is just warm.  Pour over spinach and toss.  Serve immediately.

CARAMELIZED WALNUTS

1 cup walnuts
1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp of salt mixed together

 Tear a large piece of tin foil and lay on the counter near the stove. Heat a skillet over high heat.  Add walnuts and toss for 1 minute.  Sprinkle 1/2 the sugar/salt mixture over the nuts stir constantly until the sugar melts.  Add remaining sugar/salt and stir until the sugar melts again.  Pour the walnuts onto the tin foil and spread out until cool. 

As I said above it is just as easy to make a double batch.  Put 1 cup on the salad and wrap up the rest in the tin foil and freeze.

Adding some heat!

I picked this sauce up recently at our local grocery store. Actually I bought this by mistake thinking it was something else, but I am glad that I made the mistake.  If you can't read the label it is Hot Pepper Garlic Pasta Sauce. But I can't imagine using it on pasta right out of the jar....it is really hot!  Just a tiny bit added to a recipe is great. Some of my family  members like spicy things and others do not, my husband included.  He likes a little bite to things sometimes, but not as much as I do.  Our sons all like spicy food, so this sauce will appeal to them.  When I make hummus I add a tiny bit....maybe 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp at the most, and it adds a really nice flavor. You can add a touch to veggie fajitas, quesadillas, salsa, bread dip etc.  I really recommend this product to those who like the heat!  http://www.delallo.com/

"Mock" Tuna Salad

This recipe does not taste like tuna, but it is a mild substitute and I love it, and ever better it passed the "hubby test."  I recently did a blind test with two of our granddaughters, and while the 7 year old didn't hoot and holler, the 5 year old thought it was tuna! This can be made with all ingredients listed, or made kid friendly with just some celery and vegenaise. I also like it spread on flatbread type crackers, or on some celery.  Another way to serve it is to make a salad tossed with your dressing, then add a scoop to the top of the salad.  This is one of my 10 favorite recipes. This will keep for several days in the refrigerator. You may want a smaller quanity so just cut the ingredients in half.

2 cans of chick peas rinsed and drained
1/2 cup of finely chopped red pepper
1 celery stalk finely chopped
1-2 Tbls fresh parsley chopped
1-2 green onions chopped (optional)
1/2 cup of vegenaise
salt and pepper to taste.

Using a food processor or blender, pulse the chick peas until they are flakey. In a large bowl toss the rest of the ingredients then add the chick peas and mix well. If you want some spice add a teaspoon of Delallo's Hot Pepper Garlic Sauce.  See link under the Misc category. 

Waldorf Salad

This recipe is easy and diabetic friendly, and has a low glycemic index.  I forgot to make it when my granddaughters were visiting recently.....I think it is a recipe that all kids will like.  I munch on small amounts of this for snack time and it keeps the blood sugar level and hunger under control.  Or serve it on lettuce leaves for lunch.

1 apple chopped into bite size pieces
1 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 Tbls of vegenaise (or regular mayonaise for vegetarians)
1 Tbls of agave.

In a bowl toss together the apple, celery, walnuts.  In another small bowl combine the agave and vegenaise and toss with the apple mixture.

http://www.madhavasagave.com/

Roasted Mixed Vegetables

I loved roasted vegetables and this mixture is one that I cook on a regular basis.  Makes enough for 4 people or 2 people with left overs. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but once the vegetables are prepared the whole thing goes together really quickly.  Promise! 

10 small potatoes, red or fingerling (must be petite potatoes otherwise they won't cook properly)
1 yellow pepper in large cubes
1 medium onion (red or yellow) quartered
4-5 carrots cut in half and cut into large pieces about 4"
8 cloves of garlic (leave the skins on for roasting)
1 zucchini sliced
handful of whole mushrooms (not pictured above)
handful of asparagus...tough ends removed then cut into 3 pieces
handful of grape or cherry tomatoes
olive oil
sea salt
cracked lemon pepper or regular pepper
dried thyme
dried oregano
garlic powder
(for a little heat add some cayenne pepper)

Preheat over to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with olive oil cooking spray.  In a large bowl combine the potatoes, yellow peppers, onions, carrots and garlic cloves.  Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and sprinkle with the spices.  Toss to coat the vegetables with the oil and spices.  Spread on the cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes.

Put zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus, and tomatoes into the mixing bowl and repeat the mixing with the olive oil and the spices. 

Take cookie sheet out of the oven and mix in the rest of the vegetables and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.  Remove the pan from the oven and pick out the garlic cloves (make sure you count them so that you don't miss one).  Cut the ends off the garlic cloves with your kitchen scissors and squeeze the garlic out of the buds and toss with the vegetables.

This recipe was adapted from www.fortheloveofcooking.com

Vegetable Tian

For the Love of Cooking: Vegetable Tian:

This vegetable recipe tastes as good as it looks! I substituted vegan parmessan cheese but for you vegetarians just follow the recipe and use regular parmessan.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

For the Love of Cooking: Roasted Sweet Potatoes: 

We love this recipe and have made it several times over the past few months and it has always been a hit!  Anytime I see a vegetable recipe and it says "roasted" it grabs my attention.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes (1)

Sweet potatoes are so good!  They are a complex carbohydrate, high in fibre, rich in beta carotene, and have a low glycemic index (which means that it metabolizes slowly in your body, keeps you from getting hungry, and prevents sugar spikes which make you tired).  Yams and sweet potatoes are so similar that they can be interchanged as far as I'm concerned.  When I bake sweet potatoes I line the cookie sheet with foil which helps the clean up.....the sweet potatoes ooze sugar and burn the pan otherwise.  I will bake 4 potatoes for hubby and I, with the intent to use the other two the next night to add to another meal. Remember what I said about left overs?  If you plan ahead you can really cut down on the time you spend in the kitchen. When the sweet potatoes are cooked, I take two off the cookie sheet for our dinner.....then just wrap up the other two in the foil that I used to line the pan. The pan is clean, we have part of our dinner cooked for tomorrow night.....what could be easier?  This recipe is just simple baked sweet potatoes, and I will follow up with another recipe that would be suitable for putting on a buffet.

Heat over to 475 degrees

4 sweet potatoes...scrubbed and patted dry
1 cookie sheet lined with foil
Earth balance butter, and brown sugar

Poke the potatoes with a sharp knife in a few places and place on the cookie sheet.  Bake for about 45 minutes until a knife inserts smoothly in the center of the potato. Run a knife down the center of the potato lengthwise and carefully open.  Put a pat of Earth Balance and sprinkle with a touch of brown sugar.

Garbanzo Tomato Pasta Soup

This soup is easy to make and we love it!  I love, love soup and could eat it every night for dinner, but hubby is less enthusiastic to make it a whole meal.  He would rather have it as an appetizer.  But if the soup is hardy enough, and I make some pumpernickel bread in the bread maker, he is a happy camper. I love soups that have lots of beans and ensure that I can get some of my daily requirement of protein.  This recipe is titled "Garbanzo" but you can use any type of beans really, and I often add a can of red kidney beans to this recipe along with the garbanzos.  This recipe makes a lot of soup, but if you have read other posts of mine,  we always have left overs the next night so that I only cook every second night.  We then freeze the rest in serving size containers.  A few weeks from now, thaw a couple of servings, add some fresh rolls and a salad and you have a third dinner out of one cooking session!

GARBANZO TOMATO PASTA SOUP

3  (14.5 oz) cans of vegetable broth, or 5-6 cups of vegetable broth in a carton
3/4 cup of small shell pasta (or any small pasta like macaroni)
1 Tbls of olive oil
1 cup of chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 (15 oz) can of garbanzo beans...drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can of dark red kidney beans....drained and rinsed
1 (28 oz) can of chopped tomatoes....use the juice too
1/2 tsp of dried basil
1/2 tsp of dired thyme
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot bring broth to a boil and add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes.  Meanwhile in a small skillet heat oil and saute onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.  Stir the onions and garlic into the pasta pot (when the pasta has finished cooking).  Add the beans and spices.

Sesame Noodles

This recipe is from http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ and combined with the Spring Rolls makes a nice dinner.  Leftovers make a great lunch with a side salad. Easy, easy to make.

12 oz of thin Asian Noodles cooked and drained
1/4 cup of Soy Sauce
2 Tbls of sugar or 1Tbls of agave
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 Tbls of rice vinegar
3 Tbls of sesame oil
1/2 tsp of hot chili oil
4 Tbls of canola oil
2 Tbls of hot water
4 green onions chopped

-cook noodles and drain and put into a serving dish
-mix all the other ingredients together (except the green onions)
-toss the sauce with the noodles and top with the green onions.

Spring Rolls

My daughter and her family were here recently for a visit and I learned that my plant based diet can be controlled while cooking for a variety of tastes and ages.  My daughter was one of the driving forces behind my journey into veganism but she has decided for a variety of reasons that it is too complicated for her life style. But she is happy with adapting a vegetarian diet and I think she will be successful in that direction. Leaving the dairy in her diet is going to make it easier in her household.

My main concern before their visit was if I was going to be bumped off track.....cooking for a five year old, a seven year old, and a son-in-law that is supportive of my efforts but is not heading in a plant based direction. Not everything I cooked was a hit, and I admit that I planned foods that were not too radical to avoid the look of horrors. But I was pleased with the reaction to many items that they tried.

Spring rolls are easy to make and have a low fat content.  We added some Sesame Noodles and dinner was ready! I adapted this recipe from http://www.fortheloveofcooking.com/  where egg roll wrappers were used.  To adapt them to become vegan was easy by substituting the egg roll wrappers for spring roll wrappers.  I found the wrappers in a local Asian food market and then froze them until i needed them.  Hint:  the wrappers dry out very quickly.  Cover them with a damp dish towel while you work and this will keep them from sticking together.

SPRING ROLLS (about 14 pieces)
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups of savoy cabbage chopped thin ( i have also substituted regular green cabbage)
2 cups of shredded carrots
2 cups of bean sprouts
1 can of water chestnuts, chopped (optional...I'm not a fan so I leave them out)
2 Tbsp green onions sliced
1 tsp of grated ginger (i also use bottled ginger juice when I am lazy)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup water
Package of spring roll wrappers (you will need about 14.  Freeze the rest of the pkg)
Sweet chili dipping sauce ( or sweet and sour but I like the bite of the sweet chili sauce)

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Wait until the oil is hot.  Add the cabbage, sprouts, carrots, chestnuts (if using) and ginger and cook stirring frequently for 4-5 minutes.  Mix corn starch and water along with the soy sauce and add to the vegetable mixture. Add the green onions now too.  Stir until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and let mixture cool. (about 15 minutes)

Preheat over to 400 degrees.

Place a spring roll wrapper on the cutting board with one of the four corners facing you.  Place 2 Tbsp of the vegetable mixture on the center of the wrapper.  Fold up the bottom of the wrapper over the vegetables: then fold over the two sides: then roll it up like a burrito.

Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray.  Place the spring rolls on the cookie sheet seam side down. Spray the tops of the rolls with additional spray.  Bake for 8 minutes and turn them and spray again with vegetable spray.  Bake for 5-7 minutes more.

Tomato, Basil, Bruschetta

This has become our favorite appetizer. It is so good! This is from one of my favorite new books, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau http://www.compassionatecooks.com/  On hubby's birthday he requested this dish and he feasted with a glass of wine while I made a light dinner to follow. We have served this many times and recently we took it to a neighborhood gathering (so it transports well) and it was gobbled up in no time. I like to let the minced garlic sit in the olive oil for 30-45 minutes to blend the flavors, but this isn't necessary if you are in a hurry. If you are going to a party transport the bread in a container and add to the tray when you get there.

Tomato Mixture
-2 large garlic cloves minced
-2 Tablespoons of olive oil
-a container of cherry or grape tomatoes quartered
-1 cup of fresh basil (you have to use fresh..it won't be the same otherwise)
-2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar
-4 cups of chopped arugula
-fresh ground pepper and sea salt
Mix everything together and put into a serving bowl.  Put aside while you make the garlic bread

Garlic Bread
-1 skinny baguette
-1 to 2 cloves of garlic peeled and left whole
-olive oil

Cut baguette into 1/2"slices and paint the olive oil on both sides.  Put on a baking sheet and broil each side for 1-2 minutes watching closely that it doesn't burn. Rub the garlic cloves generously on one side of the bread. 

On a big platter put the bowl of tomato mixture in the center with a serving spoon. Arrange the bread slices around the bowl.

Three months later.....

At the end of three months, I can report to you honestly that I love eating this way.  My blood sugar is under control for the first time ever, I have eliminated 3 medications, the arthritis in my hips has improved to the point that it doesn't consume my thoughts during the day, the nausea has disappeared, and I have lost some  weight without even thinking about it. The first month was confusing, the second month I felt that I was gaining understanding and after the third month I have collected so many recipes for plant based dishes, I don't know when I will get to them all. I have had some slips off the wagon into dairy products, but I haven't eaten meat, poultry or fish for three months and I can tell you that I haven't missed it.  I had some cravings the first month, but not since. I have accepted that there will be times socially, when I will have to make other choices, and I will include some dairy. That's ok as far as I'm concerned.  This isn't a religious commitment I have made, but a personal decison I have made to myself.  I have learned that when I eat this way I feel better, when I eat badly I feel badly. 

Hubby has willingly come along for the ride with me.  He is not as committed to vegan eating as I am but he has adopted some strong vegetarian habits, with some occasional chicken on the side.  He travels with his work, and I think that once out on the road he heads straight for the pizza parlor. But he has still made some amazing changes in his food choices. He likes desserts and so once a week I will make some type of dessert that doesn't include dairy and I was amazed how easy it was to do. I will post a chocolate cake, some oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies that are all dairy free and I challenge you to tell the difference.  None of these treats are low-fat but they are vegan.  Low-fat is another post.

One of the kids asked me why I wasn't talking about any weight changes I have experienced.  There are two reasons.  The first reason is that weight loss was not at the top of my list of goals. Getting control of my health and reducing medications were the main targets. Feeling better, getting my life back were the focus.  I knew that if I concentrated on these things that the weight would take care of itself.  Daniel and Kelley have been the most involved in my progress and they will tell you that I have only mentioned my weight loss changes a few times.  My reports to them have been excitement sharing a recipe or talking about the health changes. The second reason I haven't talked about this subject is:  it's none of any body's business! 

I still have a long way to go in understanding what I'm doing and to get to the point where I feel really healthy again. But the changes have been so apparent and happened so quickly that it was fun to keep going and trying different  recipes. I have not felt deprived or had overwhelming urges. I have read some books and blogs from people who have been vegan/vegetarian for 10, 15, 20 years and I look at my three months and it's paltry in comparison. But everyone has a starting point and this is mine!

Awesome Garlic Bread

Awesome Garlic Bread  1 (not low-fat but oh so good)

-1 skinny baguette or any kind of french bread will do
-oil oil
-2 to 3 cloves of garlic peeled and left whole

Turn on broiler. Cut the baguette into approx 1/2"slices.  Paint both sides lightly with olive oil and put onto a baking sheet. (I have a good paint brush that i keep in my kitchen just for cooking) You can also spread the oil lightly with the back of a big spoon. Broil for about 2 minutes (watch it closely it burns quickly) you want it golden brown.  Take out of the oven and turn the bread over and return to the broiler for another 1 1/2  minutes or so until the other side is done.

Take out of the oven and using an oven mitt to hold each piece, rub one side the bread with the garlic cloves.  Rub a lot around the edges.....the garlic really catches along the edges. You can serve immediately or put back into the warm oven (broiler off) to keep for a few minutes.

**Variation:  to save some time you can cut the baguette lenthwise, and just paint the one side with olive oil and broil on one side only.  Cut into individual pieces and serve.

Roasted Garlic

For a long time, when I was experiencing the low-grade nausea that I refered to in my second post, I couldn't eat garlic, or any spice for that matter.  The smell made me sick, and by the time the meal was ready I couldn't eat it.  But with my improving health that symptom has disappeared....don't know why it was there in the first place...but all I know is that it is gone!  We had dinner one night at Mandy's and she cooked a dish with cauliflower and I got very sick.  This is the only vegetable that I haven't introduced back into my diet...just looking at it in the store reminds me of that night. Sorry Mandy, not your fault.

Garlic is something that I would buy once in awhile when we were having company and a recipe would call for it.  But other than that I would substitute garlic powder or that awful tasteless stuff in a jar that is chopped up and soaking in oil. In the grocery store I would see large bags of garlic and would wonder who would buy that much garlic....the one little clove that I bought would go bad before I finished using it.  Now I buy 3-4 cloves a week!  I love the smell of it cooking, the aroma fills the whole house.

Roasting garlic is absolutely new to me.  The flavor when it is done, is very mild, and not at all like the raw garlic taste that I was used to. If you haven't tried this, please give it a chance.  I am roasting most of my vegetables now and garlic is always a part of the process.  This recipes can be used to mix with vegetables, stirred into mashed potatoes (so good) and spread on a baguette for garlic bread.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/05/how-toroast-garlic/



picture and original recipe by: http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/

Quinoa Breakfast

QUINOA HOT CEREAL WITH APPLES AND RAISINS (instead of oatmeal!)
http://www.chetday.com/quinoa.html

See the attached link on the benefits of quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa). I am focused on protein, fat content, cholesterol and fibre content, and quinoa has all these benefits and more! I love that I can have it for breakfast and it has almost 1/2 of my daily protein.  Most grocery stores carry it in the health food section and of course the health food stores will carry it for sure. The most common is the bone colored variety, but it also comes in red and black.  This recipe is for the bone color. The uses for quinoa are endless and not just for breakfast.  You can add it to soups, stews, serve as a hot side dish with veggies, or there are lots of recipes for salad variations.  Think of it instead of rice or pasta.  I make this recipe and heat in up the next day and it is just as good the 2nd and 3rd time around.  Instead of raisins you could use dates, dried apricots etc. I like it best with a drizzle of maple syrup....but it has to be real maple syrup for me.

1 cup quinoa---rinsed in a fine strainer
2 cups of water
1/2 cup of slices apples (usually 1/2 an apple)
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
any non-dairy milk of your choice
top with a little honey, agave, brown sugar, or maple syrup

-bring the quinoa and water to a boil, then turn down temp and simmer for 5 minutes
-add the apples, raisins, and cinnamon and continue to simmer until the water is absorbed (about 10 min)
-serve with the milk and sweetening of your choice, but it's really good with the maple syrup.

The amazing results!

The second day, and I repeat, the second day, my blood sugar started dropping!  Not just a little bit but by big numbers.  Non-diabetics won't understand the numbers so I won't bore you with the technical details but I was ecstatic.  The evening of day 4, I started to feel shaky, sweating, and thought I was going to faint. I was in the bedroom and called Jim (poor baby had to pause the History Channel and put down the remote).  He got my testing supplies and my blood sugar was really low.  Diabetes numbers are usually high and that is why it is necessary to take medications that will lower it.  I took a couple of glucose tablets and it still wouldn't recover, so Jim ran and got a coke and finally after an hour I was starting to recover.  The same thing happened the next night,  and over the next 10 days. One night it was so low that we considered the emergency room.  But the coke again did it's job but this time it keep going up and down before it settled into a normal range. At this point we were jubilant!  The food was working so well that the medication I was taking at dinner time was too strong!  I called the endrocrinologist the next morning and he told me to cut the medication in 1/2 and if that didn't help to discontinue the medication.  That night it happened again and I stopped taking the pill altogether. Three months have passed and I continue to have normal readings without this pill.  I have another diabetic medication that I am still taking, and will discuss this on August 12th when I see the doctor for 3 month evaluation.

Jim and I were more enthusiastic than ever to continue, and I attacked the internet with vengence seaching out food and recipe suggestions.

Shopping for day One

On day one I headed off to the grocery store, so innocent, no naive! I live in a very small town in a rural area of Florida. But we have two fairly large grocery stores so I was confident that I would be able to find everything. In the vegetable department they had a pretty good variety and just about everything I needed, but forget trying to buy organic....the organic section was about 4ft square and everything looked pitiful and wilted. Same with the health food section where I was hoping to find some of the ingredients. This area was shoved into a corner and had little variety. Substituting milk was going to be another big hurdle for me.  Next to butter, I loved milk.  So I bought a carton of Soy milk and decided to start with that flavor first.  I have since used Almond, Rice, and Hemp.....and I also discoved that you can buy these in the non-dairy section and store them on the pantry. I was also able to find some agave nectar, and a few other mystery items.  Armed with my recycling bags and all this healthy food I felt like one of the club now.

The next day after work, I headed for the local health food store.  It was dusty, lighting wasn't  very good, and the people were border line polite. I got a few things that I needed otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.  I have not gone back there since.

But several weeks later I was in Orlando on business and scheduled in a visit to Whole Foods Market.  Well!....now I know how kids feel when they enter the gates of Disney World!!  I spent two hours there and never wanted to go home.  I wanted to sleep there.  I wanted to live there. 

Shopping has continued to be a challenge, and I can't make a two hour round trip to Orlando when I need things, but I am discovering more and more options locally now that I am more educated.  The stores here sell  pre-packaged vegetables, in quantites that are way too much for just Jim and I, unless that is all we eat for 3-4 days.  I wish they had open bins of loose vegetables like they do up north. But I started to rip open their packaging and putting what we need in plastic bags, or asking the vegetable employee to repackage a smaller quantity for me.....he even cut a head of cabbage in half for me. I found some Rubbermaid storage containers specially designed to keep vegetables fresher longer and that has helped.  http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?Prod_ID=RP091261&CatName=FoodStorage

Butter

When I die and go to heaven, I will be able to eat as much butter as I like.  When we were growing up my mother's answer to any vegetable that we didn't want to eat was "put lots of butter and salt and pepper on it".  She was a good cook.....sometimes.  She didn't own one cookbook, not one!  I have a whole cupboard full of them. She would open the fridge and start cooking.  Sometimes things would turn out and sometimes not.  And we tended to have the same foods, and standard vegetables all the time, cooked the same way.  One of my new favorite vegetables is sweet potato.  We never had that once when I was growing up, and when my step-mother was visiting recently we had a discussion about vegetables and she said that she never had sweet potatos until the last few years.  Maybe it has gained only popularity recently?

Butter has gotten me into all kinds of trouble and when I started to make changes to a plant based diet I was most afraid of never having butter again. But I bought some Earth Balance http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/
and haven't looked back since.  My husband was a margarine snob and when I brought the Earth Balance home he had that scared look on his face, but he loves now too.  It has a nice light yellow color, it is great for baking, sauteing and melts beautifully on toast.  Any recipe that calls for butter you can substitute Earth Balance. Note of caution:  watch that you don't pick up Smart Balance by mistake.  They are generally beside each other on the shelf and Smart Balance is not vegan, nor does it lend itself well to substituting butter in recipes.

CAPELLINI POMODORO

CAPELLINI POMODORO

Omg I love this recipe! And I am not a pasta lover usually. I could eat this once a week, and it is so easy to make. Honest. I wouldn't label this a low-fat vegan recipe, but it is a nice treat once in awhile, and a great entertaining dish. The ingredients taste so fresh you'll never open a jar of pasta sauce again. This recipe easily makes enough for 6 people...8 people if you are serving a salad etc.  I usually 1/2 this recipe when just making for hubby and I, then we have leftovers the next night.

-1 pkg of Capellini Pomodoro pasta (or angel hair....capellini is the size between regular spaghetti and angel hair)
-6-8 medium tomatoes chopped
-10 fresh basil leaves (thank goodness I started to grow my own...another post)
-2 to 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
-3 to 4 Tablespoons of olive oil
-fresh ground sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1. cook pasta (look at carton...I can't remember how long). Drain and return to the pan
2. cut tomatoes in 1/2 and scrape out the seeds.  Then chop them into smallish pieces
3. Lay basil leaves on top of each other, roll them up like a cigar, then slices them really thin
4. toss the tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil together
5. add the tomato mixture to pasta and gently toss while on a med-high heat to reheat everything.
6. serve immediately with a little vegan Parmesan cheese, and Awesome Garlic Bread

The First Few Weeks

When we arrived back to Florida I was ready for the plunge.  I was sick of feeling sick, tired of being tired, scared of all the medications I was taking (they wouldn't even fit into one of those pill organizing boxes) and tired of doctors.  Before we left on vacation I had met with my endocrinologist for my regular 3 month check up.  I had horrible blood test results, and he warned me that I had to do something.  And.....he gave me an additional  prescription for my diabetes.  While he was writing on my chart,  I mentioned a vegan diet and asked him if it was safe for me to try, and did it produce good results?  In a very off-handed manner he said "most people find it hard to follow."  That was it.  See you in three months.

We arrived home on a Saturday and on Sunday I cleaned out our pantry....threw out everything vegan offensive.  The fridge was already empty from our vacation, but I rummaged through the freezer and when Jim wasn't looking threw out all the meat (expect his frozen meatballs for his pasta). He grabbed his ice cream and held it protectively, and I agreed he could keep it....ice cream doesn't tempt me. While I had my head stuck in the freezer I was amazed at the things that I found it there!  I don't know how we got it all crammed in there.  I threw out hot dog buns that had been there since the Vietnam war.

With pantry and fridge gutted I headed to the grocery store with a shopping list clutched in my hand of things derived from recipes that I found in Dr. Barnard's book, and from the Internet.

The saga will continue but here is a recipe that Jim and I both love...Campanelli Pomadore

High-Protein Oat Waffles

High-Protein Oat Waffles

The ingredients in this recipes may try and scare you away, but they are delicious.  You just have to remember to soak the beans overnight, other than that they are really easy. Some of the grandchildren are visiting soon and I am going to give these a blind test and see what their reaction is.  Chock full of goodness and low glycemic ingredients.

1/2 cup dried cannellini, white kidney, or Great Northern beans  SOAKED OVERNIGHT.  I put them into a 2 cup measuring cup and fill with water then stick them in the fridge.  Cover them with lots of water because they expand quite a bit.

Assemble all the ingredients near your blender and turn on your waffle maker to heat up. These babies also take longer to cook than normal waffles so the hungry urchins at the table will have to be patient.



2 1/4 cups of water
2 tablespoons of sugar or 1 tablespoon of agave nectar
1 3/4 cup old fashioned oats (not the quick ones)
3/4 tablespoon whole flax seed
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon of salt.

1. drain the beans and place them into the blender along with all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth and light and foamy.

2. At this stage it depends on the size of your waffle maker.  I have one that is a round belgium maker and it makes one 7"waffle and for this one I pour about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the mix on the waffle maker.  I another maker that makes 4 of the 4"waffles, and this one I pour about 2 cups.
3. Cook for about 8 minutes resisting the urge to lift the lid and check on them.  At about 7 minutes take a peak and if the lid is easy to life fork test and make sure they are crispy.  If not close the lid and continue for another minute or so.
4. briefly blend the mixture again in your blender for the second batch.
5. I freeze the leftovers and pop them into the toaster on another morning during the week for a fast breakfast.

The road trip home

One day on our vacation up north we were visiting our youngest daughter Mandy.  During conversation I mentioned that Kelley was dipping her toe into the vegan world of eating.  Instead of scorn, she said "I'd like to do that.... but I could never stick with it."  Her opinion mattered to me because both she and her husband eat in a healthy way, have a vegetable garden every summer, can their own tomato sauce, and eat a varied menu. I remember thinking that she seemed to be knowledgeable on the subject (which most people are not)and if she thinks it's hard then what chance do I have?  We talked about a vegetarian diet and once again it comforted me that I could probably work with that.  My daughter-in-law Cindy was encouraging and supportive and felt that anything to improve my health would be the good road to take. Our other daughter-in-law Michele said, "don't you have to be careful about how much soy you eat?  Doesn't it cause breast cancer?"  I remember thinking I don't know anything about soy.....is that the cornerstone of a vegan diet?  Having no answer for her I knew I was in over my head. All these girls are young and and the young tend to be informed about these trends and I felt conflicted.   This was sounding more and more complicated. Other meals I cooked for Kelley tended to be the obvious selections that we all cook....spaghetti without the meat in the sauce etc....and for heaven's sake, what about Parmesan cheese?  What is pasta without the cheese? But I knew it was going to be more complicated than just veganizing my old standard recipes. 

We loaded up the car with Gracie and headed back on the road.  I always spend the first hour crying when we  leave the kids. We have gotten into a routine: lots of tissues,  Jim pats my hand while he drives not saying a word, and you can usually set the clock for 60 minutes. 

Before we left I downloaded a book onto my Kindle by Dr. Neal Barnard  http://www.nealbarnard.org/diabetes
This book grabbed me from the beginning.  I read it all the way home, and every chapter there was something that I was reading out loud ....something important that I knew hubby would need to hear! "Oh that makes so much sense doesn't it?" He would nod in that universal way that all men have....look right at me, nod, and have no idea what i just said to him.
While I continue to blab away here about ME, here is another favorite recipe I discovered
High-Protein Oat Waffles

The menu experimenting started....

While up north I started to experiment with a plant based diet.  I agreed to cook for my daughter in a vegan way, but I had convinced myself that the whole thing was not for me.  But looking back I realize that like most people who hear the word Vegan they think of food deprivation, and that's exactly what I was thinking.  I told myself that I could be a vegetarian....maybe.  A lot of vegetarians eat dairy and fish, so I consoled myself that when our vacation was over and I returned home, I would investigate that.  My daughter was also new with the subject and had only purchased one book, and this author was a really hard core vegan nut job. She tossed the book at me and pointed at the kitchen! I started to read it and browse through the recipes and to tell you the truth I was really confused.  There were a lot of ingredients that I had never heard of before but the pictures looked great! Tofu, brown rice syrup, tahini, agave necter, garbonzo beans, every other bean you can think of, quinoa, wheat berries, mochi, shoyu, tamari, vegenaise, veggie cheese, seitan, tempeh,and on and on it went.  I closed the book and never looked at it again during that trip (but I did ultimately get it from the library a month later when I became more acclimated with the changes).

I wracked my brain for familiar recipes that I could adapt without the meat and dairy.  The first night I made what I now call  Food Court Stir Fry. The food courts at the malls usually have a Japanese chain that does a stir fry with chicken.  I duplicated it without the chicken.  Everyone asked for seconds!

FOOD COURT STIR FRY

This is one of my favorite dishes adapted from the Japanese chains in the food courts found everywhere.  Using left over rice made the night before works best but if you don't have any around, cook the rice and let it sit with the lid on the pot for 15-20 minutes before you start the stir fry to allow the rice to dry out a bit. This dish cannot be made ahead of time because the vegetables get limp and mushy if they sit too long. So it should be served immediately....have everyone assembled and ready to sit. The sweet taste of the teryaki sauce makes it a hit with the younger kids. This makes enough for two people so adjust your ingredients to suit. If you don't have a food processor just slice and dice by hand.

-4 to 6 servings of brown or white rice ( if you want extra for something else)

-1/4 head of cabbage sliced thin

-2 carrots shredded
-handful of broccoli chopped small

-handful of sliced mushrooms per serving

-couple handfuls of bean sprouts

-2 T of chopped green onions

-sesame oil (you can use canola but the sesame really adds the nice Asian flavor)

-bottled teriyaki sauce

1. prepare rice if needed (see note above). I always make extra for another recipe the next night

2. using the thin slicing blade of your food processor, slice cabbage

3. change blades to the shredder and put the carrots through

4. spray a non-stick saute pan with vegetable spray and saute the mushrooms and broccoli until tender.  Don't over cook.
5. Heat a wok on medium-high (or large frying pan) and add about 2 tsp of sesame oil.  When really hot add the cabbage mixture and stri- fry quickly for about 1-2 minutes.  Throw in the bean sprouts and stir fry for another minute.  Add the mushroom and broccoli mix and stir quickly to reheat.
6. Put some rice on a plate and make a well in the middle.  Add some of the vegetable mix and sprinkle with some green onions, and put a few tsp of the teriyaki sauce on top or to taste.

Not just a vegan rookie, but also a blogging rookie

When I started experimenting with eating a vegan diet, I was lost. Completely lost....

I have raised six children and now have eight grandchildren, so I have cooked for a long time and have always enjoyed it. Before we continue.....my husband and I had our children when we were very young, so I am a very young grandmother of eight! Now, I will admit that I didn't enjoy going to work all day then coming home tired and cooking for eight people every night. I had a minimum of 2-3 voices at the table objecting to what I was serving. But not my husband! He is my biggest fan, (in and out of the kitchen) and he is my favorite person to cook for. He will try anything and he also loves leftovers. What a guy. But I have always loved cooking on the weekends and for holidays. The miles separate me from my children right now, but it is fun visiting them and renewing their enthusiasm for things they remember eating while they grew up. Our middle child Christian, lives in West Texas and one of his favorites meals is roast beef and gravy with Yorkshire pudding. I will still make that for him, but now I will make additional items that will be vegan for myself.

But over the past few years mounting health issues have caused me to stop..... close my eyes.... slowly turn around.... and think about my options. I have type 2 diabetes, arthritis in both hips, high blood pressure, elevated heart rate, bad cholesterol, high triglycerides, constant low grade nausea, fatigue, sleep apnea and long term insomnia. Whew! I have never looked at all of that in one paragraph before....makes me want to shoot myself...or wonder why someone else didn't do it for me. All of these issues were being handled by three different doctors, and close to $1200/month in medications and blood sugar testing supplies. One doctor would treat one or two of these medical problems and another doctor would deal with another. The medications would work and then not work so well, so they would either add another one or change the medication. This has gone around in circles for years.

Our youngest son Daniel, who lives in San Francisco, had suggested a few times that I try a raw or vegan diet. I would politely listen....but yikes aren't vegans those crazy people? So I continued on with trying to cook low-fat and count my carbohydrates which all the diabetic classes will advise. Then our daughter Kelley, gave me a book to read titled "Skinny Bitch" http://www.skinnybitch.net/ . It is so funny! I laughed until I got about 1/2 way through the book and realized they were talking about becoming a vegan! Then I stopped reading. Becoming a vegan was too hard and too restrictive so there was no point in finishing the book. Right?

My long suffering husband Jim, has been endlessly patient with all the problems that I have had and not only patient but supportive in various efforts that I have tired to correct them. We had a golden retriever Maggie, (who was my soul) and before her death in 2006, was a good source of exercise......except that she had hip dysplasia and arthritis in her hips too! What a pair we became. As she aged and the pain got worse she was reluctant to walk very far or very fast. After she died we had some long and short term plans that really didn't include getting a new dog, but I only lasted 6 months and started to brow-beat long suffering Jim into getting a new puppy. The house was too empty and needed a dog. We picked up Gracie just before Christmas in 2007 and what a handful! After having an aging and arthritic dog for so many years, this puppy blew into our lives like a tornado! Walk? She can't wait! Even after walking her for an hour she hasn't even started to pant yet. So Jim walks her for 45-60 minutes in the morning and I take the evening shift. Then last spring the arthritis in my hips started to get worse, and Jim would take the occastional evening shift also.

I tell you all this about Gracie because I was growing despondent about my mounting health problems and now I couldn't even enjoy walking my dog. The doctor took Xrays of my hips and diagnosed what we already knew, that I have arthrisis and she wanted me to go and see an orthopedic surgeon. I came home from the doctor and instead of the usual humor that my husband and I discuss my failing body, we were both defeated. Othopedic surgeons mean an MRI and probably another medication, and maybe hip replacement surgery down the road. We were leaving in a few days to visit some of our children, so we decided to worry about in when we returned.

So we packed up Gracie and away we went . Over the years our options for free housing when we visit the kids has dwindled, due to expanding families of their own, and reluctance to have Gracie as part of the deal. For some of our visit we usually stay with our daughter Kelley, because they have the room for us, and they are mildly tolerant about having a shedding slobbering golden retriever in their house. In return, I usually take over the kitchen and give them a vacation from the cooking. But for about a month Kelley had been flirting with a vegan diet......there is that horrible word again! VEGAN. She was excited about our up coming visit so I could experiment with some recipes that she had found. Get this.....She wanted me to cook without beef, chicken, pork, fish, milk, cheese, eggs? You've got to be kidding me! What was I supposed to cook?

What to say when you don't know where to start?

Gracie

I suppose the place to start and to be totally indulgent is to talk about ME. My granddaughter Christa, when she was little used to say "it's all about ME grandma!"  I decided to write this blog mainly as a diary to myself. This may ultimately remain private between Gracie ( my four-legged best friend) and me. Everyone says that a journal is good for you and grounds you, and I don't know where these pages will take me, but I feel a strong need to record where I have been, where I am now and where I want to end up.....food wise...and my journey along the way to becoming a vegan/vegetarian.

Read it if you want, but remember I am not a nutritionist, I have absolutely no professional knowledge. All I am doing is posting my little voyage and some of my favorite recipes so far and new ones as I discover them. The next post will give some background on my medical conditions and the amazing results that I have seen, in a very short period of time.