Healthy Girl's Kitchen

The Proof is in the Nutritarian Pudding

2012-02-15T21:28:00.000-05:00

Nope, there's no yummy recipe here for pudding. Rather, a letter I received from an HGK reader that provides me with a whole lot of good feelings. I wanted to share it with all of you.

"Hi Wendy,
Just wanted to thank you for an awesome, awesome blog. At this point, I don't even remember how I came to find your blog -- the most important part is that I did!

I read 'Eat To Live' back in October, a few months ago. I have high cholesterol (even though I'm 29) and have for most of my life. I hover around a 25 BMI, so I'm not overweight, and at 5'9" I carry it all pretty well. After reading E2L, I starting planning for January when I was going to begin the 6-week aggressive program. So, it was around this time, I started looking for resources, recipes, etc. I found your blog and started reading the backlog of posts, and joined the Yahoo! group for E2L. I used these few months to get prepared, finding recipes or ideas that would work for me.

Finally, on January 3rd, I started the 6-week program. I had gone for blood work the week before. On Saturday, February 11th, I went back for my 40-day blood work and got the results today. I am ecstatic!

December 28, 2011:
Total Cholesterol - 233
LDL - 149
Triglycerides - 184

February 11, 2012 (after 40 days of Eating to Live):
Total Cholesterol - 159
LDL - 105
Triglycerides - 43

I am also down about 15lbs. in 40 days, too! (with my BMI now below 23) What an added bonus to this healthful way of living!

I just wanted to say thank you for the ideas, the motivation, and the support -- even though you didn't even know I was reading. You are inspirational! I look forward to your blog every day!

Take care,
nicole"

There you have it. The power of real, good food. It's stories like this that keep me inspired to keep eating this way and to keep blogging about it. Thank YOU for sharing Nicole!

Versatile Mexican Slaw

2012-02-15T06:59:00.001-05:00

You guys totally rock! Your advice to HGK reader-in-need in my last post just totally blew my mind.

Thank you.

Today I want to talk about something less serious, or not: cabbage.

Cabbage is ridiculously good for you. Dr. Fuhrman writes in Super Immunity, "Cruciferous vegetables are not only the most powerful anticancer foods in existence; they are also the most micronutrient-dense of all vegetables."

You can find out all about the health benefits of cabbage here and here. Cabbage is probably something, in one variety or another, that should be in your shopping cart every single week.

We get the maximum benefit from eating cruciferous vegetables raw. But that's not always palatable to some people. Raw broccoli, raw Brussels Sprouts, raw kohlrabi? But cabbage, most of us are used to eating that raw in a slaw. Phew!

Mexican Slaw

serves 4-6

Print me!

6 cups shredded cabbage-all one variety or multiple types, such as green, red, and/or savoy

1/2 cup rough chopped cilantro

Dressing:

¼ plus 1/8 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 1 hour and then drained

2 Tbsp lime juice

½ Tbsp chipotle chili in adobo sauce

1 Tbsp minced fresh jalapeno pepper

1 clove garlic

1 tsp maple syrup

½ tsp salt

dash of pepper

Place all dressing ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour over shredded cabbage and cilantro and stir to combine.

Optional add-ins: Pepitas (pumpkin seeds), shredded carrots, scallions

This slaw is delicious as a side dish for any Mexican meal. But there are lots of ways to incorporate a slaw into a dish. One thing that I really find tasty is a wrap sandwich with slaw as one of the major ingredients.

In these wraps, I used the following components:

steamed tempeh (2 8-ounce packages cut into large strips and steamed for 5 minutes) that I mashed and then mixed with green enchilada sauce (1 15-ounce can)
a homemade roasted vegetable spread with Mexican seasoning (optional)
Mexican Slaw (above)
whole wheat lavash (the wraps)

Do you make cabbage a regular part of your diet? What is your favorite way to eat cabbage?

"Too Busy to Prepare Homemade Healthy Food" Needs Advice. Let's Help.

2012-02-13T07:14:00.003-05:00

Good morning! I hope you all had a restful and fun weekend. I spend a lot of my weekend thinking (while I was cooking, of course!) about this e-mail that I received a few days ago from an HGK reader:

"Just checking back in for a little advice. I wrote you a few weeks ago. I was so enthused and have been eating all plant based food. Unfortunately, a lot of frozen Amy meals, and Whole food stuff that is prepared. So, I am gaining weight. Yikes!! I am bummed.

I was hoping I could just get 'quick' stuff that I could grab on the run that was plant-based. Well, I see this isn't going to be a quick fix. I really was hoping for quick foods that won't stress me out with constant chopping, and time in the kitchen.

Does the weight loss only come if you are following a plan and counting portion sizes of grains and starchy vegetables? Probably no pre-packaged tofu dishes from Whole Foods, right?

I didn't want to have to put even more time into it with cooking AND planning out portion sizes, etc. I am sure it is the increased carbs that are doing it. Easy to grab a Cliff bar or Luna bar for a snack in the afternoon or breakfast on the run. But, lots of carbs. Eating big chunks of raw veggies on the run is not remotely appealing. Ugh. Are there any easy, low maintenance ways to get all I need on the run without all the fat and carbs?

I could use some motivation. I was so excited. But now it's even more work with my husband wanting me to make sure he has something for almost every meal. And he isn't satisfied with just veggies and rice. I almost don't want him to eat all plant-based with me and go back to normal easy to prepare food for the kids. But, he wants to eat healthy, too.

I need a chef. ;0) Is it worth it to find a nutritionist? Are the plant-based ones hard to find? If you have a moment, I would love to hear your comments. It sounds like you have been at this awhile with your family."

Here's some more pertinent information about this reader:
She has three children, all of which she home schools. They are age 8, 11 and 14. The reader is never home alone to do quiet meal preparation. About 6-10 hours per week are spent carpooling her kids.

Weekends are very busy with picking up [the house], running errands for school projects, sports events, church, and visiting family every Sunday. Sometimes she goes to the gym with her husband on Saturday morning, or a bike ride with her family. She occasionally gets together with friends, goes to a movie, or shopping. She also runs to the grocery store a few times a week.

What's my advice? Priorities and Healthy Fear

First, the issue of counting or measuring food. I do not count or measure anything on this plan, but I do avoid a long list of foods. Foods like Cliff Bars are on my "do not eat list." I have this expression, "Just because it's vegan doesn't mean it's healthy." I learned how to properly read a nutrition label on packaged foods in the book The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn. That was a game changer for me. I saw that almost nothing in a package can be considered healthy. You can read more on that here.

Shopping at Whole Foods is a wonderful thing, but you do need to have a healthy level of skepticism when you go there. Most of what is being sold at Whole Foods is not on this plan. Stick to vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans and legumes most of the time. Tofu, tempeh and seitan are fine, but not every day. For me, about once a week with those products is enough. I stick with huge salads, large bowls of soup, oatmeal for breakfast, green smoothies when I am in the mood, and other vegan dishes that are carefully prepared according to plan.

I make all of our salad dressings from scratch. I only do this once a week. It's fast, easy and much healthier and cheaper than bottled salad dressings. I prepare large volumes of salad at one time so that I don't have to do that every day. I cook a huge pot of soup on the weekend and we eat it throughout the week and freeze some too. Same goes for other cooked vegan food. I have developed a ton of strategies, to lessen my time in the kitchen. I too am never at home without one child or another needing my attention. So it actually takes me twice as long to prepare anything as someone without small children. But I never let that stop me from getting healthy food prepared.

I get the feeling that your children's education is one of the highest priorities in your life. That is a beautiful and commendable thing. But what about their health and the health of you and your husband? How important is it to you that your family lives long and healthy lives? In my mind, that is at least equally as important as your children's education (I happen to take this stuff very seriously). In fact, I would like to propose that teaching your children about truly healthy food and the preparation of it on a day to day basis is more important than almost any traditional school subject.

Would it be possible to weave this into their education? Do you get to chose the books that they read? Could you and your oldest children read Eat to Live by Dr. Fuhrman? Or Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn? Your 8 year old might be able to read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

How about engaging your children in the actual food preparation once they have a basic understanding of the importance of avoiding all processed food? Again, is there a way to make it part of their curriculum? Could the kids be responsible for more household chores while you cook? Could your older two do their own laundry and pick-up the house? You are going to have to get creative!

You don't need a nutritionist. But what I think you need is a healthy fear of the future. Read everything you can about plant based nutrition. Make it one of the highest priorities in your life. You will never regret it.

You don't have to do it all at once. Let go of perfection, it is the enemy of the good. Just start by doing one good thing for the health of your family every day. You'll be surprised where that takes you.

I could go on and on, but I have to start making my kid's lunches! HGK reader, I know you can do this! Give it time to become a normal part of your life and NEVER EVER give up.

What's your advice?

Tofu Express Review and Roasted Tofu Explanation

2012-02-08T21:29:00.000-05:00

FULL DISCLOSURE: I contacted TofuXpress and asked for a free gizmo to test and review. I have wanted one of these for a while. Not that I use tofu all of the time, but when I do, it really bugs me to waste all of those paper towels trying to press the water out.

Am I happy that I did that. This small piece of kitchen equipment solves not only the wasted paper towel problem, the amount of water that you can press out of the tofu is dramatically increased, greatly influencing the flavor of the final product. The more water out, the more marinade in!

These things are not cheap. But at $39.95 each, considering that they are a small, independent company designing and marketing them (as opposed to a company like Kitchen Aid or Cuisinart), I believe it's a fair price. You won't regret this purchase if you like properly prepared tofu.

Lately I've been into this Organic Sprouted Tofu from Trader Joe's. I have no idea if it's healthier than regular tofu, do you?

I press my firm or extra firm tofu, cut it into cubes, marinate it for a few hours or overnight and then bake it at 400 degrees for between 20 and 40 minutes.

Before baking.

After baking-the texture is perfect. Nothing like you would expect when you hear the word "tofu!" A little crunchy, a little chewy and full of flavor.

Want your own TofuXpress? click here.

What's your favorite way to prepare tofu? Have you gone from a tofu hater to a tofu connoisseur?

Roasted Pears with Banana Soft Serve-A Truly Healthy Dessert

2012-02-07T07:08:00.001-05:00

Very interesting discussion going on in my last post about giving unsolicited nutritional advice to our friends and family that are suffering from food born illnesses. The consensus is: don't do it. Better to have them come to us than risk that our concern be taken the wrong way or push people away. Lead by example, but it's easier said than done!

Here's an example of a plant strong dessert that probably will leave them asking for more healthy options. It's really an idea, not so much a recipe, because it's that simple. Thank you to Lindsay Bruner, the Whole Foods Healthy Eating Specialist from Kentucky, who suggested serving the roasted pears with banana soft serve.

(1) Roast pears at 400 degrees. I recommend spraying the bottom of your cookie sheet with canola oil spray and also lightly dusting the tops of the pears with spray too. You can season the pears with cinnamon, but you don't have to.

(2) Keep an eye on the pears and when they look carmelized and soft, they're done. About 40 minutes.

(3) Serve as is, or with frozen banana soft serve. Place chunks of frozen bananas along with a splash of alternative milk of your choice in a high powered blender or food processor and blend, scraping down sides and tamping mixture down as necessary, until mixture resembles soft serve ice cream. Serve immediately.

before roasting

after roasting

Wow even your biggest skeptics.

Dessert doesn't get any simpler than this.

Enjoy!

Best of Super Bowl 2012: Saag Dip

2012-02-05T16:27:00.001-05:00

I love it when I make a new recipe and I just know that it is going to become a favorite. That's what happened this morning as I was testing and preparing things for a Super Bowl party this evening at my next-door-neighbor's house. I picked out four recipes last week that I figured I could whip up in a few hours (I totally underestimated and I ended up being in the kitchen for most of the day). Three that I had never tried before, and one that was a complete winner from last year's Plant-strong Super Bowl Party.

I have mentioned many times here on HGK that I absolutely adore Indian food. So it really is no surprise that I think this dip rocks. "Saag" is one of two Indian words that I know of that means "spinach" ("palak" is the other). This spinach and avocado dip is bursting with Indian flavors, plus it has the advantage of being a very quick and simple recipe that involves no cooking. I can't wait to bring it to the party and see what everyone else thinks!

But it's not all good news. One of the dishes that I prepared, "fudgey" truffles made with black beans, dates, oatmeal, flax, chia seed, cacao, dried apricots and chocolate chips is almost too weird for me to be able to comfortably serve it to a non-Nutritarian crowd. It's staying home for the night. I'll be letting my kids eat these for breakfast.

Saag Dip

makes about 1 1/2 cups

from Vegetarian Times Magazine

Print me!

4 cups fresh spinach (7 ounces)

1 large ripe avocado

1/2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 small clove garlic

1/4 tsp curry powder

1/8 tsp minced fresh ginger (I used a microplane and eyeballed it)

dash of chili powder

dash of Cayenne pepper

dash of cumin

salt to taste

Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the "s" blade. Process until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary.

Serving suggestions: crudite, pita chips, naan or Fat Free Vegan's Colcannon Puffs.

How is/was your Super Bowl? Is it going to be/was it Plant-strong?

Have you ever made anything new and then decided not to serve it to other people?

I overheard an interesting conversation at the party last night. One of my neighbors was telling another neighbor (who happens to be a Urologist) that she is suffering terribly from kidney stones. She said it was the worst pain she had ever experienced in her entire life, far worse than giving birth. She said that the doctor who treated her said that she was eating too much sugar and too much salt (impressive) and prescribed her a medication.

The urologist did not comment at all about the dietary recommendation and said something to the tune of "Just take your medication." I kept waiting for a discussion about the benefits of a healthy diet to ensue, but got nothing. In fact, the woman who has the kidney stones brought what might have been the single most unhealthy dish I have ever laid eyes on to the pot luck (something about a slab of cream cheese, chicken from a can, and blue cheese?). Of course I wanted to say something, but it would have come out all wrong. It pains me to see people suffering from food borne illness who do not know the power of nutritional excellence.

What would you have done?

Grasshopper Vegan Overnight Oats and the Premiere of Fat Chef on The Food Network

2012-02-02T15:33:00.005-05:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I rediscovered the Chia Seed and along with it, the Internet recipe sensation Vegan Overnight Oats. With the help and guidance of my new friend Lani Muelrath, I quickly saw that Vegan Overnight Oats cannot become an everyday breakfast option for me (too high in calories) but as a treat on the weekend, maybe even lunch on Saturday, well, they're perfect!

This version combines my some of my all time favorite flavors--mint and chocolate--with the creamy, chewy taste sensation that is VOO. Plus, with the addition of 1 cup of frozen spinach, we can get more greens in our bodies. It's a win-win situation!

Grasshopper Vegan Overnight Oats
serves 1

Print me!

layer A:

1/3 cup regular oats (not steel cut)

1 Tbsp chia seeds

<1 cup alternative milk, like almond or soy

1/2 scoop Amazing Grass Green Superfood Chocolate Drink Powder or 1/2 Tbsp raw cacao

1 tsp maple syrup

1/8 tsp peppermint extract

layer B:

1 large frozen banana or 1 1/2 small frozen bananas

1 cup frozen spinach

splash of alternative milk

1/8 tsp peppermint extract

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients for layer A and refrigerate overnight or for 1 hour.

In the morning, prepare layer B by placing all of the ingredients into the canister of a high speed blender or the bowl of a food processor fitted with the S blade. If using the blender, blend the ingredients and tamp them down until the mixture is even and creamy. (This takes a few minutes as the spinach is more difficult to blend than banana alone.) If using a food processor, process and stop to scrape down the sides often until the mixture is even and creamy.

Layer the overnight oats mixture with the banana soft serve and eat immediately.

Did anyone catch the premiere of Fat Chef on The Food Network?

Ironically, the first episode took place in Cleveland, OH (where I live). In my opinion, it was pretty painful to watch. First, my heart was bleeding for the two "contestants" who were totally out of control with their diets. Fried food, fast food, candy and cookies, day in and day out. The male chef, Rocco Whalen, owner of Farenheit Restaurant, was consuming 8000 calories per day. The female, Kimberly McCune Gibson, 5000. Of pure garbage.

But the worst was the diet recommendations that the trainer on the show gave them. IMHO, they were totally unsustainable in the long run and only set people up for ultimate failure at keeping weight off. And it's not just about the two chefs on the show, it's about all of the thousands of people watching the show and hoping to discover the key to being healthy.

What were the weight loss recommendations on Fat Chef? Eat small meals of lean (ie animal) protein and vegetables every four hours. Oh, that, and exercise ridiculous amounts every week, which is totally unsustainable in real life (like when the cameras stop following you 12 weeks later).

Sure, a person being followed by cameras can stick to this plan for 12 weeks, and they would pretty much guarantee a major weight loss, but WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THEIR LIVES? Do the producers of the show even care?

No mention of high volumes of low calorie plant foods like salads, smoothies (not talking about the fruit laden ones here, just the truly green ones), soups, sauteed greens, beans or whole grains. Just some pork and steamed cauliflower with a side of celery sticks.

In Rocco's own words, "Thanksgiving sucked," he says bluntly, "but it put me to the test at the hardest time of year. And the carefree side of things, carefree in eating whatever I like. I miss that, too. Being able to eat a poached pear with softly melting blue cheese over it, topped with a port wine drizzle, and being able to enjoy some whenever I wanted to . . . "

That is no way to live!

Thanksgiving shouldn't "suck!" Come to my house for a plant based, no-oil Thanksgiving!

You don't need to be hungry all of the time in order to lose weight. You don't need to punish your body with exercise.

It's unsustainable (Rocco says he's now working out two hours a day. Holy sh!#.). Why is the real knowledge about these issues being kept from people?

And what about the customers that these two unhealthy chefs serve their disease promoting food to day in and day out? Are they changing their menus as a result of this intervention? Do they see food in a different way? If they did, they would certainly want to share that knowledge with their customers. Outrageously delicious, healthy, low calorie food does not have to come in small packages, but I don't think that either of the chefs learned that from their experience on the show.

I'd like to follow up with these two chefs and see how they are doing maintaining their weight loss after the taping was over. Oh, I live in Cleveland, I guess I can hunt them down!

Are Salads a Big Part of Your Life? and a Roasted Kabocha Squash, Dried Fig and Walnut Salad

2012-01-31T17:30:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago I wrote a guest blog post for The Daily Beet, which is The Engine 2 Diet's blog. I wanted to repost that content right here on HGK, because the thoughts I expressed in it are so important to this lifestyle, to maintaining a healthy weight and to having a strong immune system. So it's ironic that as I type this, I am suffering from a cold.. But sickness for me is so rare these days, and even the viruses that I contract don't take me down like they used to. Perhaps it's the salads?

I make an effort to eat at least one huge salad just about every day. Besides finding them delicious (and you will too if you know how to make a kick arse salad!), they provide an endless variety of low calorie, high volume food for me to enjoy. Since I have never eaten like a bird, it is very important for me to eat “volumetrically.” Like Doug Lisle says, eat your raw veggies first (the salad!), your cooked veggies next, and then your whole grains third. It’s almost impossible to over consume calories that way!

A salad can be a feast. A meal. Dinner. Not just a side dish or an appetizer or, heaven forbid, a garnish. Unfortunately, for many, the word salad conjures up visions of limp lettuce on a plate with nothing but a slice of tomato, a slice of cucumber and a white goopy dressing. And given what is typically served as a salad in a restaurant, I can hardly blame them!

Salads can be extremely quick to prepare and relatively economical. They can become one of your favorite meals, if you learn the basics of building a nutrient dense salad.

There are 4 major components to building a meal sized salad. You cannot mess this up. Use whatever you like or whatever you want to experiment with. It’s all good! The four components are: the greens, the other vegetables and fresh fruit, the beans, and the dressing.

The Greens

Romaine lettuce, green and red leaf lettuces, butter lettuce, spinach, arugula, spring mix or bibb lettuce. Choose one or a mix of two. This is the largest component of the salad, so fill the bowl at least ¾ full of raw leafy greens.

The Other Veggies/Fruit/Herbs

Raw or cooked, throw handfuls of them on top of the greens. Raw vegetables include, but are not limited to shredded green or red cabbage, mushrooms, scallions, red onion, carrots, tomato, radishes, chopped cauliflower, broccoli, finely chopped kale, celery, cucumber, hearts of palm and bean sprouts. Whatever you like!

Cooked and roasted vegetables of all varieties are also wonderful in salads. You can prepare them especially for use in your salad or just use up whatever happens to be in your refrigerator that day! Great examples are roasted cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, beets, carrots and onions. Roasted sweet potato or butternut squash or frozen corn that has been defrosted can be tossed in. Artichoke hearts packed in water are also scrumptious.

Even fresh fruit like diced apple, diced pear, orange segments, blueberries, and strawberries and/or chopped fresh herbs can take a salad from “so-so” to “oh wow!

The Beans

Black beans, edamame, garbanzo beans (chick peas), cannellini beans, pinto beans and kidney beans are all great in salads. Beans can be purchased canned, you just need to drain and rinse them before tossing them in. If you are ambitious, you can buy dried beans and cook them yourself in larger batches. This saves mucho dinero but involves planning and time that I rarely have.

The Dressing

So many amazing no-oil salad dressing recipes are now at your fingertips. Many do include nuts or tahini, so watch out for those ingredients if you need to. My blog readers and I compiled “The Big List of No-oil Salad Dressings” a few months ago. I recommend printing that list out and inserting the pages into plastic page protectors (available at office supply stores). Maybe put them into a small binder. Keep these pages handy in your kitchen so you are never at a loss for a new and exciting dressing recipe.

Link to The Big List of No-oil Salad Dressings

A word about salad “indulgences” like dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, currants, etc), seeds and/or nuts: use these very sparingly or not at all if you would like to lose weight or have chronic disease.

Time Saving Tips

Storage
I like to wash and store a lot of lettuce at a time. I don’t buy pre-washed or cut lettuce, I think it’s treated with chemicals and it’s way to expensive. I use a Progressive Lettuce Keeper to store washed and torn lettuce and green bags to store all of my other vegetables. These newfangled storage products have worked amazingly well for me to extend the life of my vegetables.

Pre-washed baby spinach and spring mix can be purchased in large boxes–no chopping involved or storage issues, just grab and go.

Purchase pre-cut items
Every grocery store is different, but I’ll give you an example of what I picked up at a recent Trader Joe’s trip: shredded carrots, shredded green cabbage, cooked beets, cauliflower florets, and broccoli florets.

Own at least one very large salad bowl
My everyday bowl is very large ceramic bowl that I threw myself when I was a potter (another lifetime ago!). I own another humongous one for serving a crowd. These bowls can be plastic or ceramic.

My very large salad bowl holds enough salad for my husband and I for one dinner if all we are eating is salad. If a soup, stew, sauteed greens dish or casserole is also on the menu, that same salad would last us for two nights.

Salad is a great make ahead meal
Don’t dress all of your salad unless you are sure you are going to eat it. My undressed salads last for days in it’s big bowl in the refrigerator, which means you can prepare a lot of salad and not have to worry about it for days. Oftentimes I will make salad in the morning before leaving for work so that my evenings are more relaxed. Plus I’m usually extremely hungry when I walk in the door and having healthy food at the ready means that I am far more likely to make good choices.

Prepare Dressing in Advance (and a lot of it)
Consider making a double batch of no-oil salad dressing. You could store it in the refrigerator in a big canning jar and feel so hip. Use it up until it’s gone and then make another. Not only will this save you oodles of time, it will save you oodles of money on bottled dressings that don’t taste one iota as good as the dressings on The Big List of No-oil Salad Dressing.

Chop it if you Wanna
Have you ever had one of those wonderful chopped salads in a restaurant? If you don’t like the idea of doing all that chewing every day, simply take all of your salad bowl ingredients (before the dressing) and lay them onto a large cutting board. Dice and chop your heart out, scoop the salad back into the bowl and dress it. Viola! A wonderful meal sized chopped salad.

Some great salads:
Roasted Beet and Cranberry Salad
Outside In Salad
Mexican Jicama and Orange Salad
Chinese No Chicken Salad

Roasted Kabocha Squash, Dried Fig and Walnut Salad
serves 3 for dinner, 6 as a starter

Print me!

1 large head romaine lettuce or two small heads green leaf or red leaf lettuce, washed and chopped
1 large kabocha squash, roasted, cut into bite sized pieces
6 large stalks celery, cut into 1" thick slices on a diagonal
1/2 cup dried figs, sliced thin
1/4-1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
Chef Aj's house dressing (get that recipe below) or dressing of your choice

To roast your kabocha squash:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Wash the exterior of the squash and cut in half. Remove seeds. Do not remove the skin of kabocha squash, it's perfectly edible!

Cut squash into even slices (they will look like half-moons) about 1" thick. Spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray and arrange squash slices in one layer onto cookie sheets. Spray squash lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with a touch of salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes.

Let squash cool a bit and then cut into bite sized pieces. Place lettuce, roasted squash, figs and walnuts into a large salad bowl. Dress with Chef Aj's House dressing or dressing of your choice. Enjoy!

Chef Aj's House Dressing

1 Tbsp maple syrup or 2 small dates

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup tahini

1/2 cup water

6 Tbsp lemon or lime juice

1/4 cup stone ground mustard

1/4 cup low sodium Tamari or low sodium soy sauce

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

So, how often are you eating a big salad?

Do you have a favorite group of ingredients in your salad? If so, what is the combination of things that sends you to the moon?

Should we as a group create The Big List of Salad Ideas just like we created The Big List of No-oil Salad Dressings and the Big List of Green Smoothies?

Lemon Coconut Chia Seed Muffins

2012-01-30T17:50:00.001-05:00

Lately I've been really into making muffins. For one thing, I feel like they are a no-so-bad-in-the-scheme-of-things treat for my kids. They work really well in a lunch box, and I am filling up three of those every morning. And they provide a way of satisfying my sweet tooth without going overboard.

I'm a big fan of the Lemon Poppyseed muffin from way back. You know, those big over sized muffins that we thought were healthy when we were really eating the equivalent of a big hunk of birthday cake?

So when a recipe for Lemon Chia Seed muffins came to my attention while I was on vacation at the end of last year, I immediately put it on my list of must-makes. Plus I'm on a chia seed mission these days. Inspiration came in the form of this recipe from the blog Peas and Thank You (thanks Sarah for recommending them!). I have become a master at eliminating the added fat in my baked goods, so I knew I could give this one a shot.

The last remaining no-no in my baked goods is the sugar. These muffins have a scant tsp and a third of maple syrup per muffin. Not bad! I didn't have any lemon extract in the house, but no biggie! I used my trusty coconut extract instead for a more tropical effect. This one's a keeper!

Lemon Coconut Chia Seed Muffins
makes 12 muffins
adapted from this recipe from Peas and Thank You

Print me!

dry ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup barley flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chia seeds

wet ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk
1 1/2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp coconut extract
1 Tbsp lemon zest (or zest of 1 small lemon)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, place all dry ingredients and stir to combine well.

In a medium bowl, place all wet ingredients and whisk to combine well.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Fill each well of a muffin tin that has been lined with cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until slightly golden in color and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Want more muffin recipes? Check out these HGK muffin recipes:

Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Zucchini Muffins

Pumpkin Spiced Cornbread Muffins

I love muffins! What varieties am I missing? Let me know and I will make 'em!

And the Winner of The Vegan Slow Cooker is . . .

2012-01-29T20:28:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who left a comment and entered my blogger giveaway for a copy of Kathy Hester's The Vegan Slow Cooker. I've got Kathy's Carrot Cake and Zucchini Bread Oatmeal in my slow cooker right now and I can't wait for tomorrow morning.

The winner is entry number 79, Sara, who made the following comment:

"1) I use mine to cook a batch of dried beans every week. After cooking, I put it in pyrex, and then use the beans all week. Sometimes in the winter, I use it to cook a single serving of steel-cut oats (using this method:http://annkroeker.com/2008/03/25/overnight-crockp... overnight for me to eat before work. I also use mine as an "air freshener" in the kitchen, often after cooking the beans! Basically, fill your crockpot with water, baking soda, and a bit of an extract (I usually use peppermint extract), turn on low (WITHOUT the cover on), and allow it to rid your kitchen of cooking smells.

2) I'm pretty confident in modification, but not so much in developing my own recipes. Creating my own recipes is something I'd like to work more on. I always stir-fry with vegetable ~~oil~~ broth, and always add tons more veggies (e.g. an entire pound of greens to a big pot of soup) than recipes call for. I'm much more confident tweaking some types of recipes (such as soups and stir-fry) than others, such as casseroles, and other baked dishes. A lot of vegan baked dishes use nutritional yeast - which contains MSG, which I'm allergic to - so I always have to modify those recipes. What I normally do is follow the recipe as closely as I can given the ingredients I have on hand or am willing to purchase (I don't usually buy things that I can never see myself ever using up), because I'm always curious to know the taste that the author intended. After that trial, I modify it to fit my preferences. Regardless of the author's intent, I always up the veggie content"

So Sara, please e-mail me at healthygirlskitchen@gmail.com to claim your prize!

Have an excellent week everybody. Back tomorrow with another muffin recipe to go with all of these soups and stews we're all making.

The Vegan Slow Cooker: Review and Blogger Giveaway!

2012-01-25T19:23:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I contacted cookbook author Kathy Hester and asked her for a review copy of her new book The Vegan Slow Cooker. I was very intrigued at the concept of this book and even purchased it as a birthday present for a Vegan friend a few months ago. I mean, who doesn't want delicious meals that magically appear at the end of a long day?

Kathy also has a very active blog, Healthy Slow Cooking, with loads of slow cooker recipes. She graciously agreed to do a blogger giveaway of The Vegan Slow Cooker, so make sure you enter by leaving a comment on this post. Thank you Kathy!

Little did I know that Kathy uses the slow cooker for far more than soups and stews. Oatmeal, seitan, bread, sandwich fillings, sauces, and on and on. Kathy is one very creative slow cooking chef!

Once receiving the book, I quickly set out to test a few recipes. Her Soy Chorizo Black Bean Stew was absolutely delicious, with my addition of a head of Swiss chard at the end to get some greens in. And her Chick'n Mushroom Casserole was the thing that finally got me to make homemade seitan. Although I opted for a quicker method than the one she outlines in the book, I used my seitan in Kathy's casserole recipe and the results were outstanding. Total comfort food.

Kathy even got me back to eating oatmeal in the morning. Just hearing that you could make oatmeal in a crock pot was intriguing to me, and I followed Debby's, The Healthy Librarian's, recipe for "Heart-saving" Chocolate Oatmeal. Next on my list? A modified version of Kathy's Carrot Cake and Zucchini Bread Oatmeal.

But a word of caution about this cookbook. I'm not sure anyone would be able to lose weight eating these recipes (look, the book doesn't say anything about being low calorie, it just promises deliciousness and it does deliver). They are, as Chef Aj likes to say, rather "plant indulgent." Do you need to make a meal that is going to wow the Vegan skeptics in your life? This is the book to turn to. Fun, creative, delicious slow cooked Vegan fare is Kathy's specialty. But as a daily source of low calorie, high volume food? Not so much. To be totally fair, the book never promises to be low calorie/high volume. That's just our schtick!

But that's no different than the vast majority of Vegan cookbooks on bookstore shelves right now. So I hope you are becoming good at modifying recipes to make them far more Nutritarian. I think I have become a master at this, so The Vegan Slow Cooker will have a prominent spot on my bookshelf for years to come. It serves as wonderful inspiration for some really Plant-strong food I hope to slow cook up this winter.

Thanks again Kathy!

Would you like to win a copy of The Vegan Slow Cooker? Just leave a comment here answering the following questions:

(1) What's your slow cooker story? Do you own one, does it sit on your shelf or do you use it frequently? Do you want to use it more?

(2) How comfortable are you at modifying recipes to make a non-Nutritarian Vegan recipe into a keeper? Do you automatically eliminate the oil and up the vegetable content? Or are you less confident in your abilities as a Plant-strong cook and stick to already perfected Nutritarian recipes?

Have fun! Contest closes at midnight on Friday night, January 27, 2012. Winner will be selected at random and announced on Monday, January 30th.

Favorite Soups: Split Pea and Barley Soup and Some More

2012-01-24T21:29:00.002-05:00

As you probably know, I've been focusing on getting organized since the start of the new year. I'd say it's going swimmingly well. I'm pretty much following this 365 day organizing calendar that I found on Pinterest. I'm certainly not perfect, but even following along with the calendar in my own imperfect way, I'm decluttering, getting rid of stuff we don't use in droves and generally getting stuff organized.

Hence the new meal planning for the kids, grocery shopping and salad prep systems. And this all got me thinking, a few years ago, when I turned my life around and got really healthy for the first time in my life, I used to make a gigantic pot of soup every weekend. At least half of the soup would go into two serving (4 cup) deli containers in a big case freezer in my basement that my dear hubby bought me for the storage of all of this soup. And that went on for months, so by the time winter hit, I had squirreled away a lot of soup that kept us eating uber healthy through the winter.

The next summer, I did the same thing, but not as frequently.

This past summer, not at all. Whatever soup I made got eaten and I just wasn't making huge pots of soup like I used to.

But in thinking about this whole menu planning and making life easier in general, I'm wondering whether I should go back to the weekly huge pot of soup. I know I'm going to do it this coming up weekend and I've already planned what I'm making. It's a recipe that Chris-Anna told me about. Seems it's a relatively healthy favorite of hers from the restaurant chain California Pizza Kitchen. But of course, we had to make it even healthier!

Split Pea and Barley Soup
serves 6-8
adapted from California Pizza Kitchen's Pea and Barley Soup

print me!

1/2 cup pearl barley
1 3/4 cups water
1 pound dried green split peas
2 quarts water
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce or Tamari
1/2 Tbsp dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp cumin
2 cups diced carrots (3 medium carrots)
3 cups diced onion (1 large onion)
1 1/4 cups diced celery (3 large stalks)

Place barley and 1 3/4 water into a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 45 minutes, until barley is cooked and water is absorbed.

Meanwhile, in a large soup pot or dutch oven, combine peas, 2 quarts water, bay leaves, soy sauce or tamari, thyme, garlic, sage and cumin. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in carrots, onions and celery. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, another 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, check to see if peas are completely soft, if not continue to simmer until they are soft.

Turn heat off. Remove bay leaves and discard. Using a hand-held immersion blender, puree soup, leaving it as chunky you prefer or puree completely. Stir in barley and serve.

Here's some other soups that rock that I plan on making double batches of in the upcoming weeks:

Red Lentil Soup with Cauliflower and Indian Spice
HGK's Energy Soup
Chaya's Carrot Soup
Coconut Curry Kale, Chick Pea and Sweet Potato Stoup

What's your favorite soup?

How the Family Started to Eat Better-A New System

2012-01-23T21:11:00.001-05:00

Hello!

Wow, was last week was a whirlwind week in Healthy Girl's Kitchen. First was the Paula Deen scandal. Then I won the book Wildly Affordable Organic by Linda Watson in a blogger giveaway on the Healthy Slow Cooking blog. This was all topped off with a guest blog post on salad making on The Engine 2 Blog (thanks to everyone who left some love over there!). And that doesn't even include my first ever culinary attempts at Vegan Mac-n-cheeze and Chik'n Seitan. Phew! I wonder what's in store this week?

Really cool stuff, I'm guessing.

And it starts with this: something to make your life way easier. I don't know if you remember, but my one resolution this New Year is to get organized. Why? Because life is just easier that way.

As everyone knows, feeding kids day in and day out is challenging. Add in two full time working parents, a desire for the food to be healthy AND the need to make meals that are kid friendly. All complicated by the fact that I want to make Vegan meals that are oil-free and very adult centric (curried soups and huge bowls of salad are not exactly high on my 4 and 7 year old's list of favorite foods to eat). You have got yourself an almost impossible situation.

Even I was getting severely fatigued. I resorted to embarrassingly horrid child feeding habits by the end of 2011 (they did not involved fast food or Kraft macaroni and cheese, but it wasn't that far off). Something needed to change.

And then ideas appeared like an angels from heaven. It all started with this blog post entitled Healthy Eating Tactics in the New Year by the lovely Sarah Matheny over at Peas and Thank You. I highly recommend checking that post out before reading the story of how Sarah's idea impacted me.

Sarah's suggestion is to create lists of healthy food options and post them in the kitchen. Sarah suggested a kid's snack list (it helps if the kids can read, but it's not a must) and a grocery shopping list. Here are mine:

Healthy Snack List

When the kids come home from school. they walk over to the list and choose a snack. Far less dramatic than an adult having to rack their brain for ideas and then having the kids reject them!

The Master/Staples Grocery List

This simply makes it so much easier for the responsible adult to always have the healthy food choices in the house that are necessary for building meals on a day-to-day basis. Again, no more racking your brain trying to figure out what it is you need to get at the grocery store. Just keep an eye out about once a week that the kitchen is stocked with whatever is on your or your family's list. And it works just as well even if you don't have kids or a family.

I created those lists and posted them. I loved these ideas, but I had no idea if it would work magic on my kids' eating habits. So I didn't stop there. I took it two steps further, and here is where the magic happened.

I created a weekly dinner schedule. I did this for me, so that I would not have to go through the daily stress of deciding what to make the littles for dinner all while attempting to prepare some Vegan feast for my husband, myself and my 12 year old daughter, Sophia, who thankfully eats like an almost Plant-strong adult.

Kid's Weekly Dinner Schedule

The pressure is off. The kids helped create the list so all of the dinners are kid approved. No more last minute bad decision making. The kitchen is stocked with the healthiest versions of the ingredients that I need to prepare these meals and nothing is difficult to make.

But the kicker is this: serving the kid's dinner on cafeteria lunch trays. Maybe at this point you are saying, "Duh Wendy." But sometimes I am slow on the uptake! I purchased three of them many years ago at Target but never really put them to use. Somehow, they magically reappeared and the kids are loving them. They are the ones who fill up the compartments every night with fresh fruit and vegetables of their choosing. I think they feel empowered and it's much easier to get them to eat a variety of healthy food that way.

Lunch trays-they key to happiness. Everyone's happiness.

Here's some for sale on Etsy.

And after writing the guest blog post on nutrient dense salad making for The Engine 2 Diet blog, I decided another chart was in order. This one to help ensure that we have a variety of salad ingredients stocked in the fridge and pantry at any given time, but also to remind me on a daily basis of all of the variety of things that can and should go into our salads. Less thought, better salads! It's awesome.

Salad Making/Salad Item Stocking List

Here's what the outside of our beautiful refrigerator looks like right now, but I don't care. My life just got better.

What are your tricks to make grocery shopping and daily meal preparation easier? Please share your strategies!

Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats

2012-01-22T19:11:00.002-05:00

Lately I've been wondering how to get more chia seeds into my diet.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with these strange little seeds, yes, they are the seeds that grow the grassy "hair" on a Chia Pet from the 70s. But they are also an incredible source of omega-3 fatty acids, even more so than flax seeds. And it has another advantage over flax: chia is so rich in antioxidants that the seeds don't deteriorate and can be stored for long periods without becoming rancid. And, unlike flax, they do not have to be ground to make their nutrients available to the body. Chia seeds also provide fiber (25 grams give you 6.9 grams of fiber) as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc.

Another advantage: when added to water and allowed to sit for 30 minutes, chia forms a gel. Researchers suggest that this reaction also takes place in the stomach, slowing the process by which digestive enzymes break down carbohydrates and convert them into sugar.

Chia has a nutlike flavor. You can mix seeds in water and add lime or lemon juice and sugar to make a drink known in Mexico and Central America as "chia fresca." As with ground flax seeds, you can sprinkle ground or whole chia seeds on cereal, in yogurt or salads, eat them as a snack, or grind them and mix them with flour when making muffins or other baked goods.

I find them tasty and an interesting addition to my diet. I happen to really like the consistency of them in smoothies and puddings. For some people, it will take a little getting used to. For others, it might be love at first bite. And for some, you just might never become a chia lover. But if you have never tried these little buggers and you are up for some nutritional adventure, I highly recommend getting a bag of 'em.

Chia seeds are all the rage amongst a group of healthy bloggers. Somehow, a recipe for something called Banana Soft Serve Vegan Overnight Oats emerged. I made my first parfait about a year and a half ago. It was love at first bite, but somehow I forgot all about it until I saw it again this weekend on Pinterest, just as I was pondering how to get more chia seed into my diet! Ka-Bam! There are tons of awesome recipes out there on the web for this done up with different flavors. It's so much fun to experiment with!

I made a chocolate cherry version but I'm already dreaming up my next one . . . peppermint patty.

VOO: looks strange, tastes good.

Chocolate Cherry Vegan Overnight Oats
serves 1

Printable Recipe

layer A:
1/3 cup regular oats (not steel cut)
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1 cup alternative milk, like almond or soy
1/4 scoop Amazing Grass Green Superfood Chocolate Drink Powder or a chocolate protein powder
1/2 tsp maple syrup
layer B:
1 large frozen banana or 1 1/2 small frozen bananas
1/2 cup frozen cherries
up to 1 Tbsp raw cacao powder or high quality cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
splash of alternative milk

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients for layer A and refrigerate overnight or for 1 hour.

In the morning, prepare layer B by placing all of the ingredients into the canister of a high speed blender or the bowl of a food processor fitted with the S blade. If using the blender, blend the ingredients and tamp them down until the mixture is even and creamy. If using a food processor, process and stop to scrape down the sides often until the mixture is even and creamy.

Layer the overnight oats mixture with the banana soft serve and eat immediately.

Do you have chia seeds in your pantry? Have you ever made Vegan Overnight Oats?

My First Vegan Mac-n-Cheeze

2012-01-19T22:02:00.001-05:00

I have resisted making a Vegan Mac-n-cheese for the over two years that I have been cooking the no-oil vegan way.

It's hard to believe, although I came pretty close to making it about a year ago. I got scared off when I read the review's of a very famous blogger's recipe. Let's just say they were very mixed. Some were complaining that it didn't taste at all like classic mac-n-cheese. And I wasn't taking any chances.

Fast forward about a year when I happened upon this recipe from Oh She Glows. I used to read this blog pretty regularly, but the frequency with which Angela posted recipes and photos about food that I have no business eating drove me away (my own personal problem--trigger foods). It's really too bad, because I have a suspicion that she's got some kick butt savory recipes on there.

But somehow a recipe for Butternut Squash Mac 'n Cheeze from Oh She Glows crossed my path last week. And this time, I just could't resist. With some adaptions (elimination of the Earth Balance and turning it into a baked casserole), the results were outstanding. Absolutely one of the best casseroles I have ever made, vegan or not.

Does this taste like real mac-n-cheese? No. But who the heck cares with food that tastes this great. I will be honest, this does involve the use of many pots and a casserole dish. And you don't want to make it when you need to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes. But I promise, it's worth all of the dish washing and time!

Cheezy Macaroni Bake with Butternut Squash and Greens
serves 6-8
1 hour 45 minutes

Printable Recipe

1 large butternut squash,* peeled and chopped into 1" pieces
1 1/2 cups almond or soy milk (or any unsweetened alternative milk that you prefer)
2 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 heaping Tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt (or not)
pepper to taste
16 ounces brown rice pasta-fusilli or other shape
1 head Swiss chard or other greens, washed, stem removed and rough chopped
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs**

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Spread chopped butternut squash onto tray in one layer and lightly spray with cooking oil. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper. Roast butternut squash for 45 minutes.

While squash is roasting, set a medium-large pot of water on your stove to boil.

In a sauce pan placed over low heat put cornstarch or arrowroot and almond milk. Whisk until all lumps disappear. Add nutritional yeast, mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper and whisk until everything is well combined. Continue to cook over low heat, whisking occassionally, until sauce thickens. Turn heat off.

When you water is boiling, cook pasta according to your package instructions, being careful not to overcook it. After draining your brown rice pasta, run cold water over it to stop the cooking process and to prevent it from becoming one big lump of pasta.

Place a large soup pot over a medium-high flame and cover the base of the pot with low sodium vegetable broth. When broth is bubbling, add swiss chard or greens of choice and saute until greens are cooked but not overdone (they should retain their bright green color). Pour off any excess cooking liquid before going to the next step.

Pour cooked pasta into soup pot with cooked greens and stir.

In a blender or food processor, combine all of the cheeze sauce (the sauce made with the almond milk, nutritional yeast, etc.) and 2 cups of the roasted butternut squash and blend until creamy.

Turn the heat of your oven down to 350 degrees.

Place the remaining roasted butternut squash into the pot with the noodles and greens. Pour the cheeze sauce over the noodles and stir well. Transfer into a 9"x13" casserole dish that has been sprayed lightly with cooking spray. Top with whole wheat breadcrumbs and bake for 30 minutes.

*I have found that the best way to cut and peel a whole butternut squash is as follows: Poke a bunch of holes in the skin of the squash. Microwave the squash on high for four minutes. Remove your squash from the microwave and proceed, peeling and chopping it.

**I save the ends of loaves of whole wheat bread in a baggie in the freezer. When I have a bagful of ends, I use my food processor to make whole wheat breadcrumbs. To do this, you toast the bread first, then place the toast into the food processor fitted with an s-blade and processor. I store the whole wheat bread crumbs in the freezer until I need them for a recipe.

Easy Vegan Chili and Pumpkin Spiced Cornbread Muffins

2012-01-18T15:31:00.001-05:00

I'm SO excited, I have a guest blog post over at The Engine 2 Diet Blog right now! Please hop on over there and check out How Healthy Girl Makes a Salad and Makes Salad Making Easier.

And that's not the only thing I'm excited about! Did you see this article over at VegNews about the leaders of the Raw Food movement making a statement that oil and nuts are not good for you? Holy. Moly. That is a major shift in thinking for the entire raw food world. Here's the comment I left on the article:

"Oh. My. G... I am in shock. And actually, really relieved. I thankfully figured this same thing out after trying to go raw for a couple of months and gaining a ton of weight from the oils and the nuts and the raw desserts. I am so happy that this information is coming out now and that more people do not have to be lead down a ridiculous path of consuming coconut oil, olive oil, etc. and thinking that these things are health foods. Yes, eat raw vegetables! But don't shun incredibly healthy cooked food."

So on and on it goes. Trying to figure out what is best for humankind. It's never easy, but I think it's worth it.

I have a feeling that a lot of people are craving chili right now. With the cold weather and the dreary days, I know that chili is one of the easiest ways to warm myself up.

But you don't always have the time for a complicated or lengthy chili recipe. That's why this recipe is so outstanding. It's fast, easy and very, very tasty.

And what goes better with chili than cornbread? I have tried a number of Vegan cornbread recipes and this is by far the best one to date! The pureed canned pumpkin and Pumpkin Pie spice add an unusual twist to this classic.

Easy Vegan Chili
serves 8-10
Prep time: 20 min. Cook time: 70 min.

Printable Recipe

2 cups chopped onion

8 garlic cloves, pressed

2 28oz. cans diced tomatoes

1 4 oz. can green chilies

4 Tbsp chili powder

2 Tbsp dried oregano

2 Tbsp ground cumin

3 15 oz. cans black beans, drained

1 10 oz. bag of frozen corn

Saute onions in a large pot over medium high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add water if necessary to prevent sticking. Add garlic and saute 3 more minutes.

Add tomatoes with juice, chilies and dried seasoning. Mix and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add beans and corn. Reduce heat to med. low and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Pumpkin Spiced Cornbread Muffins

24 small muffins or 18 medium sized

Printable Recipe

dry ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 cups cornmeal (for a smoother finish, use corn flour)
wet ingredients:
1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp flaxmeal
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients.

In a medium bowl or a very big measuring cup stir together wet ingredients until well blended.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and mix until well blended.

Distribute batter evenly into greased muffin pans (either 18 or 24 holes). Bake for 20 minutes.

What foods are warming you up these days?

When You and Your Partner are at Food Odds

2012-01-17T07:05:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Today I present to you a guest blog post by the blogger over at Kitchen of Health. Do you know that when I started blogging a little over two years ago there were very few "Nutritarian Bloggers" or "Plant-strong Bloggers?" That's simply not the case today, and it's really hard for me to keep up with the scores of new bloggers in this genre. It's wildly exciting because to me, it's a symbol that the movement is rapidly growing.

The subject is what to do when you and your partner are at food odds, but the advice could apply equally well to children, parents, friends and other relatives.

Here's what Hailey has to say:

Pete Spreet ate only meat

His wife ate only greens

And so between the two of them

They licked the platter clean.

The rhyme would be hilarious if there weren’t a bit of pathetic truth to it for many households. Living with an omnivorous spouse if you are plant-strong can be challenging, if not downright frustrating. I have vacillated between anger and amusement when fixing his and hers menus. If I weren’t frightened for the long-range consequences on his health, I wouldn’t care what he eats. The question that plagues me is, “How do I nourish him when he doesn’t want it?”

Recently, mealtime friction came to a head when my 16-year-old son decided to join me on the quest for greater athletic prowess. At once, my spouse felt betrayed. It was no longer the meat-eating men against the salad-eating women. The strong swimmer was taking sides…and choosing beans!

A shaky truce kept things together until the squash debacle: I served a “family-friendly” meal of stuffed squash with Boca Crumbles (http://www.bocaburger.com/). Revolt was in the air. Hubby took a polite “no-thank-you bite” and headed straight to the store to buy steak and crab…and Polish sausages.

So what have I learned from this? The biggest lesson is that power is not the same as control. I empower people when I increase their ability to make decisions that lead to freedom, growth and strength. I control them when I restrict their autonomy and force them down a path of my own choosing. Said another way, when I educate them about nutrition and demonstrate consequences – both positive and negative – I am giving them the power to live a better life. When I manipulate them into eating my way, I am trying to change them against their will. That latter approach works for no one.

What I really mean is leaders pull; tyrants push. Have you ever tried to push a cooked spaghetti noodle across the counter top? It just bunches up without going forward. But take the same noodle and get in front and lead out and it will trail with the gentlest tug. The point is to be an example that others can look to for strength. That brings me to the next lesson:

Exude confidence; spurn fear. Emily Boller recently wrote for Disease Proof that pushy relatives may actually be feeling envy or resentment, turning them into “food bullies.” If we feel threatened by them, we actually exacerbate the problem. Her solution was to be clear in our own determination to eat healthy and not waver when confronted about our choices.

She said, “Bullies have a strong need to control and dominate….If a food bully’s intended target exhibits a “defeated attitude” in response to the pushiness, then the bullying is likely to continue. However, as in most all cases with bona fide bullies, if the intended target responds with a clear attitude of self-confidence and a strong boundary line, the bully’s attempt to dominate will quickly diminish.”

Dairy	Meat
Fruits Veggies	Grains

After all, whose problem is it that we choose healthy alternatives and they don’t? Of course, we’re making an assumption that our choices actually are healthy ones.

Next lesson: challenge your assumptions.Science is continually finding new answers. What was “correct” in the 1980s may no longer be valid. For example, I learned at a young age that good health comes from eating three square meals a day. Compare that paradigm with today’s shape of health:

Knowing what’s actually true requires that we keep learning! That’s where community comes in. We should never assume we’re fighting all by ourselves. You are never alone. Whatever roadblock stands in the way, someone else has faced it and is prepared to spot you in your leap across it.

May all your relatives be Nutritarian some day!

Hailey

What has your experience been with your loved ones? Do you and your partner see eye-to-eye about diet? If not, how is it negotiated in your household?

What do you think of Hailey's advice? Do you have any advice of your own?

Have you seen an evolution in your situation over time or is it at a standstill? Are you witnessing more and more of your loved ones eating more Plant-strong as your time committed to this continues?

Jill's Hit It Out of the Ballpark Recipe

2012-01-16T07:54:00.004-05:00

I don't know about you, but I had an energetic weekend full of cooking, organizing, and socializing. Until my head hit the pillow each night, I don't think I sat down on Saturday or Sunday for a minute! Except for when I was blogging and responding to comments on this post, I guess I sat down then.

An when I was on Facebook. I sat down then too. In fact, someone on FB this weekend asked me if I knew of any real entrees that didn't include tofu. I immediately thought of this recipe that I knew I would be posting soon. It comes from HGK contributor Jill, and here's what she has to say about it:

"I was looking to make a hearty dish for a cold winter night. Since Shepard's Pie is typically lamb (hence the name Shepard) I thought it was more appropriate to call it Farmer's Pie. Chock full of lentils and veggies and topped with sweet potatoes, it blends savory and sweet in a perfectly delicious way. I made it for a group of people (all foodies) who devoured it. My husband loved it too. He said that it was absolutely his favorite dinner ever! It's now officially in my regular rotation. Very easy to make!"

I was one of the so-called-foodies that tasted the Farmer's Pie and I can vouch for Jill's enthusiasm about it. It's a winner! Of course, I would double all of the ingredients (except for the maple syrup) and bake it into a 9"x13" casserole.

Jill's ~~Shepherd's~~ Farmer's Pie
serves 6

Printable Recipe

Top layer:

2 12.75 ounce cans sweet potatoes (vacuum packed such as Taylor’s brand)

1/4 cup almond milk

3 T maple syrup

Bottom layer:

Frozen apple juice concentrate for sautéing

1 cup diced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

10 ounces peas, fresh or thawed

1 package Trader Joes pre-cooked vacuum sealed lentils (or about 2 ½ cups cooked lentils)

* If using canned lentils, drain and rinse before cooking

½ cup red wine

2 T low sodium tamari

½ tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

8-10 ounces baby spinach

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a hand mixer, blend sweet potatoes, almond milk and maple syrup until smooth. Set aside.

Sauté onion on medium heat in a little frozen apple juice concentrate until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms and sauté another 5 minutes.

Add peas, lentils, wine, tamari, thyme and oregano. Mix well. Simmer about 8 minutes.

Add spinach in batches until it is wilted.

Spray the bottom of an 11 x 7 or 8 x 8 Pyrex dish. Pour lentil mixture into pan. Spread sweet potatoes on top of lentils. Bake 35 minutes.

Easy Chik'n Seitan Recipe

2012-01-14T10:26:00.000-05:00

For a couple of months now I have wanted to try my hand at preparing homemade Seitan. It seems to be all of the rage amongst the Vegan bloggers, but it looked almost daunting. Well, I'm here to scream from the rooftops that "Seitan is easy!"

I was about to follow Kathy Hester's Slow Cooker recipe from The Vegan Slow Cooker because I am working on a review and giveaway from that book (yeah! giveaway coming up soon!). But as I was surfing the net last night, I read some stuff about how seitan making can be very unpredictable, even to the point of failure.

But then I happened upon this recipe which promised perfect seitan every time. And I knew it was the one! With a few minor adjustments (I totally eliminated the 2 Tbsp of olive oil and everything was fine and made things easier on myself by using garlic powder rather than fresh garlic) I am thrilled with the results!

I cannot believe that homemade seitan is going to become a staple in my kitchen.

Healthy Girl's Kitchen Easy Chik'n Seitan
makes 4 small loaves

Printable Recipe

1.5 c. vital wheat gluten
T Tbsp garlic powder

1/4 c. chickpea flour (you can also sub in all-purpose, but the chickpea's definitely more flavorful)

1/4 c. nutritional yeast

1 t. dried thyme

1/2 t. paprika

1/2 t. poultry seasoning

1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1.5 c. vegetable broth
a dash of soy sauce

In a large bowl combine wheat gluten, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, thyme, paprika, poultry seasoning, and salt.

Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in vegetable broth a little at a time and stir well with a rubber spatula. Add the splash of soy sauce. As you mix and scrape from the sides of the bowl, a dough ball will form.

Turn ball onto a clean cutting board and knead for knead for 3 minutes. Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes and then knead again for 30 seconds.

Cut into 4 equal pieces and shape into logs/loaves.

Place a large pot with a few inches of water and a steamer insert onto heat and let water boil. Turn down to low when steam is filling the pot.

Tear off four 8 inch by 12 inch pieces of foil and place one loaf into the center of one piece of foil. Fold the short sides of the foil on the left and right over the loaf. Fold over the bottom and top ends the foil, leaving room for loaf to expand but securing the foil.

Place four wrapped loaves into the steamer basket and steam for 30 minutes.

Allow the dough to cool to the touch before chilling in fridge or overnight.

Store seitan in the fridge tightly sealed in a plastic bag for up to 2 weeks. Seitan can be frozen, just defrost before use.

Unwrapping the finished Chik'n Seitan.

sliced seitan

What am I going to do with this seitan? Got any ideas?

Food Network Shocker! Does Paula Dean have Type 2 Diabetes?

2012-01-13T20:25:00.003-05:00

Last week I randomly did a google search for the topic "food network stars health issues" and came up with nothing. Shocking. I was sure I was going to uncover a whole lot of dirt. And then write a scathing blog post about it.

Maybe I wasn't searching the right terms. I've never been very good at that.

So imagine my surprise when I saw this blog post on The Plant Eater this afternoon. Turns out Paula Dean does have Type 2 diabetes. I laughed and I cried, but really, I wasn't shocked. Here's what the LA Times had to say about it:

By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog

January 13, 2012, 12:32 p.m.

link to the article

The Internet is buzzing with rumors that TV chef Paula Deen, queen of the deep fryer, could soon reveal to the world that she has Type 2 diabetes.

The Daily reports that Deen, known for fat-laden dishes such as deep-fried, bacon-wrapped macaroni and cheese, is on the cusp of spilling the refried beans about her condition. Last year, the National Enquirer wrote that Deen had the condition, and the Daily is also reporting that the TV star has inked a deal with a pharmaceutical company to endorse a diabetes drug.

Deen is both revered and reviled for her Southern style of cooking, which uses copious amounts of butter, cream and everything else that can clog an artery. One of her biggest detractors has been "No Reservations" and "The Layover" host Anthony Bourdain, who has chided her for her less-than-healthful recipes in what has become something of a running feud.

If the news about Deen is true, it's hardly shocking that she's developed the disease, considering that it's linked with beingoverweight and obese and having a diet high in rich, fatty foods and simple carbohydrates. Diabetes affects 25.8 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Countless studies have shown that with obesityrates showing no signs of abating, Type 2 diabetes may threaten the lives of more people worldwide and escalate healthcare costs.

Last year, the International Diabetes Federation released a study that found about 366 million people around the globe have the disease, and healthcare spending is at $465 billion. Type 2 diabetes (the most common form of diabetes) causes the body to be insulin-resistant, or to not produce enough insulin to sustain normal glucose levels.

Deen may want to take a cue from chefs such as Art Smith, whose diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes compelled him to drop a whopping 85 pounds. If it's not easy for most people to lose weight, it's extra hard for chefs, who are around food all the time and have to constantly taste it. A couple of Los Angeles chefs talked about their own battles with weight as part of an experiment to see if they could drop the fat and calories in some of their dishes without customers noticing.

If Deen does make the announcement, it will be interesting to see the fallout -- will she revamp her recipes to make them less caloric? If so, will her leagues of loyal fans follow her lead, or bolt to find another food guru more in line with the old-school approach? We'll stay tuned.

What do you think is going to happen? Do you think that The Food Network is contributing to the obesity epidemic? Would you like to see change on The Food Network?

What's more, a report says Deen is about to go public with the diagnosis as a multimillion-dollar spokeswoman for drug-maker Novartis. No confirmation yet from either the Food Network star or the drug company.

Great. That's just what we need in this country. A eat whatever you want and fix it with drugs attitude. How about changing your diet Ms. Dean? Did you ever consider that?

Rip, I think your people need to send her people a copy of The Engine 2 Diet.

How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind

2012-01-12T21:35:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday evening Dr. Doug Lisle gave a lecture in Southern California. Many of us were anxiously awaiting the viewing of the lecture online at the Forks over Knives site. But, due to technical difficulties, it was not to be. So we've had to wait until now to see the lecture. And lucky for us, we have the magic of YouTube.

This is a FEEL GOOD LECTURE. I highly recommend it if you are feeling down on yourself right now.The lecture is over an hour long, so open this up and get comfortable, or schedule some time this weekend to watch it. It's worth every minute! And it's only going to be available on the FOK YouTube channel for a limited amount of time, so don't miss out.

Housekeeping: My New Recipage

2012-01-12T18:33:00.001-05:00

A few HGK readers have e-mailed me asking "where did the list of cuisines go when I go to your healthy recipes page?"

"I was trying to find your smoothie recipes and let me just say I am not technologically inclined, but couldn’t find them in the new recipe set up. I tried, 'smoothie' and also tried to view the 'list' but nothing ever popped up. Any suggestions? Thanks so much."

"Hi Wendy, your blog is great. I only found it a couple of weeks ago and it has been a big inspiration to change my lifestyle. My wife and I made the channa plak masala (sp?) last night from the happy herbivore site and it was fabulous. I seem to recall when I first stumbled upon your site that you had categories like 'Mexican', 'Indian', etc and I can’t find than anymore. I know you also mentioned Manjula’s kitchen and now when I search manjula trying to find it that way, I don’t get any results. Am I doing something wrong?"

So I thought it was time that I share the "news" with you.

But a little backstory first. And some words of advice, in case those that reading this also happen to be food bloggers.

I crave organization. Perhaps that's why my New Year Resolution was getting uber organized.

So it goes without saying that I want my blog to be organized. The recipes, to be more specific. And I tried, I really did. I worked with my blog designer and we came up with the best plan that we knew of. And that resulted in the old "Healthy Recipes" page on HGK that listed the types of cusines and the types of foods and it provided a way of organizing and searching the HGK recipe bank, but not the best way.

I knew there was something much better out there, I just didn't know it was right at my fingertips and that it was FREE. Somehow I assumed it was really out of my reach.

That thing is called Recipage, and it's super easy to use, and it's FREE.

So for all of my beloved HGK readers, I owe you an apology.

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to provide this for you. And I'm sorry because it is going to take me many months to re-upload all of my recipes into the Recipage system. I calculate that this is going to take me about 50 hours. And it's all got to come out of my spare time.

Don't worry, the recipes are all still there. And you can access them all just by doing a simple search using the search box on the upper right hand side of HGK. You just kind of have to know what you are looking for.

The best is yet to come. In the future, everything will look like this.

So if you have a food blog, do yourself a favor and start using Recipage, before it's too late. Wish I had!

Did you check out my new Healthy Recipes Recipage? Do you think I should take the time to upload all of my old recipes into this system?

Why My Personality Puts the Pounds On Me

2012-01-11T18:14:00.000-05:00

Did anyone catch this article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, "Is Your Personality Making You Put on Pounds?" by Melinda Beck?

I'll summarize it for you. If you suffer from any of the following personality traits, you are very likely to be overweight:

you are not an "easy" person, a generally disagreeable type
you are a night owl and/or sleep deprived
you are a stress junkie (you thrive on competition and deadline pressure)
you are a mindless multitasker, enjoying eating while doing other tasks at the same time
you are a giver and put other people's needs ahead of your own
you are a perfectionist

Why am I bringing this up here on HGK? Because I think it gets to the heart of the matter. Like the author of the article says, everybody knows that broccoli is healthier than McDonald's. So why do we have such a hard time consistently making the right decisions?

Because our personalities get in the way.

For me, I fall into category #2, 3, 4, 5 AND 6.

That's a lotta dysfunction. But those same personality traits are the ones that got me where I am today. I just have to know when I am taking things too far.

I am a big believer in self-awareness. Not to be confused with me saying that "I am self-aware." Quite the contrary. But I am committed to working on it. Because if I don't know the reasons that I am making my mistakes, how can I ever do anything differently?

Which personality categories do you fall into? Do you see a connection between your personality and your weight issues?

Not Your Mother's Chocolate Bundt Cake

2012-01-11T05:23:00.000-05:00

FULL DISCLOSURE: THIS IS NOT HEALTH FOOD.

Don't hate me for posting this. I think I feel compelled to share this recipe with you because my kids loved it, and so did their friends, my husband and I. And on the scale of good, better, best, it might even rank as better.

Better than most Vegan desserts out there on the Internet masquerading as "healthy dessert."

Even Vegans can healthwash each other.

It's not Dr. Fuhrman's Healthy Chocolate Cake. But then again, it didn't take an hour and a half to make it. And sometimes the occasion calls for a chocolate cake, but you are short on time.

So here it is, the cake that I will be making from here forward for every birthday, bake sale, pot luck, whatever. It's that good.

Not Your Mother's Chocolate Bundt Cake
serves 12

Printable Recipe

dry ingredients
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose baking flour
1/2 cup raw cacao or high quality (not Dutch processed) baking cocoa
1 1/2 cups succanat
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

wet ingredients
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond or soy milk
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

chocolate syrup
1/4 cup raw cacao or high quality (not Dutch processed) baking cocoa
1/2 cup succanat
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 15-cup bundt pan with cooking oil spray.

In a large bowl, place all of the dry ingredients. Stir with a whisk to blend well.

In a medium bowl, place the wet ingredients and whisk to blend.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently fold in the chocolate chips and the nuts (if using).

Pour batter into bundt pan and spread evenly. Bake for 38 to 43 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, prepare the chocolate syrup. Place all syrup ingredients into a sauce pan and cook over low heat, whisking to dissolve the sugar. Do not let this burn. Remove from heat when all sugar is dissolved and let cool until cake is done baking.

While the cake is still warm, poke holes with a fork or toothpick all the way around. Pour half of the syrup over the cake and let the cake absorb it. Invert cake onto a plate and pour remaining syrup over the top of the cake. Store covered at room temperature.

Dairy Industry Obviously Threatened By Rise of Alternative Milks

2012-01-09T20:13:00.001-05:00

A big thank you goes out to Jeff over at The Plant Eater for bringing this to our attention. It's classic!

Seems to me that the cow milk industry clearly is threatened. I learned in my marketing class in college that #1 in an industry never compares themselves to #2 in an ad, but #2,3,4 etc. compare themselves to #1. Guess this ad says A LOT about where the dairy industry is headed.

Why is the dairy industry even making this commercial? Seems our voices are being heard at some very high levels. Notice how they didn't even try to defend the health claims of the dairy council. Their best shot was that only "real" milk can come from a cow? Is there something really cool about doing drinking the mother's milk of another species? If there is, please fill me in on it.

Thoughts?

What I'm Craving For Dinner: Mexican Jicama and Orange Salad

2012-01-09T10:02:00.007-05:00

I'm so craving this salad and I wanted to share it with you. Chris-Anna and I developed this recipe together last summer for a HUGE picnic that we hosted in her backyard. This salad was such a wild success that it goes down, at least in my book, as one of the tastiest salads ever.

Light and refreshing, with a hint of sweetness from the orange, and all of that crunch from the jicama and radish . . . watch out! It's gonna become on of your favorites too. I made it again for dinner last night, but subbed in baby spinach leaves for the romaine lettuce. It was also fantastic!

It goes without saying that there is no oil and nothing with a mother or a face! If you are watching your weight, just go easy on the avocado or eliminate it all together.

Orange, Jicama, Radish Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main dish

Printable Recipe

1 avocado, diced

1 medium jicama, julienned

4 radishes, finely julienned

1 large orange, or 2 small oranges, segments cut out and membrane reserved

2 hearts of romaine, torn to bite sized pieces (or one full head of romaine or 8 cups baby spinach leaves)

For dressing:

Squeeze the juice remaining around the cut orange segments (about 1 Tbsp.)
2 tsp frozen orange juice concentrate

3 Tbsp lemon juice (I used the juice from 2 small lemons)

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Cut avocado in half, remove pit, cut into quarters, remove peel and dice.

Peel jicama, slice and then cut sliced into julienne pieces.

Cut top and bottom off radishes. Cut into very thin slices and cut thin slices into fine julienne pieces.

Cut top and bottom off of orange. Cut skin off, from top to bottom. Cut each segment out in between the segment skins. Cut each orange segment into three to four pieces.

In a large bowl, assemble greens, avocado, jicama, radishes and orange segments.

Whisk together ingredients for dressing in a small bowl and pour over salad just before serving.

Tip- You can use a can of mandarin oranges and reserved liquid instead of orange, or baby spinach leaves instead of romaine lettuce.

Smokin' Collard Green Stacks

2012-01-05T21:35:00.005-05:00

I've got a wonderful friend named Jessica who forwards me all sorts of healthy recipes to try. She gets many of them from Dr. Roxanne Sukol. Dr. Sukol used to be Jessica's primary care physician (she also happens to have a blog called Your Health is on Your Plate), but now the good doc has assumed the position of head of Dr. Roizen's Lifestyle 360 program here at The Cleveland Clinic.

That's probably more information than you wanted to know.

But I wanted you to know where this recipe's inspiration came from. Here's what Dr.Sukol had to say about Dr. Bradley’s Smokin’ Collards: "According to my esteemed colleague, Dr. Linda Bradley, who had the vision and inspiration to purchase and prepare 10 pounds of collards for a vegan Christmas dish, her entire family ate every morsel!"

Well then, I just had to try these for myself! And I'm glad I did. The inclusion of molasses gives us a nice hit of iron, which I can always use. Here's my take:

Smokin' Collard Green Stacks

Printable Recipe

1/4 cup low sodium vegetable broth

1 large yellow onions

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 Tbsp chipotle in adobe (Comes in a small can. For more heat, use a bit more. Transfer the rest to a container and save in the freezer.)

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

2 Tbsp smoked paprika, divided

2 tsp low sodium soy sauce or Tamari

1/4 cup low sodium vegetable stock

2 Tbsp black strap molasses

2 pounds (2 bunches) collard greens, washed clean, torn from the stem, and rough chopped.
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

salt (or not) and pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven or pot, heat broth on medium high heat until bubbling. Add onions and sauté 6-7 minutes until onions are wilting. Add garlic, and cook 2 more minutes. Stir in chipotle, 1 Tbsp of paprika, vinegar, soy sauce, extra vegetable stock and molasses.

Stir in the collard greens. Cover and cook for 45 min, stirring occasionally. Then add the remaining paprika, black beans, salt (or not), and pepper, and cook 5-10 more minutes.

Serving suggestion: Eat the collards as is or serve stacked with

Roasted Potato "Chips"

For this recipe, 3 medium-large baking potatoes should provide you with enough "chips" for the volume of greens.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare 2 baking trays by lining them with aluminum foil and lightly spraying them with cooking oil spray.

Slice the potatoes diagonally into 1/8" thick ovals. Lay the slices of baking potato so that each slice slightly overlaps the next.

Bake trays of potato "chips" for approximately 45 minutes, rotating trays in the oven every 15 minutes or so if you are roasting more than one tray of potatoes at a time. They are done when they are soft and slightly browned.

To serve, layer potatoes and greens on a plate until they seem like they will fall over. Don't worry if they do, it still tastes great!

How has your first week of the new year been?

So far, so good for me. I have been making better choices since Susan voiced her

New Year's Challenge over at Fat Free Vegan. I have even started making oatmeal for breakfast thanks to Debby The Healthy Librarian. Lots of greens, soup, and salads. A few Vegan chocolate chips. I'm not a saint!

What have you been eating this week?

I'm also happy to report that my resolution of following the 365 days of organizing is going very well. I didn't even realize how much clutter is collecting in our house. It's fun to throw away stuff. Especially food (Thai red curry paste, to be exact) with a 2008 expiration date on it! Didn't even know it was in there . . . let alone that old . . .

Considering Going Gluten Free?

And last but not least, ever wonder what all this hooplah about going gluten free is all about? Here's a great article from Disease Proof explaining it all, and why if you don't have Celiac disease, or at least a major gluten sensitivity, going gluten free is a distraction from your real issues.

Have a wonderful weekend y'all!

Hot Tip! A Don't Miss Live Broadcast Event with Doug Lisle

2012-01-05T07:22:00.000-05:00

What Dr. Lisle has to teach us is incredibly compelling. I love this guy and I've written about him before. Don't miss this!

How To Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind
Live Broadcast with Doug Lisle, Ph.D.
January 8, 7pm EST / 4pm PST

On Sunday January 8, join Forks over Knives on their Facebook page or Livestream page for a live broadcast of psychologist Dr. Doug Lisle in his presentation "How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind." Dr. Lisle, who was featured in FOK, will discuss why our "natural" instincts are making us sicker and fatter, how to harness life-changing tools for healthy living, and more! Begins at 7 pm ET/4pm PT. If you miss the Livestream, you will be able to watch it on their Youtube page by Tuesday, January 10th.

Thank you Forks over Knives!

Will you be there?

Sweet Curried Rice with Carrots and Chick Peas

2012-01-03T19:50:00.004-05:00

We're safely back in the Cleve just in time for this winter's first big snowstorm, but I wanted to share with you the last of Lindsay S. Nixon's recipes that I adapted over the holiday.

This dish came about as I was trying to use up the last of the ingredients that I had purchased while staying in the condo--dates, chick peas, carrots, onion and brown rice. The inspiration came from Lindsay's recipe in Everyday Happy Herbivore called "Curried Rice," but I took it to a whole new level and again, everyone who tried it loved it. This unusual rice dish would be great served with a big salad to complete a meal.

Sweet Curried Rice with Carrots and Chick Peas

serves a crowd

Printable Recipe

3 cups brown rice

6 cups low sodium vegetable broth, plus more for sauteing

3 Tbsp mild/sweet curry powder

1 Tbsp onion powder

1 ½ tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp paprika

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 large yellow onion, medium chop

1 ½ cups carrot, medium chop

¾ cup pitted, chopped dates, or less, depending upon how sweet you want this

1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

Juice of ½ of a large lemon

Salt, to taste, or not

Place brown rice through cinnamon into a rice cooker or pot. If using a rice cooker, turn cooker on and let rice cook. If using the stove top method, bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer until rice is cooked, 35-45 minutes.

While rice is cooking, chop onion and carrot. Place a skillet over medium high heat and coat the bottom of the skillet with vegetable broth. When broth is bubbling, add onion and stir. Cook for 5 minutes. Add carrot and stir. Cook carrots and onions, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and begin to turn brown. You will need to lower heat to prevent burning as the onions and carrots cook. Add dates and stir.

Once rice is done cooking, stir in carrot/onion mixture, garbanzo beans and lemon juice. Taste. Season with salt, or not.

I also want to share with you some big news. My thoughts on what to think about when you want to eat something were featured in an article in Cleveland's Plain Dealer. It was a big surprise to me, so thank you to PD writer Evelyn Theiss for mentioning this important idea. You can check that out here if you've got a moment. My quotes are at the end of the article.

And in other big news, I used my pressure cooker to make something other than beans for dinner tonight! I made this soup recipe from Lani Muelrath. I altered the seasoning a lot for my palate (I like things highly seasoned). I'm slowly working into a more comfortable relationship with the appliance and I'm going to start making recipes from Lorna J. Sass' Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure and see how it goes. Wish me luck.

A votre sante!

Cuban Black Beans with Kale

2012-01-02T07:55:00.001-05:00

It's our last day in Florida and I'm in a mad rush to pack us all up and get out of the condo. But there's something I need to share with you. I wasn't kidding around when I said I was making recipes from Everyday Happy Herbivore on this vacation. These Cuban Black Beans with Kale came about as I made and adapted my fifth recipe from this new cookbook. It was outstanding. The rest of the family (those who came early enough to lunch to score some!) agreed.

This is a great recipe for so many reasons. First, it's delicious. Second, it's easy. And third, I hope that all of these ingredients are now staples in your Plant-strong kitchen, so it's a great weeknight meal. Plus, you can use whatever greens you have on hand, it doesn't have to be kale.

Adapted from the recipe "Skillet Frijoles Negros" from Lindsay S. Nixon's book, Everyday Happy Herbivore.

Cuban Black Beans with Kale

serves 4 as a main dish, 8 as a side dish

Printable Recipe

low sodium vegetable broth, a few Tbsp

1 large yellow onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger (using a microplaner if you have one)

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 15 ounce cans black beans, undrained

4 cups finely chopped kale or other greens

2 Tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice (whatever you have on hand)

optional: hot sauce, to taste

Place a medium pot over medium-high heat and coat the bottom of the pot with low sodium vegetable broth. When broth is boiling add onion and stir. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Lower heat to medium. Add garlic and ginger. Cook until onions are translucent, stirring frequently and adding more broth if necessary to prevent burning.

Add chili powder, cumin, paprika and cinnamon. Stir.

Add undrained black beans and stir. Mash with the back of a fork or a potato masher, leaving some of the beans whole.

Add kale and stir. Lower heat to low and let simmer until mixture thickens. Stir in lime or lemon juice and hot sauce (optional) to taste. Cover until ready to serve.

Didn't win a copy of Everyday Happy Herbivore in the giveaway? That's okay, you can get it on Amazon for only $13.57! What a bargain!

If you own a copy of EHH, what has your favorite recipe been?

A little housekeeping: The winner of the EHH giveaway, Quiltspinner, has not contacted me yet. Please e-mail me at healthygirlskitchen@gmail.com. Thank you!

Plant-strong vs. Plant-perfect. Welcome to 2012.

2012-01-01T07:57:00.004-05:00

I wasn't going to blog today but I couldn't resist.

Happy New Year!

First off, I want to say "Hello" to all of the new folks that are finding their way to HGK. We were mentioned in a big blog posting over here at Fat Free Vegan and I can't thank you enough Susan. I feel like I've just won an academy award. The pressure is on for my next film.

All kidding aside, WELCOME! I love this blog and I love everyone who participates in this very important conversation: How to achieve our best lives and our best selves by incorporating a plant-based diet free of processed oils (not fat, just oils). For those of you that have struggled with your weight or health, like I have, for your entire lives, this subject is probably near and dear to your heart too. Please be an active reader and leave your thoughts in the comments section as much as you can. It's no fun to blog without you.

Second, I'm wondering if you saw this article over at The New York Times entitled "The Fat Trap" and Debby's response over at Happy Healthy Long Life? And if you've got the time, the comments to The Fat Trap article, all over 750 of them, are quite, quite interesting. It makes you wonder whether or not we can control our weight with diet and exercise when the reality is that it is uber challenging to do it. Or not . . .

Then, Susan had to go out and blog about her own personal new year's resolution which is, simply, to be PLANT PERFECT. There you go Susan, just when I had decided that I wasn't making any New Year's resolutions that revolved around food.

But I'm so fickle. And easily swayed. And I love a good challenge. And I've got a lot of reasons this year to strive for plant perfect . . .

But there really is a big difference between plant-strong and plant-perfect. Like today for example, my middle child's 7th birthday (Happy Birthday my New Year's Girl!). Plant-perfect means no indulging in any birthday treats today. None.

Can I commit?

I think I can.

For today, to be plant-perfect. No Dunkin' Donuts (that's what she wants . . . and I'm not at home to bake her something healthier). A green smoothie for breakfast? Soups, huge salads, sauteed greens. Beans. Ditch the nuts. Ditch the crackers, even those whole wheat ones. Lose the little indulgences here and there into SAD sweets.

One day at a time.

It's a fine line between the two, but one that means the difference between me at my best and me at something close, but no cigar.

I'm not going to be satisfied, really, until I am. My best.

Where is your head at today?

Okay, I know I've given you a lot of reading assignments today, but here's one that you should not miss: Dear 268 Pound Me: A Letter of Weight Loss Advice for the New Year by The Happy Rehab Doc.

My One New Year's Resolution 2012

2011-12-31T08:21:00.000-05:00

Love it or hate it, it's that time of the year again. The time when many of us make up our minds to change something about ourselves that we don't like. There are definitely pros and cons to the process. Last year I formally put out there my 11 resolutions for 2011. Did I achieve them? Some yes, some no. But this year, I learned a few things.

For resolutions to have any shot at working, they need to be really easy. They should probably be limited to a short period of time, like two weeks. You should tell another person about them and check in with that person regularly.

It all seems like too much fuss for me right now. I'm fairly content with the way things are. And I'm kind of resolved to being kinder to myself. To doing less.

But there is one thing that caught my eye.

Something fun for me.

Doable.

Organizing. Decluttering. Systematically. Beautifully.

Following this organizing and decluttering calendar.

I don't promise to do it all every day, but I do promise to print out the calendar and post it where I can see it, share it with the others in my household and to give it more than the old college try.

It seems like fun to me!

Have you made any 2012 resolutions? Why or why not? If so, what are they?

Healthy Girl's Kitchen Top 11 Plant-strong Recipes of 2011

2011-12-30T06:50:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to present to you the Top 11 (okay, well, actually 13) Plant-strong Recipes that were tried, tested and perfected in the HGK in 2011.

Most were created by others, sometimes tweaked by me, and some are my own creations. In my book, these are all outstanding Plant-strong recipes that you should try at least once. They are likely to become favorites of yours too!

I also want to note that something really BIG happened to me this year. I went from someone with minimal confidence in the kitchen regarding creating my own recipes (I was a big tester and tweaker) to a fully confident cook who prefers creating her own original recipes. It's very liberating for this food blogger. And it should make for an extremely exciting 2012 here on HGK. You're also likely to see a lot more from my friends, Jill and Chris-anna, who are busy dreaming up Plant-strong recipes of their own in their healthy kitchens.

So here it is, a list of my favorite 13 dishes that were prepared in HGK in 2011, in no particular order . . .

Quinny's Sri Lankan Kale with Sweet Potatoes and Black Beans
This is a riff off of a Kale Mallung recipe by Susan Voisen of Fat Free Vegan, but oh my, it is so much better. (Sorry Susan, you are one of my idols, but this is the truth.) My friend Quinn thought up the changes and graciously shared them with me, which I glommed onto. Anyone who took my advice and tried it has LOVED it. I would gladly eat this everyday for a month. What are you waiting for?

Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
There is no denying it, I have a sweet tooth. No matter how much I want to avoid the poison, somehow I convince myself that indulging is okay again. But I do try to find sweet things that I can eat just one of, and somehow, these Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip muffins fit the bill. They are incredibly moist and satisfying. Simply the best vegan no oil muffins I have ever tasted. Agreement from all who have tried them!

The Round Salad
This recipe, literally brought back to Cleveland from the other side of the world, has impressed everyone who has tried it. And at least 100 people have tried it just since the middle of November. But who's counting? Made with a San J brand bottled dressing, you can substitute ANY Asian flavored dressing of your choice, either bottled or home made. It won't matter. The magic is in the combination of Plant-strong ingredients.

Pumpkin Bulgar Stuffed Acorn Squash
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Of course, there's food involved! I started planning and preparing early this year and these stuffed squash are the result. You can bet I won't be waiting until next November to make them again. There's something about the hint of sweetness from the pumpkin and maple and the crunch of the onions and walnuts that sends me to the moon.

Chef Aj's Disappearing Lasagna
Quite simply, there is nothing like Chef Aj's Lasagna. Everyone who tries it loves it. It's a go-to entertaining recipe full of incredible tastes and textures.

Chris-anna's Vegetable Sugo
You don't have to lament the fact that you no longer eat meat. Not with this recipe at your finger tips. The rich depth of flavor achieved with slow cooking is what makes this tomato mushroom sauce so soul satisfying. Serve it over whole wheat spagetti for a Pasta Bolognese or sandwiched between slices of warm polenta for an impressive presentation.

Tex-Mex Quinoa with Cilantro, Lime and Apricots

What can I say? I'm a total sucker for lime and cilantro. This quinoa dish rocks. Once you taste it, it's hard to stop eating it. Just ask my friend Laura.

Mama Pea's Spicy African Peanut Stew
Yummy and made from ingredients that most of us already have in our pantry. You can even do The Healthy Librarian's faux coconut milk substitution (1 cup nut milk + 1 tsp coconut extract; to replace a can of coconut milk, double that) to cut way down on the fat.

The Healthy Librarian's Cheesy Oatmeal

Okay, this doesn't make for the prettiest picture, but don't let that fool you! For breakfast, lunch or dinner, this savory oatmeal is incredible. Packed with flavor and nutrition, cheesy tasting from the nutritional yeast and chewy from the sun dried tomatoes and dried mushrooms. I first made these early on in 2011 and devoured them several times since. That says a lot for a person who blogs and is always trying to test new recipes.

Roasted Beets with Cocoa-Sesame Sauce
I first discovered these early in 2011 scouring other bloggers' "best of 2010" lists. I'm a big fan of roasted beets and I'm a sucker for savory food with a hint of sweetness. You could make a dinner out of this beet recipe or serve it to guests as an appetizer. So creative, so delicious.

Choosing Raw's Vegan Artichoke and Spinach Dip

"Even better than the original." That's what my SIL Janet said. It's totally plant indulgent, so I only prepared this once for our 2011 Plant-strong Superbowl Party, but it is so on the menu for the next one (can't wait!).

Mama Pea's Vegan Ceviche
I happened upon this simple, outstanding recipe over the summer and made it more than a few times. The hearts of palm, avocado, cucumber, tomato, red onion and red pepper all dressed up with lime juice, salt and pepper give me a foodgasm. Sorry if that's too graphic for you.

Appetite for Reduction's Buffalo Tempeh Wraps
Full disclosure, my business partner Chris-anna doesn't like these (it's the raw onion in the dressing). But everyone else loves them, including me! So if raw onion doesn't send you packing, and you like that Buffalo hot sauce flavor, run to the grocery store and get the ingredients for these. The combination of cool crunch from the creamy slaw and signature hot sauce heat from the Buffalo Tempeh will cause you to dream about these wraps.

Also, check out these fabulous and famous HGK 2011 posts:

The Big List of No-oil Salad Dressings

The Big List of Green Smoothies

What were some of your favorite recipes of 2011?

And the Winner of Everyday Happy Herbivore is . . .

2011-12-29T19:37:00.000-05:00

Comment #14

Congratulations Quiltspinner!

"My four kids and spouses have mostly decided to eat plant based. It is very exciting. They all contribute plant strong dishes. When traveling we try to eat Asian, or Mexican because we can always get a meatless meal. The fat content can be high but I think flexibility not rigidity is the key to all things in life. We eat very well at home, and if while traveling, we have to eat white flour, rice, or a little extra fat a meal, oh well. Over all our diet is excellent and can take handle a diversion once in a while. When I have allowed myself a chocolate treat or piece of pie for my birthday or Thanksgiving I do not feel well. So there is no likelihood that I will revert to old ways."

Quiltspinner, please contact me at healthygirlskitchen@gmail.com to claim your prize!

And everyone, please check back here tomorrow for the posting that I have been slaving over for a week:

When in Doubt, Go to the Local Farmer's Market

2011-12-29T05:30:00.003-05:00

If you haven't already, don't miss out on the Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook giveaway. Contest ends tonight at 6 pm.

This year, I'm doing more home cooking than I ever have on our annual vacation. I try to make it fun for myself, planning ahead what I want to make and organizing the recipes (which was pretty easy considering I wanted to give a whole bunch of Lindsay Nixon's recipes a try). And I try to make it enjoyable for the people that I'm with, feeding them good healthy food that they have never tried before.

Last winter I saw signs on the side of the road for a Marco Island Farmer's Market. We didn't go, but the image of those signs really stuck out in my brain. So this trip, it made it onto my "must do" list. When you eat a lot of fruits and veggies, farmer's markets can become a regular and welcome part of your life.

This market did not disappoint: plenty of vendors, a wide open space and a nice variety of products.

There were greens I had never heard of; Kumasuna and Mizuna mixed in with the Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, Dandelion Greens, Broccoli Raab and Mustard Greens.

Along with the standard Plant-weak fare. These were shocking.

Bananas at the farmer's market? Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!

Strawberries in December? Hold onto your seat belts!

Gorgeous, red, plump tomatoes everywhere, but not an apple in sight. And all of the produce was much less expensive than anything I could get at my Farmer's Market in Cleveland.

Beautiful bags of homemade pasta in a variety of flavors and grains.

I took home a fettuccine made of emmer, a whole grain that I am not familiar with,

but looking forward to trying . . .

and some seriously great oat bars made with dried fruit and nuts. The Nut Man said they were less than 75 calories per bar, which is very low for a bar like this. I think I'd like the recipe!

Have you done anything fun, new or experimental this week? Are you working or are you chillaxing in your pjs?

Check back tomorrow for the winner of the giveaway and again on Friday for HGK's best recipes of 2011 post!

Giveaway! Travelling, Eating and the Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook Giveaway

2011-12-27T08:29:00.003-05:00

Greetings from Marco Island, Florida! Thanks to everyone who left holiday wishes on HGK. It really meant a lot to me.
Thanks to my genergous in-laws, my family and I are on our annual beach paradise vacation, escaping the frigid cold of Cleveland for one short week and a half.

As we all know, when it comes to eating, travelling can be quite challenging for the Plant-strong. The food on this island paradise is predominantly fried, so I've got my work cut out for me. Luckily, we stay in a condo on the beach with a full (well, pretty basic as far as the utensils and appliances go) kitchen. I can cook as much as I want, assuming I can get the ingredients that I want to cook with. And my kind in-laws even schlepped down a decent blender for me so that I wouldn't have to miss my VitaMix too much.

Last month I was contacted by Lindsay Nixon's peeps and asked to do a review and giveaway of her newest cookbook, Everyday Happy Herbivore. I didn't get a chance to do it before we left town because the end of the year is so crazy for me at work, so I decided that the best thing to do would be to try out Lindsay's newest recipes from Florida.

So here I am, testing recipes, taking walks on the beach, grocery shopping, fooling around on Pinterest, playing tennis, finding new and cool things to do on HGK in 2012 and otherwise enjoying my downtime.

So far, I have prepared Lindsay's Fiesta Bake, Chickpea Tikka Masala and Teriyaki Rice. All three recipes were quick, easy and very tasty, just like the book promises. My husband and the adults in the extended family all really enjoyed the Fiesta Bake for lunch on Saturday. And today for lunch, my 12 year old daughter, husband and I loved the Chickpea Tikka Masala.

My only criticism would be that they could all use more vegetables, but in a way, that's how the recipes are all prepared very quickly. There's no time spend chopping onions or garlic because Lindsay's recipes call for onion powder and garlic powder.

So if you just don't love to cook or are looking for fast and filling Vegan recipes for weeknight meals, look no further than Everyday Happy Herbivore.

And one lucky HGK reader will win a free copy. Just leave a comment here with the answer to one of the following questions:

How are you staying Plant-strong this holiday season?
or
How do you stay Plant-strong when you are on vacation/travelling?
or
What are your biggest obstacles when it comes to remaining Plant-strong when on vacation/travelling?

One winner will be chosen at random on Thursday, December 29th at 6 pm EST.

HGK's Easy Choco Pumpkin Mousse

2011-12-25T12:04:00.004-05:00

Are you planning any more holiday entertaining this year? New Year's Eve perhaps? Looking for that perfect dessert that will wow your loved ones and keep you feeling like you didn't veer off course?

This is it. My Choco Pumpkin Mousse is a wonderful ending for a holiday meal when you don't want to overindulge, but still want to feel like you've had a sweet treat. Serve it in very small cups or shot glasses for a rockin' presentation that just might shock and amaze your guests. All the while keeping the portion reasonable both satisfy your sweet tooth while remaining guilt free.

Super easy to make. It's really a simple dessert that will keep, so making it ahead when you have so much else going on decreases your stress level.

HGK's Choco Pumpkin Mousse
makes 12 servings

Printable Recipe

6 large Medjool dates
1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk
2 cups vegan chocolate chips
2 12 oz. boxes Mori Nu Extra Firm Silken Tofu, water poured out
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree

Soak dates in unsweetened chocolate almond milk until dates are soft.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave in a microwave safe bowl. It took my microwave 2 minutes on high power to do this. Stir chocolate and transfer to a food processor or high powered blender.

Place soaked dates and all liquid, plus the rest of the ingredients, into food processor or blender. Blend until creamy. Your mousse is ready! Immediately transfer to one large bowl or individual serving cups and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cashew Cream

1/2 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup (3 large Medjool) dates, pitted
1/2 tsp vanilla

Place all ingredients into a high powered blender and blend, tamping down, until smooth.

What are your plans this week? Do they involve celebrating with food?

{happy holidays!}

2011-12-24T06:36:00.000-05:00

To Each and Every Reader of HGK,

In this time of celebration and relaxation, friends and family, love and light . . .

Merry Christmas!

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Kwanzaa!

Happy Festivus!

My the warmth and peace of the season be yours.

We are all on this journey together.
With deep appreciation,
Wendy

What Should Have Been Cilantro Jalapeno Zucchini Pancakes with Chipotle Sour Cream

2011-12-22T07:17:00.002-05:00

I was inspired to make this dish after posting my Links for Latkas last Friday. I wanted to see if you could take the deliciousness of a potato pancake and turn it on its head. Eliminate the frying. Up the veggie quotient. It wasn't too big of a stretch.

Plus, I happened to have a lot of zucchini in my refrigerator that I needed to use up a.s.a.p.

So as the snow fell outside, I was comfortably warm cooking up my own storm this past Saturday morning. I knew I would be serving this dish that evening to my newish next door neighbors. The neighbors where the wife is the phenomenal cook.

The pressure was on.

I thought I would do something really creative and make a casserole out of the pancake ingredients. A kugel if you will.

It worked, but while the resulting dish was delicious, I know that it could have been so much better, although more time consuming, if I had just stuck with straight up pancakes. The casserole lacked the crispiness on all sides that I was craving, so I carefully cut the entire tray into small squares and rebaked all of the pieces.

Luckily, it worked. But you don't need to go through all that hassle. Just make the pancakes from the start!

I'm not sure you'd want to attempt these without the magic of a food processor, but if you've got the muscle (or need a good workout), go right ahead.

Cilantro Jalapeno Zucchini Pancakes with Chipotle Sour Cream
adapted from this recipe

Printable Recipe

1 Tbsp EnerG Egg Replacer
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 pounds zucchini, shredded
1 pound peeled baking potato, shredded
1 small onion (mine was 7 ounces), shredded
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp chopped chipotle chili, canned in adobo sauce
scant 2 Tbsp finely chopped, seeded jalapeno pepper
2 tsp cumin
4 thinly sliced scallions (mine were on the small side)
1 tsp salt
12 Tbsp garbanzo bean flour

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together EnerG Egg Replacer and water.

In a very large bowl, place all ingredients, including egg replacer/water mixture. Stir well to combine ingredients thoroughly.
Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Drop 1/4 cupfuls of the batter onto the hot skillet and press each mound into a 3-inch pancake. Cook the pancakes until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer the latkes to a baking tray and put in the oven to keep warm.

Repeat with the remaining batter. Optional: serve topped with Chipotle Sour Cream.

Chipotle Sour Cream
Not exactly health food, but vegan. Outstanding.

1 12 ounce container Tofutti Sour Cream
2 Tbsp chopped chipotle chili, canned in adobo sauce
Zest of 1 large lime
Juice of 1 large lime

Place all ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

These would also make outstanding Vegan appetizers for a party. Just use a tablespoon full of batter as you make the pancakes instead of 1/4 cup. Arrange on a platter and keep warm in the oven. Dollop a bit of the Chipotle Sour Cream on right before serving.

Braised Celery with Tomatoes, Olives and Capers

2011-12-21T06:39:00.004-05:00

I am a huge fan of capers.

Celery, not so much.

But because I am frequently participating in a CSA or organic vegetable share, I often find myself with loads of celery. I discovered this very light, yet very filling, dinner or lunch recipe that is so entirely delicious you could even serve it to guests on a holiday buffet (see how red and green it is?).

When I first started making this in March 2010, I was still using a little butter and olive oil in my cooking. But that was before I heard Dr. Esselstyn speak.

This updated version is made with no added fat, and I promise, if you don't like celery, you will become a fan after trying this.

Braised Celery with Tomatoes, Olives and Capers
serves 6

Printable Recipe

vegetable stock for sauteing
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large bunches celery (about 3.5 pounds), washed, trimmed and cut into 2" lengths
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 Tbsp flour
2 1/4 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbsp drained capers
1 1/2 cups pitted and sliced black olives
1 28 ounce or 2 14 ounce cans low sodium diced tomatoes
optional: 8 ounces whole wheat pasta, precooked

Place a dutch oven or stock pot onto medium high heat. Coat the bottom of the pot in vegetable broth. When broth is bubbling, add onions and stir. Let cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add celery and stir. Season with salt (or not) and pepper. Sprinkle with flour, stir, and let cook for 2 more minutes.

Add vegetable broth, bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. Add capers, olives and diced tomatoes and stir. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover, raise heat a bit, and let simmer for 30 minutes or until the liquid is thickened, stirring occasionally.

Optional: Before serving, add cooked whole wheat pasta and stir.

This is so phenomenal, I think I'm going to be eating the leftovers for breakfast.

Portion Control, Schmortion Control

2011-12-20T06:41:00.000-05:00

This article, by Jackie Wicks, founder of PEERtrainer, was so great, I had to share it with all of you! And thank you to our peeps at PEERtrainer for allowing their articles to be republished.

Why Portion Control May Be Keeping You Fat

A Contrarian Take On The Most Popular Weight Loss Technique Of All Time

Decemeber 15th, 2011

Portion control may be keeping you fat.

If you are like most people, you are probably thinking "no, it is all the extra food I am eating that is keeping me fat."

Well, maybe. But I want to share with you the reasons for my controversial assertion.

First of all, it needs to be said that portion control is a critically important tool. Of course we want to keep an eye on calories, and for people just starting the weight loss process portion control is something people must learn and even master.

However, the problem with portion control is that people most often use it as their primary weight loss strategy. Because life is busy and most of us have a limited amount of things we can focus on, it often becomes the ONLY strategy that people use.

This is the simple reality of things.

We may know darn well that we need to eat more vegetables and more fiber. Likely there is a whole list of things we "should" be doing. But getting to work and doing all the things you need to be doing likely trumps those "shoulds."

So we are left with a strategy that most of us have been taught-- and one that is not working to well based on every statistic available.

And it is getting worse.

So why are we SO focused on something that is not working? Probably because it sounds so "reasonable" and "sensible." Arguing with portion control is like questioning cooking advice from Martha Stuart.

It is also the advice we are likely to hear from our doctors, as well as those who teach the doctors.

There are a lot of ways that we get programmed as individuals and as a society, and this is definitely one.

I'd like to argue that not only is the singular focus on portion control not the answer, but it is likely a root of many of our nutrition problems.

Not only does it promote the idea that any food is fine as long as it is eaten in limited quantities- but in my experience building and running PEERtrainer, portion control actually discourages people from eating the best foods in beneficial enough quantities.

Vegetables are a CLASSIC example of this. I work directly with a lot of people, and one thing I have gotten very good at is troubleshooting. When people share their logs with me, I can see a pattern very quickly.

Many people obviously do not get enough vegetables. But when I probe into this and work to identify the "why" I often see that people are eating several portions of vegetables- but that they are portion controlling the vegetables!!

Talk about a WTF moment. It is one that I experience so often it is not funny. But the good news is that once I make this observation, and tell people to go NUTS with the vegetables, most make this adjustment with an astonishing degree of success.

These people just need a small amount of reprogramming!

On the flip side, people are portion controlling a lot of junk, thinking that is is a "reasonable" strategy. Foods that are high in sugar, low in micronutrients and that often create reactions which throws your system out of whack

For some people, a small amount of wheat, dairy or eggs can have a big and negative impact. It doesn't matter what the portion of those foods are. They can cause reactions.

Additionally, people portion control meat and animal protein. Now, based on all the available science, as well as the interpretation of the available research, we hear that we need to keep meat consumption to roughly 10% of calories.

However, this does not take into account any difference in the quality of the meat source. Would it sound reasonable to you to suggest that a serving of poached Wild Salmon is probably better for you than a hot dog?

Might it also sound reasonable that regardless of calorie content, you want to avoid the hot dog and that no portion is acceptable? So often it seems that we are given "rules" to follow, and that we often follow them blindly without applying a little common sense.

Fiber and fat are great example of this. A very popular weight loss concept has been to increase fiber and reduce fat. I don't need to point out who has made that popular. Formulas are created that essentially says that all fiber is good, and all fat is bad. But a little common sense helps us quickly understand that there are certain fats that are good.

Conversely, there are certain sources of fiber which probably are not that great for you, regardless of the portion size. In conclusion, I hope to have made a fairly easy to understand argument here. For those of you who are struggling with weight loss resistance, think about some of this.

And please share your feedback and questions. What has been your experience in this area? Please leave a comment below!

This information is provided by PEERtrainer.com, the web's leading weight loss community and resource for long term, healthy weight loss success. To sign up for free daily weight loss and motivation tips and more visit http://www.peertrainer.com.

Love, Loss and Zucchini Muffins

2011-12-18T15:16:00.001-05:00

We had an awful night last night. Our dear pet rat Miso died unexpectedly. We loved her very much.

It's hard for me to get excited about anything right now. But I had a lot of leftover zucchini in my fridge (from a recipe for zucchini pancakes that is soon to be posted) and as soon as I saw Debby's blog posting of her family's Top Ten Holiday Weekend Dishes I knew just what I was going to do with those zucchini.

My kids have been making zucchini bread with their Great Grandma Dora and now their Great Aunt Viv since the day they were born (well, almost). So naturally, I was a little nervous wondering just how they were going to react to a veganized recipe with 100% whole wheat flour and succanat. But I had nothing to be worried about. The muffins were a major hit!

I made four dozen and the kids delivered care packages to the neighbors. Usually I am worried about gifting healthyish food like this, but I don't think I have anything to worry about with these.

Kid Tested, Kid Approved Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
adapted from a recipe from Happy Healthy Long Life

Printable Recipe

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup soy milk (regular, not lite) or almond milk
3/4 cup applesauce + more if batter is too dry
1 cup organic organic succanat
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
2/3 cup good quality vegan chocolate chips
For egg substitute: mix 1 TBS of flax meal + 3 TBS of water--set aside
optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda & cinnamon.

In a medium bowl stir together nut milk, applesauce, succanat, vanilla, & flax/water mixture.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture & stir until just combined.

Fold in the shredded zucchini, chocolate chips, & optional walnuts.

Divide batter equally into 12 cup muffin pan lined with cupcake papers. Bake for 25 minutes.

Let cool completely and transfer to zip lock baggies to retain the moisture. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Have you veganized/healified any long standing family favorites? How did your family react?

Links for Latkas

2011-12-16T07:18:00.003-05:00

For all of us celebrating Hannukah, and even for those of us who just have a love of potato pancakes, the internet is buzzing right now with healtier/veganized recipes of latkas. I thought I would provide you with a few links to get you started, in case you were wondering what the heck you were going to do this year while your family was chowing down on those greasy mofos.

And speaking of those greasy potato pancakes, I've got a sad story to tell you. Chris-anna, my friend, business partner and frequent contributor to HGK, decided to partake in 3 of said greasy mofos last year at a Hannukah party after having eaten mostly no-oil, vegan, nutritarian food for over a year. And this is a chick who loves her french fries.

Within 15 minutes she was laid up in her bed for the rest of the day with what we now affectionately call "the latka induced migraine."

Don't go there folks. Make these instead:

Carrot Parsnip Pancakes

Melody Pakow's Healthy Latkas

Ann Parkin's No-oil Latkas

The Shannon's Baked Latkas

Scallion Ginger Latkas

I know what you are thinking. The whole purpose of eating fried latkas on Hanukkah is to commemorate the miracle of the burning of the OIL in the temple for eight days. But you know what, I can celebrate in other ways, and I'll feel a whole lot better for it.

Traditional latkas are made with potatoes and onions, but I love a pancake made with any root vegetable and there are lots of creative combinations out there. Do you have another vegan, baked latka recipe to contribute to the list? Please leave any ideas in the comments section. Thanks!

For a complete listing of ideas for a vegan Hannukah menu, see this post from Marla Rose.

Fuhrman v. McDougall v. Esselstyn on What's The Healthiest Plant Based Diet?

2011-12-14T07:26:00.000-05:00

This discussion is interesting and I learned so much that I just had to share it with all of you!

The main point that I understand now is that Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live recommendation of 1 cup of starchy grain, potato or squash is intended for people who want to lose weight. If weight loss is not in your plans right now, eating a nutrient rich, plant based diet with more starchy grains, potatoes and/or squashes would be fine. It's about the calorie deficit created when a person loads themselves with veggies and avoids higher calorie foods.

And, of course, the starchy plant foods are not as nutrient dense as the other plant foods like greens, so your health will ultimately benefit much more from filling your stomach with those rather than, let's say, acorn squash.

But McDougall's argument that the less starchy diet is unsustainable is a very interesting one. I really need to think about what he is saying in my own history of eating this way. I think he may have a point. I know that ideally, I would like to be able to eat as close to E2L as possible and remain at my lowest weight. But that has been impossible for me and I find myself gravitating toward eating starchy grains and squashes with every lunch and dinner. Over time, my weight has crept up a little. So this video has shed light on why this has happened to me. If I want to lose a little weight, I could go much lighter on the starches. Like that old cliche, it's not rocket science!

But it might be pointless if it's unsustainable.

What has your experience and history been with maintaining weight loss on a plant based diet?

Rich and Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Spinach and It's Official! Binge Eating Disorder Recognized by the APA

2011-12-13T05:54:00.005-05:00

This year is the first year that I haven't stopped going to our local farmer's market as soon as the weather turned cold. A few weeks ago I picked up a gigantic butternut squash not sure what I was going to do with it.

A lot of ideas came together to inspire the soup that resulted. A butternut squash soup recipe from Thrive Foods by Brendan Brazier, The Healthy Librarian's faux coconut milk, the spinach in my fridge that I wanted to use up, and my sheer love of anything with curry powder.

The results were fantastic. So rich and creamy and soul satisfying for such an easy recipe.

HGK's Rich and Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Spinach

serves 8

Printable Recipe

5 pounds whole butternut squash

6 cups unsweetened almond milk

2 Tbsp coconut extract

1 tsp curry powder

2 cups vegetable broth

fresh baby spinach

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Cut off the ends of the squash and discard. Cut squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Place halved squash, cut side down, on lined tray. Roast squash in oven for about 1 hour until largest squash is soft throughout.

Let squash cool so that you can handle it. Remove all of the flesh from the squash and place it into a large dutch oven or soup pot. Add almond milk, coconut extract, vegetable broth and curry powder. Over medium-high heat, bring mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally until heated through.

Turn heat to low. Using an immersion blender, process soup until smooth.

Add handfuls of fresh baby spinach and stir. Add more spinach until soup reaches the proportion of soup to spinach that you like.

Taste. Add salt (or not) and more curry powder (to taste). Thin with vegetable broth if consistency us to thick for your taste.

Next up on my winter squash to experiment with list? Delicata. Got some at the Farmer's Market this week and wondering what to do with it. Do you have any ideas?

I also want to point out this very interesting article on binge eating disorder. It brings up a lot of excellent points like the linkage between "dieting" (not to be confused with healthy eating) and binge eating, which is an idea that completely rings true for me. It also points out that "The APA [American Psychiatric Association] will include BED [binge eating disorder] as a separate disorder in the fifth edition of its “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” referred to as the DSM-V.

Oh great, dieting made me crazy. Certifiably so.

Thoughts?

Jill’s story: Packaged and Processed to Plant-strong

2011-12-12T06:48:00.001-05:00

When I first started blogging (almost 2 years ago--oh my!) I regularly posted stories from friends and acquaintences that had their own food journeys. Today I want to share with you one of those stories.

It wasn't that long ago that Jill and I were excitedly talking about roasting our own beets. It was early on in our plant based eating lives and we were both amazed at how you could prepare beets in some way other than popping open a jar.

Today Jill is becoming a regular contributor to Healthy Girl's Kitchen with her recipes for Roasted Swiss Peas with Swiss Chard and Smashing Black Beans.

We've come a long way baby!

Here is Jill’s story…

Packaged and Processed to Plant-strong

I never cooked as a kid. In college, I survived on Ramen noodles and pizza with extra sauce and extra cheese. When I was in my twenties, I lived in a small apartment, with a small kitchen and an even smaller closet. The closet part--THAT was the real problem. The oven served as great storage space for my sweaters. Really.

One time, a guy I was dating offered to make me dinner in my apartment. He was a chef and wanted to know what kitchen equipment he should bring over my place so he could make us dinner. He asked if I had a broiling pan. Was he speaking Swahili? “A broiling pan, what’s that?” That relationship didn’t make it through dessert.

When I met my boyfriend (who moved in with me and who eventually became my husband), there was no space for his clothes. More importantly, there was no more room for my shoes. Time to move. We bought a big house, with a big kitchen and an even bigger closet. I had no excuse to use my oven for sweater storage anymore, but I still didn’t cook. Luckily, my husband wasn’t the type that demanded a home cooked meal each night (or any night, for that matter). If he was, he probably wouldn’t have become my husband. Our main course for dinner was usually Lucky Charms. Dessert was Cocoa Puffs.

Marinating: The Gateway Cooking Technique

Looking to expand my repertoire of cooking skills, which was limited to pouring milk into a cereal bowl, I hosted a potluck dinner with my girlfriends and their spouses. I called my mom and asked for a recipe; I wanted “The Sure Thing”. Incidentally, I once called my mom and asked her how to cut lettuce. My mom gave me her marinated shrimp recipe. Easy, no cooking involved, just marinating. The best part was arranging the shrimp to look pretty on a bed of that purple lettuce stuff used only as a decorative garnish. Turns out that the decorative stuff was edible! It was kale and Swiss chard— staples of my current diet!

After my marinating experience, I moved on to other cooking techniques. Baked boneless chicken breasts coated with Frosted Flakes were my specialty. Cooking was fun! Experimenting was fun. The more I cooked, the easier it became. I used to read and follow recipes verbatim-- afraid I might mess up. Over time, I got brave and playful with cooking. I took cooking classes, including an Indian cooking class and fell in love with Indian flavors like curry, garam masala, cumin and cardamom. I used my food processor, substituted spices, and added brown sugar-- to everything (except cereal). I boiled eggs, roasted turkey, poached chicken, barbecued brisket, simmered soup and made meringue. I used blenders and mixers and whisks. Oh my!

My inspiration grew even more once I had kids. No longer afraid of cooking or using my kitchen equipment, coupled with a desire to give my kids healthy meals not Happy Meals, I poured through recipes and cookbooks obsessively; I still used butter, oil and white flour, albeit moderately. Eventually, I stopped adding brown sugar to everything.

My kids, like most, were picky, unadventurous eaters. I remember hearing that children must try vegetables fifteen times before acquiring a taste for them. Fifteen tries of broccoli later, there was still no love connection. I figured that chocolate made everything better, so I steamed broccoli and let them dip it in Hershey syrup.

I’ll have what he’s having.

My husband gets the credit for propelling our eating style into the plant strong world. He went to a lecture that Dr. Esselstyn gave on the importance of eating a plant-based, oil-free diet and was inspired to change. I, however, was worried about how this change would affect our lives. Would we still go out to restaurants? Would our friends invite us over for dinner anymore? Would we become the “difficult” couple? What would I make for dinner? Would we eat beans five nights a week? Would we have the worst gas? Eliminating dairy, meat and oil would be a huge challenge. Was I afraid? Yep, but I embraced the challenge. To my delight, I loved the food, the creative cooking, and most importantly, how my body felt! Even my skin looked better.

We’ve come a long way. Now my kids crave Brussels sprouts, kale, artichokes, zucchini, cauliflower and broccoli—minus the Hershey syrup. I don’t believe in sneaking vegetables in dishes to disguise them. Let the green goodness glow! I make green smoothies regularly, chock full of spinach or kale. For the first month, my kids were grossed out. Now, they request them, even when their friends come over—a sure sign that they think they’re cool.

I practice a plant strong diet. Like my yoga teacher says (about yoga), it’s a practice, not a “perfect”. I still enjoy a good bowl of Life cereal every now and then, just with almond milk.

Does your story have anything in common with Jill's journey to a Plant-strong diet? Do you have your own journey to a plant based diet story that you would like to share? I'd love to publish it here on HGK. Please send submissions to healthygirlskitchen@gmail.com.

The Most Important Question You Can Ask Yourself

2011-12-09T05:57:00.001-05:00

The most important question you can ask yourself when you are hungry or want to eat

is not "What am I in the mood for?"

but rather

"How do I want to feel?"

If you start asking yourself that when you are hungry, it's a game changer.

Do I want to feel energized?

Do I want to feel sluggish?

Do I want to feel comfortably satiated?

Do I want to feel overly full?

Do I want to feel constipated?

Do I want to feel good in my clothes?

Do I want to feel mad?

Do I want to feel happy?

If you can change the question you ask yourself when you are hungry, you have the power to change everything.

How do you want to feel?

Have a great weekend everybody!

Cranberry Dressing-is it for salad or dessert? and an HGK Soup in the News

2011-12-06T21:02:00.002-05:00

Wow, I am totally blown away by your response to my last post. Your appreciation for my work here on HGK and your thoughtful suggestions for newcomers are deeply meaningful to me. Thank you for taking the time to leave comments, I know how busy we all are in this day and age and I want you to know how grateful I am to all of you.

Today I just wanted to share with you something that I have really been enjoying lately. It's a fresh cranberry based no-oil vinaigrette and salad that I made after being inspired by this recipe from the blog Choosing Raw. Since I have quite a few fresh cranberries sitting around in my fridge since Thanksgiving, it looked like a recipe I needed to do an HGK riff on.
What's in this baby? Green leaf lettuce, roasted beets, red cabbage,garbanzo beans, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts and this fabulous, sweet cranberry vinaigrette. When I am craving something sweet, I totally dig this salad!

Fresh Cranberry Vinaigrette
makes approximately 2 1/2 cups

Printable Recipe

1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries
1 Tbsp orange juice concentrate
½ cup water
¼ cup raw cashews
1 whole orange with peel removed but seeds intact
¼ cup vinegar (I used Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar)
4 pitted dates
dash of salt, or not

Blend all ingredients on high speed till smooth.
Feel free to adjust the ingredients to your taste: more cranberries for tartness, orange juice concentrate or dates for sweetness.

A big shout out and thank you goes to Your Teen Magazine for being the first magazine ever to publish an HGK recipe! They chose a Leban-easy Lemony Lentils recipe by none other than HGK contributor Chris-Anna.

Chris-Anna's Soup-er Lebon-easy Lemony Lentils

serves 8

Printable Recipe

1 cup rinsed lentils with any debris removed

8 cups low sodium vegetable broth or water

4 cups white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/5" cubes

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

8 garlic cloves

4 cups Swiss chard, chopped, including stems

1 cup tomatoes, diced

1 cup curly parsley, chopped

pepper to taste

Bring water or stock to a boil in a large pot. Add lentils.

While lentils are cooking, peel and dice potatoes. Add potatoes and lemon juice and turn heat to medium low.

Peel garlic cloves and crush garlic into pot with a garlic press. Add diced tomatoes and chopped Swiss chard and stir.

Turn heat to high. When soup is almost boiling, turn heat down to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 25 minutes or until lentils are soft.

Add parsley, stir and simmer for 5 additional minutes.

Taste. Add more lemon juice if necessary and pepper.

So You Just Read Eat to Live and (Fill in the Blank)

2011-12-05T07:51:00.001-05:00

You are excited?

Overwhelmed?

Don't know where to begin?

I received the following message just a few days ago, "HELP, Just starting today. I just finished reading Dr. Fuhrman's book, Eat to Live. Kind of overwhelmed! :( I want o be healthy and lose all my weight! Ugh."

Stop. Take a deep breath. The worst thing anyone can do is to let their feelings of being overwhelmed (which are real and totally legitimate) prevent them from making positive changes in their diet.

Know that real change does not happen in a day. It is a process, one that will take years to go through, if you are successful.

The unsuccessful ones give up and go back to their old diet somewhere along the way. The successful ones are always learning, always tweaking, always changing. You know that cliche "It's a journey, not a destination?" Well, that applies very well here.

It seems like you are very much into learning, as evidenced by how much you have already read. (I went on to find out that our questioner also wrote this, "I have been on a reading everything I can get my hands on journey. Just finished Dr. Fuhrman's book Eat to Live. I have read Engine 2 and The China Study (well, most of it) I have also seen multiple documentaries. I have tried so many diets, and I never stay committed. I am sure this is the healthie…") I commend you on that, because not everyone is willing to put in the time to educate themselves about the health effects of diet. So give yourself a whole lotta credit!

You will be healthy and achieve a healthy weight. It isn't going to happen quickly. You could go on any one of a gazillion fad diets and lose weight quickly. There is no secret to fast weight loss. Just starve yourself (essentially) and drink SlimFast for two meals a day. I guarantee you will get thinner fast.

But could you drink SlimFast shakes for the rest of your life? Would you maintain your weight loss when you went back to eating your regular old diet?

Would you have boundless energy every day?

Would you be healthy?

I hope you are still reading. The following is a list of steps that you can take in this journey. You do not need to take them all today. Pick one. Follow through with it, then pick another. Pretty soon you will be comfortable in your new and improved lifestyle.

1. Give yourself credit for each and every thing that you do "right" from here forward. Say to yourself, "Self, you are fabulous for reading Eat to Live and understanding that diet has a major effect on health. Most people either don't know that or don't want to know that. You are now way ahead of the game!" There is no undervaluing the feeling of positive emotion and energy. Happiness will take you a long way.

2. Collect and read books on this subject. I see you are already doing that. I know the way you feel-that Eat to Live is the healthiest of all of the related diets. But I want to impress upon you that many other doctors and whole-food diet proponents have a lot to add to this conversation. For example, I learned how to really read a nutrition label on packaged food from Rip Esselstyn's Engine 2 Diet. I didn't get that from Eat to Live. Every one of these great people has a lot to teach us. Plus, each book has a variety of recipes in the back which will be very helpful as you change you way of eating.

Here is a list of books that I highly recommend:
The Beck Diet Solution by Dr. Judith S. Beck
Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman
Super Immunity by Dr. Joel Fuhrman
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell
Breaking the Food Seduction by Dr. Neal Barnard
The Idiot's Guide to Plant Based Nutrition by Julieanna Hever

And that doesn't include all of the cookbooks that I love! Want to shop for books and help support this blog? Click here.

3. Start thinking about what you are going to eat in terms of what vegetables are going to be the stars of your meal. I'm pretty sure that the typical American thinks, "I'm going to have chicken tonight, what will I make to go with that?" Instead, we Nutritarians think of all meals this way, "I'm going to have Swiss Chard for dinner. How will I prepare it?" Makes a big difference!

4. All of the new recipes overwhelming you? Just focus on salads! Dr. Fuhrman has this expression, "The salad is the meal." And that's great, because I'm sure you know how to make a salad. You just need a bunch of no-oil dressing recipes, right? Well, the community at Healthy Girl's Kitchen has that all set for you right here in our Big List of No-oil Salad Dressings.

5. Save the heavier, more creative cooking for the weekend. That's when most of us have the time to prepare really great tasting stuff. I recommend making at least one big pot of soup or stew every weekend that you can enjoy all week. You will have incredible soups, stews and plant-strong side dishes to go with your main course (the salad). You can even freeze portions of soup and over time you will be able to eat a variety of soups and stews throughout the week.

Need plenty of soup options? Look no further than here. My personal favorite to start out with is this recipe for Energy Soup. It's a magical weight loss tool.

6. Clean our your fridge, freezer and pantry. Take a day to really clean our your kitchen. You may have to do this more than once over many, many months. Junk has a way of creeping back in. Read more about this process here.

7. Plan a trip to your local farmer's market. If you haven't been to a Farmer's Market before, you have a lot of fun in store for you. I try to go once a week. It's not necessary to shop for vegetables this way, but it's a pleasure.

There is a lot more I could say on this topic, so I just might have to write a Part II.

What are your suggestions for overwhelmed newcomers to a Nutritarian/ Plant-strong diet? Please share them in the comments section.

Under Pressure

2011-12-02T07:12:00.009-05:00

Happy Friday Folks!

Today I'd like to introduce you to my friend Jill again. She's the brilliant and wonderful creator of two recent recipes here on HGK, Roasted Swiss Peas with Swiss Chard and Jill's Smashing Black Beans.

Jill is one of my friends that I feel comfortable with spending a lot of time talking about food. She's got two very active kids and one triathalete husband to feed (you'll find out more about Jill soon, as I've asked her to submit her Plant-strong story), and she is deeply committed to doing that well (read "no fast food" and lotsa home cooked meals).

One thing that has come up a lot in conversation recently is pressure cooking. I myself bought a pressure cooker last spring, but haven't even had the time to blog about it! So I've asked Jill to help me out on this one. Here's what she has to say . . .

Under Pressure

By Jill K

I am in the honeymoon phase with my pressure cooker. Granted, we've only been together about a month. After almost a year of practicing a plant strong diet (80% of the time) and eating canned beans all the time, I started to wonder whether it would be healthier, tastier and more economical to buy dry beans and cook them from scratch.

I bought dry black beans. It took eight hours to soak the beans and another two hours to cook them until they got tender. Then I still had to season and cook them a bit longer. Were they good? They were delicious! But, I did NOT want 2 1/2 hours of my day to consist of bean making.

My good friend Erica, from Brazil, turned me onto the pressure cooker. She said that beans are a staple food in her culture, and that everyone there cooks them in a pressure cooker. She never uses canned beans. Then she made me a batch of her pinto beans. Wow, they were outstanding!

I started researching PC's and was actually pretty scared to get one because I read about how they can be dangerous and how they used to explode 20 years ago. They are much safer nowadays, by the way. I also wondered if it would eventually be banished to my island of un-used kitchen appliances, like my slow cooker and my bread maker.

I bought the Kuhn Rikon Duromatic model from Sur La Table and love it! It is not hard to use, and it is completely safe, (assuming you follow the directions). I have made beans in it multiple times. Two nights ago, I made black beans. I still soaked them ahead of time, but they cooked perfectly in 25- 30 minutes. The taste blows away the canned varieties. However, in a pinch, I will still use the canned stuff.

I know that I can cook lots of things in it, other than beans but haven't gotten that far yet. I'll let you know how the relationship progresses.

Tip: Instead of draining the liquid when the beans are done, boil gently with the top off to reduce it, and it thickens up nicely.

Thanks Jill! You've inspired me to get my pressure cooker down from the shelf again. I know I'm ready to move on from beans, but I don't quite know what to do next.

Anyone over here using a pressure cooker successfully? What are your favorite things to do with it? Please provide links to your recipes or recipes that you have tried.

Have a superfantastic weekend! Back on Monday with "So You Just Read Eat to Live and (Fill in the Blank)."

US Congress Declares Pizza a Vegetable? Really?

2011-12-01T08:12:00.000-05:00

Thank you SO much for your great response to the last post on Quinny's take on Sri Lankan Kale. In my almost two years of blogging, I have never felt like more of you saw a recipe post and were choosing to make that recipe that night. It was all very exciting! Please let us know if you loved it as much as we did or made any tweaks of your own that you particularly enjoyed. This is a group effort you know!

I'm wondering if you heard something last week about how our representatives in the U.S. Congress have voted to allow pizza to be considered a vegetable in our children's school lunch program?

I was all set to jump on the backlash bandwagon and share with you this priceless video from Saturday Night Live:

But in doing more research about the story to write this blog posting, I discovered that reality has been twisted around, a lot. It's actually pretty complicated, and you can read about what really happened here.

But I still wanted to share the clip from SNL, because laughter is the best medicine.

And it's a great reminder that most information, whether it's coming from your friends or the other camp, is manipulated. Why? Because that gets us interested in a world where information is available everywhere at all times and en mass. So it's our responsibility to get the real story, no matter how bad or funny or embarrassing the original story sounds. It's probably not the truth.

But I still like the Kermit skit. 'Cause even if Congress didn't declare pizza to be a vegetable, they still suck when it comes to making laws about what humans should eat and what should be okay to feed our kids at school.

Have a great day y'all!

Breeding a Nation of Chocoholics? Great.

2011-12-01T08:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, November 30th, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Breeding a Nation of Chocoholics, As Sales Rise, Marketers Try to Make Chocolate an Everyday Snack."

"'We want to get more Godiva into people's mouths more often,' said Lauri Kien Kotcher, chief marketing officer for Godiva and senior vice president of global brand development. 'It's all about chocolate snacks, little chocolate treats. …When those things come, you just keep eating.'"

You can read the full article here.

"Godiva saw it needed to come up with new forms of chocolate for consumers to munch mindlessly, and new places to buy them."

F%#$. That's just what us Americans need. Chocolate pushers finding new ways to encourage us to eat sugar MINDLESSLY.

What's next? Cocaine? Oh wait, sugar's already more addictive than cocaine.

And it's legal.

Quinny's Sri Lankan Kale with Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes

2011-11-29T19:57:00.002-05:00

Amazing response to the last post on the hyper flavoring of processed food. I love it when we get all riled up! I've got another zinger ready to post, but before I did that I wanted to tell you about our dinner this evening.

It all stared with Susan Voisin of Fat Free Vegan's release of her Sri Lankan Kale recipe. My friend and Plant-strong buddy Quinn and I made it and liked it. A lot. But a few short weeks later, Quinn came prancing into my house talking about how she made some key additions to Susan's recipe and really hit it out of the ballpark.

And this is coming from a woman who, 5 years ago when I first met her, considered a bowl of cold cereal dinner and never cooked. Ever. At least that's the story she told.

Based on how she reworked this recipe, I think she was lying.

Holy mother of all good things. This is a keeper.

I decided to double the recipe, 'cause that's how I roll. My husband, daughter and I finished off the entire huge pot in one dinner.

Guess I'll have to make this again next week.

Quinny's Sri Lankan Kale with Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes
serves 2

Printable Recipe

1 med (red or white or yellow) onion, chopped

1-2 hot chili peppers, seeded and chopped OR hot chili flakes to taste

12 oz kale (or other greens), stems removed and thinly sliced

2 med-lg sweet potatoes, cut into approximately 1"cubes

1/4 tsp ground cumin

generous grating black pepper

1/2 cup shredded coconut (I used the partially defatted version)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

juice of 1 lime

salt to taste

In low sodium vegetable broth or water, saute onions and chili peppers/chili pepper flakes until soft. Add cumin and stir.

Add sweet potatoes and cook, stirring frequently, on med high heat until the potatoes begin to soften some, but not turn to mush, approximately 10 minutes.

Add kale and splash of broth, along with black pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted but bright green, approx 5 minutes.

Add coconut, black beans, lime juice and about 1/4 cup of vegetable broth if mix is dry. Heat through. Add salt to taste. Serve immediately and wish you had made more.

Did You Catch 60 Minutes on Sunday Night? The Flavorists and Your Taste Buds

2011-11-28T14:22:00.001-05:00

I'm a lucky blogger. I'm not alone in scouring the world for the newest, the most outrageous, the best and even the worst when it comes to healthy eating. I've got friends and relatives constantly keeping their eyes and ears open for us.

Chris-anna, my business partner and tireless talker of all things health food related, alerted me to a fascinating television segment about natural and artificial flavors in food that aired this past Sunday. And thanks to the magic of the Internet, you can see the segment right here too!

What did Chris have to say about it?

"Last night on 60 Minutes there was a segment on the food industry, specifically how natural and artificial flavors are created. It was CRAZY. I had to e-mail Wendy about it as soon as it was over. It was disturbing and gross.

'Super food tasters' are people that are working to manufacture 'flavors' that are ADDICTIVE. This is their goal. Literally. Literally. It's just so shocking, I have to shake my head and repeat myself.

They want you to eat more and therefore purchase more of all processed food. And these 'natural' and 'artificial' flavors are in each and every processed food sold on every grocery store's shelves. The manufacturer is even very specific about wanting the flavor to dissipate quickly so that you want to put more in your mouth.

The real problem I see is that this industry is manipulating food-like materials and ruining our ability to 'taste' natural food. They know the gold stars are fat, salt and sugar and they over-load these flavors into processed foods.

How can natural food compete with these super-flavored food-like substances?

It gets even more complicated. This wasn't mentioned on this 60 minutes but I'm concerned that the human brain doesn't know what to do with, for example, zero-calorie, super sweet beverages. Maybe this is why people who drink a ton of diet soda continue to gain weight. Our brain thinks we are taking in a sweet drink because it tastes so sweet . . . but then there are no calories. But our body was expecting the calories to come with the taste. So is it possible that our appetites are increased to find those calories? This is potentially a really rough cycle.

Just say NO.

No to frankenfood.

We can re-establish our taste sensitivity to real food. It takes time, but it is so worth it- for now, for the future, for our children, for our planet."

What disturbed me the most? The fact that now that everyone is jumping on the "health food" bandwagon, the flavor manufacturers are trying to make salty tasting food and sweet tasting food that doesn't contain as much salt or sugar as the processed food that everyone is used to eating. Not that this is anything new, really. Sugar substitutes have been around a long, long time and they're not doing anyone any favors.

How about getting us unaddicted to over salted and overly sweet food!!!!???? You know, the way real, natural food tastes? What about that????

I'm pissed.

What about you?

Processed food grosses me out now more than ever.

I can tell you from real life experience that you can stop this terrible cycle. You can "change your taste buds." The old food that you used to eat will taste either ridiculously salty or disgustingly sweet. You won't even believe that you used to eat that stuff.

Have you had a similar experience?

Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins of Heaven

2011-11-28T07:10:00.001-05:00

I hope you all had the most wonderful of Thanksgiving weekends! I want to hear all about them. And thanks to those of you that commented on my short Thanksgiving gratitude post. I really appreciate what you said and want you to know that I am eternally grateful for you too. Thank you for making this blog worth keeping.

Our Thanksgiving holiday was lovely.

Complicated.

Like all holidays are.

I forgot the memory card from my camera at work, so I wasn't able to capture any of the food moments on "film." But that was probably for the best, right? I mean, who wants a food photographer yelling "wait" while everyone is excitedly awaiting digging in?

Also, I was secretly wishing that I had a family entirely composed of no-oil Vegans. One can have dreams, right? Photographs with turkey in the background wouldn't have been my favorite.

I made entirely too much Plant-strong food, and I took copious notes for next year. We'll be eating leftovers for a full week, which is fine by me. Susan Voisin's Green Bean Casserole from Fat Free Vegan was a highlight for everyone involved. Only the teeniest bit of that casserole was left over. It didn't end up looking anything like Susan's pictures, but man was it good. I have to consider making a double batch next time.

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, 'tis the season for leftover cans of pumpkin puree (hooray!). Plus, I have been promising my middle daughter that we would bake muffins for weeks now. Finally the day came when we had nothing pressing to do. The pressure was on.

Our results were outstanding. Award winning. So moist and so delicious, this recipe is going to be my go-to recipe from here forward for kids' birthday parties, new neighbors and get well wishes.

HGK's Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

makes 12 muffins

adapted from recipes by Lindsay S. Nixon from The Happy Herbivore

Printable Recipe

dry ingredients:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup organic sucanat

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

wet ingredients:

2 medium frozen bananas, placed into a bowl and defrosted in a microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes

OR 2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or non-dairy milk of your choice

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

other:

1/2 cup grain sweetened vegan chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Into a big bowl, place all of the dry ingredients. Stir gently to incorporate.

Into a medium bowl, place all wet ingredients. Stir well to incorporate. Use an immersion blender or whisk to blend wet ingredients if you have large banana pieces in your wet ingredients.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir together well, but do not over mix. Incorporate chocolate chips.

Line muffin tins with cupcake papers or spray muffin tin with nonstick spray. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups about 2/3 full.

Bake in the center of your oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one muffin comes out clean. If doubling batch, rotate muffin tins in your oven about halfway through baking cycle to ensure even baking.

Let muffins cool. Do not eat entire batch in one sitting.

What was the highlight of your Thanksgiving weekend?

Thanksgiving-What I am Grateful for Today

2011-11-24T08:18:00.002-05:00

For the (probably) few people who are on your computers today, I want to wish you all a beautiful and meaningful Thanksgiving!

Given this is a blog about food and all, you can imagine that Thanksgiving has a very special place in my heart. It's a big day for us foodies!

So I want to express how grateful I am that I live in a time when food is abundant and that I am fortunate enough to access healthy food. Now that comes with a whole host of other issues, as we all know. But the alternative would be worse.

I will never forget the stories of my grandmother. She was born in Russia and lived in a very poor village. As a child she got a job chewing food for babies. She was hoping that some of the nutrition from the food that touched her tongue would help her live.

So today I am thankful that my family is free to make our home in a place where food is abundant, even with all of the problems and issues that it brings.

And always remember, a holiday is more about the friends and the family, not the food, anyway. For more about cultivating an attitude of gratitude see this Thanksgiving gratitude post from The Healthy Librarian. You'll be so glad you did.

What are you grateful for today?

With lots of love and good wishes,
Wendy

Beck Planning and Fuhrman Challenging

2011-11-22T14:17:00.001-05:00

Did you know that Dr. Fuhrman is running a six-week holiday challenge? Well, he is. Here are the challenge rules:

For the next 6 weeks, promise to…

• Eat at least one large salad every day
• Eat generous amounts of cooked green vegetables, mushrooms, and onions
• Eat beans every day
• Eat at least three fresh fruits every day
• Avoid white flour
• Avoid sugars and artificial sweeteners
• Use oils sparingly

As a benefit of accepting the challenge, you get a FREE six-week Gold Membership to the Dr. Fuhrman website (you can also upgrade a lower level membership for free). Loads of recipes and nutritional and health information free and at your fingertips. Interested in finding out more or signing up? I did! Click here

Which brings me to my next point. Planning.

I haven't talked Beck in quite a while now. For those of you who have read this far and are saying to yourselves, "What the heck is she talking about?" Beck is shorthand for The Beck Diet Solution. You can check it out on Amazon here:

The Beck book, along with a plant-based, no-added-oil diet, pretty much saved my life. One without the other would have been a wash. Which is why Beck reappears on this blog from time to time, in varying degrees. For a while I was hot to trot, talking about Beck every few days. Some of you thought that was too much, and it kinda took the wind out of my sails. But, inevitably, I must talk about Beck again, because, like I said, one without the other doesn't work for me. And some of my dear readers actually ask me to write about it!

So, once again:
Plant-based, no-added-oil diet = for my body
Beck = for my brain

Day 14 of The Beck Diet Solution asks us to write a food plan that includes everything you are going to eat, either in the morning for that day, or in the evening for the next day.

Feeling resistant? That's totally normal.

So let's talk about why planning what we eat is so important for people who suffer from compulsive overeating. For me, it simply comes down to one thing and one thing only. I do too much spontaneous eating. My three meals might be gloriously Nutritarian even by Dr. Fuhrman's exacting standards, but what's not so pretty is the snacking that I do in between meals and even after dinner. And it's that snacking, even on healthy, no-oil, Vegan food that gets me into trouble.

So you can plan what you are going to eat for an entire day. But the key to this having any affect at all is to say to yourself every time you are tempted to go off the plan, "That food is not on my plan so I am not even going to consider eating it." Then walk away.

That builds a resistance muscle.

There are many systems for planning. You could write everything on paper in a notebook. You could use your computer and do it on http://www.peertrainer.com/ or http://www.sparkpeople.com/ or use one of the many smartphone applications for logging your food.

My experience was that this method was extremely powerful for me the first time I tried it. I have tried it since with less positive results, but it was still worthwhile. Because I have committed to the Dr. Fuhrman Six-week Challenge, I thought to myself, "The only way I am ever going to be able to stick to that plan is if I plan and log my food for the day in the morning and then stick to that plan," it seemed like the perfect time to get back into Beck and to go for it!

Wish me luck!

Have you ever tried Beck's planning method? Did you have success? What worked and what didn't? How long did you do it for? Please tell us about it!

If you have never tried it, does it seem like something that you would want to do now that you are aware of it?

FAST! Moroccan Kale with Mushrooms and Apricots and Gratitude

2011-11-21T08:09:00.002-05:00

I didn't want to get out of bed this morning.

It's Monday. My bed is cozy and warm. It's dark outside. I just wanted to go back to sleep and avoid the world and my responsibilities. The lunches to pack (again), the kids to wrangle, the bills to pay.

I needed a boost. So I started to think about a technique I had heard of: upon waking up think of things that you are grateful for.

My kids are healthy. My cat got down from high up in a tree after being chased by a neighbor's dog that got loose.

Getting out of bed got a little easier today.

And now the food.

Don't let the poor quality of this photo fool you! I was home this weekend cooking and I had forgotten my good camera at work. But there was no way I wasn't sharing this recipe with you a.s.a.p. so I used my iphone to capture the moment.

This is great, healthy, FAST, food. So fast that I would even recommend it for a busy weeknight Nutritarian dinner. So delicious that I can recommend you serve it to the most discerning adult Plant-strong dinner guest. And maybe the not-so-plant-strong ones too.

Now that's a recipe to hold on to.

HGK's Moroccan Kale with Mushrooms and Apricots
serves 4 as a main course, 8 as a side dish

Printable Recipe

vegetable broth
1 large onion, diced small
4 small cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (1/2 or even 1 tsp if you like it it hotter)
12 ounces mushrooms, sliced
11 ounce box of prewashed baby kale (available at Whole Foods) or the equivalent of washed and cut greens of any variety (either pre-done or self-prepared)
1 can diced tomatoes, fire-roasted is optional
1/2 cup dried apricots, julienned

Heat a dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat and coat the base of the pot with vegetable broth. When broth is boiling, add onions and stir. Saute onion for 12 minutes, stirring infrequently, adding more broth or adjusting heat to prevent burning.

Add garlic, stir and cook for 3 minutes. Add cinnamon, coriander, cumin and crushed red pepper and stir, scraping bottom of pan. Spices will be toasting as the pan is quite dry.

Lower heat a touch. Add mushrooms and stir well. Add 1/2 cup vegetable broth, stir and cover. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice during that time.

Add kale, tomatoes and apricots. Stir well and cover. Raise heat a bit. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes, depending on the type of greens that you used. Dish is ready when greens are wilted.

Serve with whole grain of your choice.

What are you grateful for?

Curry in a Hurry?

2011-11-18T11:46:00.000-05:00

Have you ever attempted to make one of Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals?

Did it take you 30 minutes?

Not me. It never took me less than an hour.

That's why I have a bit of a pet peeve developing for cookbook authors and recipes that deceive readers in that way. I don't know if they do it intentionally or not, but it seems like it would sure sell cookbooks if you advertised this 30 minute concept.

But I'm calling bull&#!+ on it right now. The following recipe was based on a recipe that was supposed to take less than 30 minutes to cook. Sure, I adapted the recipe to my taste, adding potatoes, and that upped the cooking time 10 minutes. But under no circumstances would the original recipe have been cooked in 30. Sorry.

That said, it's still worth making. Both my 12 (yes 12! had a birthday this week) year old daughter and husband loved it and I'm guinea pigging my business partner today at lunch. I'll let you know what she thinks.

Easy, But Not Quick, Cauliflower Coconut Curry

serves 8

Printable Recipe

2 cups vegetable broth, plus more for sauteing

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 cup carrots, diced

1/4 cup curry powder (sweet or hot, to taste)

4 cups medium diced boiling potatoes

2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes, fire roasted if possible

1 cauliflower head, cut into small florets (approx. 8 cups of florets)

2 cups frozen peas

2 15 ounce cans garbanzo beans, washed and drained

3 cups unsweetened almond or soy milk

1 Tbsp coconut extract

Coat the bottom of a dutch oven with vegetable broth and bring broth to a boil over medium heat. Add onions and carrots and saute, stirring frequently, until onions just begin to turn translucent. Add curry powder, stir, and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add potatoes and 2 cups vegetable broth, stir and cover pot. Let simmer for 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes and cauliflower, stir, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Add almond milk, coconut extract, peas and garbanzo beans. Stir and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.

What's your experience with recipes that are promoted as taking 30 minutes or less. Is this real? Is it possible?

Vegan Sweet-n-Sour Superfood Stuffed Cabbage

2011-11-16T07:15:00.001-05:00

Lately I've been obsessing about an old country favorite of mine-Stuffed Cabbage. If you've never had it before, it's quite a treat. Originally made with ground beef and white rice as the filling, I think you'll find that my no-oil, no-added-salt, Vegan superfood version doesn't leave anything to be desired.

Some people might consider the preparation of Stuffed Cabbage to be an ordeal. But if you grew up eating it (thanks Mom!) and absolutely miss it now that you are Plant-strong, you might just consider this recipe worth every minute of your time. I know I do.

Like a woman, stuffed cabbage gets even better with age. I served it to a group of friends for dinner on the night that I made it. It was very good. When I ate some leftovers three days later, it was markedly more delicious. I think I actually had a foodgasm.

HGK's Vegan Superfood Stuffed Cabbage

Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups diced onion
2 cups diced zucchini (1 small zucchini)
5 cups diced mushrooms (16 ounce package, diced)
2 cups cooked whole grain like quinoa, bulgur or brown rice
2/3 cup currants
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
1 large head green cabbage
1 recipe Sweet-n-Sour Tomato Sauce
1 apple, peeled and sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Prepare your whole grain if it is not yet cooked.

Prepare a batch of the Sweet-n-sour Tomato Sauce.

Boil a large soup pot full of water. Turn off until you are ready to prepare cabbage leaves.

Place a large saute pan over medium heat. Pour some vegetable broth into the pan to just cover the bottom. Once the broth is bubbling, add the diced onion and stir. Cook until the onion is translucent, stirring frequently. Add a touch more vegetable broth as needed to prevent burning.

Add the diced zucchini and stir. Let cook for three minutes. Add diced mushrooms and stir. Cook, stirring frequently, until zucchini and mushrooms are soft and liquid released from mushrooms evaporates.

Turn off heat. Add cooked grain, currants, walnuts, spices and 1/2 cup of the Sweet-n-sour Tomato Sauce. Stir gently to combine.

Cover the bottom of a 9x13" casserole dish with some of the Sweet-n-sour Tomato Sauce.

Bring the pot of water back to a boil. Carefully cut all the way around the core of the cabbage, as deep as you can go (about 3 inches deep). Carefully place entire head of cabbage into water. Let cabbage boil until the outermost layer is soft and is beginning to come away from the head. You may need to nudge it a little with a pair of tongs. When leaf comes away from the head, use the tongs to lift the leaf out of the water, letting the excess water drain back into the pot.

Keep the rest of the cabbage simmering as you roll each individual cabbage roll.

Lay leaf inside out in the middle of a dinner plate. Holding a paring knife (or other small knife) horizontally, carefully cut away the hard part of the stem. Place a heaping 1/3 cup of the filling onto the lower middle of the leaf. Fold the left and right sides of the leaf over the filling. Roll the cabbage all the way up from the bottom, pushing the left and right sides in if necessary. Place roll into casserole dish.

Repeat process until casserole dish is full of rolls or all of your filling has been used up.

Place apple slices evenly on top of cabbage rolls. Pour remaining Sweet-n-sour Tomato Sauce over rolls and distribute evenly. Bake, covered, at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn heat to 250 degrees and bake for an additional 2 hours.

The stuffing-mushrooms, zucchini, onions, currants, walnuts and quinoa.

The individual cabbage leaf, turned inside out, before stuffing.

Apple slices over the top add to the magic.

Sweet-n-Sour Tomato Sauce

10 pitted Deglet (small) dates, soaked in water for at least 1 hour (less dates if you are using the larger Medjool variety)
vegetable broth for sauteing
1 cup diced onion
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 14.5 ounce (or 1 28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, unseasoned (not Italian style)
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
juice of 1 large lemon
In a medium sauce pan, saute onion over medium heat in a few Tbsp of vegetable broth until translucent. Add garlic, stir and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
While onions are cooking, pour tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor or high powered blender. Remove soaked dates from liquid and add to sauce. Blend until sauce is smooth.
Add diced tomatoes and tomato/date sauce to onions. Stir in lemon juice. Simmer on very low heat for ten minutes.

Here's a nice video demonstrating how to roll stuffed cabbage:

Do you prepare any special food that takes a long time but is oh-so-worth-it?

Healthy Sugar?

2011-11-15T08:08:00.003-05:00

I always need to be reminded of this, and thanks to the peeps at PEERtrainer, it's on the front of my mind today.

This information is provided by PEERtrainer.com, the web's leading weight loss community and resource for long term, healthy weight loss success. To sign up for free daily weight loss and motivation tips and more visit http://www.peertrainer.com

Healthy Sugar?
Sorry, No Such Thing...

November 11th, 2011

By Jackie Wicks PEERtrainer Founder

One of the top recommendations that people get when they go through the PEERtrainer Fresh Start Cleanse is a total elimination of added sugar.

This is especially true as the cleanse runs its course, and you can start to reintroduce some of the things you took out. But sugar is something that you are advised to continue to treat as public enemy #1.

Here are the top 7 things you need to know about sugar and why it may be creating weight loss resistance, meaning, no matter how much you do 'right' the weight isn't coming off:

1. Isn't There Such Thing As Healthy Sugar Like Honey And Agave?

One common response to being told to eliminate sugar is to say, "Ok, I'll watch my sugar intake by switching to "healthy" sugars like honey and agave.

We asked JJ Virgin this question, and she answered in ALL CAPS. I could literally feel the emotion jumping from the page. From her perspective, people who are dealing with weight loss resistance, or literally any other health issue, need to stay the $%^& away from sugar.

She lumps the term "healthy sugar" with oxymorons like "jumbo shrimp" and "military intelligence".

Excess sugar consumption has been linked to a whole host of diseases. But one of the most interesting effects has to do with nutrient absorption.

2. Sugar And Your Digestive System: How Sugar Could Be Damaging Your Ability To Improve Your Health

When it comes to your digestive system, excess sugar, even moderate amounts interferes with its ability to absorb nutrients. It is a whole lot more complicated than this. But once you understand that all forms of excess sugar "mess with your system" you will be much more likely to ditch the honey, agave, even fruit for a period of time.

There are very few people who can't benefit from proper absorption of vitamins, minerals and nutrient. However, until recently, there have not been many studies showing how high sugar intake effect effects nutrient absorption. One recent study helped establish that high sugar intake "impaired" the digestive process.

3. How Much Sugar Is Too Much?

According to the American Heart Association, they recommend no more than 100 calories of added sugar a day for a woman, a little more for a man. To give you a sense, 100 calories is equivalent to a large apple.

Now I can hear your next question: But you can't possibly talking about the natural fructose in sugar. Apples, pears, blueberries all get a free pass, right? No. Wrong.

Fructose, glucose, sucrose, sugar, honey, agave, it's all sugar. Yes, fruit has some extremely beneficial micronutrients, however fruit was not meant to be consumed in daily unlimited quantities.

Have you ever tried to pick wild Maine blueberries? I'm not referring to the kind where you pay someone $5 to harvest on their farm. I'm referring to the wild ones that grow, low bush or high bush every year. They're only available for about a month in the summer during the year. It takes a long time to pick and you might get 2 or 3 tiny ones at a time. Even if you worked to pick blueberries for 12 hours of the day, it would be challenging to eat them in unlimited quantities.

Focus on limiting your fruit to one serving a day.

Another key concept: A very small minority of people actually stick to the recommendation of only 100 calories of added sugar a day. Almost all processed foods contain hidden sugars. Sugar is everywhere, and it is tough to avoid.

Do yourself a favor: Look at all of the labels and sugar count of just your breakfast items alone to see how much your eating. If you're eating more than 10 grams of sugar at breakfast time, you're at your quota for the ENTIRE day. (This was later edited by the folks at PEERtrainer to 25 grams of sugar as the quota for the entire day.)

4. There Is A PILE Of Research In This Area To Support The Claim Against Sugar

There are different studies out there that show how different nutrients are effected by sugar. One interesting thing to note about JJ's advice are the consistent results we are seeing from people following her cleanse protocol, in conjunction with the concept of nutrient density that we have promoted for years at PEERtrainer.

It would seem that when people eliminate toxins, it helps us better absorb all the nutrient dense foods we are now eating.

5. Does A Nutrient Dense Diet Help You Defy The Laws Of Nutrition?

What is interesting is that we are seeing people who eat nutrient dense diets, but with high levels of sugar--who are having some health issues like high cholesterol and triglycerides.

Not only do some people think that certain sugars are "healthy"-- many people think that as long as they eat plenty of greens, it gives them a free pass in other areas of their diet. Your numbers will speak for themselves.

In fact, new research links excess sugar consumption to unhealthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels. According to a new study:

"Excess sugar is known to contribute to obesity, diabetes, and other conditions linked to heart disease, and now new research links it to unhealthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels."

6. The Link Between Sugar And Cancer

To give you one example (among many), consumption of sugar and sugar-sweetened foods has been show to increase the risk of pancreatic cancer in a prospective study:

"Frequent consumption of sugar and high-sugar foods may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by inducing frequent postprandial hyperglycemia, increasing insulin demand, and decreasing insulin sensitivity." April 20th 2010

Conclusion

This is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sugar consumption. There is a ton of older research as well showing the harmful effects of sugar, but we wanted to show you some of the recent research. If you have any questions about how sugar is effecting your health, visit your doctor and get your numbers checked.

Healthy Girl's Kitchen

The Proof is in the Nutritarian Pudding

Versatile Mexican Slaw

"Too Busy to Prepare Homemade Healthy Food" Needs Advice. Let's Help.

Tofu Express Review and Roasted Tofu Explanation

Roasted Pears with Banana Soft Serve-A Truly Healthy Dessert

Best of Super Bowl 2012: Saag Dip

Grasshopper Vegan Overnight Oats and the Premiere of Fat Chef on The Food Network

Are Salads a Big Part of Your Life? and a Roasted Kabocha Squash, Dried Fig and Walnut Salad

Lemon Coconut Chia Seed Muffins

And the Winner of The Vegan Slow Cooker is . . .

The Vegan Slow Cooker: Review and Blogger Giveaway!

Favorite Soups: Split Pea and Barley Soup and Some More

How the Family Started to Eat Better-A New System

Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats

My First Vegan Mac-n-Cheeze

Easy Vegan Chili and Pumpkin Spiced Cornbread Muffins

When You and Your Partner are at Food Odds

Jill's Hit It Out of the Ballpark Recipe

Easy Chik'n Seitan Recipe

Food Network Shocker! Does Paula Dean have Type 2 Diabetes?

How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind

Housekeeping: My New Recipage

Why My Personality Puts the Pounds On Me

Not Your Mother's Chocolate Bundt Cake

Dairy Industry Obviously Threatened By Rise of Alternative Milks

What I'm Craving For Dinner: Mexican Jicama and Orange Salad

Smokin' Collard Green Stacks

Hot Tip! A Don't Miss Live Broadcast Event with Doug Lisle

Sweet Curried Rice with Carrots and Chick Peas

Cuban Black Beans with Kale

Plant-strong vs. Plant-perfect. Welcome to 2012.

My One New Year's Resolution 2012

Healthy Girl's Kitchen Top 11 Plant-strong Recipes of 2011

And the Winner of Everyday Happy Herbivore is . . .

When in Doubt, Go to the Local Farmer's Market

Giveaway! Travelling, Eating and the Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook Giveaway

HGK's Easy Choco Pumpkin Mousse

{happy holidays!}

What Should Have Been Cilantro Jalapeno Zucchini Pancakes with Chipotle Sour Cream

Braised Celery with Tomatoes, Olives and Capers

Portion Control, Schmortion Control

Why Portion Control May Be Keeping You Fat

A Contrarian Take On The Most Popular Weight Loss Technique Of All Time

Love, Loss and Zucchini Muffins

Links for Latkas

Fuhrman v. McDougall v. Esselstyn on What's The Healthiest Plant Based Diet?

Rich and Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Spinach and It's Official! Binge Eating Disorder Recognized by the APA

Jill’s story: Packaged and Processed to Plant-strong

The Most Important Question You Can Ask Yourself

Cranberry Dressing-is it for salad or dessert? and an HGK Soup in the News

So You Just Read Eat to Live and (Fill in the Blank)

Under Pressure

US Congress Declares Pizza a Vegetable? Really?

Breeding a Nation of Chocoholics? Great.

Quinny's Sri Lankan Kale with Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes

Did You Catch 60 Minutes on Sunday Night? The Flavorists and Your Taste Buds

Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins of Heaven

Thanksgiving-What I am Grateful for Today

Beck Planning and Fuhrman Challenging

FAST! Moroccan Kale with Mushrooms and Apricots and Gratitude

Curry in a Hurry?

Vegan Sweet-n-Sour Superfood Stuffed Cabbage

Healthy Sugar?

Healthy Sugar?Sorry, No Such Thing...

Healthy Sugar?
Sorry, No Such Thing...