I love Indian food and this recipe from The Simple Veganista is so quick and easy. It's one of our family favorites. Once you get your food simmering gently you can leave it for a bit if you need to, so it's very hands off.
Start your rice cooking before you start your tikka masala- whatever amount your family typically eats. I like to cook 2 cups brown rice in a pressure cooker with 4 cups water for my family of 6 eaters.
https://simple-veganista.com/chickpea-tikka-masala/#tasty-recipes-29370
Thursday, July 16, 2020
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Pickle Sandwich
Yep. You heard that right. We stopped eating deli meat and cheese and honestly PB&J is not a favorite around here except with my husband and the six year old. But sandwiches are the most basic of food items and really hard to live without - especially during picnic season! So we decided to sub hummus for the meat and cheese. Turns out, pickles provide most of the sandwich flavor anyway so you don't even miss them. This is totally customizable - think of anything you'd normally eat on a sandwich and throw it in there!
2 pieces sourdough bread
mustard to taste, on one piece of bread
2 Tb hummus, spread thickly on second piece of bread
lettuce
sliced tomato
pickle
sliced avocado - also helps keep you full
other sandwich fillings
I promise - it's better than you think!
2 pieces sourdough bread
mustard to taste, on one piece of bread
2 Tb hummus, spread thickly on second piece of bread
lettuce
sliced tomato
pickle
sliced avocado - also helps keep you full
other sandwich fillings
I promise - it's better than you think!
Dairy-free Pesto
Most pestos are made with lots of basil and yummy feta cheese. My version is by necessity dairy-free and still has lots of yummy flavor. I've found that kale also makes a great pesto base. Measurements are loose guidelines - feel free to play around.
1/2 chopped nuts (I usually use pecans or almonds as we typically have those)
2 tsp lemon juice (add more for taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2-3 cups packed greens - spinach, basil, kale, lettuce, or some combination of those
Add all ingredients in food processor with a small drizzle of olive or avocado oil. Blend together, adding water to thin to your preference.
Serve with pasta, on a salad, pizza, etc.
Here's a link to another version of this recipe that I like: https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-vegan-pesto-5-minutes/
1/2 chopped nuts (I usually use pecans or almonds as we typically have those)
2 tsp lemon juice (add more for taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2-3 cups packed greens - spinach, basil, kale, lettuce, or some combination of those
Add all ingredients in food processor with a small drizzle of olive or avocado oil. Blend together, adding water to thin to your preference.
Serve with pasta, on a salad, pizza, etc.
Here's a link to another version of this recipe that I like: https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-vegan-pesto-5-minutes/
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
talk about an extreme diet shift...
So much has changed in my life since that post a year ago. I went to see a friend who is a functional medicine doctor. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about functional medicine in general...but I also don't always trust traditional medicine. I feel like there has to be some happy medium. So I decided to make an appointment. I really didn't think there was anything wrong with me...I just knew I didn't feel super great and I wanted to establish some sort of starting point. I starting by having bloodwork done and we went over the results. They showed that something was definitely off kilter...maybe several somethings. The clearest thing was that my iron was way low (ahhh...come to think of it I depend upon a daily nap or two....). I arranged to do another kind of test. A fun one which showed a parasite in my intestine and a bacterial imbalance. The parasite was probably causing me to not absorb several necessary nutrients (iron being one...some others had shown up on the test as well). I was told to go on a rather strict sugar, dairy, gluten, soy -free diet. Which I stuck to off and on as it pleased me for the next several months. And I also took some supplements. A second test revealed that I had righted the bacterial imbalance but had not made much headway on the parasite. And I was still fairly tired all the time. More tired than I thought I should be after taking iron supplements for so long. But we pushed onward.
Although honestly I was terrible with sticking to a diet. Every time we traveled I would go off it. And sometimes when we didn't travel. Finally in December (yes, this is 8 months later) I decided to be strict. I'd had a new test done that tested for food sensitivities. The idea behind that test is that as my body tries to fight the parasite it mistakenly attacks other things (foods) and causes inflammation and malabsorption. By not eating those foods I could help my cause (tiredness should ease up, as well as inflammation should go away). That test showed a sensitivity to wheat (not gluten per-se, but a wheat protein), dairy, and tapioca. Being able to eat soy again actually made life easier. So I worked really hard all through Christmas and New Year's and everything. My trip to Idaho was the hardest of all because I was eating food at other people's kitchens and I realized after I got home that there were lots of slip-ups during those two weeks that I just couldn't control due to lack of knowledge (I have since learned that tapioca is in almost all gluten-free prepared foods so I can't have them).
So I've been pretty good with my new diet. One challenge is that I'm eating less meat so I've gotten very creative. Oats, lentils and mushrooms are my new best friends...and guacamole and I talk on an almost daily basis. I'm hardly starving. In fact, I'd planned to try to lose 5lb this spring but that's proving hard. Mostly because I'm hungry and craving sweets all the time still. That and tired phases make me think the parasite is still alive and well in my intestine. I plan to stick to my diet really well for at least 6 months and evaluate how I feel then. Maybe do a hardcore anti-parasite drug to wipe it out for good.
So that's where it rests right now. I have made drastic changes to how I eat and it hasn't been easy. It's basically taken a year to figure out what I can eat and get used to eating like that. Now to work on portion control and exercise. But the good news... I feel SO much better now than I did last fall. It's like night and day. I feel functional again and that is an amazing feeling.
Although honestly I was terrible with sticking to a diet. Every time we traveled I would go off it. And sometimes when we didn't travel. Finally in December (yes, this is 8 months later) I decided to be strict. I'd had a new test done that tested for food sensitivities. The idea behind that test is that as my body tries to fight the parasite it mistakenly attacks other things (foods) and causes inflammation and malabsorption. By not eating those foods I could help my cause (tiredness should ease up, as well as inflammation should go away). That test showed a sensitivity to wheat (not gluten per-se, but a wheat protein), dairy, and tapioca. Being able to eat soy again actually made life easier. So I worked really hard all through Christmas and New Year's and everything. My trip to Idaho was the hardest of all because I was eating food at other people's kitchens and I realized after I got home that there were lots of slip-ups during those two weeks that I just couldn't control due to lack of knowledge (I have since learned that tapioca is in almost all gluten-free prepared foods so I can't have them).
So I've been pretty good with my new diet. One challenge is that I'm eating less meat so I've gotten very creative. Oats, lentils and mushrooms are my new best friends...and guacamole and I talk on an almost daily basis. I'm hardly starving. In fact, I'd planned to try to lose 5lb this spring but that's proving hard. Mostly because I'm hungry and craving sweets all the time still. That and tired phases make me think the parasite is still alive and well in my intestine. I plan to stick to my diet really well for at least 6 months and evaluate how I feel then. Maybe do a hardcore anti-parasite drug to wipe it out for good.
So that's where it rests right now. I have made drastic changes to how I eat and it hasn't been easy. It's basically taken a year to figure out what I can eat and get used to eating like that. Now to work on portion control and exercise. But the good news... I feel SO much better now than I did last fall. It's like night and day. I feel functional again and that is an amazing feeling.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
slow and steady
Sometimes I wonder if I'm really making progress....
But I realized that I am. Just so slowly.
I have developed a solid habit of regular exercise. What I do changes, but probably 5 days a week I make a concerted effort to get some exercise in. I can feel good about small successes!
Another awesome thing I did was go 9 months with virtually no white sugar. It was so hard at times. I didn't lose weight like I hoped I would, but I felt good.
Current goal is to increase fruits and vegetables. I'm going to start with very simple baby steps but I feel like this is totally doable.
But I realized that I am. Just so slowly.
I have developed a solid habit of regular exercise. What I do changes, but probably 5 days a week I make a concerted effort to get some exercise in. I can feel good about small successes!
Another awesome thing I did was go 9 months with virtually no white sugar. It was so hard at times. I didn't lose weight like I hoped I would, but I felt good.
Current goal is to increase fruits and vegetables. I'm going to start with very simple baby steps but I feel like this is totally doable.
Monday, September 25, 2017
September 2017 update
I haven't kept up with these goals too well. They still weigh on my mind. I feel like I want to eat better - but I also hate giving up things that I love. I would say those extra 15lbs are still hanging on. They don't necessarily bother me a whole lot in how I look but in what they represent - an inability to master something and an obvious lack of self-control.
I've been reading Gretchen Rubin's book about better habits this week. It's given me something to think about. It's helpful to know that forming new habits isn't impossible for me - but it's important to take into account my personality and how I function - what motivates and drives me. For me it's definitely external accountability. A contest, a coach, some skin in the game - those things make a difference for me. If I just try to motivate myself I can talk myself out of anything. For some reason, it's okay to break promises to myself but not to other people. But just telling myself to be a different person this time isn't going to work - so I'll have to give this some thought.
I have been doing better in some areas in my life. I eat less sweets over all. I exercise more in general, though not as consistent as I'd like to get - progress is being made. I've been clearing out time for my physical upkeep as I've realized that it will take just as much effort and is just as important as my spiritual upkeep. I have to allow myself to take time for my health. I usually find myself bouncing from one mom activity to another but I don't have to do that.
I think our family meals are healthier in general. Compared to 15 years ago I cook almost completely from scratch. I've had to simplify what we eat as I don't have time to make a homemade cream of whatever soup to put in a casserole. So we eat whole foods in some combination that can be prepared in about 30 minutes. Sometimes this is hard to figure out. And often it feels more like hors de'oeuvres than a meal, but the point is to nourish my family, not to be a gourmet cook on a busy Thursday night.
I would say my main issue today is that I probably eat too much. I like food. I love the flavors. I can never get enough of something I like. I eat fast and can scarf down an insane amount of food before my stomach and my brain have coordinated and sent that feeling of being full. So my current goals involve exercising more and eating slower and watching how I feel. Sometimes I eat not because I'm hungry, but because it's time to eat again and it's a convenient time to feed myself. I wonder if keeping a Larabar handy for future eating would help me just wait until I was actually hungry? Why do I have this fear of being hungry? I have never been without food - what am I so worried about? Would counting bites help?
Desserts are still the bane of my existence. Even healthy ones that supposedly fill you up and satisfy your sweet tooth. Flourless chocolate cake on my counter? I chip away at it all day until it's gone. Kids made chocolate chip cookies? I'll grab one and pop it in my mouth when I'm making breakfast and then want another and another all morning long till I feel somewhat ill. I read recently about something called binge eating - it's not bulimia because there's no purging involved - it's just overeating. I can relate to that. I don't do that all the time, but I'm definitely not the type that can moderate very easily. I do better when the sweets are not in my house. I can eat a moderate amount of dessert at a restaurant because people are watching and I don't want to go back and order more - I guess this fits the idea of needing external accountability.
However, I don't like feeling like I have no sense of SELF-control and SELF-mastery. I feel that those are traits that we are sent here to earth to develop on some level. To be able to control our wants, appetites, passions and desires. Which makes me think that all the self-help reading in the world won't help me solve this problem. In some ways it is probably a spiritual problem also and I need to ponder how to go about receiving the Lord's help to accomplish these changes.
So those are where my thoughts are right now.
I've been reading Gretchen Rubin's book about better habits this week. It's given me something to think about. It's helpful to know that forming new habits isn't impossible for me - but it's important to take into account my personality and how I function - what motivates and drives me. For me it's definitely external accountability. A contest, a coach, some skin in the game - those things make a difference for me. If I just try to motivate myself I can talk myself out of anything. For some reason, it's okay to break promises to myself but not to other people. But just telling myself to be a different person this time isn't going to work - so I'll have to give this some thought.
I have been doing better in some areas in my life. I eat less sweets over all. I exercise more in general, though not as consistent as I'd like to get - progress is being made. I've been clearing out time for my physical upkeep as I've realized that it will take just as much effort and is just as important as my spiritual upkeep. I have to allow myself to take time for my health. I usually find myself bouncing from one mom activity to another but I don't have to do that.
I think our family meals are healthier in general. Compared to 15 years ago I cook almost completely from scratch. I've had to simplify what we eat as I don't have time to make a homemade cream of whatever soup to put in a casserole. So we eat whole foods in some combination that can be prepared in about 30 minutes. Sometimes this is hard to figure out. And often it feels more like hors de'oeuvres than a meal, but the point is to nourish my family, not to be a gourmet cook on a busy Thursday night.
I would say my main issue today is that I probably eat too much. I like food. I love the flavors. I can never get enough of something I like. I eat fast and can scarf down an insane amount of food before my stomach and my brain have coordinated and sent that feeling of being full. So my current goals involve exercising more and eating slower and watching how I feel. Sometimes I eat not because I'm hungry, but because it's time to eat again and it's a convenient time to feed myself. I wonder if keeping a Larabar handy for future eating would help me just wait until I was actually hungry? Why do I have this fear of being hungry? I have never been without food - what am I so worried about? Would counting bites help?
Desserts are still the bane of my existence. Even healthy ones that supposedly fill you up and satisfy your sweet tooth. Flourless chocolate cake on my counter? I chip away at it all day until it's gone. Kids made chocolate chip cookies? I'll grab one and pop it in my mouth when I'm making breakfast and then want another and another all morning long till I feel somewhat ill. I read recently about something called binge eating - it's not bulimia because there's no purging involved - it's just overeating. I can relate to that. I don't do that all the time, but I'm definitely not the type that can moderate very easily. I do better when the sweets are not in my house. I can eat a moderate amount of dessert at a restaurant because people are watching and I don't want to go back and order more - I guess this fits the idea of needing external accountability.
However, I don't like feeling like I have no sense of SELF-control and SELF-mastery. I feel that those are traits that we are sent here to earth to develop on some level. To be able to control our wants, appetites, passions and desires. Which makes me think that all the self-help reading in the world won't help me solve this problem. In some ways it is probably a spiritual problem also and I need to ponder how to go about receiving the Lord's help to accomplish these changes.
So those are where my thoughts are right now.
Monday, May 16, 2016
May 16-22
Monday: Deli Subs with sliced fruit
Tuesday: Lime and Chicken Soup,
Wednesday: Gazpacho with Greek Pitas (pita bread)
Thursday: Chicken Satay with sautéed or roasted veggies and rice
Friday: Homemade pepperoni pizza and garlic pizza and Salad.
In Yosemite we tried garlic on our pizza and it is AMAZING.
Saturday: Scout Spaghetti dinner fundraiser (yay - I'm not cooking!)
Tuesday: Lime and Chicken Soup,
Wednesday: Gazpacho with Greek Pitas (pita bread)
Thursday: Chicken Satay with sautéed or roasted veggies and rice
Friday: Homemade pepperoni pizza and garlic pizza and Salad.
In Yosemite we tried garlic on our pizza and it is AMAZING.
Saturday: Scout Spaghetti dinner fundraiser (yay - I'm not cooking!)
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