Food : : A Typical Day

Totally unrelated photo of C and I in Sausalito last week.

I know what some of you are thinking.. "O.K. Amanda, this vegan thing is all well and good, but what the heck do you actually eat on a daily basis!?"

So I thought I would break it down and do a play by play of my food and snacks for an entire day. Here is what I ate on Wednesday...

Breakfast:

•  Glass of water with lemon (alkalinizing...most folks are pretty acidic when we wake in the am)
•  Bowl of oatmeal (3/4ish cup oats + water) with walnuts, cinnamon, coconut oil, and agave. 
•  Smoothie, which Chris makes for us every morning.  The Savarino Standard recipe is: kale,  carrot, apple, cucumber, blueberries, chia seeds, vitamin c and enough water to make it drinkable.

A.M. Snack

• Water
• Granola bar -my homemade recipe with lots of nuts, seeds, oats, almond meal, and flax meal.
• Apple slices with almond butter

Lunch

• Water
• Baked ginger tofu (leftovers, recipe from The Kind Diet)
• Brown rice noodles in peanut sauce with shredded carrots and herbs. (leftovers, my own concoction)
• Green salad - Caesar dressing homemade from The Kind Diet

Snack

• Water
• Green Tea
• Corn chips with hummus
• Carrot sticks dipped in vegan Caesar dressing - homemade from The Kind Diet

Dinner

• Water
• Spaghetti squash tossed with garlic and parsley 
• Sauteed sweet peas in garlic and vege broth
• Green Salad with avacado, carrots, zucchini and Caesar dressing 
• Cheezy Toast - Whole grain bread spread with a mixture of nutritional yeast, olive oil, salt and garlic. Pop under the broiler until browned and crispy.

After dinner snack

• Water
• Granola bar (okay, maybe 2 granola bars)

So, that's a random day sampling of what I eat.  As far as quantity I just eat as much as I can, because when  living on plants limiting quantities is a no no (this does NOT apply to sugary, fatty, processed junk...even if it IS vegan!).  I would be calorie deficient, and therefor hungry, if I limited my portions of whole plant foods.

I never feel deprived.  I eat delicious food all the live long day.  For me it was just a matter of throwing out all the unfriendly food from the pantry and fridge so that no matter what I grab for a meal or a snack I know it's good for me!

'Till soon, 

A

Simple : : Food Rule

Michael Pollan  : :  "Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much."


Me : : "Eat Plants.  As much as I like.  Easy on the gluten"


Michael Pollan's wonderful book,  "Food Rules"  has just been released in a new edition illustrated by Maria Kalman.    If you haven't had the opportunity to read this book yet, it's a fun little quick read, even more fun now with the addition of illustrations.  While it's not vegan specifically, it's none the less sensible. A great starting point for those just getting their feet wet in the whole foods movement, and a great reminder for those of us who've been at this for a while.


From his website : : 

"....Expanded with a new introduction and nineteen additional food rules, this hardcover volume marks an advance in the national dialogue that Food Rules inspired.

The impetus for this new edition came from readers. Many chimed in with personal policies they had found useful in navigating the supermarket, or rules they recalled hearing from their mothers and grandmothers. Several of the new rules – Place a bouquet of flowers on the table and everything will taste twice as good; If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re probably not hungry; When you eat real food, you don’t need rules – underscore the central teaching of the original Food Rules, which is that eating doesn’t have to be so complicated, and food is as much about pleasure and communion as it is about nutrition and health. Maira Kalman illustrates that simple truth with her paintings, bringing color, life and wit to Pollan’s philosophy."

Seeing the book pop up again got me thinking about Pollan's simple, sensible statement, "Eat food. Mostly plants.  Not too much." from a January 2007 NY Times Article.   I have tweaked his brilliantly pared down directive a bit over the years to suite my circumstances, but I always refer back to it's profound simplicity when pondering my food journey.

'Till soon,
A

Corn Bread BBQ Sandwich : : Heck yes

So, I may have invented something.  

Not likely, but humor me anyway OK?

A Cornbread, Baked BBQ tofu, Caesar Salad Sandwich.

Just take these simple things and stack them all up!

I used the BBQ Tofu recipe from the Veganomicon cookbook

The Caesar Salad recipe from The Kind Diet Cookbook (which I almost have completely memorized at this point)

And the Cornbread recipe from The Happy Herbivore (I made it gluten free by using a gluten free all purpose flour mix in place of wheat flour)

And if you are the type who prefers to keep your foods separate thankyouverymuch, you can absolutely do that and still have a delicious dinner (like both my children opted to do).  This is one of the kids' favorite dinners and is sure to elicit requests for seconds or thirds.   BBQ sauce has magic powers!

You can bake the tofu and the cornbread at the same time, and the dressing just whips up in the blender so it all comes together pretty quickly.  

Till Soon, 

A

Butternut Coconut Curry Soup : : Yum

Yesterday, being the day before Halloween, I felt the full crisp warmth of Fall hit me.  Pumpkin carving, baking, costume fittings and leaves crunching under my feet when I walked the dog.  I had an overwhelming urge to make soup...and not just any soup, but one using the butternut squash that has been sitting in my fruit/veg platter since last weekend.  So, before we headed out to the store to stock up on last minute Halloween supplies, I poked a few holes in the skin of my squash and threw it in the oven to roast while we were gone.  When we arrived home about an hour and a half later the house had that warm, nutty sweet smell that only a butternut will produce.

After a quick peeling session and throwing a little of this and a little of that in the blender I had a delicious, creamy, spicy warming soup.  I had mine with a salad and some toasted bread.

Chris and the boys, on the other hand, were looking pretty suspicious of the creamy orange concoction.
I asked everyone to at least have one taste and then if they didn't like it the could make something else. One by one they took their spoons and dipped them into the soup, and one by one they wrinkled their noses and said they would make their own dinners.  They decided on black bean burgers, which I am sure were good...but no way were they even close to this soup!

Sounds good to me...Now I can freeze half of the soup to have on a rainy day when I don't feel like cooking.


Here's the recipe...
Inspired by the Happy Herbivore cookbook's Sweet and spicy Butternut Soup, which I have made and love!

Butternut Coconut Curry Soup

4-6 servings depending on the size of your squash

• 1 med to large butternut squash, roasted.
• 1 can of green chilies, drained
• 1 can of light coconut milk
• 1/2ish cup of veg broth or non dairy milk (for thinning)
• 2 Tbs coconut oil
• 2 Tbs green curry paste
• Salt to taste
• Hot sauce to taste 

1. Roast your squash for an hour or so...depending on size.  Then peel the skin and remove the seeds.
2. Transfer squash to a blender with chilies, coconut oil, curry paste, and salt.
3. Add broth or other non dairy milk as needed to achieve the consistency you like, I like mine pour-able but not watery.
4. If your soup is still hot at this point you can serve straight from the blender, otherwise pour it into a saucepan to heat up before serving.
5. Drizzle some hot sauce on top after you dish up.  

Till soon

A

Healing : : How This all started

I have been thinking about how I started this journey toward healing myself.  About how people may not really know what brought me to this point.  I was trying to put a finger on the moment when I made the choice to do something about my circumstances rather than count on Doctors, medications and good old luck to provide me with the quality of life I hoped I would have for years to come.

I guess the seed was planted way back when I was first married to Chris, around 23 years old (11.5 magical years ago!), and we went to see a Rheumatologist together so Chris could get a better idea of what he had just signed up for.  Among many other completely cold and detached things the Doc told me that day he said, "you know, your life expectancy is about 10 years less than for the average healthy person and you should expect to be in a wheelchair at some point possibly in your 30's. But right now there isn't much I can do for you...just keep taking your meds."  Just like that he put limits on me...dropped them in my lap like a cold bologna sandwich.  Bam.

I am pretty sure I cried before we got to the parking lot...

I knew then that if I was going to be one of the people who had a better than "average" life with RA it would be because of something I did...otherwise I was on the average path to average-ville and those were the type of results I would get.   Or worse.

I didn't know anything at the time about diet affecting disease...other than the obvious diabetes, and maybe heart disease.  So I think all that happened that day was that my mind opened up to the idea of responsibility.  My responsibility in the course of my life.

I have, since that day, tried to eat a pretty healthy diet.  Mostly organic, lowish fat, not much sugar, whole grains.  But still I ate meat, LOVED cheese, drank milk and didn't think much about it.

Then about a year ago Chris and I watched a documentary called 'FOOD MATTERS' and it completely changed how I saw health and disease.  It opened my eyes to the idea that I was much more responsible for how I felt than I was aware of.  The way I viewed food completely shifted.  I now saw eating as nothing more that what it is...fuel.  If I put better fuel in this amazing body machine I will get better results.  It's that simple.

But what was the right fuel?!  Heck if I knew!

Here's where I enrolled myself in the 'Amanda's School of Healing with Food'.

I then watched a whole string of documentaries and read quite a few books, along with seeing a Naturopath and consulting my good old intuition.

Here's what I watched:
(by the way these are all available to stream or by mail on Netflix)

Food Matters

Forks over Knives

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

Crazy, Sexy, Cancer

Fed Up

Supersize Me

Food Inc.

Ingredients


Here's what I read (or Chris read and told me all about):

Crazy Sexy Diet

The China Study

Thrive

Animal, Vegetable Miracle

The Omnivore's Dilemma

In Defense of Food


I threw in some meditation and a therapist too...to heal this mind and soul.  Since it's all connected, right?


And slowly I learned what it was that my body needed.  The common theme in many of these films and books is not that these people all have the same illness as me, or ate the same types of food, or even have an illness...It's that they were struggling with the ideas of what is health, what is food, and wanting to know how to care for these bodies. And rather than just saying "Oh well, this is just life.  My body is sick now and that is just the way it will be"  or "Oh well, there are pesticides in my food. Guess that's the way food is now.  It'll probably be OK" they said, "Hey, Wait! I am not going to just accept this, I am going to DO something"

Well, I decided the same thing.  I am not going to just chug along in the Western Med Model of treating symptoms. I'm not just going to eat this Standard American Diet (S.A.D.)  I am going to treat my whole body with Love and Nutrition and heal my Whole Self.  Not just treat Symptoms, but Treat ME...all of me.

And..here I am Today.  Still definitely on this journey of healing and learning.

me : : now

Veg sushi we had for dinner last Saturday

So, I have come to the end of my elimination diet.  Really exciting side effect of the 'anti inflammatory' diet : : I have been able to completely eliminate all of the medications I was taking. 

Methotrexate (chemo drug) : : Gone. 

Humira (self injected biological drug) : : Gone. 

Don't need them.  I am essentially in remission.

Pretty amazing...and I'll admit, I wasn't really sure it was possible.

I have reintegrated all of the plant foods on my list, no animal foods ever again : : and I've learned a few things.  

Which is good, because that's the point of this whole rodeo, right?!  

What I've learned : : 

Gluten (all wheat, rye, barley, some oats) and nightshades (tomato, potato, peppers, eggplant) seem to be possible inflammation causing foods for me.  

After I reintroduced gluten I felt a bit off for a few days, but not in any acute pain.  After that I decided it was time to go all the way and eat some tomatoes!  

The day I had been waiting for.  

Salsa, tomato sauce, roasted peppers.  Um, yes please. 

After a few days I was not so good.  I felt 'slow'.  Which is how I will feel at the beginning of a flare.  This slow feeling usually is the beginning of a cycle of pain.  This time it was just the beginning of my left elbow hurting and all of my joints feeling a bit creaky. 

Sadly, I knew this meant either the gluten thing was escalating or the nightshades were not playing nice.  Either way I had to make a shift before I felt worse. 

I have re-eliminated them both in hopes of isolating the problem...ans secretly wishing that it is just one or the other.  

Not both : : please.  Okay thanx.

I have also gotten over the "what the heck do I cook" hump.  After I was able to reintroduce corn and soy I felt like the recipe possibilities were endless!  Having my food choices SO restricted for an entire month sure did change my perspective on a vegan diet.  What once seemed limiting, no animal products at all including eggs and milk, now seemed like an amazing bounty to work from. 

I'll be posting some pics of our meals in coming posts to give an idea of what we are or have been eating.  Some will likely have gluten or tomato's because they are just sitting in my camera from the last few weeks.

Till soon,

A

Cook Books : : What's On My Shelf

A few people have asked me What cook Books I am using for recipes and inspiration, so I thought I'd put a list together.

  

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

Amazing Caesar Salad dressing recipe!  And this is the book that introduced me to Umeboshi plum vinegar.  Those two things right there make it worth the purchase for me...but there is SO much more.  Vegan Peanut Butter Cups anyone?  In addition to all the great recipes, the entire first section of the book explains the many benefits of adopting a vegan diet.  Most of this info I already was familiar with, but I did learn a few things.

The Happy Herbivore by Lindsay S. Nixon

This is the everyday, simple, practical, no special ingredients cookbook for vegan beginners.  None of the recipes are earth shattering or super fancy...but they are all good and quick.  This is one of those books that you will learn techniques from and then build on them for years.  Loads of big glossy pictures make it fun to work from.  A definite staple  for my kitchen.

Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero 

This cook book is like the Good Housekeeping goes punk cook book for vegans.  The Authors go over techniques, ingredients, pantry staples, fridge staples, kitchen equipment and terminology.  Plus, there are Tons of great recipes!  The snarky, witty style of the authors make it easy reading.  My one complaint...not enough Pictures.  There is a photo section at the center of the book with some beautiful pics, but most recipes are photo-less. Don't let that be a deterrent though...It's still a must have.

Summer Veggie Orzo : : Salad

A delicious summer salad.

I made this before I started my 5 week cleanse,

 but is a great vegan meal for those not restricting their diets.

Slice some veggies to put on the grill, then grill 'em.

Dice tomatoes and a halve lemon.

Shuck some corn.

Get out your orzo...put a pot of water on to boil.  

Cook according to the package directions.

Brown rice or Quinoa would work well here for a gluten free option.

Rinse your chickpeas, black beans, and olives.

For the dressing combine lemon or lime, cold pressed olive oil,  a couple cloves of garlic, 

salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, cayenne and chili powder.

Chop up those grilled veggies.

Throw all of it into a bowl and mix, mix, mix.

Let it set in the fridge for at least an hour for the flavors to combine.

Eat!

Milking : : Almonds

• Soak about a cup of almonds over night in water.
• Drain and rinse.
• Add to the blender with about 3 cups of water.
• Blend until smooth creamylicious.
• Some people like to add vanilla, a dash of salt, some coconut oil or even cinnamon. We like ours plain.
• Pour into a Nut Milk Bag over a bowl or pitcher.
• Let it drain slowly or milk it baby! like me.
• Put into a closed container and store in the fridge for 3ish days.
• I like to use a water bottle because it stays sealed and can't spill but is still a cinch to pour.

Enjoy!

I love mine in Gluten free oatmeal or in a bowl of brown rice crisp cereal.

Healing : : Me

taken by Chris Savarino

I have begun a journey.  I am healing my Lifelong Rheumatoid Arthritis with food. It seems so obvious now....what I put in my body will determine how it functions.  Why did it take me so long ?!

I have been to see a Naturopath, and have spent the better part of the last two and a half months researching food, inflammation and their connection.

I have learned so much.

Since I began this 'low inflammation' diet I have been able to stop taking one of my medications (Humira injections)  and cut back on the other (methotrexate) from 12mg a week to 8mg a week,  This is huge.

For the first time in my life I feel like I am in charge of how I feel and what the trajectory of my health will be.  I have always been a partner to my doctors...reporting back with any changes, taking my medications as assigned and going for my blood draws every 6 weeks (more or less :-) ) and being a good informed patient.  But this is something else...this is me steering the ship and the doctors being my copilots.

Below is my current diet...I have been on this for about 3 weeks and have about 2 more to go for the initial Cleanse/Detox portion.  At the end of the 5 weeks I will slowly try introducing foods like gluten, soy and nightshades and really listen to my body to see if we are friends with each food.  The ones that don't play nice are outa here for good!

Low Inflammation Diet

No's

• No gluten: wheat, rye, barley, spelt, corn, kamut
• No dairy: milk, cheese, cream, yogurt, ice cream etc.
• No meat: no animals cross these lips, including fish!
• No eggs: easy to understand, no?
• No sugar: white sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, corn syrup, artificial sweeteners
• No soy: tofu, tempeh, soy milk, soy sauce etc.
• No corn: corn chips, tortillas etc.
• No nightshades: tomato, potato, peppers, eggplant
• No citrus: oranges, lemons, limes, pineapple etc.
• Limited fats: No shortening, margarine, hydrogenated oils, mayonnaise, conola oil, corn oil, soy
• No peanuts, peanut butter, cashews, cashew butter
• No caffine: soda, coffee, black or green tea
• No Alcohol: nada

Yes's ( all organic)

• All fresh organic fruits except citrus
• All fresh organic veggies except nightshades
• Whole organic gluten free grains: brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, millett, amaranth, teff
• Legumes: all beans, peas and lentils except soy
• Nuts and seeds: almonds, walnuts, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, etc.
• Milk substitutes: Rice milk, Almond Milk, Oat milk, Coconut milk, Hemp milk, etc.
• Fats: Cold pressed olive oil, flax, coconut oil (my Fave!), sunflower, sesame, walnut,  avacado
• Beverages: fresh whole juices, smoothies, filtered water, herbal tea, seltzer
• Spices: all of them!!!
• Sweeteners:  brown rice syrup, blackstrap molasses, stevia

The above diet was prescribed by my Naturopath.  

Some other resources I have been loving are:

•  Crazy Sexy Diet, a book by Kris Carr and her website Crazy Sexy Life.
• The Kind Diet, a book by Alicia Silverstone
• The Heath Seekers Kitchen, a Blog
• Choosing Raw, a Blog
• Thrive Foods a book by Brenden Brazier

And my Hubs has been reading The China Study which has been SO enlightening!  It's the book that got him on board with the vegan Lifestyle.  A must read for all the data loving, engineer minded folks out there.

In addition to all of the foods on my yes list I have been having at least 2 big smoothies or fresh juices from my juicer every day.  Mostly veggie with an apple or pear to sweeten things up just a bit.  My fave is Apple, cucumber, zucchini, celery, ginger, carrot juice.  Yum!

Our blender is a Vitamix and our juicer is a Breville Ikon and we love them both.

Alrighty...that's sorta the cliffs notes of what I'm doing to change my health and life.  It's really working and I am excited at the possibilities.  I'll be posting recipes, nutrition tips,  links to resources and updates on my progress. 

Go Juice!

Vegan Brown Rice : : Sushi

Brown Sushi Rice

2 cups short-grain brown rice

2 1/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon water

4 teaspoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

Rinse rice well and bring to a boil with 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon soy sauce in a 4 quart heavy saucepan, then reduce heat to very low and simmer, tightly covered, until water is absorbed, about 40 minutes.

Remove from heat and let rice stand, covered, 10 minutes.

While rice is standing, stir together vinegar and remaining teaspoon soy sauce.

Transfer rice to a wide nonmetal bowl (preferably wood, ceramic, or glass) and sprinkle with vinegar mixture, tossing gently with a large spoon to combine.

Cool rice, tossing occasionally, about 15 minutes.

For veggies we used carrots, cucumber, avocados, and green onions.  Yum-lish.

This was enough rice for us to make about 6-7 long rolls...we were all stuffed.

Zucchini Pesto : : Pasta

it was a hot summer day...

all i wanted was some fast, simple food that used lots of veggies and basil from the garden (mine and my mom in law's).

Zucchini Pesto Pasta is what i came up with.

I julienned up 2 big zucchini on my mandolin.

for the pesto i blended:

2 cloves of garlic

2 handfulls of basil

1 large zucchini

olive oil

salt

pepper

juice from 1 lemon

1 handfull of cashews

put the julienned zucchini in a large bowl.

add 1 package of cooked whole wheat pasta

pour pesto sauce over noodles and zucchini.

stir  and serve.  

this is good cold or warm and was a hit with the adults and the kids both!

Beef Stroganoff : : Vegan

most of the key ingredients...forgot to put all in the photo.  i will get better at this!

after a couple of weeks of eating lots of veggie based dinners...salads, wraps, stir-fry's...i was ready for some good ol'fashioned comfort food!  so I came up with this "beef stroganoff" recipe that was a big success!

i've been playing around with making 'cream' sauces using soaked cashews and had great success.  i made a sweet whipped cream by adding vanilla and maple syrup last week.  I poured it over fresh berries and success!  yummy dessert.

then i was missing sour cream on my burrito. so, i made another batch of cashew cream...but this time i added cumin, garlic salt, lime juice, cayenne pepper and oregano.  special burrito sauce was a big success!

now i was feeling bold...ready to make the sauce the star of the meal, not just a condiment. 

 i'm talking gravy here folks.

Start by boiling a package of your fave noodles.

sautee about 1/2 an onion in olive oil until it starts to soften.

add mushrooms.  sautee until soft and brown.

add meat substitute crumbles.  i used soy 'beef' crumbles from trader joe's.

season with salt and pepper.

veggies done.

now for the cream sauce.  in a high speed blender blender add: 

~1 cup soaked cashews 

1/2 sup unsweetened soy milk

2 cloves garlic

garlic salt

nutmeg

onion powder

cayenne pepper

fresh cracked black pepper

salt

(i don't measure when i cook...i just do it by feel.  so play with it, trust your gut!)

Blend until smooth and creamy...add more soy milk if necessary to thin.

add cream sauce to veggies.

pour over i package of your favorite pasta and stir.  i had this fat spiral on hand...a flat wide noodle would be more stroganoff-y.  

the pic doesn't look terribly appetizing but i promise it was delish.  the fault lies in my photog skills...not the food!

enjoy!