Go Ellen! See Ellen Degeneres give up sugar
Ellen’s committment to giving up sugar.
I submitted an application to be on her show during the no sugar stint. Wish me luck!
Add comment February 7, 2010
Kale in the spotlight, by request (Recipe)
Good evening bloggies,
Just spend a lovely evening having dinner at Dos Coyotes in Davis with friends and sharing some Aggie pride watching UC Davis hoops with Matt and friends. A lovely evening, indeed!
Look like some folks want to get to know their kale a little better. So I’m going to suggest starting with a veggie/bean soup. Reason: It’s not a kale overload, its hearty, and a cost effective way to use a veggie that tends to be somewhat pricey. At $1.89/bunch here in Davis one has to be frugal with making new food purchases. This way one bunch goes a long way……
2 tbsp EVOO
1 large yellow onion chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or 2 tsp pre-minced garlic
6 cups of water or broth (not too salty!)
Salt, pepper to taste (less if you use broth)
2 tsp ground oregano
1 tbsp drired parsley or 1 tsp ground
1 bay leaf
4 red potatoes, chopped
1 can white canneloni beans, or navy beans
1 head of kale, stems removed, chopped into 1-2″ pieces
In a non-reactive pot, heat oil on med heat. Sweat garlic for a minute (add to pan alone and then remove). Add onion. Cook for 1 min, stirring. Add celery, salt/pepper/dried spices. Cook for 2-3 min, until onions start to soften. Add garlic back in. Add water or broth, potatoes. Cook until potatoes are nearly soft but not mushy. Add beans. Cook another 10 minutes. Add kale for last 5-10 min of cooking on low/med heat. Kale will wilt, and this is just fine. If you are an omnivore, you can also add ham hock to this when cooking. Nice flavor.
Enjoy!
Other additions: 2-3 carrots, butternut squash cubes instead of potatoes.
Add comment February 7, 2010
How to love Kale
(Photo courtesy of www.encyclopedia.com)
I often forget that not everybody loves kale. Strange, I know. What reminds me are random things like strange looks I get when I drink my kale-infused smoothie for breakfast at school, or when I see people’s eyes widen with confusion when I unearth my lunch and reveal the green leafy and onion sautee (over a bed of quinoa typically) leftover from the previous nights dinner. For me, this is just standard fare. How quickly I forget my anti-kale roots.
I get it. Upon first glance Kale looks uninviting. Almost angry. With its curly leaves and almost snarly looking appearance, it doesn’t exactly exude the a welcoming vibe. Not to mention that your only exposure may have been to the kale on the side of your “Eggs over my Hammy” plate at Denny’s or as the decorative green below fruit and cheese platters at dinner parties. That was certainly how I first knew kale.
But underneath all of that ruffage is a really tasty, nutritious and versatile veggie. But like all relationships, it simply takes time. My first adventure with kale was probably in 2005. I’d gotten the book Vegetarian Cooking for Everybody, by Deborah Madison and I was on a mission. Each week I chose a new veggie and accompanying recipe. Until that point I was a romaine lettuce and baby carrot girl, with the occasional salsa diversion. Now I can’t think of a veggie I don’t like. Even brussel sprouts. My grandmother is probably rolling over in her grave for that one!
Can I recall my first kale dish? No, but I bet it involved other flavors, as to hide the taste and texture. Turns out that kale, when cooked, is rather soft and pliable, not all all mean and offputting, as it looks in the grocery store.
Tip #2 for learning to love kale is to broaden your sense of what kale is. The hyper-curly variety is only one option. Dino kale is my fav – leaves are easier to work with (less curl) and it just has a nice, mild flavor. I also like red kale or a mix of several kales. Try putting them in minestrone soup, or veggie and chicken soup. I bet you won’t even notice your new friend, but your body will reap the benefits.
It’s not that you have to go nuts with kale like I do to have a healthy vegetable appetite. It’s simply that if you can make friends with kale, you’re probably in with most other veggies too, and that means lots of variety. I mean, who can eat romaine salads with fat free dressing and a few coarsely chopped baby carrots forever? I certainly couldn’t. My veggie repetiore needed a facelift. I’m glad I found kale. It’s a keeper in my diet.
PS: I don’t recommend eating it raw if its your first endeavor with dark leafy greens. It’s called ‘ruffage’ for a reason, people…get my drift??
Add comment February 5, 2010
Too excited to sit…
Today I’m excited. I have all these ideas running around in my head about interactive food experiences I’d like to put together. I just don’t know where to begin.
Maybe it’s the vegan clease that is giving me this energy….or is it the MASSIVE CHEAT I had today when I gulped down a 16 oz decaf coffe w/sugar free vanilla creamer.
Well, technically the creamer was nondairy, which might still be ‘vegan’ but I’m certain there was nothin’ clean about that combo. But damn, it felt GOOODD going down, and perked me up.
What can I say, this week I”ve been studying the fascinating topics of cellular signaling, fatty acid synthesis and teaching a physiology lab about the electrical properties of the heart. Hmm… its a far cry from cooking shows, cook books, and my newest idea: ”Chocolate and Chaturanga”. I borrowed the idea from a recent article about fusing yoga and foodies together. Brilliant! So now I’m hot on the trail of how to put together such an event.
Yes, this is much better than reading the paper sitting in front of me, entitled ” Epitacechin mediates beneficial effects of flavanol-rich cocoa on vascular function in humans” . Although I think there *might* be something about chocoalte in there somewhere……..
Nighty night bloggies. What do you think about “chocolate and chaturanga?”
3 comments February 5, 2010
food economics
Even on a vegan diet, Matt and I spend $83/week on food for two of us, and go out 1x/week.
I love the topic of food economics. Recently I found this website:
The Dollar a Day Project. Check it out. We are eating $2/meal at this point, which is way more than the project outlines, and I still feel like I’m always pushing the budget.
What do you guys think?
Add comment February 4, 2010
I’m in
By the way, I should absolutely be grading lab reports right now . Absolutely, without question I should be doing that. But I’m not…and I don’t even feel that bad about it. Sometimes a girl just needs a break.
Amidst all my grad school chaos some good news came today. Some of my cooking classes got approved for teaching at the Davis Food Coop. Yes. I’m in. Watch out Davis, here I come!
4 comments February 2, 2010
Not your average french fry
The vegan clease allows for potatoes…okay, so not what I’d usually have on a ‘cleanse’ but since I’m opting not to have corn or any flours at all (even GF), I’ll take an inch when its ‘allowed’.
Being the creative kitchen gal I am, I wanted to raise the potato bar and do something fun. Besides, it was day 4 and Matt was starting to get might cranky, missing his favorite dairy and meat foods. We decided to make a vegan burger and fries meal:
Grilled portabello with spices
Green lettuce leaf ‘buns’
fixin’s: mustard, red onion, and tomato
“cheezy” fries.
See video below for the fries, but basically I cut up 2 lbs of red potatoes, marinated them in EVOO, salt, pepper and brewer’s yeast (what gives them the ‘cheezy’ appeal) and baked at 400 for about 17 minutes. Delicious! The whole meal was tasty!
Afternote: I definitely ate too many fries and it made we me want sugar. I satisfied my urge with a not-so delicious apple, but it worked. And hey, part of this clease is about facing those cravings and realizing the feeling is transient, relatively meaningless, and I feel much better having gone for the apple and not for some other treat!
Enjoy the video, and remeber, it is homemade (AKA, not perfect)
1 comment January 28, 2010
Hello world…
This is what gets me going everyday. It’s my magic bullet (ironically, you use a magic bullet to make this too!).
Yes, my friends, the rice protein smoothie has made its debut back into my life during the cleanse. Not that I don’t eat a smoothie for breakfast quite a bit, but this one has some secret ingredients that will hopefully get my GI humming and my cells smiling.
Those secret ingredients would be mustard green, kale or spinach leaves and ground flaxmeal. You really can’t taste the greens, I promise! Add enough berries, cinnamon, and vanilla rice powder and your palate will overlook the bitter greens. Try it, really.
I love this because I can make it the evening beforehand, store it in the fridge, and then sip it through my biochem class EVERY DAY at 8am. I swear I can feel my brain cells perking up with every sip as more anti-oxidants enter my body.
Fun fact for ya: The more unsaturated fats (plant fats) you eat, the higher your requirement for anti-oxidants. That is because unsaturated fats are prone to oxidation, which produces free fradicals (BAD). Anti-oxidants are like cellular vigilantes that come in to wrangle up those free radicals and keep our cells happy and well. So, eat those colorful veggies, especially if you eat a lot of unsaturated fats.
Consequently, this is also why its not advised to do high heat cooking with many unsaturated fats – the heat oxidizes them and makes them rancid….so I guess its back to butter and eggs after this 21 day cleanse for me.
Okay, back to work. Smoothie recipe below
Toodles….
3/4 cup frozen berries
1/2 cup green leafy veggie leaves (kale, spinach, mustard – NO COLLARDS!)
1 tbsp flaxmeal
1 tsp cinnamon
8 oz or so of either water or unsweetened almond milk
1 serving Vanilla rice protein powder
Put ingredients in a blender and blend. Add more liquid as needed. I don’t recommend you put the protein powder in first, as it sticks to the bottom of the blender at my house….
2 comments January 25, 2010
new blog to check out
I took a cooking class at the Davis Food Co-op today, with Adrienne. Soooo tasty. A nice way to embark on a vegan cleanse, as I got to enjoy cheeses, almond orange bread AND dark green veggies. What a fantasy!!!
Check her out at www.vegetarianized.com
Enjoy!
Add comment January 24, 2010
It’s that time of year again….
It’s cleanse time again! Those of you who know me know that the act of cleansing/detox diet is no unfamiliar venture for an off-white pursuant like me. Seems like every 6 months I get the bug to do some kind of detox/cleanse, and yep…its about that time.
So when my mother in law approached me about a 21-day cleanse diet, my natural response was ‘…hello, friend’…. Not to mention the fact that she and I could be partners in crime. Yet another reason to detox. Mother-in-law bonding. Yes, I actually like doing things with Matt’s mom, including eating a vegan diet and complaining about how much we miss chocolate together. Hey, the family that cleanses together, stays together.
I couldn’t help but ask myself, what is my attraction to the cleansing concept? It’s much more than a physical desire. I’m not really after weight loss, I eat a ton of veggies as it is, so what is it? Truthfully, its kind of a spiritual adventure for me. There is something profound about being slightly uncomfortable (and trust me, not have the option to eat dairy or meat or even chocolate for 21 days will get a little edgy) that opens me up mentally and emotionally.
When I’m cleansing, I’m letting my body have a break from the ‘norm’ diet. I’m also asking my mind and spirit to be willing to stand up to cravings, desires for food gratifications and emotional eating moments. THese happen often to a girl like me, even still. It’s like the Pema Chodron quote “how you do one thing is how you do anything”. When I’m eating a certain healthy but limited diet, I’m practicing the art of being uncomfortable and having to face my ego so I can do a little more of that in other areas of my life.
Do I have to cleanse to do this? No, I suppose not. But for me, food and its relationship in my life is very much a metaphor for how I see other things. For instance, when I’m stress and want to taste the sweetness of life, I typically want mor sweet: Fruits, sweetened teas, honey on my oatmeal, etc. Nothing bad about this, just a way that I try and make it all more comfortable, which ends up creating a dependence. Cleansing is like letting go of the dependencies on food, and trusting that I’m going to be okay if I can’t have hot chocolate while grading lab reports. That process helps me learn to be okay when I’m pushing the edges of my life and as a result, my mind to open up to new possibilities for myself.
Being as this is the year I want the off-white cookbook done, it seems like cleansing is appropriate. I’ve got a few mental barriers on my ability there, and I’d like to let them go so as to create space for the possibility of finishing.
So, here I go! Starting tomorrow my daily eating will consist of:
A vegan diet with fish as needed (white fish only, baked or pan sauteed, not deep fried, which I don’t even do anyway)
Abstaining from: corn chips/tortillas, wheat, flour in general (even GF), caffeine, chocolate, concentrated sweeteners, animal products (meat and dairy), garlic (b/c it makes me kind of crazy, to be honest!)
Enhancing my intake of: legumes, whole grains, bitter vegetables, and fresh juices, green teas. I’m also going to spend tomorrow in a semi-fast, with 2 meals of rice protein + veggies shake and 1 regular, mid-day ‘meal’.
Nothing makes cleansing more enticing than making yummy cleanse-friendly food. Thank GOD I’ve had lots osf practice at making whole grain,veggie, healthy fats dishes, like the one listed below.
Care to join me anybody? Even for 1 day? yes you CAN!
Quinoa Salad
I believe I’ve posted this recipe in some form in the past, but if not, here it is:
- 6 cups cooked: equal parts brown rice and quinoa ( I used a rice cooke and added a mix of oregano, rosemary, pepper, and salt while cooking)
- 2 chopped yellow peppers
- 2 chopped tomatoes
- 1 chopped avocado
- 1/2 chopped red onion
- 1 bunch of parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup EVOO
- juice of 1 lemon
Once the quinoa/rice is cooked, let it cook. Meanwhile chop veggies and appreciate the color. Next, add the veggies in and mix. Add sunflower seeds and mix. Add EVOO and lemon and maybe a bit more salt at the end. Mix and either serve warm or serve chilled. Can be a simple meal or a side dish.
3 comments January 24, 2010
