Snow Fun & Karlito’s Sweet n’ Salty Cereal Snack Mix

We got a lot of snow in Kansas City last Wednesday, and I had a blast playing with my dogs while the snow was still coming down and it was so bright that it was nearly daylight. Me and Mikey the Wonder Dog had a snowball fight … I won. He can’t make snowballs for beans! Then we played chase … He won. I can’t run and chase for beans! Then I made a snow angel. I haven’t made a snow angel in thirty years at least. I hesitated at the thought and then I just went for it! I dropped down into the snow and I was 10 years old again! Fantastic! Mikey the Wonder Dog jumped on my head!

It's amazing the difference in my ability to shovel, workout and play since I've been eating a plant-based diet and getting regular workouts. I enjoyed shoveling the drive as my workout on both Wednesday and Thursday. The air was crisp, the snow was pretty light, and it felt great to be outdoors. I shoveled the drive, the walks and the patio and still wasn't ready to go indoors, hence the doggy play.

On Thursday I got another snow day, and after shoveling again, I curled up on my chair, snuggled under a warm blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and watched Amelie, a movie that’s charming and beautiful. If you live near me, I'll gladly loan you my copy.

And my movie snack? Karlito’s Sweet n’ Salty Cereal Snack Mix! I cop to the fact that Karlito’s recipe is different, but mine is a gluten free version and totally delicious! Here’s the recipe: 3c Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise cereal, 3c Nature’s Path WholeO’s, 1c-1½c salted peanuts, mixed together and sprinkled with stevia to sweeten to taste. I mix and store it in a plastic bag and 1c = 1 serving. Yum! The Mesa Sunrise is a multi-grain flake-style cereal with corn, amaranth, quinoa, flax and buckwheat. WholeO's are a brown rice and corn Cheerio-style cereal that's gluten free. You can use flake and O-style cereals of your choice.

Switching gears: Sad that the Bears didn’t pulverize the Packers, but as the old Chicago saying goes, “There’s always next year!” I joined a group at Tower Tavern to watch the action and totally forgot (Absolut will do that to you!) that pita bread is definitely not gluten free and ate some of that along with, not dairy free, artichoke dip. What can I say? The trauma of the 1^st half took over!

Go Blackhawks!!!

Angels, Dominion, Responsibility

For my Christian readers who share that God gave us dominion over plants and animals for food, so they don't buy into the whole vegan thing:

Psalm 8 (From the New International Version ©2010)

LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 1You have set your glory
   in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
   you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
   to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
   the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars,
   which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
   human beings that you care for them?[c]

 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
   and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
   you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
   and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
   and the fish in the sea,
   all that swim the paths of the seas.

 9 LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

“… made them rulers over the works of your hands.” Should you take this seriously? If you do, than the job comes with the responsibility to treat “everything under your feet” with respect; they are the ‘works of God.’ The bible doesn’t tell you to be vicious and cruel in the treatment of God’s creatures, nor to look away at the injustices perpetrated by others on your behalf. It says you are just “a little lower than the angel” and that you are “crowned with glory and honor.” How honorable is it to be nonchalant in your use of animal flesh that makes it to your kitchen through torture and cruelty? Your disregard of whether or not the animals you choose to eat were treated humanely is not glorious or honorable, it’s selfish and it’s easy. Look away and the horror isn’t really there. Don’t make the hard choices.

I’m not advocating that you not eat meat. I’m suggesting that you open your eyes to where your meat comes from and then make a choice to either eat meat that was allowed to live as it was intended to live or not eat meat. It takes work. It’s not easy. For me it was easier to just go without meat.

Maybe you can’t fathom a meatless world. I get that. Just do the work to make sure the animals you’re eating were treated properly. It’ll cost more. Maybe you can make up the difference by eating some meatless meals, or less meat at each meal. You decide. You’re the one that’s just a bit lower than an angel. 

Recipes and Frank

It was a fantastic weekend! Friday night was dinner at Po’s Dumplings with my friend, Judith. They have an eggplant dish that is sweet and spicy and absolutely divine! Po’s is the perfect place to go with everyone. They have gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, seafood and a lot of meat dishes. Delicious!

The high point of the evening was going to see the documentary Let Me Be Frank about a 50-something, New York Italian, who in the year 2000 was 5'7", 287 pounds and living in San Francisco.  He was a former heroin addict in recovery for 17 years, and the doctors were treating him for Hepatitis C. Frank swallowed a handful of pills every morning including antidepressants; he was miserable both physically and emotionally.

One day he stumbled onto Café Gratitude, and thinking it was somehow related to the recovery community, he went inside and sat down. It became clear that this wasn’t an AA or NA hangout; These were people eating healthy, no one was smoking, and there wasn’t a cup of coffee in front of everyone. He stayed. Something about the feel-good atmosphere grabbed hold. Outspoken and funny, and honestly quite frank, Frank became a regular at Café Gratitude, a raw vegan restaurant. 

One day Ryland, his brother Cary and his friend Conor offered to transform Frank’s life in 42 days. They insisted that Frank sign a contract stating that he would follow their rules, including filming the entire process. The rules included eating a raw vegan diet, weekly colonics, and daily affirmations.

When a filmmaker from New York moved to San Francisco and met Ryland, Cary and Conor, and looked at the raw footage, he knew there was magic to be made. The magic is Frank’s transformation, but it’s more than that: Frank’s honesty and humor make people fall in love with him. Friend them on Facebook so you can attend a screening when they’re somewhere near you, or for those in KC, come on over and we’ll watch it at my place. It is inspirational!

Frank came out and did about a 30-minute Q&A and he looked so good! His humor and language were exactly the same. He was relaxed and enjoyed the audience as much as we enjoyed him. A truly wonderful evening!

When I returned home from the movie, the homemade Maple Baked Beans that had been cooking in my Crockpot all day were done. Delicious! I had never made baked beans from scratch and they were so good I thought I’d inadvertently added bacon. I adapted a recipe from the book 1000 Vegan Recipes, by Robin Robertson. The original recipe was baked and called for canned beans, dry mustard and cayenne pepper. I changed quantities based on the beans used and threw it all in my slow cooker. 

The recipe: 6 cups of mixed black beans, pinto beans, and black eyed peas. (These had been soaked overnight and measured after soaking. I'm confident that you can use any kind of bean you have on hand. If using canned, drain and omit the salt.) 2/3 cup pure maple syrup, 3 tbsp of blackstrap molasses, 1 sliced large onion, 2 sliced cloves garlic, 1-2 tbsp yellow mustard and salt. I salted these as uncooked beans, so probably 1 tbsp of salt. Put the beans in the Crockpot, cover with water, add the other ingredients and cook on low for 8-10 hours. I took the cover off for the last hour of cooking.

Yesterday I made a vegan, gluten free Mushroom Risotto that was delicious. I adapted that recipe based on the mushrooms I had available, from www.thekitchn.com. I substituted tamari for the balsamic vinegar, and fresh mushrooms for dried. I didn’t have shitake’s so I used portabella and cremini. This is a dish that would fool your friends into thinking it’s not vegan. It’s got a richness that I haven’t found easy to create since I took meat out of my diet. Wonderful!

My journey has been a wild ride, but I wasn't filmed during the tough times. Frank's journey has allowed him to be the person that was under all the crap. What a gift!

The Noodle Gods Have Aligned!

I am able to eat my favorite breakfast gluten free! Noodle Soup. I add rice noodles to un-chicken broth and make a gluten free, vegan soup. Paired with a fruit smoothie and this girl’s HAPPY! The rice noodles are a bit different but after they’re in the broth for awhile they’re really good. Thank you oh great, magnificent noodle gods!

I’ve been trying to find something gluten free that actually feels like I’m eating an entrée instead of a group of side dishes. Last night I felt like I had my first official gluten free meal. The entrée was Cheesy Potatoes and they were fabulous. Here’s the recipe:

Take two small or one cooked large russet potato, cubed, ¼ cup Daiya cheddar cheese, 1 tsp. Earth Balance butter, salt and pepper to taste. Put the potatoes in a dish, add the Earth Balance and microwave until hot and butter has melted. (2 minutes) Add salt and pepper and toss. Sprinkle on the Daiya cheese and return to the microwave until Daiya melts. (45 seconds)

I added a salad of green leaf lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber, dressed with light vinaigrette, and finished with a heavenly orange-berry –chocolate sorbet. It was a delicious dinner!

A couple of notes: I like to steam or slow cook my russets because I don’t like them dry and mushy. To save time, energy and for ease of meal preparation, I cook several at a time and have them ready in the refrigerator. Also, I have a 900w microwave. Your times might vary. I plan on trying this on the stovetop in my cast iron skillet. Daiya is available at Whole Foods and in Kansas, at HyVee. If you can't find it near you, click on the image.

What? Ahh … you noticed the orange-berry-chocolate sorbet? Yeah … it was heavenly … What? You want the recipe for that right now?! Hand over the chocolate and no one gets hurt? Far be it for me to stand between you and your chocolate!

The sorbet is basically my smoothie recipe frozen to the consistency of soft serve ice cream with shaved chocolate added. Here it is: ½ to ¾ cup of light cranberry juice, 1 orange, peeled and quartered, ½ cup of frozen blueberries, 3-5 frozen strawberries, 2” chunk of frozen banana. Blend well and pour into an ice cream freezer until it reaches the consistency you like. Toss in 1-2 tablespoons vegan chocolate chips. Enjoy! Chips can be shaved, chopped or whole. (Makes 2 servings)

I have a Donvier with a bowl that stays in the freezer until ready for use. It took about 6-7 minutes for the sorbet to get to the consistency I like. I put my leftovers in the freezer and then soften in the microwave, so if you don’t have an ice cream freezer, you could probably just put the smoothie in the freezer and soften it in the microwave prior to serving. Add the chocolate chips at the end.

When I run out of strawberries and blueberries, I’m going to try a tropical sorbet of oranges, pineapples, banana and coconut; and chocolate of course!

The biggest problem I’ve had with the switch to gluten free is how much food will hold me until the next meal. I used to eat a big breakfast knowing exactly what worked when lunch was going to be five hours later without an opportunity to eat between the two. The Weight Loss Challenge’s plan is to eat three meals and one snack per day while eating to satisfaction but not fullness. We are rating our hunger level, with a goal of staying between 4/hunger awakens and 7/completely satisfied on a scale with 0 being ravenous and 10 being sick.

I find that the foods that get me to 5 and 6 (neutral and satisfied) just don’t last as long as the heavier, gluten grains, so I’m pushing myself to 7 and even 8 (full) so that I am not ravenous an hour before my next meal.

I plan to sit down with a couple of gluten free cookbooks and really learn a bit about the grains that are available, choose some recipes, shop for the ingredients, and prepare them. Hopefully I’ll find some gluten alternatives with staying power. With this drastic change in foods, I also need to figure out my average calorie intake. Nice! I have some projects for this weekend!

Happy Birthday, B-Man! The journey continues.

Monday Morning Ramblings

A gluten free vegan journey is a different trip. I’m not sure what to call this blog since I still occasionally eat seafood. It’s not vegan, although my intent is still to eat a vegan diet. So, I’m leaving the name and working through the confusion and difficulties that surround food choices. That’s the purpose of my blog; to work through the challenges publicly in support of anyone trying to improve their health, animals’ lives and the health of the planet.

The conversion to gluten free is one of those challenges. The reduction in allowable foods has left me with little variety although I recall feeling the same way when I quit eating meat, dairy and eggs. My goal is to follow through on making new recipes each week.

I rarely ate potatoes and now they are a staple making their appearance on my plate at least twice a day. Saturday I made a pot of blackeyed pea soup in my slow cooker and I decided to throw in a few whole russets to let them cook along with the soup. They were delicious! I’ve eaten all four (they were small) topped with a teaspoon of Earth Balance and coarse ground salt and pepper. Yum!

Another favorite that I can still enjoy is my morning smoothie. Combine a half to three-quarters of a cup of cranberry juice with one peeled and quartered orange, two frozen peach slices, three or four frozen strawberries, a couple of chunks of frozen bananas and a small handful of frozen blueberries. After you make it a couple of times you’ll know exactly what quantity works best for the thickness you desire and for the strength of your blender.

If you’re trying the new Weight Watchers Points program, the only thing you have to count is the juice. Use light cranberry juice for very low points!

The smoothie is easy to change depending on what you have available. When I have fresh spinach on hand I like to throw a handful in, and often throw in a few carrots. You don’t taste the spinach or carrots at all. If you have kids who resist healthy eating, make them a green shake, put on a Shrek video and tell them it’s all Shrek will drink for breakfast! A healthy way to start their day!

This weekend friends and I went to JC Wyatt’s in Saint Joseph, Missouri for dinner. The restaurant is owned by two guys from New York, Jim (front of the house) and Jeff (chef), who go out of their way to please. This place is magnificent! It is a restored Victorian home that’s so beautiful it takes your breath away. I gazed at the ceilings all night. Jim created wonderful designs out of period-correct wallpaper.

We had an email discussion relating to diet a few weeks before our reservation, but since the addition of the gluten free happened rather quickly I decided to have the maple glazed salmon rather than ask them to prepare a gluten free vegan meal at the last minute. The food was divine!

The table is asked to limit their choices to two entrées from their menu of the day. They keep it small so that everything is prepared to perfection. The entrée price includes a first course, (ours was a choice of soup or salad), dessert, iced tea and coffee. You are welcome to bring in your own wine or beer. It is so worth the drive to St. Joe’s!

Since we have plenty of snow on the ground, I am going to forgo the gym and workout by shoveling snow. I love shoveling snow when I don’t have to do it right away to get to work. I can pick the time and enjoy the beauty of nature while working up a sweat! Even snow haters have to admit that the first day of a snowfall is beautiful.

Am I? Hungry? Really?

One of the instructions in the Mission Biggest Weight Loss Challenge plan is to rate your hunger on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being “empty” and 10 being, “take me to the hospital and have my stomach pumped” (not really, but you get my drift). We were given a list of factors that make you hungry, one of which is: Defending your set point. Several years ago there was a diet philosophy that centered on a person having a weight set point; a weight that your body naturally gravitates to, and that’s what I thought the Challenge information was referring to. It well might be, but yesterday I discovered that it meant something entirely different to me.

I was struggling with the amount of food I had eaten, rather than whether or not I was hungry. I ate a good breakfast at 8:00 (satisfied), and at 1:30 I had a small salad with hummus on the side (not satisfied), then ate a Larabar at 3:00 (satisfied). At 3:45 I went to the rec center and swam for 40 minutes, stretched out in the steam room for about five, then headed to the showers. Walking to my car at 5:10 I was hungry and decided to have a leftover baked potato at home.

Driving home I got to thinking about whether or not I was actually hungry, much less starving, and I discovered that physically I wasn’t hungry, but mentally I was famished. I fought it for awhile, but gave in and ate a handful of roasted butternut squash seeds and a small bowl of brown rice. It was this morning that I realized I do have a set point and it has to do with volume and density, not weight or hunger. There is a certain volume/density of food that is a subconscious need rather than a physical one.

So even if gluten isn’t an issue for me this test has been enormously beneficial. The absence of dense volume has brought me a new level of awareness and is responsible for the set point epiphany. I can look at my hunger with new eyes and when it’s volume/density related deal with it differently. That might not alleviate the feeling that something is missing, but it gives me an opportunity to discover what is actually physically necessary.

I wonder if the lower density of the food is why a lot of people who have grown up with a predictable food volume/density at meals and snacks feel deprived when eating healthy, lower calorie foods.

This brings me to another factor relating to my volume/density set point and that’s my sense of the volume of food that will prevent future hunger. I often eat based on when I think I’ll eat again. As an example, one of the factors in eating the seeds and rice last night was that I was going to go out and walk my dogs. Ummmm … Okay. What’s that about? Was I going to pass out from lack of food in the next hour? I don’t think so. Remember, I wasn't even physically hungry!

I can’t imagine many situations when I wouldn’t be able to find something to eat in a timely manner. I’ve never been so broke that I didn’t have food (thank you, universe!) and it’s not like I live in the middle of nowhere and find my cupboards bare on a regular basis with the nearest convenience store twenty miles down a lonely country road; Awareness.

Redefining hunger is going to be enormously helpful to me. Gaining insight into an issue gives me information to change it. Recognizing the absence of density is another piece of information on the journey. 

Moving Forward

This baby, almost-but-not-quite-total vegan needs to move forward to totally vegan. I realize that I have to learn how to say, "No, thank you." when I'm with friends who have tried, but not quite hit the vegan mark. For me, that's difficult. It's also difficult for me to say no when the deed has already been done. If there's a casserole that has dairy or eggs in it, I usually eat some of it. I'd like to think that it's out of being polite, but that's not the whole truth. It also tastes good.

Which brings me to something that really bugs me about people. Upon hearing that I am a vegan, a lot of people ... a lot ... say, "Oh, I love my meat. I couldn't give up turkey at Thanksgiving, or my cheeseburgers, or my bacon and eggs, or my milk, or how in the world could I live without my cheese?" I tell them that I started slowly, with red meat first, then poultry, then dairy and eggs, and then seafood. I also confess that I still think about how good a cheeseburger would taste, but that when I actually think about biting into it, all desire drops away, but that it wasn't that way in the beginning. They don't hear it. They just don't hear it. All they are thinking at that point is that they will never give up their burger or turkey or bacon or cheese. You can't make them. Nobody can make them. Don't come any closer!!! Wow! 

First of all, do they think I hated the taste of fried chicken? Steak? Cheeseburgers? Ice Cream? Well, I DIDN'T DAMN IT!!! I loved fried chicken. It was probably my favorite food on the planet. Why do they think it didn't take stamina and resolve?? (As I said above, I still fight some things a full year later.) I hate that they judge my compassionate, healthful decision as having been easy for me because I didn't have as much 'like' to give up. ARGHHH!!!

So, no matter whether they see the videos (I'm convinced they close their eyes at the gory parts) or they read the books or articles about factory farming, they still casually march to the grocery store and buy their torture in a package, take it home, cook it up, and gorge. How can anyone do that? Once you know, how do you divest yourself of responsibility? Just curious.

Back to how I move forward. Clearly I'm not moving in circles that have the same ideals. So, for my New Year's resolution I'm going to step out of my comfort zone and actually go to the Vegetarian and Vegan Meetups in my area. I need to add some vegan and vegetarian friends to my social circle. I need friends who understand my choices and who can share vegan experiences. I'm not giving up the friends I love, just adding to the cirlce!

So, that's it! I followed through on last year's resolution. Made a mid-year resolution to work out and get healthy and followed through on that, so I am confident that I can follow through on this one too.

Happy New Year!!

bacon

A friend updated their facebook status with a single word, "bacon," following it up with, "I almost worked myself into a frenzy this morning....lying in bed and thinking of bacon and eggs, with some hot sauce...big cold glass of orange juice, and a slice of potato bread toast. MAN."


I wanted to add the following comment: "I was lying in bed thinking of the videotape of pigs in gestation crates banging their heads against the bars so hard they bleed just before they go insane from the boredom that humans, whose appetites for bacon versus the humane treatment of innocent creatures, foist on them. Pigs are intelligent, social creatures that humans have no business torturing so that they can eat their flesh." I didn't. I just put a single word: sad.


It's also sad that I don't push harder. That I don't stick my neck out there willing to take whatever abuse people want to heap on me for making the humane choice. Instead, I will send her the link to my blog, rather than face public scrutiny. I need to grow a pair!

Comfort Food

I have found a less-than-healthy, but not unhealthy, delightfully-decadent comfort meal: Campbell's Tomato Soup made with almond milk and served with Farm to Market sourdough bread and Earth Balance vegan buttery spread. There isn't time to miss the Kraft processed American cheese food because you are dazzled by the deliciousness of the soup. Vegan Heaven!

This defines my problem, though: I am a wing-it eater. I eat what's convenient. I love spaghetti because I can make a ton of it, freeze it, and pull it out on a whim. The same goes for macaroni and cheese. Unfortunately I haven't found a vegan macaroni and cheese alternative. This tomato soup comes close to filling the void though. It's simple and can definitely be served up on a whim. Even without the sourdough, it's great with whatever bread is in the house.

My children and grandchildren thought I was a really good cook, and I was a good cook when it came to the standards. What I am not, is a creative cook. I don't really have that knack of knowing that if I add a touch of mustard to the dip, it will be perfection. And I certainly never got into the science of cooking. I didn't even know there was a science to cooking! That leaves me with coming up with an idea, checking it out online to see if it's been done, and if not then just giving it try. 

Through accident and serendipity I have found out that almond milk is a lot better than rice milk. I made a lovely, easy batch of scalloped potatoes using unsweetened almond milk. I was able to cut the fat in half by using half the butter (Earth Balance to the rescue!). It tasted great! (Another comfort food!)

So, two alternatives to my traditional comfort foods, and I have a plan for a third: Whole Foods has a house brand, ready-to-use, whole-wheat pizza crust that's delicious, but all of the vegan cheeses I've tried have been found lacking the correct texture and taste. So my question was, how can I add the taste/feel of cheese without adding bad taste or texture? I am going to create a thick roux using almond milk and Earth Balance, along with a couple of spices, and try spooning/drizzling it on top of the pizza sauce, and then top it with all my vegan pizza favorite toppings. I like diced onions, black olives, and Field Roast Italian Sausage. I know it won't have the texture of cheese, but I'd rather have a great taste and non-offensive texture than spend life without pizza.

It's pretty rare that what I try is inedible ... Maybe not great, or even something I'd make again, but at least edible. I'll let you know what category the pizza falls into!

Speaking of comfort foods, please read Jonathan Safran Foer's book, Eating Animals. It is his journey to discover the diet he wanted to feed his children. It's amazing. You can purchase it through Amazon by following my Amazon link.

Understanding the Real Cost of Your Choices

I wasn't going to write tonight, but an article in the news caught my attention and I am compelled to share it.

I turned 18 on October 20, 1967. Talk about a good time! Peace, love, sex, drugs, rock & roll, black light posters, weed, speed, and Boone's Farm Apple Wine, Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Ten Years After, and Woodstock. Demonstrations, revolution, we believed we could change the world!

I had friends that fought the Vietnam War and that fought in the Vietnam War. My generation expanded the use of drugs like no other. At what cost?

Fast forward to today. I get that it's cool to smoke dope and talk smart, but as in my generation, many of the young people that do so profess to be peaceful, socially conscious, and motivated to improve the world ... make a difference. They look down on the stodgy, less aware people and show a marked disdain for the rich.

Many of these people look upon American corporations like McDonald's and Wal-Mart as the devil for the shameful way they treat the environment, employees, and suppliers. They wouldn't be caught dead carrying their garbage in a Wal-Mart bag.

Hemp, organic food, backpacking through Europe, and diversity ... these kids could be described as 21st century hippies.

Back to the news article. The heading read, "Mexico cartel stitches rival's face on soccer ball." How's that for a graphic read? I had no problem with an instant visual. You? You feeling peaceful?

The article goes on to inform that more than 15000 people have been killed in the past three years, following a crackdown on cartels. Reporters are murdered (typically in gruesome ways) with alarming frequency just for reporting on drug trafficking. I don't see how this is making the world a better place.

You get a vote. Everytime you buy or use drugs, you're choosing to support torture and murder. You get a vote. From the moment you are informed, you are choosing to support drug lords who have no respect for life. None. Their idea of a day's work is to rape, mutilate, and murder anyone who gets in their way. Be an informed consumer.

Please, understand the real cost of your choices.

On the surface this doesn't look to be a post about my vegan journey, but it is. The reason that I choose to eat a vegan diet is because of the horrific way we treat our animals in life and in death. I understand the cost of eating meat in today's world. I get a vote.

Potato Sandwiches?

Who would have thought a Gold Yukon potato, microwaved, sliced and served up on whole wheat bread with barbeque sauce would be such a wonderful lunch? Certainly not me, but it is delicious! Thank you, Dr. McDougall. Brilliant!! Today I added a thin slice of sweet onion ... marvelous!

When I told a friend that I had decided to go totally vegan, she remarked that it was great if I could afford it. The comment took me by surprise because while it can be expensive, it certainly doesn't have to be. Beans, brown rice, tomatoes, onions, corn tortillas, celery, carrots, oatmeal, raisins, and a multitude of other choices are quite affordable. After all, how much can a potato sandwich cost?

One can of black beans, one large can of tomatoes, a small can of chilies, a cup of corn kernels, onions and spices make four servings of a terrific soup served over baked corn tortilla chips and fresh avocado chunks. (For the recipe go to: Dr.McDougall's Website.) The cost to make this, without shopping around for great prices, was $8.44 or $2.11/serving using organic tomatoes and beans. It was tasty, filling, and seriously healthy!

Typically I would use dried beans for an added cost savings. A one-pound bag of beans costs around $1.50 and makes 3-4 cans worth of cooked beans. They're also really easy to prepare, so when I have the time I just cook up a bag and freeze them for use later.

I enjoy figuring out how to save money and time. It's a game to me. I was widowed in 2003 and so I only cook for myself. I've learned a few time & money-saving tricks:

• Cook an entire box of whole wheat pasta, then divide into single servings and freeze. You can run under hot water to thaw in a minute.
• Cook 2+ cups of dried, brown rice and divide into single servings to freeze. Thaw in the microwave.
• Before your bananas go bad, slice and lay them out on a cookie sheet. Pop it into the freezer and after they're frozen, remove them from the cookie sheet and put in a freezer bag. They're great for tossing into smoothies. You can also mash them and put them in freezer containers. Just thaw and add to your morning oatmeal.
• You know those few pieces of celery that you're just not going to eat? Chop them up and do the same thing you did with the bananas above. When you're cooking soup, toss in a handful of frozen celery to liven it up! It's easier for me to spend the money to buy fresh, organic produce when I know I've got a use for it if I don't get it eaten quickly.
• Rescue soon-to-be-wasted bread by drying the slices in the oven. Lay them out on the oven racks. Set the oven temp as low as possible. (I think mine goes to about 175 degrees.) You can leave them in there for a couple of hours. If they're not all the way dried out, just turn off the heat and let them sit in the oven until they are. Once they're totally dried out, use the blender to turn them into breadcrumbs. Store in the fridge.
• Here's an inexpensive, quick and tasty side dish: Use a small amount of vegan butter, heat in skillet, toss in breadcrumbs and brown. Throw in a cooked whole wheat pasta, salt to taste, and heat through ... YUM! (You can also add onions and/or garlic to the butter prior to the breadcrumbs. Saute until tender, then add the breadcrumbs and continue as above.) I eat either whole wheat or eight grain bread, so my breadcrumbs are healthy!
• Ice cube trays are my best friends! I have one that makes mini-cubes and I use it to freeze lime juice when limes are cheap. After squeezing room-temperature limes in to a bowl, pour in the the tray and freeze. Transfer to double plastic bags or containers when frozen. The same can be done for lime juice or even orange juice that you just don't finish before it's freshness date.
• I use standard size ice cube trays to freeze cream sauce in small portions. At the end of the day, thaw a serving of brown rice, thaw a couple of cream sauce cubes, toss together with some frozen peas, salt, and cracked pepper ... delicious!

Day two on my Vegan Journey went great. I had the energy to shovel my driveway not once, but twice, spent time on the phone catching up with a couple of friends while I watched the snow continue to fall, and did some research online.

Despite the perilous temperatures and blowing snow,

I love the journey!

January 5th, 2010 ... A Good Day to Become a Vegan

Let me introduce myself: My name is Nancy and I'm 60 years old. I have two rescued Standard Schnauzers (Lena & Mike) and was recently adopted by a stray cat (Gypsy Sue).

I've toyed with a vegan diet for some time. It started innocently enough when I decided to give up red meat for health reasons. Instead of beef and pork, I began to rely on fried chicken. (Now that's healthy!) So after a few weeks, I decided no meat or poultry but I'd still have dairy, eggs, and seafood.

I was in dire need of some good recipes so I went searching the Internet for ideas and found myself on websites that educated me about the horrific practice of factory farming. I couldn't imagine seeing the fear and confusion in the eyes of my critters that I saw in the eyes of the farm animals in the undercover videos I came across. Videos are available at http://www.peta.org/ or http://www.farmsanctuary.org/.

After viewing many videos and reading many books I had no trouble giving up meat. I still allowed myself occasional seafood, eggs, and dairy, though I tried to police the origin of them all. My concern was primarily their lives. Talk about a ridiculously time-consuming task! It's too much! How can I guarantee that Bessie is treated well? If a farmer responds to an email asking about conditions, how do I know it's true? And, for heaven's sake, dairy cows must be pregnant ... yes? If I believe in a woman's right to choose, how can I not believe in a cow's right to choose? Okay. That's crazy. What happens to the baby? I wish I didn't know. I can't stand it! I'm a mother. Do Not Touch My Children!!!

And seafood. Criminy. Mercury. Disease. Messing up the natural population with farming populations. Quotas, line caught, nets, trolling. STOP!!!

So, here I am, educated about the horrors inflicted on innocent creatures by humans. I don't want to inflict pain and suffering on any creatures, much less brown-eyed, sweet-faced cows or intelligent, adorable pigs, nor do I want to pretend I have no impact when I choose to visit McDonald's or buy a pound of ground beef at the local market. I can only see the burned beaks of chickens when friends tell me they stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner.

I have a friend who can't (won't) watch the videos because they're too painful, but will blithely go through the drive-thru at Popeye's to bring home dinner. I don't even know where to go with that. At least look at what you're doing before you drive-thru.

Back to today, January 5th, being a good day. Today I went totally vegan. I am done justifying and playing around and feeling guilty. I'm tired of feeling like crap because I eat a crap diet. I'm done. I am a Vegan. Today. January 5th, 2010.

I like the feel of it. It feels fresh and clean and freeing. I don't care to be involved in the abuse of wonderful, amazing creatures. It's like stepping up and living my values, and that feels good. I'm sure there will be times when it's more difficult than others, but I think I can get by those times. I can just look in Lena's big brown eyes or Gypsy Sue's brilliant green ones.

My son recommended I blog about the journey I'm on and I decided to take him up on it. I will honestly share my thoughts, successes, and struggles in this blog. I'll be sharing some websites and information I come across, along with recipes that I love. I'll try to remember where I got the recipes I share.

So, there you have it. Day One is in the bag with nary a craving for cheese or yogurt! I had a fantastic breakfast of oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, and banana. Lunch was a Gold Yukon Potato sliced onto eight-grain bread and topped with my amazing-anything-goes barbeque sauce. Between lunch and dinner I had some carrots and celery, and a banana for a snack. Dinner was Corn Chip & Salsa Soup from Dr. McDougall's website (http://www.drmcdougall.com/), a tasty blend off salsa, black beans, corn kernels, homemade, nonfat corn chips, and freshly cubed avocado ... Wonderful!