Mac N Cheeese! #Glutenfree #Dairyfee #Oilfree #Nutfree #GuiltfreeMacAndCheese

 This was so fun and easy to make!  The noodles are Barilla Gluten Free. They are made from corn and rice. The cheeseless sauce is made from potatoes, nutritional yeast, tapioca flour, white vinegar and some spices. There are no milk products, nuts or processed oil. 

It came out very creamy and delicious. Even the noodles had surprisingly great texture. I boiled them in salt water, twice as long as the directions on the box recommended, making them soft and tender. I've been making this stuff for years but this time a added a little onion powder. What a difference!

Follow the recipe.  You won't be disappointed!

2 fist sized Yukon gold potatoes peeled cubed boiled in salted water(save 2 cups of the water), 6 level TBSPs each of nutritional yeast and tapioca flour, 1 level TBSP each of salt and onion powder, 1/3rd cup white vinegar, 1TBSP lemon juice, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp tabasco sauce. 

Mix the dry ingredients together to prevent clumping.  

Put the dry ingredients into the blender 1st, followed by the potatoes with 1 and 3\4 cups of the saved potato water and the remaining wet ingredients. Blend thoroughly. Pour it into a pot and heat it gently (don't boil it) while stirring until it thickens. Let it cool a little which thickens it more. Boil your noodles in salted water until soft. Drain them. Put them back in the pot. Over low heat fold the noodles and sauce together and serve hot.

If they are in the fridge over night, add about 3 TBSP  of water, stir it in and microwave it for 20 to 30 sec.

SOLAR ECLIPSE IS COMING!!! (a good life is about more than good food. I do have other interests 😎😎😎😎)

There is going to be a TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE on April 8, 2024, visible from the very eastern most bottom of the Michigan mitten and most of northern Ohio. The last total solar eclipse visible in south east Michigan was in 1806 and the next one will be in 2099. This is a ONCE IN A LIFETIME opportunity!

We had an Annular Eclipse in 1994 that was visible from our area and lucked out with clear skies that day. I was ready with my telescope, tripod, solar filter, film camera, camera adapter and a cable release to activate the camera without shaking the whole setup. I took the pictures below...

ANNULAR ECLIPSE, SOUTHGATE MICHIGAN MAY 10, 1994

If you are in the path of the eclipse or can get yourself there, make sure you have what you need ahead of time to enjoy it. You CANNOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN, even during an eclipse, without permanently damaging your eyes. You also should not point your digital camera or cell phone camera at the sun, unless it is very low in the sky around sunset. The earth's atmosphere will act as a solar filter at sunset, making it possible. 

You can buy a special 10 pack of SOLAR ECLIPSE GLASSES WITH A SUN FILTER FOR YOUR CAMERA OR CELL PHONE  by clicking the blue letters in the link. They will do the trick for you and 9 of your closest friends, protecting your eyes and your camera. 

You can get a more permanent pair of Solar Eclipse glasses for a few dollars more, if you like staring at the sun more often to look at the sunspots that are becoming larger and more frequent as Solar Max arrives by clicking THIS LINK.

Also, a reminder that that the first full moon following a total eclipse of the sun will be a TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON, which is perfectly safe to watch without any special equipment. 

I, however, already have the special equipment so I took this next picture of a lunar eclipse in my own backyard!!!!  The light that filters through the earth's atmosphere, which acts like a lens, hits the moon and makes it look red.  ENJOY!

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES!!!! #VEGAN #KOSHER #WHOLEFOODPLANTBASED #DELICIOUS

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES!!!

Whole Food Plant Based Brownies

 Anybody out there like chocolate? How about putting something relatively healthy on the dessert table? These do have nuts but no added oil, egg, milk, butter or processed sugar. There is no complicated preparation. I just pureed everything in our blender, baked it for 35 minutes, left it in the fridge over night then cut it into squares. It came out way, way better than I ever expected. They have a deeply satisfying flavor and texture but none of the guilt.

Life Without Brownies.......

BROWNIE RECIPE

1.5 cups of water

2 cups of raw cashews

1/2 cup of hemp hearts

1 banana

1/4 cup milled flax seeds

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup cacao ($9.34/LBS AT THIS LINK!!)

6 TBS Agave nectar

1 1/4 cups raisins

Preheat your oven to 325. Add everything to your blender (20% off at this link!!) or food processor and puree it thoroughly. If it's getting too thick, add a little water. There's nothing in there that you can't eat raw, so you can add more Agave nectar, cocoa, cacao or raisins until its just the way you want it.

Line a 10 x 10 inch pan with parchment paper. Bake it for 30 to 35 minutes until its firm but you still want it chewy.

Cover it with plastic wrap while it's still warm to make the top look glossy and put it in the fridge over night. Cut away the edges to get rid of (or eat) the drier, outer margin and slice the rest into squares. 

Hint:

You can also get a little adventurous and add some fresh mint or chili pepper for extra flavor.

Enjoy!!!

TREAT TIME! 10 Years A Vegan! Amazing Simple Frozen Raspberry Smoothie #Kosher #Pareve #Nutfree #Glutenfree #Dairyfree #Guiltfree

   TREAT TIME!!!  Update. First posted June 2, 2016

  I have been vegan whole food plant based now for 10 years! It turned into the best health decision of my life. Yesterday I went for a run using the Map My Run app on my phone to track myself. It hadn't been used in 3 years, kind of like my gym membership. I was looking at the original personal data I had entered from 13 years ago. Height is the same, age is 13 years older and my weight is down 103 lbs!!! 

     I started exercising 2 years after I changed my lifestyle, so the improvement isn't due to that. It is absolutely the decision to go vegan and eat healthy. My blood pressure is now 100/72 and my cholesterol is 143. That's with no meds at all. This works for me!

 It's winter, but summer is rapidly approaching. I saw a Facebook post today where one of the people that I've actually met in person was looking for something to eat instead of ice cream in an attempt to eat healthier.

Challenge Accepted! Only 3 ingredients. You're going to need a blender.

If you don't have one or you are looking to upgrade, here are 2 choices...

I have the NINJA Kitchen System on sale for $149.95. That's 25% off if you click the link!

Or upgrade to the VITAMIX Explorian (refurbished) for $289.95 or Brand New for $330.35! 

    

  Pull out your blender and gather the following:

Frozen Raspberry Smoothie 

One 10 oz package of frozen raspberries

Two frozen bananas

Half of a room temperature ripe banana

Five dates (the soft ones with the pits)

Put the broken up frozen bananas, the half a ripe banana, the 5 dates with pits removed and the package of frozen raspberries in your blender. Puree until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to 

push down any of the mixture that sticks to the walls of the blender to blend thoroughly. 

It's ready to eat! BUT if you put it into a container in the freezer for 4 hours, it gets the firmer texture of gelato. It feels like I'm cheating on my diet, but there is no added processed sugar, no milk, nuts, oil, animal products or processed food. Try it! Treat yourself to a great, healthy dessert!

Some motivation to stay healthy!!

Some people need to be hit over the head to get it

                                     Standard American diet             Whole food plant based diet                               

Are You Ready For Your's? Our 50 Year High School Reunion is in 6 Months!

I wrote this blog 10 years ago, just after my 40th High School reunion. The guy in the picture with the red face didn't want to go. The shorter guy in the other picture couldn't wait to get there! Everything in the blog from 10 years ago still holds true today...

Eight Months A Vegan  (originally published 9/2/2014)

Me eight months before our reunion

Me with my friend, Dr. Goldstein at our High School reunion

I have been totally plant based for 8 months.  No animal products at all. Now I do a little exercise, not because I like it, but because I should and I can. Honestly, I feel great!

I had a conversation with a patient today who underwent gastric bypass surgery about 16 months ago.  He's lost 125 lbs! All he had to do was find a doctor, get all the pre surgical lab work, EKG, stress test, Psychological evaluation, prove that he failed at a structured diet and exercise program, meet with a Dietician, quit smoking for 6 months, follow the Dietician's food program for 6 months, go to the hospital for 4 days, be intubated under general anesthesia, have surgery to make his stomach smaller, take off work for a month, go on a liquid diet for 8 weeks, get back on the Dietician's structured post op food program, change his portions to avoid throwing up everything if he eats too much, eat only the foods that the dietitian  allows, start an exercise program and pay the portion of his medical bills that were not covered by his medical insurance.

.....or he could have gone on a Vegan diet, but that would have been too extreme.                                                                                                                                                                                                            

 Our 50th reunion was delayed by a year and is being held at the end of this summer.  Like everyone else, I've aged, but the clothes that I was wearing at our 40th reunion still fit! 

How about you?  If you have a special occasion you are looking forward to this summer and you want to look and feel your best, now is the time to get started.  There is no magic pill, device or single ingredient that is going to help you get into shape and lose weight. Moderation is meaningless and arbitrary. The foods you eat are 90% of the problem. They have become an addiction, stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain, releasing Dopamine and making you want to feel that pleasure every time you eat. So continuing to eat the same things that got you and your body to where you are  currently, but expecting different results is the definition of insanity. What you eat is key to how you feel and look. The best thing you can do is to educate yourself on the foods that have been making you gain weight, raise your blood pressure, disrupt your metabolism, tax your heart and vascular tree and prevent you from being the person that you deserve to be. Once you break the cycle of eating highly processed foods, your brain will adapt and the Dopamine with continue to give you that feeling. 

A Whole Food Plant Based Diet with no processed oil is the safest, most effective, least expensive pathway to optimize your health. 

Dr. Michael Gregor wrote a book, HOW NOT TO DIET, that explains everything you need to know including the reasons you have not been having any luck with food. 

There is also a  HOW NOT TO DIET COOK BOOK with 100 simple recipes. I like the spiral binding for a cook book like this. 

Another great choice is THE HEARTS QUIET KILLER by Dr. Joel Kahn M.D. which is geared toward the number 1 killer, Heart Disease. It's full of great information and great recipes as well. 

Most of the food is not labeled "Vegan", because it's things like fresh produce, brown rice, whole grain pasta, tomatoes, colored peppers, carrots, cucumber, peas, lentils, baked beans, lima beans, chickpeas, broccoli, brussels sprouts, onions, garlic, mushrooms, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, peanuts, walnuts, cashews, corn, squash,  flaxseed, citrus fruit, pears, apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, oatmeal, potatoes... You get the picture. The largest, strongest animals, like elephants,  rhinos, hippos, giraffes, elk, panda bears, gorillas and most apes are all plant based eaters. Even the largest dinosaurs were plant eaters. The plants are all nutritionally dense with all the protein, vitamins, carbohydrates, fats, iron and other minerals that you need with none of the cholesterol.  Whole foods with no processed oil is the key. You can eat olives, but not olive oil. Vegetables but not vegetable oil, peanuts but not peanut oil, avocado but not avocado oil, etc. The closer the food is to the way it was found in nature, the better. The hospital beds are filled by people with heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cancers, kidney disease and obesity related problems, not by people who ate too many apples.

What you need to prepare your food at home depends on what you want to make. In my kitchen that would include a sharp knife, a decent blender, an oven safe non-stick pan with a lid, an air fryer/toaster oven to replace that toaster on the counter and a pressure cooker. If space is an issue, you can get an    air fryer/pressure cooker combo (GREAT DEAL!). If you don't like chopping veggies, get a simple chopper.  None of these things are deal breakers. When I started out, I used what we had in the kitchen already and upgraded as time went by. 

Learn as you go. If you make mistakes, learn from them and move on. Nobody is perfect!  Its fun and it's something you are doing for yourself. Plus, when you're done, you get to eat it!

The fastest way to get  to where you want your health to be is start now!

FROZEN, CREAMY, CHOCOLATE TREAT! #WholeFoodPlantBased #Vegan #NoDairy #NoDairy #NoNuts

CHOCOLATE!!

Frozen Creamy Chocolate Treat!

Don't know if you love chocolate but you will after this! No processed sugar, no dairy, no nuts and gluten free.  Four ingredients:

3 over ripe bananas - Slice up and freeze 

1 Tablespoon vanilla plant milk of choice

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

6 Pitted Dates 

Blend until completely smooth.

Freeze for 4 hours. 

Makes 2 generous servings.

If it freezes over night and is too solid, pop it into the microwave for 15 seconds.

....and you thought vegan meant bland!

The Ninja CREAMi Deluxe Frozen Treat Maker is PERFECT for this!!  Click the link.

It lets you skip the FREEZE  for 4 hours step.  Instant gratification!!!!!

WHOLE FOOD PLANT BASED HOW TO BASICS!!!! #WholeFoodsPlantBasedNoOil #WFPB #VeganSalad

   

ANYONE CAN LEARN TO COOK.  EVEN ME!!!!

 It has been 10 years since I decided to change my lifestyle from a couch potato, living on the Standard American Diet (SAD). There were a lot of choices, but I landed on the square labelled "Vegan".  It turns out there are different kinds of vegans. There are ethical vegans who don't want to hurt animals, environmental vegans who don't want to be part of damaging our planet with factory farms, and people like me who are more focused on personal health.

     I was at least 100 lbs. over weight, taking a handful of pills every day, sedentary and not looking to change. At age 58, I was pretty set in my ways even though I knew I was a disaster waiting to happen. But after the sudden loss of a few friends and a 1st cousin to heart disease, the decision was made to make a change. It took me 3 months to learn enough about food choices to feel safe, a few weeks to gather about 10 recipes that would keep boredom away and about 4 weeks to realize that the change should have been made a long time ago! The weight fell off with no exercise and I was eating more food more often so I never got hungry. 

     The foods were NOT labelled "Vegan". They really, for the most part, had no label. Fresh fruits and vegetables are a lot cheaper than meat and processed foods. They are easy to prepare, especially if you like cutting and chopping. If you don't, there are lots of shortcuts. We already had a decent blender and a food processor. There are quick veggie choppers for a reasonable price that also save a lot of time.  

     Honestly, I was doing fantastic before the Pandemic. After losing 100lbs, running became my hobby.  My favorite distance was 5K (3.1 miles) and I would do it 3 times a week. Over about 2 years, I pushed myself up to 10K (6.2 miles) and felt great!  My doctor took me off all the blood pressure and cholesterol medications because I no longer needed any. Cooking became a passion. Before I knew it, there were 180 recipes in my notes for everything from oatmeal to lasagna! They are all written out on this blog. All you have to do is scroll through it and try some of them.

     During the Pandemic, I became less strict in my food choices and some of the weight crept back. I gained 35lbs and stopped running. The gyms were closed due to Covid and we don't have a treadmill. I wasn't even eating any animal products, but foods with oil in them were everywhere!  All oils are 120 calories per tablespoon, even olive oil, and they suppress my metabolism. 

     Now I'm working hard to get back into the routine, following my own advice and we will see what happens!  A food journal helps. After eating anything, I write it down and look at it before I eat again. When my eyes tell my brain what I've already eaten, the choices become healthier and healthier!  It's funny how well that works.

     If you want to learn more, I suggest you watch the movies FORKS OVER KNIVES and EATING YOU ALIVE, both on Amazon for a small fee with no commercials, or on YouTube. I just bought the Forks Over Knives 100 Best Plant Based Recipes Magazine, hoping for some new ideas!  Ignore the many nutrition gurus that pop up and want to sell you magic supplements.  There is no magic. Eat foods that have low caloric density, lots of fiber and stick with things that you can make in your own kitchen from natural foods. You don't need to count calories or worry about protein. Contrary to popular opinion, plants have plenty of amino acids in them and your body strings them together to make human protein. That's what DNA is for! If you eat enough to make yourself feel satisfied, you are getting more than enough protein. You can take B12 and D3 if you live in a place that isn't sunny all year, or if you wear sunscreen like you should, but that's really all you need. 

A calorie density guide, like Chef AJ's, is very helpful:

If you don't already have one and want to save time, click the links to get a decent blender, a chopper, a pressure cooker and an air fryer.  If space is an issue, you can get a combination air fryer/pressure cooker!  Amazon has it all!

It's going to be the very best health choice you will every make!!!

You're never too old or too young to eat healthy!!!