Stuffed Pumpkin. Harvest time fun! #Vegan #FallFood

It's harvest time and one of those "Look what I can do!!" kind of days. I stopped by the local supermarket and, wonder of wonders, found Pie Pumpkins on sale 10 for $10. I thought to myself: " What kind of plant based whole foods mess can I make out of this if I don't feel like pie?" I tried to buy 3.14 of them. Instead I bought 2 pie pumpkins and some corn on the cob. This is what I did with it: 

Plant Perfect.

Serves 2

Ingredients: 

One pie pumpkin

One ear of sweet corn

One inch of fresh ginger minced

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

One TBSP cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

Stuffed Pumpkin

Cook the pumpkin in the microwave on high for 10 minutes. Cook one ear of sweet corn in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. 

Open the pumpkin like you would for carving. Scoop out the seeds and separate them from the stringy stuff. Save both separately. Scrape the corn off the cob.

Put the pumpkin back in the microwave and cook it for 5 more minutes until it gets soft. Let it cool enough to handle and scrape the inner fruit out taking care to not break through the skin. Put the stringy stuff, inner fruit and corn in a pot with 2 cups of water. Add the other ingredients, bring it to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Strain it, saving the broth, stuff the solids back in the pumpkin shell and cook it for another 5 minutes in the microwave.  Let it cool 5 minutes then serve.

I roasted the pumpkin seeds as well and saved the broth for soup stock.

Self Pumpkin Portrait

Four More Pounds to Reach My Goal!!! #VeganWeightLoss #FoodIsMedicine #HealthyWeightLoss

Food is for wellness.

Medications are for sickness.

My lunchtime dose of wellness
Oil Free butternut squash chili

     I have just 4 more pounds to lose to make it an even 100! Transitioning to a Whole Foods Plant Based diet is the best thing I ever did for my own health. Currently my weight is where it was my senior year of High School. I'm 60 years old and don't remember ever feeling better. This year's major changes have been cutting oil out of my cooking, being taken off my high cholesterol and blood pressure pills and, most recently, being taken off my C-PAP machine. No more obstructive sleep apnea for me, thank you. I starting using that machine in 1999 and just passed my sleep study this week! Goodbye pressure mask blowing air up my nose all night, every night! Thanks for all the memories and constantly adjusting the mask whenever I moved all night long. 

    

 All I did was:

1) Set an achievable goal of losing 1 to 2 lbs per week. (Some weeks more but never less.)

2) Read a lot about how to cook and eat Whole Foods Plant Based.

3) Resolved to never cheat for a set period of time then re-evaluate myself. (One year)

4) Joined a free support group. (PBNSG.org)

5) Learned how to satisfy my appetite with veggies, fruit, grains and seeds.

Open your mind and unlearn what you think you know about healthy eating.

Start reading (The Whole Heart Solution). Watch the movie Forks Over Knives or one of the related films on Netflix.

Find a local group to support you.

Take just one step at a time but get started!

Protect your heart, your kidneys, your eyes, your brain from the effects of high blood pressure and Type 2 Diabetes. 

Wishing you more healthy tomorrows.

Dr. Kalmus

01ReluctantVegan.blogspot.com

     

     

Simple Oil Free Salad Dressing.

Romaine and Kale with sweet bell peppers and tomato

     There is absolutely no reason in the world to eat oil period. It doesn't matter if it's vegetable, olive, coconut, safflower, canola, etc, They are all oil and oil damages the endothelial lining of your arteries.  It is the most calorie dense food out there. One tablespoon is 120 calories taking up almost no room in your stomach, adding no nutrition that you couldn't be getting from whole foods. If you have a history of heart disease, a family history of heart disease or you just want a future without heart disease, stay away from oil!!!  

     When you are trying to lose weight, you should go for foods that fill your stomach yet very low in calories. These are the foods that Weight Watchers assigns Zero points and tells you to eat them as much as you want. Any fruit or vegetable that grows above the ground will do. Stretching out your stomach with low calorie whole foods tells your brain you are full and don't need to eat anymore. Here's my simple salad dressing:

NO OIL SALAD DRESSING

Red Wine Vinegar

Agave nectar

Rosemary

Garlic powder or flakes

Onion powder or flakes

Salt

Black pepper

Mix up a nice large salad in a bowl. Drizzle on the vinegar and a little agave nectar. Sprinkle on the seasonings. Toss. That's it! Simple. This is how my mother used to do it. There was no measuring. Add or subtract any seasoning you like and enjoy!!!

     Check out PBNSG.org more recipes and tips.

21 Months A Vegan. Before and After Pictures!!! .

FINDING A WAY TO BETTER HEALTH

Three years ago.
The old me.

Today  9-27-15
The new and improved me.

95 pounds gone 5 more to go! Looking for a safe and reliable way of losing weight and keeping it off? I found it! Eating 3 to 4 pounds of food a day keeps me very far from ever feeling hungry.  Keeping it all whole foods, plant based, no oil has been the key.

Questions?  Check out my article in PBNSG. org.

Dr. Kalmus

01Reluctantvegan@blogspot.com 

Garden Goulash #vegan #oifree #GlutenFree #Kosher

Fall is officially here. That garden you've been tending all summer is ready for one final harvest. My friend Melanie gave me a bag of veggies from her garden and my wife's friend Cindy heard that I love hot peppers. She sent me a whole box of asorted insanely hot,  fresh and dried peppers from her own garden, bagged and neatly labeled. Thanks again to both of you!

Here's a picture of what I used:

Garden Veggies

Which magically turned into dinner:

Garden Goulash

That little red pepper of Cindy's was labeled simply "Butch".  That doesn't sound very threatening so I washed it and tasted a tiny bit...

Note to self:

Before tasting a strange little pepper, look it up! 

SURPRISE!!!

It turns out "Butch" is a BUTCH SCORPION PEPPER; the hottest hot pepper ever grown next to the Carolina Reaper. It's about 1,460,000 Scoville Units (SU). That's 200,000 SU hotter than the Ghost Chili .  For reference a Jalapeno pepper is about 5000 SU.  My lips swelled up, I started coughing and the roof of my mouth fell off. Smooth move.

Twenty minutes later when that fun passed, I cleaned out the seeds and threw it in a blender with my tomatoes, green pepper, garlic, onion, salt and other seasonings. It was still too hot. I dialed it down a bit by adding 3 chopped dates. The natural sugar in the dates neutralizes some of the heat in the pepper.  Perfect! 

I put the mix into a pot, added 1/2 cup water, brought it to a boil, turned down the heat and simmered it for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. 

I added 4 cups of  dry vegan penne noodles and simmered it for 15 more minutes allowing the liquid to disappear. Salt to taste and enjoy! 

Ingredients:

4 Garden tomatoes

2 cups cherry tomatoes

1 green pepper

3 cloves garlic

2 small onions

3 dates

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup mixed basil, oregano and parsley

1/2 TBS cumin

1 hot pepper (optional)

4 cups dry penne noodles (gluten free optional)

Serves 4

Snack Bars for Autumn. Gluten Free and A Nut Free Option! #vegan #vegansnacks #KosherSnack #FoodIsMedicine

Snack Bars

September 3, 2015

     Its September in Michigan! Who cares if it's 90 degrees outside. It could snow here any day now. The Cider Mills are open, apples are ready for harvest and all my favorite vegetables are abundant and on display. The colors in the produce section could not be more brilliant! It's a great time to go Whole Foods Plant Based. The bars on the left are nut free and were baked in two 9 x 9 inch pans. Those on the right have pecans mixed in and were baked in one 9 x 9 inch pan for extra thickness.

Plant Perfect, Prep Time: 20 minutes, Cooking Time: 1 hour, yield 18 bars per pan.

RECIPE:
3 Cups Rolled Oats, 2 Ripe Bananas, 12 Dates (pitted and chopped), 1.5 Cups Apple Cider, 1 Cup Chopped Apples, 1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries (Craisins), 1 TBS Maple Syrup, 1 TBS Pumpkin Pie Spice, 1 tsp Vanilla, I Cup Raw Shelled Hemp Seeds (may substitute 1 cup of your favorite chopped nuts)

Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the bananas, 1 cup of rolled oats, maple syrup, apple cider, dates and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Blend until creamy. In a separate bowl put 2 cups rolled oats, pumpkin pie spice, shelled hemp seeds (or nuts) and mix them together. Stir in the contents from the blender until its the consistency of cookie dough. Mix in the chopped apples and dried cranberries.

Line a 9 x 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Spread the dough evenly and bake for 35 minutes. Take it out and let it cool for 10 minutes. Cut it into bars, turn them over and bake for another 15 minutes. Let them cool and serve. For a granola bar texture let them dry out overnight. I also tried splitting the dough into two 9 x 9 inch pans to make thinner bars.

Great as a snack, breakfast bar or energy bar.

Enjoy!

Dr. Kalmus

Edamame Spaghetti with Meatless Meatballs!

Me 3 years ago

Six pounds to go and I will have lost 100 lbs.  No more cholesterol lowering pills. I don't need them with a total cholesterol of 137. No more blood pressure pills. They aren't necessary when, without them, my blood pressure is 105/74. No more worries about developing adult onset diabetes. No more being out of breath when climbing stairs. I can run a mile and my pulse and respiration return to normal in less than 2 minutes. (I really don't enjoy running. My dog runs with me and gives me dirty looks the whole time.)

Me 9/7/2015

Best of all, no more worrying about not being around to celebrate the milestones in our family. I found out that for 50% of people who develop heart disease, the first sign is sudden death.

Changing my lifestyle and adopting a whole foods plant based diet has given me such a feeling of well being, supported by measurable improvements in vital signs and body mass index.

I'm still learning about all the great food I get to eat within the parameters of this lifestyle.

For example, yesterday I made my veggie pattie recipe but shaped them into meat balls instead of patties. I added them to my marinara sauce and mixed it all together with some edamame noodles. That, with a side of steamed broccoli made a protein packed meal full of antioxidants and vitamins with no oil.

Marinara Sauce

2 cans of tomato sauce 28 oz can size

1 can of tomato paste 12 oz can size

1 large sweet onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic chopped

2 TBSP of McCormick Italian Seasoning

1 TBSP of Sweet Basil

     In a large pot bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add the onion and garlic. Let it boil until the onions become clear. Add the Basil and Italian Seasoning. Add the tomato sauce and paste. Bring it to a simmer, cover and reduce the heat for 30 minutes.  

     You can add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook your edamame noodles per package directions. Drain them. Put them back in the pot and stir in some marinara sauce. Gently stir until any excess water is gone. Put it on your plate and add some meatless meatballs. Easy enough to make round balls instead of patties.

It's fun to be creative with food! Put it together however you want, as long as you minimize or eliminate oil and keep it plant based. The benefits are remarkable! Give it a try and see what happens!