Whole Wheat Pasta Primavera with Marinara Sauce #vegan #foodismedicine #eatlikeagorilla

I'm always trying variations of recipes that I like. My ONE PAN PASTA PRIMIVERA is a great example. Different seasons bring different veggies into our kitchen. This time I took a massive leek (😅) and used every bit except the roots. Keep your eyes open at the grocery. Try things!

1 cup of whole wheat elbows, 1 leek, 1 red bell pepper, I portabella mushroom cap minus the ribs, 2 TBSP's each of PB FIT peanut butter powder and Nutritional Yeast (Nooch) and 1.5 cups of marinara sauce.

I boil the pasta in water seasoned with onion powder and garlic salt. Save 1.5 cups of the seasoned starchy water. In a non stick pan sauté the veggies adding the starchy water as needed. Boil off much of the water, stir in the pasta, marinara, Nooch and the peanut powder. Cook over medium low heat until it thickens. Serve hot.

7 Years A Vegan and 36 Hours Fully Vaccinated!!! #PartOfTheSolution #BuhByeCOVID-19

Vaccines cause adults who did not die from a preventable disease.

Yesterday was January 16, 2021; the day I got my 2nd dose of the Pfizer vaccine. I've experienced no side effects at all from yesterday's vaccination and only had mild injection site soreness for 1 day after I got the 1st dose, 3 weeks ago.

January 1, 2014 when I was 58 years old, I changed my lifestyle from that which made me an obese couch potato struggling with hypertension, high cholesterol and sleep apnea. All of the above are disease  states brought on by the quagmire of the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.).  With no surgery, therapy, extra medication or strenuous exercise, I changed my eating habits and transitioned overnight to a Whole Foods Plant Based No Oil (WFPBNO) diet. I lost the need to take any medication along with 100 lbs. in a little over a year. That's when I started running at the age of 59 and lost an additional 10 lbs.

Now it's 7 years later and having found my way out of that decaying life; reducing my risk for heart attack, stroke, prostate cancer and diabetes, a novel virus presents itself threatening the health of everyone. Having to stay home when I'm not working has kept me too inactive and too close to the refrigerator. Since last March I've managed to put back on about 15 lbs. Now its time to get serious again and make up the ground I've lost since the pandemic began. No more excuses!  

After investing so much time and effort to optimize my health through a major lifestyle change, it was an extremely easy decision to choose vaccination against the COVID-19 virus. I have a good friend in New York whose whole family got it and lost her husband after getting this virus, another friend who is currently recovering and lots of patients who either had it or lost multiple family members who succumbed to it. Its not something I wish to experience. 

For the past 30 years, maybe longer, I've taken the flu vaccine with no side effects. I've also been vaccinated against Polio, Smallpox, Swine Flu, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Hepatitis and Shingles. As a child I've had Measles, Mumps Chickenpox and Rubella resulting in natural immunity to all of them. My wife and I have 3 healthy children, all of whom where fully vaccinated to all of the above resulting in 3 healthy adults.  

 

Having a bachelor degree in Microbiology before going to medical school, with majors in immunology and animal viruses, I have no problem reading and understanding the science behind this new generation of mRNA vaccines in contrast with previous vaccines which were based on killed or attenuated live viruses. This new approach has been in the works for about 30 years. There is no live virus involved. The genes for mRNA are sequenced in a lab. The gene in question can only make one of the surface proteins of the virus, not the entire virus. This triggers the immune system to get ready to attack the virus if exposure occurs and eliminate it from the body. 

Here's what you should know:

• The mRNA vaccine has been tested in animals and humans and was deemed safe and effective. 
• It does not contain any live virus.
• It does not contain any killed virus. 
• It does not contain any heavy metals.
• It does not contain any formaldehyde. 
• Any side effects from the vaccine are generally mild, manageable and self limiting.
•  The side effects from the vaccine cannot be transmitted by you to your loved ones.
• The side effects of the VIRUS
   could take you away from your job, hospitalize you, ruin your lungs, cause blood clots in your limbs or kill you.

Here is an easy to read link to a summary published by Harvard Medical School.

In the U.S. more than 800,000 people die every year from Heart Attacks and Strokes. If there was a vaccine to prevent those deaths, would you take it? You could just change your lifestyle as I did instead of waiting for a vaccine, but that's a subject for another day!

Wishing you all the best of health no matter what you decide to do! 💓 

Air Fried Eggplant #WFPB #NoOil

Air Fried Egg Plant With BBQ Dipping Sauce

  

     We got an new air fryer a few weeks ago.  I've been trying it out. It's pretty versatile. Its actually an air fryer toaster oven made by Cuisinart. So far, its been great for air fried potato wedges, but that was all I was using it for until yesterday when I burned a butternut squash casserole. Today I got right back up on  that horse, turned the temperature down about 50 degrees lower than the included recipe book recommended and made some air fried eggplant fingers. My recipes are all whole food plant based with unprocessed or minimally processed ingredients and no oil.  

     Why no oil? All cooking oils are processed foods with essentially no nutritional value and 120 calories per table spoon. I'm working hard to keep my weight under control and 120 calories per tablespoon adds up quickly. Eight years ago I weighed 284lbs, went on a conventional diet and lost 10lbs over the period of a year. It was a yo-yo year with ups and downs but the net loss over that year was only 10lbs. Seven years ago I learned about the whole foods plant based no oil lifestyle and that year I lost 80lbs. By the middle of the 2nd year I'd lost a total of 110lbs and now, seven years later and in the middle of a pandemic, I'm still down 110lbs. I'm not counting calories, protein, carbs, fats, micro or macro nutrients either. I'm eating more food more often that I used to and the weight is staying put as long as I stay away from all animal products and all processed oils.  I get my essential fatty acids from whole foods, like milled flaxseeds, chia seeds, a couple of walnuts or a palmful of raw sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. Occasionally about 1/5th to 1/3rd of an avocado gets included in a salad and that's about it for the unprocessed whole foods that contain significant oil.  It also helps to know that processed oils damage your circulatory system by irritating the endothelial lining of every blood vessel in your body including those in your heart and your brain. That single cell thick lining produces a vasodilator known as Nitric Oxide (NO) that relaxes your blood vessels, dilates them and lowers your blood pressure. By loosing weight and eliminating oils my BP went from 140/90 seven years ago to 108/68 now with no medication. So say "NO" to oils!

RECIPE

1    Medium size eggplant

3    Flax eggs (3T milled flaxseeds and 9 T water. Combine and let it sit for 15 minutes)

3T Nutritional yeast

6 T Flour (I used corn flour, but only because it was looking at me sadly saying "Pick Me!")

1/2 t Garlic salt

1 t   Ground mustard seeds

2 t  Garam Masala

... really any seasoning of your choice

Pre-Heat your Air Fryer at 350F or your oven at 400F.

Make the flax egg mixture per the above directions and set aside.

Mix together all the dry ingredients.

Slice the eggplant into approximately 0.5 x 0.5 x 6 inch pieces.

Dip the slices into the flax egg and then coat them with the dry ingredients.

Place them in a single layer in your air fryer on parchment paper or bake them in your oven on a parchment paper lined pan.

Cook for 10 minutes in the air fryer or until they begin to brown in the regular oven. Flip them and cook for 10 more minutes or until they darken. Serve hot with catsup or your favorite dipping sauce.

 

 

 

   

  

Cauliflower Falafel (Caulafel?)! #wfpbno #foodismedicine #falaflower?

I was at the grocery store and came across Zayad Falafel Mix. I'd seen it before but never bothered to read the label, thinking that it has to have processed oil in it. WRONG! No processed oil! The little bit of fat in it comes as a part of the sesame seeds and chickpeas (whole foods). You don't have to add any oil or fry it either. I baked it at 410F for 30 min and it turned out pretty great! Simple to make too. It's already seasoned and everything in it is stuff I could have put together from my cabinet. This just saved a little time. Of course, being me, I couldn't just leave it at that. There was a whole head of cauliflower starting to look dodgy in my fridge. All I did was pulse it in my blender to make it riced and used some of that to lighten the recipe a little.

Our son and I gave it 2 thumbs up, so here's my recipe...

1 box of Zayad Falafel Mix (about 2 cups) 

1 cup of riced cauliflower 

1/4th cup of coconut aminos

1.5 cups cold water

Mix it all together and let it sit, covered for 30 minutes. Wet hands and form 1/4 cup at a time of the mixture into balls. Place them on parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet and cook at 400F for 30 minutes.

Serve hot and enjoy!!!

 

Mango, Pineapple, Banana Frozen Treat! #Vegan #Dairyfree #Glutenfree #Kosher #Pareve #WFPBNO #NutFree

Mango, Pineapple, Banana Treat

Mango season appears to have arrived! I didn't know they had one, but the stores are full of them so lets just go with it!  There are only 4 ingredients. You won't believe how good this is.  WARNING...BRAIN-FREEZE HAZZARD!

No guilt, just fruit.

1 Mango 

3 bananas - 2 frozen, 1 fresh

4 dates

1 cup frozen pineapple chunks

Put it all in your blender and puree thoroughly until creamy. Pour it into a bowl and freeze for 4 hours. Scoop and serve!

Cheese Omelette but WFPBNO #VeganOmelette #WholeFoodPlantBasedNoOilBreakfast

Breakfast time!  🌼

     It's the weekend!  I found an interesting Plant Based omelette recipe this week, saved it and for once didn't lose it. My cabinet was already bulging with the ingredients I needed to modify and complete the meal, including my own version of cheezy sauce in the fridge. The original recipe called for chickpea flour. That I didn't have. I did have buckwheat flour, which is darker, but filled the bill just fine. All I needed was a non-stick pan and I have a stack of those. So here we go!

First the cheezy sauce:

Recipe

3 medium large redskin potatoes

6 TBSP Nutritional yeast

5 TBSP Tapioca flour

1 TBS lemon juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 tsp Tabasco 

1 TBSP salt

1/4 tsp Turmeric

1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1 3/4 cups of starchy water from the boiled potatoes

Peel, cube and boil the potatoes in at least 2 cups of water with the TBSP of salt. Save the starchy water.
Put 1 and 3/4 cups of the starchy water and everything else into your blender or food processor and puree it until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook it on medium low heat stirring constantly until it thickens (about 20 min).
Add a little more water if it's too thick. Let it cool allowing it to thicken a little more and serve warm.
Season with salt, pepper etc. to taste.

There you go!  Way more sauce than you need, but it's versatile and stores well in the fridge for at least 2 weeks. Try it stirred into the macaroni of your choice; elbow, rotini, whole wheat, chickpea, lentil... all good!

Now the omelette...

Recipe  (makes 1 omelette)

1/4 cup buckwheat flour (chickpea flour or any whole grain flour will do)

1/3 cup unsweetened plant milk of your choice

1 TBSP nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp salt (black salt makes it eggy)

3/4 cup of sauteed mix veggies of your choice divided into thirds

1/2 cup of cheezy sauce

Heat a non stick pan over medium heat. Mix the flour, nutritional yeast, salt, plant milk and 1/3 cup of the sauteed veggies together. Put the batter in the pan and spread it out like a pancake. Cook it thoroughly. Gently loosen it, flip it so there are no soft spots and flip it back again. Mix 1/3 cup of the mixed veggies and cheezy sauce together and spread it out to make a filling. Fold the omelette in half and place it on a plate. Put the rest of the veggies on top, drizzle the rest of the cheezy sauce over it and (optional) sprinkle on some Tabasco sauce. 

I used a Sensarte non-stick pan for the veggies and a Swiss Diamond non-stick pan for the omelette, but any decent non-stick pan will work.

Enjoy!

Low Calorie Density High Volume Dinner

   There's this thing about food. Some people, meaning me, continue eating past the point where their stomach is full. It's as if the pressure sensors in the stomach have lost their ability to communicate with the brain. I have my own first hand experience with over eating and in my case it's not about a failure to sense my fullness. It's about my brain having the power to override my stomach, full or empty. I'm a stress over eater. When the stress levels increase, my ability to control myself decreases.

It helps to keep an accurate food journal. That way both your stomach and your eyes will team up on your brain to force some accountability into the feedback loop.
In light of this fact, I started blogging 6 years ago to keep a record of my thoughts, my recipes and to share my journey to improving health with approaches you can  use to overcome the challenges. There are a lot of challenges. One big one is finding foods that are not conventional salads yet fit the bill of being very low calorie density, high enough in volume to satisfy my bottomless pit of a stomach and still have the high nutrient density that qualifies it as a WFPBNO component of a healthy meal.
A quest on par with finding a unicorn eyelash in a field of 4 leaf clovers.
     Enter a food called "Healthy Noodles".  I stumbled across them one day at COSTCO in the refrigerated section near where they keep the guacamole. The main ingredient is soybean flour. A 4 oz serving is 25 calories. Compare that to a 2 oz serving of whole wheat spaghetti at 180 calories. That means I can eat a whole pound of these noodles and it's only 100 calories!!! The packs are each 8 oz which is supposed to be 2 servings, but I ate the whole pack, pictured above with a lot of veggies. So the noodles were 50 calories, 2 carrots (50 calories), 1 onion (28 calories), 3 stalks of celery (26 calories),  1 ear of corn (110 calories), 2 cloves of garlic (< 4 calories), 2 leafs of purple cabbage (22 calories), 1 T  date syrup (59 calories), 1 yellow bell pepper (44 calories), 1 cup of chopped kale (33 calories), 1 medium naval orange (69 calories). 

That makes 495 calories for 2 servings or 248 calories for 1 normal person serving. Its low calorie with high nutritional density and virtually no flavor of its own.  You make it just as delicious as you want with your favorite spices to make it savory with soy sauce, onion, peppers and garlic or with some vinegar, citrus fruit and date syrup to balance it out against every taste bud in your mouth. This is a serious amount of filling food for one meal, but its so low in calories you could add dessert with no guilt!