Simple Spaghetti Marinara. Plant Perfect!! #vegan #oilfree

We have a wonderful and growing Plant Based Nutrition Support Group here in the Detroit area. At the meeting on Wednesday night, some of the participants were asking about recipes. The emphasis was on making it simple and something the kids would also enjoy without twisting their arm.
So here's one for spaghetti.  There are only 6 ingredients.  The prep time is about 7 minutes (if you are as slow as I am) and it cooks ready to serve in 30 minutes.  You will have lots of extra sauce. I'm planning on a simple pizza with no oil or cheese with the rest of it.

Simple Spaghetti

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 oregano

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 Oregano. 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.

You can add a little parsley garnish for color.  This happens to be over Barilla whole grain pasta, but for the kids I would use the regular noodles; the one without egg. Pretty easy and fast!  Enjoy!

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Plant Based Success Stories!

Its not just me.  Its real science!

plant based diet success stories

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-17625/before-after-plant-based-diet-success-stories.html

Sneaky Veggie Pizza! Gluten Free and Vegan!! (Don't tell the kids about all the vegetables) #veganrecipe #kosher #pareve

PIZZA!!!

No Cheese and No Oil

The last post with the pizza rolls was so good and fun I rushed to share it. In doing so I skipped right through actual pizza!  I'm now correcting that with a delicious, plant based, gluten free, classically shaped round pie with the veggies both in the sauce and in the crust. I made a large batch of dough and have been using it for different things all week. Its good to bake like a wrap at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or longer depending on how well done you like it. The sauce is also a large batch, but I like to just use what I need and save the rest for another day.

I got my 13 inch round pizza pan at Ikea.  I used a little Pam on the pan and Daiya cheese substitute on the pizza, but if you're cutting oil out of your diet, you can just use a little flour on the pan, leave the cheese substitute off and put on a layer of chopped veggies or fruit like pineapple, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, etc. instead of cheese to make it completely oil free!   So here's the recipe:

Sauce:
29 oz.Tomato sauce, 12 oz.Tomato paste, 28 oz. Diced tomatoes, 4 cloves garlic, 1 onion, 2 stalks kale, 1 dash Black Pepper, 4 Mini Sweet Peppers,  10 pitted dates, 4 TBS oregano, 2 TBS Rosemary, 4 TBS basil, 4 TBS nutritional yeast.
In a large pot bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the chopped onion and garlic with the spices. Let it cook until the onions become clear, then cook uncovered to reduce the water. Add the rest of the above ingredients, bring it back to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Dough:
5 cups gluten free flour                                      1 can of drained chickpeas
1 cup brown rice                                                1 TBSP milled flax seed
1 cup quinoa                                                      1 large sweet onion
1 inch fresh ginger                                            4 cloves of garlic
2 stalks celery                                                   2 carrots
4 mini sweet peppers                                        Juice of 1/2 a lemon
5 sprigs of fresh parsley                                   5 sprigs of fresh cilantro
4 stalks of kale                                                 2 generous handfuls of baby spinach
10 pitted dates                                                  1 TBSP maple syrup
1 TBSP turmeric                                              1 TBSP rosemary
1 TBSP cumin                                                 1 TBSP oregano
2 TBSP nutritional yeast                                 3 tsp salt

Cook the brown rice in 2 cups of water with a pinch of salt per package directions.
Cook the quinoa in 2 cups of water with a pinch of salt per package directions.
Mix them together and blend in a food processor until smooth.
In a blender or food processor puree all the juice, dates, vegetables then add all the herbs and other seasonings.
Mix it all together, add the flour and knead it into a dough. Form it into a ball. Dust a large bowl with a little of the flour, put in the dough, cover with a moist towel and let it rest in a warm area for 2 hours.

Toppings
I put jalapeno peppers and pineapple on half and loaded up on the other half with fresh or sun dried tomatoes, pineapple, green pepper, sweet pepper, onion, mushrooms, broccoli or any combination of your choice.

No Cheese, No Oil.  A Little GF Flour On The Pan

Prepare your pizza pan with a little PAM, or just dust it with a little flour if you are oil free.
Roll out enough dough for the size of your pan. I wet my fingers and work the dough until its thin, fills the pan and comes up on the sides a little. You can flatten out the edges with your wet fingers to make it look smooth.
Put some sauce on the dough from the center to the edges.
Add your topping.
Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Bake the pizza for at least 25 minutes or until the topping is bubbling and starting to brown.
Let it cool a little. Separate it from your pan and put it on a cutting board to cut your slices.

I also have a recipe for a cheese substitute that is oil free and nut free that I include in my lasagna recipe. Click the link.

Vegan Pizza Roll. Gluten Free and Delicious!

I felt like cooking and I had left over marinara sauce and Daiya pepperjack cheese substitute.  

Delicious Sliced Pizza Rolls - Gluten Free

So I made up a recipe for pizza dough with gluten free flour mixed with garlic, onion, peppers, carrots, spinach, kale, fresh cilantro, salt and a bunch of seasonings that I like.  I let it rest then rolled some out.

Rolled out thin on floured parchment paper

Just added a thin layer of my homemade marinara sauce with a sprinkle of Daiya cheese substitute.

Leave a little room around the edges.

Roll it up, dust it with a little gluten free flour, spay it with a little Pam so it browns then bake it at 375° for 30 minutes, turn it over and bake it for another 15 minutes.  Let it cool, slice and serve.

I put jalapeño slices in mine but pineapple, sun dried tomatoes, sliced olives or what ever you like can be added.

Enjoy!

Before and After Pictures 2012 to 2015 Eat More and Lose Weight!

In case you have any doubt about the Vegan Lifestyle:

Me with my great niece now plant powered

Me with the same great niece at maximum density

Dramatic, isn't it!  Obesity is a food borne illness.

Best Ever Vegan Recipe for Veggie Zoodle Spaghetti now minus any oil and minimal added salt. EASY! #noaddedsalt #oilfree #glutenfree #healthyeating

Best Zoodle Spaghetti Ever!

Picture of the original recipe 2 years ago.

http://01reluctantvegan.blogspot.com/2015/01/best-ever-vegetable-spaghetti-gluten.html

This is a reworking of a recipe I came up with 2 years ago, but this time I didn't add any salt other than what was in the cans for the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste. You can if you want. I also cooked my onions and garlic in water instead of oil and I made up a cheese substitute which eliminated the oil in the packaged kind. Instead I made up my own adding nutritional yeast, Tapioca flour and potato starch instead to thicken it.

Makes 2 servings.

Delicious Recipe for Spaghetti Sauce

(This is a big pot of Marinara sauce.  I use about 2 cups for this dish and put the rest away for another day.)
Tomato Sauce:
29 oz.Tomato sauce, 12 oz.Tomato paste, 28 oz. Diced tomatoes, 4 cloves garlic, 1 onion, 2 chopped stalks kale, 1 dash Black Pepper,  12 chopped pitted dates, 4 TBS oregano, 2 TBS Rosemary, 4 TBS basil, 4 TBS nutritional yeast. (you may want to add 1 TBS of salt or to taste).

In a large pot bring 2 to 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the chopped onion and garlic with the spices. Let it cook until the onions become clear, then cook uncovered to reduce the water. Add the rest of the above ingredients, bring it back to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Veggie Zoodle Noodles:
 3 Yellow Zucchini Squash, 1 Green Zucchini, 1 Carrot, 4 Mini Sweet Peppers
Use the Spiralizer  to shred the carrot and the zucchini then slice the peppers into thin strips.

Cheese Substitute
Boil 1 large or 2 small peeled and cut up Yukon gold potatoes in salted water until soft. Save the water, mash the potatoes.
In a separate bowl,  mix 3 TBSP of nutritional yeast, 3 TBSP Tapioca flour, 1/8th tsp turmeric and 1/4 tsp of smoked paprika. (Mixing the dry ingredients keeps the Tapioca flour from clumping.)
Mix in the potatoes, 1/2 TBSP lemon juice, 2 TBSP white vinegar, 1/4 tsp Tabasco and 3/4 cup of starchy water from the potatoes. Put it in a blender on high until it thickens. Add more water if it's too thick.

Mix the veggies with about 2 cups of the Marinara sauce and the cheese substitute. More if you prefer.

Using an 8 x 8 inch glass casserole dish, add the mixture. Cook it for 50 minutes at 375 F.
Let it cool to absorb the liquids then serve.

I found I had a bit more liquid than I liked, so I put in a piece of Rye Bread to absorb the extra and then removed the bread. (I ate that too.)
You Celiac people can use gluten free bread to do the same thing.
I like to refrigerate it over night to let the flavors mature then heat it in the microwave on high for 2 minutes.

You may enjoy:  Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

Got any suggestions?
Enjoy!

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Brussels Sprouts For Lunch.

Veggies + Fruit

     I weighed myself today.  That's 76 lbs gone that I'll never miss.  How?  Simply by eating fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and very little oil.  My lunch today was a shining example of what I'm talking about.
     In the picture I have on the left Brossels Sprouts. On the right is a sliced Fuji apple.  The green mystery plant in the middle is broccoli.
     I can here you thinking:  "What? That doesn't look like broccoli!?!
     Well it is.  I used the florets the night before in a salad.  What we have here are the stalks that I washed, sliced and cooked for about 20 minutes in 2 cups of the vegetable soup stock that I saved from a previous dish.  Again I strained these veggies, saving the stock and had a delicious cup of hot soup with dinner last night.  The sprouts and stalks went into Tupperware to join my sliced apple for lunch today.  Very simple and very filling.
     You can look up the nutritional benefits of Brussels Sprouts, apples and Broccoli for yourself, but the point is you don't have to starve yourself to lose weght, you just have to eat the right things!  Enjoy!