Sweet Passover Matzo and Quinoa Vegan Casserole! #eattolose #oilfree #KosherforPassover

Kosher for Passover Matzo and Quinoa Casserole

     Don't you just love to try out new dishes on family and friends during the holidays? Neither do I, but I won't let THAT stop me! Tonight was the first night of Passover where we have a large family gathering including a Seder and a traditional Passover meal. Since becoming a Vegan last year, I have had one and only one other opportunity to impress my family with an appropriate homemade dish that both satisfied the strict dietary laws of Kosher for Passover and also fit the Plant Based guidelines that I had so enthusiastically adopted.

     Last year, not only did I fail to impress anyone with my cooking, but several of my relatives left not completely sure they wanted to be Jewish anymore and my Brother-In-Law threatened to revoke my Bar Mitzvah.

     Last night, the night before the holiday dinner, I put together a recipe to showcase the things that I had learned in the past year about Plant Based cooking. Hoping for another holiday miracle, I pushed the envelope out even further and made a dish that was not only Vegan but also OIL FREE and also Kosher for Passover!!!! So let it be written, so let it be done.

     With the loving spirit of my Mother in my ear whispering:  "A Miracle you're looking for? You should only learn to pray so hard!" I decided to start with some Matzo and work my way forward from there. Long ago, in a house filled with the delicious smells of my Mother's cooking, I had learned one of her tricks regarding cooking with Matzo. The technique had been brought to America from Russia by my Grandmother, passed along to my Aunts and Mother who learned it from her hands, to me who started learning to cook from my Mom when I was a teenager and now on to you.

Kosher for Passover Sweet Vegan Casserole

4 cups vegetable soup stock (easy to make yourself)

1 cup dry Quinoa

1 orange (juice and fruit)  with a tsp of the zest chopped

12 dates chopped
2 Roma tomatoes chopped

2 pineapple spears chopped

2 cups chopped kale

4 sweet red bell peppers chopped 

2 inch thumb of fresh ginger finely chopped
6 whole plain Matzot 

     Bring 2 cups of soup stock to a boil and add the Quinoa. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes then leave it covered for 15 more minutes to absorb the liquid. Set aside.

     Hold 1 cup of the chopped peppers to use as a garnish. Bring the remaining 2 cups of soup stock to a boil. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Using a strainer, save the broth and put the solids in a bowl.

     Here comes Mom's trick:
Bring the saved broth back to a boil. Break up the Matzot into large pieces and place them in the strainer with the strainer in a large bowl. Pour the boiling broth over the Matzot, letting it soak long enough to soften but not fall apart. Strain using a wooden spoon to press the broth out of the softened Matzo. In a glass casserole dish, form a lining using the soft Matzo.

     Hold one cup of broth and 4 TBSP of the cooked Quinoa for later.

Mix the remaining Quinoa and cooked vegetables together, adding enough of the remaining broth to keep the mixture soft but not slushy. Add this over the Matzo in an even layer.

     In a saucepan, bring the cup of broth that you saved to a boil, add the 4 TBSP of Quinoa, stir until thickened. Use this as a glaze over your vegetable layer. Cover it with Aluminum foil and bake it at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Remove the foil.  Add the remaining chopped red peppers over the top, Press them in a little with your wooden spoon and put it under the broiler for 3 minutes to toast the peppers.  Let it cool for 15 minutes and serve.

     I like sweet red peppers, but you may choose any other color or use something else creative as a garnish. I'm open to ideas.

     So there it is. An original recipe. No one can tell you that you did it wrong because none of them have ever had it before! Oil free, no added sugar and completely plant based.
My extended family liked it this time!  I would love to hear what you think.

Enjoy!

15 Months a Vegan. Pictures!!! #eattolose #vegan #easyweightloss

Me in my old clothes

     Its been 15 months today since I decided to go Vegan. Here's me today wearing my old pants and my old shirt. They used to be tight! I still can't believe how easy this is. I'm not eating less, but eating healthy foods instead. Its all about choices. Even though I'm eating at restaurants, weddings and other people's homes, I'm the one responsible for picking and choosing what I eat. There are always choices. The question is are you willing to make choices that make you thinner, healthier and feel better or do you choose to stay with your old habits, hoping for an different outcome?  This is not a magic powder. There is no counting points, no special soup, no exotic rare plants, no pills, no surgery and no strenuous exercise program.  I did have to buy a lot of new clothes and find an outlet for the extra energy. Not exactly a down side.

     Check out the Plant based nutrition support group  for lots of good information, recipes, articles and good science. 

     The basic idea is that if it ever had a face or came from an animal, don't eat it. To lose weight faster and protect your arteries, avoid any kind of oil whenever possible.

     The choice is yours!

old me from when the old clothes fit!

Orange, Pineapple, Ginger Quinoa! #vegan #kosher #easyveganrecipe #eattolose

Orange, Pineapple, Ginger Quinoa with Portabella and Sweet Corn

Orange, Pineapple, Ginger Quinoa

3 cups vegetable soup stock

1 cup dry Quinoa

1 orange (juice and fruit)  with a little of the zest chopped

2 TBSP maple syrup

6 dates chopped

1 pineapple spear chopped

1 cup chopped kale

2 sweet bell peppers chopped (orange and yellow)

2 inch thumb of fresh ginger finely chopped

     Bring 2 cups of soup stock to a boil and add the Quinoa. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes then leave it covered for 15 more minutes to absorb the liquid.

     Bring the remaining cup of soup stock to a boil. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the Quinoa, allow the liquids to absorb and serve.

     I didn't add any extra salt because my soup stock is already highly seasoned, but you can add salt and pepper to taste.  This is a great side dish instead of rice or mashed potatoes.  Its sweet and fruity, but not overpowering.

Enjoy!

     

    

Acorn Squash and Apple Recipe #eattolose #vegan #deliciousveganrecipe #kosherforpassover #glutenfree #nutfree #oilfree

Baked Acorn Squash and Apple

Its always nice to be re-assured with the Nutritional Facts before you eat something new. This only has 4 ingredients:

1 Acorn Squash

1 Apple (I like Fuji)

Maple Syrup

 Pumpkin Pie Spice

Cut the squash in half. Scoop out the seeds and strings.  The seeds are just like pumpkin so I roast and eat them too.

Pre-heat the oven to 425. 

Put the squash face down in a pan with 1/4 inch of water.

Bake it for 40 minutes. Take it out of the water. Drizzle on some Maple Syrup or Agave Nectar. Sprinkle it with Pumpkin Spice or just plain Cinnamon.  Slice up an apple and add it to the center. Bake it for another 30 minutes face up.  Enjoy!

I cheated a little so it could be transported easily to the office.  

I left out the apple until I got to the office, sliced it up once I was ready to eat, then microwaved it on high for 4 minutes covered with a paper towel.

The picture is of my lunch today. No oil, no salt, no nuts, no refined sugar and no gluten. I ate at noon. Its now 3:30 PM and I'm still not hungry. You want to lose weight?  EAT!!! Just do it right.

Dinner! Plate FULL of Colors! Pictures of me taken one year apart. #veganmeal #eattolose #easypopcornhack

Full Dinner Plate

      Dinner time!  Ready to start losing some weight?  Great!  Start eating.  That's right.  Fill up your plate!  Eat all of it!  Feel full!  Want to eat again in 3 hours?  Sounds good to me!  Let's do it! 

     Wait a minute.  There's gotta be a catch, right?  Who ever heard of a diet like that? I can eat all I want when I want?

     Well, you have a point.  The catch is this isn't a weight loss diet.  Its a decision to eat healthy ALL the time. You really can fill up and feel satisfied on things that are delicious, nutritious and far lower in calories.  Its all about making the choice to fill your plate with things that aren't going to bust the calorie bank.
     There is nothing exotic on the dinner plate pictured above. That's a sweet potato on the left. On the top right I have stewed cherry tomatoes, snap peas, minced garlic, parsley and Lawry's Season Salt.  I boiled it covered for 20 minutes then strained it.  On the bottom right is a salad with romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots, fresh parsley and a tomato.  The salad dressing is wine vinegar with some light soy sauce, lemon juice, pepper, mashed firm tofu and cooked fresh ginger with Quinoa that was laying around and I blended together.  OK, the dressing is kind of exotic, but what do you notice is missing?
    Oil!  Oil is extremely calorie dense. There's no oil at all on that plate. No meat, no fish, no nuts, no eggs, no cheese or milk product of any kind. That dinner is totally plant based and does not include any oil making it low in calories and extremely heart healthy.
     Three hours went by and I got the urge to eat again.  I wasn't really hungry, but I eat anyway.  That's me.  Don't judge.
     My choice was to make popcorn. The popcorn was salted but had no oil, no butter and no artificial flavors either.  It was a really large bowl too!  I have an air popper somewhere, but that would require that I actually take the time to locate it.
 
 Here's my POPCORN HACK:
Measure out 1/3 of a cup of plain old dry, loose popcorn kernels.  Mix in 7 drops of water.  Add 1/8 tsp of table salt and stir it up a little. The salt is optional.  Dump the kernels into a plain brown paper lunch bag.  Fold over the top of the bag twice.  Place a piece of paper towel under the bag and microwave it on high for 3 minutes. Some microwaves are stronger than others.  You have to listen to the popping corn.  If you can count 2 Mississippi's between pops, its done. If you burn it the first time or if too many kernels don't pop, all you have to do is adjust the time a little.  Its easy!

I've been doing this for over a year.  That was my New Year's Resolution for 2014 and it stuck.
I've lost 78 lbs. so far.
No one did it for me.  I choose what I eat.  Who chooses what
YOU eat?

Me in March 2015
after 14 months

Me in March 2014
after 3 months

Pineapple Pot Pie with NO OIL! #vegan #plantpower #delicious #kosher #oilfreemeal

Pineapple Pot Pie

How's this for a hot lunch? I made enough for a whole week!

There are days that all I want to do is cook. Usually its any day that ends in "y". On weekends I get in "The Zone" and have the time so fair warning.  This is a project in a pan!

Pineapple Pot Pie Recipe

Crust:

3 cups whole grain flour                   1 tsp salt

1 package quick active yeast            1/4 cup applesauce

1 cup of very warm water                2 TBSP dry garlic flakes

2 TBSP rosemary 

Dissolve the yeast in the water and let it stand 10 minutes.

In a large bowl or using a mixer with a dough hook, mix one cup of flour with the yeast, salt, garlic, rosemary and applesauce. Keep adding flour until the mixture no longer sticks to the bowl. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead it for 5 minutes or until its smooth and springy. Place the ball of dough back in the bottom of the bowl and cover the bowl loosely with a moist towel or plastic wrap.  Allow the dough to rest in a warm area for an hour or until it doubles.

Filling:
4 cups chopped baby spinach                                   1 chopped sweet red pepper
2 stalks kale chopped                                               2 chopped tomatoes
2 loose cups chopped fresh parsley                          1 thumb of peeled chopped fresh ginger
4 sprigs chopped cilantro                                         1 tsp salt
2 chopped carrots                                                     1/8th tsp black pepper
2 stalks chopped celery                                            2 cups water
1 cup chopped pineapple                                         1 large chopped sweet onion
1 cup dry of brown rice

Cook the rice in 2 cups of water with 1/2 tsp of salt as directed and set aside.
In a large pot bring the 2 cups of water and salt to a vigorous boil. Add the onion and garlic. Cook them until clear. Add the rest of the ingredients. Turn down the heat to simmer and cook covered for an hour.  The cooked veggies were strained thoroughly into a bowl to save the liquid vegetable stock. Put the cooked vegetables back in your pot and stir in the rice.

In a saucepan bring 2 cups of your vegetable stock to a boil. Add 1/2 cup nutritional yeast and 1 TBS of Cayenne pepper.  Cook it down, stirring until it begins to thicken. Save 1/4 cup and stir the rest into your vegetable and rice mix. Let it sit for 15 minutes to absorb the liquid.

Roll out your dough until its about an 1/8 inch thick. I used a loaf size aluminum baking tin (you can use multiple smaller tins) and lined it with the dough, filled it with my cooked vegetable, covered it with more dough pinching down the edges. Glaze the dough with the liquid that you saved from the last step. Poke a few holes to let it vent.

Bake it at 325 degrees for 40 minutes or until brown on top.
Cover it with aluminum foil to keep the top from drying out giving it a slightly glazed appearance.

I left it in the fridge overnight to absorb any liquids. Turn it upside down on a microwaveable plate and separate it from the aluminum baking tin.  Turn it back over and microwave it for 2 minutes or until hot.  Serve hot.

14 Months a Vegan Before and After Pictures #weightloss #foodismedicine #plantbasednutrition

      Here's my before picture as a Carnivore and my after picture as a Vegifore.  Its dramatic to see on paper! I feel really good!

     My daughter looked at the pictures and said: "You used to eat all the time."

     My wife looked at the pictures and said: "You STILL eat all the time!"

The amount of food I eat has gone up, not down.  I just don't eat meat of any kind and very little oil. 

     I recently was asked by Paul Chaitlin of Plant Based Nutrition Support Group to volunteer and share my story with a wider audience.  I get to write articles and speak to his group. The last time I spoke in public was 1972. Up until now, I didn't really have anything to say!

     I still don't think I have much to say, but I am so grateful to my old friend, Dr. Joel Kahn and to Paul for his encouragement that I've agreed to share my story.  I'm hoping a few people will be listening.  I was convinced that changing to a Vegan lifestyle was the smart thing to do BEFORE developing any severe health problems.  Listening to a group of very smart people helped convince me.  I'm hoping by example I can get a few more people to see the difference plant based eating can make for them.  The group is open to anyone who is interested and there is no charge to come listen. The schedule is posted on the website.  Hope to see you there!

 

Me 3-1-2015

Me 1-1-2014