A Thank You Note. Butternut Squash Casserole With Cheezy Topping #canwait

Passover Casserole

Happy Passover!  Here we are, stuck at home, avoiding a plague of biblical scale as best we can.
I thought of being cleaver on my blog; publishing the recipe for a rather time consuming casserole.
Instead I'd like to say thank you.

To all the nurses, maintenance workers, lab Technicians, food service staff, housekeeping staff, ward clerks, first responders and doctors, we can't thank you enough!  We are all aware of the dedication it takes to do your job in the presence of this life threatening virus and salute you for your bravery. Because of your heroic actions, an untold number of lives are being saved every day.  The news is keeping the growing number of lives lost squarely in our faces with little attention being given to the lives that are being saved and the people who work 24/7 to save them.
The Talmud says: "He that saves one life saves the world entire." You are unselfishly saving worlds every minute of every day and comforting those who's world's are ending as proxy for families who would give anything to be there instead. 

The rest of us need to stay home as much as possible to be part of the solution rather than a statistic prolonging the problem.
The better those of us tasked with staying home do our job, the sooner all of those who are doing everything to save or comfort all those worlds we love will be home to breathe again, without a mask, and accept our gratitude.
Thank you.
👏👏👏

WFPBNO Tofu Scramble!! #Vegan #NOprocessedOil #ProteinWithFiber

In the pan:  Roasted Red Pepper, Mushrooms, Sweet Orange Bell Pepper
Left to Right:  Extra Firm Tofu, 2 TBS Capers, Cooked Carrots with Celery,
 Caramelized Onion and Seasoning

Everything in the pan to simmer

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision has been made to close my office to everything but caring for injuries, Post Op care and infections. We do not want to be responsible for spreading this disease between our patients and certainly don't want to be responsible for bringing it home to our families. We all have to do our part to avoid the virus and decrease the spread. This decision has left me nervous with time on my hands. Personally, sitting around and doing nothing is not an option.

So I look around in the fridge and cupboards and think up things to cook! 

There was a package of extra firm tofu in the fridge that also had nothing to do, so we teamed up and made a protein packed, high fiber dinner with no processed oil that turned out spectacular! I never made a tofu scramble before and didn't feel like looking up a recipe so here we go with ingredients that were on hand:

WFPBNO Tofu Scramble

Ingredients:

14 oz Extra Firm Tofu

1 large sweet onion chopped

1 sweet orange bell pepper chopped

1 roasted red pepper chopped

1 large carrot chopped

3 stalks of celery chopped

6 medium size white mushrooms chopped

2 T capers

2 T of seasoning of your choice  (I mixed up my own using cumin, onion powder, cayenne pepper,  curry powder (sabji masala) and 2 pinches of black salt)

In a non stick pan caramelize the onion in water with lime juice 3:1 and set aside.

Cook the mushrooms and other veggies in the same way. 

Mix everything together including the tofu, capers and seasoning in your non stick pan. Stir it every 30 seconds to a minute to cook off any liquid. Serve hot!

Ready to serve

Plated Cucumber, Kiwi and Tofu Scramble

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Plant Based Edamame Spaghetti #vegan # WFPBNO

 I find the most interesting plant based whole foods at the grocery stores these days. These edamame noodles are pretty much fool proof with 3 times the protein and 5 times the fiber of durum wheat spaghetti.  All I did was boil them in water with a little salt, just like the box tells you to do. I like to over cook them about 2 minutes longer than the directions say to make them tender.

For the sauce I generally make my own homemade marinara, but on this night I was pressed for time. On my shelf was a jar of
 Prego Lower Calorie (formerly Light Smart) sauce that I bought at Wal-Mart shouting "PICK ME!" It is totally WFPBNO compliant and readily available at Kroger too for under $2.00 a jar. It was really good!  All I did was water saute a roughly chopped red sweet pepper and sliced some olives to add to the color palate.
My pasta loving Italian friends taught me not to put noodles on a plate and then top with sauce. Instead, I drained the noodles, put them back in the pot and stirred in 2 cups of my sauce over low heat allowing the noodles to absorb it. Add a little nutritional yeast and...Perfect!
Everything was ready and plated in 20 minutes and there was only 1 pot to clean.
A main course for 2 for under $7.00.
Give it a try!

Homemade Mayo Substitute. My favorite spread! No processed oil. #WFPBNO #vegan

Homemade Garlic Mayo

There are a few different store bought mayo substitutes out there, all of which contain processed oil. It's pretty easy to make your own. I use cashews and it comes out creamy and delicious.  This is the stuff I use to make chickpea or "tuna-ish" salad. It's good as a spread or add dill and onion flakes to make a dip. Use your imagination!  It's delicious and extremely versatile.  This works as a spread, a dip, a salad dressing or as an ingredient in chickpea salad.  Get creative!!




WFPB MAYO SUBSTITUTE

2 cups cashews, boiled in water for 20 minutes. Drain.
4 garlic cloves
4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 

1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons water

1 cup aquafaba

Blend thoroughly until creamy.

No Exercise Weight Loss #WFPBNO #Vegan #nodietdiet

I had a nice experience being interviewed about losing weight without exercising. 

The activity and exercising is a result of proper nutrition, not the other way around.

Here's a link to part 1 of the interview...

https://fathersafter50.com/allan-kalmus/

Dairy Free, Nut Free, Oil Free, Guilt Free Cream of Broccoli Soup #Vegan #WFPBNO

It's still cold out and I still like soup. During my weekly refrigerator dump, I came across 4 broccoli crowns that had been forgotten and needed some fast moving attention. Well it worked for cauliflower so why not make cream of broccoli soup the same way!  Its the simplest recipe ever and comes out thick but light and delicious. Other than water, there are only 2 ingredients. Here's the recipe. Hope you try it!

CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP

Prep time: 5 min

Cooking time: 20 min

Total time:  25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of aquafaba

4 broccoli crowns

Put a steamer tray in a pot. Break up the broccoli crowns into florets and put them into the pot with 1 cup of water.  Steam them for 20 minutes or until very, very tender. Put the hot water and the cooked broccoli into your blender. Add the 1/2 cup of aquafaba and blend it on high for 5 minutes. 

Serve hot!

I added some dried basil after it was in the bowl. You can add whichever spice you like or nothing at all. It's delicious and loaded with fiber and protein.  Per calorie, broccoli is an excellent source of protein with no saturated fat and no hormones. Eat all you want! 

Dairy Free Cream of Cauliflower Soup #Vegan #WFPBNO #FoodISmedicine

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

           HOT SOUP!

As February winds down and March gets closer there is still plenty of time for some seasonal comfort foods like hot soup. My wife had planned on making dinner for our kids and grand kids over the weekend, but plans changed when the grand kids caught colds. She had already broken a head of cauliflower into florets and placed them in a pot to be steamed when the plans got canceled. She told me I might as well do something with the cauliflower so instead of simply steaming it, I found an easy way to turn it into cream of cauliflower soup! This couldn't be any easier and there are only 3 ingredients. It came out fantastic!  All you need is a pot and a blender. 

CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER SOUP

Prep Time:  5 min

Cooking Time:  20 minutes

Servings:  2

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of aquafaba from a can of chickpeas

Place a vegetable steamer separator into a pot. Add 1 cup of water and the head of cauliflower florets. Bring it to a boil and put the lid on the pot. Cook until the cauliflower is very, very tender. Put the cauliflower with the water (which is now veggie stock) into your blender with the aquafaba. Blend it for about 5 minutes or until it is completely smooth. Aquafaba is already salty so you don't have to add salt, but season to taste. 

That's all I did and I was tempted to eat the whole thing myself until I realized its an entire head of cauliflower with bean water. The consequences may be musical and unpleasant, not so much for me, but for my staff tomorrow!  Stay tuned.....  😝