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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Was that so hard?

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!

Update - Hospital Food Will Put You There

 

    As a follow up to my disappointment with the unhealthy food options at the hospital quarterly breakfast meeting, I just got off the phone with the Administrator's office.  I voiced my complaints about having the choices of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, bagels with cream cheese and butter and yogurt with no simple fresh fruit or fruit salad as an alternative.  We talked about the radio ads they broadcast about the hospital being the center of community wellness. My question was simply why wasn't their a fruit option? If the hospital is concerned with the wellness of the community, why aren't we looking out for the wellness of our own staff as members of the community?  Shouldn't we be setting an example and at least offering fresh fruit as a healthy option?

     The response was understanding and apologetic with a promise to look into who did the catering. I was promised that the option for fruit would be available at the next meeting in 3 months. Stay tuned.

My Almost Favorite Recipe! Butternut Squash Casserole

I was asked to pick a favorite recipe. Its probably the Ghost Pepper Chili, but since President Clinton just did a similar thing with butternut squash and black beans on TV, I'm going with this one. It has a wonderful flavor and texture and I don't think its that hard to make. 

I modified the original recipe and took out some of the salt and all of the olive oil after attending a lecture by Dr. Esslestyn at the Plant Based Nutritional Support Group:  http://www.plantbasednutritionsupportgroup.org/blog/

BUTTERNUT SQUASH CASSEROLE

1.5 lbs. of Butternut Squash cubed 

1/2 cup of Unsalted Sunflower Seeds                

12 oz. package of Frozen Chopped Spinach        

 2 stalks of Kale chopped

 6 stalks of Celery chopped                                                                                        

1 Large Sweet Onion chopped

4 cloves chopped garlic

1 cup of Silk Vanilla Almond Milk

1 Cup of vegetable soup stock

1 inch of fresh Ginger grated                 

1/2 Cup of Nutritional Yeast                              
1/2 tsp Nutmeg                                                    
4 TBS Lite Soy Sauce                                       

1 Sweet Yellow Bell Pepper                           

2 TBS Cayenne Pepper

2 TBS Ground Cinnamon 

2 TBS Milled Flaxseed 

4 TBS Water

                                    

   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.
                     

                              

Cook the Frozen Chopped spinach per package directions with a TBS of chopped onion, a pinch of salt, kale and one clove of chopped garlic.  Drain and set aside to cool.
Add the 4 TBS of water to the Milled Flaxseed, stir and set aside for at least 10 min.
In a separate bowl, mix the almond milk, soy sauce, nutmeg and cinnamon.
In a large pot get the soup stock boiling.  "Sauté" the rest of the chopped onion until clear. Add the garlic, ginger, celery, chopped yellow pepper and butternut squash.  Add the almond milk mixture. Cover and let it simmer stirring occasionally  until all the vegetables are soft.  Stir the pot to partially crush the vegetables.  Drain and let it cool.
The Milled Flaxseed should be the consistency of an egg.  Mix it with the spinach, nutritional yeast and kale. 

In a large (9 x 13 in) casserole dish lined with parchment paper or sprayed with PAM mold a thin layer of the spinach, yeast, milled flaxseed and kale mixture over the bottom and a little up the sides to form a layer of green.  Bake it at 400 degrees for 15 minutes to make it a little firm. Sprinkle on a little Cayenne pepper over it.  Add the drained mixed squash and vegetables and spread it evenly over the spinach and kale.  Sprinkle on the rest of the Cayenne pepper. Drizzle the "cheese substitute sauce" evenly over the top and sprinkle with the sunflower seeds.  Bake at 400 degrees for 45 min. or until brown.

Let it cool before cutting.
Enjoy!

Kale Chips. Crunchy Oil Free Snack!

I wanted something spicy to snack on during Superbowl XLIX so I puréed 4 oz of firm tofu with a leek, fresh parsley, fresh cilantro, garlic, equal parts spicy mustard and sriracha sauce, juice of 1/2 a lemon, 2 TBS of maple syrup and 1/2 cup of fine ground corn meal with a pinch of salt.
Wash the kale. Break it into bite size pieces.  Dip it in the batter, wipe away the excess and bake it in a foil pan in a 325* oven for 30 minutes than lower the temperature to 200* to finish drying out the chips. Store in a paper bag and serve like chips.
Enjoy!