Acorn Squash Plated in less than 20 Minutes - The Other Half.

Acorn Squash

     A month ago I posted a recipe for acorn squash.  The prep and baking time was about an hour.  Too much time!
     I found another way.  Everything on that plate was ready to eat in less than 20 minutes.  No oil and no sugar method.
Here's everything you need:

Ingredients:
1/2 Acorn Squash
1 Broccoli Stalk
1 Sweet Yellow Pepper
Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

Wash and cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  In a microwave safe glass bowl add the salt and water.  Cover the cut side of the squash with pumpkin pie spice.  Place it in the bowl cut side up.  Cover the bowl with paper towel and microwave on high for 8 minutes.
While its cooking cut up the broccoli and pepper.  When the squash is done, take it out of the hot water and replace it with the vegetables.  Cover and microwave the vegetables on high for 5 more minutes.  Drain and place the vegetables on a plate around the squash.  Serves 2.
Done.  Plant perfect!
Enjoy!

Update on "Hospital Food Will Put You There"

     To update my update, regarding the blog I wrote a few months ago regarding the food choices available at our quarterly Hospital Staff Meeting buffet  having no healthy options, the administration listened!
     In addition to the bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns, yogurt, bagels, butter and cream cheese they also had a large bowl of fruit salad and fresh fruit!  I don't care if the rest of the staff wants to eat what they choose.  They should know better.  All I wanted was the option to eat healthy in my own hospital.  I complained and it worked!

Medical Staff Quarterly Meeting 4-22-2015

Thank you Botsford Hospital for caring enough to provide us with healthy options!
 

How I Eat To Lose Weight. My "Plant Perfect" day! #FoodLog #FoodDiary

     I've been a Vegan for over 15 months and every day I learn something new.  I've lost 80 lbs. so far just by adapting my lifestyle to plant based. The question of my menu frequently comes up. Since I cook for myself, I'm the only one who puts any limits on what I eat. Most days, I'm eating "Plant Perfect"  leaving out all animal products, oils, processed sugar and even nuts. Dr. Esselstyn and Ann Esselstyn associated with the Cleveland Clinic have written extensively on the subject. Please click on the above links for information presented with clarity.
     We do go out to just about every restaurant that everyone else enjoys as well. Many restaurants have selections that are already plant based. Some are happy to let me order "off the menu" and others may have items that I can substitute. For example, at a local Italian restaurant, I can order chicken cacciatore, hold the chicken and substitute portabella mushrooms. I have also ordered a sliced chicken breast salad, hold the chicken and cheese, add a ripe avocado with raspberry vinaigrette dressing.  Just as delicious and really not a problem for the kitchen. They have the items in the kitchen and they're probably saving a few bucks. At those meals I'm "Plant Strong" as described by Rip Esselstyn in his book The Engine 2 Diet. There may be some olive oil involved, some nuts, avocado, etc. but its still all plant based with very, very little saturated fat. I can be just as social as I want, eat a plant based menu without requiring a "Vegan" venu.

     Food Log

 If you are trying to lose weight, this is something I recommend you start to do too. There seems to have been a disconnect between my brain and my stomach most of my life. I would eat when bored, hungry, tired, social, lonely, happy, sad, to fall asleep, to stay awake until I couldn't eat any more. There was no accountability. When I started to keep a "Food Log" and could see in writing how much I was taking in, I was taking control and I was amazed! I could have fed a family. Remember to write down EVERYTHING. That means if you have a cup of coffee, write it down and include anything you added. If you make a sandwich include every slice of bread, condiment, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, etc. If you make a salad include each vegetable, spice, salt, pepper, dressing, fruit and garnish. If you have a drink, write it down whether its beer, wine, alcohol, water, soda, tea or juice. I found myself suddenly feeling full just by reading my log.

Here's my log for today:
7:15 a.m.  Smoothie - 10 oz. (blended strawberries, banana, sweetened vanilla almond milk, pure maple syrup and Chia seeds), one Bosc pear, one cup of black coffee.
9:30 a.m.  One cup of black coffee.
12:15 p.m. Steel Cut Oatmeal - 16 oz. (steel cut oats cooked the night before with sweetened vanilla almond milk, water, dried cherries, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg then topped with milled flax seed) and a glass of water.
2:30 p.m.  One cup of black coffee.
3:45 p.m.  One large Fuji apple.
4:00 p.m.  a glass of water.
6:30 p.m.  half an acorn squash (cooked with cinnamon, apple sauce and nutmeg topped with cooked farro, raisins, cinnamon and allspice) and a large salad (Romaine lettuce, kale, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, celery, red and yellow bell peppers and parsley) dressed with homemade raspberry ginger vinaigrette (Raspberries, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, raisins, sage, dried cilantro, tomato and red wine vinegar).
11:00 p.m. a glass of water.

     If I hadn't sat down to write this blog and kept myself from becoming bored, I would have had another piece of fruit, some unsalted raw sunflower seeds mixed with raisins or some air popped popcorn. There are always healthy options.
     There are lots of weight loss plans out there. This plant based approach works for me and can work for you too. It takes some reading and preparation to make a change like this. I did my reading and was all in as my New Year's Resolution for 2014. You may want to try a "Meatless Monday" or "The Vegan 21 Day Kickstart Meal Plan" as a place to start. You may want to take in the information a little at a time and follow a blog like mine or Dr. Joel Kahn and the Plant Based Nutrition Support Group blog based here in the greater Detroit area.  Once you get past the first 3 weeks or so, your tastes start to change. I started to look for nutritional value more and lost my taste for any kind of processed food with sugar and salt. I read all the labels. If I don't know what something is on the label I use my smartphone to look it up. If I still don't know what it is or its something not plant based or its processed I'm not going to eat it!

Here's a picture of my dinner:

Salad with Homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

Acorn Squash with Farro, Cinnamon, Applesauce and Raisins

     Its time for bed.  I'll be adding some recipes to the Plant Based Nutrition Support Group very soon. My blogs along with a large recipe section and lots of other contributors will be available there as well. Its free to join. Watch for the launch of the new website next month!

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.