Thanksgiving Side Dish - Glazed Veggie Casserole #Vegan #Glutonfree #wholefoodplantbasednooil #WFPBNO

#OilFree #GlutenFree #NoAddedSugar 

Oh yes you can make AMAZINGLY delicious food free of animal products and even gluten free even on Thanksgiving! Even better still...oil free as well!!!
Honestly. Haven't you been trying to eat healthier?
Its so much easier to do than you imagine. You already have most everything you need in your own kitchen. I got my Nutritional Yeast at Amazon, but everything else is from Kroger's.
 2 cups GF flour, 2 tsp baking soda, pinch of salt, pinch of rosemary, 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup applesauce.  That's what I used to make the bottom crust.
The glaze is made of a simple reduction of nutritional yeast, maple syrup, vegetable stock and a rounded TBS of GF flour! Just put it in a sauce pan, simmer it and whisk it until it's thickened.
The middle is all the good food I use to make vegetable soup plus 1/2 cup chopped pineapple and 1 inch of chopped fresh ginger added. All the stock was squeezed out through a strainer and saved for the recipe. Bake it at 375 for an hour, let it cool for 15 minutes then cut and serve.  Simple!

Vegetable Soup

• 1 large sweet onion chopped.
• 4 cloves of garlic chopped.
• 3 medium carrots chopped.
• 1 large parsnip washed and chopped with the skin on.
• 1 medium russet potato peeled and chopped.
• 3 stalks of celery chopped.
• 1/2 cup of dry split peas.
• 1 can of green beans drained.
• 1/4 tsp cumin.
• 1 TBS dried parsley.
• 1 TBS dried basil.
• 1/8 tsp black pepper.
• 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce.
• water to cover the veggies (about 6 to 8 cups) .

In a stock pot or pressure cooker add all the ingredients. Add enough water to cover all the veggies by an inch. Cook it!  

(In the stock pot, bring it to a boil, turn the heat down low to let simmer and cover. Cook it for an hour).

(In the pressure cooker, seal, set it on the soup setting, let it vent naturally).

Save the stock and drain the veggies as thoroughly as you can.

Add the pineapple and chopped ginger. Mash the veggies with a potato masher. 

In a 9 x 9 inch glass casserole dish lined with parchment paper press the crust out to line the pan including the sides. Bake it for about 20 minutes at 425 F or until it begins to brown. Add the strained veggies making a flat surface. Cover it with the glaze and bake it for another 30 to 40 minutes until the glaze is beginning to brown. Let it cool for 20 minutes then cut and serve.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Brown Gray #vegan #wholefoodplantbasednooil #WFPBNO #THANKSGIVING #SIDEDISH

Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Brown Gravy

I made up a truly delicious mashed potato + tofu recipe that has no processed oil. It's high in protein from the tofu and fiber, plus YOU control the sodium.
I know there is a stigma regarding tofu. The worry is about estrogen and how it may affect breast and/or prostate cancer. The thing is, this is not mammalian estrogen. It's phytoestrogen (Plant Estrogen) which has a long term protective effect against those particular cancers. For women with a history of breast cancer there is a higher long term survival rate in those who eat minimally processed soybean products. The same is true for prostate cancer.
On the other hand, dairy products and meat from cows do contain mammalian estrogen and the estrogen molecule in eggs is identical to that of human. So don't fear the soybean. It won't hurt you and may protect you. It's the animal products we should worry about!

Here are 2 recipes that go perfectly together. I do the potatoes, my friend Chuck Underwood does the gravy.

Tofu-Garlic Mashed Potatoes Author: Allan Kalmus

Ingredients

• 6 medium or 3 large cloves garlic, peeled
• ½ cup low sodium veggie broth
• ¾ cup unsweetened plant milk of your choice
• ½ cup low-fat silken tofu
• 1½ lbs. potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 tsp. Onion powder
• 1 tsp. Garlic salt
• ¼ tsp. White pepper

Instructions

1. In small saucepan, combine garlic and broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until garlic is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Transfer broth to your high speed blender or food processor. (👈The Ninja that I have is currently on sale for about $80.00. Order now and have it by Thanksgiving!) Add tofu and process until mixture is smooth and creamy. Set aside, and cover to keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, in large saucepan, combine potatoes with enough cold water to cover. Add 1 tsp. salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Reserving ½ cup of starchy potato cooking water, drain potatoes well.
5. In large bowl, mash potatoes; gently stir in warm tofu mixture and enough reserved potato water to make a smooth puree. Season with remaining ½ tsp. Salt (or to taste), pepper and serve.

VEGAN BROWN GRAVY author: Chuck Underwood

Ingredients

• 1/4 Cup of Whole Wheat flour
• 2 TBS Nutritional Yeast
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 2 Cups Veggie Broth (low sodium)
• 2 TBS Soy Sauce (low sodium)
• 1/2 tsp Yellow Mustard
• 1/2 tsp Kitchen Bouquet (optional)

  Instructions

1. Toast dry ingredients over low heat until aromatic.
2. Slowly add veggie broth, whisking to remove any lumps.
3. Add soy sauce, mustard and Kitchen Bouquet, stirring to combine.

Simmer over medium-low heat until bubbly and thickened.

Chuck has a Podcast that I enjoy. He has amassed amazing recipes on his page too! If you can't find a recipe you're looking for, let him know. He'll probably create one just for you!!

BBQ Cauliflower with Roasted Chickpeas #wfpbno #vegan

Something quick, uncomplicated and delicious: Wash a head of Cauliflower. Rub it with your favorite BBQ sauce. Sprinkle on some Panko breadcrumbs. Place it in a deep casserole dish. Add a can of drained chickpeas. Drizzle more BBQ sauce over everything. Cover and bake at 350 F for 40 minutes. Transfer it to a plate. Slice and serve hot!

Stuffed Collard Greens. Combining Leftovers #vegan #wfpbno #plantbased #nutfreeoilfree

Collard greens are broad leaf plants that are just perfect as a raw wrap or can be cooked and stuffed like cabbage rolls. With a flavor that has notes of radishes and almost twice as much calcium as spinach, they add a healthy little zing to whatever filling you choose. Today I chose to soften them up by washing and microwaving the leaves for 15 seconds. Using a sharp knife, I thinned out the middle rib of the leaf making it much easier to roll. The filling is leftover chickpea salad, but you can roll them around the filling of your choice. Some chopped tomato or chopped sweet peppers can be added for additional color. Here they are pictured with leftover asparagus and mandarin oranges. The citric acid from the oranges increases absorption of the minerals from the plants by about 37%. It's not what you eat, it's what you absorb!

Whole Food Plant Based Gluten Free Pasta Alfredo #Vegan #OilFree

This came out way thicker than I imagined it would, but OMG is it delicious! The seasoning is perfect and the garlic is absolutely obnoxious. You may want to stay down wind from your family for a day or two. 

No oil, no plant based milk and no nuts were used. I didn't have any fettuccini on hand but fortunately there was enough fusilli chickpea pasta in the cupboard to give it a go! I've got enough sauce left over for another batch, so I'm planning on watering it down a little and trying it in a fettuccini alfredo version. All I need is some whole wheat or gluten free fettuccini noodles and a pot to put it in.

As a friendly pasta reminder, after draining,  put it back in the pot and then add your sauce while folding it in over low heat. This applies to tomato sauce as well. The pasta incorporates the flavor and added liquid from the sauce better this way.

Servings:  4

Prep Time:    10 min

Cook  Time:  15 min

Total time:    25 min

Recipe 

1 medium size white potato

1/2 of a small onion

1/2 cup of extra firm tofu

1 cup of the water used to boil the potatoes

4 cloves of garlic

1 TBSP of dry Italian seasoning (you can make your own sodium free)

1 TBSP of lemon juice

2 tsp salt

Peel and cube the potato. Boil the potato and the onion in water for 15 min or until soft. Save the water.

Put 1 cup of the starchy water and all the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy. Add a little more water if needed. 

Cook the pasta per package directions and drain it. (If using whole wheat pasta, add about 5 minutes to the recommended cooking time to make it softer.) Put it back in the pot and on low heat, mix in the alfredo sauce. Again add a little more of the starchy water if its too thick. Serve hot.

Whole Wheat Pasta Primavera with Marinara Sauce #vegan #foodismedicine #eatlikeagorilla

I'm always trying variations of recipes that I like. My ONE PAN PASTA PRIMIVERA is a great example. Different seasons bring different veggies into our kitchen. This time I took a massive leek (😅) and used every bit except the roots. Keep your eyes open at the grocery. Try things!

1 cup of whole wheat elbows, 1 leek, 1 red bell pepper, I portabella mushroom cap minus the ribs, 2 TBSP's each of PB FIT peanut butter powder and Nutritional Yeast (Nooch) and 1.5 cups of marinara sauce.

I boil the pasta in water seasoned with onion powder and garlic salt. Save 1.5 cups of the seasoned starchy water. In a non stick pan sauté the veggies adding the starchy water as needed. Boil off much of the water, stir in the pasta, marinara, Nooch and the peanut powder. Cook over medium low heat until it thickens. Serve hot.

7 Years A Vegan and 36 Hours Fully Vaccinated!!! #PartOfTheSolution #BuhByeCOVID-19

Vaccines cause adults who did not die from a preventable disease.

Yesterday was January 16, 2021; the day I got my 2nd dose of the Pfizer vaccine. I've experienced no side effects at all from yesterday's vaccination and only had mild injection site soreness for 1 day after I got the 1st dose, 3 weeks ago.

January 1, 2014 when I was 58 years old, I changed my lifestyle from that which made me an obese couch potato struggling with hypertension, high cholesterol and sleep apnea. All of the above are disease  states brought on by the quagmire of the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.).  With no surgery, therapy, extra medication or strenuous exercise, I changed my eating habits and transitioned overnight to a Whole Foods Plant Based No Oil (WFPBNO) diet. I lost the need to take any medication along with 100 lbs. in a little over a year. That's when I started running at the age of 59 and lost an additional 10 lbs.

Now it's 7 years later and having found my way out of that decaying life; reducing my risk for heart attack, stroke, prostate cancer and diabetes, a novel virus presents itself threatening the health of everyone. Having to stay home when I'm not working has kept me too inactive and too close to the refrigerator. Since last March I've managed to put back on about 15 lbs. Now its time to get serious again and make up the ground I've lost since the pandemic began. No more excuses!  

After investing so much time and effort to optimize my health through a major lifestyle change, it was an extremely easy decision to choose vaccination against the COVID-19 virus. I have a good friend in New York whose whole family got it and lost her husband after getting this virus, another friend who is currently recovering and lots of patients who either had it or lost multiple family members who succumbed to it. Its not something I wish to experience. 

For the past 30 years, maybe longer, I've taken the flu vaccine with no side effects. I've also been vaccinated against Polio, Smallpox, Swine Flu, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Hepatitis and Shingles. As a child I've had Measles, Mumps Chickenpox and Rubella resulting in natural immunity to all of them. My wife and I have 3 healthy children, all of whom where fully vaccinated to all of the above resulting in 3 healthy adults.  

 

Having a bachelor degree in Microbiology before going to medical school, with majors in immunology and animal viruses, I have no problem reading and understanding the science behind this new generation of mRNA vaccines in contrast with previous vaccines which were based on killed or attenuated live viruses. This new approach has been in the works for about 30 years. There is no live virus involved. The genes for mRNA are sequenced in a lab. The gene in question can only make one of the surface proteins of the virus, not the entire virus. This triggers the immune system to get ready to attack the virus if exposure occurs and eliminate it from the body. 

Here's what you should know:

• The mRNA vaccine has been tested in animals and humans and was deemed safe and effective. 
• It does not contain any live virus.
• It does not contain any killed virus. 
• It does not contain any heavy metals.
• It does not contain any formaldehyde. 
• Any side effects from the vaccine are generally mild, manageable and self limiting.
•  The side effects from the vaccine cannot be transmitted by you to your loved ones.
• The side effects of the VIRUS
   could take you away from your job, hospitalize you, ruin your lungs, cause blood clots in your limbs or kill you.

Here is an easy to read link to a summary published by Harvard Medical School.

In the U.S. more than 800,000 people die every year from Heart Attacks and Strokes. If there was a vaccine to prevent those deaths, would you take it? You could just change your lifestyle as I did instead of waiting for a vaccine, but that's a subject for another day!

Wishing you all the best of health no matter what you decide to do! 💓