#timeforchickpeas!

When we first started eating plant-based, we heard a lot about chickpeas.

I do mean a lot.

Also known as garbanzo beans, chickpeas are high in protein and fiber and are associated with a variety of health benefits such as lowering blood glucose levels while containing iron, phosphate, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc and vitamin K.....and let's not forget chickpeas are good for the heart due to their high levels of fiber.

Ok.

I saw them in quite a few recipes that looked interesting, but I still didn't try them other than in stews.

When I tried them in salads and other dishes in restaurants, they were good, but I was hesitant to try cooking with them myself.

I found a recipe for chickpea cookie dough - a future blog post - then tried chickpea blondies - another future blog post  - and  was surprised when we both liked them! the bean juice that I drain off can even be turned into a meringue and used in other recipes!

A very versatile little bean!

Now don't get me wrong... I like beans.  I even snack on plain black beans and kidney beans...II add them to salads for an extra protein kick.  chickpeas have been a tough sell for me.  I collected recipes and filed them away in the "later" file.....

Well, last week, "later" arrived.

I wanted comfort food.   I wasn't craving meat, but I wanted something different...... so  I combined recipes, made edits according to allergies....and the Chick Loaf was born (named by our daughter Erin who lives in Chicago.)

NOTE: This tastes great the second day. In fact, the loaf firms up over night after cooling, so you might want to make and bake earlier in the day then reheat for your main meal.

Chick Loaf

Loaf ingredients:

• 2 14-oz cans of cooked chickpeas,drained and thoroughly rinsed
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 cups panko breadcrumbs 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3 T maple syrup
• 2 T BBQ sauce
• 2 T ground flax seeds
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Maple-tomato glaze ingredients:

• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 T maple syrup
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 1 T liquid smoke
• 1 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  We cook oil-free,so I used a silicon loaf pan for this, but if you don't mind oil,then lightly oil a 9 inch loaf pan and set aside.

Now comes the fun!

If you have a food processor, then add all chick loaf ingredients to a food processor pulse until the chickpeas have broken apart. Make sure the ingredients have mixed well, feeling free to stop and scrape the processor bowl as needed. Avoid overblending. (We like crunch, so I would stir the celery in later...after the processing....

I have a vitamix, a blender, and a small chopper...but not a food processor.  so, I tried adding the chickpeas to the blender - too dry..... same for the vitamix....  I ended up moving to my small chopper where I simply chopped this up in batches and threw it all in a large bowl where I added the chopped celery later and mixed it all by hand. 

(After all, isn't that how we made a meat loaf? Throwing everything in one bowl, then squeeze and mix?)

After the chick loaf ingredients are thoroughly mixed, press the mixture into your loaf pan .

Bake for 30 minutes...It will smell awesome while baking!

While the loaf is baking, prepare your maple tomato glaze. Simply stir together all ingredients in a small bowl or medium sized measuring cup.

After 30 minutes, remove the chick  loaf from the oven and spoon on the glaze. (If you thought the loaf smelled good before, then wait until this next part!) Let it bake another 20 minutes....and drool!

After this last round of baking is finished, remove the loaf from the oven and let sit for at least 10 minutes.  The longer it sits, the more firm it gets.

Then serve with a salad or a variety of veggies!

The picture shown above is from Day 2, when we decided to pan-sear several leftover pieces in our cast iron skillet, then serve with potato pancakes and snow peas.  So yummy and filling!


This plant-based eating life is becoming easier.

We can do this!

#mealsinahurry

No medical updates this time, so let's just jump into this....

Meals in a hurry!

We need fast meals here... this means either a meal that can be completed in less than an hour from scratch or pulling something out of the freezer and adding a salad.

 We have already established some "old standbys."

Slow cooker meals

Oh my - I don't believe I ever used my crockpot as much as I have  in the last 4 months! At first I was making these recipes, and we were eating them all week...until we were tired of them and still had food to throw out.  I do not like to waste food, so I quickly discovered that these stews and chili meals freeze beautifully!

Breakfast

Let's talk breakfast.   Yep...Breakfast.  I make overnight oatmeal (see this post), starting my smaller slow cooker (yes, we are now a TWO slow cooker couple!) around 11 pm...setting it on WARM, not Low....  and we wake up to hot oatmeal at 7am. I spoon out my portion then head downstairs to work out. Usually by the time I have finished, John has finished his breakfast, so I start portioning and bagging the oatmeal for freezing.

In Beachbody food planning, the yellow container is 1/2 cup...perfect for oatmeal! I pull out my sandwich baggies, a spoon, and my yellow container, and start bagging leftovers. Each baggy gets one serving of oatmeal, and I let the baggies cool down on the counter. Once a baggy has cooled, I squeeze the air out, zip it up, and fold it in an effort to fit as many servings into a gallon size bag a s possible, labeling the gallon sized bag as well.

Oatmeal, divided into single servings

When we are ready for a serving, we pull one baggy out of the freezer and put it into a microwaveable bowl, adding a little almond milk.Then, adding additional fruit, nuts, almond milk, or maple syrup is easy. Hot breakfast in less than 5 minutes during the work week!

FYI right now I have 5 servings of an experimental chocolate cherry oatmeal - still working on this recipe and 8 servings of apple cinnamon date oatmeal...that is 13 breakfasts!!!!

 

 

 

Dinner

On to dinner! I love my stews and chili.  Smelling them simmering away all day is sometimes tantalizing, but oh so rewarding!

Basically, I treat them the same way as oatmeal.   After dinner, I remove the ceramic part with  the stew, soup, or chili and let it cool. Later that evening, I once again divvy up using Beachbody portion control - this time the red container.

One serving per baggie, and as many baggies in a gallon size ziplock as I can fit, and we have dinners ready to go!   I also tend to make a lot of rice at once and keep a large bowl of cooked rice in the fridge. When it is time for a meal, I select a baggy and thaw it in cool water.   I use my yellow container to measure out the coked rice and add the rice to a microwave-safe bowl, then add the thawed chili, stew, or soup, and heat it up for a minute or so in the microwave.  Add a salad, and we have a healthy dinner. It takes me longer to make the salads - 30 minutes  then to do the rest of the reheating.

 At this point, we have 22 servings of dark rum baked beans (our favorite) , 15 servings of black bean soup, 8 servings of red lentil and pumpkin chili, 6 servings of lentil stew with quinoa, and a whole crockpot full of black bean pumpkin chili to bag up.......  that's quite a few weeks of meals ready for companion salad and bread..... 

Hmmmm.... we need to find a way to grow our own salad in the basement with grow lights, and we will be quite self-sufficient!

Double portion pancakes and waffles

Sometimes we want a change from oatmeal for breakfast, so, on weekends we make double portions of our pancakes and waffles, allowing us to freeze some for use during the week. One pancake or homemade waffle easily fuels me up for my workout!

One word of warning - be sure to let pancakes and waffles cool completely before bagging as the steam condenses and forms ice crystals, making your homemade delights soggy when you reheat.

 Other Speedy Food Techniques

Of course, I also look for quick recipes, saving the frozen approach for evenings when I am either exhausted. I come home late, or I only have a short break for dinner.  The Minimalist Baker provides some great recipes that take 300 minutes or less to prepare, and, to be honest, every dish I have prepared from other sources has taken around an hour or so to prepare and cook....

We love fast and easy meals!

More later . . . .

We can do this!

#national pizzaday

Medical update

John has now lost 25 pounds and several sizes in his jeans. He is now 175 pounds! His shirts all hang on him. I keep trying to talk him into shopping for new clothes, but he refuses.  He has moved into a smaller pair of jeans we already had, but even those are hanging.   He jokes about just adding holes to his belt until it wraps around him twice.

I wish he would let me take a pix of him, but he won't.

sigh....

I am now down to 114 pounds and loving it! I am wearing size 4 suits with great ease, and the working out has helped these clothes hand just right.   I am very happy about this!  In total this has taken several yeas for me as my weight has yo-yoed up and down, never really saying in one place.  To the left is a pix of me at my heaviest and the day this post was published....

Plant-based eating and daily workouts have really worked for both of us!

National Pizza Day!

We have missed pizza....not the gastric distress that accompanied it, but the taste...... So I have been experimenting and wanted to share our favorite pizza recipe with you...oil-free, whole foods, and vegan!

 So here goes....

I am combining pizza crust from the Real Vegan Housewife, caramelized onions from One Green Planet,  then added a store-bought oil free pizza sauce (Delallo Pizza Sauce), and our favorite fixings!

Robin’s E2 Approved Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

1 cup lukewarm water

1 Tablespoon of raw Turbinado sugar  (Sugar in the Raw)

1 envelope of yeast (not fast rising!)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 Tablespoon wheat gluten

1 teaspoon fine sea salt (if using table salt, you might want to cut the amount in half)

Directions:

Mix the sugar with lukewarm water until somewhat dissolved.  Add yeast and mix.  Wait 10 minutes.  During this time the yeast will "proof" and once those 10 minutes are up, you should notice a bit of foam on top on the mixture.  If there is no foam, your yeast is probably dead (or expired) and you will have to repeat again.  This is vital!!!  In a large bowl, combine the wheat flour, wheat gluten, and sea salt.  Then add proofed yeast mixture to dry ingredients.  I prefer mixing with your hands because your hands can give you a better idea on whether or not your dough is too wet or dry.  The dough should feel somewhat grainy but have a little (not like regular pizza dough so don’t get too picky here!) stretch to the dough (probably due to the added wheat gluten).  

Place a wet towel over your bowl with the dough and let sit for an hour until the dough has doubled. I place this on my gas stove as I feel my granite countertop is too cold.

While the dough is rising, I make my caramelized onions:

Ingredients: 

3 medium-sized sweet yellow onions, sliced fairly thin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

 Since we do not use oil, we add the onions to a pan and saute in water for about five minutes on medium-high heat. Add the salt and continue to saute until the onions begin to turn golden-brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Next add the sugar, turn the heat down to medium, and continue to saute until the onions are deeply golden and very sweet. This should take about 20 more minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Now it is time to check the dough to see if it has doubled yet.  If not, give it more time and pull out your sauce and other pizza favorites to get to room temperature.  During this waiting time I slice my olives and roma tomatoes, paper towel pat the pineapple, pat dry the black beans, spinach, fresh basil.....

Once the dough has risen, stretch/roll/press (whatever suits your fancy!) the dough into a standard size pizza pan (not the jumbo one!).  Let the dough rest in the pan for 10 minutes.  This will allow the dough to rise slightly again which is what we are looking for.  

From there, you want to add your sauce, toppings, and any herbs you might want to use. 

Bake the pizza at 425°F for roughly 15 minutes (check the crust every 5 minutes or so to prevent the potential of burning!). 

Fix a tossed salad on the side and you have a healthy way to celebrate National Pizza Day!

 We can do this!

#veganprep-veggiebroth

Planning ahead...

I use a lot of vegetable broth in my cooking.   Have you looked at the ingredients on a box of this stuff??? I tend to buy natural, but even so, there are a lot of ingredients I just cannot pronounce, and if I cannot pronounce them, then  I do not want them in our bodies.

Nothing beats the convenience, though, of pulling out a box of stock from the pantry.   But some recipes take 6 cups of stock, others only 1...and boxes do take up space that could be used to store more beans and grains.....and vegan chocolate chips.

I always want room for more chocolate chips . . . .

Uses for veggie broth

 How about....soups...stews...chili... rice.....  a great way to add a little flavor and nutrition...without the chemicals, oil, salt, and sugar.

Methods

Making fresh vegetable broth is easy to do. You can make it on a stovetop in an hour or let it slowly cook overnight in your slow cooker.

You can use vegetable scraps or purchase vegetables or do both. I keep a gallon size ziplock in the freezer and add peelings, tops, veggie parts. When the bag is full,  I make stock. Anything wilted goes straight to the freezer bag.

If I need more stock before that is full, then I simply use fresh veggies I already have.

Let's get started

Ingredients
1 to 2 onions                                           1 bay leaf
2 to 3 carrots                                           1 small bunch parsley
3 to 4 celery stalks                                  1 tsp whole peppercorns
4 to 5 sprigs fresh thyme

Optional Extras: leeks (especially the green parts), fennel, tomatoes, mushrooms, mushroom stems, parsnips....

1. Gather Some Vegetables and Herbs: Onions, carrots, and celery give stock a great base flavor, and you can round these out with any of the other vegetables listed above. You can also make stock using any amount of vegetables that you happen to have on-hand, but it's good to have a roughly equal portion of each so the resulting stock will have a balanced flavor.  I tend to always have onions, carrots, and celery..... and love to add in basil, thyme, dill...whatever I have on hand.

2. Roughly Chop All The Vegetables: Wash any visible dirt off the vegetables and give them a rough chop. You don't even need to peel them first unless you really want to. Throw all the vegetables in a pot big enough to hold them plus a few extra inches of water.

3. Cover with Water and Simmer: Cover the vegetables with enough water that you can easily stir them in the pot. Less water means that your stock will be more concentrated; more water makes a lighter-flavored stock. Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring it to just under a boil. Once you start to see some bubbling around the edges of the pot and a few wisps of steam on the surface, turn the heat down to medium-low.

4. Cook for One Hour or So: This isn't an exact science, but one hour is generally enough time to infuse the water with vegetable goodness. If you need to take it off the heat a little early or don't get to it until a little later, it will be fine. Give it a stir every now and again to circulate the vegetables.

5. Strain and Store: Take the pot off the stove and remove all the vegetables with a slotted spoon. Set your strainer over a big bowl and line it with cheese cloth or coffee filters. Pour the stock through. Divide the stock into storage containers, then freeze. I tend to freeze in 1 cup containers.

 
Want to try a slow cooker?

Then put everything in your slow cooker before bed....add water...and cook on low.  In the morning, strain and freeze.....or use in a recipe!

The more we cook the more comfortable I am with plant-based eating.   We feel healthier and more energized.

I recently co-led a clean-eating group on Facebook, and it occurred to me, that one cannot eat more clean than vegan!

We can do this!

#veganprep-almond milk

Medical update

We are both still losing weight steadily.  John's FBS tends to be 100 or less despite whatever snack he eats at 9 pm while he takes his last round of meds for the day.

Basically we are biding our time until his April cardiologist appointment where we will explore the possibility of dropping Plavix and exchanging Warafarin for Xlarelto as the Xlarelto does not require regular blood tests....saving us $25 an office visit...

Got milk?

You have probably noticed that a lot of our recipes (waffles, pancakes,  soups) call for non-dairy milk. We tend to use almond milk rather than soy during to our allergies.

After a week or so of using almond milk in shakes and in cooking, I developed a rash and some stomach issues. When I mentioned this in passing to a colleague who works with dietetic interns and is herself vegan, she suggested I might be having a reaction to one of the chemicals in the processed almond ilk and to try making my own.

Yeah.  right.  Make my own milk.  sure.  Wait....chemicals in the milk?

I grabbed milk from the fridge and checked the side panel ... and found lots of items that just didn't seem natural.  So I googled other labels o other brands....and found none that were more pure.

Hmmmmm....

I have long been a proponent of whole foods...and no chemicals...no wonder I was having rashes...

Additional research suggested that the chemicals added to shelf life ...and I really could keep one  carton of almond milk for almost a month....

So, I decided to make my own almond milk and avoid the chemicals.

The why behind the process

Let me be very up front.  Homemade almond milk only lasts a few days in the fridge....perhaps 3-4 days only.  This means I need to plan ahead as to when I will need the milk for baking as the first step is to soak the almonds at least 12-48 hours.... so if we are making pancakes on Saturday morning, then Friday night I need to start soaking almonds.

You must start with raw almonds...not salted, not roasted, but raw.

As I mentioned before, plan ahead, allowing the raw almonds to soak at least 12 hours before blending. This saturates the nut from the inside-out, resulting in a smoother, creamier texture. It also yields more liquid, because fully saturated nuts blend better and leave less "pulp" behind. Soaking the almonds also activates the enzymes, making the milk more nutritious. The longer the soak, the creamier the milk...so...to make better milk, I start soaking almonds on Thursday.

The process

almonds that have soaked 12 hours

Making almond milk uses a Vitamix in all of its glory! I'm sure there are other ways to do this, but I love my Vitamix.

The ingredients are simple:

• 1 cup raw almonds - soaked for 12-48 hours
• 3 cups filtered water

So...one or two days before you plan to make the milk, measure out 1 cup of raw almonds into a glass contained.  Add enough water to cover with an additional inch or so of water. Cover this container with a cloth and set aside until you are ready to make your milk.

Yes, when you take the cover off, the water will have a reddish tent and look murky.  that is good!   This means you have saturated the nuts and have activated the enzymes....and pulled out anything in the almond that you don't want in the milk.

Rinse the almonds thoroughly.  Then rinse them again. The soaked almonds will actually have swelled up as shown below:

Add the rinsed soaked almonds to your Vitamix and add 3 cups COLD WATER.

Here it is, all whirling around!

after 45 seconds of blending

Select variable 1 Start machine and slowly increase to the highest speed.  blend for approximately 45 seconds or until you reach the desired consistency.  Blending for much longer than this could warm your milk.

When you finish, it will look like the photo on the right.


Now it is time to strain the milk to remove the pulp.  some people like to leave the pulp in and just shake thoroughly before drinking.  when I bake, however, I want as little pulp as possible, so I strain.


You can purchase a nut milk bag and pour the liquid into it and then squeeze as if you were milking a cow - in case you know how to already do that. If milking is new to you, then start squeezing down from the top of the bag. It makes sense after a few tries

I tend to use a fine mesh strainer (and I am thinking about adding a layer or so of cheesecloth the next time to reduce clean up). Gently pour in the milk, being sure to not overflow the strainer. Once the milk stops dripping, gently press all of the almond milk from the pulp.  I use a small silicon spatula for this.

When it looks like the pix to the right, you can remove the pulp and pour in more milk to strain.

This makes 3 cups of FRESH almond milk.

If want to make sweetened almond milk, add in a little vanilla and three whole dates before blending.

I am still checking out recipes and have another waffle recipe to share...regular waffles,not Belgian waffles.

My husband reminded me this morning about  liquids....

I have cooked with whole wheat flour for years and tend to forget that it soaks up liquids faster or slower based on its temperature. ...and that those who are are new to using this flour might not know this.  I keep my whole wheat flour in the fridge, so mine tends to be chilled, unless I think ahead and remove it from the fridge when I first crawl out of bed and make coffee.

What this means is that sometimes I need to add more almond milk than what a recipe originally calls for to get the right consistency for the batter.   Actually, I mix, my husband cooks, so HE adds the additional milk,  If I use up all of the milk in a recipe, I simply add a little water...

This week's recipe follows. this one is not as sweet, but if you always add a little sugar.....or make up for it with your warmed maples syrup when you eat.

Simple and Easy Chocolate Chip Vegan Waffles

 makes 9 waffles

2 cups whole wheat flour                           2 pinches salt
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed                   2 Tablespoons oil (applesauce to us)
4 tsp baking powder                                   2-3 cups almond milk
2 Tablespoons sugar                                   1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
. 
Preheat waffle iron to your desired setting.  We like ours crispy!

Vegan chocolate chip waffles

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, flaxseed, baking powder, sugar, salt, and chocolate chips).

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 cups of the almond milk and the oil (applesauce).  Save the additional almond milk to add in case you need it for pouring consistency.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until combined.  If needed, add more almond milk at this point.

Pour batter into waffle iron and cook until golden brown.

Enjoy with fruit or warmed maple syrup.

Ah.....the joys of baking with fresh almond milk.  The trick here is to (1) keep plenty of raw almonds on hand and (2) plan 1-2 days in advance as to when you need to make more almond milk.

Life is all about planning, isn't it? Particularly when you want to eat whole food, healthy, and fresh!

We can do this!

#comfortfood

Medical update

Great news! John's cholesterol was so low that he has been taken off of his cholesterol meds. In fact, his cholesterol is 74..... Normal is 150. We're good with this. They will retest in 3 months to see what the levels are wile vegan and not taking cholesterol-lowering meds.

Winter  life

It's winter here: cold wet and sometimes snowy.   This does not impact our lifestyle, though.   I workout in he mornings to Beachbody's Chisel, and John sometimes walks on the treadmill.   We do lean toward comfort foods when it is cold.  Just because  we eat plant-based does not mean we have to forgo comfort foods. We just cook them a little differently.

 Recipes

As the weather gets colder, I tend to want comfort food, and that shouts SOUP. I didn't want vegetable soup, I wanted something different and eventually found Isa Chandler's Roasted Potato and Fennel Soup.  Oh my!  heavenly!   It was cold and rainy outside and within an hour we had this savory serving of goodness to enjoy...very filling, too....and enough leftover for lunch the next  day.

Isn't that the best type of recipe? It was even better on day 2. (Don't forget:  we are oil-free, so no olives were pressed in roasting the potatoes, onions, and fennel).