A Burger With As Much Protein As Meat But With No Cholesterol or Saturated Fat and Loads of Fiber and Other Nutrients

image via whatscookinggoodlooking

I had some leftover quinoa casserole and I always have black beans on hand, so I went looking for a recipe for a veggie burger incorporating those two elements and stumbled upon a fabulous new blog of a natural foods chef. Her recipe looks amazing and best of all it looks easy! Here it is direct from her site, whatscookinggoodlooking.com:

Prep Time / Cook Time
20 minutes / 25 minutes for the beans & quinoa to cook + 10 minutes to cook the patties

Makes
5-6 burgers

Ingredients

For the black bean and quinoa burgers:

2 cups of cooked quinoa
2 cups of black beans (Canned is fine as long as it is organic, no sodium. If you're using dried, rinse your beans and soak them overnight and drain when ready to use.)
1.5 cups of organic low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper
olive oil
*toasted whole grain buns or bread for serving

For the smoky avocado spread:

1 ripe avocado
1 plum tomato, seeds removed and diced.
1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper (optional)
salt & pepper

Directions

• While you are cooking your quinoa, combine the black beans, turmeric, cumin, and broth in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low, cover partially, and simmer for 25-30 minutes. Drain the beans.
• In a large bowl combine the beans, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. When the ingredients are well combined (mashed), add in the quinoa and combine. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.
• Form the mixture into patties. Depending on how big or small you make them, you should get around 5-7 patties. Transfer the patties to a plate, cover and refrigerate while you are preparing your avocado spread or until you are ready to use (they will keep for about 3-4 days).
• For the avocado spread: In a bowl, mash the avocado until it is smooth. Add in the tomato, smoked paprika, red pepper (if using), season with salt and pepper and combine.
• In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the cakes (maybe 3-4 at a time depending on the size of your pan) turning over once it has browned (about 5-7 minutes per side).
• Serve immediately on a toasted bun, or bread with the avocado spread.

I will be serving the burgers with the avocado spread, sweet potato french fries, and roasted brussel sprouts.

You wouldn't believe how good this house smells right now! I love spoiling my family with healthy and delicious plant-strong food.

To change the subject...while watching Nate Berkus today (total guilty pleasure-LOVE that show) they did a makeover for two sisters who were receiving an award for creating a healthy eating gift pack for their mom's friend who was going through cancer treatment. They had a red-carpet event to go to as their product was up for best new product of the year, or some such. They mentioned that their mom's friend would be "smiling down from above." Guess she didn't make it. So sad... I couldn't help but think and wonder if the healthy eating package included plant-strong, non-meat and dairy products with lots of fresh, organic produce as well as tons of vitamins and minerals. And then I thought, if the medical establishment at large fails to acknowledge the power of nutrition to heal then what chance do us laypeople have?

To me, it is criminal that the information that could save people's lives is often not given to them by the very people that are supposed to care the most: their doctors. Didn't Hppocrates himself say, "Let food be thy medicine?" It is time for a change of the status quo!

Homemade Vegan Granola...Spoiling My Family the Healthy Way

photo by Mark Thomas via epicurious.com

OK, I know that you could argue that granola isn't the healthiest breakfast food with all the butter, sugar, and nuts in most recipes but with a few simple substitutions it can be ultra healthy and pack more nutrients than any processed breakfast cereal. It can do you right when you don't have time to make a more involved breakfast. Healthy carbs, fiber, protein...what more could you want?!

Well, after Chris ate the entire bag of Bear Naked granola in one day (Hey- that stuff's expensive!) and since I had a craving for it I decided to try and make my own vegan granola. My requirements were: 1) Easy 2) Contains dates 3) Easy. I came across this recipe which I modified and used Earth Balance margarine and agave syrup and substituted walnuts for cashews. Although, cashews and walnuts I think would be sublime and I will be making many variations of this recipe in the future as it was very easy and lovely.

My 10 year old son and I had a little bowl tonight after it was fresh from the oven. It was awesome and so satisfying! He offered to take some to school for snack- how sweet of him! We talked about all the endless variations of granola we would love to try and make (chocolate, anyone?) and it was a nice experience.

It really made me think about how in most cultures one way to show people you love them is to cook for them. Many times the food we cook is tasty but not altogether nutritious for our loved one's body. It's the thought that counts, yes, but if the food you lovingly prepare for your friends and family is doing damage to their bodies then it seems almost counter-productive not to mention scary.

I love See's candy as much as the next person (maybe more), but I just wouldn't be too excited if someone gave me a box of it because of the effects of that candy on my body.

Now, if someone gave me, say, a jar of homemade, fresh, nutritious, vegan granola that tasted amazing and didn't include a sugar hangover I would be that much more appreciative of the gift. (Although I am not one to ever look a gift horse in the mouth!)

I used to make cookies, cakes, and brownies when I wanted to make a special treat for my family or friends. But if tonight is any example then a batch of fresh vegan granola is definitely a special treat that a mom can feel good about for many reasons.

It's Easy To Get Overwhelmed When Making Lifestyle Changes

...So for now I have decided that I will work to incorporate 2 new dishes into our meal repertoire each week.

This week's will be Quinoa, Broccoli, and "Cheese" casserole (from the book, The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet, By Nava Atlas-thanks, Mom!), and Gingered Coconut Rice (throw it in with the rice while it cooks, looks SOOOOO good! perfect accompaniment to a lentil dahl and kale salad, no?)

I really like this book because it uses lots of simple and fresh ingredients and they are EASY. Perfect for me! There are so many recipes I want to try...like the dips and pastas.

My Workout Plan, What We Eat On a Daily Basis and Why My Jeans Look Awful These Days...

photo via http://www.tefldaddy.com

My Workout Plan

Have I mentioned that I love bodyrock.tv? Free home workouts that are short (12 minutes average), intense, and fun. Back when I was trying to lose the baby weight I was working out about 6 days per week. Now, since I am at a really low weight I am working out 3 times per week- enough to maintain strength but not so much to make me lose any more weight.

Wow. I never thought I would be in the position where I don't want to lose any more weight! In fact, Chris keeps telling me I need to put on a few pounds. I am convinced this is because all of my pants are lose and saggy in the butt making for a very attractive saggy-diaper-butt look. Even my "skinny pants" are falling off! Same with all of my shorts...it's a good problem to have, right?

But how did I get to this point? (I haven't weighed this much since high school!) Before I changed my diet I was close to this weight, maybe 10 pounds heavier, but I certainly wasn't looking to lose any more weight. My only goal was to be as close to a plant-based, whole foods diet as possible. Thus, I am convinced I lost the "last 10 pounds" once I eliminated the meat, eggs, and dairy from my diet along with the processed food (chips, crackers, cereal, etc.) I (we) eat way more fruits and vegetables than I used to and also more whole grains: oatmeal, whole wheat tortillas and bread, brown rice, quinoa. Brandon snacks on almonds and homemade trail mix along with fresh fruit now instead of chips, crackers, etc. It's a beautiful thing!

Also, I loved the above cartoon! It is a myth that a plant-based diet doesn't offer adequate protein. In fact, vegetables, beans, grains, fruits, etc. all have protein! And they have it without saturated fat and cholesterol.

I thought I would post what we eat in a typical day because that is a frequent question I get when I start blathering on about my new diet change (which comes up quite a bit because of my obvious weight loss and fore-mentioned saggy-butt-jeans).

A Typical Day of Food

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal with chia seeds and banana. I may add berries, raisins, walnuts, etc. to this depending on what I am in the mood for.
• Whole wheat bagels with tofutti "cream cheese"
• fruit
• whole wheat waffles with agave syrup

Lunch:

• PB &J
• assorted fruits and veggies
• veggie sandwich (whole wheat bread or wrap with hummus, avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, sprouts, cucs, etc.)
• bean burritos or quesadillas
• leftover dinners (see below)

Dinner:

• Asian veggie stir-fry with noodles and tofu
• veggie enchiladas, burritos, tacos, tostadas with fresh salsa and avocado and tofutti "sour cream"
• vegan stuffed shells (stuffed with tofu, spinach, nutritional yeast, and spices)
• spaghetti marinara
• homemade whole wheat pizza crust with veggies
• orzo pasta salad
• stir fried veggies over brown rice
• vegan "beef stroganoff"

Snacks:

• veggies (plain or with hummus or other dip)
• fruit
• nuts
• trail mix
• granola bars

Book and Movie Recommendations

I have to recommend a few books and movies to anyone looking to improve their diet and health. Some are more motivational and some are instructional. After reading the first 1/4 of The China Study I was already convinced that I needed to change our diet and eliminate meat and dairy! Powerful stuff...

Books:

The China Study

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

You Are What You Eat

Healing the Gerson Way: Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases

Movies (all available on Netflix!):

Forks Over Knives (based on the first 2 books listed above)

The Beautiful Truth

Foodmatters

Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead

In the next post I will share some of my new favorite "health blogs." :)

Amazing vegan enchilada recipe and thoughts on "Forks Over Knives" from my 10 year old son...

My 10 year old son has really been struggling with our lifestyle change to vegetarianism. Things he has said:

"But Mom, meat is good for you!"

"I hate vegetables!"

"Why don't we eat meat anymore?!"

"Do I have to eat this?!"

and so forth. I have been telling him that we are not eating meat because it isn't good for your body. That is such an abstract idea for a kid though...but he does have family that are no doubt deeply affected by our SAD (standard American diet) diet: his Nana has had a stroke and suffers from Type 2 diabetes. His paternal grandfather died of liver cancer in his late 40's. His own dad ( a huge meat eater) suffers from autoimmune disorders. So I try to reach him by telling him that people can get better or avoid disease by the food they eat!

He knows I read "The China Study" and I recently decided to show him "Forks Over Knives" and told him that it is based on the book and will help explain why we don't eat meat (or drink milk, eat eggs, cheese, etc.) We watched about half of the movie before he scampered away to play but he was already starting to put things together and said:

"Mom, this is scary."

"Why don't they tell us this in the news?" When I explained that McDonald's would not like the news saying that meat can allow cancer (and other diseases) to progress so they wouldn't pay for an ad on any station that would say that, he said: "So they only care about money!"

He is starting to get it. It is slowly sinking in. It makes me happy and gives me hope:we can teach our children to eat better and to do better and we have a responsibility to give them the tools to save the planet before it's too late. We need to do this before we have a population that is too sick and stupid from the non-nutritive disease causing food that we self destruct. Critical mass has been reached. Our children might not outlive us if they don't change the way they eat. If WE don't change the way they eat.

Here is a great talk on TED about school lunches and a great program in Berkeley that should be a model for the entire nation's school lunch program: http://www.ted.com/talks/ann_cooper_talks_school_lunches.html

Hippocrates said, "Let food be thy cure"

Anywho, I made a really yummy dinner tonight and wanted to share:

Aly's Amazing Vegan Enchiladas!

2 cups sliced mushrooms

3 zuchini squash

1 onion

1 green pepper

3 cloves garlic

2 cans black beans

1-2 cups frozen organic corn (NON GMO!!)

10-12 whole wheat tortillas

1/2 cup toffutti cream cheese

1 cup daiya (or other brand) vegan cheese (I used Daiya Mozzerella)

1 TBS cumin

1 tbs garlic salt (to taste)

2 packets organic enchilada sauce mix

2 8 oz. cans tomato paste

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.

Sautee garlic in 1 tbsp. oil for about 1 min then add onions. Stir and let cook until they get transluscent then add the rest of the veggies and 1/4 water. Cook for about 10 minutes until everything is mostly done.

Meanwhile, make enchilada sauce according to directions.

Add 1/2 cup sauce into the veggie mixture and take off heat.

Assemble enchiladas: put 1/2 cup or so of sauce into bottom of 9X13 pan. Take one whole wheat tortilla and spread 1 TBS tofutti on it and a sprinkle of cheese. Then add veggies and 2 TBS or so of sauce. Roll up and place seam side down in pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Top all with left over sauce and sprinkle "cheese" on top. You can also add black olives at this point. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Serve with guacamole, salsa, cilantro, and vegan sour cream!

You can omit the tofutti and cheese for an even healthier enchilada. Additionally, you can sautee in just water instead of using oil for an ultimate healthy dish! Play around with whatever veggies and beans you have on hand- this is basically a no-fail recipe. The tofutti really adds a nice creaminess to the dish! Much healthier than traditional enchiladas and still yummy! :)

Awesome new curry recipe, movie review, book review, and more thoughts on my new lifestyle...

I made this red lentil, potato, and pea curry last night and it turned out really good. The best part is it is even better the next day! I followed the recipe almost exactly except I used straight up water instead of veggie stock because I realized right before I was about to toss my boullion cubes in that they had MSG!!! Ah! And I used plain curry powder instead of garam masala. Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.mediterrasian.com/delicious_recipes_lentil_curry.htm

Put it over some brown rice- even Chris liked it! There, that is as good a recommendation as you can get. I hope it balanced out the entire box of frozen fried chicken he came home from the grocery store with on Christmas! Ah!

Also I have been enjoying our new Netflix account- there are so many great documentaries about food and how it can contribute (or ruin) health. Here's a good one: The Beautiful Truth. Roughly, it is about the Gerson therapy for cancer and other things. Apparently, a doctor named Gerson came up with a "therapy" that he used to cure himself of sickness, and other people as well. He cured people like, um, Albert Schweizer!! The guy is legit. Of course, he came up against naysayers (the medical profession) that tried to discredit him and his therapy and he was eventually poisoned by arsenic! Luckily, his daughter Charlotte carries on his legacy and people are still benefitting (being saved from "uncaurable" cancers, etc.) from his legacy today.

Briefly, his therapy included lots of fresh fruit and veggie juice throughout the day, coffee enemas, and no meat, dairy, eggs, etc. Looks a lot like a nice vegan diet, huh? (Minus the coffee enemas. I mean, I drink about 1 pot of coffee per day so actually that is the same thing, right? TMI?) I really need to get a juicer though...

Anyhow, the movie brought up some other health issues that I need to investigate further like the dangers of fluoride and dental amalgum (very scary!)

And I have been reading "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease," by Caldwell Esselstein and it is very good. Apparently, olive oil is not healthy! In fact, if you are eating any fat at all in your diet it can contribute to plaque accumulation and heart disease. Well, I tried giving up oil for a few days (stir fried in water, meh) and realized that it might be too much, too soon to take my diet to that "extreme". I am just getting used to eating a mostly vegan diet and eliminating oil is just too much for me at this point. So for now I will try and reduce my usage and see where I can substitute other things for oils in our diets. I will continue to experiment with stir frying in water. But my main focus right now is eliminating animal protein from our diet and increasing plants. If that means they are stir fried in oil for the time being, fine. Baby steps, as the saying goes.

Regarding the new "healthy eating" guidelines from the US government: I love how they have a plate that is divided to show how much of each food you should have. Esp. loving that half the plate is fruit and veg! But. What is up with the dairy section? You can blame the dairy lobby for that one. Has anyone in government read "The China Study??!!" My God. Isn't it bad enough we give it to kids free as part of the subsidized lunches. Now it is recommended for good health. Oh well. Pizza is a vegetable, right Congress?? Go, America!

I love short and intense workouts, and short and intense veggie recipes!

This weekend I saw some friends and these days people keep telling me how good I look (I lost all the baby weight thanks to Bodyrock.tv). Eating healthy and plant-strong (I love that term) is definitely helping! Actually, when I work out I am motivated to eat healthy. And when I eat healthy I have the energy to workout! They go together, right? My friends and I were in Marshall's and we happened across some Kettelbells. I immediately launched into telling them how great KBs are and how effective of a workout you can get with a simple KB swing...they were like, Aly, you need to make a workout video! Uh, there are tons for free on Bodyrock.tv! Why would I make one when Zuzana is way more in shape and well-spoken than I am! (I just love her). They said that I could really motivate people. My personality, I guess? Must be! Anyways, just for fun I made them a workout! I am not posting it here but it is the same workout here: http://www.bodyrock.tv/2011/05/23/run-the-world-workout/.

Anyhow, I am getting into a groove with eating and have some fave recipes now. Oatmeal with berries, chia seeds and banana is a regular thing, as is a veggie topped bagel with Toffutti. I also love wraps on sprouted tortillas and kale and bean soup- so easy and YUM! Not to mention making flatbread with whole wheat flour and topping with garlic salt and sundried tomatoes (and a little parmesan!). We eat a lot of pastas and spinach salads with pecans and cranberries.

Geez, who said eating veggie was boring and bland? ME, oh yeah. That's what I used to think. How wrong I was! I get such a kick out of making delicious food that I know is good for my family's health and tastes good.

Tonight I am thinking of making this Thai Curry Tofu recipe over rice: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/thai-curry-tofu/detail.aspx. Another beautiful spinach salad. And maybe some homemade flabreads, too! Oh man. Delish!