Of Autumn and Caramel Pudding...

Since my plant-based journey has begun, I have wondered how to replace my mom's delightful caramel pudding recipe. I tried using almond milk but it just separated as I boiled it. Plus it is full of sugar and butter, so I knew that I needed to lay that recipe aside for now.

Well, until now. I am so stoked that I just had to share this with you. I now have a caramel pudding recipe that rivals my mom's dairy-filled one! It's smooth. It's creamy. It's delicious!

Originally, I browned a little butter to carmelize the sugar,

 but I don't think it's necessary and for true McDougall/Fuhrman followers, 

this step is out.

So here's the recipe:

Aunt Cia's Caramel Pudding

1 block any firmness Silken Tofu

1 or 2 T molasses

1/3 c raw sugar or maple syrup

1 pinch salt

1 T vanilla extract

2 cups plant milk
2 T browned butter, optional

Blend til smooth. It may be thinner than pudding consistency after mixing, but refrigerate for a few hours, and it becomes this spoonable, delectable dessert.

Use it to dip apples...

or mix in a few bananas and a crumbled graham cracker...

or top a black bean brownie with it...

The possibilities are many.

I hope you try it and it delights your tastebuds like it has mine.

Of Berries And Chia...

When I was a school girl and would have to be home for a sick day,

my mom would often make McNess Coconut Pudding.

It was such a delicious treat, but one of those things I have totally

abandoned in whole food eating, trying to clean up our diet.

But sometimes I miss coconut pudding.

Well, not anymore!

Hello Chia Coconut Vanilla Pudding!

I don't eat it warm like we ate coconut pudding at home,

but this pudding fills the bill...

I had it this morning for mid morning meal...

with fresh strawberries and raspberries.

What deliciousness.

And so good for me, too.

I don't like the large amount of fat

in coconut milk, so I combine it with

almond milk and water and keep

a jar of it in my fridge for things such

as this.

Here is what I made this morning:

Cia's Vanilla Coconut Pudding

Into a bowl place

2 1/2 cups coconut almond milk

1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut

scant 1/2 c chia seeds

(I used white chia)
1 t. vanilla extract

2 T maple syrup

Stir well. Cover and refrigerate overnite

or just a few hours.

Combine with fruit of choice.

Deliciousness in every bite!

PS.

I didn't forget that I was going to write 

a post about my journey through food addictions.

I still hope to get that done some time.

A happy, healthy summer to all.

Of Emily Boller and Other Things...

I have struggled with weight issues ever since I was 10 years old. I am a classic example of what is happening in America in the form of premature puberty in adolescent girls (among other things). I went from the cabbage soup diet, to different pills that promised weight loss, to the Atkins diet, etc with no lasting results. It was so discouraging to watch my weight just mushroom and the scales go up every year instead of down, as I had hoped.

Then I discovered plant-strong eating and its long-term help in losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight. For the first time in my life, it made sense. And the many thousands of people that Dr Joel Fuhrman and many other doctors like him have helped to reach and maintain a healthy weight has encouraged me greatly.

I have lost slowly the past six years, as my body healed from other issues. But in the past year, as I've employed more of Dr. Fuhrman's recommendations for weight loss, I have enjoyed increased success in losing the pounds I have carried unnecessarily for 17 years. And I am excited!

God used Emily Boller to be the final boost I needed a few years ago to do something positive for my weight problem. Read her story here. If you struggle with excess weight, be encouraged that a few changes now will yield positive results for a life time.

 

Interview With Emily Boller



Being overweight is not a good thing. It puts stress on your organs, your skeletal system and your immune system, which leads to diseases that are totally preventable and greatly reduces your quality of life.

Feeding the body good foods, exercising regularly and avoiding excessive amounts of oil, salt, sugar, and animal products = healthy weight and healthy body.

If you want to lose weight without starving yourself or counting calories, while feeding your body nutritiously, here is Dr. Fuhrman's recommended plan which has worked for many:



The Food Pyramid...

If you are from my generation and older, you very likely have been taught nutritional 'balance' from the food pyramid that looks like this:

 

 

 

But that is a bit 'off'. I understand that this pyramid was produced

to give business to the meat and dairy industry,

but it has not stood the test well as we look around us

at the diseases that have increased along with the teaching of this

eating style.

 

As I said yesterday, I am not a vegan.

I am not against eating meat and dairy in moderation,

moderation NOT meaning once a day, but more like

two or three times a week in moderate portions

like for flavoring a bean stew, or something similar.

 

When I began studying nutrition, I was given this food pyramid

which makes much more sense, given that our bodies actually

fuel themselves the best from whole, raw plant sources.

 

Check out this pyramid from my favorite doctor,

Dr. Joel Fuhrman:




I love my veggies!
And I love what they have done in healing me,
and thousands of people who were worse off than I was!

Random thought:

Check out the first food plan,
given in Genesis 1:29.


So the idea with Dr Fuhrman's pyramid is that
you eat a large salad (or its equivalent) at every meal
and then fill in with whole grains (sparingly),
potatoes (russet, red and sweet, preferably),
and cooked vegetables.
About a cup of beans in some form every day is a
 good source of protein.
For dessert, or a snack later, eat whole fruit.

Fruit juices as a whole are not good for you
to consume in large amounts.
I only consume fruit juice as an addition to vegetable juice
in the form of Juice Plus once or twice a day.

Whole plant foods are easy on the body,
and give it the fuel it needs to produce healthy cells.

Did you know that 50,000 of the cells in your body
will die and be replaced with new cells,
all while you have been reading this sentence?!
That's a lot of cells to maintain and fuel with clean fuel!

I encourage everyone to read up and learn how to protect
this wonderful gift of health that our Maker has given us!

 

Taco Soup...

Convenience food.

We all like it, don't we?!

One of the things I try to always have on my shelf for fast grab on days when I'm doing school with my children, or busy gardening, or sewing is taco soup. This recipe came from my mother to me and then I tweeked it so much that now I call it mine. :-)

 

I do a 15 quart batch at a time and can it up, but if you don't want to do that, I have some notes for you at the end of this post. We enjoy ours with corn chips or rice and a sprinkling of cheddar.

 

God bless my Grandma for blessing me with this 20 qt stockpot

on my wedding day. It has seen many batches of

taco soup, ketchup and tomato juice.

 

 

 

I love the rich colors and thickness of this recipe.

It is comfort food on rainy days like today,

and on the snowy days of winter.

 

 

the recipe:

 

Into a large stockpot, place

3 large onions, diced (or 3 rounded T dried onions)

1 qt diced peppers

(my girls freeze them from my garden in summer)

3 qt whole kernel corn

3-4 lb ground beef or beef stew meat cubes, browned

6 qt beans

(I canned them last evening*; I use a combination; this time

it was 2 qu small red beans, 2 qu black beans and 2 qu pink beans)

6 qu crushed tomatoes or tomato juice

(sometimes I use a combination of these two)

5 rounded T taco seasoning

1 rounded T salt

1/2 T black pepper

1/2 c sugar

 

Heat through and then fill jars for canning.

Place lids and rings on jars.

 

 

 

Can pints at 15 lb pressure for 30 minutes.

Can quarts at 15 lb pressure for 40 minutes.

 

*I can my own beans because

1. it's much much more economical than buying them

2. it's easy and I can do other things while I wait for the canner to get finished

3. I know where my beans come from and what is in the jar.

More than I can say for most commercially processed beans.

Did you know most of them have sugar in them, among other things?!

4. I can reduce the amount of waste I send to the landfills!

 

To can, fill jars with

 1 1/3 c dried beans, 1 t salt (optional) 

fill with water to neck of jar.

 

Process at 15 lb pressure:

quarts = 50 minutes

pints=35 minutes

 

To make this soup recipe without canning, I figure the following as a rule of thumb

(the closest to a recipe you'll get from me!

My girls keep getting me to try and write my recipes down,

which is hard since I rarely use a recipe!)

 

For every qt of beans, use 1 qt tomato juice, 1/2 lb beef (optional),

2 c corn, 1 rounded T taco seasoning, 1 t salt, 1 onion, 1/2 c peppers,

1/2 t black pepper and a scant T sugar.

 

Simmer a good half hour and serve.

 

 





Breakfast on Chilly Mornings...

It's 59* at my house this morning. We are wrapped in our sweaters and went to the sock drawer for warm footwear! My children were asking for something warm for breakfast this morning so I made one of their favorites which they had after their cocoa protein smoothies:

Baked Rice

 

Into a casserole dish place:

 

2 c brown rice

4 c hot water

1 T butter or olive oil

1 tsp salt

 

 

Bake at 400* for an hour or until done.

 

My children enjoy it plain or with a bit of cheese sprinkled over it,

but usually plain.

 

We also use this recipe for anything we are making

 that includes rice.

Quinoa...

Today's lunch: Quinoa and Veggie Stir-Fry.

We have already put veggies with whole wheat couscous (and when I was thinking about what starch to add to the veggies today, my daughter suggested couscous) but today I decided to use quinoa for several reasons:

1. couscous is a flour product and I try not to over use flour products
2. quinoa is a complete protein
3. quinoa is a whole food
4. I have 25 lb of red quinoa waiting to be used in my pantry.
5. quinoa is delish!

Here is what I used today:

 

red onion

red pepper

zucchini

(had a half quart left after my daughters processed a

5 gal bucket full from my garden this morning and put in the freezer)

green beans

(had a pint in the fridge leftover from the weekend; also garden fresh!)

mushrooms

garlic

red quinoa

soy sauce

Adobo

(can be found in the

 Goya/international/ethnic foods aisle at the grocery story)

 

I stir fried the veggies while the quinoa was cooking.

(double the water from the amount of dry quinoa you use)

Then I stirred together in a serving bowl and served

with various Asian sauces:

sweet chili

General Tso's

sweet and sour

(I was tickled to find a line of Asian sauces at our local grocery store

without MSG or its cousins!)

 

We all thoroughly enjoyed our lunch.

Finished with some watermelon.

 



Banana Split, the Healthy Way

 

 

I was totally thrilled

to find this

recipe today.

 

 

First of all,

it is so pretty,

and it

has none of the

junk that 'real'

banana splits have.

 

I think this looks like

one of those

fun summer things

to bless

the children

with.

 

Maybe at the family

gathering

we are hosting

in August.

 

I found the recipe 

here.

Kickstart Your Health 4



Breakfast

Green Smoothie

Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Muffin with Peanut or Almond Butter and Honey

 

Lunch

"Panera" Black Bean Soup

with Brown Rice

Veggies and Dip

of your choice

(ranch, hummus, etc; just keep it free of excess oil and dairy free)

Apple with almond butter

Dinner

Roasted Broccoli with Asian Sauce of Choice

Asian Cole Slaw

Strawberry "Shortcake"

 

 

This is what I use for shortcake. It has no added sugar except from the chocolate:

 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

In a Vitamix or powerful blender place:

 

1 c pitted dates, roughly chopped

1 c plant-milk

1 c water

3 T Chia seed meal

(I grind ahead of time in my Vmix or Magic Bullet and freeze)

1 c mashed banana

1/2 c chocolate chips

 

Mix the following together in a mixing bowl:

 

2 c whole grain flour

(for GF use 1 c buckwheat flour, 1/2 c millet flour, 1/2 c tapioca starch)

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1/2 ground cinnamon

 

 

Pour wet mixture over dry ingredients and mix.

 

Bake in muffin tins for 25-30 min at 350*.

I  usually make a double recipe and bake in a 9x13 pan

for 40 minutes or until done.



Tip:
Make enough soup to freeze for convenience food.
You can also serve the soup with a dollop of Almond Cream and garnish with cilantro.

Of Summer and Ice Cream...



Humidity...it happens even here in the Fingerlakes in the summer, even though most days are pleasantly cool and breezy. Summer just seems to spell 'ice cream' and although we have not bought the traditional dairy, sugar filled ice cream for several years now, we certainly know pleasant replacements for it. I thought I would share some recipes with you that we enjoy in the summer time instead of ice cream as we used to know it.

Strawberry Coconut 'Frosty'

 

Into a 4 cup measure place

1 can coconut milk (like Thai Kitchen unsweetened)

2 c. almond or other plant based milk

1 t vanilla

Whisk together.

Into a Vitamix or powerful blender place

 

4 or 5 c frozen strawberries.

Pour the milk mixture over the berries.

Add 1/4 c sugar or maple syrup, if desired.

Blend til smooth.

 

Mango Peach Frosty

 

4 c coconut milk/almond milk/vanilla mixture poured over

2 cups frozen mango chunks

(I found awesome small chunks in 2 lb bags at Aldi in the seasonal freezer)

2-3 c frozen peaches

Blend until smooth.

 

 

 

 

We enjoy these so much we don't even miss ice cream

(not that ice cream is a must-have food by any means).

I certainly do not miss the sugar headaches and hangovers I used

to have when eating ice cream.

 

What about you.

 Do you

have a

favorite ice cream replacement

 to share?

 

 

Leave a comment and tell me about it.

Black Bean Burgers...

This is our supper for tonight...and it is awesomely delish!

 

Black Bean Burgers

 

1 quart black beans (mash with fork but not completely)

2 c quick oats (I pulse my rolled oats in the food processor a few times)

1 onion, chopped fine (I use the food processor after the oats come out)

about 5 or 8 sprigs cilantro (chop with onion in food processor)

3 cloves garlic (chopped with onion)

3 T ground flax seeds mixed with 1/2 c water (set aside while you chop the veggies)

1/2 c whole kernel corn

1 t chipotle pepper, ground

1 t salt

1/2 t oregano flakes

1/4 t ground black pepper

 

 

Mix all together and shape into 1/3 c balls. Roll in whole grain flour or bread crumbs and place on greased baking sheet. Flatten balls with your palm to make burger shaped patties.

 

 

 

Bake at 400* for 20 minutes. Flip and bake another 10 minutes.

 

Enjoy with burger fixings.

 

Or cut a burger into

strips and top a

Mexican style

salad:

 

shredded red and white cabbage

onion

shredded carrots

diced tomatoes

Pico de Gallo

Almond Cream

Taco Dressing

What a treat!

Vitamin Water

It has been years now that our family stepped away from drinking much more than water. So many of the drinks on the market are loaded with artificial coloring, sugars, and other harmful-to-health ingredients. What a waste of money, both in the purchasing and also in the dentist/doctor bills these help to incur!

We also avoid drinking fruit juices on a regular basis because they are not a whole food. The fiber in the fruit actually slows down the absorption of sugar to the body, thus making it a better choice to eat the whole fruit rather than drinking the juice.

 

But sometimes water gets boring. Here is a fun thing I tried this afternoon (has been on my to-do list for a few weeks).

Into a gallon jar, place

4 thinly sliced lemons and 1/2 cup

chopped mint leaves. Fill with water, place a lid on the jar and store overnight in the fridge.

 

 Enjoy a flavorful, refreshing beverage for a different twist on drinking water.



Mediterranean Burgers

I learned from several sources a valuable tip that I pass along to you, my friends:

Don't just remove (addiction producing foods such as excessive amounts of meats, dairy, sugar, oil and salt) but replace it with something better. This way, you still feel like you are getting some of the foods you once enjoyed, only with more nutrition while not feeding addictions. (more about this coming later)

One thing I have learned to make (in several versions, more of which I will post in future) is bean burgers. These lovely wonders are a good way to serve plant-based protein to our families.

 



 

Mediterranean Burgers

 

In a few T. vegetable broth or water, saute 

1 large onion

When onion is half tender, add

1 c. finely diced mushrooms

1 c finely diced peppers

Saute until veggies are tender, then add

3 cloves pressed garlic

Stir and saute another minute.

Add 1 quart chickpeas
(I can my own; if using store bought ones, drain and rinse first)

Smash beans lightly with back of turner or a fork.

Add:

1 T dried dill weed

1 T salt (optional or as desired)

1 t black pepper

1 T ground fennel seeds

1 t ground chipotle pepper (optional)

Stir and heat through.

Scrape bean mixture into a mixing bowl.

Add 2 cups rolled oats and 1 c. Kalamata olives.

Let sit 1/2 hr or more til oats have absorbed liquid and mixture has cooled.

Form into 8 or 9 large balls. Dredge with whole grain flour, pressing lightly as you dredge.

Spray a heated frying pan with olive oil, place burgers onto pan, flattening them with the

palm of your hand. Turn after a few minutes and fry til crispy.

 

Enjoy as you would a meat burger. These are great with organic dill relish,

sliced tomatoes, hummus (in place of mayo), green leaves of lettuce,

whole grain sandwich thins, sliced onion, and ketchup and mustard.