As year comes to a close, I wish you Health and Happiness.
Have been thinking of my Thanksgiving meal which I have duplicated a few times more because everything turned out so well ... Everything.. I learned that it was the sharing of stories and laughter that mattered and not so much what they ate or what I ate. No cravings because I had spent time gifting myself with some awesome recipes. Delicious.
Thanksgiving menu.
Appetizer: Antipasto Veggies with vegan hummus
Main plate: Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms..... An amazing meal in itself.
Mixed green salad with tahini orange dressing
Baked apple
Whole wheat rolls
Dessert: peach semifreddo
RECIPES
Antipasto - selected veggies cut up for finger food chosen for color and variety.
Mike's Hummus dressing or dip
1 15 oz low sodium can Garbanzo beans . Or cooked fresh beans
1/4 cup Roasted red peppers. (no oil)
Juice of a Medium lemon
1/4 Vegetable stock ( or more as needed for desired consistency)
1/4 teaspoon Garlic
1/4 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Curry
1/4 to 1/3 cup Nutritional Yeast
Start with vegetable stock in a blender
Add drained and rinsed garbanzo beans, roasted red peppers and the lemon juice.
Add spices. Lastly, add Nutritional Yeast.
May need to add more vegetable stock at some points.
Alter spices to suit your own taste.
Main Plate
Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
Mushroom
1 Portabella mushroom Clean with a damp towel.
Twist off stem (add to freezer bag of veggie peals and ends for a great start to your own stock)
Delicately scrape out gills with a spoon being careful not to tear the mushroom edges
Marinate in a plastic bag with red wine and Teriyaki sauce and herbs of choice. Refrigerate ( 2 or more hours )
Stuffing: everything cut into small pieces... dried bread, mandarin oranges, raisins, apple chopped, 1 stalk of celery, water chestnuts. Spices. I like sage, thyme, pepper, and oregano.
Assembly : line a baking pan with non-stick aluminum foil. Stuff mushroom and top with a generous sprinkle of nutritional yeast.
Oven time 30 minutes at 350. Middle rack.
Baked Apples
I am still working on the best apple for this dish but this time, Gala
Cut apple in half and core. Mix a 1/2 cup of sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture on the bottom of a glass baking dish. Place apples cut side down on sugar mixture. Bake apples at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes Done when the sugar has turned to liquid and the apples are soft. Serve warm. It makes a great dessert.
Dessert. Peach Semifreddo. Half cold For one.
Small 6 oz Peach soy yogurt
1 Tablespoon of tahini.
Blend the yogurt and tahini.
Line a container with plastic wrap enough to come over and cover top. Pour in mixture. Cover with wrap. Freeze overnight. (I used a ramekin as the container)
Take out of mold and let it thaw until it easy to cut but still solid.
Served with fresh peach slices if in season or frozen berries.
FROM WHINING TO WINNING
Made it. Not a recipe this time...... Made it through my first Thanksgiving..... Not without some emotional "whaa, whaa, whaa's." And a few ."po' me's." why when this year has been stellar ... Loosing weight and feeling great. Creativity turned to the kitchen, to beautiful presentations, to blogging to keep me focused and to sharing this adventure, to food-photography. I'm counting my blessings with first, my husband, who has been at my side through two operations for a blocked carotid artery, who bought the book, "How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease," and who cooked, changed recipes, made up new sauces and more. For relatives and friends who continued to invite me to their homes and include me in the restaurant outings.
So back to the question..... Why the emotional turmoil? Being on a "vegan-no oil- no nuts-no avocado eating plan takes some thought. Do I have food when I go out as a backup when I get hungry and no good choices are around? Did I bring my sauce, herb, spice emergency kit when the choice is bland steamed veggies? Did I call the restaurant ahead of time to work out a dish I can eat when I show up with friends. Do I have my "Eating Plan" card with me to give to the chef? Yep, it takes planning. Not planning got me to obesity, high Cholesterol, inactivity and a lot of "ugly" personal, internal conversations. It wasn't pretty.
Writing this down helps to see the pan scale and how well it is tipped to the side of HEALTH. So, as we move into Christmas and New Year's celebrations, I am making a wish to be that Heavenly Body with a sprinkle more wisdom, a lot of laughter, and a profound appreciation for a life still ticking. ( to the music of Rocky Balboa as he ascends the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art building)
PROTEIN
I was experiencing a bit of an energy slump .... The signs? little energy and a desire to take some long naps. I thought it might be the added stress of holiday food planning: More restaurants and gatherings. Also the weather has turned so that walk in the park for a couple of miles isn't happening. Then I read,
"5 warning signs that you are not getting enough protein" on the No Meat Athlete blog site. Yep, that's me. Who knew paying attention to my intake of protein would make such a difference.
http://www.nomeatathlete.com/5-warning-signs/
Found this counter-keeper article and was reminded that protein comes from a wide variety of sources.
Protein Content in Selected Vegan Foodsby Robert Cheeke, Vegan Bodybuilder
This chart shows the amount of protein in various vegan foods and also the number of grams of protein per 100 calories. To meet protein recommendations, the typical adult male vegan needs only 2.2 to 2.7 grams of protein per 100 calories and the typical adult female vegan needs only 2.3 to 2.9 grams of protein per 100 calories. These recommendations can be easily met from vegan sources.
Protein Content of Selected Vegan Foods
FOOD AMOUNT PROTEIN PROTEIN
(gm) (gm/100 cal)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tempeh 1 cup 31 9.5
Seitan 4 ounces 15-31 21.4-22.1
Soybeans, cooked 1 cup 29 9.6
Veggie dog 1 link 8-26 13.3-20
Veggie burger 1 patty 5-24 3.8-21.8
Lentils, cooked 1 cup 18 7.8
Tofu, firm 4 ounces 8-15 10-12.2
Kidney beans, cooked 1 cup 15 6.8
Lima beans, cooked 1 cup 15 6.8
Black beans, cooked 1 cup 15 6.3
Chickpeas, cooked 1 cup 15 5.4
Pinto beans, cooked 1 cup 14 6.0
Black-eyed peas, cooked 1 cup 13 6.7
Vegetarian baked beans 1 cup 12 5.2
Quinoa, cooked 1 cup 11 3.5
Soymilk, commercial, plain 1 cup 3-10 3-12
Tofu, regular 4 ounces 2-10 2.3-10.7
Bagel 1 medium(3 oz) 9 3.7
Peas, cooked 1 cup 9 3.4
Textured Vegetable Protein
(TVP), cooked 1/2 cup 8 8.4
Peanut butter 2 Tbsp. 8 4.1
Spaghetti, cooked 1 cup 7 3.4
Spinach, cooked 1 cup 6 11.0
Soy yogurt, plain 6 ounces 6 6
Bulgur, cooked 1 cup 6 3.7
Sunflower seeds 1/4 cup 6 3.3
Almonds 1/4 cup 6 2.8
Broccoli, cooked 1 cup 5 10.5
Whole wheat bread 2 slices 5 3.9
Cashews 1/4 cup 5 2.7
Almond butter 2 Tbsp 5 2.4
Brown rice, cooked 1 cup 5 2.1
Potato 1 medium(6 oz) 4 2.6
Sources: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 12, 1998 and
manufacturers' information.
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=article_proteincontent
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