Still Eating To Live - November - Page 6

[ombra*luna]

Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable, I think. It's not starchy. It is good isn't it! I could use some new ways to make it - hint, hint.....

You know, when I started etl, I was more worried about my blood sugar (a bit high, although not diabetic) than about my appearance (thought I looked OK). But now that I've gotten thinner, I have to say I am so much happier about the way I look. I guess I didn't want to think about it because I didn't think I could lose the weight - ds was four years old and I'd been trying to take off that last 15 pounds the whole time . But, I being thinner! And you know I have heard it's so much harder to take off weight after menopause - well, this was the easiest! And remains the easiest!

Got some yummy strawberries the other day - but for the most part, I am just eating apples and pears for fruit. I do miss my watermelon. Imagine how great it's going to taste next summer!

What have we come up with for festive holiday recipes that are more or less on plan? I'm still thinking - gotta go though. Taking ds to a doctor that's an hour away.

[isosmom]

I've been taking a few days off MDC for MILs visit and my birthday. Had a vegan junk food day yesterday for my birthday. It was strange, I stuffed myself and then felt hungry 2 hours later. Gave MIL the book and she's thinking of it for after the new year. Of course, it would be a huge change from the way she eats now. She is addicted to sugar, so we'll see.
I've got a mess of greens I've got to cook in the fridge, so that'll be dinner methinks.

[Juniper]

Hey all - still here just haven't been on the computer much. All is well. DH is completing his six weeks this friday. He is down 16 pounds. This has really encouraged me to learn how to cook in an E2L way. Before he was eating out a lot and I was making quick meals just for me and DS.

Cauliflower: I like it in curries with lots of cumin. Also, it tastes pretty good if you cook it and mash it up like potatoes.

Hey, what do you all think about seitan as a meat substitute ( I guess it's a type of wheat with most of the carbs extracted)? I know it is saltier and more processed than furhman would like, but it has low carbs, is plant based, no cholesterol and very little fat. I wouldn't eat a lot of it but I have been adding a bit to stir frys. (DH fell in love with it after he tried it at a vegan place) I also add tofu and mushrooms so that I have a variety of "meaty" textures.

Jennifer

[raeinparis]

happy birthday isomom! i hope you had a good day.

i have to confess that i hate cauliflower. and mushrooms too. i love broccoli though.

right, i hate cooking and always have. i've always been much more of a heater (that is take something and warm it or boil water and chuck in pasta) then a cook. dp has generally made dinners because he likes to cook and makes more of an effort than i do. since we started e2l, i've been doing more dinners and i can't stand it. i know i should make yet another lentil+veg soup but i can't bear the thought of all that chopping. again! so when dp texted me to ask what he could pick up on his way home, i said pizza. we'll see, generally he's stronger than me on this one.

right, got to do the dishes. that's the other thing -- so many more dishes! :

i know, i know, it's all good for me and i'm able to fit into my clothes and hopefully this way of eating will help me be disease-free and live to see my grandchildren. some days though...

rachael

[isosmom]

rae - I didn't cook all of last week. And I love to, sometimes I just get so tired of it, and the dishes. And with the shorter days now, it just feels there's less time. I find it easier if I'm home during the day to make dinner in the morning, or most of it at least. That way it's done and so are the dishes.

[solareyna]

Cauliflower recipe I found on fatfreevegan that I am going to try this weekend. It looks very yummy...

Creamy Vegetable Wild Rice Soup

1 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 heads cauliflower, chopped into 1" pieces
Water to cover vegetables
1 1/2 c. cooked wild rice
4 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 cups broccoli, chopped
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 t. thyme
Black pepper to taste

In soup pot, add onion, garlic and 1 stalk celery (chopped) with a little water to saute'. When onion is translucent, add cauliflower pieces and water to cover. Add vegetable bouillon and thyme and bring to boil. Simmer until cauliflower is tender.

While cauliflower is simmering, steam carrots, celery and broccoli in a separate pot or in microwave.

Once cauliflower is tender, use immersible blender or pour soup in batches into a regular blender. Blend until creamy and put back in soup pot to simmer. Add steamed vegetables and rice to the creamed soup. Add black pepper to taste.

know what you mean about those darn dishes...

[moonshine]

Just saying hi, not much to report. I did check out Dr F's website and am contemplating his multi-vit after I use up what I have. I have always wondered why vit A doses are so high in multis. Is it cheap or something? Anyway, his don't have any. Might try one of the vinegars and some of those nut ball things. Sounds like something good for the kids.

Just started working on the Mummy Tummy book. It is not easy! Seems like I still have a layer of fat over any muscle in the stomach region. But at least it is less fat than it used to be!

Glad to hear you guys haven't deserted us, isosmom and Juniper!

Oh, and dishes...isn't that what husbands are for??

[Lizzo]

I really like the name of this tribe,b ut have a 7 month old crawling around getting itno everything so I cannot read through it all. Can you tell me what it's all about?

[raeinparis]

hiya lizzo, i have a little fella underfoot too, so check this: http://www.drfuhrman.com/weightloss/why.aspx

moonshine, i take a prenatal/nursing mommy vitamin and it doesn't have as much vitamin a as normal vits. just a thought.

well we were terribly bold and had pizza last night. you wouldn't believe how sick i felt this morning. well, first i was sooo hungry then i was quite ill. i also had that nasty dry mouth i now associate with eating poorly.

i wonder if af is finally going to visit me and that's why i'm in such a funk. dp has been taking over the midnight to 6 am shift with ds and so maybe not nursing during that time is going to bring back af...

must be better today. we had oatmeal cooked in almond milk with apricots this morning. yum! but more dishes...we're talking about moving out of paris to a smaller city in france and i might need to get a dishwasher. i've lived 36 years of my life without one, but all this cooking and chopping and eating in really makes me want one. and a microwave! next it will be a dryer...but that's not really eating related...

[newcastlemama]

Originally Posted by moonshine

I did check out Dr F's website and am contemplating his multi-vit after I use up what I have.

I have used his vitamin for the past 2 weeks. I like that it is formulated for the way I am eating now.

Also, has anyone found any TASTY low calorie dressings???? I like vinegars, but not everyday. I also have annie's naturals dressings and they have 40 cal per 2 Tablespoon so I just use as little as possible. I did not like the Spectrum brand dressings..ick!
Thanks, Jennifer

[raeinparis]

hiya

no dressings here, we generally put cous cous or a lentil dish or chick pea thing on top of our salads. we don't have the seriously low cal dressings here so we gave up quickly.

right, i'm going to make some soup now so i can feel better!

thanks again to all mommas for the support. i'm constantly inspired by your experience.

[moonshine]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

Also, has anyone found any TASTY low calorie dressings???? I like vinegars, but not everyday. I also have annie's naturals dressings and they have 40 cal per 2 Tablespoon so I just use as little as possible. I did not like the Spectrum brand dressings..ick!
Thanks, Jennifer

I am generally happy with vinegar - I switch btw balsamic and rice vinegar. (along with dill and Braggs). Sometimes I add hummus. I pretty much always add chickpeas.

Some other ideas:
lemon juice
fresh squeezed orange
grated apple
tahini (which you can also mix w/ things -- water, etc)

To keep my salads interesting, I try to add different things from week to week. I recently added artichokes and mushrooms. Plus my favorite hummus.

ETA: I have never bought salad dressings, so I don't really miss them. I always made my own with spices, oil and vinegar. Now I just leave out the oil.

[witch's mom]

I do lots of different things with vinegars and water and spices. I make a miso dressing that has way too much salt, probably. And another one with apple cider vinegar and cumin and a couple drops of maple syrup.

Sometimes, if I'm out and about, I just bring along a bag of greens and munch them plain.

That said, I'm having a bad E2L day. Started off okay with my smoothie, but it deteriorated when all I had for lunch (at work) was a black bean/sweet potato whole wheat burrito. When I got hungry this afternoon, I discovered my salad greens had gone slimy. There was a bag of bagels sitting in the lunchroom, free to everyone, so I ate half a cinnamon-sugar bagel (with a thin layer of maple/walnut cream cheese)--and I'm still hungry! In half an hour I'm off to a work event that will have booth after booth of restaurant food. I'm giving up for today, but committed to get back on track tomorrow with a big trip to the grocery store. That always helps.

[solareyna]

I am still experimenting with dressings, but one new interesting thing I've found is a little tomato juice mixed with tomato basil hummus. (Our health food store makes a good hummus without oil). I have been trying to experiment too, by adding different things. I had kidney beans on my salad today, warmed up so it made the salad a little more welcoming for a cold day.

Is anybody else feeling the stress of the Holidays yet? I am now in charge of orchestrating a Thanksgiving lunch at work for the whole office. I know I can't bring any of the dishes I like. I tried to make bread today and the flour I just bought today from the store had worms in it when I opened it. So I might try again to make some good bread but I know Tuesday will be a long day of smelling fried turkeys and all the holiday dishes that I can no longer eat. I don't even have a desire to eat them, but its kind of a feeling of being left out in a world of carnivores. Then Thursday is dinner at MIL and I don't want to make her feel bad by eating nothing.

Anybody else feeling these problems coming on?

[moonshine]

Just thought of more salad toppings, reading solareyna's post. Salsa or bean dip. Last week I got some black bean dip, which I didn't realize was the spicy kind, but managed, which I had with romaine lettuce. I have been some what at a loss as to how to replace chips in that instance, since carrots and the like are not always so applealing, so glad to think of romaine.

As for holidays, I have been veggie for 6 yrs now, so everyone is used to my not eating meat/dairy stuff. There is no way no how you could entice me to eat turkey, but then it never really was any where close to my favorite when I did still eat meat. We will be at ILs for Tday, and there will be a variety of veggies for me to eat. I did offer to bring something, because it can get tiresome to eat "sides". Not sure what I will make yet. There is recipe for cranberry stuffed acorn squash in the Nutrition forum that caught my eye.

But if you are craving some meat, you could make it your 10%. Not sure if you are on the 6 wks still or not, but it would be hard to stay faithful when visiting company on the holidays.

Kids are calling, gotta run.

[isosmom]

IMO, special occasions and holidays should be just that, special. Just go into it doing the best you can and you'll surprise yourself with what you choose to eat (and what you don't).
I made a couple delish things the last couple days and thought I'd share. Eating up those leafy greens since I've got a ton! So both these recipes have potatoes, but hey, it's fall y'all.

Kale and Potato Soup
Simmer together in 5 c water 3 or 4 chopped russet potatoes, a bunch of kale roughly chopped, one chopped leek (you could use onion) and 4-8 whole garlic cloves with some salt and pepper if you'd like. Simmer 20 minutes and puree. That's it! I made it yesterday morning and ate the whole pot, by myself, in one day. It is that good (or I'm that crazy).

And tonight,
White Bean and Greens Cassoulet
Spray a casserole with some non-stick spray stuff or a bit of olive oil.
Layer 4 or 5 thinly sliced new potatoes, seasoning each layer (I got 2 layers).
Put a can (1 1/2 c) white beans on top of potatoes.
Saute a bunch (4-5) leeks. Add on top of beans.
Mince 4 cloves garlic and top leeks.
Roughly chop 2 bunches of greens, anything you got, I used beet greens and spinach. Add on top of it all. Season and drizzle with a bit of olive oil if you'd like. Pour 2 c stock and 1 c rice milk on top of it all.
Cover and bake at 400 for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes.
Super good. And you could probably even add more greens than that as they cook down so much.

[newcastlemama]

Thanks for all the dressing ideas..I got some oil free hummus yesterday and loved it. I feel like I have turned and E2L corner this week. I look forward to my smoothies, friuts, salads, veggies, and beans!!!!
Last night my husband said he is ready to join in E2L..he is going to read the book when he has time but he said if I shop for it and make it (E2L food) he will happily eat it!! This will make things so much easier for me to reach my goals!! He is planning on starting hardcore when he reads the book sometime soon. He is a lucky one though who will be able to have more nuts, avos, and starches because he has no weight to lose and works physically hard, plus he is 6'6".

About thanksgiving--we hold it at our house for my husband's whole family (about 30 people). My MIL in is charge and she is really into veggies and such so we decided to make 2 exoctic sides for us to enjoy since we are both so bored of holiday food! We really want to do a "around the world" theme where each person brings something from a different country, but the men aren't that into it. I will probably eat sweet potatoes, salad, and some bread for my special treats since I am off starches until I reach my goal.
Jennifer

[LavenderMae]

I like to make mashed cauliflower. I cook it until really soft in veggie broth (you could use water and veggie base for lower soduim). Then I add a little plain low-fat soy milk and mash it up, season with some fresh ground pepper. It's quite tasty, imo.

I cheat a little on the salad dressing I use Newman's low-fat either italian or sesame ginger but I don't use more than 1 tablespoon.

[moonshine]

As some of you may know, I don't "plan" on any starches because they always seem to happen anyway, and if they don't, all the better. Well, now I know why. At lunch I had some of DDs whole grain spelt toast with pb, only a quarter slice. For dinner I had some (well, maybe a bit more than some ) of the oven fries that I made, and tomato sauce with tempeh (which is made with brown rice, among other things). Course, I also had a pile of cooked greens as well as fruit, but I can't remember the last time I had so many starches while still aiming to be on plan. I just had to open the button on my pants. They are a pair I have been just newly been able to wear again, but still!

Didn't get a salad in today either, which is a huge difference for me, because I was out of lettuce. Just stocked up on romaine, but we are invited to brunch tomorrow, so don't know how quickly I will get back. Course, they are making pancakes, which I have never been that fond of, so maybe it will be easier for me to stick to fruit.

[witch's mom]

Back on track today, but feeling a little lousy. Ate way too much crap last night at the big work event. It was one of those things where you go from booth to booth for samples. I won't list all I ate, but let me assure you, none of it was vegan and all of it was full of fat and sugar and salt. It's no wonder I'm sluggish and queasy today.

As for Thanksgiving, we're going to my sister's, and it'll be a traditional Thanksgiving meal. I'll eat some of everything, but I've never been a huge overeater on Thanksgiving. I figure this year I'll just start with the salad and fill up mostly with that. Christmas promises to be tougher, because I'm hosting a huge crowd, including DH's heavy-meat-eating family. I'm not ready to start obsessing about it yet, but wait til next month. I'll be a maniac.