A Vegan Life...Or not so much :(

Sometimes in life, things just don't work. I know I get frustrated when I want something to happen and I just can't make it work, even when I try - really, really try - hard and so it goes for me and the vegan diet.  Now, I am not saying that I am abandoning the idea completely because I am not.  I want as much of our diet as possible to come from plants, and plants alone and I will keep working on that goal but I will share some of the issues that I have begun to endure after a few months on eating just about 100% vegan.  I will also share how I tried to adjust to deal with these things and I apologize in advance if you came here looking just for a recipe and instead were subjected to my chatter about my body's rejection of being vegan.

First up, mouth sores.  Lots of them.  I had ulcers all the time.  I changed my toothpaste, toothbrush, etc because I couldn't get rid of them.  Then, by chance, I came upon an article about B12 deficiency in vegans and vegetarians leading to mouth ulcers.  I got a B12 supplement and the ulcers were gone in 2 days and haven't returned....problem solved, right?  Well, not exactly because...

My body hates taking vitamins.   I usually just get sick.  But on B12...I became an irritable, grouchy monster with zilch for patience.  It was like the time I couldn't be on estrogen replacement right after my hysterectomy.  Nobody wanted to live with that - I didn't continue to subject my family to that version of me then, and I wasn't interested in doing it now.  And being vegan meant a whole realm of vitamins that needed to be taken to compensate for everything my body wasn't getting via the food. Calcium, iron, and now B12 in addition to my daily estrogen and multivitamin.  I mean, isn't the point of all of this to eat well and let the body work naturally?

The need for processed foods.  Okay, so maybe, just maybe, there is a way to do this without vitamins or processed foods containing the vitamins, but I seriously couldn't find a way to make it work.  I'd love (civil, please) thoughts and ideas on this.  So, if I don't want to take B12, I need to buy soy milk fortified with B12 instead of drinking my homemade almond milk that I love.  Hmm.  Things like that just weren't making sense anymore.  I don't want to use veganaise if I can make my own mayonnaise here and eat something unprocessed.  Or give up a healthy drink like almond milk because I need to get B12 from something that it's been fortified with in a factory.  I think you know what I mean.

So...is there a way to live vegan and eat only whole foods and still be able to keep up a running and biking schedule and have no vitamins or supplements?  For me, at least, the answer is no.  And I have to do what's best for my body.  So I will add an occasional egg or some milk to a recipe and not try to strip everything down to the plant essentials and see how I feel.  Maybe, just maybe I can find that perfect balance. I am still not interested in eating any meat and I've been a vegetarian for so many years that I know my body well enough to know what it needs.

First big step last night...



Quinoa Burgers...and they have egg and cheese in them.

Quinoa Burgers

Makes 6-7 patties

Ingredients

• 2 c cooked quinoa


• 3/4 c bread crumbs


• 2 eggs


• 1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese


• 1/2 t garlic powder


• 1/2 t onion powder


• 1t seasoning salt

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients well until mixture is holding together - it will seem crumbly but will firm up in the pan while cooking


2. Preheat pan lightly coated in oil to medium high and put patties in pan.


3. Cook for about 5 minutes the first side, or until browned, and then flip and cook the other side until browned.


4. Serve alone or on a bun.

These were a nice re-entry into eating non-vegan because they were still whole foods that I made.  I'm looking forward to retaining as much of the vegan recipes as I can but being sure to add in enough sources of iron and b12 to better support my lifestyle.  I am doing this to be healthy, and whatever that means is the direction I'm headed in.  :)

 

Dinner with Friends is a Great Way to Spend an Evening!

In my life, I am surrounded by some of the best people that I am lucky enough to call my friends.  Life can get a little hectic sometimes, and just when you're feeling sorta off-center, you remember that you're not alone.  We're working on making it a bit of a tradition to work really hard at scheduling time to get together and enjoy some good food, good conversation and just have a chance to relax.  Finally, we were able to make that happen again this week.  And it was just what I needed!!  Settling back into the regular days of the school year and the routine of that has been a bit tiring after such a flexible summer and next week I'm going to be adding homeschooling the boy through his senior year so things are going to get more hectic.  Time out with friends is a necessity.  The hubby was sick :( so I was solo and that was the only down spot of the evening.  My contribution?





A fruited quinoa salad with a honey-lemon vinaigrette!!  It was incredibly easy, and it would work well no matter what kind of summery fruits you had on hand.  I used blueberries, strawberries and kiwi, but whatever you like would probably work.  I tossed the fruit in a dressing I made using 3 T honey, 1 1/2 T lemon juice and a splash of balsamic vinegar to make a bright but not overpowering vinaigrette and it was perfect.  Once the fruit and dressing were tossed together, I added it to my cooked and cooled quinoa.  I used about 4 cups of quinoa.  Then, it just had to sit a bit to marry all the flavors and it was ready to eat.

Our dinner was rounded out by homemade black bean burgers, grilled corn and zucchini, deviled eggs and other delicious tidbits like hummus and avocado.  Something for everyone - well, unless you were looking for meat because this was a sans meat meal.  I am so lucky to have a group of friends who accept each others differences so easily and try and work to make sure there's something for everyone at the table.

I loved the little hostess gift I brought for my friend, Kathleen.  We're both runners and I know the toll that it takes on my feet.  In celebration of her 20 miler race on Sunday (which she did fabulous at!) I made her a homemade foot soak.  It was easy but I enjoyed every minute of creating it!



I mixed 1 cup epsom salt, 1 cup sea salt, 2 T of lemon infused grapeseed oil, a few splashes of lavender (could use peppermint, I just didn't have any on hand) essential oil, and the contents of 1 packet of peppermint tea.  The smell is amazing and I loved how it worked when I tested it out.  I hope she enjoys it!

You remember my brownie cookies that I adore from Post Punk Kitchen???  I redid them.  Into a gluten free cookie for my friend, Jen.  I made the recipe exactly as stated but I substituted rice flour, xanthan gum and potato starch for the flour.  And guess what?  They were completely a different cookie.  They tasted like a devils food snackwells cookie.  Still tasty but no longer like a brownie at all.  Interesting!



All in all, what a fantastic weekend with the exception of a nasty migraine on Saturday.  That I could have done without.  But my run Sunday was awesome, those 10 miles were peaceful and easy.  Next week I go back to big numbers of running and have a busy week, so fingers crossed I can work it all in.  Life is just busy sometimes always so I am just learning to try and roll with it...

Happy Labor Day!

Sheri

Oatmeal Flax Pancakes

Pancakes are a staple at our house, and surprisingly, they've been one of the easiest meals to transition to our new vegan lifestyle.  I never would have guessed that making a flax egg would be such an easy and healthy replacement for the real deal.  But it has.  Experimenting with the recipes has become a bit of an obsession, tweaking this or that to make it a little more tender and then oops, a little less tender, until you get to that perfect pancake.  How do you know when you get there?  Well, for me, it means that the daycare kids will eat it.  Kids are a pretty tough taste tester group for something like pancakes.  They don't take kindly to you messing with a breakfast staple.  I guess most kids are like that, but I know without a doubt my daycare kids are!  So, when they gobbled these pancakes up, I knew we had found a great balance to the recipe!



I love the look of these pancakes.  I am ready for another one just writing about them!  And the recipe was super easy - great recipe for vegan or non-vegan families.

Oatmeal Flax Pancakes

Makes about 8-10 pancakes depending on the size

Ingredients

• 1 c whole wheat flour


• 1/4 c unbleached flour


• 1/4 c oatmeal flour


• 1/2 c rolled oats


• 3 t baking powder


• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 non-dairy milk of your choice ( I used homemade almond milk)


• 1 flax egg (1 T ground flax mixed with 3 T warm water)


• 1 t vanilla


• 1 t salt


• 1 T coconut oil  (other oil would work too, but I'm partial to adding coconut oil whenever possible)

Directions

1. Mix flax and water to make flax egg, set aside while other ingredients are assembled


2. Mix all dry ingredient thoroughly.


3. In separate container, mix remaining ingredients except flax egg.  Use 1 1/2 c of milk to start, keep 1/4 c in reserve if batter is too thick.


4. Combine wet with dry ingredients, not overmixing but making sure everything is incorporated.  Fold flax egg into mixture and add remaining 1/4 c of milk if needed.


5. Pour batter onto hot griddle lightly greased.  Be sure to reapply oil or spray between pancakes because they will stick more easily than traditional recipes.

Enjoy!

Sheri

Chia Coconut Milk Ice Cream

I decided to take a zucchini from my garden to our neighbor yesterday, and while we were there visiting on her front porch, I mentioned that I had made chia ice cream.  Her response?  "You mean like the seeds they put on those clay heads to grow?  I may have to rethink saying you're not a hippie."  To which I had to laugh.  Despite our best efforts to look like good suburbanites, I fear the cat may be out of the bag.  When you defend not mowing a hillside in order to harvest the weeds and then casually mention eating chia seeds a few sentences later, sometimes you start to feel like an outsider.  Well, that's how I felt anyway.  Sometimes I just don't know if this suburbia suits us anymore.  I hear the call of a farm life louder and louder every day.  But, before I go all starry eyed about having a little farmette someday, back to the ice cream.  And the chia seeds.

For those who don't know, chia seeds are awesome.  Great sources of energy and full of nutritional goodness!  We first read about using chia as an energy source in the book, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  No Meat Athlete has a great article about the running fuel mentioned in the book used by the Tarahumara Indians.  The first time I ever ran past the half marathon mark (13.1 miles for the non-runners) the hubby and I started out with a chia seed mixture in a drink form.  And I think it worked because that was a great run!  So, we always include chia seeds in our daily smoothies, but I've also been experimenting with chia soaked in water as a substitute for a binder such as eggs in our veganized recipes.  It seems to work very similar to flax eggs. So, I thought it might be fun to make it the star of a recipe for a change, so here's the 3 ingredient ice "cream" I came up with.



I miss ice cream so much sometimes that I have given in once since giving up dairy and had a small dish from our favorite ice cream spot.  Big mistake.  I regretted it and my stomach was not pleased almost immediately.  I haven't tempted fate since.  But I have been experimenting with other milks and mixtures and this time, I decided coconut milk would be my base.  I used a 15 oz can of unsweetened coconut milk, added about 1/4 c of soaked chia seeds and 3 T of honey.  I put the whole mix in the blender, made it nice and frothy and then added it to the ice cream maker.  It has a smooth texture and is the perfect sweetness.  I loved it and I loved that I was having ice cream that was full of nutrition and easy on my digestive system.  Perfect combo!

In case you're not convinced on how beneficial chia seeds are to your diet...check out What's Cooking America - Chia Seeds.

 

Anyone else find creative uses for misunderstood ingredients like chia?  I'd love to hear them!!

Sheri

Fried Tofu Sandwiches and Some Crazy-Awesome Brownie Cookies

Does that make a perfect day or what??  The tofu sandwiches were based on the tofu recipe I made out of the Vegan Vittles cookbook a week or so ago, but we wanted a bit of a different taste and were looking for a sandwich instead of something to dip.



I think we found just the thing.  I had bought some rolls while shopping earlier in the morning, a few pretzel, a few ciabatta, and the pretzel one was calling the hubby's name.  And what better way to top it off then some fresh lettuce, tomato, a bit of mustard sweetened with honey and a freshly fried piece of tofu?  I loved it!

There isn't a real recipe here, because it really is super easy.  Start with a block of extra firm or firm tofu, and then press it to get as much liquid out as possible.  That gives it that dense texture that we have fallen in love with.  See my fantastically elaborate pressing mechanism...hahaha.



Seriously, you just want it to press it, not smash it and it will take about 20 minutes or so.  Then you will have something that looks like this..



See the puddle around it?  Just drain that off and then cut the tofu into whatever size you are looking to fry.  I cut mine for our sandwiches into six equal pieces.  Then, I floured all of the pieces and set them aside.  I mixed about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar into 1/2 c of almond milk (any milk would do I'm sure) and then mixed about 1 cup of nutritional yeast flakes with seasoning to taste.  I used an all purpose seasoning blend and salt with a little garlic powder mixed in.  Don't go overboard with the salt though because the yeast has a saltier flavor naturally.  I also added the flour into the mix that was left over from flouring the tofu.  Once that is all done, you can heat your oil in a frying pan to medium high.  I would think they could be baked too, but the texture would be different.

So, here's your set up:



Dip the floured tofu into the milk and then into the yeast mixture and then carefully put into the hot oil.  Let it cook about 5-7 minutes each side for a nice crisp.



Once they're browned and crispy, you will need to drain them.  This is the only thing I keep paper towels around for anymore.  Other than that, it's all cloth, so if anyone has any pointers on draining the oil off without paper towels, I am all ears!

After that, all that's left to do is take a bite!



And if you're craving some dessert...I've got just the thing for you!  Head over the Post Punk Kitchen for their Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies...I would call them a Brownie cookie but it's not my recipe, so they have naming rights.  Whatever you call it, it's delicious!  Post Punk Kitchen really has an amazing collection of recipes that make eating vegan fun!  Even though we're not 100% vegan, it's exciting to eliminate as much of the dairy and animal products we can and this is one of my go-to sites for getting that done.

I will make this again, but I will make some modifications - namely in cutting back the sugar and oil.  I think the ratio could be played with to be a bit healthier but still retain the decadent aspect of the cookie.  If I have some success, I will report back. :)  Also, I did not add chocolate chips and instead swapped that for the chopped walnuts.  Tasted even more like a brownie!  Hope you love them!



One of the best parts of vegan cookie dough...no raw eggs so eat away with zero guilt.  :)  Yay!



I think these could be frozen at this step and be baked fresh in small batches.



Because having cookies this tasty around could be a bit dangerous!  I did freeze what we didn't eat last night.  Not that it's ever stopped me before.  I will eat a frozen cookie if I'm so inclined.

Hope you're having a wonderful day!   Enjoy the pics!

Sheri