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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Chili Pie

I'm not generally big on casserole type recipes but saw this one online that combined several of my husband and daughter's favorite foods and thought I would take a shot at something new. 

I've adapted the recipe from a Dr Fuhrman member who in turn adapted it from fatfreevegan.com.

Ours, so far, is made with two of our existing recipes, but we may switch to making it more from scratch if the circumstances are different.   This time, we already had chili made to use as the first layer, next time we might make the layer from beans, peppers, and so on instead. 





The first layer is the black bean chili, recipe here







Next, we added a layer of frozen, chopped greens.  We used collards but kale, spinach, or other would work.  



The third layer was the "Cheeze" from our Mac & Cheeze recipe, recipe here




























The last layer was 1/3 of a bag of frozen hash browns.





After assembly, I baked it in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes, but it was still very liquid, so I left it in there for another 45 minutes while I baked a loaf of banana oat bread.   

The final product was a huge hit with my husband who ate two servings and asked for leftovers with his lunch.  


Now that I'm thinking about it....I may always make this recipe with the black bean chili and Mac & Cheeze sauce because that way I end up with nearly a week's worth of food for the family.   The casserole, the chili, and the Mac & Cheeze.    I'm not going to say how I know this, but the Mac & Cheeze tastes great on top of the chili, also.    :)  






 

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Monday, March 18, 2013

Rice Bowls

Another quick and easy favorite family dinner.


Ingredients

1/2 large onion
3-4 cloves garlic
1/3 pound mushrooms

1 bag of broccoli, carrot, cabbage slaw
1 bag frozen stir fry vegetables or other vegetable
1 cup chopped greens, any

Optional, baked or pan cooked tofu slices

Brown rice, 2 cups cooked
Seasonings, pepper, garlic powder, ginger, soy sauce, to taste.

Sauté the onions, garlic, and mushrooms, and slaw in a tsp of olive oil or 1/2 cup water until onions are translucent.   Add another 1/2 cup of water and the frozen vegetables and greens.  Continue cooking until frozen vegetables are defrosted.













Add seasonings to taste and toss with cooked brown rice.




Thursday, March 14, 2013

Growing Plant Strong Kids


We all start at different places when we find Eat to Live and healthy plant based eating and our kids are all so different, but we are all aiming towards the same goal in the end so some of the same steps apply to every family.    Not all tips will apply to every family, of course.   I do not take credit for any of the ideas below but have read and learned from many various places and people who have made this work in their own lives. 



Just know that none of this is particularly easy and all of it requires dedication and extreme levels of patience on the part of all the parents involved.  I recommend keeping a list of the foods they like and continuing to offer ones they don’t, but without forcing them to eat them beyond a taste each time and without getting upset when they don’t eat them.   It can take many, many times of trying a food before they are accepted.   Sometimes it never is and that’s okay too because you can usually always find an alternative.  

First, I always start by recommending Disease Proof Your Child, even if you already have Eat to Live or other books.  There are specific recommendations for helping kids make the switch that differ greatly from the adult suggestions.   You can usually find it at your local library or order online from Amazon for around $10-15 including shipping.   Honestly, if you read and study that book, you don’t need to read further because it covers the spectrum from pregnancy to adulthood. 

The steps and tips I've collected over the years -   
 

Set the boundaries.   I read a great book years ago about healthy eating for kids and my favorite tip in it was one that Dr Fuhrman used in his book also – basically, that parents are in charge of what foods are brought into the house, and kids are in charge of what and how much they eat of what is served.   (We do not stick to that literally all of the time because now that our kids are older, 8 and 18, they are mature enough to realize that certain foods are required.  However, we do give them a choice as to how they get those foods into their body:   for greens, they can have a green/fruit smoothie, a salad, hidden in a soup, or even just plain, fresh greens eaten by themselves.   But in some way, they are required to get greens into their body that day.) 

The rule mentioned above is great for not setting up food battles/control issues early in the child’s life, and thus you can have more freedom guiding them as they get older.   At least, that has been our experience. 

A note -  It is not my goal to control my son’s food for the rest of his life, or to have him eat 100% perfectly plant based while in my home and then McDonald’s for the rest of his  adult life because his mother would never let him have a donut or ice cream.    I could easily force him to adhere to Eat to Live only foods, but I want this conversion to be his own, for him to want to eat this way, for life.    Therefore, we are taking the long view with our kids rather than forcing them and denying them any foods forever.    We don’t bring them into our home, but we do allow occasional treats outside the home.   (See the DPYC book on the subject of ice cream as a treat occasionally consumed outside the home, a perfect example of the philosophy we’ve adopted). 

Also, know how strict you need to be based on your child’s health issues, if any.   Sometimes, small children or very lean children need more than vegan foods if they do not consume foods like beans, soy, nuts in good quantities.   Parents know their kids best, so be on the watch for anything like losing weight in a lean child and so on.   At times, you may need to adjust the diet for them, as it says in DPYC and on the forums, even sometimes adding eggs and such in some cases. 

 
An Easy First Step - Build on current good habits.   Make a list of the healthy foods they already like and serve them often.   To start, I offered baby carrots, sliced cucumbers, and grape tomatoes at every meal my son had since they were his favorites.  A vegetable tray of various cut, raw vegs usually has something to appeal to everyone.   If they like fruit, give them fruit after or with every meal.    What grains do they like, nut butters, starchy vegetables, beans, and so on?  Serve these accepted foods often.  Their diet doesn’t have to be complicated and most kids will find something they like from each of the five food groups (fruit, veg, grains/starches, nuts/seeds, beans).  
 

Step 2 - Go slow, super slow snail's pace slow, in the case of picky eaters.   In fact, go slow in changing the diet of everyone unless there are health issues involved.  Slowly, add in new foods, one or two at a time.   Even if it’s just one floret of steamed broccoli on their plate that they are required to eat, it’s progress.   You can add a dip or a sauce if it makes it more appealing.  My son started eating broccoli by dipping his into a dry, spicy seasoning blend…the other day he ate a bowlful of plain, steamed broccoli and came back for more.


Get them on board with the need for change.  Educate them.   Even little ones can be helped to realize that veggies, not milk, does a body good.   There are lots of books, videos, and so on to help make it fun.  Schools don’t do enough in this regard, so parents must fill in the gap with true information about why some foods are good for our body and why some are bad.  (As in, dairy and meat are not actually food groups that are good for us).   

I’m always quick to point out the food effects as I notice them in my son, such as when he eats something junky that doesn’t agree with him or when he’s full of energy after days of healthy eating.   Older kids and teens can watch dvds like Forks Over Knives, etc. and can even be incentivized to read books like Super Immunity a little at a time.    There are books like Mitch Spinach and worksheets on the internet like the Engine 2 worksheets for kids to help teach the younger set about healthy eating. 

My son and I watched Dr F on Dr Oz and learned about GBOMBS together, then made a plan to get a little of each food into his diet each day.   We worked on greens, then beans, and then the onions/mushrooms until we had them all.  It took some time but a few months is NOTHING in the lifetime of a child compared to how long he will be eating healthfully. 

I’ve been very surprised at how willing my son is to eat healthfully once he knows what it can do for our body and how it protects us from getting sick.    It was something I expected from the 18 year old but not the 7-8 year old.   Again, educate as much as you can without being pushy. 

 
Be sneaky if you have to.     We’ve blended up vegetables into our sons food and disguised his least favorites since he was first eating table foods.   He knows we do it and is okay with it.   Sometimes, I let him try a food first to make sure he likes it, then I’ll tell him what’s in it.   Like Dr. Fuhrman’s Super Immunity chocolate cake that he made on Dr Oz that has veggies in it – who cares, you’re still eating cake that tastes great.     He did notice that his pasta sauce was more brown/orange than red after I blended up kale into it, but it still tasted good, so he ate it and approved it. 


Hunger can be a helpful tool.   Food just tastes better when you’re hungry.   So, holding off on juice or milk or snacks in between meals is a good way to help along the process of learning to like new foods.  This might not be useful for the very young toddler, of course, so use it as it applies.   With toddlers, though, juice and milk can sometimes give them all the calories they need, so consider switching slowly to water only, especially if picky eating is an issue.     

We try to let our kids hunger guide them naturally rather than expecting them to eat certain amounts at certain times.   This only works with a loose schedule though, not usually with kids in a full school schedule.  

 

Phase out unhealthy foods.     There are several suggestions I’ve found on how to do this.  

·         Find an appealing substitute food.  For their milk based yogurt, you can try soy based yogurt, and see if they like it.   We replaced ice cream with the frozen banana ice cream and our son loved it (DD, not as much, so she just gave it up).   We remade our favorite banana bread recipe to use oats instead of flour and raisins and fruit instead of the sugar, and that went over well also. 

·         Or, eliminate the food altogether.   Sometimes the sub just isn’t good, especially if you go straight from the “real thing” to a healthy version.  So, instead of yogurt and cereal, for instance, you’d move to hot oatmeal of a healthy oat bar from one of the recipes on the site. 

·        Gradually work your way to the healthy one.  Mix white pasta with wheat pasta, 50% of each, and gradually increase the whole wheat version until they are comfortable eating only the wheat.   Same with rices and other foods.   (Our banana bread, mentioned above, was first half whole wheat flour and half oats, then half the sugar plus raisins, before  making it to its current form of all oats and fruits, no sugar). 

 

Notes on cooking for the family…. I would not recommend cooking two meals if one of the meals is unhealthy or bringing unhealthy foods into the home any longer.   Usually, I have three meal options for each night, but all three are healthy choices.   My husband likes stews and chili type soups, I like lentil and somewhat blended soups, and my son likes neither of these because frankly my soup is a little gross looking with all the muddy greens and browns in it ;)   Instead, I make him a dish that he enjoys and can eat as an alternative for several nights, like whole wheat pasta with a tomato pasta sauce that has veggies blended into it or a bean burrito with the same vegetables and greens and mushrooms blended into it (just a few of the vegs/mushrooms in it).     (I don’t cook three meals every night, I cook three meals twice a week, and we eat the leftovers for 3 days or so.  It honestly doesn’t take much more time to cook two soups and pasta than it does to cook one soup.)  

When I do make chili or stew and ask him to eat it, I make sure it is full of his favorite starchy vegetable or grain – like lots of brown rice for his beans or chili and a half or full cup of frozen corn kernels in his stew.  

At times, I’ve allowed him a touch of old foods to add to the new foods just to bring him around to eating them.   Sometimes, a pinch of skim shredded cheese on his chili or pasta will induce him to try something he wouldn't otherwise.    The DPYC book has allowances for some of these types of foods in limited amounts. 

Cooking healthy, plant based foods for kids is not the same as cooking ETL foods for adults in many cases; although I’m sure there are some kids who would eat my muddy greenish brown lentil, kale, carrot, mushroom soup, most would run away in horror at the sight of it.   Some kids do better with simple, plain foods rather than overly complicated dishes.   A vegetable tray, a piece or cup of fruit, plain chickpeas, and the like.  

Also, normal weight, active, healthy children need to have more foods like oat bars, banana bread, whole wheat pita sandwiches, rice, sweet potatoes, and so on in greater quantity than adults who are usually trying to get or keep their weight down to a normal range.  They should also be allowed and encouraged to eat nuts and seeds, seed & nut butters, and avocados for the healthy fats at each meal. 

I read a post from Dr. Fuhrman who said that we should be making treats that are so healthy that we don’t care if they don’t eat “real food” and just eat the treat.   I feel that way about my Health Nut Cookie Bars – they have zucchini, carrots, raisins, oats, apples, and so on with no added sweetener other than the raisins, etc.    Even my husband now likes them for breakfast because they are faster than making oatmeal. 
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A final note on picky eaters... From the DPYC book, the term variety driver is used.    Here is a post about what this means  -


My take on it so far -  So, we all know that offering a variety of unhealthy foods at one meal leads to overeating.  Think of a thanksgiving table laden with various casseroles, meats, breads, and every dessert imaginable and how that leads to pants being unbuckled and naps being taken whether you want to or not.  

You can use this to your advantage in healthy eating by offering a variety of health foods at each meal.   A tray of cut vegetables, a bowl of lightly steamed broccoli and carrots, soup brimming with healthy vegs and beans, fresh cut fruit, and so on all available at once encourage a greater quantity of consumption of plant foods.   

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And one thing I did not address because I don't feel qualified to do so is what to do in homes where one parent is eating healthfully and one is not.    To me, this is a spousal issue rather than a parent issue.   
There are things to try like making a healthy dish like bean chili and add meat to it for the non-plant-based family.    Eating a lot of vegetables and fruit and beans and nuts/seeds and whole grains is the key here, not just eliminating meat, so there is room for compromise.    It might also be possible for you to ask the other parent to consume junk foods outside the home rather than inside, but again that is a spouse to spouse issue.   I can only imagine that it would be extremely hard to get a child to eat vegetables if mom or dad is eating take out pizza.    

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Broccoli and Rice, made over

A very old family favorite was the broccoli and rice casserole, reminescent of the Cream of Mushroom Soup version.   Even before our eating style changed, we made the dish healthier without the soup, just with sauteed mushrooms, onions, garlic in a creamy sauce and with extra vegetables joining the broccoli (asparagus, sno peas, carrots, etc).   

This newest version was a big hit yesterday -


Ingredients:

Frozen or fresh broccoli, steamed
optional, Frozen or fresh other vegetables - sno peas, asparagus, stir fry mix, carrots, steamed
Cooked brown rice or wild rice
Sauce, recipe HERE 

Toss cooked vegetables with sauce



You could just stop here, grab a fork, and eat.  Which is just what I did.

Or, you can keep going and serve over rice.  It would also work over pasta or even a bed of greens. 

Health Nut Cookie Bars

The original recipe for the cookies was adapted from our favorite oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, this one goes further in its changes, backing out the added sugars.

Note - we found out by accident that if you leave the batter in the refrigerator overnight, it will turn much sweeter, due to the raisins and other dried fruit releasing its sugars.  I've not tried it but believe that you can replicate this faster by blending some of the raisins with a bit of water and adding it to the batter before baking.


Veggie Cookie Bars 

  • 2 med/large zucchini
  • 2 large apples
  • 3 large carrots

Shred all into large bowl

  • 1-1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 T cinnamon
  • 2 organic eggs or chia “eggs” (2 Tblsp chia soaked in ½ cup water for 15 minutes)
  • 1 cup applesauce

Mix together then mix with shredded produce

ADD:
  • 4 cups oatmeal
  • 1 cup raisins or other dried fruit
  • ½ cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1/4 cup shredded coconut
  • optional - if these are not sweet enough for the kids, your choices are to add more dried fruit (pineapple works very well) or to use a little date sugar or other sweetener.  

Mix all together until combined, press into 11x17 baking dish in a thin layer, about 1/2"
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Our New Garden, in progress


We have demolished our old garden and are building a new, low maintenance one so that we can continue to harvest beautiful vegetables in the limited amount of free time we have available.  It's a lot of work and expense, but I know that it will eventually pay for itself in fresh, pesticide free produce.

Here it is after removing all the old elements and leveling it off.   Seems a shame to spread all that fertile soil around to use for leveling, but we will get more.




Why and how we're doing this -

We installed the first of 8 boxes yesterday and started on the second. We also managed to get the frame of the center sidewalk built and the sprinkler pipes run to the boxes we built and a few we haven't. As usual, it took a very long time to decide on the best way to build them...and a trip to Lowes, of course. The next boxes should go much faster.

The boxes seem huge and will need lots of dirt to fill them. I'm debating building a low water system that self composts food scraps inside a cage in the center of the garden.

I'm thrilled to have been able to save my 18 month old Swiss chard plants. They were in pots but had a long root in the ground. We are watering daily until they can reestablish enough alternate root structure. They are huge and beautiful and have already given pounds of chard with no sign of letting up.


I've gardened only 8 years, the first one was already planted when we bought the land. But every year I've fought weeds until I'm out of fight and want to quit. I've tried every alternative and finally the raised beds made from reclaimed items are what stuck. Those worked for two years but I still deal with weeds around the structures. Plus, the garden is in the front of our property along the driveway and is the first thing you see when you come around the bend before our home.

So, I wanted something attractive, easy to keep up (weed FREE) and permanent. We are incredibly busy between work, homeschool, volunteer work, and so on, that the choice really is either easy gardening or no gardening, and I really want the added benefit of fresh, no pesticide produce for our family and my ETL-ing Mom and Stepdad.







The first box is installed and work on the center sidewalk begins. 







Our other garden produce, planted by the birdfeeders and birds...




Monday, March 4, 2013

Carrie's Roasted Garlic & Lemon Hummus


Carrie on Vegan sent out a delicious hummus recipe that we recreated for a party recently, and it was a runaway hit.   

Ingredients:

1.5 can or equivalent cooked chickpeas
1 large bulb of roasted garlic
1 lemon
2 Tablespoons tahini
A couple of shakes of cayenne pepper
Seasonings (dash of salt - optional, black pepper, garlic powder, etc)

Add chickpeas, garlic, and tahini to a food processor.   Squeeze the juice on one lemon, add seasonings, and process until blended. 



There's also a roasted red pepper hummus in this shot, to the left side.   It's a similar recipe but with 1 large red bell pepper, roasted with seeds & skin removed after cooking, less lemon juice, about half a lemon, and with a dash of cayenne added.   Some recipes sub olive oil for the tahini but in my opinion it loses something flavor-wise and health-wise when you do this. 

Thanks, Carrie! 

Overnight Oats, cold cereal


I thought I'd posted this recipe as a standalone post, but it must just be in one of the "Cooking Ahead" posts, so here it is.   My son loves this as an alternative to hot oatmeal in the mornings, and it's very easy to customize depending on your taste. 


Ingredients:

1/2 cup oats (any kind, we use old fashioned or quick cooking)
1/2 cup + almond milk or other plant milk
1/4 cup raisins
optional, a dash of your favorite sweetener

add-ins:
cinnamon
vanilla
crushed walnuts or pecans
dried fruits
cocoa
and, so on...

Directions: 

Add the cereal, milks, raisins, and any flavorings into the bowl, cover, and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.   Eat cold or microwave for 1-2 minutes and enjoy warm. 

A plain, raisin and walnut version -


or a Cocoa flavored favorite -