What I did on my weekend part two

Straw and Hay Pasta from Chloe's Kitchen

 The pasta was not a success, it basically just tasted of tahini, which is not a bad thing entirely but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

Sweet and Sour Party Meatballs from Chloe's Kitchen (These were very good!)

Home Brewed Ginger Ale from Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food by Alicia C. Simpson (Delicious! A must come the really hot weather I think).

A little bit of lots of things

On Gaining Health: I had a visit to the Doctor's and we assessed all the numbers, looked at the blood test results and you know what? We have good numbers all around plus the numbers have also come down since we last checked all the numbers. [Numfar does the dance of joy]

[Doctor dosen't do the dance of joy] We had a brief discussion about lapband surgery, again. It's less do or die now, it's more like it'd be the quickest way of losing the last of the weight now. I still don't think it's the option for me, changing my lifestyle has been a slow process but I've come along way from how things were. I think I can finish this, keeping a positive mind set.

Gaining Health Props I Love:

My much used copy (the post-it markers show when on the shelf among my other books this is also my most used vegan cook book) of Appetite For Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, to borrow a qoute from the back cover "Only 200 to 400 calories per serving".

While the book has no breakfasts or sweet stuff, it's all soups, salads and other mains & sides. The food is delicious that I have made so far and it's also very filling, I find myself not riffling the kitchen in search of snacks after I've eaten. A very good thing in my case as this was really my downfall in the past, not eating enough at meals and then madly scrambling through out the day for unhealthy snacks - overly processed, high fat, loaded with refined sugars and while calorie dense not really all that nutrient dense.

I think the Low Fat recipe selection on Isa's website the PPK can give you some idea of the kind of recipes in this book, a few of them are actually in the book but the majority aren't. My top reccomendations Hottie Black Eyed Peas with Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Apples, Marbled Banana Bread and Eggplant Bacon.

My Food Diary! It's been abandoned, I got really slack about taking photos and posting them, might have been a bit less slack about some of the stuff I'd eaten recently if I had been doing this. Oh well. We can but start over!

And a little app I love Zombies, Run! It's kind of quirky, very fun and really the only kind of fitness app I ever want to own. Basically it plays a little story out, "missions" are unlocked as you complete the stories so as your walking, jogging or running imbetween your music you get little bits of story, post apcolyptic world with zombies so you get updates from the people back at base camp. As your moving you gather supplies which after you run you can distribute in your camp to help it grow so kind of also a game as well. Growing your base also unlocks more "missions".
The best bit? It has optional zombie chases, giving you the option of turning it into interval training. This alone sold me on this app. :)

And the newest addition, just arrived so I haven't had time to try anything out of it yet, Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food by Alicia C. Simpson. As the cover says "Every Recipe Has Fewer Than 350 Calories Per Serving!".

This has everything breakfast, soup, salad, mains and sides, dessert and drinks. All of it looks delicious, I think I'm going to have to start with the Cheese Steak on the cover, I have been coveting it ever since the cover was unveiled.

Although running a close second is Chilli Cheese Fries, I haven't eaten them since, I can't remember when. The only time I had them in the past was when I frequented the local Creole restaurant. A little haven of Americana food adventures. Miss it. :(

If I have to make a short list of must try's Seitan Cheesesteak, Chili Cheese Fries, Butter Pecan Ice Cream, Home-Brewed Ginger Ale, Crispy Risotto Cakes and Sticky Bun Popcorn.

Gaining Health ideas that baffle me:
Paleo diet, I don't quite get the excitement.
Running, everyone's all into running now, running is the it sport at the moment and everyone is either running their way to health or running their way to run a marathon.
Fat/Oil-free, I'm always perplexed by fat free. What are you eliminating exactly? All fat both good and bad? Or just bad fat? Are you still eating avocados and nuts? Oil free is a bit more specific, but having been down that road myself in the past, just no.

Final answer? It's back to 1200 calories and daily exercise, it's winter rolling around so maybe I should join the gym. Decisions decisions!

Start as you intend to go on.

My New Year Day's dinner, Hottie Black Eyed Peas with Ginger Sweet Potatoes & Apples from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Eight to ease.

Teddies, Trees and Peas (my make do adaptation of Mac & Trees from Appetite For Reduction).
No, no small children in my life, the teddies are all for my benefit! Just puts the finishing touch on comfort food.

Verdict? Delicious! And just what I needed, it has been a very long day and I don't seem to have got very far despite spending forever working through a bunch of tasks.

Successful sixth!

Steamer has got another turn out tonight and here are the broccoli and carrots that I prepped to add to the Unfried Fried Rice.

Here is the finished product! I was ready for it, it didn't take that long to cook. It was just all the prep and lining everything up that took a bit of juggling, especially in a shared kitchen where your also fighting for space.

Unfried Fried Rice and Hoisin-Mustard Tofu from Appetite From Reduction - the sauce for the tofu got slightly "caramilised" due to cook's error but it still come up delicious and the fried rice was tasty without leaving you with that after oily mouth feel some take-away ones do. This was quite an experience, here I made Homemade Sorta Soy Yogurt from the Complete Guide to Vegan Substituions. It tastes delicious, I have to restrain myself from simply eating it as I want to use it in a batch of blondies. I think I will have to make a second batch for sure, it would be good with my porridge and fruit of a morning.

There's also an option for making it with coconut milk as opposed to soy milk, which sounds like it could be very delicious.

Flying Fourth Vegan Mofo

In an effort to post something else for Vegan Mofo, after tomorrow when life settles a bit I hope to be able to get cooking up a storm. Here is the end of the Red Lentil and Root Veg Dal from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Here's one we prepared earlier....

This week has been a bit of a wash for vegan mofo, next week when I have had time to rally myself should be more productive.

Today I'm going to do a rehash of my adventures with Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite for Reduction. Isa's Vegan with a Vengenance was my first vegan cookbook from the library and where I became both a fan of Isa and vegan food. And the rest as they say is history!

Speaking from past experience, in my previous omni life trying to be inspired by the healthy cook books was a bit of a challenge. Nothing was ever quite as nice as the things you would make from regular cookbooks. Finding the motivation to keep eating things that I really didn't like was a challenge.

Enter Isa....

Previously blogged about Tempeh Helper

Arabian Lentil and Rice Soup

Bistro Broccoli Chowder

Manhattan Glam Chowder

Moroccan Chickpeas and Zucchini

Mushroom and Cannellini Paprikas

Red Lentil and Root Veggie Dal with Basmati Rice

These have all been immensely successful and very tasty, it's all too easy to forget your chowing down on low fat meals. Huge win! 

What else can I say? Changing my eating habits in an effort to go vegan has totally changed me, it's not just the obvious weight loss and masses of energy. But I've become a lot happier and quite a bit more tolerant, I feel like a hippy for saying this and the me of a year go would have rolled her eyes and snarked if someone had said it to me. 

I think the process of cutting out various animal products I used to eat has actually made me happier. I have no real proof of this, just this feeling that at the same time I stopped eating animals, I also started to become a lot happier. Coincidence? Eh, maybe. However I have no plans to return to an omni diet any time in my future, that also makes me really happy. :)

Vegan Mofo First Post

Apologies in advance, my photos are taken with an iPod touch and probably I'll learn from these and attempt to do my blogging cooking during the day to get better lit photos. Here we have Tempeh Helper with Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce both from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

This is my first attempt at cooking with tempeh and certainly won't be my last, so delicious! Tempeh apparently has a bitter taste, Isa likens it to the bitter taste of aragula aka rocket. I do not like rocket. No Sam I do not.

I steamed it as per the instructions for avoiding the bitter flavour. Wish I'd taken pictures of that now as well, because I was excited because I got to use my steamer for the first time.
Tempeh is a soy product similar to tofu for those of you not familiar with what it is, I've only just learned it even existed.

Compared to tofu, stir fried tofu isn't bad, I prefer it if it's been cooked up quite crispy and a bit chewey as opposed to some times when it's left in large pieces and still remains quite soft in the centre.
Tempeh has a certainly more meaty texture and flavour, eating this very much reminded me of eating a savoury mince dish my mother used to cook.

The Cheezy sauce? Less cheesy and more like a very addictive savoury white sauce. I'm hooked on the nutritional yeast now, apparetnly here in Australia we recently struck a shortage of it. I'm not quite sure how it came about, but I can understand the panic at the thought of a shortage.
I'll do a post before the month is over on nutritional yeast, this was something else I've only just recently discovered.

Will I make this recipe again? A resounding yes! Actually I can't stop thinking about the left overs in the fridge. Will I cook more with tempeh? I think October is dangerously close to becoming tempeh month.

Alright that's my first post for Vegan Mofo, just a little taste to start off. This post was a bit of a rush so hopefully the future ones will be more planned and contain better photos.