Saturday, March 30, 2013

Vegan Green Bean Casserole?

I am known in my family for always bringing the buttery-est, cheesey-est green bean casserole to Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.  We will be having dinner tomorrow at my sister Deanna's in Cascade, WI and this year I aim to make a healthier version...

This recipe amazes me as my old recipe used 2 sticks of butter, a whole container of sour cream, a can of cream of mushroom soup and an entire bag of shredded cheese...  YIKES!
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Clean Green Bean Casserole
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Serves: 9-12
 
Featuring fresh green beans and caramelized onions, this homemade green bean casserole is just about as clean as it gets. Rather than relying on a cream-based soup, it’s held together by a creamy puree of parsnips and mushrooms! The caramelized onion topping still delivers the buttery onion flavor that we all love, without the deep-fried grease and flour to go along with it. All of our favorite flavors covered, without the heavy food-coma to follow!
Ingredients
  • 1 yellow onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil, or butter
  • 2 cups parsnips, chopped
  • 10 oz. mushrooms, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 1½ cups water
  • 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
  • 1 lb. fresh green beans
 
Instructions
  1. Melt a pat of coconut oil, or butter, in a large skillet and add the sliced onions. Saute gently over medium-low heat for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until caramelized. Use a splash of water, as needed, to prevent sticking. Once the onions are tender and golden in color, remove from heat and set aside in a bowl for later.
  2. While the onions are cooking, you’ll have plenty of time to steam the parsnips. Fit a steamer basket into a saucepan, and fill with one inch of water. Add the 2 cups of chopped parsnips, and bring the water to boil over high heat. Cover and reduce the heat to low, steaming for about 8 minutes, or until the parsnips are easily pierced with a fork. Transfer the steamed parsnips to your blender container, and set it aside.
  3. Using the same steamer basket and saucepan, break the pound of fresh green beans into one-inch pieces, and toss them into the steamer basket. Bring to a boil, then cover and steam for 6-8 minutes, until the green beans are bright green with a bit of crunch. Transfer the cooked green beans to an 8″ x 8″ glass baking dish.
  4. *Note: At this point, cook the green beans to be as tender as you like– if you prefer them softer, steam them longer. The baking process later will not make them any more tender, so this is your chance to achieve the texture you like.
  5. Once the onions have finished caramelizing, you can use the same pan to saute the mushrooms and garlic. Melt another pat of coconut oil or butter, and saute the garlic for about 3 minutes, then add the mushrooms. Cook for about 6 minutes, until liquid is released from the mushrooms.
  6. Spread half of the mushroom mixture into the baking dish of green beans, and pour the other half of the mixture, along with any liquid, into the blender container with the steamed parsnips.
  7. Into that blender container, add 1½ cups water, 1½ teaspoons sea salt and ¼ cup of nutritional yeast to the cooked parsnips and mushrooms. Blend until smooth and creamy. (This mixture may be a bit salty to taste at this point, but keep in mind that it will be diluted when it’s poured over a pound of green beans!)
  8. Pour the creamy sauce over the green beans and mushrooms in the glass baking dish, and stir to coat well. (You may very well have more sauce than you need for this recipe– I only used about 1½ cups to coat the vegetables well. Save the rest for a future dish!)
  9. Smooth the creamy vegetable mixture with a spatula, and top with the caramelized onions to finish.
  10. *At this point, you could cover the dish and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to heat and serve.
  11. When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350F and bake uncovered for about 30 minutes, until bubbly. Serve warm and enjoy!
 

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Nutritional Yeast...Great on popcorn!

In many different vegan articles and websites I have seen the food nutritional yeast mentioned many times.  It is often used as a topping on something and has kind of a cheesy, nutty flavor to it.

Nutritional yeast is not your standard yeast that you use for making dough rise...it looks like flakes...almost like yellow-colored fish food (LOL) but without the nasty smell!  A co-worker told me she sprinkles it on her popcorn and it is like eating cheese popcorn.

Today I decided to try some on a batch of popcorn.  I always use my Stir Crazy popper by West Bend Company because it is the best popper out there BAR NONE.  I use a little bit of olive oil with it.  I sprinkled some of the nutritional yeast on and it was great!  It was almost just like cheese popcorn.

Give it a try!

Friday, March 22, 2013

Christianos Pizza....OMG!


So this week I have done pretty well considering all the temptations that were laid before me:

I did have to try some amazing Boeuf Burgionon (or however you spell it) that a coworker made for a meeting.

My girls and I made cupcakes last night for school....I didn't eat one!

I did however over indulge with some Christiano's pizza which by the way was by far the most amazing pizza I ever had.  We ordered thin crust, pineapple and spinach.  Looking at it from a vegan perspective it was all good except for the cheese....   I could have done worse and had pepperoni and sausage.

So now I will continue with my weekend.  I think I am going to juice all day Saturday and Sunday just to see if I could make it through.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Moving Forward


Well, I have officially been on a vegan diet (at least 90% vegan) for 2 full weeks now.  I feel great and eating like this is not as hard as I thought it would be.

Here are some of the health benefits I have noticed over the 2 weeks I've done this:
  • more energy
  • achiness in joints gone!
  • lost weight
  • my complexion is clearing
  • less water retention
  • alertness
  • more mental clarity
  • much better mood!
  • blood pressure is lower
  • sleeping better at night
  • my step feels a bit lighter
  • Laughing with my kids more
So I would say that is a pretty darn good list for just 2 weeks!  My next goals are to incorporate more juicing and more exercise.  When I mentioned above that my diet has been 90% vegan, there were about 3 out of the total 42 meals I had where I ate a little fish or chicken.

My girls have been somewhat following along with me.  They have continued to pack much healthier lunches for school.  Margaret enjoys vegetables much more than Anna so it has been a little more fun for her.

I plan to move forward with this lifestyle change and see where it takes me!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Days 9 & 10... Great Grains

I made a stir fry tonight but didn't want just plain old rice so I dug through my freezer and found a box of Whole Grain Sweet Pea Blend from Market Day.  It is wonderful as a replacement for rice!

Ingredients contain brown rice, oats, rye, red wheat, barley, buckwheat, quinoa, flaxseed, sweet peas and onion.

Fat - 3 g
Cholesterol  0g
Sodium 80g
Fiber  5g

I will definately consider getting this one again! (BTW...my husband had cereal tonight.  Good grief!)

Monday, March 11, 2013

Days 7 & 8... Aldi's Produce - Hit or Miss


I did a little produce shopping during my lunch hour at Aldi's today.  I was mainly there to see what they had for produce. If any of you shop at Aldi's you know that their produce is either great... or not so much.

I lucked out today.  They said they just got their shipment of produce in this morning so I hit it good!

Aldi's generally has great prices so I stocked up and bought some beautiful broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, vine ripened tomatoes, asparagus, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries and blackberries (which were only 99 cents)!

We will be set for a little while.  I think I will juice some fruit for breakfast tomorrow.





Sunday, March 10, 2013

Best Veggie Lasagna Ever!

I found this interesting veggie lasagna recipe that has sweet potatoes in it.  I decided to cook up a batch and it is incredible! - not to mention really, really healthy with no cheese (yes no cheese).  This recipe contains 8 different vegetables.  This is the first time I cooked with tofu and was pleasantly surprised.  We addded a light sprinkling of salt when we served it

Engine 2 Raise the Roof Sweet Potato Vegetarian Lasagna. Photo by mersaydees

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 head broccoli, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
  • 1 (15 ounce) can corn, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (12 ounce) package tofu
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 1 teaspoon rosemary
  • 2 (25 ounce) jars vegan pasta sauce
  • 2 (14 ounce) boxes whole grain lasagna noodles
  • 16 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained
  • 2 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
  • 6 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
  • 1 cup raw cashews, ground
 
Directions:
  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Sauté the onion and garlic on high heat for 3 minutes in a wok or nonstick pan. Add the mushrooms and cook until the onions are limp and the mushrooms give up their liquid. Remove them to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Reserve the mushroom liquid in the pan.
  3.  Sauté the broccoli and carrots for 5 minutes and add to the mushroom bowl.
  4. Sauté the peppers and corn until just beginning to soften. Add them to the vegetable bowl.
  5. Drain the tofu by wrapping in paper towels. Break it up directly in the towel and mix into the vegetable bowl.
  6. Add spices to the vegetable bowl and combine.

To Assemble:.
  1. Cover the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole with a layer of sauce.
  2. Add a layer of noodles. Cover the noodles with sauce. This way the noodles cook in the oven, saving time and energy.
  3. Spread the vegetable mixture over the sauced noodles.
  4. Cover with a layer of noodles and another dressing of sauce.
  5. Add the spinach to the second layer of sauced noodles.
  6. Cover the spinach with the mashed sweet potatoes.
  7. Add another layer of sauce, the final layer of noodles, and a last topping of sauce.
  8. Cover the lasagna with thinly sliced roma tomatoes.
  9. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
  10. Remove the foil, sprinkle with the cashews, and return to the oven for 15 minutes.
  11. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
  12.  
    ENJOY!
     

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Day 5 & 6 - Hello Hummus!

Yesterday was a pretty typical day...nothing too exciting to report other than a new mushroom dish I tried.  It was sauteed mushroom, onions and then you make a sauce with a little red wine vinegar, almond milk and wheat flour.  It turned out just ok.  Next time I will try different seasonings.  The red wine vinegar was kinda nasty.  We served it over whole wheat noodles.  Which brings me to another question about the whole wheat belly craze and how much truth there is to it if you are ok with gluten.

We tried to juice a little last night.  I have a crappy Jack Lalane juicer that clogs all the time so we didn't get very far with that.  It basically just made a mess.  So this morning Margaret and I went to target in search of a new juicer.  We found an affordable one and it works great!  We made a mean green mixture with kale, cucumber, green apple and carrots.  It was delicious!  We can't get Paul to try ANYTHING yet.  He likes to rot downstairs on the sofa and watch TV.  BLAAAHHH!

I also got a ninja express that is great for chopping and processing stuff on a small scale.  I made my first batch of hummus and added a little sweet to it.  It contains:

1 can of chickpeas
1 tbsp olive oil
1tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
a handful of craisins
2 tsp of agave
a little water
 
 
It tastes awesome!  I spread some in a whole wheat tortilla and topped it with greens and shredded carrot, rolled it up and YUM!
 
Now we are attempting almond butter in the ninja but I think we are burning out the motor!  Might be too big of a job for that little machine.
 
Anyway, we are having a BLAST experimenting!
 
 


Thursday, March 7, 2013

Day 4 - What the?

Funny story....

I was running late this morning and didn't have time to pack my lunch so I figured I would stop at the Pick n Save in Waupaca and pick up a salad. (I work in Waupaca)  Most Pick n Saves now have an open salad bar with all sorts of fruits and veggies.

Noon rolled around and I headed to the store to find they did not have a salad bar.  I looked around in their produce area and located a pre-made salad with romanine lettuce, tomatoes a little crab meat and egg slices.  It looked pretty fresh and healthy so I grabbed it along with a container of mixed raspberries.

I got back to work and gobbled it down like I usually do during a lunch hour and thought to myself, "Hey that was pretty good!"

I then proceded to collect my empty container for the garbage and noticed the ingredients label on the bottom.  Glancing at it, I expected to see "romaine, tomato, crab, egg, carrot..."  To my suprise I found something quite different...

 
WHAT THE?????
I was amazed at all the wierd stuff listed.  I sure didn't "see" that stuff in it. 
Where did it come from?
Lesson learned. - Don't buy pre-packaged even if it looks fresh.
 
When I got home from work I decided to try a black bean burger recipe.  The ingredients were simple:  black beans, salsa, carrots, and oatmeal - blenderize it, patty it, bake it.  They turned out really good but the majority of the household was afraid to try it.  Finally Margaret tried it when I told her it tasted like refried beans - which she loves!  She ate it.  SCORE!  She was then rewarded with a glass of rich, chocolately almond milk.  :)
 

 


Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Day 3 - American Heart Association Go Red Event


 

Today was the Oshkosh Go Red for Women Event at The Waters in Oshkosh.  I was on the planning committee along with about 6 other women.  We had a lot of fun setting up the wine wall and silent auction items.  Today was about raising awareness for women about knowing the signs of heart disease and being an advocate for your own heart health.  I was on the speaker panel today and got to tell my story to the audience.  There were other women there too who have heart disease...all in their 30's and 40's.  All too young.

Symptoms of a heart attack:

  • Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
  • Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
  • Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort.
  • Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
As with men, the most common heart attack symptom in women is chest pain or discomfort. But it’s important to note that women are more likely to experience the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

What to do during a heart attack

If you experience any of these signs or symptoms:
  • Do not wait to call for help. Dial 9-1-1, make sure to follow the operator’s instructions and get to a hospital right away.
  • Do not drive yourself or have someone drive you to the hospital unless you have no other choice.
  • Try to stay as calm as possible and take deep, slow breaths while you wait for the emergency responders.

Why it’s important to know the symptoms of a heart attack

Women who consider themselves healthy often misdiagnose the symptoms of a heart attack because they don’t think it could happen to them. That is why it’s crucial to learn about heart disease and stroke, know your numbers, live a heart-healthy lifestyle and be aware of the risk factors of heart disease.

Here is a comical video called "Just A Little Heart Attack

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Day 2...Experimental.

The girls and I woke up and decided to try a "Big Delicious Bowl" for breakfast.  It consists of a handful of grapenuts, a handful of dry oatmeal, a handful of shredded wheat, a small handful of almonds and a mixture of strawberries and bananas topped with some almond milk.  It was very filling and very fiberous!

The girls happily packed whole wheat tortillas filled with greens and veggies along with cut fruit and a few more almonds AND some new fabulous HEALTHY chocolate cookies that I made last night.  When they came home from school I asked how their lunch was and they liked it!  Score!

Tonight we all helped make veggie pizza (on a corn tortilla).  Well, Anthony hated it, Anna didn't like the sauce or the tortilla and Margaret just tolerated it.  I thought it was just fine but I may need to tweek this one a bit!


I feel pretty good today.  I had energy (didn't feel like sleeping during my work meeting).  I am guessing that as I eat healthy each day, I will continue to feel better.

Here is the link for those wonderful cookies!
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=2390317

BTW - I also add 1 cup of dry oatmeal to the cookie dough and it is out of this world!
 
 

Monday, March 4, 2013

A Much Needed Change

As most of my family and friends know, I was diagnosed with Diastolic Dysfuntion (a form of congestive heart failure) about a year-and-a-half ago.  I was told that I am in relatively mild stage of the disease and the goal is to slow or even halt its progression.  How do I do this?...with medicine and a TON of weight loss!  This is much easier said than done.

A year-and-a-half ago I was doing pretty well with the weight loss.  I lost 50 lbs in about 3 months.  Most of it came off fast because I was such a worried wreck and I hardly ate.  The rest came off with diet and exercise.  But...as the months rolled by, I got careless with my diet and exercise and the pounds are creeping back on again (which is pretty much par for the course for me).

Yesterday, my girls and I watched Forks Over Knives on Netflix.  If you haven't seen it, I strongly suggest you watch it.  This is a documentary about how Americans are so ill from living on the SAD (Standard American Diet).  Dr. Esselstyn worked on a huge study about how eating meat, dairy, eggs, sugar etc. is killing America.  He proposes a plant-based diet which has been proven in his and others studies to prevent, reduce, halt and even reverse CAD (coronary artery disease). 

I don't have CAD (yet, as far as I know) but a plant-based diet with exercise, I believe, will assist in my desire to lose weight and maybe not cure the heart failure, but strengthen other areas of my heart and arteries and halt my disease.

I have also enlisted the help of Carla Huizenga, a board certified health and nutrition counselor.  Her son is in my daughter's 4th grade class and I think she is a local treasure!  Her website is http://www.foodforthought-oshkosh.com/

So tonight we have stocked our house with leafy greens, vegetables, fresh fruit, beans, nuts, whole grains, and almond milk to get us started.  Our whole family needs to lose weight (not just me) and what better way to do this than include everyone in the planning and preparation of healthful meals.

Wish us luck and check my blog occasionally for updates on our successes, struggles and recipes.