Vegan Mo Fo Day One

And so it begins...

First the food:  Today I made Banana Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  I had planned to frost them with Coconut Pecan Fudge Frosting (whoa, yum!) from the same cookbook, but they got devoured by my family of vulture-people before frosting could happen.  Yes, they are so amazingly delicious that no frosting is needed!  But doesn't that frosting sound amazing?  I guess I'll have to make some more cupcakes just so I can frost them, hm.

These are so not muffins.  They are light, fluffy, sweet and moist, but save the fact there is no cholesterol, they DO contain white sugar and white flour, so in this case, Vegan does not equal Healthy.  At any rate, it is so easy to make perfect cookies, cakes and muffins without eggs and dairy, that I have no idea why anyone ever uses them at all?  These just had the mashed banana, flour, baking powder and soda, sugar, vanilla, rice milk and oil.  Perfect and so super easy!

For dinner tonight we had Vegetable Biryani from Vegetarian Meat & Potatoes.

This is essentially onions, garlic, ginger, curry and other spices sauteed in olive oil.  Then red pepper, sweet potato, zucchini, raisins chickpeas, Basmati rice and coconut milk.  Fast, easy, super comfort food indeed!


Both cookbooks are available in my amazon store to the right of this post or at the "Shop"link above.  I recommend them both and use them often.

Next I wanted to share this quote from trainer Bob Harper of Biggest Loser fame.  He went from vegetarian to vegan last summer and here's what he had to say about the switch:

"This week, celebrity trainer Bob Harper told VegNews that he has gone vegan, cutting all animal products out of his diet, and shared that the switch to a cruelty-free diet has improved his health. “I enjoy living a plant-based diet because it makes me feel clear headed and strong, not to mention my genetically high cholesterol dropped more than 100 points. That was all the motivation I needed,” says Harper. Famous for helping Americans slim down on NBC’s The Biggest Loser, Harper has been a longtime vegetarian, often promoting meat-free recipes. In addition to helping stars get fit and contestants shed pounds, the 44-year-old vegan trainer also teaches exercise classes through Crunch gym and has his own series of workout videos titled Bob Harper’s Inside Out Method.

Source

Vegan Mo-Fo T-minus ONE

As I sit here eating this really yummy plate of leftover Rosemary-Garlic Roast Potato Wedges....

And contemplating this large stack of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks...

I am really excited to begin Vegan Mo Fo tomorrow! (That's Vegan Month of Food. Details here).

I realized however that part of the fun is actually posting recipes, yet I cannot/ will not / whatever / post copy-righted recipes from someone else's published cookbook.  So...  I set up an amazon store with my favorite cookbooks (and some other interesting books too) right here on the blog.  If I make a recipe from a cookbook, I promise I will tell you where it comes from and you can buy the cookbook yourself.

Lots of the things I make are my own creations, or adaptations of other people's recipes, so those of course I will post the full recipe.

In the meantime, I'm going to sit down with my list of recipes...

and start plugging things into my meal planning template.  I have some really exciting and delicious things planned.  For Christy, yes, Holy Land Enchiladas will be made.  For the lovely commenter who challenged me to make Vegan Shakshuka (Middle Eastern-style Huevos Rancheros), I am afraid this is beyond my cooking abilities.  I mean, how would I simulate sunny side up eggs?  My son said "Just make regular shakshuka and tell everyone it's vegan."  Perhaps the boy needs a brush-up course in Integrity?

So far, so fun!  See you all with food tomorrow!

Cardio Vs Strength Training: Who Wins?

As a cardio addict, I myself have been guilty of neglecting weight training.  And it shows.  Although my weight roughly stays the same, my shape has not.  I'm flabbier than I was 8 years ago.  And I work out.  Imagine what would be if I wasn't exercising at all!

Something else interesting happened too:  The number of calories it took to maintain my weight 8 years ago, versus the number of calories it takes to maintain my weight now, has dropped.  Meaning, I have to eat less to stay this same weight.  Ugh.  Who wants that?

So last year, I began to take a closer look at the role our muscles play in our metabolism and how not building them, can lead to both of the above problems.  And I started lifting weights.  It's been start and stop, but the past month I have been much more consistent and am VERY pleased with the results.  Plus I get to throw around phrases like "super set" and "chest press" and that makes me totally cool.  Or a geek.

In last week's GOOP, Gwenyth Paltrow's excellent weekly newsletter, she had the following interview with Dr Oz Garcia.  It explains this muscle business perfectly:

Q:  “How might a 40 something jump start a sluggish metabolism?”



Dr. Oz Garcia, who I've been working with, gave us his answer:


A:  Staying slim and fit is always a challenge but maintaining your girly figure after age forty can be an all out battle. Even maintaining an exact diet and fitness regimen will not beat the penalty of aging.


On average, women gain 25 pounds between the ages of 30 and 60 and it’s not from eating those extra Twinkies. During the course of the natural aging process, women shed lean muscle mass. These lean muscles are the force from which calories are burned even while sitting around and just blinking.


Technically speaking, a pound of lean tissue burns 35 to 50 K’s each day. A loss of just a half-pound of lean muscle could cause you to gain three pounds in just one year, 25 pounds in 10 years, 50 pounds in 20 years and a hefty 75 pounds in 30 years.


So in order for women to stay lean well into their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s they need to maintain those lean muscles. This means working out every day. Yes, every day. Exercise with increased resistance and lower reps will provide increased muscle density and bone strength.


Interval training, when you get your heart pumping at maximum capacity and then slow down for a period of recovery, is great for losing weight in your 20’s and 30’s. Once you’re a bit older, however, you want to regulate your cardio training into a steady bell-shaped progression. Start off slow, work to a crescendo and then work you way back down.

Dr. Oz Garcia is a New York city based nutritionist. He is an expert in anti-aging nutrition and the author of several books on the matter including, “Redesigning 50: The No-Plastic-Surgery Guide to 21st-Century Age Defiance”

So, have I convinced you yet, to pick up some dumbbells?  Here are some great resources to help you design a weight program and get started on re-building your lean muscle mass:

The Body Fat Solution by Tom Veunto
http://www.tomvenuto.com/  (It's worth clicking that link just to get a gander at Tom's AMAZING physique!)

The New Rules of Lifting for Women - Alwyn Cosgrove and others
http://www.thenewrulesoflifting.com/

E-program, Turbulence Training by Craig Ballantyne who gets brownie points for recently going Vegan!
http://www.turbulencetraining.com/presentation.shtml  There's a good video presentation when you click that link.  This is mostly body weight exercises, so a good place to start if you're afraid of the weight room. 

You can get a free 4-week trial of Turbulence Training through fellow blogger Swigg:  http://skwigg.tripod.com/TurbulenceTraining4WeekBWW.pdf

Now, this wouldn't be a post by yours truly if I didn't take a minute to have an honest REAL heart-to-heart with ya'll, right?:

Experienced Exercisers:  If you aren't getting the kind of results you want even though you workout regularly, YOU HAVE GOT TO CHANGE YOUR WORKOUTS!  Sorry about the yelling, but you would not believe how often people complain to me "I already workout a ton and am STILL overweight!"  They use this as excuse to give up or as proof that they really cannot be as lean as they'd like.  Bollocks I say.  Not getting the results you want mean it's time to change something, not throw in the towel completely.  Open Your Minds, people!

Beginning Exercisers:  Don't worry too much about everything I wrote in this post.  You just need to begin building the exercise habit.  Start with walking if that's all you can do.  Start slowly but consistently.  Try to workout every single day.  This is the fastest and most effective way to build this habit.  Don't do so much that you get injured.  Keep it small, keep it slow, but do it daily.

OK, let's build some muscles!

BOOK REVIEW: Food For the Soul

Disclaimer:  I was sent the following book as a gift from the publisher, Gefen Publishing House, in order that I could write an honest review.  Other than the free book, I do not profit in any way by the following review.

Food for the Soul:  Traditional Jewish Wisdom for Healthy Eating by Chana Rubin, RD
copyright Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem, 2008

Chana Rubin is a registered dietician from the US now living and teaching in Beer Sheva, Israel.  Her website is:  http://www.healthyjewisheating.com/  Although I don't think she mentions this specifically, it is pretty clear to me at least, that she is also an observant Jew and is writing for a predominantly religiously Jewish audience.

I was pretty skeptical upon receiving this book.  I have heard most dieticians spouting off bad advice about eating "lite" bread and artificial, fake diet foods.  But Food for the Soul turns out to be a wonderful book, spot on with the latest nutrition data and advice, with totally sane suggestions for a balanced lifestyle of health and happiness AND a fabulous recipe section.

Chapter 1, called "Diet and Health: The Jewish Connection" gives inspiring textual sources for Judaism's view of healthy diet and lifestyle.  You wouldn't know there was such a thing in our texts based on the dietary habits of most modern Jews, but from the Bible through Maimonides and the Mishnah, we Jews are commanded to mind the body as our temple.  For instance:

"Since maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of G-d - for one cannot understand or have any knowledge of the Creator if one is ill - therefore, you must avoid that which harms the body and accustom yourself to that which is healthful and helps the body become stronger."  (Rambam, Hilchot De'ot 4:1)  page 7 of Food for the Soul

"There are two reasons to avoid eating harmful foods:  First, to prevent the food from causing physical harm.  Second, to humble the yetzer hara (evil inclination) and break his cravings...because certainly a person must be careful not to eat foods which he knows are bad for him."  (Ra'avad, Ba'alei Ha'nefesh)  page 10 of Food for the Soul

The next chapter, "Jewish Women:  Setting the Tone with Food" is chock full with wonderful advice for women charged with feeding and caring for the family.  Ms. Rubin encourages her women readers to behave in a spiritual fashion with food and make time to nourish and care for themselves as well.  Bravo!  This is a beautiful section in my opinion.

The following chapters get into specific nutrition and exercise information.  I particularly like the chart on healthy substitutes for trans-fat laden dairy substitutes.  There is even a section supporting Vegetarianism from a Jewish perspective, although the main tone of the book is to use chicken, fish, eggs and dairy moderately while decreasing red meat and increasing plants, grains and legumes.  I can fly with that.


Then there are the recipes.  There are 108 recipes in the book.  Only 6 of them are for chicken, 12 of them are fish, 48 of are vegetarian (some with vegan option), and a whopping 42 of them are vegan!  (some do have honey, but that can be subbed).  NONE of the recipes contain beef or lamb or any other mammal, yay!  Here are the recipes I tried in no special order and how they rate:

Chana's Granola

5 stars for health - no sugar, low fat, lots of nuts and seeds

4 stars for taste - needs to be a tad sweeter - maybe add pureed orange next time

Peanut Butter Cookies

2 stars for health - there are TWO cups of sugar in these cookies!  But I gave points for whole wheat flour and oil instead of butter or margarine

4 stars for taste

Red Pepper Walnut Spread

5 stars for health

3 stars for taste (just not to our liking)

Eggplant Spread

5 stars for health

5 stars for taste

Soy Glazed Salmon

5 stars for health

Family says 5 stars for taste

Sephardic-Style Red Lentil Soup

5 stars for health

5 stars for taste

Easy too!

Easy Shabbat Brownies

4 stars for health

4 stars for taste

(The whipped cream was added b/c they were a bit flat and bland.  Good excuse, right?)

Spinach Mushroom Mina (pie for passover)

4 stars for health - it's still matzah after all

4 stars for taste

Matzah Lasagna

4 stars for health

5 stars for taste - the kids gave it a big thumbs up too!

the spinach mina and the matzah lasagna on my pretty pesach plate!

My overall impression of this book is very high and I think it makes a wonderful addition to any Jewish kitchen.  I actually think non-Jewish readers would also appreciate the spiritual aspects of eating as presented, the sound nutrition advice, and the delicious, healthy recipes.

One other thing:  For better or for worse, the recipes tend to be very simple and none require any fancy or specialty ingredients.  It is particularly nice for those of us in Israel to have a cookbook where we can find all the needed ingredients easily in our more limited marketplace.  On the other hand, there are recipes for "Simple Steamed Broccoli" and "Peas and Mushrooms" that truly not many of us really need a recipe for anymore.  For that reason, I think this book would be a particularly good book for a newly married couple, or a young adult off on his/her own for the very first time or someone new to cooking.

That said, I very much look forward to trying many more of these recipes.  Keep your eyes on my blog to see more from Food for the Soul.