Three recipes for Vegan MoFo

First of all I want to thank Jenn for this Farm Sanctuary video. This is a little difficult to watch at the beginning but hang in there because at the mid-point you meet actual healthy, happy turkeys with adorable personalities.



I watch things like this because it helps me remember WHY I don't eat animals.  Sometimes meat looks and smells good and it's easy to forget the suffering behind the plate.  I personally don't ever want to forget!  I try not to get too "preachy" about animal rights because I don't want to turn people away.  My basic motto in all things is "Do the best you can."  It doesn't have to be perfect.  You don't have to go vegan tomorrow - just eat fewer animals.  You don't have to eat sprouts and tofu - just eat less junk and processed foods.  Every small step has a huge impact when viewed through the lens of time.

As promised, I've been cooking.  This cake was DIVINE!  It was made with spelt flour instead of white flour and maple syrup and agave nectar instead of sugar.  And of course no eggs or dairy to muck up your arteries!

Vegan Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Lemon Glaze

from Get It Ripe by Jae Steele

Curried Garbanzo Salad

Curried Garbanzo Salad

1 can Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup leftover cooked grain (I used Israeli couscous, but brown rice or quinoa would be good)

1 tomato, chopped

1 carrot, diced

1 cup cooked spinach, chopped (could substitute fresh parsley or cilantro)

2 T vegan mayonnaise

1 tsp mustard

1 T honey

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp curry powder

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Mix beans, grains and veggies in a bowl.  Mix remaining ingredients together in a small bowl to make a dressing.  Pour dressing over bean mixture and toss to combine.  Chill before serving.

Rose-Scented Wheat with Almonds & Pomegranates

Rose-Scented Wheat

This sounds a bit strange but is absolutely sublime!  Rose water can be food in any grocery store here in Israel and in Middle-Eastern shops the world over.  A little goes a long way!

1 1/2 cups dry wheat kernels (can use Kamut in North America.  Here it's called חיטה)

3 cups water

Rinse wheat thoroughly.  Add to a pot with water.  Bring to a boil.  Cover pot and cook 40-60 minutes until soft.  Let cool somewhat before mixing with:

Seeds of 1 whole pomegranate

4 dates, chopped

1 cup slivered almonds, toasted for a few minutes until lightly toasted

1/2 cup grape juice

1/2 tsp sea salt

1-2 tsp rose water

Toss all together and serve immediately or chill for later serving.  Delish!

For the love of Schmukinuck

My friend Christy wrote me that lovely comment about what a great mom I am cooking my kids all this home-made food, and well, I've got to come clean:  When I excitedly announced to my family that I had joined Vegan MoFo....

...they GROANED.  Collectively.

And just last week in fact, before this Vegan MoFo business even began, my husband whined pathetically that I don't cook enough "Dude Food".

So although it might look all Happy Healthy Homemaker from the outside, I've got the same problems as the rest of you.  I perhaps, am just really good at ignoring them.

No but seriously, "how to get the kids/partner to eat healthy foods" is a question that comes up a lot with coaching clients.  So let's talk it through.

Many of you have already heard this story, but my mother says that my first word was Pop-Tart and my love of junk food and all things processed and packaged just grew from there.  Do you guys remember something called "Space Food Sticks"?

Mercy me, these things were a 1960's Space-crazed version of giant tootsie rolls to fuel us young astronauts through our busy days of moon rock collecting.  I actually became so addicted to them that my mom had to stage an intervention.  I am NOT kidding.  She had the entire family corroborate the lie that the company that made Space Food Sticks (Pillsbury) had gone out of business.  And because I always did the grocery shopping with her, she had to constantly invent growing subterfuge to keep me from wandering down that aisle and uncovering her deception.  I eventually did and have yet to forgive.

My mom was a gourmet cook and ahead of her time whole-foods wise (Pop tarts and space food sticks notwithstanding). I of course hated everything she made and invented a name for healthy veg-filled meals:  Schmuckinuck. Yes for real, and if any of my childhood friends are reading you are surely cracking up right now.  For about 15 years I subsisted on scrambled eggs, grilled cheese and tuna fish sandwiches with the crusts cut off.   The daily Schmuckinuck that appeared on our dinner table along with those objectionable bread crusts, rarely passed my lips.  When at age 16 I announced I would no longer be part of the animal cruelty machine and was from here on out Vegetarian, my mother chuckled and said "OK, good luck with that."  The only vegetables I ate were tomatoes, corn and potatoes. PB and J became my new stand-by although my discrimination of bread crusts continued.  Yet through all my pickiness and food-stage-weirdness, my mom kept cooking the healthy stuff and I got pretty used to seeing it there on the table.  Now I understand this was Brain Washing.

So what's the point of all this?  I just want to encourage you to keep cooking healthy meals despite your kids' grumbling.  They'll survive and may end up coming around eventually and be Schmuckinuck lovers just like me!  But if you NEVER introduce them to healthy food, then they don't stand a chance as adults.  I'd say that like 90% of my clients never ate veggies, not as kids and not as adults.  And now they're sick and overweight with 40 years of food habits to change.  Think of yourself as Jaimie Oliver and step forth boldly and with humor, involving the kids in your healthy kitchen experiments.  Tell them your afraid of Brussels Sprouts too but you'll try them if they will and then make edible green sprout snowmen and bite their heads off.

At the same time, keep up a steady stream of grilled cheese, PB and J, and tuna fish sandwiches with the crusts cut off.  You have to make some concessions to prevent all out rebellion.  Case in point:  Yesterday was my husband's birthday and I made him a Flan.  Eggs, butter, milk, sugar.  I am not veganizing it because I don't want to be divorced.  Or murdered.

Vegans, avert your eyes!

Birthday Flan (NOT Vegan)

But I'm also made this:

Egg-less Egg Salad (with the crusts cut off for old times sake)

THIS is Vegan!

Egg-less Egg Salad
1 container firm tofu, drained and crumbled with your hands
2-3 T vegan mayonnaise
1 T mustard
1 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper to taste
Mix it all up.  Easier than egg salad and just as tasty!

Ocean Friendly Sushi

These little darlings are filled with Raw Food Goddess, Alissa Cohen's Mock Salmon Pate.  The recipe is all over the web, including her own website (here), so I'll go ahead and post it for ya!

Mock Salmon Pate
2 cups walnuts
1 stalks celery
1 large red bell pepper
1 large scallion
1/2 - 1 tsp sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

I like this pate on top of a salad, or spread on crackers too, but here I rolled it up in the nori sheets with grated carrot and cucumber.  That's it, no rice needed!  It is super yum!

The best part though is my chopsticks:

They say "Be Happy" and I am happy that I didn't kill any fishies for these sushi!

Today I also made Tuscan White Bean Soup and Caramelized Onion Foccacia.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

1 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups cooked white beans (this is 1 cup dry, soaked, rinsed and pre-cooked)

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced

3 leaves fresh sage, minced

5-6 cups water or vegetable broth

salt and pepper to taste

Saute veggies in oil.  Add beans and broth and cook 30-40 minutes until all is soft and as it should be.  Serve sprinkled with more fresh herbs if desired.  You can also puree half of the soup to make it creamier.

 Caramelized Onion Foccacia (yes I know I have no idea how to spell foccacia)

1 1/2 Tbsp dry yeast

1/2 cup wrist-warm water

1 T sugar

Mix together and set aside 5-10 minutes until foamy.

4 cups flour of choice (I used half white bread flour and half whole spelt flour)

1 tsp salt

2 T olive oil

1 cup wrist-warm water

Mix together with foamy yeast mixture.  Knead 10 minutes until a soft, somewhat sticky dough forms.  Put dough in an oil-coated bowl, cover with a clean towel and set in a warm spot to rise 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.  Punch down and proceed as follows:

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

fresh Rosemary

Black olives, chopped (optional)

sun dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)

Olive oil for sauteeing and sprinkling over foccacia

Kosher salt or big sea salt crystals

Saute veggies and herbs.  Pat dough out into a large rectangle (or circle) and prick with a fork all over.  Brush with olive oil.  Top with veggies and herbs.  Sprinkle with salt crystals and bake in a preheated 180C oven for 20 minutes or until turning golden.

I wish you could smell my house right now!  Ahhhhhh.....  someone's been in the kitchen up to yummy things!

How cute is he?  Not that I'm at all biased.

Caesar Salad, Hold the Caesar

Today was class #3 of this round of my 30-Day Detox.  The participants have now been off of sugar completely for 2 weeks and off of wheat for one week.  Today we took out dairy.  Results of the detox are as wonderful as ever:

-Weight loss
-Drastically reduced appetite
-Cravings greatly diminished
-More energy
-Beautiful skin
-A proud sense of accomplishment and control

I love my clients.  They are beautiful people, inside AND out!

Today I served them lunch, as always.  We had Curried Tofu Scramble with Tomatoes and Spinach, Vegan Caesar Salad, and Quinoa.

This salad rocks my world and I share it today with you my readers.  Enjoy!

Vegan Caesar Salad
No chickens, anchovies, or cows were harmed in the making of this salad.  Lettuce and cashews however, were not so lucky...


½ head romaine lettuce

1 tomato, diced

6 very thin slices of red onion

2 T sliced black olives

Freshly grounnd black pepper

2 T Ranch Dressing, as follows

Ranch Dressing:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked a few hours or overnight and drained

1 date, soaked with cashews

1/2 avocado OR 1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic

¾ cup water

2 T fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp sea salt

1 T minced fresh basil or 1 tsp dried

1 T minced fresh dill or 1 tsp dried

Place all in FP and blend until creamy.  Toss 2 Tablespoons with salad.  Add more dressing as desired.

And in some inane randomness...  

This is my Polar HRM and Trainer telling us all that I have just completed a 7.57mile run:

and that I torched 981 calories on this run...

enabling me to re-fuel with this:

Boo-yah!

C is for Cookies and for Calcium

A couple of weeks ago I was the guest nutrition expert for the Bracha organization at the Raanana Breast Cancer Prevention Walk.  Bracha is an organization educating and supporting women  about the BRCA gene mutation that can cause genetic cancers, especially of the reproductive organs.  If you have a mother or sister who has had breast cancer, you probably want to educate yourself about this issue.  I know it's scary to find out you carry such a genetic problem and it would be far easier to bury your head in the sand, but knowledge in this care could literally save your life.  You can find info on Bracha in Israel here.  International readers, here is your link.

The Bracha organizers asked that I focus on nutrition and lifestyle tips for strong bones, as women who have their reproductive organs removed or damaged during cancer prevention or treatment, are often thrust into quite premature menopause.  So I gave out a tip sheet on bone building and a chart with calcium levels in many, many foods (such as the figs, poppy seeds and tahina in the below recipe), recipes including calcium-rich ingredients and of course, food samples!

One of the recipes I created for this event is these calcium-rich, sugar-free, VEGAN tahina cookies.

The recipe below calls for a fig-filling which is delicious and high in precious calcium.  But for this batch in the photo which I made for my own dry-fig hatin' family, I filled them with all-fruit (no-sugar) blueberry jam.

Calcium-Rich Tahina Cookies
1 cup dried figs, chopped
2/3 cup water

Put figs and water in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat 5-10 minutes until the figs are soft and the water absorbed.  Set aside to cool.

2 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1 cup tahina paste (or almond butter if you prefer)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup vegetable oil
dash sea salt, optional

Preheat oven to 180C.  Combine all ingredients (except figs, which are cooling) in a large bowl.  Puree figs in food processor until a smooth paste.  Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and place on a ungreased baking sheet.  Stick your finger in the middle of each ball to make a little indentation.  Fill the indentations with about 1 tsp fig puree.  Bake 10-12 minutes.  Cool on a rack.  Enjoy!

Next, I wanted to take a minute to tell my blog readers about a special I am running.  You all know by now that as a Health & Nutrition Coach, I work with clients on creating and implementing healthier habits.  My specialty is permanent weight loss, but I also work with specific health issues and even just with people who'd like to adopt healthier habits for themselves and their families.  Some of the issues we cover, aside from the food stuff, is stress reduction methods, relationship issues, career counseling, personal and spiritual growth...  obviously not just food and cooking!

In the past, the first trial session was the same price as any session, 200nis / hour ($100/hour for International clients).  But now I am going to try something new:  I am now offering a 20-minute introductory phone or Skype session for only 50nis! ($25 for International clients).  This will give folks a low-cost, low-time way of meeting me and hearing if my approach is right for them.

Again, please know that I work with clients here in Kfar Saba, face-to-face, but I also have a growing number of phone or Skype clients both here in Israel and abroad.  I've got clients all over the United States!  It's pretty cool.  But it also enables folks who are really busy and not able to schelp over here to KS, to work with me the exact same way in-person clients do.

If you are interested email me at Emily@TriumphWellness.com and we'll set up your 20-minute phone trial session.  Better health and happiness could be just a phone call away!

pizza, pizza

It's a double-header recipe day here at Triumph Wellness!

Just so you don't think that I make my kids eat lentils and rice all the time (although we DO eat an awful lot of lentils and rice!), I wanted you all to know this:

The Segal Family eats Pizza pretty near once a week.

Shocking!  I know.   Sometimes it's not quite that often, but it is one of the kids' favorite meals, and when you make your own, you can make it a perfectly healthy meal!

I make two pizzas, one for kids and one for adults.  I start with a whole grain crust, recipe is below.  The kids usually stick to the standard sauce, cheese and Parmesan, but because I am preparing it, I can control how much cheese goes on top.  At the pizza parlor, you have to blot the grease, right?  Yuck.  I put exactly 2 ounces (2 slices) of cheese, drastically cutting the fat and cholesterol content. 

Kids' pizza uncooked

Kids' pizza cooked

For the grown ups I put lots of veggies on top, whatever we have in the house.  Our favorite is sauteed onions and peppers.  Sometimes we put cheese on ours, sometimes not.

Grown Up pizza with tomato sauce, sauteed onions and spinach, fresh figs, goat feta and Parmesan

Finished and about to be devoured

Whole Grain Pizza Crust
makes enough for 2 pies

3 tsp dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp maple syrup or brown rice syrup

Mix together and set aside 5-10 minutes while you measure out:

4 1/2 cups flour, any combo of whole wheat, spelt, oat flour, barley flour etc etc
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 cup warm water
2 T olive oil

Add everything plus yeast mixture.  Knead a few minutes to form a sticky soft dough.  Coat a bowl with olive oil, place dough inside and turn it to coat all sides.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set in a warm place to rise for one hour or until doubled in size.  Pre-heat oven to 200C.  Split dough into two, and gently stretch one portion into a big circle.  Place on greased pizza tray or ungreased, pre-heated pizza stone.  Top with sauce and toppings of choice.  Bake 20 minutes.  Dig in!  Repeat with second ball of dough.

Follow with Vegan Brownies!!!
Lightly oil an 8x8 square baking pan and pre-heat the oven to 170C.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1/3 cup sugar
Mix dry ingredients and set aside. 

1/2 cup non-dairy milk of choice
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 T maple syrup or rice syrup
5 T coconut oil, melted or sunflower oil
1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips
Mix the above and add to dry ingredients.  Blend until smooth and spread into pan.  Bake 20 minutes.  Don't over-bake, you want these to be chewwwwwy, right?  Yumsville

In 2 days, my Better Half and I will be celebrating 15 years of marriage.

A lot of pizza and brownies have passed our lips in 15 years.  May there be many, many more.

Stay tuned....blog about LOVE to follow....

FeeFiFoFum, I smell the blood of a Vegetari-un

Thanks so much everyone for all the get well messages!  I don't have any answers yet, but as the lab results come in, I can certainly share what is good about them.  Here are some of my blood values from now compared to one year ago, before the 100-day vegan challenge:

Glucose:  1-yr ago = 85     today = 84
(In 2001 I was bringing in blood sugar numbers way over 100 and brought it down with diet and weight loss, so yay me!  And I just want to point out that I get these kind of blood sugar numbers even though I am eating a lower-protein, whole grain carb and fruit-heavy VEGAN diet.  You don't have to go low-carb to control your blood sugar, folks!)

Total Cholesterol:  1-yr ago = 162     today = 156

HDL:  1=yr ago = 69   today = 61

LDL:  1-yr ago = 84  today 83

Triglycerides:  1-yr ago = 44     today = 50

So all that's pretty great, right?  I'm probably not going to get diabetes or die of heart disease in the near future.  Unfortunately, the panel gets less brag-tastic after that.  I don't know what a lot of it means so I'll wait to get more info before I blab on.

But enough about me...


So before I get into the whole Fermentation discussion, I wanted to share a recent recipe.  These are Banana-Orange-Corn Pancakes and Strawberry Sauce.  The kids loved 'em!

Banana-Orange Corn Pancakes
1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 banana, mashed
3 eggs
juice of one orange
pinch of cinnamon
few sprinkles of any whole grain flour to make a thick batter

Mix together all the ingredients.  Fry em up in a lightly oiled pan and serve with or without...

Strawberry Sauce
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1/4 cup water
1 T ground flaxseeds or agar agar powder to thicken

Blend all in blender to desired thickness.

Next subject is Fermentation:
So, what's the deal with fermented stuff and why would I want to eat it?  Fermented things are pickles, pickled vegetables, kimchee, kefir, sauerkraut, sourdough bread starter, rejuvelac, kombucha, yogurt, etc.  These are all kinds of different items that we can make in our homes and as they ferment, they are enriched with helpful yeasts and bacterias from the air, such as the all-important Lactobacillus acidophilus.  Sure you can buy these products from the store, but then they will be pasteurized and it's questionable how many of the good germs survive the process.  All of those good bacteria help us with proper digestion and keep harmful diseases and other bacteria in control. 

In fact, whatever my problem is health wise at the moment, is probably due to some of the bad guys who have run rampant and done some damage.  Most digestive disorders, such as Crohn's, IBS, ulcer, Colitis, chronic diarrhea, bloating and gas, leaky gut syndrome, food allergies and intolerances, parasitic infection, Celiac, Candida, and even some cancers, often take hold in a poor digestive flora environment.  If you were not breastfed, have taken a lot of antibiotics in your life, have eaten a poor diet with lots of sugar and processed foods, or have been on hormonal birth control for a long time, you too may have an imbalance in your gut bacteria.

I have long wanted to try making some of these items and getting sick has been the impetus to get on it.  Here we have some sourdough starter bubbling along...

and here is some kimchee

I will let you know how they come out.  I'm a little dubious about the sourdough.  I can't decide if it smells horrible (which means it got invaded by bad bacteria) or if just smells sourdough-y?  At any rate, if these turn out good and I don't kill myself eating them, I will definitely pass along the recipes and how-to. 

If you are a successful fermenter yourself, PLEASE share your tips and advice with me and the readers!

(Disclaimer:  Remember folks, I am not a doctor and whatever you read here is my opinion.  Always, use your own common sense and the advice of a trusted medical practitioner!)

How to Have a Painless Passover Part 1

OK, so here we go:  First , I started this day with a run.  I did another easy 8K, which amazes me as I was struggling to finish 5K for like 3 years.  But last week, I was re-reading some stuff by Vegan Ironman Triathlete Brendan Brazier and I decided to incorporate some of his suggestions.  I'll write more about that later, but bascially it invloves a pre-workout shake conrtaining:

1/2 banana

1/4 cup coconut milk (or 1 T coconut oil)

2 Dates

1/2 tsp Kelp

1 tsp Green Tea Leaves
Water

And then a recovery shake containing:

1/2 banana

1 orange

1 T flax-pumpkin seed mix

1/3 cup tofu

1 T bee pollen

1/4 cup raspberries

dash Kelp
Water

Those aren't Brendan's actual recipes, just my adaptation of them based on local ingredient availability.  Clearly I am running MUCH better and it might have something to do with this new nutritional lay-out.  I'll explain more about the specific ingredients and why in a later post.

OK, on to PESACH! 

I realize that I am posting this information too late to actually help anyone THIS year.  Sorry!  But here it will be for next year I guess.

Step One:  Do NOT wake the dog!  Clearly she is exhausted and needs to rest:

In my next life... 

she's so annoyed with me for bugging her

Step Two:  Enlist Help

That's the vac attachment, not a weapon despite how he's holding it.  Charming.

Step Three:  Take Super Duper Divine Care of Yourself  (see above)

I just want to say that in the past, I would have let the stress of hosting a holiday meal, totally throw me off my fitness and nutrition plan.  I would have put my own needs way down on the bottom of the list and if I got to everything on the list, I'd tend to myself.  Of course I never got down that far through the list. 


When I began my weight loss journey 8 years ago, that was the FIRST thing to change and I believe it made all the difference.  Now minding my own Temple (exercise, proper nutrition, stress reduction and rest) comes WAY before any other task.  Because if I'm not in tip-top shape, I won't be any good to anyone, now will I?

Step Four:  Get as much done ahead of time as possible.

I'm sure my sister is reading that and cracking up.  Let's just say I had to live and learn this one as well and Big C bailed me out of a seriously under-prepared Thanksgiving dinner a few years back.  Two weeks ago I made my seder menu.  One week ago I started the shopping and cleaning.  Today, one day before, I have almost the entire meal prepared and it's only 4:30pm!  Yay!

Step Five:  Start with the desserts.

We all know that we do great in the first part of the day and lose willpower as the day progresses.  So, make the desserts in the morning when you are strong and have no desire to taste anything!

Amy W's Matzoh Toffee
3-4 whole matzos
1 cup butter or margarine (I use Coconut Oil for Parve Meals to avoid the trans-fats in margarine!)
1 cup dark brown sugar
12 oz chocolate chips
1 cup finely chopped pecans (optional.  I do some with and some without)


Preheat oven to 160C.  Grease 2-3 disposable foil pans.  Lay matzo in pans, breaking where necessary to completely fill pan.  In a large saucepan, melt butter with sugar over med heat.  Bring to a boil and boil, stirring constantly for 5 mins.  Watch carefully that it doesn’t boil over.  Pour this over the matzos evenly and place in oven.  Bake 8-10 mins.  Turn off the oven.  Sprinkle chips all over matzos and return to the oven for 8 more mins.  Remove from oven and spread chocolate in an even layer over matzos.  Sprinkle with nuts.  Place in fridge to cool.  When completely cool, break into bark-shaped pieces.  Store in fridge in ziploc bags.  Put them WAAAY in the back, out of your sight.  Trust me on that.

Passover Almond Cake with Strawberry Sauce

1 2/3 cups (8.5 oz) whole unblanched almonds (I used 2 cups dried almond pulp leftover from almond milk making)
¼ cup matzo cake meal or matzo meal
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tsp almond extract
Dash salt


Preheat oven to 170C. Grease a 9” pan.  Grind almonds, matzo meal and ¼ cup sugar in FP until fine. Set aside.  Whip egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks. Gradually beat in ¼ cup sugar and beat until stiff and shiny. Set aside.  Beat egg yolks with ½ cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon rind and extract.  In 3 batches alternately fold whites and almond mixture into yolk mixture.  Pour into pan and bake for 35 mins.  Cool on rack.  Serve slices topped with strawberry sauce.


Sauce:
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
3 dates, soaked
Few drops of lemon juice


Puree berries and dates in FP until very smooth. Add lemon. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Light N' Fluffy Potato Vegetable Kugel
1/2 cup olive oil
6 large potatoes, peeled and quatered (soak in cold water until ready to use so they won't turn brown)
2 onions
2 carrots
2 zucchini
3 handfuls fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup matzo meal
5 eggs, beaten lightly
 
Preheat oven to 200C.  Put oil in rectangular pan and set aside.  Chop onions and carrots in food processor until ground.  Put in a large bowl and set aside.  Process potatoes, zucchini and parsley in FP until ground and green flecks throughout.  Mix into onion mixture.  Squeeze out as much water as you can.  Add dry ingredients and mix.  Add eggs and mix.  Place pan with oil in oven until it begins to sizzle.  Carefully take it out of the oven and pour the oil into the veg mixture.  Mix completely.  This makes the kugel fluffy!  Pour everything back into the oiled pan and bake for 1 hour uncovered.
 

Moroccan Mushroom Salad

1 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1/2 kg mushrooms, quartered

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

chopped parsley

Heat oil in skillet and saute onions 7 minutes.  Add mushrooms and remaining ingredients (except parsley).  Saute, stirring often, until mushrooms are soft, coated with spices and liquid in pan has evaporated.  Serve topped with fresh parsley.

And for the non-vegetarian guests, I made:

Chicken Soup with Matzoh Balls

Roast Chicken with Root Veggies

Broiled Salmon (marinated in lemon, garlic, ginger and a bit of brown sugar)

Tomorrow I boil the hard-boiled eggs, make the charoset, set the table, make the green salad, and hopefully RELAX!

until then...

xo,

em

Liver to me

First of all, it's got to be said:  I am not a doctor or a medical professional.  Whatever you read in this post and on this blog is my OPINION, which in no way substitutes for the advice of a qualified medical practitioner.  'kay?

When we think of our livers, we think of alcohol, right?  Like the above picture.  We have some vague idea maybe that our liver detoxes alcohol from our blood.  But most of us have really no idea how many tasks our livers handle and how really important it is to our overall health and well-being.

So I'll tell you...

The liver is the body’s largest internal organ. It weighs about 3 lbs (1.36kgs), is reddish-brown in color and is located on the right side of the body under your ribcage.  The liver is the body's master laboratory, carrying out more than 100 known functions from the digestion of fats, to control of thyroid hormone levels, to the conversion of glucose to glycogen, to production of cholesterol and urea and certain amino acids and many, many more. It also filters harmful substances from the blood, such as alcohol and toxins, and regulates blood sugar levels.  We literally cannot live without it.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Spring is the season to nourish the Liver and Gallbladder.  (The gallbladder sits right below the liver and stores and secretes bile for digestion, especially the breakdown of fats.)

A lifestyle of over-eating and over-drinking, can lead to an enlarged, over-worked liver that is less able to detoxify the blood, leaving poisons in your system.  And an abused gallbladder can get clogged up with gallstones. 

So throughtout my Spring cleanse, I have been focusing on nourishing and supporting my liver and gallbladder by:
-Drinking warm lemon water each morning
-Eating lots of apples and drinking fresh pressed apple juice to help soften gallstones for removal.
-Eating and juicing lots of chlorophyll-rich greens
-Drinking lots of sage and dandelion tea
-And performing a mini liver-flush in the mornings.  This involves drinking warm water with lemon juice, olive oil and garlic followed by fennel seed tea and then breakfast.  (email if you want the exact recipe)

I am toying with the idea of doing a real honest-to-goodness liver flush which involves actually drinking things like epsom salts and olive oil, ack.  Not sure about that yet.

This is a whole liter of Beet Juice Cocktail. The recipe was in Karen Knowler's last newsletter:

1 beet

4 carrots

3 oranges

6 apples

1 bunch parsley

4 strawberries

I drank about 2 glasses of it today and will have the rest tomorrow.  It's yummy!

Also pink but totally different - a Banana-Cherry-Red Cabbage Smoothie

It's better than it sounds.

Must confess I am NOT happy with this new blenders ability to get my smoothies smooth.

Still sad.

Liquid-ation

I love Tom Venuto.  He's a hunk, he's a body-builder, he's super smart and he's a good writer.  If he showed up on my doorstep with a Vitamix, my husband would have some serious competition.  Here's the link to his latest and greatest, which I want you all to read, BUT NOT YET.  Read the rest of my post and then scroll back up to Tom.  Please?  Thank you.
http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2010/03/healthy_fast_food.php

OK, so by this point in my cleanse, I am pretty much on just fluids - juices, smoothies and soups.  Here are some of the quaffs I've been quaffing:

Sesame-Almond Mylk

1 cup sesame seeds, soaked overnight

1 cup almonds, soaked overnight

4 cups water

2-4 dates or stevia to taste

1 tsp almond or vanilla extract

Drain nuts and seeds.  Place in blender with 2 cups water.  Blend on high for 2 full minutes.  Strain pulp through a nut milk bag or strainer.  Pour milk back into blender with remainder of the water and remaining ingredients.  Blend until totally smooth.  Store in fridge.  Pulp can be spread on baking sheets and toasted in the oven to be used in baked goods.

Here is a video of my other celeb crush, Karen Knowler, preparing almond milk if you need visuals:

Then we have...

Parsley-Green Apple Juice

Tomato Vegetable Soup with Fresh Spinach

Green Smoothie with my fresh almond-sesame mylk, banana and spinach

Cherry-Gogi Berry Smoothie

1 banana

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup pitted cherries, fresh or frozen

1/4 cup gogi berries, soaked and drained

few drops of stevia if you used sour cherries (like I did!)

Them's some serious anti-oxidants!

Tomorrow, I'll be flushing my liver.  Trust me, you're not gonna want to miss that!

OK, now go back to the top and read Tom Venuto's brilliant article on the new "healthy menus" being offered at fast food joints.

bossy, bossy, bossy, i know....

OK, I'll stop whining about you know what

Day one of my blenderless life went pretty well.  I thank you all who emailed me with your words of understanding.  And I thank the rest of you who think I've got a few screws loose for keeping it to yourself.

So today is my 4th day of Spring Cleansing and it's moving to a new level.  The first few days were full of little slips of this and that, BAD caffeine headaches and lots of grumpiness.  Last night I went to sleep at 9pm and when I woke up refreshed, I knew I was ready to take it up a notch.

First I oil pulled.  Then I drank a glass of lemon water. 

Then a go with the Neti Pot. 

Eleven minutes of sun salutations to loosen it all up.  Dry skin brushing before the shower and then to work.

Breakfast was a super sweet sesame shake made in the food processor.  It doesn't get as smooth with the FP, but it worked OK.

Sesame Vanilla Shake
1 frozen banana
2 dates
2 T tahina
1 cup water
1/2 cup oat milk
1 tsp vanilla

Mid-client snack was a Green Juice

2 apples
1 bunch parsley
4 stalks celery
1 cucumber

When work was done, I went for a jog.  The weather is glorious lately.  The heat and sand are gone and now it's just perfect.  LOVE

Lunch was scrambled tofu leftovers topped with Alissa Cohen's Raw Marinara:

Although it tasted fine, it left me with a bit of an upset tummy.  Alissa's recipes have never sat right with me.  Christy, Mickie and Jenn will all know what I'm talking about because we did a 30-day Raw Detox on Alissa's site a few years ago and they'll remember me whining about those recipes!  Firstly, who can eat raw onions and garlic?  I mean, it tastes good, but not for long, if ya know what I mean.

Anyway, the afternoon was spent Spring cleaning the disasters that my kids call their rooms.  Lots of tea and a few Peanut Butter Oat Balls got me through that challenge.

Dinner was a simple Potato Leek Soup, soothing, satisfying and easy to digest.

Tonight will be another early night in bed with Anna Karenina, hubba hubba.