4 weeks... 7 lbs

128.4 - that is officially 7 lbs in 4 weeks!

more progress!

a whole week later. it took until about tuesday to get below 130, but have hit 129 now, and even maxed friday and 129.8. so officially, 6 lbs in 4 weeks.

good food this week - lots of creatives, garbanzo soup from an older cookbook, pantry pasta puttanesca, c made his first tofu curry. veggie soup. lentils and rice and onions. greens.

walking - breaking up in two to three walks a day for about 5 miles. it works...

saunas - two of them.

blood pressure still a little high

finally

129.8 this morning - let's see if i can keep it on our first social occasion. over 31 miles this week.

leftover lunch

progress!

finally. 130.2, and it is not the lowest weight of the day. i *will* see the 120s later on...

4.5 miles walking plus a mile of snowshoeing on thursday, 5 miles on friday (3 in the a.m., then 2 more). will break 30 miles for the week.

food: lunch was delish - yucatan soup from vegan fire and spice (p.14) plus the leftover bean salad from the day before
http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/03/pinto-bean-salad-recipe-with-avocado.html

dinner -

Asparagus & Tofu Salad with Daikon & White Miso Dressing

http://www.soynutrition.com/AppetiteAppeal/RecipeDetails.aspx?category=18&recipe=114

no progress with weight but great food

despite 4.5 to 5.5 miles per day (wed and thurs) weight about the same. working on portions now.

lunch: delicious bean, avocado, tomato salad from kalyns kitchen:
http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/03/pinto-bean-salad-recipe-with-avocado.html

dinner - we tried seitan for the first time, stir fry veg and, from vegan fire and spice, p. 183 - we like seitan!
also took a sauna
also snowshoed

catching up

weight about the same - 130.4 at best. walking still, 4 miles on monday - plus snow shoes in the afternoon!

bear's beans - his first creation from scratch (i made the red beans) on sunday and monday (still more in the pot).

took the lentils and portobello mushrooms out of the freezer, c doctored it with more red wine, onion juice, garlic (fresh), paprika, caraway, thyme, nutmeg, salt.
yummers!

hummus amungus for lunch with pita bread, cuke slices, romaine. excellent!

end of week

the new battery in the scale is less kind - 131.2 this morning, despite "behaving" on all counts. friday did 5 miles in the a.m., 1.5 in the evening. made up for the pathetic .5 mile on thursday after working all night.

friday lunch - stir fry veggies with amanda's sauce (hoisin, rice vinegar, soa) on soba, with the leftover bean spread from thurs night - did i forget to write about that? a mix of the bean spread from peter berley and light moosewood - two cans of cannelini beans, lots of lemon juice, garlic, and cilantro. served with pita bread. that was thursday dinner. and a little for friday breakfast. and dinner:)

friday dinner - the first "animal" meal in two weeks; one crab leg. c "needed" it. and i promised fish soup would be ok too. the crab was tasty, but could still have managed fine. we finished the bean spread, finished the last of fatfree vegan's kale and garbanzo soup (looked awful by now, but tasted wonderful), and made an incredible salad of quinoa, cuke, red and yellow pepper, tomato (diced with juice drained - threw the juice in the soup), lots of fresh basil, a little parsely, red onion, lots of lemon, red wine vinegar and just a touch of olive oil. fantastic.

retake

changed the battery in the scale, which had a habit of multiple choice. back to 130.6. still, a good loss. 3.5 miles in the a.m., .75 miles in the afternoon.

leftovers - kale and garbanzo soup for dinner. lunch was the hummus and pita. salad with both.

yet another...

129.6; 3 miles yesterday - working hard, icy roads. leftovers have never tasted better. miso soup for lunch, blueberry kashi snack, and lentils and spinach (again) for dinner.

tuesday

130.2 to start the day; monday miles just 3.5, but no wine, no snacks, so i did well. scrumptious lunch, followed by leftover dinner (tofu and bok choy).

work.

another myth dashed...

lunch today - hummus and cucumber pita pockets, from dr. fuhrman's book (with cummin, coriander, garam masala, cayenne added); i wanted to make hummus amungus but no onions. next time.

and c, who thought he wouldn't like it, did. again:) served with salad - diced tomatoes, cuke, red onion, cilantro, parsley, red vinegar, drop of oil, romaine.

2 miles down on an icy sunny day

wow - 5 lbs!

this is incredible. one week ago, almost 136 lbs. today, 130.4 after the sauna. and c lost 6 lbs! and we've never eaten better.

lunch today was the best salad ever - garbanzo bean, tomato, and cilantro salad. homemade beans. added couscous - and it was great (as c, who does not like couscous, he thought, fully agreed).

dinner, if anything, was even better - red lentil curry with spinach. added some fresh chopped tomato, used tomato paste plus water because that was all we had. served with chutney and bean chips. oh boy! "dieting" was never more fun...

one week on...

finished the week with 30 miles (5.5 for the day). dinner was bok choy and tofu stir fry;
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/soy/995.shtml

made baked tofu (i think from flexitarian), otherwise followed the recipe. it was a hit:)

bear's beans

1 can red beans
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
carrot
onion
garlic
pablano pepper
soy sauce
hot sauce
vinegar
lime
1/cup brown rice

cook. enjoy.

saturday

almost have the 30 miles for the week, already 4 in today, another 1.5 should do it. 132 lbs. not bad - down 4 lbs in the first week!

reading "eat for life", figuring out what will work. adapted it to today's meal. salad for lunch with leftover bear's beans. watermelon and grapefruit for desert (not together).

from amanda:
Okay, so these recipes are not ones that i've tried, but this blog is AWESOME and they all have good ingredients, so by grandma's rule, they should all be great. and this is just a few; there's a whole index you should look at.


http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/10/yellow-split-pea-soup-with-sweet.html for this one, use potatoes instead of sweet potatoes

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/04/caribbean-beans-and-quinoa.html

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/03/cumin-rice-with-eggplant-and-peas.html

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/08/eggplant-paprikash.html

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/08/orange-couscous-curry.html

secondly, here's what i do for lunch every day:

i think like this: grain, vegetable, protein. then i choose from all of the above, for example:

udon or soba noodles (great because they're super healthy, and they don't leave you feeling heavy like pasta, which dad would appreciate), chickpeas for protein, broccoli, mushrooms, and delicata or butternut squash, a green onion for on top, and then i mix together about a teaspoon each of hoisin, braggs aminos, tomato paste, and a half teaspoon each of rice vinegar and maple syrup (i don't really measure, it's just a little bit), and then a small splash of water and a shake of red pepper flakes. so i mix that stuff together, stirfry the vegetables in a little water while the noodles are boiling (do the squash first because it takes longest, then add in the others), and then i drain the noodles, add in the veggies, and toss with the sauce. it takes about 15 minutes.

i keep a squash in the fridge because i love squash and i take about a 1-cup sized chunk at lunch time.

another one i do: quinoa with chickpeas, curried apples, squash, and red peppers, topped with toasted walnuts or pecans and raisins. i set the quinoa to cooking (quinoa's great because it's high in protein and delicious), which takes 20 minutes, and while that's cooking, i do the squash first, then add in chopped apples and red peppers. i spice it up with turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, and coriander, and sometimes a little cardamom too. then when the quinoa's done, i toss them all together in one bowl and top with nuts and raisins. sometimes i drizzle about a quarter teapsoon of olive oil on top (otherwise, i do my veggies only in water in a nonstick pan, not with oil).

i like chickpeas a lot for my protein but you could use any kind of bean. i cooked up a batch of chickpeas, froze half and kept half in the fridge and used them for my lunches.

okay! recipes:

lately i've been using fire and spice a TON and i love it, but otherwise, here are a few recipes that you should check out:

in peter berley's the modern vegetarian (which you have, and if not, then tell me and i'll send you the recipes), check out: page 57- winter minestrone (i skipped the pesto but you could do it), mushroom stew with panfried tofu on page 61, three sisters stew with corn dumplings on page 65 (this one was REALLY good, and if you don't want to do the dumplings-- but they're deeelicious-- just throw in some frozen corn), morocan style tagine on 69, and if you don't want to do the tempeh, just throw in some chickpeas.


from the book veganomicon, which you might want to get because it RULES:

red lentil cauliflower curry:

olive oil
1 onion
1 chile pepper
2 shallots
half inch ginger
a parsnip
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1.5 cups red lentils
4 cups veggie broth or water
1.5-2 lbs caulilower, trimmed, sliced into chunks
2 tbs cilantro
2 tbs lime juice
1.5 tsp salt

have all ingredients chopped and ready. in a large stockpock, heat a little oil over medium heat, add onion and shallots until tender and translucent, 5-7 mins. add ginger and chile, saute 1 min. add spices and briskly stirfry for 30 secs, then ad parsnip and stirfry another min. add veggie broth, then elntils. cover pot, raise hat to high, boil a minute. give mixture a stir, then cover and lower heat to medium low, simmer for 10-12 mins. ad cauliflower, stir to coat, partially cover and simmer for 20-25 mins, till cauliflower is tener but not totally falling apart. remove from heat, stir in cilantro, lime, salt.

yum! serve with rice.

curried udon noodle stirfry

udon noodles

curry roux sauce:
2 tbs peanut oil (i usually use 1 tbs olive oil instead)
2 tbs flour
1.5 tsp curry powder
.5 tsp garam masala (or another of your fancy curry powders you guys have)
1/2 cup veggie broth
2 tsp sugar

for the stirfry:
olive oil
1 yellow onion
1 tsp ginger
1 red bell pepper
1 hot red chile
1/2 pound broccoli
1/4 cup veggie broth
2-3 tbs soy sauce
the protein of your choice: i use tofu in this, they suggest seitan (which is DELICIOUS but i don't know if you can get it out there. sam loves it; he says it has the consistency of lamb)

first: cook the udon according to package.

then, prep the roux:
combine flour and oil in a small saucepan, cook over medium low, stiring constantly with a wooden spoon, till it browns to color of caramel and smells toasty, about 7 mins. stir in curry powder and garam masala, and cook for another min, with a whisk stir in vegie broth, then sugar, and cook till it's thick, about 2 mins. remove from heat, set aside.

stirfry:

heat oil in a wok or skillet, cook onion for 5-6 mins. add ginger, red pepper, chile, and protein, stirfry for another 5 mins, till pepper gets soft. addd broccoli, stirfry for 4-5 mins, till it turns bright gren. add the udon to the veggies, sprinkle with soy sauce, stirfry for another 2-3 mins. whisk 1/4 cup of the veggie broth into curry roux sauce, then pour the sauce over the stirfry and stir to coat everything completely witht he sauce. stir and cook for 2-3 mins till sauce is simmering and noodles are warm. remove from heat and serve.


tomato and roasted eggplant stew with chickpeas.

olive oil
2 large eggplants (about 3 lbs)
1 bulb garlic (BULB!!!)
2 red bell peppers
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup white wine
2 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz can chickpeas

preheat the oven to 450 and make it so you can stick 2 pans in the oven. quarter the eggplant lengthwise and slice acrosss into 3/4 inch slices. line 2 baking sheets with parchment. arrange eggplant slices on the parchment and brush lightly with olive oil. remove teh stems and seeds from the bell peppers and put them on the pans too, lightly brushed with oil, cut side down. remove papery skins from garlic bulb and put it on one of the pans too.

roast for 25 mins, then take out the red peppers, and flip the eggplants over, and roast for about 15 mins more. you'll want to take the skins off the red peppers, they peel right off after roasting. the garlic should roast for the whole 40ish mins.

on the stove: preheat a soup pot over medium high, saute onions for 10-12 mins, then add the garlic (i skipped this since you can add whole roasted cloves, but with dad, you might want to skip the whole roasted cloves and just use 3 cloves of garlic instead). add the white wine and herbs and cook for 5 mins more. add tomatoes, then eggplant, and mix it all up, crushing the eggplant a little. add the red peppers after you chop them into bite size pieces, and then the chickpeas. simmer for 20 mins. if you're usign the garlic, squeeze the cloves out of their skins and add to the pot. mix well, turn off the heat, and eat it! we ate it on top of couscous, but you could eat it on rice or any other grain too.


that's all for now! more later!

me

breakfast

just wanted to record my night breakfasts - i boil a cup of water, add 1/4 cup of steel oats, half a chopped apple, a few chopped walnuts, a few raisins, and a good shake of cinnamon. i let it stand until i want breakie (about 2 am), and heat in microwave. it works, and it's delicious! add an orange or banana later in the night. no late-night pigouts, no upset tummy.

morning

132.2! half a mile before breakfast. and breakfast was yummy - mollie katzen's miso soup. i steamed a little carrot, leek, spinach, and added tiny tofu cubes. red miso. yum.

early friday...

132.8! yeah!
only 2 miles yesterday, but no wine, so it still helped.
dinner was good but needs some tweaking - the millet was yummy, but forgot tomato paste, made with chili sauce. next time more black beans, only one sweet potato, and add jabanero sauce!

amanda sent the recipes:
from veganomicon:

Mexican Millet (didn't have millet, i used quinoa)

2 tbs veggie oil (i used 1 tsp)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup millet (quinoa, rinsed)
1 small yellow onion diced finely
1 jalapeno, seeded and mincd
2 cups veggie broth
3 tbs tomato paste
salt to taste
1/4 tsp cumin
1/3 cup finely diced tomato, seeded
2 tbs cilantro
lime juice for garnish

heat the oil and garlic in a saucepan over medium, when it sizzles, add onion and pepper, fry, stirring occasionally, till ionion is soft and slightly golden, 6-8 mins. add grain, stir to coat, and saute for four to six mins, till grain is lightly golden. pour in broth and add tomato paste, salt, cuin, and fresh tomato. bring to boil, stir, cover. lower heat to low and cook for 25-30 mins for millet, 20-25 mins for quinoa, till all liquid is absorbed. remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 10 mins, then sprinkle with chopped cilantro and fluff with a fork. garnish with a little fresh lime juice and diced tomato if desired

black bean and sweet potato enchiladas (i just made the sweet potato mixture, and skipped the enchilada part)
(vegan planet?)

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tbs olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 small fresh hot chile, seeded and minced
1 1/2 cups black beans, or 1 15 oz can
one 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained (i didn't drain)
1 tbs chili powder (i added also 1/2 tsp cumin)
salt n peppa

preheat oven to 400, arrange sweet potatoes in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet and roast till tender, about 20 mins, turning once. remove from oven and set aside.

heat olive oil in a large skillet, add garlic and chile, and cook till fragrant, about 30 secs. add beans, tomatoes, chili powder, salt n peppa. stir in sweet potatoes and simmer for 5 mins.

eat it!

yummy!

another day

133.4 this morning!
plan for the day: more kale and garbanzo soup (now kale and brown rice and garbanzo soup). not sure about dinner yet, maybe something with the sweet potatoes..

5 miles and leftovers - but delicious leftovers. added brown rice to the kale and garbanzo soup. balanced out better.

134 lbs... one down, fourteen to go...

make that 5 miles of walking for tuesday, and a sauna three days in a row. good for the excess salt from the bullion (gotta use less).

dinner was a citrus salad and french lentil and portobello stew, with blueberries and kashi cereal for desert. too much fruit on the salad (used a whole orange and a whole grapefruit for the two of us) and only balsamic vinegar in the dressing (no sugar or juice either). lots of leftovers for wednesday...

so today is day 3 of the rest of our lives. the food has been excellent - Spanish quinoa black bean salad the first day (added kalamata olives); leftovers for lunch the next; cabbagy salad, asian style, with tofu dogs day 2 dinner, and today, day 3, north african chickpea and kale soup from fatfreevegan.com - yum. biggest lesson is to reduce bullion quantity to get less salt; i hope to make my own broth soon.

so far down 1.5 lbs. and walked 4 miles sunday, ran 1.5 walked 2.5 monday, walked 4.7 tuesday.

making progress.

new beginnings

starting out - just to keep a record of our adventure in trying a plant-based diet.