90 Day Vegetarian Adventure, Day 87 Carmen’s Shake

Here is a new recipe inspired by my granddaughter, Carmen.  She is just a year old and is being introduced slowly to adult foods.  Every morning Grandma makes a breakfast shake for me and she has to share it.   She is allergic to strawberries but bananas are safe so the following recipe is a shake that she loves and is good for her growing tummy.

Carmen’s Shake:    1 cup of soymilk, 1 banana, 1 scoop protein powder, a few drops of vanilla and a shake of cinnamon.  Place ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  Share it with those you love.

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New Recipe – Pear Nog

Breakfast this morning produced a new recipe – Pear Nog.  It is a breakfast shake that reminds me of Egg Nog without the eggs, milk and cream, nevermind adding the rum.  Pour one cup of plain soy milk into a blender along with 1 ripe pear, cored and peeled, a dash of nutmeg, 1/4 tsp of real vanilla, and a scoop of  Protein Powder.  Blend until smooth and share with your granddaughter

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure – Day 52 Sweet Tea

Growing up in the country during the fifties and sixties meant that every friends’ house had a pitcher of sweet iced tea in the refrigerator.  We drank iced tea with lunch, dinner and on very hot days, all day.  Everyone had their own recipe and a special pitcher in which to make it.  My mom was terrible at making iced tea so we used a pre-made mix or just drank milk and water.

Mrs. K on the other hand made the best iced sweet tea I have ever had.  She lived just up the road and her daughter was my best friend.  We drank the tea out of tall Tupperware cups and now when I drink sweetened iced tea it takes me back to those halcyon days.

Anyone ready to share their favorite sweet tea recipe?  Something the rest of us can duplicate?  Send me your formulas and I will reproduce them to the best of my ability.  I will taste test them in a Tupperware cup and publish the one that takes me back to childhood and Mrs. K’s kitchen.

Great Cookbooks for Vegetarians

Here are some of the foundational cookbooks that have taught me all I know about making healthy, delicious vegetarian meals.
Ornish, Dr. Dean. Everyday Cooking With Dr. Dean Ornish

Ornish, Dr. Dean. Eat More Weigh Less

Robertson, Laurel. The New Laurel’s Kitchen

Madison Deborah. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

Eating Well Magazine

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 33 – How To Stay On the Eating Well Wagon

Let’s face it, this Vegetarian Adventure is not easy.  Living in the US means there are lots of quick, unhealthy choices everywhere you go, even in your own freezer.  So how do you stay on the Eating Well  Wagon? . . . Great cookbooks, planning meals, shopping for fresh ingredients, and COOKING.

Case in point, last night my husband was out-of-town,  the rest of the family was tired from a busy week.  I had planned to fix veggie fajitas and realized too late that the last shopping trip was disorganized and did not include pinto beans.  So, it’s pouring rain and my 9-month granddaughter is sleeping.  It’s not a good time to run to the store for just one item.  I made a healthy green salad, however, threw chicken nuggets into the oven, thinking that I wouldn’t eat them.  Just for the rest of the family, right?  Wrong, when I am tired and hungry, I’m weak.  I actually ate chicken nuggets, blech, I don’t even like them and they are definitely not part of the Adventure.

Staying on the wagon begins with great cookbooks.  See the book recommendations here.  Dr. Dean Ornish is one of my favorite authors along with Laurel’s Kitchen.  A great way to try out a cook book before you buy it is to check it out of the library.  You have three weeks to try the recipes.

Planning meals and shopping your plan not only keeps you eating healthy but also saves gas, time and money.  Keep healthy choices on hand and have a list available for whenever you run out of something.  Buying food for a family means stocking choices that aren’t necessarily part of your own eating plan, hence the chicken nuggets. However, if you make sure your own choices are in the freezer it’s easier to make food for everyone.

Then, cook your plan.  Prepare what you can in the morning, for example, put the beans on to cook, or place ingredients in a slow cooker.  Or you can prepare some of the ingredients the night before and refrigerate them.  It’s so helpful to have dinner partially ready in the evening when you are tired.  Following these guidelines helps me to continue to eat in a healthy way, staying on the Eating Well Wagon.

Do you have tips for staying on the Wagon?  Please leave your comments!

Banana Orange Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients: 1 pear, 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 organic carrot, 1 banana, 1 scoop All Plant Protein Powder.
Juice all of the above except for the banana and the protein powder.
Pour juice into blender, add banana and protein powder and blend until smooth.

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure – Day 30 I Love King Arthur

Flour that is, I love King Arthur brand Whole Wheat Unbleached Pastry Flour.  It has a delicious nutty flavor and the texture makes the best pizza dough and bread that I’ve ever eaten.  Since I make my own bread I’ve tried lots of different flours including a special hard red wheat bread flour from Minnesota.  King Arthur beats them all.  It tends to be a little pricey but it is well worth it.  So, keep up the good work King Arthur, you are greatly appreciated by this particular baker.

90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 20 New Recipe

Just posting a new juicing recipe.  Combine an apple, celery and cucumber in your juicer.  With apples coming into season, incorporate them into juices, meals and snacks.  The orchards nearby have an amazing variety of apples that ripen in turn all the way to Thanksgiving.  Develop your own new recipes and send them to me.

July 27 Reboot Recipe

Fresh Tomato Gazpacho:  First of all, let me say that fresh, ripe tomatoes from Mountaindale, MD are the best grown anywhere.  For this recipe select 2 large, fresh tomatoes, 1 long seeded red sweet pepper, 1 stalk celery, 2 scallions, 10 Thai basil  leaves, juice from 1/4 of a lime.  Run vegetables thru a juicer and garnish with chopped basil and lime juice.  A fresh peeled cucumber would be a nice addition also, juiced or seeded and chopped.

July 27, Day 3 Recipe

Orange Veggie Juice:  Using a juice extractor, juice 1 stalk celery, 1 cucumber, 2 carrots and a peeled orange.  Eat 2 tablespoons of golden raisins while drinking the juice.   The raisins will taste very sweet.