Vegan Cookbooks

Woody and I did the Half-Price Labor Day run today (6 stores) and I have added 6 books to my collection. PETA "Compassionate Cook", The Chicago Diner Cookbook, Ornish's Everyday Cooking at Uncle Sam's recommendation, Recipes for a Small Planet (but I am still looking for Diet for a Small Planet); The Vegan Cook's Bible by Pat Crocker - Canadian with a lot of basic stuff it it; and Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites.

I also got some contemporary novels - I buy the on sale ones that look good; and a small notebook to take on my cruise. Anyone have some more recommendations? I bought the McDougall diet program, and have Fuhrman's diet plan, as well as Barnard's. My favorite is still Skinny Bitch.

BodyMedia

I bought a used "GoWear Fit" device on ebay, for $75 (which included shipping). The device is made by "bodymedia," and it is identical to the "body bugg" that apparently gets used on the show "The Biggest Loser" (which I have never seen.)

I have been using it to track how many calories I burn, and eat (the latter you have to plug in yourself, using its software. You can't use the device without the software, and the software costs anywhere from $7 to $13 a month, depending on how long you want to commit to using it.) The software displays in a webpage that shows me how much moderate versus vigorous exercise I'm getting, how many "steps" (or step-equivalent, because the readings are too generous to be actual steps) I take in a day, how much sleep I'm getting (versus time spent simply lying down), whether I'm running a calorie deficit or surplus, etc.

It's been pretty eye-opening.

For one thing, I burn a LOT more calories than I thought I did--on the order of 2000 calories on days I don't explicitly exercise, and 2500 on days I do. But I also EAT a lot more calories than I thought. A LOT. To give you a typical day where I feel like I'm actually kind of "dieting" (meaning I could have eaten a lot more than I did): I have coffee in the morning for breakfast, a salad for lunch, veggies and hummus with a small serving of tortilla chips for dinner, and nothing else (seriously, NOTHING else). What I just described is over 1400 calories. I'm not overestimating. I make the food myself, weigh everything... it's really, truly, over 1400 calories.

So on days when I eat "normally," I'm pretty easily hitting 2000. On days I splurge, I pretty easily hit 2500. This is all confirmed via rigorous use of the calorie tracking software. No wonder I've just been maintaining my weight for years!

I don't expect to use this little meter device for long--maybe a month or two, to get a sense of how much I burn and eat. After that, I'd be willing to lend it to whichever of you would like to borrow it. I think it's a pretty valuable tool.

VeggieFest post, at last

Actually, it's called "SummerFest," which isn't very descriptive, but whatever.

I did not expect to get much out of it--but I *loved* it. I loved it more and more as the days wore on. It was heartening to be surrounded by completely normal looking people, all of whom shared this core value: a dedication to avoid contributing to the suffering of animals. I don't know how to explain it other than to say it was just soul-enriching.

I didn't learn a ton than I didn't already now. The food, while sometimes delicious, was mostly meh. But I loved the conversations I had--not just with Momcat and (especially) Kipsy about our own approach to veganism/activism, but with new people I met. It was invigorating, and it made me more committed. Kipsy and I vowed to try much harder to be "real" vegans rather than don't ask/don't tell vegans, or "95%" vegans, or whatever. Kipsy also convinced me of the importance of really, actively avoiding household and cosmetic products that are tested on animals. I have committed myself to that--in retrospect, it's silly that I didn't do so before.

Amazingly, I managed to lose about a pound over the course of the conference. "Amazing" because I didn't exercise much, and I ate and ate and ate. Next post is about weight loss!

Uncle Sam is actually excercising regularly!

Yep, I have been now going to the Y about 3 times a week. There are some weeks I've only been able to go once because of work but I then try to make up for it by spending an extra long time when I do go. Smelliott really helps. He is the one that asked me to start taking him and he bugs me to go whenever he is over here. Unfortunately for the last 2 weeks he has been with Peggy at Renfaire and I've been doing a lot of night programs so hoefully I don't fall to far off the wagon. I am going to count my labor with the fireworks as a bit of a work out but I was able to even go for 45 minutes last night. I absolutely won't be able to go today or tomorrow.

My Secret Project

So I didn't tell you guys about this, because I wanted to see whether I'd actually stick to it. So far, I have, thus the Big Reveal:

Since the beginning of the year, I resolved not to buy anything new. If I could not find it used, and I really, really wanted it, I could only buy it if it was made in the USA. If I could not find it made in the USA, I had to buy it from a country with decent human rights and labor laws. Obviously, food doesn't apply, and I haven't checked where my toothpaste comes from, for instance.

This year, I have bought tons of stuff. But I have only bought a tiny number of new things, and all but one has been made in the USA: I bought a wood-bristled hairbrush made in Italy. (Amazing no US company manufactures a wood bristled brush!)

I'm still trying to find a used automatic guitar tuner, because no US company makes one. It's going to be hard to replace some things (like towels and sheets) once they wear out--but I am resolved to buy USA for these, even if it costs a ton--which it will.

I have not deprived myself at all, as you'll see from my list. Here are some of the things I've bought used this year:

1. Guitar and case.
2. Excalubur 9-tray dehydrator.
3. Chaco sandals.
4. Jeans.
5. A pizza stone.

And so on. It's absolutely amazing what you can buy on craigslist, ebay, and thrift stores. I really want to buy a kayak, and have been keeping my eye out.

Auto litter box

I'm thinking of getting an automated litter box. I tried one before, but the real Kipsy was bad about peeing on the edge of the box. The sweeper really only picks up clumps in the box away from the edge. I'm hoping it will work better with the current cohort if kitties. Anybody else tried one? Is it worth it?

Smoothies

I have found a blender that works for smoothies and has a cup attachment for drinking - the same one Kipsy has. I bought some spinach at Roothie's suggestion and added it to my frozen fruit and flax seed. Today I tried adding V8 juice - not a good idea. It looks like mud and the taste is not far from the looks.

Anyway, I am determined to loose 10 lbs. or more before the VegSummerfest. I have lost 3 in a week. I will add exercise after I reach my goal. I have found I tend to reward myself with food if I exercise so I will wait.

What clothes should we take besides exercise stuff? I sense that casual is the way to go. Roothie, will you be bringing your guitar?

Lose It app

I've been using an app called "Lose It" on my phone for several months now. It's kind of addictive. It's a food log and an exercise log. The coolest part is it keeps track not just of calories, but fat, fiber, protein, sodium, etc. I've learned I get TONS if fiber and enough protein. I am amazed at how much salt I eat. I still usually keep it below 2400 mg, but that's just if I stick to my fruit smoothy for breakfast and big salad for lunch. My low produce days are my high salt days. I'm not surprised the average American eats twice or more the recommended salt.

My sugar tends to be high, too, but it's mostly from fruit. My fat intake is pretty high for a vegan, but I eat nuts and nut butters every day. Tofu has tons of calories and fat! I wish I could cut it with something better for scrambled tofu. Or buy tofu in tubs smaller than a pound. I ate the whole thing in a day and a half, and I was trying to savor it. I sort of wish I'd never tried scrambled tofu...

Kale chips

Anybody had luck making baked kale chips? Mine didn't turn out quite like I hoped. Roothy, will you post that kale recipe we had at Thanksgiving?

Another couple of good books to put on hold

The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, MD

I don't know where all this book is being publicized but it's got over 50 hold on it last time I looked and for a non-fad diet book that's a lot. Kessler is a pediatritian that admits to being what he calls a "hyper-eater" and writes about how the obesity industry creates and enables him and others like him. After reading the book I realized I am not a hyper-eater but now understand the peer pressure of others who unknowingly try to coax me into one by constantly asking me about my diet especially the not eating cheese and high fat foods part of animal products. They are so conditioned into constantly thinking about and longing for the Fat-Salt-Sugar combo of most common gourmand foods that they need to draw others into their addiction. The final third of the book is different tools to help re-condition you lifestyle to overcome to pull of foods you know are not good for you. I didn't find that part very helpful to me, it was a lots of stuff I'd already figured out when I was quitting smoking but it might help Momcat. (as I am writting this I am eating a bunch of Halloween candy with milk chocolate in it from the Burgi collection:( I actually don't even like chocolate that much!)

Cheap; The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell

I am more than halfway through and am thoroughly enjoying it as much as window shopping at a discount outlet mall. I don't know what to call this genre of book other than non-fiction but it's a very interesting current western cultural history of shopping much like the book I read a couple months ago, "Delux: How Luxury lost it's Luster and this other book I can't remember the name of but Shell's book reminds me of it. The other book was about how the corporate chain stores took over the mom and pop grocery store at the turn of the century. I totally recommend all.

I don't quite understand why I like these types of non-fiction books so much, it's not like it will help me with a crossword puzzle or answer a trivia question or anything important like that.

Christmas plans?

I'm ready to look into airfares. Should I plan for CA or Chicago?

eating Animals

Here is a site describing a new book of interest:

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

I attended a vegan cooking class Monday night and got some new recipes as well as info about various products. I bought stick margarine and vegetable stock cubes as well as a vegetarian cookbook. I am still partial to my macaroni salad but will try something new for potluck at church.

The spice cardamom was recommended but it is outrageously expensive.

Why Wall Street is Booming While Everyone Else is Pinching Pennies

In case you'd like to be pissed this gorgeous Sunday morning, New York Times article for you. Excerpt:

Even as the economy continues to struggle, much of Wall Street is minting money — and looking forward again to hefty bonuses.

Many Americans wonder how this can possibly be. How can some banks be prospering so soon after a financial collapse, even as legions of people worry about losing their jobs and their homes?

It may come as a surprise that one of the most powerful forces driving the resurgence on Wall Street is not the banks but Washington. Many of the steps that policy makers took last year to stabilize the financial system — reducing interest rates to near zero, bolstering big banks with taxpayer money, guaranteeing billions of dollars of financial institutions’ debts — helped set the stage for this new era of Wall Street wealth.

. . .

A year after the crisis struck, many of the industry’s behemoths — those institutions deemed too big to fail — are, in fact, getting bigger, not smaller. For many of them, it is business as usual. Over the last decade the financial sector was the fastest-growing part of the economy, with two-thirds of growth in gross domestic product attributable to incomes of workers in finance.

Now, the industry has new tools at its disposal, courtesy of the government.

With interest rates so low, banks can borrow money cheaply and put those funds to work in lucrative ways, whether using the money to make loans to companies at higher rates, or to speculate in the markets.

Food, Inc.

Last night, the U of C student film group showed this movie, and followed it with a discussion led by a professor of geophysical sciences who studies how our food choices shape the environment.

The movie itself doesn't focus (much) on the environmental; instead, Food, Inc. scares you by showing you where your food really comes from, and how the massive agribusiness industry has been amassing more and more control over it.

The film challenges how agribusiness raises, processes and sells meat. What it doesn't do is challenge the sagacity of eating meat in the first place. Still, it is really eyeopening, and makes you want to act. (I signed back up for a CSA this morning!)

Momcat, I think you should show this movie to your "ethical eating" group when it comes out on DVD, which should be soon.

Corn Chowder

This is my latest version of corn chowder that my WIC nutritionist colleague calls "Starch Soup"

Cut kernels off one ear of corn.

In small pressure cooker add:
1 corn cob
1 bay leaf
1 celery stalk
1 washed and cubed small potato
1 cup water

Heat to pressure, cook for exactly 3 minutes and allow pressure to reduce to zero. Remove cob and celery but scrape and squash juice back into pot before adding

corn from above cob
1/8 to 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 chopped carrot
1/2 more cup of water.

Bring to pressure a second time and immediately turn off heat (that's all it needs!)

Optional: Stir in 1/2 cup soy milk with 1 tbls of Better Than Milk powder added in to make a thickish cream.

Share and enjoy with one cute little nephew!

VeganMania

Today, starting at 10:00 am, there was a convention in Chicago with tons of free vegan food and various vegan vendors. The first 100 people who showed up got a bag filled with free vegan stuff.

Vegans are dirty, lazy hippies for the most part, so I didn't think anyone would show up much before 10:30. Wrong! There was a line of 200 before it even opened (no free bag of goodies for me!) It was a madhouse.

Anyway, in addition to buying some vegan cheese made of cashews which turns out to be a bit nasty, I also bought 8 gourmet vegan chocolate truffles, figuring I'd share them with Kipsy and Uncle Sam if they come here for a spa ghettoway over Christmas. I didn't ask how much they cost before she made the box up... and let's just say, you had better LOVE those stupid truffles.

Do not try this at home!

Have you ever had an idea at night that seemed really good, but then in real-life it was not so much? Well, I recently read about how good kale is for me. I add flax seed to my smoothies to make them healthier. I got an idea that a little kale blended into my fruit smoothie would boost the nutritional value. I wish I could say I was drunk or something when I got the idea, but I haven't had a drink in months if not years!

So... I put a few pieces in with my fruit this morning; maybe 3 T or so. It was about as aweful as you might imagine. Kale doesn't actually "blend". It gets finely chopped and clumps together as kind of a suspension. I do not recommend kale as a smoothie-booster. I repeat: fruit + kale = YUK!

Victory

It's time to rejuvenate this blog.

On August 15 my cholesterol was 233. I went vegan that same day and have not eaten anything with cholesterol in it since. Yesterday my cholesterol level was 193!! That's lower than it has EVER been. Here is my favorite recipe which I make up in bulk and feed off of for a week

1 pkg whole wheat macaroni
3 chopped peppers (red, green, orange, or yellow)
chopped onions (to taste and after getting tired of chopping I have gone to frozen)

I added tofu at first but found it didn't last the week so dropped it.

I mix all the above ingredients in a large bowl. When I am ready for a meal I put a generous serving of the mix in a bowl, add a tablespoon or so of veganaise and a generous tsp of nutritional yeast and stir.

Snacks consist of pistachio nuts. Sometimes a peanut butter sandwich. I eat Kashi cereal with soy milk for breakfast. Costco no longer carries my favorite but other grocery stores do.

I've been cooking.

I used my Diet Coke reward points to get one of those electric grills. I grilled slices of eggplant and then made baba ganoush (or however it's spelled). It tasted great but I wish it didn't have such a dorky name. I call it eggpant dip. I think being vegan would be much more popular if we could replace the name of some of our foods: hummus, tofu, seitan, tempeh, texturized vegetable protein, nutritional yeast flakes, soy milk. Thay don't have appetizing names and/or are too hard to pronounce.

I made lentil burgers, which turned out VERY well. I don't like the name, but there you go.

I made brownies that were just alright. I need to try again and alter the process I used to mix all the ingerdients. I think they were so flat because I over-blended.

I don't know what I'll try next...

Ethical Eating

My latest cholesterol count was too high (233) so I am officially giving up cheese and other high cholesterol food. I have joined an Ethical Eating Group at church and have signed on to a 21 day vegan plan at

http://support.pcrm.org/site/PageServer?pagename=21day_vegan_kickstart&autologin=true

I made my first health trip to the grocery store and bought greens, salmon (in envelope), tomatoes, walnuts, and I already have mushrooms for salads.  Also bananas.  Am I right in thinking alvocados have high cholesterol?  Also I bought no-fat dressing and some more soy yogurt.  Eating out will be my downfall but I am going to give it a try.