Things I need to be healthy

No recipes or "food porn" today! Today, I'm taking stock of things I've worked on this year, and maybe what I'd like to work on with the rest of 2012.

After almost a year of working on my improving my health, and my peace of mind, I see a few very basic things that I need to be happy with myself and the world around me:

1. Enough sleep. I wrestle with this because sleep seems like a waste of time. I'm starting to accept sleep now as important. My friends who read this will laugh because I'm very vocal about how much I love napping. Why I make a distinction between napping and nighttime sleep, I don't really know. But I used to feel guilty if I slept in or went to bed early. I get it now. If I sleep in, I needed it. I know that if I try to function on too little sleep, I can't think as clearly, and I work much slower and less efficiently.

2. A diet that is heavy on plants, but that also contains some animal protein and some fat. I was a strict vegan for two months, and I did feel good. After two months, I added a little bit of fish back in because I really, really like fish and I missed it. However, after awhile, I realized I was compromising in ways that were not good for me. One thing my husband and I enjoy is going out to eat. We focused on restaurants that had at least some vegan options, but I found myself ordering a fish fry (something almost every restaurant has) solely because it was fish, not because it was necessarily good for me or what I wanted. When we go out to eat now, I feel better choosing a lean chicken dish than I did when I picked fried fish a lot.

3. That said... not TOO much animal protein. When I string together a few days when I eat meat more than once a day, I tend to feel "thick" and sluggish.

4. Healthy social contact and friendship. 2010 and to some extent 2011 were hard years. I had to focus on a lot of family issues, and it was a struggle. I had the love and support of good friends, without which, I would have struggled much more. Now that things are less hectic, I have been trying to spend more quality time with friends. Hanging out in quiet places where we can hear each other talk, getting to know their fantastic kids, working out together... I need that interaction and friendship to feel like I'm part of a happy, optimistic world.

5 Exercise. In August, I discovered I love weightlifting. Who knew??? Now, I have to workout 3 times a week or I feel sluggish and foggy-headed. Lifting something really heavy over and over again is the best stress relief for me.

6. I need to do something creative. I'm not the best artist, or the best musician, but the part of my brain that is in charge of that kind of stuff gets very happy when I write a new song, or do something creative.

7. Goals, but only when they make sense. I need to set goals that are reasonable, but only when the goals happen organically. I started out with a goal of where I wanted to be with my weight, and as time went by, I realized that goal was unrealistic. My usual pattern was to give up and figure, no point in trying if that goal isn't going to happen. This year was different though. I accepted that, and figured out that while my head was busy worrying about losing pounds, my body was busy getting happy about lifting pounds. Now, my short term goal is related to an amount of weight I want to squat by January. (oh ok, since you asked... I want my working weight to be 135)

I have used a LOT of words with this blog. I'm not sure what came over me! Maybe that need to create. If you read this, I truly thank you. And I would love to hear your thoughts about what makes you feel happy and healthy. Please feel free to comment below.

Thank you!

"Impossible" Pumpkin Pie

I really like Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite holidays. I like it because it's all about eating good food, being with friends and family, napping, and.... leftovers and more napping. This year though, I want to treat is as more like one really great meal and maybe one round of leftovers, rather than days of unbridled gorging.

This in no way means I'm skipping dessert though.

The straight on, 100% traditional Thanksgiving dessert, to me, is pumpkin pie. I went in search of a vegan, lighter version and hit the jackpot - Vegan, lighter, AND super easy!

Remember "Impossible" pies? Pies where you just mix everything together, bake it, and it somehow magically makes its own crust? Well, this is that, plus it's vegan.

I didn't come up with the recipe, I used it exactly as is from Susan Voisin's blog Fat Free Vegan (you got it! the same site I got the recipe for vegan quiches!) Here is a link: Impossible Vegan Pumpkin pie The only tweak I made was that I used whole wheat flour instead of rice flour. I don't have rice flour on hand, and wasn't up to the challenge of grocery store shopping.

The recipe comes together really quickly - blend everything together, pour in pan, bake. As fast as I make it, is as fast as it's gone though, so if you need to take a pie to a someone else's house for dinner, bake two. You're going to want one all to yourself!

Crustless Vegan Quiche

I may not eat eggs anymore, but I do still love traditional brunch foods. In a moment of "nothing will make me happy except something quiche-y!!!" I searched one of my favorite vegan recipe sites - Fat Free Vegan - and found this versatile, satisfying recipe for crustless mini quiches.

I love this recipe for so many reasons. First, it tastes delicious. The texture mimics egg quiches, so closely, I can't really tell the difference. Second, it's versatile. Add different spices, cook in a tomato instead of a muffin cup, maybe even toss in a little vegan cheese. And third, it's low fat and low calorie.

I followed the recipe to the letter, except for one little twist. I added a quarter teaspoon of Black Salt, more formally known as Kala Namak. Don't confuse this will any other Black Salt. Kala Namak is an Indian salt. It smells a lot like sulfur, so you may not want to take a deep whiff of it, but a little bit off this added to tofu adds a savory, "eggy" taste. Try it in a tofu scramble, it really does taste like eggs!  I'm new to using it, so I'm still tinkering with how much to add. My suggestion is to start out with just a little bit. You can always add more if you want.

Here is a direct link to the recipe. Check the site out - It belongs to a woman named Susan Voisin, and it contains a lot of great information. When I'm looking for something new to cook, this is one of my go-to sites! Crustless Vegan Quiches

If you try this, let me know how you like it!

Starting with juicing

One of the first steps I took when I started working on getting healthier and eating more fruits and vegetables was to juice.

I'm as guilty as the next girl of buying a shiny new kitchen appliance then losing interest in it as soon as the next shiny new appliance catches my eye. I can be fickle that way! Because of this, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a juicer, but I didn't want to buy something that would fall apart. After a little bit of research, I bought a small Breville juicer. There are hundreds out there, this is just the one that worked for me. I can say, though, if you buy a juicer, look for one that is easy to clean!

It looks like there are basically two different "camps" when it comes to thoughts about juicing. Some people don't like it because it strips the fiber out of food. Others are fans because they say without the fiber, we can absorb nutrients more easily. My personal feeling is that while I would love to get every single last bit of goodness out of everything I eat, including the fiber, any nutrition from fruits and vegetables is good.

Making juice was a fantastic way for me to ease my way into eating more plants. It's like cooking, which I love to do, but it is healthier than things I used to cook. It also was a great way to get hands on experience with all kinds of fruits and vegetables. I tried all KINDS of combinations, to find out what the texture would be like and how different foods would taste with other foods. I noticed quickly that my skin cleared up, and I had energy in the morning that felt like real energy, not a caffeine buzz.

I did learn a few tricks along the way, too. A few grapes thrown add just enough sweetness. Sweet potatoes are NOT my favorite thing to juice. And there are a TON of uses for the pulp that's left over. I made crackers with it, my husband makes a surprisingly delicious noodle dish with the pulp, spices, and extra tomato, it can be composted... there are a gazillion ideas out there!


Making juice has also been a great way to use some of the produce from our CSA that I might not get around to cooking.

Juicing isn't for everyone, I'm sure. For me though, I have a lot of fun with it. And if it's not fun, I'm not doing it!

Going out to eat

I'm thinking back about how changes I started to make in March seemed so huge. Some of the habits I tried to develop seemed like a HUGE pain in the where-you-sit. One thing especially seemed to take so much work, I wasn't sure I'd stick to it - Planning around going out to eat.

Tom and I like to go out to eat. It's fun, someone else does the cleanup, and we get to try things we wouldn't make at home. And, it's fun. In March, when I was following Engine 2 strictly, we still went out to eat, but not as often, and only to a couple of very "safe" restaurants. After March, I spent some time researching more vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Cleveland. This is where it got time consuming...

Every time we went out to eat, I would look up restaurants online to see where might be a good option. Then, once we picked a place, I would study the menu and pick out what I'd order before we even left the house. A few times, when I didn't do that research, I ended up really bummed out with what I got. I learned, mostly, that a sandwich called a "veggie melt" is usually really boring without the cheese.

Flash forward to today. Tom and I decided we want to go out to a very late lunch/early dinner. We knew a restaurant that will be delicious and vegan/veg friendly. I heard they updated the menu, so I took a quick peek - still awesome. I saw they have Jeni's sorbets for dessert now, so I shot Jeni's a quick tweet to see if their sorbet is dairy free. It is. Planning done, on to fun.

I still highly advocate at least a little planning. For me, knowing what's on the menu puts me in the mindset of what I CAN have, so when I check out the menu when we get to the restaurant, I don't focus on the dishes with stuff I choose not to eat and feel deprived. I'm also a little more comfortable making special requests. I used to almost NEVER speak up. Now, I'm not quite as hesitant to ask questions. I'm still not good at getting into the nitty gritty about what exactly is IN dishes, but I'm totally down with asking for stuff on the side, or swapping sides, whatever seems doable.

Point is, I still had to do a little work. Much of the same work I had to do before. But, it's so automatic now, it doesn't feel like work. Now it just feels like a little something to do to get ready for fun.

PS - I'm in Cleveland, Ohio. If you have any restaurant suggestions, lay 'em on me! I love having options!

Savory Pumpkin Sage Muffins

The weather drops down to a "chilly" 72 degrees, and all of a sudden I think it's Fall? I know, I know, I'm jumping the gun!

But, that doesn't change the fact that I was really craving pumpkin. I wanted to make something a little different, but still simple. My goal was to eat pumpkin, not spending an entire evening bonding with it while I tried to cook something with it! After a little bit of time searching the internet, I found something that I had never even thought existed before - A recipe for a savory muffin.

The recipe I pretty much followed calls for a whole quarter cup of chopped fresh sage. It sounded like a lot, but it is just right. I used some fresh Golden Sage from my herb garden. Its flavor is really light and almost lemony. I suspect if you use more traditional sage, the flavor will come out much stronger.

Looking at the ingredients, and not seeing any liquid except for some olive oil, I was afraid these would be super heavy. Happy to say, I was wrong! These are light, and very moist. They also go great with corn chowder!

Here is the recipe I followed pretty much: Pumpkin and Sage Savory Muffins

And here it is with a few minor tweaks that I made

• 1 cup Whole wheat pastry flour (whole wheat flour is A-OK, too!)
• ½ cup Rolled oats
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 1tsp Baking soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• ¼ cup Fresh Sage, chopped
• 2 cup pumpkin puree (if you use fresh pumpkin, cook and puree first)
• 1/8 cup Olive oil
• 1/8 cup Unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar

Preheat your oven to 320 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients, then add the sage,  pumpkin puree, olive oil, applesauce, and vinegar. Mix enough, but not too much.

Scoop into a muffin tray, and bake for 30-35 minutes. They're finished when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.


This made 10 smallish muffins for me. Depending on how big you want them, you could get a dozen, or go bigger and maybe 6 regular size muffins.

Spelt - I think I got it!

I got a bag of spelt berries with our CSA months ago, but never really did anything with them that tasted good. Every so often, I'd get the bag out, stare at it, then put it back in the cupboard, right between the quinoa and the rice. Rice, I understand. I can cook rice all day. Quinoa, same thing. We're easy friends. Spelt berries just didn't seem co-operative or friendly.

Over the past few weeks though, I've spent some quality time with my spelt berries, and I've come to understand them. They just need a little attention, a little time, and a little gentle cajoling before they give in and blossom into nutty, chewy grains full of protein, fiber, B vitamins, and iron.  All that AND they are delicious? Spelt berries - I look forward to a long and tasty friendship with you!

Spelt is a grain. It's related to wheat, but I found that when I treated it like a bean for cooking purposes, it ended up with my favorite texture. Chewy, but not too hard. I soaked the dried berries in stock overnight, drained them, the simmered them in stock flavored with some generally all around pleasing herbs and spices, like garlic, onion, and pepper. You can probably soak them for a shorter time than overnight - me? I stuck the bowl of berries and stock in the fridge before I went to bed last night and just hoped for the best!

I simmered the berries for about an hour, checking them every so often to catch them while they were soft and chewy but not completely falling apart.

While they were cooking, I chopped up a bunch of vegetables - green, red, and Anaheim peppers, carrots, onion, cucumber, kale leaves, and parsley. Once the spelt berries were the texture I wanted, I drained them and swished them under a little cool water to cool them off. I mixed the berries and all the vegetables together, tossed in a simple dressing, and ended up with an easy, tasty salad.

I wish I could give you exact measurements for ingredients. I based this salad solely on what it looked like. Did it look "too green"? More carrot. Not enough red? Bring on more red pepper. And, I didn't add the tomatoes until I was ready to eat it. I don't like how chopped up tomatoes get when they sit in a salad too long, but that's just me.

The dressing is all "to taste" - olive oil, lemon juice, tamari, chopped up garlic, chives and rosemary from the garden, salt and pepper is here, too.

Spelt and me, we'll be hanging out more for sure!

Eating Green "The Right Way"?

I'm so glad to be back blogging after over a month. Life got busy, vacation, a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

Honestly though, I got really self-conscious about writing here and got really bad writers block. I read a few blogs railing against people who eat vegan for health reasons, not for ethical reasons. The writer of the one blog asked if blogs like mine are "the new women's magazines". It was awesome to read because it made me think about what I'm doing, and it made me question why I have this blog, but it did make me wonder, what exactly I'm doing here.

For weeks, I felt like oh, gosh, my posts are just goofy recipes and pictures of food. No big message, no particular plot, theme, I don't feel like I answer the question, "So?"

Then I got over it. 

I don't think it matters that I don't eat cows because I believe I can be healthier without beef, not because they're cute. Or, I skip bacon because I don't want the saturated fat, not because pigs are smart. One less chicken gets slaughtered when I hold the pollo, whatever the reason.

I have a GAZILLION things I love to talk about - And I love to talk, ask anyone who knows me! I'm finished being self-conscious, I'm finished over-thinking what I do, and I'm ready to blog til the cows come home! They can come home... because I haven't eaten them, ha ha!

Soup and Sushi on a Hot Day

I started this blog post trying to write this romantic story about my trip to an Asian market here in Cleveland, and how I spent over an hour walking around, studying exotic jars, cans, packages, etc... While that story is true, this dinner was actually inspired by something far less ethereal.

My husband's birthday was recently (He writes the Seen Getting Lean posts), and we tried to go out to dinner. Usually we've been doing a good job of picking restaurants that have decent food, and making good choices about what to eat. If it's a "cheat meal", we make darned sure it's worth it.

Well, through lack of planning, a few little crises at home, and letting ourselves get way too hungry, we ended up eating just flat out really badly. Fried shrimp, french fries, foods in cream sauces, foods with butter... I haven't consciously had cream or butter in almost four months, too. It wasn't even especially good food, we just crashed.

That night, and well into the next day, I felt terrible. Sluggish, crabby, tired, hungover. That dinner was an in-my-face reminder of how I felt a lot of the time when I ate that way.

That's the backstory. Bad meal. Felt like crap. Moved on to this....

I made some quick stock with dried mushrooms and sauteed carrots, onions, garlic, and bok choy. The soup is simply that stock, a few noodles, more bok choy, carrots, and diced tofu. Oh and a bit of white miso added at the end. I heard if you boil it, you lose the nutritional benefits of miso, and this meal was all about trying to be healthy!

The sushi may not be the fanciest around, but it was definitely fresh and good. Grilled salmon, a little vegan mayo with some Sriracha sauce, and a few veggies.

Cheaper, fresher, and definitely more nutritious than the meal that inspired it. I appreciate that we fell a little off the wagon once, and saw that for what it was - one meal. One reminder that eating green is fun, AND makes me feel good!

Seen Getting Lean: Increasing Running Time

Today's Seen Getting Lean question comes to us from Lisa. She asks: "How do I relax my hamstrings and strengthen my hip flexors to get a better run time?"

Tom says:

Let's start with the hip flexors. Most multi-joint lower body exercises (eg. squats and lunges) will work the hip flexors, as long as you get deep enough into the exercise. Deep enough means getting the top of the thigh parallel to the floor.

If you want exercises that specifically target the hip flexor muscles, there are several, although they are typically thought of as ab exercises.

Any leg raise variation, jack knives on a swiss ball, or roman chair sit ups involve the hip flexors immensely. Add resistance to increase strength.

As far as the hamstrings are concerned, any static stretch involving the hamstrings, or yoga will help in this area. However, be careful of static stretching right before a run. It's never a good idea to relax a muscle prior to asking it to perform repeated contractions. Mobility work before exercise is a much better way to go.

Try some dynamic stretching - that means the hip flexors as well as the hamstrings. The hip flexors can inhibit hamstring movement. Try this experiment to see what I mean:

Attempt to touch your toes while standing without bending your knees, and mark where your fingers land. Now, stretch your hip flexors and try to touch your toes while standing again. You will probably get another couple of inches closer to your feet.

I hope this helps.

Keep those questions coming, and stay strong!

Rhubarb Cake

I'll confess - I never thought of eating rhubarb without a ton of sugar, and without strawberries. Oh, and while I'm fessing up, I've never tasted raw rhubarb. But, our CSA package included beautiful fresh rhubarb, and I wanted something sweet, so I spent some quality time searching recipes and came up with this sweet, simple, moist cake that would work any time - as a sub for coffee cake at breakfast, as dessert, as a treat when you just want a treat!

This is very close to the original recipe which is here, on C'est La Vegan. All I did was make a few tweaks based on what I had on hand, and personal taste.

This cake stayed nice and moist uncovered for a couple of days. Beyond that, I can't say because it was all gone by then. Yes, it is THAT good! Sweet, tart, cakey goodness! Here is the recipe with my changes:

Rhubarb Cake

1 cup soy yogurt
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce/canola oil (this means, take a half-cup measuring cup and fill it with mostly applesauce and a little canola oil)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
2 tablespoons warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups diced rhubarb (about 6 stalks, depending on their size)

For topping

Some brown sugar (or use whatever sugar you have)
a little Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the vinegar into the soy yogurt and set aside (this will turn into something like sour cream).  Measure the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine.  Set aside.

Cream together the applesauce/oil and sugar.  It's not going to look like when you cream butter and sugar, just make sure it mixes up really well.  Mix the egg replacer with the warm water, and add this along with the vanilla extract to the creamed mixture.  Mix well, scraping down the sides as needed.  

Add in the soy yogurt mixture.

Add the flour mixture, and mix just until combined.  If you’re using an electric or stand mixer, fold the rhubarb in by hand.

Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 11-inch pan. Sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on top.

Bake for 20 minutes, rotate the pan around, and bake for 20 more minutes.  Bake til a cake tester comes out clean. 

Cool before you cut, if you can wait!

Seen Getting Lean: Common Mistakes Part 3 - Cardio Intensity

Today, on Seen Getting Lean! We've been getting answers to the question "What are the common mistakes people make when they are getting started working out?" So far we learned that we need to incorporate strength training, and we learned how to figure out the right weight to use. We wrap up this question today talking about cardio. Be warned, there is a bit of math involved, but you can do it! Here we go...

Part 3 - Performing cardio at too low an intensity.

You need intensity to get any benefit out of cardio exercise. If you can read, text, or chat while doing cardio, you are wasting your time. Walking your dog is not cardio. Yes, you're burning calories. You're also burning calories when you eat, sleep, watch tv, or shower. Still not doing cardio. You need to be at 50% to 85% of your maximum heart rate.

Ok! What is my max heart rate? Ideally, 220 beats per minute minus your age. However, as different people of the same age have different fitness levels, we need a more individualized number.

Enter the Karvonen Method of finding your target heart rate range. Start with 220 minus your age. From this number, subtract your resting heart rate. Then, multiply by 50% or 85%. Finally, add your resting heart rate back in.

As an example, let's say "Joe" is 45 years old and has a resting heart rate (rhr) of 65 bpm. The formula would look like this:

220 - 45 = 175
175 - 65 (rhr)  = 110
110 x .5 (50%) = 55
55 + 65 (rhr) = 120

110 x .85 (85%) = 93.5
93.5 + 65 (rhr) = 158.5 (round up to 159)

So Joe's heart rate range is 120 to 159 bpm. This is where his heart rate should be while he is doing his cardio exercise.

Keep those questions coming, and stay strong!

Savory Rice Griddle Cakes with Basil and Pistachios

Oh my, I need a shorter name for this recipe! But I'm so psyched about it, I'm more into eating it and telling you about it than I am coming up with a snappy name - for now. I do love a clever name.

I woke up this morning craving waffles, big time. But then, as I started looking at what I had on hand, I veered way off the waffle course. Happily off course though, because these are delicious.

The main part of this dish is rice. I had a pot of leftover cooked rice. It's a short grained brown rice, so it's fairly sticky to start with. When I originally cooked it, I lightly seasoned it with a little garlic powder and turmeric. This recipe comes together fast, too. Bonus on a work day.

I can already think of variations I want to try.

• No nuts
• Different nuts, seeds - walnuts, pumpkin seeds
• Different herbs, spices - sage, ginger
• No oil

I ate these for breakfast, but I can see them working at any meal.

Here's my initial recipe for these savory, warm, fresh, and a little crunchy griddle cakes!

1 1/2 cups cooked Rice (I suspect short grained sticky rice is best)
1 TB Nutritional Yeast
1 TB chopped fresh Basil
2 TBS chopped roasted salted Pistachios
Egg Replacement - 2 eggs worth (I think a one egg portion would work)
1 tsp. Canola oil

Heat up a skillet (cast iron, if you have it), oil very lightly.

Mix all the ingredients together. Drop a mixing spoon full of rice onto the hot griddle, flatten it a little with a spatula or fork. You can also shape into patties of about 2 TBS of rice each. They would look less freeform.

Patience. Let these get brown and crispy on one side before you flip them. I am not patient and flipped these too often. It got messy and probably took longer then it needed to.

If you try this and come up with any tweaks that you like, let me know. I'd love to hear about them!

Simple Watermelon and Herbs

When I was a little girl and we had watermelon, my mom would put me in my blue flowered bathing suit, sit me in a kiddie pool in the back yard, and let me make as big a mess as I felt like. I'd flick the hard black seeds at the ants that would want to share, juice would get everywhere. My hands, arms, feet, legs, all of me would get sticky in the hot Summer sun. No swallowing the seeds though, I did NOT want a watermelon growing inside my tummy. Watermelon, seriously, everywhere! And it all ended with mom "making" me run through the hose to wash off.

My love of simple, as nature intended, watermelon carries on to this day. Tonight, we are enjoying easy chunks of cool watermelon, sprinkled with fresh mint and cilantro from the garden, and finished off with a few squeezes of lime and just a shake or two of salt flakes. That's it. Just let the melon be the melon.

Seen Getting Lean: Common Mistakes Part 2

Last week, Tom (my NSCA certified Personal Trainer husband) started answering the question "What common mistakes do people make when starting an exercise program?" by telling us how important it is to include strength training. This week, he digs more into the question by talking about how much weight to use. So now.... here's Tom!

Part 2 - Choosing an improper amount of weight to do an exercise.

Most people go too light (although too heavy is equally as bad). You have to fatigue the muscle in order to get any benefit. You also want good form. So, you need a weight that will allow you to perform within a certain repetition range. Fatigue is when your form breaks down or you simply can't do any more reps.

An example would be if my goal in fitness was weight loss and and toning. I want to fatigue within 15-20 reps (this would be endurance). If I pick up three pound dumbbells and do 15 bicep curls but could perform 10 more with good form, I haven't challenged my muscles. I have wasted my time. I would be much better off grabbing 15 or 20 pound dumbbells and doing the same exercise to fatigue.

Let's say with those heavier dumbbells, I manage 17 or 18 reps before I just can't do any more. That is the proper weight for that exercise and goal.

Hopefully that clears up the question about how much weight to use. Next week, Part 3: Cardio Intensity.

Keep those questions coming, and stay strong!

Puffy Pancakes, Pretty Juice

I had a lot to do Saturday - clean the house, hike, finish up a new song I've been working on, and later, shake my groove thing at a 60's Soul night. That kind of agenda called for a pumped up breakfast!

Late last year, I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. While I never planned on doing a juice fast, it did inspire me to buy a juicer. Like a lot of people, I used it a lot at first.  I made a pact with myself and used it every single day for over a month. Then, I quit. Now though, I'm at a "happy medium". When the mood strikes me, I make delicious juice creations for Tom and myself.

Today's creation included apple, carrot, red pepper, a beautiful lime, and mango. After it was all mixed together, I stirred in some fresh grated ginger and sort of muddled in some fresh mint from the garden. I usually go heavier on the vegetables than fruit, but I was all about energy for the day!

When I don't make some kind of crazy hash for weekend breakfasts, I'm usually giving a new vegan pancake recipe a whirl. Some of them have been flat out duds ("flat as a pancake"? I get it now!), some have been very good, but this one? This one is by far my favorite. It's based on the Puffy Pillow Pancake recipe on The Post Punk Kitchen, but I made a couple of tweaks. Here's a link to the original: Puffy Pillow Pancakes 

Here is the recipe with my tweaks:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon ground flax meal
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil (because I didn't have canola)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarse chopped walnuts (optional but awesome)


Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Measure the milk into a small bowl. Add vinegar and ground flax seeds, and use a fork to vigorously mix the ingredients until foamy. (Honestly, I didn't read the directions all the way through and put all the wet ingredients together for this step. It all came out fine.)

Pour the liquid mixture into the center of the dry ingredients. Add the water, canola oil and vanilla and mix until a thick, lumpy batter forms. Like any pancake batter, don't over mix!

Chemistry time! Let the batter rest for 10 minutes. A chemical reaction will happen thanks to the vinegar that will make the batter bubbly and fluffy. Don't rush! Preheat your pan while you wait.

Lightly coat the pan in oil. Do not use too much, and don't cook too many at one time, they need room to breathe. Add about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake. If you want to use walnuts, sprinkle a few on top of the raw cake at this time. Cook for about 4 minutes, until they puff up. Flip the pancakes, adding a new coat of oil to the pan, and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Pancake should end up about half an inch to an inch thick, and golden brown.

New Feature: Seen Getting Lean!

I've been eating all "Roy G. Biv" as I call it, since March (red, orange, yellow, and especially green, you name it!), and I have a ton more energy. Now, what to do with all that extra get up and go?

Diet's just one part of the equation. To be the whole package - healthy, fit, and happy - we need to exercise. Cardio and strength training. I'll come up with an acronym for this later, because I do love a good acronym, but now, I want to introduce a new feature to Seen Eating Green. Ready?

Seen Getting Lean. My husband is an NSCA certified personal trainer, a former Marine, and trains in Muay Thai. He loves fitness. You got a fitness question? Pick his brain!

Our first question comes from our friend Jen Hearn.

Jen asks: What common mistakes do people make when starting an exercise program?

Tom says: While there are a multitude of mistakes people make when starting out, the most common are:

1. Not including resistance/strength training into a program
2. Choosing the improper amount of weight to perform an exercise
3. Doing cardio at too low an intensity

This week, I will deal with number one and talk about just a couple of the many benefits of strength training.

At least 80% of my clients have weight loss as their number one goal, and every last one tells me they want to be toned. One cannot exhibit a lean, toned physique if once the body fat is gone, there is no muscle. Muscle is thermogenic. It needs fuel to operate. Think of muscle like the furnace in your home. Turn it way up and keep feeding it fuel, and it cranks through it. (Think about those Winter gas bills!) If you limit the calories you take in, your furnace (muscle) goes to your reserve fuel source (accumulated body fat). Quite simply, muscle can help to burn fat.

So now we know: Muscle burns fat. We need muscle for a lean, toned body. These are just two reasons why you want to include strength training in your workout.  Next week, we attack Part Two.

Keep those questions coming, and stay strong!

Leave your questions as a comment here, or email them to me at cschulien3322@gmail.com. Tom will do his best to come to the rescue.

Hello, Scones!

I don't know why I even bother to put away my baking sheets. I've used them more since I started eating green than I ever did before! Broiled tofu, roasted just-about-any vegetable, baked tempeh, and oh yes oh yes - bakery!

Saturday was a nice, lazy day, so I felt like branching out from my usual weekend hash. Poking around www.theppk.com where I pillage so many recipes from, I found a recipe for Ginger Chocolate scones.

This recipe is easy, and makes spicy, sweet, fluffy scones that I'm pretty sure could get invited to the next royal wedding. These are very forgiving, very easy, perfect when you don't really want to work too hard. Don't over think it, just let it all work itself out!









The original recipe is here, and here's my final recipe:

3 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger (I used 1 TB fresh grated)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch allspice
1/3 cup agave
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I'm trying applesauce next time, save some fat)
1 cup non-dairy milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
About 5 ounces non-dairy chocolate chips
About 1 cup chopped up walnuts


Preheat your oven to 400F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or (like I did) use parchment paper.

Put all the dry ingredients in a big mixing bowl. Swoosh them around a little with a fork just to introduce them all to each other.

Add your wet ingredients; mix it all up with a fork. Don’t over do it, these are nice, laid back treats.

Finally, easily fold in the chocolate chunks and walnuts.

Grease up a quarter up measuring cup, or a huge spoon, or you could even use your hands. Drop scoops of dough onto your baking sheet. Don’t make them fancy. Don’t worry if they seem crowded.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Using my knife tonight!

I love using knives. I do. Knives, forks, spoons. It's the cutlery set I grew up with. Remembering that the sharp side of the knife should face the plate was a badge of honor in my table setting skills. Anyone remember the superstition that if you drop a knife, it meant a man was coming to visit? (A dropped fork meant a woman, by the way. I don't remember what a spoon foretold.)

Even though I don't use them to cut steak anymore, sometimes, I need to pick up a knife-originally-meant-for-steak, and cut into something with a little chutzpah. Tonight, I said, "Urge to use a knife? Meet Chickpea Cutlets!". To make dinner even more comforting, I added Sage Gravy (fat free, bonus!), sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and onions, and steamed green beans.

Easy stuff out of the way first - Green beans. Cut the ends off. Steam 'em. Mushroom, garlic, and onions? Cut any bits off that you don't want to eat, like stems and ends. Saute in whatever oil you like. I'm lucky to have a well-seasoned cast iron pan, so a smidge of oil goes a long way.

The cutlets. The main event. The reason I needed a knife. I used the recipe from Veganomicon, but doubled it. The recipe makes four. Four is ok. Eight is better. I made these cutlets once before and they were good, but I flattened them out too much. This time, I left them a little plumper. Me, I want to be not so plump. My cutlets? Plump is good!

I added a few different spices to some to see how it tasted. A couple have fresh cilantro and red pepper, a couple have dried oregano and red pepper. I also used a bit less oil than the recipe calls for and everything was fine. Here are the balls of "dough" first:

Flattened them out, like I said, not too much:

Then I baked them for 20 minutes on one side, and about 15 minutes on the other, at 375 degrees. Here are the finished cutlets:

Gravy, baby! I followed the recipe straight from the Happy Herbivore. Here's a link!

Put it all together, and could barely keep my mitts off it! BUT, I needed a decent pic or two, and I really didn't want to bother figuring out how to hide the fact that I bit off a chunk-a chunka vegan love before I took a picture!

I'm seeing green! Not with envy though, with "Hello, Mother Nature!" goodness!

Ooooo... one more pic!

My crush on breakfast hash

I love hash. I love a whole lot of different stuff all chopped up and playing nice together. I adore the bits and edges that get stuck to the skillet so they get that caramely toasty crunch. And I'm over the moon if I can incorporate catsup into the entire breakfast experience.

There are two recipes that threw my mind into overdrive, thinking about breakfast hash. One is the Shaved Brussel Sprout recipe in Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Slicing Brussel Sprouts super skinny turns them into a whole new vegetable, in a good way. They become sweeter, and crunchier. Also, the Blue Flannel Hash recipe in Veganomincon, by the aforementioned Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Until I read these recipes I thought I said adios to hash when I said adios to meat. But nope, now it's hello to all KINDS of crazy combinations!

Today's breakfast was a hash a mixed up hooray of Brussel Sprouts, Asparagus, Onions, Mushrooms, Green and Red Peppers, spuds, and oh of course Garlic! Lots of dill, and a little sea salt... set us up for a great day! There's no formal recipe, sorry. Oh, I can tell you the the potatoes were already baked, so I cut them into big chunks and browned them on a cast iron skillet. I started the vegetables like almost every other savory dish I make - I sauteed garlic (4 cloves) and onion (about half a cup) in a bit of oil in my wok first. Then I put everything in the wok at the same time except for the spuds. Varied cooking times? To the wind! Cook it all up and eat it!

We're going to get a grill today, I'm woozy just thinking of what we can throw on it! Watermelon? Oranges?

The What-what, and some back story

This blog is an ongoing, unscripted story about what a raucous, exhilarating, breathtaking good time cooking and eating more of the bazillions of plants that are all around us is. It's not a strictly vegan blog, weight loss blog, a how-to manual, or a lecture. I'm not a doctor, nutritionist, or professional anything when it comes to food. All I know is that discovering new fruits, vegetables, grains, gadgets... all of it, is a blast. And I would love to find out that you think so, too, because there's no way I'm the only one who goes gaga when I finally figure out what to do with that weird fruit that I always see at the market but was too afraid to try!

How did I get here? It's not an especially unique story.  Years of eating heavy, processed, food (and way too much of it), drinking whatever I wanted, and getting about zilcho exercise. Interrupted, of course, by brief bouts of attempts to get healthy that didn't last long - South Beach, pre-packaged meals, hyper-diligent portion control, fiber pills...  How'd that all work out? A figure closer to my sturdy stock dad's than my hourglass, petite mom's, a cholesterol level that was about to give a pill pusher cardiologist job security, and a sad sack energy level, that's how.

Then something clicked. What I eat really does matter. I know. Really? I've known about GIGO for forever! Why didn't I get that it applies to me? 

Now I'm taking that fun-to-say GIGO acronym and swapping out the "G". It doesn't stand for garbage anymore. Good stuff In, Good stuff Out. For even more mixed up metaphor fun, we can even make it, Green In, Guilt Out... Maybe later we can play a little game of all the permutations of GIGO we can put together!

So, now that I have all this crazy new extra energy thanks to Mama Nature, I'm using some of it to get this story started! Seen Eating Green, let's do it!