Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Kaylee's Lunch


 Kaylee, age 6, arranged and enjoyed this Plant-Based meal for lunch today.  She picked the tomatoes and cucumbers from the backyard garden.  We bought "lipstick" peppers, carrots, greens & purple cabbage from the Farmer's Market and Whole Grain Bagels from the local grocery store.  Black beans, soaked and pressure cooked in Grandma's kitchen, or drained and rinsed from a can round out this colorful and nutritious lunch.  Good for kids and good for Grandmas, too!


Sunday, August 19, 2012

Quick & Easy No Oil Gourmet Potato Chips

Arrange one layer of thin potato slices on plate (Sienna, age 9, used organic Peruvian Purple, Colorado Red and Yukon Gold, scrubbed, with skins on, from the Farmers' Market).  Microwave for 5-7 minutes.  Salt is optional. Divine!

The much-maligned potato is an ideal food for Plant-Based eating--low in calories and high in nutrient density.  Eat them daily--baked, mashed, hashed, roasted, "fried", steamed, thickening in soup and substance in salad (just avoid the oil, butter, and sour cream).  Potato-Powered grandkids are bright and "bushy tailed".  Potato-Powered grandmas have been known to keep apace from time to time!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Hot off the Press!

Forks Over Knives - The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-Based Eating All Through the YearWhat an amazing collection of Plant-Based recipes from Chef Del Sroufe, the man behind some of the mouthwatering meals in the film, FORKS OVER KNIVES.  Here's a sample for this season: 
Basil Pesto

2 cups packed basil or arugula
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Salt to taste
1/2 package extra firm silken tofu (6 oz), drained
1/4 cup nutritional yeast, optional

Combine the basil, pine nuts, garlic lemon juice, salt, tofu and nutritional yeast in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth and creamy.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

MAKE YOUR OWN VITAMINWATER!

Avoid the cost and consequences of consuming commercial VITAMINWATER. Make your own with cool, clean tap water.  Add your favorite fruit, veggie or herb. Then mix, squeeze, mash or nibble and drink.  There you have it--the real thing minus the sugar & dubious additives. Fun to create, fun to serve and fun to drink for the whole family! Why pay more?!

(Back row left to right: basilwater, parsleywater, carrotwater, celerywater, beetwater.  Front row left to right: mintwater, cucumberwater, limewater, lemonwater, orangewater) 

According to Wikipedia:

On January 14, 2009, the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a class-action lawsuit against Energy Brands' parent company in the Northern District of California Court. The suit alleges that the marketing of the drink as a "healthful alternative" to soda is deceptive and in violation of Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The consumer group states that "according to CSPI nutritionists, the 33 grams of sugar in each bottle of Vitaminwater do more to promote obesity, diabetes and other health problems than the vitamins in the drinks do to perform the advertised benefits listed on the bottles". Coca-Cola dismissed the suit as "ridiculous," on the grounds that "no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking Vitaminwater was a healthy beverage" and an attempt by the group to increase its readership.

VitaminWater consists of vapor distilled, deionized, and/or reverse osmosis filtered water; crystalline fructose (derived from corn syrup) as a sweetener; citric acid; electrolytes; natural flavors; and vitamins, including Vitamin C, B3, B5, B6, B12, and E. Other ingredients are added according to the flavor and intended purpose of the drink. The drinks contain 33 grams of sugar in a 20oz bottle which is equivalent to about 8 teaspoons of sugar (4 grams per teaspoon). Regular Coke contains 65 grams of sugar in a 20oz bottle which is equivalent to about 16 teaspoons of sugar. With 125 calories per bottle.

Misleading advertising

In January 2011, the United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority ruled that a Summer 2010 advertisement that claimed VitaminWater was "nutritious" was misleading due to the high sugar content (23g per 500ml) of the drink. The ruling banning the advertisement stated: "Because Vitamin Water contained about a quarter of a consumer's GDA (guideline daily amount) for sugar as well as the added vitamins, we considered that the description of Vitamin Water as 'nutritious' was misleading."

GLORIOUS GAZPACHO

  Now is the time to make GAZPACHO while tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are in full summer abundance.  A basic recipe follows, but you can add or subtract as you are inspired:

3 medium tomatoes
1 cuke peeled
1 bell pepper any color
1 rib celery with leaves
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup parsley &/or basil
1 14.5 oz can/jar/box no-salt diced tomatoes

Chop all the vegetables and combine them in a large bowl.

Add 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon low salt soy sauce, juice & zest of 1 lime and pepper to taste.  Chill, serve and enjoy!