This last week I had the opportunity of spending a few days in beautiful Austin, Texas. I was there presenting at an educators conference (NISOD) with some of my colleagues. I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Healthy Girl's Kitchen, and she posted this flyer for a potluck at Rip Esselstyns house. If you don't know, or don't remember, Rip Esselstyn is the author of the famous Engine 2 Diet which advocates a plant based diet. At first, I barely skimmed the flyer but then realized that the potluck was happening on Memorial Day and I would be in Austin on the very day of the potluck. I immediately pulled up Google Maps to find the distance between my hotel and Rip's house. It was only a few miles!!
I wondered if the potluck was truly open to all so I "friended" Rip Esselstyn on Facebook and then asked him via a direct message if the potluck was truly open to all. He said it was open to everyone and feel free to bring a friend. So it was for real.....now I needed a dish to bring. First I looked for grocery stores close to my hotel but because it was downtown, there wasn't much in walking distance. Finally I decided the best option was to bring a can of corn, peas, garbanzo beans and black beans in my suitcase along with a bottle of Trader Joe's Sesame Soy Ginger Vinegarette. The idea would be to mix up the veggies and beans in a bowl and then pour the dressing over it making a quick salad. Monday after my conference, I went back to my room and threw the salad together. I then called a cab and headed for Rip's house. I was a bit nervous when I arrived, knowing that I wouldn't really know ANYONE. Rip was standing in his driveway graciously meeting all his guests. We had a quick chat and then I moved on to meeting some of the other guests. Overall, it was a cool experience with great food, great company and a genuinely warm and gracious host.
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Yes, I know, it's been awhile since I've posted an update to the blog. Nope, haven't fallen off the wagon and gone back to my eating ways of the past......in fact, quite the contrary! I've been spending a lot of time trying out the recipes from Lindsay at http://happyherbivore.com. The recipes are simple, most things can be found in your typical grocery store and the recipes are easy to tweak if you like a different combination of seasonings.
A couple of things we've tried recently and really like....Black Bean Brownies, Blueberry Breakfast Cake, Hawaiian BBQ: Teriyaki Chickpeas and Instant Vegan Alfredo just to name a few. And if that isn't enough....check out her cookbook (with 2 more on the way) called The Happy Herbivore Cookbook: Over 175 Delicious Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes. I've also recently ordered and watched Jeff Novick's DVD called Fast Food. Jeff's video is definitely a little different than other cooking videos. First, it looks like he does most of the video right in his own home without any fancy recording equipment. Second, his approach is to prove it can be inexpensive to eat on a plant based diet. Lastly, and really I think the most important, the way he shares his recipes forces you to go outside your comfort zone (if you are a recipe follower) and figure out what tastes good based on your liking. All of his recipes use 5 base ingredients: 1) a tomato base, 2) a bean, 3) a grain, 4) vegetables and 5) seasonings. So for example, if you are making a "mexican" type meal, then you use a tomato base, with pinto beans, rice, some vegetables typically associated with mexican food (i.e. bell pepper, corn, onion, squash, etc.) and then mexican seasonings. Although the video and sound quality aren't perfect, the point of the video still gets across. So between the Happy Herbivore and Jeff Novick's Fast Food, I've been busy trying new recipes and expanding my cooking horizons. Take a look at these two resources and see what you think. By the way....the Happy Herbivore has tons of her recipes online and available for free at http://happyherbivore.com/recipes/ First, let me apologize to all of you in the rest of the country that are snowed in. See, I live in sunny California and the sunny days has me thinking about firing up the BBQ this summer. I've made several different veggie burger recipes but never came across one that "looked" like a hamburger (not that it's that important....but it goes along way when trying to sucker my kids into eating a plant based diet). These not only look like a hamburger but they are very tasty also! Feel free to modify the seasonings to your hearts content....it's really easy. Oh, and if you decide to throw these on the grill, throw a handful of veggies too....like green/red bell pepper, onion, zucchini, yellow squash....the list goes on. Try them out yourself and then let me know what you think! Black Bean Veggie Burgers I had pretty much given up on any kind of cheese replacement that was decent on this diet but I happened to be reading Howard Lymans book called "No More Bull". In the back of the book are over 100 recipes. I started perusing the recipes and found a recipe for cheese replacement. I gave it a go and it's pretty good!! This recipe can be used to dip your chips in (like nacho cheese), it can be used on pizza, quesadilla's, the list goes on. There are several variations in the book but I only put one or two of them on my recipe page. Again, try it out and let me know what you think! Cheese Replacement Recipe One of the challenges of being on this diet is finding salad dressings that do not contain oil. Adding even more to that challenge, is finding an Italian Dressing that does not include oil. This simple recipe basically uses cornstarch and water (thickened on the stove) in place of oil. The thickened cornstarch and water can be used in other recipes in place of oil also. Here's the Italian Dressing recipe. On a completely different topic, as I talk to more and more people advocating for a change I like to give examples of people who've had success. There are some people in my personal life who've started doing this diet but I haven't gotten around to getting their story posted. Additionally, I'm not a doctor so I don't have the luxury of meeting daily with patients and scientifically tracking their progress. Sooo, I decided to share some of the success stories of people I've come across as I've done my plant based diet research. Whether it's for inspiration or you want proof, check out some of the stories on my Success Stories page. I'm always looking for fun snack food that fits the diet so that when I get the munchies I have something healthy to eat. I know these onion rings don't look healthy but they are.....no oil, no grease....just baked and yummy. Dip them in your favorite sauce and enjoy! Check out the recipe! The breading for these can be used on many things. I've used them on potato wedges and I no others have tried the breading on zucchini and mushrooms also. The recipe is adapted from the Isa Chandra Moskowitz recipe book called, "Appetite for Reduction". She likes to use oil to saute things but I found that in almost every recipe, you can eliminate the oil and the recipe still works just fine! This is an excellent video excerpt explaining some "facts" about olive oil. It's by a diet expert named Jeff Novick. I love chili and so I'm always playing around with my recipes to get just the right blend of flavors. I was reading through some of the recipes on allrecipes.com and came across a recipe to try. I modified it slightly and it is now my favorite chili recipe! It calls for low sodium taco seasoning and a package of ranch dressing mix. I would have never put those two together but it is wonderful! It's so good, even my 6-year-old picky eater likes it. If you like chili, you'll like the Amazing Chili recipe! With the holidays at hand, I was looking for a good dish to be the "main" dish for our holiday meals. I tried the vegebird in the McDougall book and it was horrible. In the past, we've always done turkey, ham or homemade chicken and noodles. So what could we use to replace those dishes that would satisfy an unlikely vegetarian? My dear mother decided to try the Raise-the-roof Sweet Potato Lasagna from the Engine 2 Diet book by Rip Esselstyn. All I can say is WOW (see pic)! This is now our goto meal for the holidays and it is wonderful. The recipe makes 10-12 servings so you may want to cut it in half or freeze half of it for another evening. I was with family yesterday after a funeral down in the Los Angeles area and we stopped at Marie Calendars. I decided to have some of their vegetable soup. It was satisfactory but I realized that I could probably find a recipe I liked better. So today I looked out on the internet, found a recipe, made some adjustments and came up with a very yummy and flavorful vegetable soup. To try it out yourself, you can find the recipe here. It was a fun recipe because I had my youngest daughter (6) help me with washing the vegetables, cutting them up and putting them in the pot. My hope was that because she made it, maybe she would be more inclined to eat it. Well, the logic didn't really pan out although she did eat some. My son devoured it and the mom of the house and oldest daughter weren't home to try it. Either way, it's a nice soup to have on hand. It would be a great idea to double the recipe and then put in the fridge for lunch over a few days. If vegetable soup isn't your thing.....give my chili a try...it's also a good winter dish and is yummy! Here are some of the latest foods we've been enjoying. The first picture is a very yummy veggie wrap I made the other day. What makes these wraps wonderful is to bake them for about 8-10 minutes in the oven. It warms up the ingredients and also gives a slight crunch to the outer shell. Here's the recipe! I've also been reading through the book written by the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. His name is Rip and he's written a book about how he used a plant based diet to convert a whole fire station to eating this way. The book is called the Engine 2 Diet. One of the recipes in his book is called, "Macaroni and Not Cheese" so I decided to give it a try and see what my family thought! To try this yummy recipe, click here! Last weekend I was motivated to make something new so I gave calzones a try. The one in the picture is not perfect, because ideally there would be more sauce over the top of the calzone (but I ran out). The calzone was great and, like pizza, there is so much you can do with it. A calzone is just a stuffed pizza so try some other sauces inside besides a red sauce. I was thinking a yummy pesto sauce or maybe even hummus! The dough takes a little time because it has to raise but you can be cutting up your veggies (for the innards) and working on the sauce while you wait. The beauty of calzones (again, like pizza) is that you can make one per person and can completely customize the toppings for the individual person. I made these for several of us and made sure each person gave me the toppings they like so that it was made-to-order. It's a fun way to cook and everybody gets just what they want! The recipe for the calzone is in the recipe section of this site. Another item I made last weekend was our favorite Pumpkin Spice Muffins. They are quick and very easy and the whole family loves them. In fact, I usually make a double batch and through one dozen in the freezer for a few days. These can go bad quickly so definitely keep them refrigerated and if you make a large batch, put the extras in the freezer. These can be a nice complement to a meal, or they can even be a dessert by adding a sweet jelly to them or over a cup of coffee. This Pumpkin Spice Muffin recipe can also be found in the "recipes" section of this site. |
About the Author
Hello, my name is Todd Coston. This site is a dedicated to my journey on a plant based diet. I'm passionate about the benefits of this diet and share my thoughts, resources and recipes through this site. I would love to hear from you, so drop me a line at [email protected]. Other Plant Based Blogs/Sites:
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