A Vegan Diet Takes Some Work Sometimes

So, I follow a Vegan diet 99% of the time.  The remaining 1% I reserve for not being in offense.  My allegiance above all others is first and foremost to Christ and so, in some circumstances, I will not question the content of certain products.  I do not consume outright, obviously animal product loaded foods, but I may let some margarine containing items slide.  The Bible is very clear about not offending.  However, recently, I have felt that I could potentially return to eating at least seafood.  Part of this comes from so many other "vegan" bloggers quitting and from what I have come to understand was probably malnutrition.  As far as vegan quitters go, trends can be fairly contagious, but I try very hard not to just jump on any old bandwagon.  But all in all, here's how I got there...

Several months again, I suffered a miscarriage that led to long term bleeding.  It lasted approximately 3 months.  It was overwhelming, a bit depressing and greatly reduced my appetite.  When it stopped, I felt fine.  Then I returned to a normal cycle and that was when I began to feel very tired and I craved meat.  I was crabby and I just wanted something easy.  I also just didn't feel well.  I thought it might have been iron, but the doctor's tested my blood levels and said I was fine.  I was getting very frustrated.  I began to confess this to friends and someone who tells me constantly "I don't know how you do it," told me that maybe I needed to look at it from a different perspective.  She has no idea how that sank down into me and helped me.

I took some time to self-diagnose.  I could tell very easily that I was not consuming enough complex proteins.   I don't do much soy because of the studies done on it.  I don't have a lot of caloric room in my diet for loads of nuts - even though I love them.  But I began to make it a point to consume a large number of leafy greens, sweet potatoes and beans and nuts.  I would consume at least 1 of the starchier foods with a serving a of greens.  I also took 1 Hemaplex iron supplement every night along with some Chlorella samples I had.  I added 1 tbsp of Maca powder to my breakfast smoothie.  After a week, I was feeling much better.  Two weeks in and I full throttle again.  I can make it through the day without craving a nap or a piece of salmon.  While this has nothing to do with a Bible verse or anything Biblical wisdom related, I wanted to share because it happens.  Often.  Be encouraged new vegan, your struggles can be overcome with careful food planning and exercise.  You could eat more nuts if you had more caloric wiggle room.  Just because you crave meat, doesn't mean you should give up.  It just means you need to dig in heels and purpose to push through.  Go get yourself a bowl of Dashi free Miso and enjoy your day.

Yesterday's Menu

I make no claims to be the best photographer.  What? Food photography photos for $20 over at the Minimalist Baker's website.  I should invest.  But until then, please be patient with my LG Phone photos.  I think my iPhone 4S photos were WAY worse.  Could just be me.  I have a few friends who take fantastic photos.  If this gig ever pays, I'll pay them to take my food photos, except I didn't start this to make money.  Otherwise, my photos would be on point.  Either way, shout out to my photo pro friends.  I love them and treasure the gifts that God has given them.  He would want us to take good photos, I think, because memory can be so selective.

So, as I mentioned last night, I eat this coconut sticky rice that is so amazing and probably as high in calories as it is in carbs.  I caution, I am not a skinny vegan.  If I wanted more weight off, I would invest in exercise.  That's for another day, though.  It is based on the Thai coconut rice the restaurants serve as dessert.  I put this

Then

Then

(currants)

Into some

Then into a pot on the stove and cooked it together for 10 - 15 minutes, watching closely and stirring often until it became this

This finished product went into the freezer for a few minutes to cool down.  As I mentioned, I like it warm, so I cool it before eating.  Delicious.  Could be made without currants.  You could use raisins or you could leave them out and top with mango slices for a traditional flavor.  The sweetener is to taste.  I like about 1-1 1\2 tsps, some will add more, some less.  Most times I make enough of this for one.  Sometimes two.  The key is to use enough of the coconut to keep the rice creamy.  There has to be some liquid in the pot with the rice when it's done cooking.  It will be absorbed as it sets.  The rice, for me, must be soft but not soggy.  I also recommend jasmine rice over any other because the fragrant nature of the rice and the sticky texture work well with the coconut.  I have begun to restrict myself a bit, because when I am in the throws of hormonal changes, I crave it and then I wear it in the way of midsection bloat.  One other handy tip is that I store the leftover coconut in a glass jar in the fridge.  Never leave it in the fridge in a can.  Never leave anything in the fridge in a can, for that matter.  The metal oxidizes into the food.  I save many of my coconut oil jars and my pasta sauce jars and they work well for keeping whole spices sealed up tight and for preserving my precious coconut creams.  That same coconut stuff can be used with some Thai curry seasoning, to make an Asian curry.  I'm even thinking of a creamy coconut curry carrot soup.  The 4C's Soup.  Sounds scrumptious.  When I make it, I'll let you know.

So, that's my Friday food.    Hopefully, you try it and enjoy.

Fantastic Food

I know that this goes against all that I say I am going to do in terms of maintaining our relationship, but...our home has one computer, five children and one college attending adult.  I spend most of my time ordering my days, organizing my homeschooling, doing laundry and maintaining my house.  I did take pictures of what I wanted to show you, but I haven't transferred them or anything.  But, let me update you on some things.

First, I tell you that freezer meals have really set me free.  I have tried menus and meal planning.  I have failed on most fronts.  I can maintain following a menu for no more than 2 weeks before I become very busy.  I have faithfully pulled a meal out and dropped it in the Crock Pot everything day for a week.  I do not look in the cabinet and wonder "what to make today?".  Though, the other day, I looked at the spaghetti sauce and began to panic because I thought I didn't have enough.  Plus, the store is selling Prego pasta sauce for .99 cents right now.  But it would have been an unnecessary purchase because if I'm having pasta with red sauce, the sauce is with the meat in the freezer.  I could release my worries and move on.  We've eaten soup and tacos and chicken Rotini Alfredo with cheese.  We've had sandwiches and chicken Soyaki.  Well, they have eaten it, I'm still eaten vegan.  It has been wonderful.  It has kept my counter cleaner and just changed the dynamic of my daily responsibilities.  Try it, it will free you.  Plus, they have made a TON of leftovers.  Not everyone does leftovers, but my homeschoolers eat them because it is one less this to worry about.  It also breaks the urge to just grab a pizza because dinner is already prepared.  What a blessing.

The next wonderful thing is what I've eaten.  We'll not talk about the fact that I consume too many carbs.  I find jasmine rice to be fairly irresistible when there is extra thick coconut cream in the house.  I make a sweet coconut nice dessert with a bit of agave nectar and this time I also added some clove spice and some mango powder (I think).  I have a jar of whole Garam Masala that I occasionally crush up with a large wooden pestle and mortar, so I can't always identify which seed it was.  It was fantastic, though.  Sweet, creamy, aromatically spicy and just the right temperature.  I typically put it in the fridge or freezer to cool, but I never want it cold, just not scalding my mouth.  And then there was this raw porridge recipe from www.mynewroots.org.  It is called Raspberry Ripple Buckwheat Porridge.  It was delicious.  Of course, I changed it.  I used blueberries and a little fresh ginger in mine, as well as some raw agave nectar (a staple for me) and less than half of a frozen banana for thick, creaminess.  It was surprisingly tasty.  I am finding myself to be a fan of buckwheat.  I toss the groats in my granola, the Soba noodles are amazing and now I have porridge as a breakfast option (because I am so over oatmeal).  I encourage you to scout around, throw some variety into your eating routine.  Try a vegan meal or two.  They are surprisingly yummy and will change your whole perspective.  Maybe even some taste buds.

I will post those pics of the rice dessert tomorrow.  I will also share something that I've got going on in my life that is very relevant to my dietary perspective.  Until then, enjoy your Friday.

The Lazy Blogger Strikes Again

Sooo...what are you reading?  Oh, Leviticus, huh? No?  You should.  I just finished it...again.  Great book that makes me think about God's wisdom and His greatness.  Did you know that He always required the grain offerings to be mingled with oil?  Did you know that when flour becomes airborne, it can be highly combustible?  God knew.  He wasn't trying to burn down the Tabernacle.  His mandates regarding unclean things are roughly the same amount of time it would take for bacteria to die.  He explained which rashes were contagious and which weren't and how to know it had passed.  If it has turned white, it is fine.  Right about the time it starts to dry out, it's fine.  That still stands to be true.  We often look to see if the rash has raised bumps, fluid filled, localized or all over as well as the overall color.  How much more in control could the Creator be, to tell His people what to look for in diagnosing?  Amazing.  He also reminds us to care for our poor, to give to them without expecting anything in return.  He says to give without usury.  Don't lend to them at crazy interest rates.  Just give.  Surely, they were a terrified people and prone to thinking everything was a big deal.  He goes so far as to explain that a man with no hair is just bald.  He even breaks down what to do when your house starts to grow mold!  Even your clothes.  An incredible read, if you approach it from the right angle.  I shamelessly plug the book of Leviticus all of the time.  All of the books of the Bible are extraordinary, but Leviticus is one of my favorites.  Of course, now it is time to tackle some books that I haven't managed to read.  I lag behind my friends when it comes to reading the major prophets.  I haven't made it through Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel yet.  However, Judges and Deuteronomy are also excellent.  My words of wisdom today, are dig into Leviticus and get to know the God that created you.  Try to wrap your brain around the fact that He knows everything that could happen to the body He made.  Some of these statutes we still live by, like not eating animals that just up and die.  He said, "Don't eat the animal that dies of itself."  If a cow suddenly dies on the feed lot, they take it away and examine it.  They are not allowed to put it into the processing plant to be packaged for sale.  That one cow may be the warning sign of a greater issue, you don't want to eat that.  So, in looking at it that way, read it with the understanding that God makes rules to protect us.  You don't want mold in your home, it makes you and your children ill.  You don't want to consume blood because it may have bacteria.  I am in awe of His endless wisdom and I encourage you to be in awe too.  Be brave, be bold, read Leviticus.
Have a great night.

Food Not Friday

Happy Saturday! How was your Friday?  Mine was excellent.  I woke up early, got myself together and started my day.  The plan for my day was to grocery shop and get everything I need to begin making freezer meals.  A few of my friends had told me about this idea.  I didn't originally understand and was put off because I thought I would have to cook all of the food first.  No! It turns out that all I have to do is put the raw meat, firm veggies and sauce in a big freezer bag and toss it in the freezer.  It involves a TON of cutting onions, peppers, potatoes and carrots.  It also involves a lot of can opening.  But I had a good friend helping me, so it went pretty well.  Please keep in mind that these meals are for my family for dinner.  They are designed to make my day flow smoothly because I can't stand looking at the time and thinking, "what are we eating?"  I like to have dinner cooking before my husband gets home.  I like it to be done no later than 5:30. When I lived in upstate NY, I used to time the preparation of my meals to my two favorite NPR radio shows.  Most of these meals contain meat (but I never claimed this to be an exclusively vegan blog). I confess, I am not always exclusively vegan.  I confess further, I miss fish dearly.  I have always been a sushi fan and I miss that "Umami" flavor of the fish.  But, I digress.  This is the list of some of the meals I made.

1.  Steak pizza sandwiches - minus the bread of course.  I used a London broil, onions, peppers, tomato paste mixed with beef broth and pepperoni.  Slow cook for 6-8 hours on low
2.  Maple balsamic pork with apples - a pork loin, balsamic vinegarette, maple syrup (I used breakfast syrup), thick sliced onions and apples.  Slow cook on low 6-8 on low
3.  Cilantro Lime Chicken - 3 chicken breasts, diced red onions, juice of two limes, 1 bunch cilantro diced, 2 cans of black beans and 1 package frozen corn.  Slow cook 6-8 on low
4.  Soyaki chicken - I used Trader Joe's Soyaki sauce and 1 pack skinless, boneless chicken thighs.  I plan to add broccoli at the end of cooking and serve over rice.  Slow cook 6-8 hours on low
5.  Sausage and baked beans - Half a polish sausage, 2 cans of Trader Joe's baked beans, diced green and red peppers, diced sweet onion.  Slow cook for 6-8 hours on low.
6.  Pork carnitas - 6-8 thin sliced, boneless pork chops, 1 bottle of taco sauce, diced red onions.  I added cilantro.  Slow cook 6-8 hours on low.
7.  Beef Stew - 1 London Broil, 2 packs of slow cooker pot roast mix mixed with 2 cups of water, 3-4 chopped potatoes, 3-4 chopped carrots, 2 celery stalks chopped and 1 chopped onion.  Slow cook 6-8 hours on low
8.  Sausage and potato soup - The other half of the Polish sausage, half cup of diced sweet onions, 3-4 chopped potatoes (or diced, but they fall apart after a while so I cut them larger), 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup with the milk added
9.  White bean, spinach and gnocchi soup - I made this with me in mind because I wanted to eat some of the Trader Joe's Gnocchi.  I mixed 2 Chik'n boillon cubes and 4 cups of water.  I added 1 diced sweet onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/3 bag of white beans and 1 bag of frozen spinach.  The Gnocchi has to be added later, closer to the finish time so it won't over cook.  Slow cook 6-8 hours mostly to soften those beans.

I made more, but can't recall the recipes right off the top of my head.  The goal was to pack 14 meals so that I would not have to do major grocery shopping next week.  Right now I'm trying them in 2 week stints, but my goal is to prep them for a whole month.  One major grocery trip for a whole month would be wonderful and would free up more money during the month.

I did, however, want to show you my Broccoli and Cheddar soup.  No real cheese.  Not an unhealthy option.  I used yellow carrots, nutritional yeast, Chik'n broth, 2 garlic cloves, pepper, salt, juice from 1 lemon, I think that's it.  Well, the remains of some bag of frozen chopped broccoli and some Miso paste.

 I chopped the two carrots, minced the garlic and cooked them together with a little oil.  Then I added, maybe a cup of water, and a Not Chik'n Bouillon cube.  I cooked it down until the carrots were soft, let them cool a bit and then transferred them to the blender.  I added the juice of the lemon, another garlic clove, 3-4 tbsps of nutritional yeast and 1 poorly measured tsp of miso paste.  I mixed it, salted and peppered it, mixed it again.  Then I transferred it back to the pot, added more broth and the broccoli.  It was delicious.

I do very little with accurate measurements.  So, please forgive me.  It was still the best darn broccoli cheddar soup I've had.

Wisdom Wednesday

So, it has been a while since I've posted and many things have transpired over the past two weeks.  One of the biggest reasons for my silence was originally the slow computer.  We went from a 2007 laptop that quit to an old 2003 that someone had given us and I was struggling.  Then, recently, we were blessed (litereally out of the blue gift) with a new laptop and my husband has since resumed school work, so I haven't had a chance to enjoy.  The other big obstacle has been, I'm trying to live with right priorities.  I am trying to stay to a schedule and make better use of my time.  That has meant waking early and keeping busy and being too tired to blog at night.  I have to bring order into my life now, because I am feeling the need to raise consistent, hard working young men who will serve with joy.  I also need to break the bonds of laziness.  I have been busy preparing my homeschooling schedule and a house cleaning schedule and soon, I believe, I will begin making those infamous slow cooker freezer bags that everyone I know keeps talking about.  You just buy your groceries and when you get home, put the raw meat, sauce, seasoning and veggies right in a big freezer bag and put it right in the freezer.  Every morning, all I have to do is take one out, put it in the Crock-Pot, turn it on and keep it moving.  I love it.

Ok, so in this case, I'm speaking to disorganized, somewhat lazy home schooling moms like myself who are THROUGH with the way things haven't been working.  I put together a binder with printables.  You can search the web and find many printables.  Many of the printables came from www.donnayoung.org/forms/. She has lovely weekly planner pages, as well as menus and everything you need.  I am a visual person, so I searched out a menu that was a bit more my style.  I am homeschooling multiple children, so I may use the weekly forms as daily, that remains to be seen.  I printed a Goals sheet to set some benchmarks for myself for our History because I tend to cover the essentials and that gets partial coverage.  But I buy the comprehensive, more expensive curriculum and love it, so I'm determined to do it well.  We find that if one thing is done well, another suffers, such as the clean house.  Well, I have an answer for that.  Just Mommies has monthly cleaning calendar at http://www.justmommies.com/articles/home-organization-plan.php. It is very helpful.  A simple calendar can be found at www.timewarpwife.com.  It is easy to follow, assumes for major daily cleaning of one room per week with some minor, daily upkeep.  I've used both, and I love both, so both are in my binder.  You may also consider a supply list, a Bible reading schedule, a daily schedule for mom and kids.  I have older children as well as younger, so I have attendance charts and a yearly calendar.  I also have a place to schedule field trips.  I am picky and have decided to be thrifty.  That means I am not purchasing a professionally done planner this year.

Finally, I have to say that none of this matters if you don't spend some alone time with the Creator.  I am sincerely striving daily, to meet with Him first and ask for His grace and His mercy.  I am learning that I need all of His love in order to love my children.  I need His control, in order to show self control.  I must ask for His fruits of righteousness so that I may have them in my day.  How can I encourage if I am not encouraged?  How can I love without having a double dose of His love?  Where am I accessing these qualities I need to have that my actions may honor Him?  You cannot expect a great day and spontaneous organization to come from within you if you've never asked God to put it there.  Ask each day and it shall be added.  He is faithful.  Jesus said, "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Luke 11:9 NIV)  Also, If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5 NIV) Then finally, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

Prolonged Silence Promotes Laziness

Today was a crazy day, but go figure for the last night of revival.  I needed revival.  I have battled laziness and disorder.  A huge part of my testimony was my desire to have order in my life and how I almost traveled the wrong roads.  God kept some doors shut long enough to activate some people into reaching me.  Right on time, too.  But I have not taken in all of the order He has offered and I have thus fallen into something other than Godly-chaos.  There is chaos in my homeschooling and chaos in my housekeeping and chaos in my spending. Which has robbed me of peace.  But coming out of revival, I have surrendered my inclination to chaos to God and He has shown me that when it threatens to creep in and rob me of joy, I must praise Him.  Praising God will strengthen me and lift me and fill me and calm me and restore my joy.  So many verses out of Psalms speak of praising and all of its benefits.  I need to comb through and pull out some wonderful nibbles of encouragement.  I say nibbles because the Bible says to "taste and see that the Lord is good." So, in this brief message, I hope you find the answer to your chaos.  When the kids are making you crazy and people you meet say things that offend and Walmart is once again a nightmare you should have  never braved, praise Him.  His presence, which is the result of praising, will restore calm and joy.