Spinach Hummus

In a food processor, add a handful each of spinach and parsley, 3 green onions, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp each of olive oil and vinegar, and a can of rinsed chick peas.  Put on a slice of gluten free whole wheat bread and topped with fresh salsa.  Yum!

Two good vegan meals this weekend

Wanted to share two things I really enjoyed this weekend.  First was a vegan burger grilled, on a whole wheat flat bread roll, with avocado, spinach, romaine lettuce, and a slice of mango.  Was awesome!

having problems posting the second pic, will follow this blog.

Sweet Potato Balls

These are good for popping in a snack that pack some good carbs and protein.
1/2 cup of almond or coconut flour
1/2 cup of oatmeal chopped fine in processor
1 cup of boiled sweet potato mashed
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of baking powder

combine all ingredients and role into 1inch balls.  sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake at 325 for 20 minutes.

My Vegan-Chile....do-over

Ok, I made vegan chili yesterday, and to say it was less to be desired is an understatement.  But today, I took the whole pot, and dumped it back into a pot that had sauteed white onions in 2tbsp of olive oil, 2 cloves of garlice diced up, 2 scalions, and a can of heavily rinsed back beans, and I must say, I am pleased with the outcome.  So my original recipe was in one big soup pot,  a bag of lentils rinsed, 1/2 cup of brown rice (for a complete protein), 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, 1 tiny can of tomato paste, 3 cups of water, and some cumin, some chili powder, some cayenne pepper, and black pepper.
So from my learning experience, what I'm going to try next is first saute the onions and garlic in olive oil, on a seperate pot cook the brown rice, 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water, then back into the onion pot, add the water, lentils, diced tomatoes and seasoning.  Cook on low for about an hour, then add the rinsed black beans, the rice and scalions.  Let cook on simmer for 30 minutes, might have to add water to get the consistency of chili.  Oh well, all a learning process. 
I also read the blog of "Vegan Chicks" and their chili recipe looks really good too.  Going to try that next week.  Till then, health and happiness! 

Day 2 of the Vegan-anator

Nothing changed much, except started my day with a half a cup of Kashi cereal, dry (whoopie!), and I made an attempt at a Vegan Lentil Chili with brown rice.  Must admit, back to the drawing board.  Definitely not worth posting that recipe.  I'm going to try and make these sweet potatoe balls today that are awesome.  Hopefully I will have the recipe for that up soon. 
It was good last night, when I got home from work, I took the so-so chili, and made a whole wheat burrito with lettuce, this really good salsa I found.  Hopefully posts will get much more exciting, but here is the pic I took in the beginning of November when my weight was right around 200lbs.  Based on my frame, I think 190 would be ripped, so that is my goal.  Health and Happiness!

Facing the Vegan-anator: weigh in time

Around mid november, after about 2 months of just drinking my vegetable/juice drinks that I prepared in the blender, and eating some lean meat in the evening, I fell off the wagon.  This Holiday was not kind to me.  We all have stress, and I know it contributed my seeking comfort in food, but man, all that good food in front of your face for a month, and I had to eat it.  So today, 5lbs heavier than 2 weeks ago, I am weighing in at 207lbs.  For one day I was 199lbs, which I havn't seen since my sophmore year in high school!  That's not a bad thing, since that is when I got into weight lifting and bodybuilding, but to think I was almost 40lbs heavier a couple years back and hardly any muscle tone is a tough pill to swallow.

Hard to believe 2 and half years ago, I was tipping the scale at 245, and nutrition and health were the last things on my mind.  It's amazing when you stop to look at your life sometimes, and realize things you did without any effort before, are not becoming harder and harder.  More aches and pains and out of breath on more occasions.  So no doubt, the last 2.5 years have been the most enlightening for me, and its led me to this path, the mostly Vegan one.  But like everyone, I fall on my face too. So here is my embarrassing pic from 2 years ago.  Next blog will be my 202lb pic which I want back within a couple weeks.

Day 1 of the Vegan-anator

There is no doubt, when I eat vegan, my body just feels so much better.  I can definitely tell how much harder my body has to work to process meat proteins.  I do like to make fruit and vegetable juices, and a couple months ago when I was heavily into "juicing" I blew out two blenders, so I just went and got the Ninja, which I so far really love! 
So my day started with a handfull of Kale(I know, not tasty, but it is so good for you), approx a cup of blueberries, raspberries, an apple, and a few baby carrots, cup of water, and a scoop of Plant Fusion, which is a vegan protein powder.  That made enough for two drinks to take me up to noon.
I then made my own hummus(or something of the sorts) for lunch.  I used probably 10 spears of broccoli, 2 green onions, 2 cloves of garlic, a handful of parsely, 2 tbsp of olive oil, and 2tbsp of vinegar and a can of well rinsed chick peas.  I used my Ninja and blended it into a paste.  For lunch I had about 1/2 cup with 3 pieces of pumpernickel bread (they are appetizer size bread, about 2" by 2") and spread the hummus on the bread.  I thought it was so good.

A couple hours later I had a handful of almonds.  An hour or so later I had about 1/2 cup of Kashi cereal dry to snack on.  I left for work and took my 1/2 cup of hummus with 3 pieces of bread, which I ate around 7.  At 8pm I had an apple, and when i got home from work around 10pm, I had a big salad of romaine lettuce, cucumber, sliced almonds, tomatoes,  and red wine vinagrette dressing.

I rode for 30 minutes on the stationary bike for some cardio work. 

Felt great today and hope day 2 goes great too!  Health and Happiness!

Why I Chose a Vegan Diet?

I would believe people who become vegan's become for different reasons.  No doubt, it seems a common trait to eat a more natural, wholesome diet, that try's to reflect a greater caring for earth.  I also would fit into this category, and I probably wouldn't be at this point if I hadn't watched two very profound movies: Food, Inc. and Food Matters.  When you get a chance, please watch these, if you havn't already.  Just seeing how our food industry has changed, and probably the biggest change industry is the meat industry.  The idea of cows and chickens running around on a farm eating their natural diet and waiting to become your next family dinner is not even coming close to hitting the target.  Now, do to the motivation of the industry to use corn in almost every manufacturing opportunity, all of our animals are being fed some corn based product, which most of these animals were never designed to eat, and pushing their development at a much faster pace.  Also using antibiotics and hormones to help them become much fatter, much more meaty, within half the time as their normal growth curve, shows the desire to manufacture a product rather than provide our families nutritious meat and poultry.  Of course the icing on the cake is to see the unsanitary conditions these animals live in, being overcrowded, never cleaned, and dead animals among them that remain there for a period of time much greater than anyone's expectation, really makes me think if I want to be consuming that type of food.  So, with that soap box out of the way, I will be the first to admit that I am not swearing off all meat and fish.  I intend to eat very limited quantities of meat and fish, and when I do, I will consume organic.  But also, to be eating what I was eating in the quanities I was eating it, and to switch to totally organic, I don't think my family could afford it.  So my goal is not to carry the title "I'm a vegan", my goal is to select the most healthy foods for my body, due to the fact that when I eat a mostly "vegan" diet, my body feels at its best.  So that is how I intend to eat, and I would like to share that with you, the reader, in hopes that you too can make some changes to your diet if you feel that your current diet plan isn't providing you the optimum level of health and nutrition, and your energy is subpar.  So during this blog, I will share with you my meals, my attitude, my energy level, and anything else that keeps me and hopefully you, on pace towards a healthy lifestyle.  So, in closing for my first blog, please watch Food, Inc. and Food Matters.  I watched them both on Netflix.  Health and Happiness to you.