I found a bran muffin recipe

Isn't social media wonderful? I was finally able to locate a bran muffin on Facebook. The internet is great but sometimes finding what you want is like finding a needle in a haystack.

 The only problem is that they didn't remember the source of the recipe. I've tried this recipe and it's great. It's a perfect and simple bran muffin.

Bran Muffins

3/4 cup bran (I use wheat bran)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

6 tbsp non-dairy milk

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce

 /4 tsp pure vanilla extract.

Preheat oven to 350

Grease muffin tin and set aside.

In a mixing bowl whisk bran, flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Add remaining ingredients, stirring just to combine.

Bran batter is thicker than most batters but not dry or floury. Add another 1 -2 tbsp of non-dairy milk if too dry.

Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake 15 minutes or until firm to the touch. or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Makes 6 - calories 103. 1.1 grams of fat, 20.6 carbs, 6.2 grams of fiber, 8.9 grams of sugar, 3.4 grams of protein

 (if anyone recognizes who this recipe belongs to please credit)

New plant based books coming out

I am excited this week Spring is in the air and there's a feeling of fresh and new life. I feel like there are so many wonderful plant based books just released or going to be released.

Plantpower Way

I was listening to a podcast by Rich Roll earlier this week. I hear about a new book coming out called The Plantpower Way. You can preorder the book before April 28th and get a bunch of bonuses (up to $3000). The new book by Rich Roll and his wife Julie Piatt sounds really interesting. They describe it as a lifestyle guide on the power of plant based eating. The book also includes 120 recipes. Today's its on pre-order at Amazon for $26.46. I think the Amazon prices change hourly or daily. I've just added this to my Amazon wish list.

Plant-Powered Families: Over 100 Kid-Tested, Whole-Foods Vegan Recipes

Another book on my wish list and on pre-order( to be released in May) is a book by Dreena Burton. The title of this cookbook is Plant-Powered Families: Over 100 Kid-Tested, Whole-Foods Vegan Recipes. She shows how your whole family can eat easy, delicious, and healthy on a plant-based diet. This sounds wonderful to me since I'm struggling to get my kids to join me on this journey. Today the pre-order price for a paperback book is $15.45.

Video by Plant-Based Christian.

Plant-based Christian has a new English version youtube channel. The video I watched was titled What I ate today on the Starch Solution. He makes two recipes that look good Easy Breakfast waffles and Rustic Leftover Chili. Both recipes look great. I think he might have a ceramic waffle iron, which is an item on my wish list.

Take a look at his new video.  I really like the look of his food and look forward to future videos.

Lentils, lentils, lentils

This week I listened to a podcast in ITunes: Food for thought: Favorite Food: For the Love of Lentils Released Mar 31, 2010.

I went 40 years of my life without either eating lentils or knowing that lentils existed. In the last few months, I've started adding lentils to my pantry and I started searching for recipes using lentils. So far, I tried just two recipes: Chef AJ's red lentil chili & Protective Diet Sloppy Jerrys. I've heard lots of people raving about Chef AJ red lentil chili, but I discovered quickly that I am NOT a fan. Second, I tried the P.D. Slow Cooker Sloppy Jerrys. This recipe is fabulous, so I know I do like lentils.

  

Types of Lentils

 In Colleen's podcast, I heard that lentils are popular (staple food) all over the world. People in the USA are less familiar with them. (so true!) They are used a lot in Indian Cuisine. They are lens shaped and they come in lots of different varieties. She mentioned just a couple types:

• French Green Lentils (really holds it shape after cooking, wonderful flavor)
• Brown Lentils (very common, can hold their shape, wonderful flavor, earthy flavor)
• Red Lentils (yellowish red, sometimes called yellow lentils, mostly used in dishes where they are soft)
• Black beluga lentils

I can easily find brown and red lentils at my local grocery stores and Walmart. I found French Green Lentils at a natural food grocery store (4 hrs round trip) in bulk so I picked up a tiny bit to try. The Green lentils are more expensive per pound, so I'll have to decide if they are worth it. Vita-Cost carries lentils, so I can get them shipped to my house also.

Lentils don't need to be soaked overnight like dried beans. Before cooking, you have to rinse them and pick thru (remove stones etc.). Most lentils cook in about 30 minutes and you don't want to cook in too much water/broth (you would be dumping the nutrients down the drain). She doesn't cover the pot completely when cooking.

Lentils are full of nutrition

1 cup of cooked lentils has the following:

• have 230 calories (less calorie dense than pasta)
• 90% of daily value of folate (in one cup)
•  36% of daily percent of iron
• 35% of daily percent of protein

Ways to use lentils

Recipes/ways to use lentils per Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (I haven't tried any of these). It's amazing to see how versatile lentils are. They are used in recipes from salads, burgers, lentil loafs, to stews.

1. Sprinkle lentils on a green salad
2. Brown lentils seasoned with balsamic vinegar and salt
3. Warm lentil salad (The Vegan Table) can be served over greens or eaten in a pita pocket
4. Lentil loaf
5. Dahl
6. Red lentil and artichoke stew
7. Cashew and red lentil burgers

Mushrooms the good and the bad

Shiitake Mushroom

The good

I've read many times that mushrooms are very healthy for you and can even help fight cancer.

Per cancer.org:

"Promoters claim that shiitake mushrooms contain several compounds with health benefits. A compound called lentinan is believed to stop or slow tumor growth. Another component, activated hexose-containing compound (also known as 1,3-beta glucan), is also said to reduce tumor activity and lessen the side effects of cancer treatment. The mushrooms also contain the compound eritadenine, which is thought to lower cholesterol by blocking the way cholesterol is absorbed into the bloodstream. "

It seems that they are still doing studies/clinical trials to see if mushrooms are indeed helpful in the fight for cancer. But really, everything above sounds really, really great with mushrooms.

The problem

The bad news is that I can't stand (have a very strong aversion to) mushrooms. I usually just refer to them as fungus. It's a texture thing for me. My husband also has an allergy to mushrooms and we don't include mushrooms in any of our dishes. After reading about mushrooms, I really want to like them, but I just can't.

The problem is that lot's of plant based recipes include mushrooms. I'll find a really great looking marinara or stir-fry recipe and it calls for mushrooms. These are the recipes that I just currently ignore. I read that you can possibly replace mushrooms with eggplant in some recipes.

Here's my question--Can you just leave out the mushrooms or do you have to replace them with something else in a recipe? Are they essential to the dish? I'm going to have to research this in the next coming weeks.

 Do you like mushrooms?  If you do, good for you. I'm envious.

Ultimate summit for plant-based living (April 23-26th)

Check out the UCD Integrative Medicine blog. They are going to have a ultimate summit for plant based living April 23-26. Plant based baking will be one of their many topics (also they mention cooking gluten free). It's 100% complimentary so I signed up to reserve my spot. I can't wait to see who they have for speakers. I'm all about learning new things.

Getting Started on a tight budget

If money is a problem with getting started on a healthy diet, I would say try to get started very simply.

Breakfast

Pick out a simple breakfast that you would like to eat for a couple days. I think that oats would be the cheapest way to start. You can either pick up steel cut oats or old fashioned oats. I get my in bulk if they are on sale. Grape Nuts or a simple grain cereal like Puffed Rice or Kamut Puffs could also work. These have no sugar or salt added. I found both Puffed Rice and Kamut Puffs at Vita-Cost and Amazon. You will also want to pick up a plant-based milk. I use soy milk. I usually add some type of fruit to my cereal. I think bananas are a fairly inexpensive fruit to include. I keep frozen fruit in the freezer also to increase

Lunch

Lunches can be as simple as a green salad. Salads don't  need to be complicated. They can be as simple as spinach , a starch (cooked brown rice, baked potato) or beans, and dressing. When I first started out I was trying to buy lots of stuff to add to my salad, but over time I realized that you don't have to get very complicated. During the winter, when veggies are more expensive, I make uncomplicated salads. If I want more than just spinach and romaine, I put in cabbage, carrots, celery and/or radishes. I like these items since they are relatively inexpensive and last for a while in my fridge.

Salad Dressing
Salad Dressing is so important and may end up being a challenge. I don't think there are any healthy bottled dressings, at least not at my stores. The Protective Diet website has some great recipes for salad dressings. Jane Esselstyn has a simple dressing I heard about in a video a while back. She calls it the 321 Salad Dressing. 3 TB balsamic vinegar, 2 TB Mustard (your choice), 1 TB maple syrup. Before I found the PD dressings and Jane's dressing I was just tossing my salad with a little bit of balsamic or rice vinegar.

Snacks

I usually take fruit for a snack: apples, oranges, or bananas. Baked Potatoes are a great filling non-fruit snack to switch it up. Raw veggies are very easy to transport.

Dinner

Dinner is always my most expensive meal. I usually make dinner meals that have multiple servings so I can have left overs.

• Pasta - Some easy less expensive dinners would be whole wheat pasta, no oil pasta sauce w/ veggies on the side. You can always add some of your greens (spinach or kale) to your pasta sauce.
• Tacos/Burritos -Another idea might to have a taco night with no oil home made corn tortilla shells, re-fried beans and veggies on top (lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, etc.) 
• Potatoes or Rice - I find potato and rice meals are usually filling and satisfying. I loved making baked potatoes and adding toppings such as salsa, green onions, cilantro, and beans. I use black beans in my favorite quick bean bowls (salsa, green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, corn, etc.)

I hope you can find your path to getting started no matter your budget.

I found the Ultimate Resource Guide

Today I found the Ultimate Resource Guide for Plant Based Eating. It has a section for favorite websites, books, and free recipes. It looks like a great compilation of resources.

Check out the books on their list that I've read

• The Starch Solution –I read a library copy.
• Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook. -I read a library copy and decided a needed a copy of my own.
• The China Study-- I  read a library copy.
• The Happy Herbivore cookbooks –I bought the kindle version of three of her books.

 Check out the books on their list that are on my wish list

• The Forks Over Knives Plan - I only read the original Forks Over Knives book from the library. 
• The Vegiterranean Diet 
• Let Them Eat Vegan

There are a lot of great websites listed. I haven't visited Plant-Powered Kitchen or One Green Planet, so I hope to check these websites out later this week.

Weekend Research: Food Over Medicine Interview

Food Over Medicine: The Conversation That Could Save Your Life. I listened to this YouTube video interview over the weekend by Elena Wilkins (Vegalicious). This is an interesting interview about Pam Popper's book Food Over Medicine. This book was just released in December and I have it on my wish list but haven't read it yet.

What I like about the interview

I found this interview to be very enjoyable. It was like a casual conversation between two friends. I like to listen to Pam Popper's ideas/messages about nutrition, supplements, and taking care of our bodies. I mostly like her way of thinking that we need to get more people over to eating healthy. I think she said either in this video or another video that we can get really sick people to do just about anything. It's the other people she would also like to encourage. The people that are going to get sick that just don't know it yet.

Pam Popper's Message

I liked her attitude that people need to just start eating plant based and we can't require them to be all or nothing. I think she said if salt helps get your broccoli down, eat it with salt and if you need to wean yourself of meat products to get going, then try her method of tapering off meat. Also, if you are at a party, eat the cake. We can't be offering a way of life that looks horrible to others because who would want to try it. She knows eating this way will help people feel better, get off their medicines, and have a better quality of life.

I looked up this book at Amazon. It appears the book also contains recipes by Chef Del Sroufe (author of the bestselling Forks Over Knives The Cookbook).

$1.99 Kindle books at Amazon

I admit that I'm a recipe hoarder/collector. I like to collect physical cookbooks, kindle cookbooks, and online recipes. I was checking out Amazon today and I saw that there are a couple plant-based books at Amazon right now for $1.99 for the Kindle version. Amazon prices change all the time so I'm not sure how long these will last.

Three plant-based Kindle books for $1.99 at Amazon!

I found the two cookbooks listed below by Lindsay Nixon. Lindsay's recipes are plant-based with no oil. She does use nuts, avocado, dried fruit, peanut butter, coconut and some other ingredients in her recipes that don't qualify under a Protective Diet. Many times I can either alter the ingredients (leave them out), replace them (like replace the coconut with more fruit), or just don't use that recipe. I think that for $1.99 even if you found a couple recipes that you love, it will be worth the price of the book.

• Everyday Happy Herbivore: Over 175 Quick-and-Easy Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes 
•  The Happy Herbivore Cookbook: Over 175 Delicious Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes

 T. Collin Campbell's follow-up book to the China Study. This one isn't a cookbook, but I picked it up to continue on my learning about a whole food, plant based diet. I plan on diving into this book this weekend. Yeah!

•  Whole: Rethinking The Science of Nutrition 

Traveling on a Protective Diet

I think one of the largest challenges I've had so far was traveling on a Protective Diet. I was traveling by airplane with other non protective diet family members, so I think that added complexity to my trip.

To prepare for m y plane ride, I made P.D. banana bread into muffins instead of bread. Also, I took peanut butter sandwiches for my son, peeled oranges and bananas. I loaded these up in my carry on so we didn't have to grab any fast food from the airport since we had one layover.

Once we landed, we had a rental car, so we could travel around the town. My sister and I made a visit to the nearest grocery store. I picked up lots of bottled water, fresh fruits, veggies, salsa and tortilla chips to snack on. My hotel room had a fridge, so I also bought some boxed soy milk and a box of old fashioned rolled oats. My breakfast each morning was a large bowl of soaked oats with banana and a banana bread muffin. During the day, I snacked on a lettuce salad w/ salsa and the fruits/veggies. In the evenings we either went out to eat at a restaurant or ordered in. I just tried to make the best decisions I could off the menu available.

I'm happy with sticking pretty closely to a protective diet on my trip. It was a challenge, but I feel good about how it turned out.

It's the first day of March

Finally, we are getting closer to Spring. Here in Michigan it's 28 degrees today. That's actually very warm. Last week, we had days that didn't get above zero. I'm happy the days are longer and that Spring is not far now.

This type of Michigan weather makes for perfect days to stay in and cook healthy delicious food. I don't feel guilty staying in my kitchen and not going outside. Plus, with having the oven on, it warms up the house. It's eleven am and I've started on a couple things I can eat this week.

Here's what I am working on in my kitchen:

• Protective Diet Chia Jam (I'll use for my oatmeal this week)
• Veggie Broth (cooking a very basic broth in my Instant Pot- onions, leeks, carrots and celery)
• Dried Chick Peas are soaking (I'll cook these up in my Instant Pot when my broth is done.)
• Protective Diet Chocolate Bird Seed

I think I'll make P.D. Chickpea Cucumber Salad later today. I'll look to see what other recipes look good, so I can make up my lunch for tomorrow. Hope you are staying warm and enjoying March 1st wherever you are.

If you are new to Protective Diet, you have to create a login to see her yummy recipes. She has two types of recipes on the site: free and premium. I invite you to create a free login on the Protective Diet site to try her free healthy recipes. I'm confident that you will love them like me.

Friday - What's for lunch?

My Lunch: 

Friday's lunch was soup and salad. I like lunches that are easy to grab in the morning. I don't have a lot of extra time in the morning to put together my lunch and it's so much better for me to take my lunch than to try to find a healthy lunch eating out.

So for lunch I had the following

• Protective Diet Veggie Chili
• Salad made with romaine, spinach and cabbage, cucumbers, carrots
• Protective Diet - Daily Dressing
• Apple

PD Daily Dressing:

 I'm so glad I found Protective Diet (PD) , especially for yummy dressings for salad. Before I signed up for Protective Diet Premium Recipes, I searched for alternate dressings to make on my own that didn't have bad ingredients: soybean or other oil, sugar, etc. I hadn't found a dressing that I liked. So far I've tried two PD, the daily dressing and the French Dressing. They are both very, very tasty and healthy. I can't wait to try the others.

What I learned Today: 

I found that I ended up not taking enough for lunch today. I was really hungry in two hours and ate a tangerine. Then an hour later, I had a banana. I always make sure I have something healthy to snack on in my bag so I don't go grab a candy bar or anything else non-healthy from the vending machine at work. I'm still in the phase where I'm trying to figure out how much food I need to eat to feel me up. So for Monday, I'm definitely taking a larger lunch.

If you are new to Protective Diet, you have to create a login to see her yummy recipes. She has two types of recipes on the site: free and premium. I invite you to create a free login on the Protective Diet site to try her free healthy recipes. I'm confident that you will love them like me.

Why did I start my journey to get healthier?

Why did I start? I started my journey to be healthy when the dr. suggested I might have thyroid problems. This was about a year and a half ago. That's when I started researching and making small changes.

What issues did I have when I started? I really wasn't a ton over weight. I weighed 20 lbs more than I do, but I guess that is a lot on a 5'1 frame. I wasn't feeling very well though. I was having problems with my lungs, so I was taking a daily medicine for that. I had really bad allergies and was taking a daily medicine for that. I think some of my other issues were side affects of the medicine. My immune system seemed to be in the tank. My body seemed really sore and creaky all the time. My digestion after eating bread and pizza was really bad. My neck and shoulders were so tight I was getting migraines and headaches a lot. My knees, ankles, knees and wrists were all issues. I was tired A LOT, so I was drinking lots of coffee. I couldn't sleep so I was using Melatonin every night.

I was maybe eating one fruit or vegetable each day. I wasn't feeling good, so it was time to change.

How did I start? I started just adding juices or smoothies in the morning to my breakfast. It was a small change, but at least I was getting more fruit and veggies into my diet.

Then, I started doing more salads at lunch and cutting back on my caffeine. I next started with cutting out white milk, bread, and pizza. My digestion started getting back on track. I wasn't feeling sluggish and bloated after eating, I was feeling great.

I then went on to reducing the amount of processed foods that I was eating. No more boxed foods, canned soups and frozen lunches. This caused me to cook a lot more. I was spending more time in the kitchen making foods, but it was fun.

My first Challenge: In October, I did the October Unprocessed Challenge. This was great and challenging at the same time. I didn't realize all the hidden sugar in simple things like ketchup, dressings, and other foods you don't expect to find sugar. While the month was hard, I continued eating like this thru November.

Online Resources and Books: During that time I started reading The Starch Solution, How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease and other books. I started adding in more plant based foods right away. I found that plant based foods are filling and satisfying. I love listening to the YouTube videos by Chef AJ. She eventually lead me to finding Protective Diet, which I am doing now. The neat thing is that this is not a diet. It's a way of life to protect yourself from disease, which is ultimately my goal.

How I feel now: I can say that I seriously feel 100% better than I did before. I didn't realize how bad I was feeling. I don't have problems with my joints, my digestion, migraines or headaches anymore. These issues just disappeared. I sleep great now without any help of Melatonin or other sleep aids. I have stopped my daily lung medicine, since I don't seem to have any issues with my lungs anymore. I also think my skin and my hair have changed. I'm am excited about continuing this journey in health.