The Numbers

What is your total cholesterol (TC) count? Most of my friends reply that their TC is a little high but that their doctor isn't worried since their HDL ("good" cholesterol) count is high in proportion to their LDL ("bad" cholesterol) count. I'll tell you why their doctor isn't worried- it isn't the doctor's TC! But I won't argue with you about that point. What I will tell you is that people can dramatically lower their cholesterol without drugs simply by eating smarter.

Baby steps...
A few years ago Chris and I started to eat oatmeal every morning. Chris pours boiling water into a bowl with 1/3 cup of rolled oats and lets that sit for 20 minutes. I then add a little honey, 1 cup of blueberries, and 2 T milled flax seed. Initially, I hated the flax seed because when mixed with oatmeal and water, the consistency was sticky and glutinous, like cement. Then I discovered that by adding a little more water, stirring thoroughly, and eating it almost immediately, the flax seed gave the oatmeal a nutty quality to it. I now look forward everyday to my oatmeal and flax breakfast.

Chris currently eats his oatmeal with 2 T chia seeds. But he adds his chia seeds to the dried oatmeal and lets it sit in the boiling water for the 20 minute soak.  The chia seeds give the oatmeal crunch and doesn't render it gooey like flax does. Both flax and chia seeds are excellent sources of the omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).

 

Oatmeal, water, honey, and chia seeds

Since we've been eating a plant-based diet, our TC has dropped. My TC was 173 mg/dL in 2011 and has since dropped to 153 mg/dL. Chris' TC was 195 mg/dL and that has dropped to 177 mg/dL. My sister-in-law, who wishes to remain nameless so we'll call her Dennis' Wife (DW), is turning 63 in a few weeks and she just sent me her total cholesterol (TC) numbers for the last 30 years. You can see, below, that her TC was slowly creeping up to 225 after  menopause. It went down by 30 points when she took red yeast (which has the same active ingredient as statin drugs). But her most recent TC count shows that she could attain an even lower TC by following a whole foods, plant-based only regime. Yea DW!!!

 

Hummus revisited

I was becoming disillusioned with my hummus. It seemed too dry and not very flavorful. So I went back to the drawing board and added more liquid, salt, and garlic. The extra liquid was the ticket along with the extra blending time.

Cilantro and Jalapeno Hummus:

Ingredients
1 c dried chickpeas
3 T minced garlic (we used the waterlog garlic from costco)
1 big handful of cilantro
1/2 t salt
2 jalapenos
3 limes plus enough water to make a total of 8 oz

Instructions
1) Follow my instructions for cooking the chickpeas that I posted on April 16 (The more you toot)
2) Place all ingredients in the blender (Blendtec). Blend 3 times using the "Sauces" button.

The more you toot

Beans beans the magical fruit
The more you eat, the more you toot
The more you toot, the better you feel
So eat your beans at every meal

I don't mean to be crude, but the fact is if you don't prepare beans correctly, they can cause you discomfort and loss of a social life. Luckily, Chris has not divorced me yet, because we are essentially eating the same foods. Just don't light a match in our house.

Legumes have complex sugars that aren't easily digestible. The bacteria in your colon ferments these sugar which produces the dreaded flatulence. You can take steps to remove these sugars. Soak the beans overnight. This releases the sugars into the water. Remove that water and use fresh water to cook the beans. I go an extra step by boiling the beans for 2-5 minutes and discarding that water as well. Then I cook the beans in my pressure cooker. I am happier and so is my family.

Chris bars

Last week was girls' weekend out for me. My BFFs, Mary and Jen, and I drove to Vegas for a relaxing weekend. Mary and Jen are NOT vegan but they tolerate my vegan ways by stopping off at Trader Joe's regularly for hummus and carrots. When we went out to Lotus of Siam for a Thai dinner, I ate Tofu with Panang Curry (it tasted great) which really isn't on the Esselstyn regime but it will have to do in a pinch since the only acceptable item on the menu was beer.

While I was away, Chris was experimenting with his fake Larabars for his upcoming trip to Joshua Tree National Park (to relax, I drink beers by the pool while Chris hikes across the desert ;). The bars have nuts in them and nuts are not on the Esselstyn diet. But Chris rationalizes that he needs high caloric foods when he is hiking or backpacking and nuts seem to have a high calorie to weight ratio. The bars are very tasty and fairly inexpensive if you can buy the dates in bulk (go to Costco for a good sized 3.5 lb tub). Put them in ziploc baggies since they can get sticky.

Ingredients
1 c  chopped cashews (half roasted and salted, half raw)
1  c chopped dates
1/2 c dried blueberries or dried cherries

Instructions
1) Blend cashews first, use the pulse button on your blender until the chunks are less than 1/4 inch
2) Add dates and dried berries, use the pulse button until the mixture can stick together
3) Place mixture into a pan, press into desired shape
4) Place in refridgerator for a day or two

In the above photo, Chris made 2 batches- 1 blueberry and 1 cherry.  They both fit into a strip that was one-third of an 8x8 inch pan. Mikae loved the blueberry bars. The cherry bars had more of a subtle flavor.

Cajun Creole Spiced 10 Bean Soup with Sweet Potato

Today I cooked a salt-free Easter lunch for my Uncle Joe and my parents. It was delish but since Uncle Joe and my parents are no longer young pups, the huge batch of freedom fries that Mikae and I made was only partially devoured. By dinner time, Chris was looking for an extra something to add to his 10 bean soup and, fortunately, he found our freedom fries. This soup is by far Chris' tastiest creation. The Cajun Creole Seasoning along with the sweet potato made this soup both complex and hearty. Chris purchased both the Cajun Creole Seasoning and the 10 bean soup at Sprouts Farmers Market. If you can't buy the 10 bean soup at a store near you, perhaps you can create it yourself. The ingredients are: black beans, lentils, green split peas, pinto beans, small white beans, red lentils, yellow split peas, pearl barley, small red beans, and adzuki beans.

Ingredients
1 sweet potato made into freedom fries (see earlier blog) or use a baked sweet potato
1 c 10 Bean Soup Mix from Sprouts (uncooked)
1/2 sweet onion chopped
6 c water
3 t Better Than Bouillon (see earlier blog)
1 t salt
1/2 t white pepper
1/4 t coriander seed
1 t Cajun Creole seasoning blend spice mix
1 T honey

Instructions
1) Night before, soak the cup 10 bean overnight
2) Bake cut up sweet potato for 20 minutes (we just made freedom fries)
3) Combine the 10 beans, sweet potato, onion, water, Better Than Bouillon, honey, salt, white pepper, coriander seed, cajun seasoning
4) Bring to a boil then simmer for 2 hours

You can see the bits of freedom fries :)

 

Beets, Greens, and Better than Bouillon

Just discovered this amazing organic bouillon that is vegetable based.  It has no hydrogenated oils and seems free of the dreaded monosodium glutamate (aka MSG). It's called Better Than Bouillon and, no, they did not pay me. The only ingredient that might be questionable is the maltodextrin.

Chris used this bouillon on one of his farro dishes that includes beets and the beet greens. Super healthy but word of warning: the beets turn your urine and BM red!

Ingredients

3 beets with greens attached
1 sweet onion
1 c Farro
1/2 c red wine
2 c water
1 t Better Than Bouillon
1 T Honey
1 t salt

Instructions
1) Trim and scrub beets, save green tops for later.
2) Slice beets into 3/8 inch slices
3) Bake beets at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
4) In a medium size sauce pan, combine water, red wine, honey, salt, and Better Than Bouillon, and heat till all is dissolved, almost boiling
5) When the beets are finished baking, "fry" the chopped onion in a large frying pan
6) Add farro to onion and toss for 2 minutes, ensure that onion is evenly distributed with the farro at a fairly high heat
7) Carefully add the broth and wine mixture to the farro and onion, then let simmer for 10 minutes
8) Cut beets into 3/8 inch cubes and add to farro mixture, let simmer for 10 more minutes
9) Coarsely cut up beet greens and add to farro mixture in the last 5 minutes
10) If liquid remains in the frying pan, continue to toss as liquid evaporates

St Patrick was definitely Mexican

Went to my BFF's house for St. Patty's Day and she made this wonderful, marvelous salsa for me. The salsa was suppose to be an appetizer but since she was serving a traditional St. Patty's Day meal complete with corned beef and cabbage, I chowed down the salsa in between a few leaves of cabbage.

This salsa was tasty and hearty with corn and black beans. I can't wait till summer time because I know that our home grown tomatoes will make this salsa 10 times more delectable.  But even without the home grown tomatoes, this recipe is a winner.  When I brought home the leftovers for Chris to sample, he just heated a corn tortilla over the burner and filled it with the salsa. Soooo gooood!

Ingredients

4 tomatoes chopped
1/2 sweet onion chopped
1/2 to 3/4 c lime
2 big handfuls of chopped cilatro
1 can of black beans
2 c frozen corn thawed
1 bell pepper chopped
1 habenero chopped (we used 2 T of Chris' hot sauce )

Instructions
Mix all together and let it sit for at least 1 hour
Eat with chips or heated corn tortillas

When the chips are down... make them yourself!

My daughter, Mikae, loves chips because she likes the savory, salty taste and crunchy texture. Being the good mother that I am, I looked high and low for healthy, vegan chips made WITHOUT oil. Someone told me that Baked Tostitos by FritoLay would be free of oil. Who ever told me that was wrong! I visited my local grocery store and scrutinized the nutrition label of every type of baked chip and each one of them included oil on the ingredients list. Ugh!

Undaunted, I borrowed a Potato "Fries" recipe from Dr. Esselstyn's book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. The recipe called for Bragg Liquid Aminos (BLA)  sprayed onto the potatoes and baked for 30 minutes.  I then cut an organic corn tortilla made only of corn, water, and lime into sixths. I brushed the tortilla pieces with BLA and baked at 375 degrees for 10 to 11 minutes. Mikae didn't like them at all. She said that they were burnt tasting and, to top it off, they stuck to the baking sheet.  Back to the drawing board...

Success came when I used watered-down honey as my adhesive for the salt (mind you, this is not for people who have to watch their salt intake).  Mikae loves them.

Ingredients
15 organic corn tortillas
2 T water
1 T honey

Instructions
0) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1) Cut tortillas into 6ths and layout onto 3 baking sheets (it is easier to brush if they are layed out in their original circular configuration).
2) In a very small pan, heat the water and honey until dissolved.
3) Lightly brush (lightly to ensure that the chips do not stick to the baking sheet)  the tortillas with the honey water.
4) Salt to taste.
5) Bake for 10 minutes or till crispy.

Freedom Fries

My lovely cousin Allison is smart, funny, gregarious, loving, giving, and about 10 years my junior. In the past, I loved her visits because inevitably we would end up scarfing down rich foods like duck, In 'n Out burgers, or dim sum. The girl loves her meat.  A few weeks ago she came to stay with us after having finished a vegan "reboot" with her husband, Jason. The reboot allowed for eggs on certain days but was mostly vegan. During the first week of the reboot, Allison and Jason suffered through severe caffeine withdrawals and were miserable without their daily intake of coffee, meat, and dairy. But the second week surprisingly found them meeting each day without the usual symptoms that would normally plague them. After the third week, they returned to their carnivorous ways but Jason, a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, felt so much better he determined that future vegan reboots would be necessary for a healthier life.

Anyway, these Freedom Fries are for Jason and Allison.  The Freedom Fries are, for the most part, free of oil.  I tried not using oil on the baking sheet and ended up with most of the fries stuck to the sheet. Now I lightly mist the sheet with olive oil. BTW, Mikae LOVES them.

Ingredients
3-4 yams sliced with skin into 1/2 x 1/2 inch sticks
2 T water
1 T honey
salt

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2) Spray baking sheet with oil
3) Place yam sticks onto baking sheet
4) In a tiny pot, heat the water and honey so that the honey is completely mixed with the water
5) Brush water and honey mixture onto the tops of the yam sticks
6) Lightly shake salt onto sticks
7) Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees F

Here are my beautiful Freedom Fries.

 

Below you can see that they came off very easily.

 

 

 

 

Vegan Burger in Paradise

Avoiding cheese burgers is not too difficult for Chris or for me since prior to our vegan conversion, we rarely ate it. But there's a certain mystique behind the idea of a pattie in a bun with lettuce and tomato topped with Heinz 57. (thanks to Jimmy Buffet).  I searched around for a vegan equivalent. I came upon a Southwest Veggie Burger recipe at the Whole Foods website: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/southwest-veggie-burgers

I tried the recipe out but didn't care for it- too many beans. So I substituted the beans with hummus, replaced the brown rice with farro, changed up the spices a bit, and voila:

Ingredients
1 c hummus (the one with the sundried tomatoes works well)
1 c cooked farro
1 c sweet potato (baked seemed to work well, it wasn't as wet as when it was boiled)
1 t cumin
3 T nutritional yeast
4 cloves of minced or mashed garlic (we looooove garlic)
2 T flax (this seems to help it bind together)

Instructions
1) Use the zig zag mash potato tool to mix all the ingredients
2) Use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to make 6 patties.
3) The original recipe called for parchment paper. I didn't wat to use oil but I was too lazy to go out and purchase the parchment paper. So all six patties were tough to remove from the baking sheet. Next time, spray baking sheet with smallest amount of oil.
4) Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Hummus, mmmmmmm, YUMMY

Chris and I used to chow down a big tub of hummus with wheat thins every week. It seemed very healthy and was relatively inexpensive (a 32 oz tub of hummus at Costco for a little over $6). But store-bought hummus has olive oil and tahini. Tahini is sesame paste and the fat calories run a whopping 74 %. Tahini is NOT going to help me in my quest to attain a total cholesterol count of 150 or below. Luckily we received a pressure cooker this past Xmas and we recently purchased a high-powered blender (e.g., Blendtec or Vitamix). Making hummus was never easier or tastier or cheaper. I can make oil-free hummus for 1/3 the cost of store-bought and the taste is superb.

We start with a cup of dried chickpeas. Chickpeas usually cost about $1.69 per pound and we can get 3-16 oz batches out of a pound. I soak the cup of chickpeas overnight in water. In the morning, I drain the chickpeas then dump it into the pressure cooker, along with a cup of water, to cook. This wonderful contraption saves us tons of money on fuel because it will thoroughly cook the chickpeas in less than 15 minutes whereas conventional boiling requires at least 45 minutes. Once the chickpeas are fully cook the fun begins.  Below is the basic recipe, but we like to let change it up, depending on our mood and what is in our fridge.

Ingredients
1 c chickpeas
1 c sundried tomatoes
3/4 c water
1/2 c lemon juice
4 cloves garlic (we actually use more garlic but then again we want to keep vampires away, jk)
1/2 t  dried chili peppers
salt to taste

Instructions
1) Cook chickpeas until soft, drain
2) Add chickpeas, sundried tomatoes, water, lemon juice, garlic, salt to blender. Blend to desired consistency.

In addition to using hummus as a dip with slices of jicama or carrot sticks, we use hummus in sandwiches as a "mayonaise" and as a major ingredient for our "burgers" which I will discuss in my next blog. Have a great week!

Yeh revisited

Chris reformulated his Farro with Acorn Squash and Kale recipe and the dish went from "Yeh" to "OH YEH".  Mikae ate it in 15 minutes which is a record time for her. Here's the new recipe.

Ingredients
half  Acorn Squash
half Chopped Onion
2 T Chopped garlic
1 C Farro
2 1/4 C Vegetable broth
2 T Honey
1 t  Cumin
1/8 t Paprika
1 t salt
1 t coriander seed
1/2 grated nutmeg
1/2 c cranberries
Chopped bunch of Kale

Instructions
1) Bake the acorn squash half without oil for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Chris put the cut side up in the oven.
2) In the mean time, in a large frying pan, saute onion and garlic without oil until onions are translucent. Use a little water to prevent sticking to pan.
3)
Add farro to the onion and garlic. Toss around at medium heat for a minute or two.
4)
Add broth, honey, cumin, paprika, salt, coriander seed, nutmeg and cranberries
5) Let simmer for 25 minutes.
6) Cut up cooked squash into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes.
7) Toss in squash and kale with farro mixture. Mix well. Ready to serve

Only a little was leftover for this photo:)

Beheaded what?????

Mikae is not, I repeat, not a vegan. In fact, she just stopped kicking and screaming about eating vegan meals 6 days a week. In the past, I made Chinese won ton for her on a regular basis. Unfortunately, won ton is made up of shrimp, ground pork, and sesame oil-a real heartstopper. In my misguided attempts to appease her, I made vegan "won ton" out of organic pumpkin. It was repugnant to her  and she made me promise never to make vegan won tons again. Lesson learned: vegan versions of well-loved dishes will never live up to the original so don't even try.

But one can still borrow key ingredients from favorite recipes and experiment. That's exactly what I did with Mikae's favorite Chinese stir-fry chicken dish which she dubbed, "Beheaded Chicken".  I incorporated parts of the "Beheaded Chicken" marinade as a sauce into a vegan rice noodle dish that I have named, "Beheaded what?????".  To my relief, Mikae likes it.

Beheaded what????? contains Chinese mushrooms and preserved mustard greens, however, you can put whatever vegetables you like into it. The rice noodles that I used in the photos are dried white rice noodles but I just learned that dried brown rice noodles are also available.

Ingredients
8 oz  rice noodles (3/8ths inch wide)
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 c chopped carrots
1 c chopped broccoli or green beans
5 mushrooms (I used dried Chinese mushrooms which I rehydrated)
3 stalks green onions
1 c chopped preserved mustard greens (these are preserved in salt so soak in boiling water and rinse to remove excess salt)

Marinade/sauce ingredients
1 t sugar
2 t corn starch
1 T soy sauce (or Braggs Amino)
2 T red wine
Note: if you are not using the preserved mustard greens, you can add 1 t salt but that is optional

Instructions
1) Rehydrate dried mushrooms.
2) Soak/rinse preserved mustard greens.
3) Place noodles in hot water and gently separate the noodles by hand. Cover and soak for 30 minutes.

4) Rinse noodles in cold water to remove dust.
5) Place noodles in boiling water for 4 minutes. Test noodle-should be al dente as it will cook more in the wok.
6) Drain noodles and place in cold water to prevent noodles from over cooking. Set aside.
7) Chop or slice rehydrated mushrooms, green onions, carrots, broccoli, and preserved mustard greens into 1/8th inch chunks.

8) Make marinade/sauce. Set aside.
9) In hot wok,  stir "fry", garlic, carrots, broccoli and green onion using small amounts of vegetable broth or water. Cover for 2-3 minutes until vegetables are soft.

10) Add marinade/sauce to vegetables and mix. Turn down heat.
11) Drain noodles and slowly add to vegetables. Noodles are delicate so gently toss with vegetables.

Enjoy!

From "Meh" to "Yeh"

Once Chris was on board with veganism he enthusiastically explored other types of foods. On his weekly excursion to Costco, he came upon a grain that he had never tasted before, farro. Farro is grown in Italy and has a nutty, brown rice-like  texture. He came upon "Farro Pilaf"recipe at the following website: http://tastefoodblog.com/2012/07/25/farro-pilaf-recipe/ (Note: Chris excludes all oils, dairy products, and meats from the original recipe). The dish was tasty with a hint of lemon and I would have been happy if he added it to his recipe "quiver". But due to the lemon zest, our teenage daughter, Mikae, gave it a resounding, "Meh", which translates to, "I will eat it but if you serve it on one of my bad days I will be most displeased."

Undaunted, Chris modified the recipe to exclude the lemon zest but include acorn squash and kale. The day after he served his "Farro with Acorn Squash and Kale" dish, Mikae was looking for the leftovers. That recipe became a keeper.

Ingredients
1/2  acorn squash
1/2 chopped onion
3 T chopped garlic
1 c farro
2 1/4 c vegetable broth
2 oz tomato paste
2 T honey
1 1/2 T  cumin
1/4 t paprika
salt and pepper to taste
 1 chopped bunch of kale

Instructions
1) Bake the acorn squash half without oil for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Chris put the cut side up.
2) In the mean time, in a large frying pan, saute onion and garlic without oil until onions are translucent. Use a little water to prevent onions from sticking to pan.
3) Add farro to the onion and garlic. Toss around at medium heat for a minute or two.
4) Add broth, paste, honey, cumin, paprika, and salt and pepper
5) Cover and let simmer for 25 minutes.
6) Cut up cooked squash into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes.
7) Toss in squash and kale with farro mixture. Mix well.
Ready to serve

How we got here...

It's slightly strange to think of me as one of ʺthoseʺ people. In the past, I viewed vegetarians as weird or slightly unothodox. But here I am very much ʺone of them tharʺ vegans. What made me decide to take the plunge you ask? Six months ago, I flew up to Oakland to see my brother, Julian, for the last time. He had been fighting thyroid cancer for the last 3.5 years and it had metastasized to his lungs and pancreas. When I saw him, he was a shadow of his 170 lbs, constantly burping and in pain It was heartbreaking to see him.

 At the time, I was staying with my brother, Dennis, who is a medical doctor. Dennis had me watch a movie called ʺForks Over Knivesʺ. The movie made sense. Julian loved to eat sausage, bacon, barbecue beef, and pork belly. Our mom used to tell of how Julian wouldn't eat his pancake unless a bacon was cooked into the middle of it. During one of my last visits to his house, Julian cooked his special mac and cheese dish: 5 cheeses with bacon drippings to make the cheese sauce. I truly believe that Julian's love of meat contributed to his early demise at the age of 59. I miss him and get mad at his stubbornness. But that was Julian and you had to love him inspite of all his stubborn ways .

So here I am, ready to change my life. Ready to go against the Chinese way of eating. Ready to cook food for my family that might be thrown back at me. But I know that this is the right way to eat. If I don't want to die of cancer or of heart disease, I need to go against the grain and be that weird, slightly unorthodox Chinese girl.

Luckily, my husband Chris is on board, hence, "Vegan X 2".  Chris is a surfboard shaper by trade and has the soul of John Muir. More importantly, he likes to eat good food. So when I came home from my stay with Dennis, Chris was none to excited about my conversion to veganism. But, slowly, as he read more and more of Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and their studies, Chris became commited to the vegan way of life.

We just want to share some of our recipes and hope that you will try them too.