Divine HealthIn pursuit of healthy living.

One of my favorite bloggers, Cook. Vegan. Lover. posted about a Vegan Care Package Swap and I thought it sounded interesting so I decided to join in the fun. I was paired up with Theresa in New York, check out her blog at Quantum Vegan. Her posts are often thought provoking and she has some very tasty recipes too! I had so much fun the day my package arrived! It took a lot of restraint not to open everything and try it all at once! 

A box full of goodies and a hand written note!

First up we have Handmade Lavender soap, Handmade Peppermint Foot Cream and The Merry Hempsters Vanilla Hemp Lip Balm all from her local Co-Op. My feet and lips are as soft as a baby’s bum!

Divine goodies for my skin!

I gorged myself on these delicious cookies! I’ve managed to save the yummy bars so I hope to try them soon.

Hello, sweet stuff!

Here we have Koyo Seaweed and Lemongrass Ginger Ramen Noodles and Yama Moto Yama Roasted Seaweed. I’ve had one of the ramen noodle packages and it was so tasty! I had to convince myself not to eat the other package right away.

Slurp!

There was also a can of Amy’s chili that I haven’t tried yet. I love Amy’s products though so I’m sure it will be great! The last thing and the one that touched me the most was her personal note. She talked about how she picked some of her favorite foods and told me a little about her local Co-Op. I have to admit this made me feel a little guilty. I didn’t end up including anything local in my package. I might have to surprise her with a little something special over the holidays from San Diego. Theresa also included a few coupons and a Vegan informational pamphlet. I seriously couldn’t have asked for a better swap partner!

Feelin the love!

Thank you so very much, Theresa! I hope you enjoy your package!!

I think this makes a refreshing light dinner on a hot summer evening. The cole slaw can be made ahead and kept cold. It called for crunchy Asian noodles but I couldn’t find any that didn’t have HFCS so I used rice crackers and they tasted great on the salad. The original sauce for the rolls called for fish sauce so I tossed it aside and used a recipe for a sweet and spicy sauce that a friend gave me. The rolls require a bit of work but I promise they are worth it! Cool, crunchy, sweet, salty and delicious!

Slightly Asian Cole Slaw (adapted from Sam the Cooking Guy)

Ingredients:

• 1-10 ounce bag cole slaw
• 1 red pepper
• 3 tablespoons vinegar, rice vinegar if you have it – if not white is just fine
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Rice crackers (broken into bite size pieces)

Directions:

• Add vinegar, sesame oil, soy and sugar to a small pot over medium heat to mix, but do not boil – remove from heat
• Slice red pepper into thin strips and then cut them in half lengthwise – you don’t want them too long
• Mix together red pepper, cole slaw and cooled sauce
• Top with rice crackers just before serving

Asian Cole Slaw with Rice Crackers

Asian-Style Veggie Rolls ~ Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients (rolls):

• 8” round sheets rice paper
• 2 cups thinly sliced bibb lettuce leaves (I used spinach)
• 2 cups cooked bean threads (cellophane noodles)
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 1 cup shredded carrot (about 1 large)
• ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
• ½ fresh cilantro leaves
• ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions

Ingredients (sauce)

• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tbsp hot chile sauce

Prep work done, ready to start rolling!

Preparation

• To prepare rolls, add hot water to a large, shallow dish to a depth of 1 inch. Place 1 rice paper sheet in dish, and let stand for 30 seconds or just until soft. Place sheet on a flat surface. Arrange 1/4 cup lettuce over half of sheet, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Top with 1/4 cup bean threads, 2 tablespoons sprouts, 2 tablespoons carrot, 1 tablespoon mint, 1 tablespoon cilantro leaves, and 1 1/2 teaspoons green onions. Folding sides of sheet over filling and starting with filled side, roll up jelly-roll fashion. Gently press seam to seal. Place roll, seam side down, on a serving platter (cover to keep from drying). Repeat procedure with remaining roll ingredients.
• To prepare sauce, in small bowl combine rice wine vinegar, sugar, ¼ cup water and chile sauce; set aside.
• Serve rolls with sauce and enjoy!

Make sure the surface is wet or they will stick!

Maybe not beautiful but delicious nonetheless!

What’s your favorite meal to make when it’s too hot to cook?

I think I’m in a recipe rut. The problem is my arsenal of cookbooks and recipes include lots of meat and dairy based dishes. Since going vegetarian and trying to go vegan I have found lots of new recipes but I don’t think I have enough. I find myself unmotivated to pick recipes, shop and cook. But I love cooking so this doesn’t make sense. I’ve started reading a ton of vegan blogs and websites looking for inspiration but most of the time the recipes look difficult or time consuming. I’m okay with that once or twice a week but not every night. The other problem I run across is recipes with tons of ingredients which translates to spending more money than I’d like. We rarely eat out so that means that I make dinner every single night. That’s a lot of recipes, assuming I don’t repeat any of them too often. Erik will eat anything, he’s not excited about food. He only eats because he has to. I wish I had that kind of relationship with food, then maybe this wouldn’t be as difficult.

A few of my veg'n cookbooks

I’m also frustrated by the fact that most vegetarian recipes use cheese or other fattening products. Is it really that hard to come up with healthy vegetarian/vegan recipes? Surely not. I think I’m going to have to start making up more of my own.

Where do you find recipes and inspiration to cook?

The hubs and I really enjoy pizza but we’re burnt out on Margherita and all the other usual suspects. I decided to try out my old barbeque chicken recipe using tofu. It turned out really great! I like the ease of buying a pre-made whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joes or Whole Foods.

BBQ Chik’n Pizza

Ingredients:

1 whole wheat ready to bake pizza dough

¼ cup barbeque sauce

¼ cup pizza sauce (pasta sauce or tomato sauce with Italian herbs will work)

8-10 ounces firm tofu (seitan would work great as well)

2 Tbs cilantro finely chopped

¼ cup red onion finely chopped

2 Tbs olive oil

½ cup shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese (Daiya vegan cheese works too)

Instructions:

Let the dough rest at room temperature and prepare as directed on packaging. I like the way it turns out if you pre-cook for about 5 minutes, then add the toppings and finish cooking. Press the tofu to remove excess water and chop into small pieces. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add tofu, cook until the tofu turns golden brown. Remove from heat and toss the tofu with barbeque sauce. Spread the pizza sauce in a thin layer over the crust and top with cheese, tofu, onions and cilantro. Cook for about 10 minutes or according to the package.

We try to eat a decent amount of veggies with every meal so I made a quick green salad to go along with the pizza. It was a perfect meal.

What’s your favorite vegetarian pizza toppings?

Photo courtesy of Happy Herbivore

Here’s the lowdown in case you don’t want to read Happy Herbivore’s blog. Starting on May 1^st I will not eat any processed food. If it has more than 1 ingredient it’s probably not going in my body. No added fat, salt or sugars either. I started eliminating processed food a long time ago but boy am I shocked to learn how many things I still cook with and consume that are processed. I think I will learn a lot about food which has been my favorite subject lately so that’s great. The challenge allows for meat and dairy but I won’t be eating any meat (I doubt I’ll ever eat meat again). As of now, eggs and cheese are the only dairy I eat so if don’t miss them too much then maybe I won’t be eating dairy anymore either. We’ll see.

The good news is that I have a vita-mix I can make peanut butter and almond milk in, both using only the raw nuts. As well as lots of other great whole foods that can be mixed up in wonderful ways in that incredible machine.

I am participating in my first sprint triathlon next weekend (5/2/2010) so I may have to cheat a little. My body might not like to be tested with a new diet while pushing it in other physical ways at the same time.

When I think about this challenge I wonder how I’ll deal with eating out and working events. Will I be able to find something to eat? Will I be tempted to cheat in those situations? It will take a lot of discipline but I know I can do this. I am most curious to find out how different I will feel. I wonder if I will loose weight? I will probably do a blog post or two along the way and I will definitely give you a review when it is over. In the mean time, I would love to hear from you. If you have ever done a challenge like this please share your secrets to success.

Cheers to better health!

I recently had the honor of doing a guest post for Vegan Beauty Review. You can read it here.

A big heartfelt thanks to Sunny for allowing me to take part in her blog!

Cheers!

Helena

Take a peek at these beautiful photos….

What do you think they have in common? They are all beautifully photographed and look good enough to eat right off your screen, right? They are all recipes made from scratch and photographed by a vegan! Yep, they are all vegan! Check out Vegan Yum Yum for more beautiful photography and yummy recipes! I’ll be cooking up some recipes out of her cookbook soon and I’ll blog the ones I fall in love with, which I am certain will happen.

*In case it isn’t obvious all of the photos above are by Vegan Yum Yum! Now go check out her blog already!

A few people have recently asked me how my veganism is going so I want to clear that issue up. I have not gone vegan yet. I gave up meat about two months ago. That was the first step in this journey. My plan was to give up meat for a seven day trial period and after that I was going to re-evaluate. On the eighth day I didn’t want meat and decided I would wait to eat it until I felt “obligated” in some way. I figured it would be at a party, out to dinner or in some situation like that. As time passed I continued doing research into eating meat. I’ve been learning about how it impacts our body, planet and the animals themselves. The more I read the less I wanted to eat meat. I used to be happily in denial but I am finding greater happiness in being aware. Those situations eventually started to arise and I decided I would not let something like a meal tasting with clients or dinner with friends force me to eat something I couldn’t agree with.

A really inspiring vegan and cookbook author says that it’s typically easier to give up dairy before meat. Too bad I read that after I gave up meat. The meat was easy for me but I think the dairy will be a little more challenging. I’ve been having a great time finding new recipes that are meatless but many of them use either cheese or eggs (I already use soymilk and almond milk so that’s not an issue). I’m going to start trying a few vegan substitutes soon to see how things taste. I think I might do another seven day trial with the veganism and go from there. I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, I have a few more thoughts about the last two months of a meat free life. I have found that surrounding myself with other vegans and vegetarians is really helpful. They provide insight, ideas, support and a sense of family. It has been really amazing and it makes me feel good about the choices I am making. However, I don’t want to push anyone else away in the process. I still love my meat eating friends and family just as much as I did before! I don’t judge them or think anything negative for that matter. I share my thoughts, feelings and bits of information here, on facebook and twitter only in hopes of raising awareness. I am not trying to change the world or even the people around me. But if I can help people have a better understanding of everything involving meat then I feel good. If you are educated and continue to eat meat then so be it.

My final thoughts are about my husband. He has faced some food/health issues over the last year that we haven’t been able to figure out. I don’t really want to get into details…but I do want to share that going meatless has made him feel much better. He is still eating a little bit of meat here and there but not very much. I am happier than any words could ever describe that I can cook a healthy, tasty meal and my husband loves it and doesn’t feel sick afterwards. It’s the most rewarding feeling after dealing with his sickness over the last year. I realize that many men are major meat lovers and they would never give up meat for a day, let alone for good. I understand that and don’t think much of it. I guess I am lucky in that my husband was never a big eater in general and didn’t love meat in the way most men do. Please don’t hate on me for this or think I am forcing this on him. I am seriously thankful every day that he does not want meat and he feels better not eating it. It is what it is.

If you read all of that thanks and cheers to loving life!

I’ve been nominated for the ‘I love your blog’ award by a few amazing friends!

Rules:
- Post award on your blog
- Link the person who has given you the award
- Pass the award to 15 other blogs you’ve discovered
- Remember to contact the bloggers you’ve nominated

Here are the blogs I choose to give this award to by category:

Friends that nominated me:

Lindsay who loves all things pretty and is oh so pretty herself!

Jennie who loves all things tasty! Oh and she has great book recommendations too!

A favorite funny friend:

Katie’s blog is always full of fun and laughs as well as great ideas for everything.

Vegetarian and Vegan blogs I love:

A Veggie Venture

Cook Vegan Lover

Happy Herbivore

Happy Vegan Yogini

Lusciously Local in San Diego

The Kind Life (Alicia Silverstone)

What the hell does a Vegan eat anyway?

Wedding related blogs:

Melissa McClure is a great friend and amazing photographer!

Love at First Invite ~ Cathy is a beautiful person inside and out. She creates amazing wedding stationary and does great web design as well!

The Ultimate Wedding Blog!

I lost count but I hope I provided something for everyone. Enjoy!

I have a lot of respect and admiration for vegans. As an average consumer I used to hear about vegans and thought it was an extreme lifestyle and probably hard to attain. I’m starting to learn that isn’t really the case. If you aren’t familiar with veganism you can learn more by clicking here.

People are vegans (and vegetarians) for various reasons and I can identify with most of them. First there is the health and well being issue. We are learning more about how animals are not good for our bodies; we weren’t designed to digest the meat and flesh. There are also issues with saturated fats, cholesterol and other health concerns related to eating animals. One reason I think vegans are sometimes  considered “over the top” is the animal welfare issue. Many believe farm animals deserve the life that our common household pets live and cite evidence of chickens, pigs and other farm animals showing signs of intelligence. Personally, I think about what these animals go through in the slaughter houses and it horrifies me; it makes me want to throw out all of the meat in my fridge and never touch it again. I also realize there aren’t any health benefits to eating meat and that makes me want to give it up as well. Why not only put things are 100% healthy into my body? I’ll tell you why, because if I am being honest, I enjoy a grilled chicken breast every now and then. Or maybe a beef sausage link at the county fair once a year. I am not the average meat consumer, I mostly only eat chicken breast and ground turkey breast. The only other meat I consume is the occasional bacon, maybe once every few months and a steak about once or twice a year. I suppose that probably makes the goal of going vegetarian (or vegan) easier for me. If I ate a lot of meat I probably couldn’t even fathom how great it would be to live without it.

The journey I am about to embark on is a way for me to become more aware of what is in the food I eat and becoming healthier while keeping the furry friends in mind. I plan to learn more about processed foods and will be trying to replace them with whole foods. I may never to get to a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle but that’s okay as long as I learn something and feel like an aware, healthier person at the end. I’m an open minded individual and I am ready to absorb as much information on these topics as possible. I will not judge others for feeling different, indifferent or otherwise. Maybe you’ll learn something along the way that you’ll want to apply to your life or maybe you won’t. Either way, thank you for riding along with me. I will always value people that listen to my thoughts and ideas and have real conversations with me. I promise to listen to you and if you want to argue any of my points please feel free to do so, it will only make both of us smarter.