Lifestyle Deanna and Lex

[Guest guest]

You write on........we are here to help one another and it it takes 1 sentence

or a page that's fine.

There is such a variety with a vegetarian diet, the meat based dinners and

lucnhes are boring once you cross over you will see or scan the recipe file and

I know you will have many recipes pop right and catch your interest.

Donna

 

genny_y2k <genny_y2k wrote:

Donna,

You are so right about Vegetarian/Vegan lifestyle. There are some isles

at the grocery store that are off limits. There are empty caloric sodas

and snack foods that have no food value. They should never be in your

cupboards. There are so many wonderful juices, and teas. Each day I

drink a large cup of vegetable juice, at least one cup of green tea, a

cup of fruit juice and at least 8 cups of water. I have a quart jar and

when I have filled twice and drank it, I know I have had my water for

the day. All that drinking leaves little room for food..LOl..If I feel

hungry I always have dried fruit and nuts for snacking. Lots of

chewing works for me. I am not a skinny Vegetarian but I am not

overweight. I eat one plate of green leafy veggies as a salad every

day. Usually leaf lettuce and baby spinach. For protein I eat nuts, soy

beans, all kinds of other beans. Sometimes I have pasta which I love

and rice. I think we should find the foods that we enjoy that are on

the *good for you list* I never ever eat at fast food restaurants and

only on special occasions at restauants and only if I know from

experince that they serve healthy Vegetarian meals.

I apologize for this lengthy mail.

Sending smiles and hugs your way

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Good email, genny. I appreciate your writing in.

 

I should have clarified in my email what I do and don't do.

 

I do the same things you do as far as eating and avoiding certain aisles at

the store. I drink vegetable juice often, and lots and lots of water.

Particularly ice water. We never buy cokes or drink them; we drink lots of

herbal and decaf tea, and also some fruit juices but mostly we prefer to eat

fruit, as the fiber and other things are very good in the actual fruit

itself.

 

We have stopped going to fastfood places and actually kind of get sick when

we drive by and smell the smells (we call them " odors " as that is what they

are to us now), knowing what they are from. <grimace> This includes Krispy

Kreme, once my most-loved " fun food " place. We also don't go to other

restaurants unless we know that vegan or in extreme cases, vegetarian

(extreme, meaning I am about to pass out from hunger as a diabetic) food can

be obtained. There are very few of those, so it's mostly cook at home or

bring along snacks from home that are homemade. Since I love to cook and

bake and assemble combos of things, that's not a problem. :>)

 

We also buy very few, if any, processed foods of any sort in general at the

grocery store. I guess you would consider frozen fresh vegies as processed,

but that's about the limit. Oh, and the soymilk vanilla creamer <g>...I

suppose in one way, THAT would be considered processed. We don't buy

processed foods that are non-vegetarian or non-vegan, I'll put it that way

and it will be a little more clear, hopefully!

 

We don't buy chips or visit that aisle at all. We do buy non trans fat

popcorn, Paul Newman's brand.

 

We eat brown rice every day, and usually oatmeal or my homemade muesli with

soymilk every day for one meal (which may or may not be breakfast). Often we

get on a kick for one certain thing; lately it's stir-fry. We've had it

three nights in a row now for supper! and the leftovers the next day! LOL.

When I get a new KitchenAid mixer, I will be back to making my famous

10-grain bread again, but until that point comes, we will be eating

storebought 12 grain or other wholegrain bread. We have a salad at least

once a day. We keep cashews and walnuts around for snacking, because these

have been shown to be high in antioxidants as well as good for the ADHD

brain--which my husband has. We used to make a snack mix before going vegan,

which I will now have to mess with in order to make it conform. But I don't

think I will have to mess with it too much, as there are comparable cereals

in the organic aisle that will work just as well as Frosted Mini Wheats, and

which are vegan. It will just be a bit more expensive.

I also have a hot chocolate mix that I make up which I will need to mess

with a bit too, come to think of it. But now that there is organic sugar, no

problem on that.

 

As you can see, I prefer to make most things rather than buy them. It saves

money and it's fun to personalize things for your family the way you all

like 'em. These also can make wonderful, creative gifts. :>)

 

I often have salad for breakfast, along with a bread and (organic) jam

sandwich. I have recently read in the Vegan Sourcebook that drinking coffee

or tea (non herbal) along with your meals inhibits the iron absorption;

therefore, I have instructed dh about this and as of yesterday, we are

drinking water with our meals and drinking tea other times. We don't drink

coffee, we are big tea drinkers. I have probably eight boxes of different

kinds of herbal teas (many Celestial Seasonings) and one large box of decaf

Luzianne in the tea cabinet. Yes, we have a whole cabinet dedicated to tea!

We drink green and the decaf all the time, and other kinds off and on. I

always have at least one pitcher (gallon) of tea in the fridge, and at least

one gallon of spring water as well.

 

Another favorite food we enjoy often is burritos. I messed with a recipe I

found at AllRecipes.com in the vegetarian section till I got it the way I

liked it, and call it " Confetti Burritos. " They can be made vegan or

vegetarian, whichever one prefers. I can just give you my rendition & you

can go from there; it's super for protein and you can really take off on

ideas for other protein-rich foods.

 

Here you go: Bron's Confetti Burritos

 

You take 2 cans black beans, and drain and rinse (and then drain again)

them. Take one jar of red peppers, drain the jar, and cut the peppers up

into coarse pieces. Take one medium onion and chop it finely. Take one clove

of garlic and do the same.Get you the package of frozen corn kernels out of

the fridge that you have bought <g>, that's between 8 and 16 oz, more or

less, and let it thaw. Thaw it in the microwave if you want, it'll be

quicker while you're choppin' the other vegies. Take one package of regular

cream cheese that's been left out a little while to soften (or 2 tubs vegan

cream cheese, or the equivalent amount of cut up tofu, which is 8 oz.) and

cut it up into chunks. In a medium or large iron skillet (and I'm a firm

believer in the benefits of iron skillet cookin'!), spread 2 T. olive oil to

coat the bottom of the skillet. Turn heat to between Low and Medium. When

the skillet gets hot, put your onion and your garlic and red peppers in and

cook 'em until the onion is limp and the garlic is a light toasty brown.

While they're startin' to cook, get out your lettuce and tomatoes, and

avocados if you like (we do! luuuuv avocados...) and chop or tear the

lettuce, chop the tomatoes fine and scoop out the avocados. If you have any

sour cream or vegan sour cream you'd like to use, get that out too. And for

pete's sake, don't forget the Pace's! LOL. Pace's Picante Sauce is a staple

of the Native Texan's diet. HAVE to have the Pace's. So good just by itself

even! and high in antioxidants! Excellent on anything that's not sweet in

nature.

 

(If you have any green peppers that are washed good and/or organic, chop one

of them up and throw it in the skillet too, along with the drained red

peppers.) Now, put your black beans in there and start mashin' 'em up with

a heavy wooden spoon. (It's got to be heavy 'cause otherwise it's likely to

break with the pressure of the mashin'.) Mash 'em until they're all the same

consistency, or as good as you can get it. Next, put all your corn, which

you've drained, into the skillet and stir it in real well. Finally, add your

cow's cream cheese/vegan cream cheese/tofu and mix everything together real

good. Isn't it pretty? See the confetti pattern there? I do like my food to

look pretty; I'm an artist in the kitchen as well as in other places and

ways. Add some cumin and maybe some chili powder if you like, but I prefer

cumin for that good ole Mexican taste it provides. You just put a little

cumin in and you taste it fine; you got to put in a LOT of chili powder for

you to be able to taste it. But whatever it is that you like is the deal

here. Add salt and pepper to taste. Now get you out a package of wholewheat

tortillas and 'steam' 'em in the microwave, or if you have another skillet

and another big eye on your stove (which I don't, regrettably), cook the

tortillas one at a time in the DRY skillet, for about--oh, let's say five

seconds each side. To keep these skillet warmed tortillas stayin' warm, heat

your oven to 200 and put the tortillas on a plate inside till you've got 'em

all cooked. As soon as all the tortillas are cooked however way you choose,

begin assemblin' your burritos. It helps LOTS if you have all the fixin's

lined up on the cabinet in a row, shotgun house-style. Dip you out a rather

thin line of the confetti mixture and then scatterings of lettuce, tomatoes,

and avocados as preferred. Top with the sour cream/vegan sour cream and

Pace's as desired. Fold up one end of the tortilla and fold over the other

side so it covers the end. (You might have to practice this somewhat if you

never worked at Taco Inn or Taco Bell, which yours truly did many years

ago.) Roll up good and tight. Serve immediately. MMMMMM, MMMMM, shut your

mouth and enjoy! Makes at least six big ole fat burritos. And usually more

than that, but they're so full of such good things and good for you things,

that you won't be able to eat more than two. Hubby eats two, I eat one and

am stuffed! Leftovers are better every day they're around, also.

 

Hope this is of help, more so than previous post was.

 

Bron

 

 

On 1/5/06, purplepassion <thelilacflower wrote:

>

> You write on........we are here to help one another and it it takes 1

> sentence or a page that's fine.

> There is such a variety with a vegetarian diet, the meat based dinners

> and lucnhes are boring once you cross over you will see or scan the recipe

> file and I know you will have many recipes pop right and catch your

> interest.

> Donna

>

> genny_y2k <genny_y2k wrote:

> Donna,

> You are so right about Vegetarian/Vegan lifestyle. There are some isles

> at the grocery store that are off limits. There are empty caloric sodas

> and snack foods that have no food value. They should never be in your

> cupboards. There are so many wonderful juices, and teas. Each day I

> drink a large cup of vegetable juice, at least one cup of green tea, a

> cup of fruit juice and at least 8 cups of water. I have a quart jar and

> when I have filled twice and drank it, I know I have had my water for

> the day. All that drinking leaves little room for food..LOl..If I feel

> hungry I always have dried fruit and nuts for snacking. Lots of

> chewing works for me. I am not a skinny Vegetarian but I am not

> overweight. I eat one plate of green leafy veggies as a salad every

> day. Usually leaf lettuce and baby spinach. For protein I eat nuts, soy

> beans, all kinds of other beans. Sometimes I have pasta which I love

> and rice. I think we should find the foods that we enjoy that are on

> the *good for you list* I never ever eat at fast food restaurants and

> only on special occasions at restauants and only if I know from

> experince that they serve healthy Vegetarian meals.

> I apologize for this lengthy mail.

> Sending smiles and hugs your way

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Whoops! I should have said, " ...and put that dip of confetti mixture down

the center of a tortilla.. " LOL, very important little detail, that.

Bron

 

 

On 1/6/06, southernflower <southernflower wrote:

>

> Good email, genny. I appreciate your writing in.

>

> I should have clarified in my email what I do and don't do.

>

> I do the same things you do as far as eating and avoiding certain aisles

> at the store. I drink vegetable juice often, and lots and lots of water.

> Particularly ice water. We never buy cokes or drink them; we drink lots of

> herbal and decaf tea, and also some fruit juices but mostly we prefer to eat

> fruit, as the fiber and other things are very good in the actual fruit

> itself.

>

> We have stopped going to fastfood places and actually kind of get sick

> when we drive by and smell the smells (we call them " odors " as that is what

> they are to us now), knowing what they are from. <grimace> This includes

> Krispy Kreme, once my most-loved " fun food " place. We also don't go to other

> restaurants unless we know that vegan or in extreme cases, vegetarian

> (extreme, meaning I am about to pass out from hunger as a diabetic) food can

> be obtained. There are very few of those, so it's mostly cook at home or

> bring along snacks from home that are homemade. Since I love to cook and

> bake and assemble combos of things, that's not a problem. :>)

>

> We also buy very few, if any, processed foods of any sort in general at

> the grocery store. I guess you would consider frozen fresh vegies as

> processed, but that's about the limit. Oh, and the soymilk vanilla creamer

> <g>...I suppose in one way, THAT would be considered processed. We don't buy

> processed foods that are non-vegetarian or non-vegan, I'll put it that way

> and it will be a little more clear, hopefully!

>

> We don't buy chips or visit that aisle at all. We do buy non trans fat

> popcorn, Paul Newman's brand.

>

> We eat brown rice every day, and usually oatmeal or my homemade muesli

> with soymilk every day for one meal (which may or may not be breakfast).

> Often we get on a kick for one certain thing; lately it's stir-fry. We've

> had it three nights in a row now for supper! and the leftovers the next

> day! LOL. When I get a new KitchenAid mixer, I will be back to making my

> famous 10-grain bread again, but until that point comes, we will be eating

> storebought 12 grain or other wholegrain bread. We have a salad at least

> once a day. We keep cashews and walnuts around for snacking, because these

> have been shown to be high in antioxidants as well as good for the ADHD

> brain--which my husband has. We used to make a snack mix before going vegan,

> which I will now have to mess with in order to make it conform. But I don't

> think I will have to mess with it too much, as there are comparable cereals

> in the organic aisle that will work just as well as Frosted Mini Wheats, and

> which are vegan. It will just be a bit more expensive.

> I also have a hot chocolate mix that I make up which I will need to mess

> with a bit too, come to think of it. But now that there is organic sugar, no

> problem on that.

>

> As you can see, I prefer to make most things rather than buy them. It

> saves money and it's fun to personalize things for your family the way you

> all like 'em. These also can make wonderful, creative gifts. :>)

>

> I often have salad for breakfast, along with a bread and (organic) jam

> sandwich. I have recently read in the Vegan Sourcebook that drinking coffee

> or tea (non herbal) along with your meals inhibits the iron absorption;

> therefore, I have instructed dh about this and as of yesterday, we are

> drinking water with our meals and drinking tea other times. We don't drink

> coffee, we are big tea drinkers. I have probably eight boxes of different

> kinds of herbal teas (many Celestial Seasonings) and one large box of decaf

> Luzianne in the tea cabinet. Yes, we have a whole cabinet dedicated to tea!

> We drink green and the decaf all the time, and other kinds off and on. I

> always have at least one pitcher (gallon) of tea in the fridge, and at least

> one gallon of spring water as well.

>

> Another favorite food we enjoy often is burritos. I messed with a recipe I

> found at AllRecipes.com in the vegetarian section till I got it the way I

> liked it, and call it " Confetti Burritos. " They can be made vegan or

> vegetarian, whichever one prefers. I can just give you my rendition & you

> can go from there; it's super for protein and you can really take off on

> ideas for other protein-rich foods.

>

> Here you go: Bron's Confetti Burritos

>

> You take 2 cans black beans, and drain and rinse (and then drain again)

> them. Take one jar of red peppers, drain the jar, and cut the peppers up

> into coarse pieces. Take one medium onion and chop it finely. Take one clove

> of garlic and do the same.Get you the package of frozen corn kernels out

> of the fridge that you have bought <g>, that's between 8 and 16 oz, more or

> less, and let it thaw. Thaw it in the microwave if you want, it'll be

> quicker while you're choppin' the other vegies. Take one package of regular

> cream cheese that's been left out a little while to soften (or 2 tubs vegan

> cream cheese, or the equivalent amount of cut up tofu, which is 8 oz.) and

> cut it up into chunks. In a medium or large iron skillet (and I'm a firm

> believer in the benefits of iron skillet cookin'!), spread 2 T. olive oil to

> coat the bottom of the skillet. Turn heat to between Low and Medium. When

> the skillet gets hot, put your onion and your garlic and red peppers in and

> cook 'em until the onion is limp and the garlic is a light toasty brown.

> While they're startin' to cook, get out your lettuce and tomatoes, and

> avocados if you like (we do! luuuuv avocados...) and chop or tear the

> lettuce, chop the tomatoes fine and scoop out the avocados. If you have any

> sour cream or vegan sour cream you'd like to use, get that out too. And for

> pete's sake, don't forget the Pace's! LOL. Pace's Picante Sauce is a staple

> of the Native Texan's diet. HAVE to have the Pace's. So good just by itself

> even! and high in antioxidants! Excellent on anything that's not sweet in

> nature.

>

> (If you have any green peppers that are washed good and/or organic, chop

> one of them up and throw it in the skillet too, along with the drained red

> peppers.) Now, put your black beans in there and start mashin' 'em up with

> a heavy wooden spoon. (It's got to be heavy 'cause otherwise it's likely to

> break with the pressure of the mashin'.) Mash 'em until they're all the same

> consistency, or as good as you can get it. Next, put all your corn, which

> you've drained, into the skillet and stir it in real well. Finally, add your

> cow's cream cheese/vegan cream cheese/tofu and mix everything together real

> good. Isn't it pretty? See the confetti pattern there? I do like my food to

> look pretty; I'm an artist in the kitchen as well as in other places and

> ways. Add some cumin and maybe some chili powder if you like, but I prefer

> cumin for that good ole Mexican taste it provides. You just put a little

> cumin in and you taste it fine; you got to put in a LOT of chili powder for

> you to be able to taste it. But whatever it is that you like is the deal

> here. Add salt and pepper to taste. Now get you out a package of wholewheat

> tortillas and 'steam' 'em in the microwave, or if you have another skillet

> and another big eye on your stove (which I don't, regrettably), cook the

> tortillas one at a time in the DRY skillet, for about--oh, let's say five

> seconds each side. To keep these skillet warmed tortillas stayin' warm, heat

> your oven to 200 and put the tortillas on a plate inside till you've got 'em

> all cooked. As soon as all the tortillas are cooked however way you choose,

> begin assemblin' your burritos. It helps LOTS if you have all the fixin's

> lined up on the cabinet in a row, shotgun house-style. Dip you out a rather

> thin line of the confetti mixture and then scatterings of lettuce, tomatoes,

> and avocados as preferred. Top with the sour cream/vegan sour cream and

> Pace's as desired. Fold up one end of the tortilla and fold over the other

> side so it covers the end. (You might have to practice this somewhat if you

> never worked at Taco Inn or Taco Bell, which yours truly did many years

> ago.) Roll up good and tight. Serve immediately. MMMMMM, MMMMM, shut your

> mouth and enjoy! Makes at least six big ole fat burritos. And usually more

> than that, but they're so full of such good things and good for you things,

> that you won't be able to eat more than two. Hubby eats two, I eat one and

> am stuffed! Leftovers are better every day they're around, also.

>

> Hope this is of help, more so than previous post was.

>

> Bron

>

>

> On 1/5/06, purplepassion <thelilacflower wrote:

> >

> > You write on........we are here to help one another and it it takes 1

> > sentence or a page that's fine.

> > There is such a variety with a vegetarian diet, the meat based dinners

> > and lucnhes are boring once you cross over you will see or scan the recipe

> > file and I know you will have many recipes pop right and catch your

> > interest.

> > Donna

> >

> > genny_y2k <genny_y2k wrote:

> > Donna,

> > You are so right about Vegetarian/Vegan lifestyle. There are some isles

> > at the grocery store that are off limits. There are empty caloric sodas

> > and snack foods that have no food value. They should never be in your

> > cupboards. There are so many wonderful juices, and teas. Each day I

> > drink a large cup of vegetable juice, at least one cup of green tea, a

> > cup of fruit juice and at least 8 cups of water. I have a quart jar and

> > when I have filled twice and drank it, I know I have had my water for

> > the day. All that drinking leaves little room for food..LOl..If I feel

> > hungry I always have dried fruit and nuts for snacking. Lots of

> > chewing works for me. I am not a skinny Vegetarian but I am not

> > overweight. I eat one plate of green leafy veggies as a salad every

> > day. Usually leaf lettuce and baby spinach. For protein I eat nuts, soy

> > beans, all kinds of other beans. Sometimes I have pasta which I love

> > and rice. I think we should find the foods that we enjoy that are on

> > the *good for you list* I never ever eat at fast food restaurants and

> > only on special occasions at restauants and only if I know from

> > experince that they serve healthy Vegetarian meals.

> > I apologize for this lengthy mail.

> > Sending smiles and hugs your way

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >