Big News

Sorry for the long absence. The big news is that we are moving from New York to Chicago! I've been spending all my time painting and cleaning out clutter and trying to make my house look beautiful in order to sell it. And of course all the regular stuff must still be done (laundry, sports, homework, shopping, etc.). It is very hectic and stressful. Plus every time someone comes to look at the house it must be spotless - not an easy feat with three small kids!

With all that crazy stuff and me trying to diet, I have not had much exciting food to share. Mostly we eat stuff that can be made in 5 minutes - for me, that means rice cakes with hummus or peanut butter. Not exactly blog-worthy! I miss bread! Didn't even eat it that much before, but of course you want what you can't have. I'm surprised that I haven't missed sugar all that much - that is my biggest weakness and what I overeat the most. I have lost 7.5 lbs in 3 weeks. This is pretty good, as I'm not that overweight to begin with. I slip up sometimes on the weekend, but am good during the week.

So here are some new products and recipes I have tried.

This white bean hummus is to die for. It really has a lovely basil flavor.

Here it is on rice cakes - isn't it a pretty green? Love the pine nuts, too.

This is a black bean and yam burrito from "The Gluten Free Vegan," by Susan O'Brien. The tortilla is brown rice from Trader Joe's. The filling was good but I can't get used to the brown rice wraps. They taste okay but the texture is wrong. Too rubbery in the microwave and too crisp in the oven (and they got rubbery after being crisp).

"Salad bar salad" with seared tofu. I call it salad bar salad because when I worked in an office, that's what I had for lunch every day. Must include raisins and sunflower seeds! With my favorite dressing of mayo and ketchup.

Trader Joe's low-fat mayo is accidentally vegan.

I've been relying more than usual on prepared foods. This is a black bean and quinoa salad from my health food store. It was really good! I've never had luck with quinoa so I was really pleased with this.

More from the health food store - curried tofu and sushi salad. Lots of big onion wedges in that tofu - yum.

I did not care for these "crackers."

Last time I showed you the brown rice spaghetti that I didn't like. This penne was much, much better. Maybe because I rinsed it? Good thing there is a Trader Joe's in my new town!

Provencial Chickpea Soup from the New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook by Nancy Harmon Jenkins. I love chickpeas so much and this soup had ground fennel, leeks, tomatoes, and orange zest. So delicious.

Well, I am learning a lot about gluten-free cooking. I must say I am glad I don't have celiac disease - I don't think I could do this forever. But it's good to take a break from eating the same stuff all the time, both taste-wise and for the body!

Spring Cleansing

I have been rather over-indulgent in my eating habits for the last few months, and it is catching up to me. SO time to behave for a while and drop a few pounds.

I read Kathy Freston's book (the "Oprah cleanse") and was inspired to try to be not only vegan but gluten free. I have had "digestive issues" all my life, and have been wondering if I am gluten sensitive. It is not as hard as I thought - basically rice, beans, veggies, and fruit. Well, that's what we're supposed to be eating anyway, right? I have dropped 3.5 lbs in 6 days, without restricting amounts. And I have not had any more digestive problems. Now, is it because of gluten, or just because I am eating better generally? I guess I'll find out when I add back the gluten.

Anyway, here are some of the things I have been eating.



These are baked and breaded bananas. The bananas are dipped in a mix of melted EB, lime juice, and cayenne, then dredged in cornflake crumbs mixed with nooch (the orignal recipe had bread crumbs and parmesan cheese - sounds weird but delicious)!

I wanted to make tofu with teriyaki, but teriyaki has wheat (gluten) in it. So I mixed wheat free soy sauce with some of my homemade barbecue sauce, poured it on some tofu and baked it. Served with roasted potatoes and peppers. Yum.

Why am I showing you a boring picure of spaghetti? It is Trader Joe's brown rice spaghetti. I have not tried it before. It tasted like - well, brown rice. It was very starchy, which blocked the flavor of the sauce. And low in protein. This tiny pile had 400 calories! Do any of you gluten free people have a pasta suggestion?

These chips are gluten free and quite delicious! They taste like a cross between papadums and corn chips. Not cheap though, at $2.29 for a tiny bag.

Here is the Carnivore being silly for the girls on his pretend birthday. His real birthday is August 30, which he always hated as a kid because it was back to school time. So he has declared his new birthday to be May 1, because he loves spring so much!

I made these before I started the cleanse. They are butterscotch scones from Vegan Homemade's recipe. My new favorite scone recipe!