Info Diet Plan

Julienned Zucchini Vegan Bowl with Peanut-Sriracha Sauce is a perfect Meatless Monday dinner. Even though I recently posted my collection of 50 Amazing Zucchini Recipes , a wonderful friend keeps bringing me zucchini, so I keep experimenting with it.  Ever since I got a Julienne Cutter a couple of summers ago, I've been having fun with easy-to-make zucchini "noodles" and this was another recipe where I used thin little strips of zucchini as a stand-in for pasta, topped with peanut-Sriracha sauce this time.  I added some diagonally sliced sugar snap peas, thin strips of red bell pepper, cilantro, and a few chopped peanuts, but you could add most any type of raw vegetable that would taste good with a spicy peanut sauce. Click to continue reading

Leftover mashed potatoes on spicy beans, corn and peppers. What to do with Leftovers I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you did the cooking, like I did, you are probably looking at a bunch of leftover stuffing, mashed potatoes and other food - except pie. I bet thats all gone! Heres a very quick and easy dish to make from your left over Creamy Vegan Mashed Potatoes . Classic Shepherds pie has ground beef or lamb. Vegetarian Shepherds pie recipes usually replace the meat with mushrooms, lentils or other beans. I made a quick bean chili for the base and the spicy flavor goes well with the creamy mashed potatoes. I like making this dish in 4 small, individual casserole dishes. Low in Calories and High in Fiber After eating way too much on Thanksgiving, Im definitely watching every calorie that goes into my mouth today. Christmas and New Years are coming soon so its a good time to lose a few pounds before another holiday. For those of you celebrating Hanukkah, Im afraid you do...

A Vegan Superbowl Menu As you may have heard by now, Oprah and 378 of her staffers went vegan for a week, Its nice to see a healthful diet that protects the planet and is kind to animals get some main stream attention. Although not all of her staffers warmed up to the diet, many of them were amazed that after just one week, they regained their energy, lost weight and felt better than they had felt in years. The biggest topic of conversation was their ability to finally poop! But well talk about that some other time. So heres a Superbowl menu for all current and future vegans out there to enjoy this Sunday! Lets Start with 2 Black Bean Salsa Recipes! My favorite is the one with the mango and jicama but I also love the cucumber, bell pepper and corn version too. Ill let you decide! Vegan Black Bean Salsa with Cucumber, Red Bell Pepper and Corn [makes 4 1/2 cups salsa] 1 cup cucumber, peeled and chopped  1 cup red bell pepper, seeded and chopped  1 cup corn, fresh or frozen ...

An Extra Cup of Wheat Berries Its funny how new recipes get developed. The other day I was cleaning my refrigerator (a rare occurrence) and I came across some organic wheat berries in a brown paper bag. These were evidently left over from my Hearty Vegan Bean Chili with Wheat Berries recipe I posted in February. I realized that it was unlikely that I would ever think of cooking these unless they were more "visible" so I put them in a large glass jar. Unfortunately, the jar wasnt big enough so I had an extra cup of wheat berries on my hands. So I soaked them overnight which gave me some time to figure out what to do with them. The next morning I cooked them up and set them aside and headed out to the market to look for other ingredients. I found some beautiful fresh asparagus and some other veggies which all ended up in this dish. Other than the time it takes to cook wheat berries, the dish cooks up in minutes. You can always cook wheat berries in advance and freeze them for u...

Happy Holidays! Follow Foods For Long Life on FACEBOOK ! Happy Holidays! Its hard to believe that 2011 is coming to an end. Before I put my full attention to celebrating the holidays with the family, I will leave you with some ideas for a vegan holiday menu. All recipes, except for the celebration roast, are gluten free. For the appetizer, try the roasted garlic and kalamata olive hummus . Hummus is perhaps the easiest appetizer to make from scratch. The basic ingredients include garbanzo beans, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and salt. But you can add many different ingredients to change it around. Besides roasted garlic and kalamata olives, try adding roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, avocado or spice it up with a jalapeño or cayenne. Top with chopped parsley or a drizzle of some good extra virgin olive oil. You can even substitute the garbanzos with different beans, such as Great northern or cannellini. Dont have time? Pick some up at the store, chop up some olives and mix them in...

Creamy butternut squash risotto is the perfect Christmas dish for your vegan and gluten-free guests. Follow Foods For Long Life on Facebook and Pinterest. Christmas Menu I love to serve risotto for the holidays but it is a difficult dish to make when there are a number of things on the menu and you dont feel like stirring for 30 minutes with company sitting at the table. But this year I have my new Instant Pot Pressure Cooker and making risotto is a snap. Once the butternut squash is roasted, scooped from the skin, and mashed (you can do that earlier in the day), just stir it into the cooked risotto which only takes minutes in this pot and requires no stirring! But even if you make risotto the traditional way, this dish is worth the effort. The roasted squash adds a beautiful buttery texture to the risotto and the Meyer lemon gremolata is the perfect topping when you want flavor without a dairy parmesan.  Make no-stir risotto in the Instant PotIP-DU060 in 5 minute (plus the ti...

Did you know that buckwheat noodles are gluten free? Follow Foods For Long Life on FACEBOOK . Buckwheat is Not Wheat! Although "wheat" is in the name, buckwheat is not related to wheat.  Buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum is not part of the cereal grain family but is from a broad leaf plant in the Polygonaceae family. Soba noodles, made from 100% buckwheat, are suitable for those on a gluten-free diet as long as they havent been cross contaminated during processing. I love the chewy texture of these noodles. I prefer them over Udon noodles and always have a package of them in the pantry. Soba noodles are low in fat and high in protein and contain all the essential amino acids. They also contain thiamin, folate niacin, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and iron. a 2 oz serving of buckwheat soba provides: 200 calories 1 g total fat zero saturated fat and cholesterol 6 g protein 3 g dietary fiber 43 g carbohydrates Time for Soup Its getting cold and although one third of my diet sti...

Vegan strawberry ice cream Cuisinart ice cream maker The ice cream is sweetened by a few dates soaked in milk. The ice cream maker is filled with the mango-peach mixture. Vegan mango peach ice cream Delicious Dairy Free Ice Cream I just bought a Cuisinart ICE-30BC 2 quart ice cream maker. I cant eat dairy so I thought Id buy some equipment to help me make some healthful, dairy free ice cream. Well, it turned out to be the best $68 I ever spent! When I looked at the recipes that came with the machine I started to wonder if it was possible to make a tasty frozen dessert without the cream and the sugar but after experimenting a bit and trying some tricks passed on to me from my friend Bernadette, I quickly came up with a few delicious recipes. Healthful Ice Cream Most ice cream is loaded with cream, sugar, corn syrup, egg yolks and some even have artificial coloring. Along with that come calories, saturated fat, cholesterol and tons of carbs. I wont try to convince you that Haagen-Dazs ...

Adding quinoa to a kale salad turns it into a meal! Follow Foods For Long Life on Facebook and Pinterest. If you enjoy my blog, youll love my eBook! on Amazon and iTunes.   Inspired at the Airport My daughter and I just spent a lovely four days in Sedona. Besides the beautiful red rocks and relaxing spa treatments, we were blown away with the food. One restaurant was better than the other. So when we got to the Phoenix airport to go home, we were kind of bummed that our last meal would probably be terrible. I mean, whens the last time you had a good meal at an airport? We were pretty shocked when we walked into Chelseas Kitchen in Terminal 4. The restaurant itself was large and beautiful and the food was definitely NOT what you would expect at an airport (unless you are in the International Terminal in SFO.) Chelseas Kitchen at the Phoenix Airport The dish that inspired me the most was their kale salad (they were kind enough to make one without the parmesan cheese). It was mix...

Healthy Alternative This veggie p âté has a rich and meaty taste and makes a great appetizer for any guest whether they love to eat meat or avoid it completely. Compared to p âté s made from chicken or goose liver that contain little or no essential fatty acids while being high in cholesterol, this recipe provides 683 mg of omega 3 and 2,891 mg of omega 6 per tablespoon and has zero cholesterol. And once youve soaked the walnuts, it only takes minutes to prepare. *** Raw Walnut and Mushroom P âté [makes 16 servings, 1 tablespoon each] 1 cup raw English walnuts, soaked for 4 hours 1 cup chopped button mushrooms 2 teaspoons Nama Shoyu soy sauce 1 teaspoon garlic, chopped 1 teaspoon fresh thyme 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (more or less to taste) 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon minced yellow onion 1 tablespoon chopped parsley Rinse the soaked walnuts and drain well. Put them in a food processor with an S blade together with mushrooms, Nama Shoyu, garlic, thyme, black pepper...

COLUMBIA, S.C.  — Susan Reese lost 30 pounds and helped University of South Carolina researchers prove a point. Reese was among the participants in a study to see which kind of diet was best for losing weight. They were more interested in losing weight than backing a hypothesis. Many did both. The study showed a strict vegan diet is more effective for losing weight than a vegetarian diet or those that include fish or red meat. Peer pressure and education about serving sizes and healthy cooking can drive weight loss, too. “The support group was as important as the diet itself for me,” Reese said. Everybody in the study conducted by the Arnold School of Public Health had access to the support groups, the diet education and the healthy recipes. But at the end of six months, the participants on the vegan diet lost more weight than the other groups by an average of 4.3 percent, or 16.5 pounds. The study, published in The International Journal of Applied and Basic Nutritional Sciences, b...

Raisin and cinnamon mocha by Grainaissance . Just cut, bake, fill and serve! Follow Foods For Long Life on FACEBOOK ! Mochi, a Japanese New Years Tradition Mochi is a Japanese rice cake that is made from steamed and pounded mochi rice. It is traditionally eaten during the New Year holidays to bring good luck.  The traditional way to make mochi is to steam glutinous brown rice and pound it with wooden mallets (kine) in a wooden mortar (usu). The resulting sticky mass is then formed into cakes. This process is extremely labor intensive. Raisin-Cinnamon Mochi - so easy to make! An Easier Way to Enjoy Mochi As much fun as making mochi sounds, I was quite excited to find a mochi product that was ready made.  I walked past the Grainaissance mochi packages in the market a number of times wondering what youre supposed to do with them. They look like a slab of very hard clay. Curiosity got the best of me one day and I brought home the "original" flavor which is basically unflavored b...