What I Ate Today...

Love this article from Professor Campbell's website, Nutrition Studies...

Easy Plant-Based Meal Prep for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

The author hits the nail right on the head with her opening statement:

"I do not like to cook.  And I judge a recipe by its length; if it's long, I'm not using it.  In other words, I place a high value on ease and convenience.  So I was grateful to learn plant-centered meals can be prepared easily.  This chapter provides guidance on how to make simple yet tasty plant-based meals."

Bingo!

That's me!  Short on time, long on good taste!

If you would like to get a whole lot of help with this Whole-Food, Plant-Based transition head on over to Easy Meal Prep Ideas...

What to eat for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner... easy, fast and delicious!

Eating to Live!

Helyn's Plant-Based Kitchen

Another Resource for the Whole-Food, Plant-Based Journey...

Helyn's Plant-Based Kitchen

Helyn loves gardening and hiking boots, sunsets and horses, a quiet country life ...she might be my kind of happy friend!  On her website she shares a bit more of herself :

"Besides cooking and blogging I love my two kitties, exploring the mountains with my sweet man,  thrift store shopping and working on home improvement projects.  My family is the fiber of my soul.  I love them unconditionally, infinitely and eternally."

{Smitten}

Helyn has some amazing plant-based recipes on her website...

Appetizers

Breads

Breakfasts

Main Dishes

Desserts

Helyn has the heart of a giver...

"When I was two years old, I wanted to be a nurse.  So that I could help people.  I hope, in some small way, that I am fulfilling that childhood dream of helping others live a healthier, happier life by sharing my plant-strong recipes and nutritional education with my readers."

Yes, Helyn, you are spreading hope and happiness.  You make the journey sweeter... So grateful for your dedication and hard work!

In Grace Tonight,
Always,
Jane

A Tex-Mex Hit!

Happy Monday y'all...

Welcome to Vegan-cooking, Texas-style!  Forgive the paper plates... did I mention that we're in the middle of a log home build?  Amazing-crazy!  So, paper plates make life easier right now... and they definitely look good with some Tex-Mex Casserole piled on top!

The best Tex-Mex Casserole I have ever made... and it is Whole-Food, Plant-Based Delicious!!

If you're on the fence about this whole plant based food thing, please do me one little favor and make this dish.

It even fooled friends we had over the Lake Place {yes!} They never even suspected the 2 cups of fresh baby spinach tucked into the savory mix!

And it is so easy to make... Here's the recipe and a few pics to make it fun.

Ordinary ingredients that you can find anywhere... 

except for the Vegan cheese and sour cream...

Our local Kroger carries both in their Natural Food section...

 and they are surprisingly good!

So, here's the recipe, from the Oh She Glows Cookbook, 

courtesy of Angela Liddon:

Crowd-Pleasing Tex-Mex Casserole

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

50 mins

Author: Angela Liddon

Recipe type: Entree

Cuisine: Tex-Mex

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• FOR THE TEX-MEX SPICE BLEND:
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1½ tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika or ½ tsp regular paprika
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper, plus more as needed
• 1¼ tsp fine-grain sea salt
• ½ tsp ground coriander (optional)
• FOR THE CASSEROLE:
• 1½ tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 orange bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded, if desired, and diced
• fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup fresh or frozen corn
• 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their juices
• 1 cup tomato sauce or tomato puree
• 2-3 cups chopped kale leaves or baby spinach
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 cups cooked wild rice blend or brown rice
• ½ cup vegan shredded cheese, such as Daiya
• 1-2 handful corn tortilla chips, crushed
• OPTIONAL TOPPINGS:
• Sliced green onions
• Salsa
• Avocado
• Corn Chips
• Cashew Cream (or Tofutti Sour Cream!)

Instructions

1. Make the Tex-Mex Spice Blend: In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt, and coriander (if using). Set aside.
2. Make the Casserole: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Oil a large (4 to 5 quart or liter) casserole dish.
3. In a large wok, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, bell peppers, and jalapeño and sauté for 7 to 8 minutes, until softened. Season with salt and black pepper, if desired.
4. Stir in the Tex-Mex Spice Blend, corn, diced tomatoes and their juices, tomato sauce, kale, beans, rice and ¼ cup of the vegan shredded cheese. Sauté for a few minutes and season with more salt and black pepper, if desired.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish and smooth out the top. Sprinkle the crushed chips over the casserole mixture along with the remaining ¼ cup of cheese. Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Uncover the casserole dish and cook for 5 to 10 minutes more, until bubbly and slightly golden around the edges.
7. Scoop the casserole into bowls and add your desired toppings.

As you can see by the pictures, I didn't need a wok (good-old frying pan worked great) and I opted not to add the jalepenos... (just depends on how hot you like it!)

Hello, Delicious... !!!

Tasty, Healthy and So Amazing!

Enjoy!

Angela Liddon has done an excellent job of gathering superb plant-based recipes.
Her website is a wonderful addition to your whole-food, plant-based file cabinet!

Check out Angela's website at

Oh She Glows

Tips for the Journey.

You can so do this!!

Love, Always,

Jane

Where Do We Start When our Mind Goes Blank?

When I started looking seriously at the Whole-Food, Plant-Based diet, my mind went blank. Totally blank!

Like, what will I eat?  No cheese? No Burgers? No Ice Cream?  Not even Milk, so no cereal??!!  Exactly... Blank!  I couldn't imagine just eating salads all day (with no cheese or ranch dressing!  Hello?!)

That was my basic understanding of a whole-food, plant-based diet.  No fun, just salads, sad, sad, sad...

Was I wrong!

After commiting to the change, I started doing some serious research.

My world exploded!

There are so many amazing recipes out there... And today I'm sending you over to an awesome website to get you started.

Ben Bella Vegan

Go there now... you have my blessing {smile}

At BenBella Vegan you will find the resources and inspiration for an exciting transition to plant-based living and a whole lot of delicious recipes!

 Life is getting good...

My Love, Always,
Jane

Tips for the Journey...

So you're convinced... a Whole-Food Plant-Based diet has merit and you're ready to take the plunge and remove animal protein from your plate and fill it with whole foods, heavy on the plants.

But where to start?  Seems rather daunting... Yes?!  Yes!

Here are some smart tips to encourage success during the transition.  And it is a transition... give yourself a little grace and a lot of love.  Eating smart is wonderful but not always intuitive or easy!

Here is a quick excerpt from The China Study... encouragement for jump-starting the journey!

"Give it one month.

You've been eating cheeseburgers your whole life; a month without them won't kill you!

A month isn't enough time to give you any long-term benefits, bit it is long enough for you to discover four things:

1.  There are some great foods you can eat in a plant-based diet that you otherwise may never have discovered.  You may not be eating everything you want (desire for meat may last longer than a month), but you will be eating lots of great, delicious foods.

2.  It's not all that bad.  Some people take to this diet quite quickly and love it.  Many take months to fully adjust to it, at which point they then discover some new tastes.  But almost everyone will find that it's a lot easier than they thought.

3.  You'll feel better.  Even after only a month, most people will feel better and likely lose some weight, too.  Try having your blood work done both before and after.  Odds are, you'll see significant improvement in even that period of time if you've been eating the standard American diet.  (Since we made the one-month recommendation in the first edition of this book, several groups have organized relatively formal opportunities to use the diet for periods of 7-10 days only, with blood work done before and after.  My eldest son, Nelson, and his consulting physician have done it six times, for groups as large as 130 people.  Depending on what diet and numbers people begin with, it is possible to see total cholesterol drop by 100 points or more, LDL cholesterol by 50-75 points, and body weight by 5-10 pounds in as few as seven days.  Also, blood pressure generally decreases more than with antihypertensive drugs.)

4.  Most important, you'll discover that it's possible.  You may love the diet, or you may not, but at the very least you'll come away from your one-week or one-month trial knowing that it's possible.  You can do it, if you choose to.  All the health benefits discussed in this book are not just for Tibetan monks and fanatical Spartans.  You can have them too.  It's your choice."

Ready to try it?  If I could do it, than I am positive you can too!

More encouragement and some great recipes on the way... Stay tuned!

Getting Personal...

For years I have had an ongoing battle with my primary care physician over my cholesterol levels.

The numbers have been inching higher and higher year by year.

Dr. Kyle has repeatedly perscribed statin drug to lower the cholesterol levels, and I have repeatedly said no.

So... I am stubborn.  And so is he...

Perhaps you are having a similar battle?  Maybe not... but this is where the story gets personal for me.

Last year my total cholesterol topped 260.  It was 263 to be exact.

A desirable normal total cholesterol level would be below 200 mg/dL.

200 -239 is borderline high.

Over 240 is considered high and dangerous.

Obviously I have fallen into the dangerously high levels.

It is something of a family "gift" I suppose... my mom was on statin drugs and so is my brother because of abnormally high cholesterol levels.

Dr. Kyle said it is not up for discussion.  The high levels of cholesterol in my system will set me up for heart disease... take the statins he said!

And this is where my struggle lies.  There are so many side effects associated with statin drugs.  Such as muscle pain and damage, liver damage, increased chance of developing type 2 diabetes and neurological effects (memory loss and confusion).

There had to be a better way!

Enter The China Study...

Remember, I had picked up the book because of our cancer research... I was intrigued by the claims of being able to "dramatically reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes just by changing your diet."

I was not prepared to read that Dr. Campbell's research in China and the corresponding studies in England had established an indisputable link between elevated cholesterol rates and cancer risk...

"We compared the prevalence of Western diseases with diet and lifestyle variables and, to our surprise, one of the strongest predictors of Western diseases was blood cholesterol."

Seriously, what was cholesterol doing in the middle of a cancer study??

What Dr. Campbell and his team had found as they studied the rural Chinese communities was that as blood cholesterol levels rose the incidence of Western diseases (cancer, heart disease and diabetes) also rose.

The other astonishing finding was that rural Chinese participants had blood cholesterol levels far, far below the Western average... like really, really low cholesterol readings...

In America, our average blood cholesterol readings are between 170-290mg/dL.  In China, the average readings were between 94-129mg/dL.  That's almost 100 points lower!

My brain started setting off alarm bells... with my high cholesterol was I at a higher risk for cancer too?  Maybe it's not just heart disease that I should be worrying about!

Ok, now you've got my attention.

And as mom and I often did, I decided to set up my own "unscientific" test...

I had 6 weeks until my follow-up physical and blood work (to see if the statins were lowering my cholesterol).  What I chose to do is perhaps not the smartest thing to do (according to Dr. Kyle), but I needed to know if there was anything to this China Study Diet...

For the next 6 weeks I chose to follow the Whole-Food Plant-Based diet as closely as I could.  And not take the statin drug.  (Please know that this should never be construed as medical advice for you or a loved one... this is just a personal journal of my truly unscientific experiment!)

The first week on the diet was the hardest (more on that in the coming days!) but I knew if there was any chance to tell if the diet worked on lowering my cholesterol I needed to be as consistent as I could...

Amazingly I made it through the 6 weeks (and actually found I missed the animal-protein foods less and less!)

The results were well worth it... After 6 weeks on the diet, my total cholesterol level had dropped to 231!!!!

From 263... a 32 point drop in 6 weeks.  Dr. Kyle was impressed. 

I was doing a happy dance (and just a little shocked to be honest) but incredibly impressed by the results.

I am continuing to apply the diet in my life and hope to see the numbers drop to even healthier levels.  But now I know that The China Study has merit, and have begun to advocate strongly for a Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet.

That is the reason I am sharing in this 31 Day Write Journal: Beating Cancer, 31 Days to Healing.  If you or a loved one is searching for answers.  A plan. For a bit of hope... Keep on trucking with me...

The China Study Diet is simple, wholesome and surprisingly delicious.  It is very do-able,  It reaps amazing benefits.  And can be started today.

Looking forward to sharing the tips and recipes that made a transition to Healthy easy and fun...

See you back tomorrow!