Monday, April 30, 2012

Oatmeal and the Plan



This was breakfast yesterday. I took a half cup of uncooked oatmeal, and one peeled and sliced apple, and 2 Tablespoons of raisins, and a half teaspon of cinammon and put it all in a big Pyrex bowl. Then I added one and a half cups of water and a pinch of salt and mixed it all up. I microwaved it for four minutes or so. Then I scooped it all out onto a plate and had it for breakfast. It was warm, chewy, carby and sweet enough.

Once again I felt like I had eaten a virtuous breakfast, one that could stand along amongst donuts and waffles with maple syrup.It hit all the sweet spots and left no cravings whatsoever.My blood sugar continues to remain normal, and I've lost a real pound.

All this in a week of eating a low fat vegan diet.To answer one of my friends, I am on a vegan diet with a low fat plan. That means I use very little added oil and for now, avoid the high fat favorites (avocados and nuts).

I love dairy and I love meat, but every other food plan leaves a part where I miss carbohydrates very much, so I am just sticking to this one until I get to my goal.Of all the food plans I have tried, this is the one which gives me the most volume and I do not feel deprived at all.

Back in the early 80's I was a vegetarian (and a thin one at that), I ate a lot of beans and rice, our local pizzeria had whole wheat pizza. At the time I lived in Philadelphia in West Philly. There was an interesting religious hotel called The Divine Tracy. For very little money, you could eat a vegetarian lunch for around $2.50. For that bit of money, you would get a huge plate of lentils, rice, soup and a creative "meat" loaf. It was filling and fun, as we would speculate about the lives of the placid faced ladies with hair nets who doled out the food.

I can't remember when I fell off the vegetarian food plan (I suspect it had something to do with fried chicken), but like all things where you fall away, one day I woke up to leftovers of pot roast.I miss meat, but I miss health more. I'm no good at counting and measuring and all the mental maintenance a diet takes. If you want to know more here is my reading list.

Dr. Neal Barnard - Reversing Diabetes

Dr. Dean Ornish - Eat More, Weigh Less

Dr. John McDougall - Maximum Weight Loss Solution

Dr. Joel Furhmann - Eat to Live!

Kathy Hoshijo - Kathy Cooks

Dr. Terry Shintani - The Hawaii Diet

Rip Esseltynn - The Engine Diet

Of the food plans listd, Dr. Shintani allows fish, and Dr. Ornish allows non-fat dairy.

I hope someone in my situation (diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and hypertension), in a busy life that feels something like a runaway train, with lots and lots of celebration to deal with, finds this blog.

If you are like me, and wonder if it is possible to reverse this state of disease - take heart. It is. It is actually really easy. You will never be hungry, you'll eat all healthy food, and you will see improvements very quickly. I'm writing this blog to cheer myself on. I come from an incredibly food focused family on both sides.

My own household is very supportive. I will say it again, I have seen firsthand the tragic and terrible toll of diabetes. I don't ever want to go there. I had my youngest child when I was 41. I'm doing this for me, for my husband (who has longevity in his family), and most of all for my children, so that we can enjoy life for as long as we can.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Saturday dinner



Blood sugar is holding nice and steady.

Tonight we had a feast. I made hummus from scratch, using the method on this excellent blog:

http://www.waffleizer.com/waffleizer/2010/03/waffled-falafel-and-secret-to-perfect-hummus.html

I made big corn chips by turning the oven to 320 degrees and putting in corn tortillas - right on the rack. Ten minutes and watching. I turned the oven off until it was time to eat and they were perfectly crisp.

Mercy made her famous salsa and guacamole.

Bud roasted vegetables to perfection.

I tossed in some yams...baked them until they were syrupy.

Brown rice, corn, and cheddar cheese.

Huge Gulf shrimp made by JM.

Excellent new batch of black beans by Mercy.

I had everything but the shrimp, guacamole, and cheese. As you can see my plate was full.

Wonderful.

The kids had us laughing our heads off. All of them were home. And to think we lived like this for years and years with nary a goodbye in sight, ever. So when they are all here, it's like the best of ordinary days.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Day 5

Blood sugar was great again this morning. So I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's muffins with a little bit of Baguio strawberry jam. Lunch was an encore of the black beans with whole grain pasta.

Then dinner beckoned. I decided to try my hand at the vegan adobo my daughter invented. Now, dear reader, you must know that Adobo - chicken or pork is the quintessential Filipino dish. Garlicky, tart, oily adobo is the perfect accompaniment to hot rice.

Being a low fat vegan is a challenge when one wishes for adobo. So, this is what I do. I did it a few years ago when in the same situation. One makes adjustments for the greater good.

At this moment it is better for me to strictly adhere to the food plan. If I can't have chicken and pork adobo, I can still have MOST of the things I crave, the tart and garlicky sauce, the meat like taste of savory something.

The savory something is the seitan. This is an easy recipe. It turned out quite nicely.

Here is the recipe:

2 cans of seitan (or Mock Duck Vegetarian)
2 cloves of garlic
2 T of soy sauce
2 T of vinegar (ideally coconut, but red wine is OK)
2 t of coconut oil
1 cup of vegetable boullion (that would be half a cube)
black pepper bay leaf
1 T of coconut powder (from the Asian market)

Make the boullion, cool it down and add the tablespoon of coconut powder. Cut the seitan into pieces. Crush the garlic and brown in the coconut oil. Add the seitan and move it around the pan. Add soy sauce, vinegar, and broth mixture. Simmer for 20 minutes and serve with hot rice. (I use brown rice).


Thursday, April 26, 2012

One Hundred Thirteen

113. One hundred thirteen. That was my morning blood sugar on Day 4 of this low fat vegan food plan. If you are familiar with diabetes, you know that this is an great number for someone in transition to lower, normal, blood sugar.

It means the low fat vegan food plan is working. That means there aren't little sugar crystals roaming through my body stabbing my nerves. I am both relieved and amazed that different food can do this.

Today I had the scones I made the other day for breakfast. For lunch I had whole grain pasta with black beans for topping. I liked it so much I had it for dinner!

Now, because it is time to have something to write about and something for breakfast, I am making Banana Oat Muffins. I used rye flour and almond milk because that is what I had on hand and left out the raisins and dates.

Those bananas I found yesterday are being transformed into something new!


The muffins are dense and moist. The molasses turned them a chocolate color. I had mine with a bit of guava paste.

Banana Oat Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

These quick and delicious muffins contain no added fat and cholesterol.

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats or oat bran
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups soymilk
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup chopped dates or rainsins
1 vegetable oil spray
Preheat oven to 375°F.

Mix flour, oats or oat bran, and baking soda and make a well in the center. Add bananas, soymilk, vinegar, molasses, and dates or raisins. Stir together just to mix. Spoon batter into lightly vegetable oil sprayed or non-stick muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until tops bounce back when pressed lightly.
Per muffin

Calories: 203
Fat: 1.7 g
Saturated Fat: 0.3 g
Calories from Fat: 7.3%
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Protein: 5.8 g
Carbohydrates: 44.1 g
Sugar: 16 g
Fiber: 4.8 g
Sodium: 129 mg
Calcium: 82 mg
Iron: 2.3 mg
Vitamin C: 1.9 mg
Beta Carotene: 8 mcg
Vitamin E: 0.8 mg
Source: Food for Life by Neal Barnard, M.D.; recipe by Jennifer Raymond, M.S., R.D.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Day 3 of the Quest



The funny thing about having a food blog is that you can get caught up in the whole photo aspect of it. I am a writer, not a photographer, and I think it shows! I'll get better as I go along - I hope!

Nevertheless, I had a very fine and successful day with The Food Plan today. For breakfast I made a batch of these very carbo-licious scones. They are made of Oatmeal and Rye Flour. The oatmeal form the recipe called for was Oat Flour. Of course I didn't have any, so I had to MAKE SOME. Of course the instructions said that the oatmeal could be pulsed in a blender. I found the blender lid, and base, but not the pitcher.

So, dear readers, I opted for the next best thing, a coffee grinder. A small coffee grinder that is used to grind our Baguio coffee beans. I wiped it out with a paper towel and proceeded to mill the oats.

I topped them with the coco sugar/ginger tea mix I brought back from the Philippines. Just a little bit of sweetness.

They were very good, and very good for me too. I felt virtuous, creative, and healthy. Plus the carbs made me feel like all was well in the world.

I made these black beans:



They cooked for a VERY LONG time in the crock pot. Because I am a lazy person, or I love shortcuts and easy things - I didn't want to put the black beans in the fridge. Dear readers, I have six children. The fridge is always overflowing! I cook too much. I love to FILL the crock pot, which is the biggest one on the market. So when I was done being abundant, I had no room to put the crock pot. No problem. Cooked it all night long on the lowest setting.

As you can see, the beans didn't turn to mush and this is a very, very good recipe. I will post it tomorrow.

Last of all, I made these terrific onion rings. They were cooked with the tiniest bit of oil in a very hot oven.



I got the recipe from this book:



Which, by the way, I ordered just yesterday morning from Amazon. It arrived today, so of course I had to cook from it.

Unfortunately, I am not a very organized cook. I am good at buying ingredients. There is always a moment when you make the transition from the intellectual world to the real world that the Fallen World creeps in. Things get stuck, things get messy, things are LOST. Believe me, dear reader, when I say these onion rings are a triumph. Those of you who are my close friends and family and who know how my universe runs..be proud of me.

These were excellent with ketchup.

And my blood sugar was normal this morning.

I found the lost bananas. I bought two large bunches of green bananas about ten days ago. Then I promptly forgot about them and bought more bananas yesterday. But a faint glimmer of memory worked its way out from the back of my mind and I found them in the quaint wooden cabinet that we use to store Japanese noodles and things like that.

They were, as the song goes, "Flecked with brown and had a golden hue".

Tomorrow we will make Banana Bread Extraordinaire

Sunny days and sweet dreams to all.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Day 2 of Quest

Today is Day 2 of the Great Quest to Reverse Diabetes. My blood sugar is down to 129 this morning - let's see if it continues to drop. I didn't get hungry yesterday and I went on the treadmill. Downton Abbey is my favorite treadmill show. There are so many little bits to the plots that it is a constant gold mine.

I'm looking for all my low fat vegan books. I know they are here in the house. I just don't know where. I know the drill. Daily fat grams under 20. High fiber, whole foods over processed. That means brown rice over rice pasta.

There is a big pot of black beans on the stove. I make my own recipe, and we all love it. It is based on the fat free black bean dip at Trader Joe's. Black beans, 1 can of tomato paste, 1 can of crushed or diced tomatoes, garlic, salt, red wine vinegar, onions. One time I was reading a Gourmet magazine article on black beans in the Caribbean and found out that I was breaking many rules. Oh Well.

I will write up the recipe to share. I love black beans and rice.

Short backstory

Back in 2005, after years of unplanned eating and cavalier coping with stress, I had a stroke. It was a small cerebral hemorrhage above above my right eyebrow. I was airlifted to a major hospital and into the testing fray I went! Sedated and on a ventilator, the next bad obvious thing happened, I got a lung infection. I almost died. After the hospital, rather overwhelmed, I sought my own answers to my official diagnoses, diabetes and hypertension.

The stroke took away scads of foolish knowledge and people I wasn't attached to. I was lucky. A bleed in another part of the brain could have left me deprived of speech or motion.

Back at home after two and a half weeks of ICU and sedation, I felt as though I had been in a truck accident. Depression and fear where knocking at the door, and I leaned against it and took action, which is my usual method for coping with impossible situations. Soon after, I embraced low fat vegan eating according to the work of Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Look up any of these doctors and jump in, if you have similar concerns.

My blood sugar responded well. They were normal. I was exercising every day.

Then, gradually, I fell off the food plan.

The weight I lost came back. The blood sugars went up. It is now 2012. A few short weeks ago, I returned to the Philippines, the land of my mother and my childhood for three glorious weeks. Diabetes is more common amongst my friends and family than I thought. Back at home, the message that reverberates is that diabetes is a ravaging disease that harms in silence.

Yesterday I returned to the low fat vegan eating model. My main motivation is life itself. It is so much fun to be alive. I have so many things to do. So many places I want to see. I enjoy my family so much.

What better motivation could there be?

Yesterday I made a batch of split pea soup and a pot of brown rice.

Had it for lunch and dinner.

I didn't miss the ham, sherry or cream.



Recipe for Split Pea Soup

2 cups dried split peas
1 chopped onion
2 chopped carrots
10 grape tomatoes (optional)
1 tsp. of vegetarian boullion
salt and pepper to taste
Water

Put everything in a heavy pot. Cover with water, about three inches over the ingredients. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer. Simmer until the peas are soft. (About 30 minutes). I added the grape tomatoes because they were in the fridge.