MunaAmin

I have been quite lazy with all dieting and vegetarianism lately. Tomorrow I do a vegan day. I have been eating meat nowdays again, and i can really feel the difference - my tummy is so bloated that even DH asked me if i put on some weight (which I didn't).
Any good recipes, any tips? I'd like to recommend you guys rice cream, it's like cream substitute to single cream, it has some 7%fat and it can be added to soups or sauces.

HankG

I really like the Vegucating Robin series. The Bean Soup Recipe is the only one I have tried but it was great!

MunaAmin

Hank, do you ever try 'ethnical' pulses like red lentils or urid dal Vigna mungo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (the white kind)?

I will watch vegucating robin when I ride on exercise bike it looks interesting

HankG

I have used red lentils but usually just buy the regular old lentils at the store. I have never tried the Vigna Mungo. I have to take a look at that!

I've always loved listening to her on the Stern show, and have been intrigued by her dietary changes. I wouldn't do a cleanse or the other stuff she does but the vegan push is interesting to me. I don't intend to become vegan but to reduce the amount of meat and animal products in my diet.

MunaAmin

You can have a look, every Indian store will have them, but ask for 'urid dal' vigna mungo is a botanical name, i guess. They also sell a spice mix for mild lentil curry (dal masala) if you can get your hands on the one made by National foods, that's the best one. Some cheaper masalas contain artificial colors and flavours - not cool. I love urid dal because when you cook it it has very creamy texture, real comfort food

MunaAmin

Vegan tips:
Wholegrain oats 25g and 150ml soya milk makes lovely porridge, my husband didn't even recognise it was not dairy milk in it. TBH, every time i put rice cream/soya milk in sauce or any food i cook, they all eat it and pass comments how tasty the dinner is today.

I tried this soup today Turkish Spicy Lentil and Bulgur Soup with Dried Mint and Red Pepper (Ezogelin Çorbas?) the taste space – steam, bake, boil, shake! it was delicious. The combination of mint and chilli is just lovely.

HankG

So I remembered today was Vegan Tuesday! Thank god. Unfortunately today is also the day I need to trim the ginormous filet that I got from the store. From that one giant piece I get about 10-12 filet mignon, 1-1.5 pound of stew meat and trimmings for making stock. Yes, I know, this is about veganism not carnivorism, I'm just highlighting the funny juxtaposition of the two.

I was thinking of doing a rice and beans dish for dinner instead of my standard soup. Lunch actually may be the soup, at the rate I'm going since I'm still snowed into my house.

MunaAmin

well done for remembering
we had porridge (oats, soya milk, grated apple) for breakfast, quorn chicken with tons of veg for lunch (guorn is unfortunately made with eggs but i had nothing better and family were hungry) and for tea the vegan classic - PB&J sandwiches.
I think it's cheaper to cook without meat, one chicken costs me 4euro at the butchers, and it's just 1 meal, whereas a bag of lentils at 2.50 for 1 kg makes 4-5 dinners if combined with rice or veg.

HankG

So my day looked like (in case my journal doesn't make it apparent):

Breakfast: Kashi Health Bar
Lunch: Soup made of vegetable broth, lentils, potatoes, carrots and peas
Mid-afternoon snack: Kashi Health Bar
Dinner: Roasted Garlic & Homemade Sourdough Bread, Black Beans and Rice.


This was my first time ever making rice and beans and I have to say I love it. I found a recipe online and got the gist of the steps and ingredients and then made my own up from that. I have been dying to figure out how to eat through this enormous bag of basmatic rice that I bought. This turned out great, but has a bit of heat so you may want to dial back the cayenne pepper:

HankG's Black Beans and Rice
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic (or 1 heaping TB pre-chopped garlic)
1 cup uncooked white rice
1.5 cups low fat vegetable or mushroom broth
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 can of stewed tomatoes, chopped
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed.

Directions:
1. In stockpot on medium-high heat, add oil. Saute the onion and garlic until browned
2. Add rice and saute additional 2 minutes
3. Add tomato and vegetable broth and heat for 15 minutes
4. Add spices and black beans, let cook additional 10 minutes


I could eat this every night it is so good. Yes, I think that eating vegan is a lot cheaper. Also, I'm noticing that I have far less food cravings on my vegan days than my regular days. That may be because I'm not eating as much refined sugar and what not too.

MunaAmin

I totally agree with you about the cravings, although in my case they are rather psychological. Once I read an article about how dairy and meat create acid in the body, and upset the Ph balance. I didn't really believe it, but truth is, I feel SO much better, lighter and less tired on vegan/vegetarian diet, I'm thinking now what if there's a grain of truth in that. I've ordered a book called The China Study from my local library.