These are really, really, really yummy and therefore are not a good choice for those that are trying to lose weight. My mom was up for the weekend. Unfortunately I don’t get to see my mom very often. We’re talking maybe once every 2-3 years. When I do get to see my mom we always have tea together in the afternoon and talk about times gone by. Tea is always accompanied by something sweet.
My mom was absolutely tickled pink to meet her new grand daughter. She was also happy to hear that we are not eating completely vegan at the moment because my mom has no desire to eat that way. Also, she’s a really good cook. We were still limited though. Anya isn’t tolerating milk in my diet at all so we had to be a bit creative while my mom was here. She did try to make her strawberry tart (a family tradition) dairy free and she left the cheese out of my corn muffins. Cream scones are a tough one though. Instead of trying to modify my favorite recipe we reached for a vegan cookbook and I made the Apple Rosemary variation in the “Vegan Brunch”cook book.
I found the recipe online here.
Of course it doesn’t tell you how to put them together. :p
Make them like you would any quick bread. Mix the dry ingredients together. Rub in the shortening. Add the apple and then add the wet ingredients into a well in the center. Don’t over mix. Form in to a scone shape, sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 for 18-22 minutes. Because this is a vegan recipe you are going to want to combine the vinegar to the milk and let it curdle for a few minutes before you add it in.
Click on the picture of the book to purchase it through Powell’s. I think they may even have autographed copies. This book is filled with tasty vegan recipes. There is also a recipe for tomato rosemary scones that looks good too.
Looking at the recipe I left out the oil and the vanilla. At least I think I did. Anya was crying pretty hard at that point. I know I didn’t put in the vanilla. Even though I’m pretty sure I messed up the recipe.. these were awesome. There was an awkward silence when we got down to the last one. Ethan, my mom and I all stared at the last scone..trying to be polite but all hoping that no one else would want it. My mother, being the gracious woman that she is offered it up to Ethan even though she really wanted to try it schmeared with some apple butter. I, knowing that I had already had more than they did couldn’t really justify taking it. Ethan didn’t seem to have any trouble taking the lead as well as the coveted scone. The amazing thing is that he found it within himself to share it with my mom, despite her protests. (and I saw her smile when she bit in to her half). And of course the kids declared the whole process unfair since they didn’t get a shot at it at all.
I suggest setting some aside to pop in the freezer before you sit down to enjoy them. We finished the whole batch off. My mom accidentally lost a few of them on the way to the stove. I’m sure if we had not lost them that we would have eaten those ones too.
In some ways I’m glad I only see my mom once every couple of years. I’m sure I gained at least two pounds while she was here.
Yet another family favorite!
Ingredients:
1tsp yeast
1 C warm water
1T Agave Nectar
2T Olive oil
1 1/2t salt
2 2/3 C Flour (plus more for dusting)
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Directions:
1: Mix the agave nectar in to the warm water and then add the yeast. Let is sit for about 5 minutes.
Proof the Yeast
After about 5 minutes your yeast should bubble up a bit and appear foamy. We keep our house pretty cool, so generally swish my bowl out with hot water before proofing the yeast. Otherwise, the cold bowl will cool the warm water and prevent the yeast from growing. I like to do this in my
2: Add the remaining ingredients. I generally add 1 cup of flour, mix that in and then add the remaining ingredients. Then I pull out the paddle attachment and put in the dough hook.
knead the dough until it comes together
I let the mixer run with the dough hook until it comes together and pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3: Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes. I pop a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl and try to set it someplace warm. Warm, but not hot…you don’t want to cook the dough in the bowl.
4: knead the dough briefly. I then cut my dough in to walnut sized pieces.
5: The instructions that I have simply say to shape the bread in to flat bread and then to toss it in to a medium hot pan and cook on both sides. I get out a rolling pin, lightly dust the counter and roll them in to very,very thin pieces of flat bread.
Flip it when it just starts to bubble up.
I cook mine on a flat non stick skillet and I use bamboo tongs or a plastic spatula to flip them. Once you put the rolled out piece of dough on to the pan you will want to watch it. Flip it over once it starts to puff up and bubble a bit. I prefer to have mine very thin so they end up being more like thick tortillas.
Terry loves these. Really and truly loves these. We eat them regularly with several meals. I’m not to fond of cleaning up the floury mess on the counter, so the deal is: If I make them, he’ll clean up the mess. That is how much he loves these.
Our two favorite meals to eat these with are Chickpea and Spinach Curry, and Curried Tempeh- mango Salad Sammiches. Both Recipes can be found in Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For–From Asparagus Omelets to Pumpkin Pancakes
For a little bit of variety I will sometimes roll them paper thin, sprinkle on a little finely minced garlic and chopped fresh cilantro. Fold it over (so the good bits are in the middle) and then slap them in the pan.
In the big scheme of things, I’m happy to say that I am down 22 lbs since the first of the year. It’s not impressive, but I’m happy that the trend on the scale is in the downward direction.
I’m still not eating vegan. I have however made huge changes to my diet. Grains are still off the table for me and probably will be permanently. About a week and a half ago I caved and had some of the kids’ pretzels and within minutes my nose was running like a faucet. Ugh, I bloated up (which could be the salt too), and the next day all of my back and joint pain had returned. It sucked, so no grains for me. It also made me take a long hard at look at everything that I’m putting in to my body.
I have however, found ways to vastly improve my diet and things are on the upswing (or downswing as the case may be) again.
I’m juicing. Every day. For breakfast.
I start with a head of romaine, add an apple or two, a lemon, chunk of ginger, a few sprigs of kale and on occasion a cucumber. That’s my breakfast, and it holds me over till lunch.
My new favorite lunch is a, meat free grain free burrito. I mash up an avocado with some lime, cilantro, garlic and tomatoes and then roll it up burrito style in to a swiss chard leaf with some olives and a small amount of goat cheese. I’m torn on the goat cheese. it’s not vegan (obviously) but it is so much less processed than dayia.
For an afternoon snack I had a handful of almonds
Dinner was a salad, a baked sweet potato and some roasted sunchokes (because I wanted to use them before they go bad).
Dessert was a kick ass, raw, chocolate pudding that involved young coconut meat, dates and coco powder. That’s it, (oh and some coconut water to thin it out a bit)
This is a vast improvement over the bacon, egg and meat base of atkins. Hopefully my Dr will be okay with me eating the sweet potatoes and pumpkin. I’m not supposed to be, but I have a meeting with him this week to go over my blood work and my diet is very much going to be a part of that conversation.
Even with the goat cheese, I feel amazing. My joint pain is gone and my grocery bill is starting to come down. Yay!
I’ve got three books by Natalia Rose that I’ve been reading. I’ve read a lot of online reviews (by vegans) dissing “The Raw Food Detox Diet”. I like it. Most vegans don’t because it actually has recipes in it for meat, and she advocates the use of Raw Goat cheese. What she also says, and I think this is super important: “how valuable “baby steps” can be when moving toward this way of eating. First, taking baby steps means taking off the pressure, so burnout and boredom are not likely. Second, it gently initiates the body in detoxification, so you’re not likely to experience uncomfortable symptoms. Third, taking things slowly helps to ensure that you will stick with this “Raw Food Detox Diet” long term. “People looking for a quick fix tend to go right back to their old habits as soon as they see results.” pg 63
So true. I’m loving her books and I think this approach is going to turn my health around. If you happened to stumble upon my blog because you’re desperate to lose weight and you think eating vegan is going to fix everything, this book is a great place to start.
I’m only a week in, and I can’t tell you how fabulous I feel. Oh! and I’m down three pounds. That’s a plus!
You can look for Natalia’s book “Raw Food Detox Diet” as well as some of her other books at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and Powell’s Books.
This recipe is from the “Vegan Lunch Box” cookbook. I couldn’t find my book so I had to find it online and I found it here.
1 lb. package firm tofu, drained
2/3 cup fine organic cornmeal (or white flour)
2/3 cup sliced almonds
2 tsp. sweet paprika
2 tsp. kelp granules
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. dill weed
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2/3 cup plain, unsweetened soymilk
1 lemon
olive oil
Preheat the oven to 400º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and coat parchment with olive oil. Set aside.
Combine the cornmeal or flour, sliced almonds, paprika, kelp, salt, onion and garlic powder, dill weed, and black pepper in a blender, and blend on high until most of the almonds have been turned into a coarse meal, with a few larger pieces of almond remaining. Pour the mixture into a wide baking dish or pie plate.
Place the plain soymilk into a bowl and set next to the cornmeal mixture.
With a sharp knife, cut the tofu into even slices just under ½-inch wide. Cut tofu out into fish sticks, or use a fish-shaped cookie cutter to cut out tofu fish.
Working with one piece at a time, dip the tofu into the plain soymilk, then toss gently in the cornmeal mixture to coat evenly. Place on the prepared baking sheet. When all the tofu fish are on the baking sheet, sprinkle them with olive oil.
Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the tofu fish over and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until crispy (if making tater tots, place them on the baking sheet for the last 15 minutes).
Remove tofu fish onto a plate, and squeeze some fresh lemon juice evenly over the tofu.
The only complaint was that there wasn’t enough. I made this because my toddler absolutely Looooves tofu, but she’s becoming a bit of a fussy eater. She ate one or two small pieces and then dad and I fought over the rest of it. My older two were both disappointed when they got home from school. They’ve been hoping I’d make it on a weekend!!
I’ve had a horrible craving for Middle Eastern/Mediterranean Food. I miss my beloved “Cafe Med” in Salt Lake. Sigh, we really need to head in to Portland and find someplace new that we like as much. I was desperate so I opted for canned Dolmas and some vegan baba ganoush from the grocery store. I was disappointed on both counts. 🙁
So yesterday for lunch I took the remaining babaganoush and added it some pasta. It was fairly simple. I boiled some pasta in one pot. Then in a non-stick skillet I sautéed some minced up garlic in some olive oil for a few seconds and then I tossed in a ton of sliced mushrooms. I cooked them until they gave up all their juice which didn’t take long at all. I then took the left over babaganoush (about half a cup) and thinned it with a little pasta water. I added to the mushrooms long enough for it to heat through and then mixed it together with the drained pasta.
Sprinkle on some smoked paprika and a little bit of fresh parsley and enjoy. Easy Peasy.
I actually think the baba ganoush was better mixed in to the pasta than it was on its own. It wasn’t a stellar dish by any means, but it got the job done.
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What an awesome summer. I can’t believe it flew by so quickly.
I’m currently reading the “China Study” and I can’t tell you how much of an impact it is having on how I view food. Not enough of an impact for me to give up sugar and all white refined flours, but enough of one that we are going to be better about eating vegan.
On that note, we’ve had some fabulous meals out of the “Vegan Lunchbox Around the World” cookbook. We all really like the Kidney Bean Pie recipe. The Minted Peas that go with it aren’t too shabby either. I also made a potato and black eyed pea dish that we rather enjoyed. There’s nothing like good simple food for dinner.
On the agenda for the weekend, awesome cupcakes. I’ve gotten back in to hosting tea parties. I’ve committed myself to a non vegan event this week, but going forward I’ll be providing both a vegan lunch and a little bit of something sweet to have with tea! I’ve not had a lot of success with vegan cupcakes in the past, and this will be my first time attempting them with this stove as well as at a lower elevation.
WIsh me luck, I’m gonna need it!
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I’m finally back to eating vegan. Anya has started eating solid foods so I feel a bit better about the whole thing. Her head is growing as is her bottom, and she is in the early stages of crawling. Since she is on track I thought it might be time to get myself back on track too, So here we go!
Breakfast this morning consisted of a bowl of oats. 1/2 cup of thick, rolled oats, 1/2 a cup of almond milk, 1 small sliced banana, a smattering of slivered almonds and about a cup of fresh raspberries. I also had a glass of orange juice.
I’m doing things a bit differently this time. I’m almost done reading “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and it is really changing the way I view my food. I’m trying really hard to buy local sustainable organic food. Fortunately I live in Oregon so there will be an abundance of fresh produce this summer. For the time being I am shopping (mostly) at my local health food stores. I buy Organic when possible, and I always go for the stuff that is grown in the US. It is as local as I can do at the moment. California is only one state away, Since a good portion of our food comes from Chile right now, California seems local enough for me!
What I am trying to avoid are the processed vegan foods. That is tough. I have a few more bags of crumbles in my freezer but I doubt that I will replace them once they have been consumed. Processed food is still just processed food. Realistically, I can’t do away with all of it, but I can ditch the burger crumbles and the potato pups. My goal is to become a healthier person. Losing weight is a big part of that but we are also making great effort to watch what kinds of things we put in to our bodies.
I’m currently in physical therapy for my knees so my exercise is limited to walking.
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Anya is almost six months old and she has started eating solid foods. As she becomes less dependent on me I think it is okay for me to start watching what I eat a bit more. Yay!. A special thanks to my ex-husband that put this blog on auto post while I tended to other things. I look forward to disabling it once I am back on track with regular posts!
Last night I opened up “This Crazy Vegan Life” and made the Braised Tofu with Spring Greens and Pineapple-Curry Vinagrette”. I was actually pleased with how quickly the meal came together. I had a whole pound of Tufu to use up so I doubled the oi mixture that it is cooked in. I think if I do it again I will make that bit twice. THe first batch of tofu was just sort of blah.. But, once I put in the second batch it browned up a bit better. I’m not sure why that is, but it was pretty tasty.
Hannah gave it a thumbs up. Nathan wasn’t as excited about it but he ate it anyway. I put the left over dressing in the fridge so that I can add it to my salad for lunch today. I’d definitely do this one again.
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I’m pleased to share with you that Anya’s head has finally started to grow. Yay! So have I (Boo!), but I think I can manage for a bit. I’m still not eating any dairy at all. as it really seems to make her fussy. I’m so happy. Her head has grown so much, the Dr measured it again just to be sure.
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Anya is just over two months old and she already has us wrapped around her little finger. Not long ago we took her in for two month check up and they tossed her on the scale and measured everything that they need to. She was pretty much at the 50th percentile for everything when she was born. She’s grown a lot. Her length is now up in the 95% and her weight is somewhere in the upper 80’s. Her little noggin is only at 25%. We’ve been assured that we don’t need to worry about it. Some babies are just at the lower end of the bell curve. The pediatrician wants to watch it and see what happens. If she continues to grow and maintains the 25th percentile then we don’t have anything to worry about. If she starts to drop some of her percentage points… then we get to worry. I. being an over protective and worrisome mom have noted that her head was at the 50th percentile when she was born so Im already a little worried about it. After all, we are talking about her brain.
So towards the end of last week we called up a friend of ours who is a naturapathic Dr. She also told us not to worry about the number. But she also discussed diet an supplements with us and this is what she said. She said we needed to ditch the vegetarian DHA. She said we really need the one that comes from fish. She also added that while it is possible to nurse and eat vegan that it is really,really difficult to do it in a way that makes sure I get everything I need for both me and little Anya. She said now isn’t the time for me to be eating vegan.
Friday I had a good cry about that. Geek and I discussed this quite a bit over the weekend and we’ve decided to follow her advice. Since I’m not going to be eating vegan, I cant really plug it as a great way to lose weight. SO for the short term, I’m going to be eating a more traditional menu. I’ve come to love a ton of vegan recipes so I’ll still be cooking up so me vegan dishes, and not every meal I eat is going to be loaded with animal products so I’ll still be posting products and meals.
It isn’t really what I want to do, but I guess that is the burden we carry as parents. We don’t always get to do what we want to do when we are responsible for little people.
