Category Archives: additive-free food

Whole Food Plant-Based Recipes with no additives

Giving Up Sugar

Admittedly, my memory about actually giving up sugar is a little fuzzy – thirty years is a long time.  I do remember, viscerally, how hard it was and how badly I craved it.

The first nutrition book I ever voluntarily read was Sugar Blues by William Dufty.  I was in a lot of joint pain. I had been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and was feeling quite sorry for myself.

The chiropractor I was seeing  told me that if I alleviated my depression I would reduce my pain.  He added that the simplest way to ease my depression was to give up sugar.  He went on to say that he was convinced that cutting sugar out of my diet would have one other great benefit.  I would reduce joint inflammation and lessen the pain in my body. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 13, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, book review, Food Additives, sugar-free food | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Big Six– The Necessary and The Absolutely NOT Necessary (but wonderful) Kitchen Gadgets

For me there are three absolutely can’t live with out kitchen appliances:
must have appliances

  • Heavy duty food processor – I wrote not long ago about choppers of all kind
  • Toaster oven – a multipurpose device for warming up food, toasting bread and quick heating instead of a microwave.  It is great in the summer for baking something small and not having to turn on the hot old oven!
  • Crockpot– Year round convenience. It is wonderful for soups, sauces and casseroles. Start a meal and walk way.  I use it instead of the oven or stove top in the summer.

And then there are the ones that are absolutely not necessary, but sure make life a whole lot easier appliances:
recommended items (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 11, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, kitchen basics, plant based diet | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Do You Know about Excitotoxins?

Four years ago David developed a gluten allergy. That began a series of radical changes in our diet. But there were more to come!

Two years ago he started having a series of “weird” problems.  He was not diabetic or even pre-diabetic but he clearly had a blood sugar problem!  On any given day his blood sugar spiked and dropped for no apparent reason.  He was alternatively shaky and moody. And eating seemed to make the problem worse.

We were at our wits end!  So in an effort to figure out what was going on we started tracking the symptoms and what he ate. The place to start was in the grocery store; reading labels. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 8, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, excitotoxins, Food Additives, gluten-free food, weigh loss | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lasagna

David found a package of rice lasagna noodles the other day and said, “you know, I am really hungry for lasagna.  Think you can make a vegan version that tastes good?”

Nothing like a challenge!  Especially since lasagna is one of those quick meals that is perfect for a crowd. The trick, of course is to bake it on low heat with lots of liquid so you never have to precook the noodles!  I really have not made this dish since we gave up dairy last year so I figured I just wing it and see what happened.

first zuchThe place to start was with my more or less standard combination of vegetables (carrots, zucchini, green pepper, onions, garlic and spinach). That was all easy!  The part that took a little thinking was what to use in place of ricotta cheese. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on May 29, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, Cote Home Grown Fare, diary-free food, entrée, fresh veggies, garden, gluten-free food, Italian, Pasta, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pasta And Veggies

There must be some Italian buried in my genes!  It would at least explain why I love pasta so much!  When David found out he was gluten intolerant I was pretty sure my life was over.  No more pasta??

Fortunately there are a lot of great gluten-free pastas on the market.  After trying brown and wild rice, corn and quinoa, we decided we like brown rice best.  But if you haven’t experiment with the kinds, you owe it to yourself to try.

This is my own version of veggie pasta based very loosely on a similar dish I once ate at California Pizza Kitchen.

by Genene Cote Posted on May 23, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, entrée, fresh veggies, gluten-free food, Italian, Pasta, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rice and Veggies

brown riceBrown rice is probably our most flexible staple. We use it as breakfast cereal, for specialty rice dishes (like Spanish Rice),  salads or a quick add to bean based meals for an extra protein boost.

At the end of every week we gather up any veggies we can find laying around, nuts and even beans. We throw them in a pan and add rice for a quick, thrifty meal. The trick is adding a good mix of herbs and mirepoix to give it great flavor without resorting to too much salt or soy sauce. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on May 18, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, entrée, gluten-free food, rice, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bean Veggie Burgers

I grew up eating veggie patties.  Mom would serve them smothered in gravy and accompanied by potatoes and a veggies. Leftovers would be recycled as “hamburgers” for lunches or snacks.  We usually have some sort of veggie burger or veggie loaf in the fridge for exactly the same reason.

I probably have 25 versions of this recipe, but this happens to be the one I used today. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on May 17, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, Beans, burgers, diary-free food, gluten-free food, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quick White Bean Soup

The advantage of cooking a big batch of beans on Sunday is that even after making the Baked Beans, I still have some extra.  There a probably a thousand ways to use extra beans.

One of my favorites is to make a quick soup to heat and eat for lunches or to add to dinner when you want a little something more.  Lots of nutrition and great low calorie treat. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on May 15, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, Beans, diary-free food, gluten-free food, soup, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian, weigh loss, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Southwestern Baked Beans

bakedbeansBeans are one of those wonderfully healthy foods.  High in fiber, protein and minerals and very low in calories. So when it comes to baked beans, I always been ambivalent about eating them. I like fact that they burst with flavor but all the brown sugar and molasses give me great pause.

Beans, especially white beans, are pretty much flavorless. So we decided to try something different.   Over the winter (when having the oven on felt great) we did a bunch of baked navy bean experiments and came up with our favorite. It is flavorful, filling and tastes as good with honey in it as without. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on May 14, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, Beans, diary-free food, entrée, gluten-free food, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

What to Eat — Sample weekly menu

Since we are constantly asked what we eat, I have decided to post our dinner menu plan for this coming week.  Over the next few days I will add the cooking tips and the recipes we use.

There are several things to note – we almost always have certain basics in our fridge.  These include cooked brown rice and prepared beans of some type; this week it is navy beans.  In our cupboards we keep a supply of things like olive oil, nuts, herbs, spices, canned and frozen veggies and salsa. As a practical matter we buy bulk and stock items like rice, beans, nuts, flours, oils, herbs and spices once a month on a “big shop” day.

Every weekend David and I spend part of a day procuring and preparing the food for the week. We have a lot of fun and use it as quality time together spent shopping, cooking, talking and singing to the tunes on Pandora.

Yesterday was the day. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on May 13, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, gluten-free food, menu, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment