Category Archives: diary-free food

Whole Food Plant-Based Recipes that are dairy-free

Wretched Excess

excessWe are home!  We had a wonderful time! And yet are glad to be home: be it ever so humble and all that. . .

We had fabulous ethnic food.  Particularly Middle-Eastern and Vietnamese. The problem in those cases had to do with quantity. Evidently I (conveniently) left my “full button” at home and suddenly felt it absolutely necessary to consume every single morsel on my plate.

It has been a long time since I went to bed at night feeling “stuffed”! But that was almost a nightly occurrence.

by Genene Cote Posted on February 28, 2013
Posted in Breakfast, diary-free food, gluten-free food, Middle Eastern Food, sugar-free food, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Coconut Brown Rice

SNAGHTML5e0edc19We all have specific comfort foods. Usually sweets like chocolate or starchy foods like bread, potatoes, rice, pasta.

Sugary foods taste great but they don’t seem to fill me up or leave me feeling full. It doesn’t take long for me to start craving more.  For me, starches are the ticket. They taste good! And as an added benefit they actually make me feel full after I eat them. And as my Mom would say they “stick to my ribs.” (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on January 27, 2013
Posted in additive-free food, Asian, diary-free food, plant based diet, rice, sugar-free food, vegan, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Vegetarian Stuffed Bell Peppers

All of the sudden most of the Bell peppers in the green house all got ripe at once. Time for a real winter treat of stuffed green peppers. Every since I wrote the piece on Flavoring a Whole Food  Plant-Based Diet,

I have been hungry for them, so this is my golden opportunity! There is something very satisfying about food that tastes this good, has great nutrition and is easy to make. Here is how I do it. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on January 20, 2013
Posted in diary-free food, fresh veggies, gluten-free food, plant based diet, rice, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

Vegetarian Thai Green Curry

Here is another family favorite that you can do in a big hurry if you have some rice lying around.

We are big fans of Thai food. Over the years, however, we had pretty much cut it out of our diet. Mainly because creating the curry paste is a pain – lots of herbs and spices we don’t use that often. And because most of the restaurant and prepared foods have fish or shrimp paste in them. I am actually more opposed to taste of the fish/shrimp than to the idea that it is animal products. But that is a personal problem.

Then I discovered the happy fact that Thai Kitchen has a couple of pastes without the fish or shrimp included. There have both green and red curry pastes and a yummy peanut satay sauce. So, armed with a jar of green curry sauce, I was ready to conquer the world. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on January 9, 2013
Posted in additive-free food, Asian, diary-free food, gluten-free food, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Low-Fat Vegan Pot Pie

Pot pie is one of the great American comfort foods. I start craving it when the weather turns cold and I want something warm and hearty. I almost never make it because it is a pain in the neck to make.

One sticky point is the crust. If you want a gluten-free crust you either have to pay about six bucks for a prepared one or make it yourself. If you don’t care about the gluten you can use a cheaper prepared crust. Making crust takes time but then, I’m not wild about prepared crusts since they are full of weird preservatives. If you use those prepared crusts, then you still have to fit it into those little pie pans which is time consuming and messy. The biggest problem is that no matter how you buy, make or use it, this kind of crust is loaded with fat. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on January 2, 2013
Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, gluten-free food, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Year of Being Vegan: 2012 Lessons Learned Part 4

I have always been a plant-based eater; a vegetarian. Over the last year David and I decided to become vegans. It has been an incredible learning experience! Between now and the end of the years I will share some of the things I learned.

Advanced Label Reading

I was shocked at the things that end up in “healthy” vegan foods. I guess this is really an expansion on unhealthy vegan diet choices.

I started reading labels many years ago when I quit sugar. Over the years I had gotten a little sloppy about really reading labels. I would check for sugar content and if there wasn’t any that seemed good enough. When David discovered that he was wildly reactive to MSG in all it’s forms, I started examining labels again and was shocked at all the forms of MSG that end up in our foods. Follow through on the two MSG links in this paragraph to get more info. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on December 30, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, Food Additives, GMO foods, processed food, vegan, vegetarian, Vitamins, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Year of Being Vegan: 2012 Lessons Learned Part 3

I have always been a plant-based eater; a vegetarian. Over the last year David and I decided to become vegans. It has been an incredible learning experience! Between now and the end of the years I will share some of the things I learned.

fat cookMany “Healthy” Vegan Recipes are NOT!

The decision to be vegan meant David gave up meat. And we gave up cheese and eggs. Meal planning became a challenge. I spent a couple of hundred dollars (all of it on used bookstores) and many hundreds of hours pouring over menu plans and recipes.

My biggest take is that many vegan recipes do not fit my definition of healthy food. Many of them contain ingredients that I wouldn’t eat on a bet: (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on December 29, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, environment, Food Additives, gluten-free food, GMO foods, plant based diet, processed food, Protein, Soy, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Plant-based Sugar-free, Gluten-free, Dairy-free All American Apple Pie

apple pieMost of the time the way I eat makes me very happy. I like feeling healthy and light. I never feel deprived or like I am sacrificing until the Holidays come. It gets dark early, it’s cold and temptations abound! It is only human to want a little comfort! It doesn’t take long for me to start telling myself that I have been so good for so long that just “a little sugar/gluten/dairy/etc won’t hurt”. That is kinda true (or so I hear). My problem is once I start eating a little sugar, I want more. And a little sugar has a way of creeping up to a whole lot! (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on December 12, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, dessert, diary-free food, gluten-free food, plant based diet, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

All Plant-based Split Pea Soup

When I was a 4 or 5  my Dad’s family lived in Santa Barbara. A couple of times a year we would drive up from Los Angeles to visit. Along the way there were always signs for Andersen’s – the split pea soup Andersen’s. The signs featured Hap-pea the big cook and Pea-wee his helper. Some even showed an elaborate split-pea soup factory. The signs were provocative and intriguing. It wasn’t long before the idea of Hap-pea, Pea-wee and a soup factory became as real as the car I was trapped in. I could see just how it looked. And if I scrunched up my face and thought really hard I could even hear and smell it. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on December 8, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, gluten-free food, plant based diet, soup, sugar-free food, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Journey From the Standard American Diet to a Whole Food Plant-based Diet . . .

Remember that old Alka Seltzer ad with the guy groaning that he couldn’t believe he ate the whole thing? To me it is a most graphic reminder that what we eat directly effects how we feel.

All of us are good at remembering the connection of food and feeling in the short run. The problem is come when remembering to connect the information to our overall dietary habits and quality of life. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on December 6, 2012
Posted in diabetes, diary-free food, gluten-free food, John McDougall, plant based diet, T. Colin Campbell, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based Diet and Chronic Disease, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments