Category Archives: Whole Food Plant-Based Diet Food Categories

Carrot Soup–Delicious Hot or Cold

This week I gave myself a huge canker sore – bit the inside of my check hard! Once the damage was done, every time I ate something I somehow managed to bite the same spot.  Very annoying. After a couple of days of this I decided that the only cure was to not chew. (more…)

Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, plant based diet, soup, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

The Bad Guys

When it comes to nutrition and diets, the “bad guys” leading to diseases and to weigh gain seem like a rotating cast of characters. When I was young,  it was all about fat. Over the years carbohydrates, sugar and lectin (to name a few) have been pinpointed as the culprits.

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Posted in Gundry, ketogenic, Obesity, Paleo, weigh loss, Whole Food Plant-Based Diet Experts, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

Bean Salad

beansSummer! Who wants to cook? Not me!

Much of our summer food is cold – salads, chilled soups and sandwiches. Mostly I prepare the the salads and soups early in the morning and put it in the refrigerator to chill for four our five hours. Not only are they cold, but the flavors have had time to meld. (more…)

Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, gluten-free food, plant based diet, Protein, salad, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

Eat Local

nola eat local
Every June, here in New Orleans, we have the Eat Local Challenge. Participants agree to eat food that grown or caught within a 200 mile radius of New Orleans. This year we decided to give it a try.

For people who eat very few packaged foods this would seem like an easy task. I went into it confident that it would not be a problem. On day three we ran out of coffee. . .oops! It was either cheat or go without coffee. . .any guesses on what happened here? A couple of days later I was in Costco and headed for the produce section intent on getting avocados and onions. I got them in the cart and then remembered the challenge. . . (more…)

Posted in additive-free food, Farmers Market, fresh veggies, New Orleans, processed food, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

Fourth of July Leftovers

fritters'
We ended up with a lot of extra food after the Fourth.  That is extra corn and potato salad.

I used the potato salad in a mock-nicoise salad. Made a big green salad – lettuce, green onion, celery and tomatoes. Next I added garbanzo beans (chick peas) instead of the tuna and a scoop of the left over potato salad instead of the traditional eggs and potatoes. I prefer asparagus to green beans, but either one works well. As for anchovies? Forget about it!

The corn was another matter. I used to make corn fritters. When we gave up eggs and cheese during our vegan year, they just disappeared from our diet. And evidently from my collection of recipes. Since we are eating a few eggs a week, I decided to try to approximate what I used to make. (more…)

Posted in diary-free food, Eggs, entrée, fresh veggies, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

Mexican Rice

rice and beans
Most Mexican restaurant entree’s include rice and beans. The rice is a quintessential side dish which uses tomatoes and various herbs (garlic, cumin, cilantro) to lightly season the rice. Sometime, however, the rice includes jalapeno and can be quite spicy.

In our house Mexican rice is a more robust dish. We use herbs and spices liberally and it is much more than a side dish. We use it for breakfast rice and eggs, we add black or pinto beans and use it as an entree, we stuff it into green peppers and have been known to just sit down and eat it all by its self.

My grandkids asked me for my recipe recently and I realized I had never written down. I promised to do it. So Lauren and Kaitlyn, this is for you! (more…)

Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, gluten-free food, Mexican, plant based diet, rice, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

Stir Fry with Ginger Sauce

Stir_frySummer is here and the garden is starting to produce veggies. Sometimes it is hard to figure out what to do with them.

A favorite simple solution is stir fry.  Stir fry uses most available vegetables. In fact I use almost anything except tomatoes and beets in it. Just add protein with tofu or nuts and to punch up the flavor use very simple ginger sauce. (more…)

Posted in additive-free food, Asian, diary-free food, fresh veggies, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

Eggplant (sort of) Caponata

eggplant
Summer in New Orleans means eggplant and lots of it! The abundance of it, particularly coming out of garden has forced me to find creative ways to serve it.

Don’t get me wrong, I like eggplant. I use it in various Asian dishes, grilled (used as a sandwich filling), in salads and still I have more eggplant. (more…)

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Energy Cookies

ECOOKIESLITTLEvery now and then your body screams at you — “I need fuel”. Something more than a handful of nuts or a piece of fruit. It wants something solid and chewy. Which is why energy bars were created in the first place.

Unfortunately, commercial energy bars are almost always filled with strange ingredients, sugar and preservatives.

My solution, of course, is to make my own.  I have tried all kinds of things. I wanted a basic recipe that could be adapted to various food plans and tastes.  So with out further ado, here is my latest attempt. (more…)

Posted in baking, gluten-free food, Protein, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

Vanishing Pesto

basilLast week the weather was alternatively sunny and humid or rainy and even more humid. The herbs really love it and the basil has grown like mad. By Saturday it was starting to bolt and take over the garden.

I was down to use it or lose it time. I waded through the mud, out to the garden and started cutting. Brought in all the cuttings, stripped the leaves and the bolted flowers. Ended up with 8 cups of washed and tightly packed leaves and bolted flowers. (more…)

Posted in additive-free food, diary-free food, garden, gluten-free food, Italian, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment