Day 36 -- Keeping Produce Fresh

Since the major portion of my vegan diet involves fresh fruit and veggies, I was surprised to discover that I didn't know all that much about how to prolong the freshness of the produce I bought.  I came across this article that provided a lot of really good information about storing fresh produce.

For instance, I didn't know that storing potatoes and onions together would cause the onions to spoil.  And that onions could be stored in pantyhose to keep them fresh for months.

 

Did you know that if you store apples with potatoes, the potatoes won't sprout?  Or if you wrap the crown of a bunch of bananas with plastic, the bananas will keep 3-5 days longer than usual?   Speaking of bananas, they should be kept isolated on the counter as they cause other fruit to ripen too quickly.  And if you wrap celery, broccoli and lettuce in tin foil before refrigerating, it will keep up to 4 weeks.  This is great to know since celery always seems to be a problem for me.  It's wilted and rubbery within a few days of buying it.

One thing I was doing right was storing my produce in glass rather than plastic.  Blueberries stored in a covered glass dish last much longer than those stored in plastic.  And finally, I learned that I can freeze ginger root rather than letting it shrivel up in the fridge.

Check out these 27 Ways To Make Your Groceries Last As Long As Possible.

Day 35 - An Apple A Day - Part Two

I'm back to testing out new apple varieties and I picked out four more in the produce section of my local grocery.

Pacific Rose --  This apple has a sweet,\ taate and a fine texture.  It's juicy with tender skin and crisp flesh.  Pacific Rose originated in New Zealand and is a cross between a Splendor and a Gala.  In researching this variety, I happened upon an incidence of apple "espionage"regarding the Pacific Rose.  In 1997, a Chinese delegation got caught trying to smuggle budwood from this apple out of New Zealand in their pants!  New Zealand is very protective of their patented apples and recently found as many as 65,000 trees in Chile, propagated from stolen budwood.  I can see why they're so protective.  Pacific Rose was an 8 out of 10 for me.

Jazz -- After tasting the Jazz apple, I was left with the impression that this apple is an apple searching for an identity.  It is so middle of the road that I can't think of much to say about it.  It's sweet but not too sweet.  It's crisp, but not too crisp.  It's big but not too big.  And it looks pretty, but not too pretty.   Jazz is a cross between a Royal Gala and a Braeburn and comes from the same New Zealand breeding program that the Pacific Rose comes from . In following it's genealogy, a Braeburn is thought to be a cross between a Granny Smith and a Lady Hamilton.  And a Royal Gala is mutated from a Gala apple, which is a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Kidd's Orange Red.  I could go on, but I won't.  It's enough to say that the Jazz apple is a nice, middle of the road apple that would do quite well for kindergarten snack time.  But beyond that, it wasn't much to talk about.  I rate it a 5 out of 10.

Sonya  - My first impression of the Sonya apple was that it was a very tall apple.  It comes from a mix of a Gala and a Red Delicious.  It looks like a slim Delicious apple with very pronounced "feet."  Then I bit into it and it was the strangest tasting apple I'd ever tasted.  It was sweet, but it had a wine-like taste.  When I try a new apple I try to summarize the taste in a word and all I could come up with was "spicy."   Since I'd eaten it straight out of the fridge, I decided to let it warm and see if the taste changed.  It did get sweeter, but there was still an odd taste to this apple  It's crisp and juicy but I didn't finish it.  My apple rating is a 4 out of 10.

Kiku -- This apple is very large and very juicy and very sweet.  It has a mild apple flavor so the sweetness is almost the only thing I tasted.  Kind of like biting into an apple full of sugar water.  The flesh is very crisp and the skin tender.  I had juice dripping all over as I ate it, but for someone who loves a tart apple, this didn't do much for me.  That variety was introduced in the U.S. in 2009 and came from a mutation in a Fuji apple tree.  When this happens, the variety is called a "sport."  Though this is a pretty perfect apple for someone who loves a sweet apple, it's a 7 of 10 on my scale of apple perfection.

This is a great site for info on all apple varieties -- Orange Pippin.com.  I find it interesting the different scents and flavors one can detect in an apple, much like wine.  I'm going to continue my search for the perfect apple, but for now, I've been eating Pink Ladies and enjoying them immensely.

Day 34 - Coddling My Inner Cookie Monster

There are times when I feel the need for a sweet treat.  Although I have no complaints about my new vegan eating plan and I've discovered many wonderful new dishes, there are still moments when I crave just a little extra.  So my exploration of vegan cooking has occasionally veered into the realm of vegan baking.  And the cookie is the perfect little treat for me.  It's small, it freezes well, and it's easy to bake.

When I originally tried this vegan oatmeal cookie recipe, I added Craisins to it.  But because I used a very ripe banana, it ended up tasting more of banana than anything else.  So I decided to keep the ripe banana, toss out the Craisins and add walnuts.  Walnuts are the only nuts recommended on my low-fat vegan food plan.  Like flax seeds, they're very high in heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.  And there are so few in the cookies that I feel confident that I needn't worry about the fat.  So these oatmeal cookies are now Banana Walnut cookies and are a terrific way to get rid of those last two over-ripe bananas.

Banana Walnut Cookies

Preheat oven to 350.

Blend in blender until smooth:

1½ very ripe bananas

½ c. applesauce (lunchbox size)

2 t. vanilla

½ c. brown sugar (or comparable sweetener)

Mix together in bowl:

1 cup of whole wheat flour

1½ t. baking powder

1/8 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

dash nutmeg

Add the banana mixture into the dry ingredients.  When well mixed, stir in:

¾  c. rolled oats

¼ c. chopped walnuts

Drop by rounded teaspoons full (or use cookie scoop) onto lightly-sprayed parchment-lined cookie sheets.  Flatten cookies with fork.  Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cookies will take longer to bake because of absence of fat and baking times will vary depending upon the size of the cookie.  Check after 15 minutes.

Day 33 - Pantry Raid

After a month following a vegan diet, I gathered up my grocery bills and added them all up, curious to know how much I'd spent per week on food.  In my previous life, I usually spent about $100 a week, mostly on take-out, drive-thru and grocery store deli.  On any given day, I could have breakfast at my favorite family restaurant, a deli sandwich for lunch, dinner from the drive-thru, and a late-night snack from the gas station.

My new vegan total was well above $100 a week, but then, I'd spent quite a bit building a proper vegan pantry.  The wonderful thing about vegan eating is that without meat and dairy, food spoilage is barely a factor.  Meat is usually good for 3 or 4 days at the most.  Dairy will last 10 days, give or take.  But dried, canned and frozen legumes, grains, fruits and veggies last months.  Fresh fruits and veggies will outlast dairy in the fridge.  When properly wrapped they can go at least 2 weeks, sometimes more.

But besides canned, dried and frozen whole foods, I'd invested a good deal in things I could add to my dishes to make them more flavorful.  These are some of the odd items I have in my pantry.  Please note that these are for a fat-free vegan diet, so you won't find oils or tahini or anything that's an added fat.

a wide variety of spices and dried herbs
a variety of vinagers including rice, red wine, balsamic, apple cider
bottled lemon juice
vegetable and mushroom broth in boxes
Better Than Bouillon (vegetable)
Powdered bouilion
a variety of fat-free stir-fry sauces
Miso Paste
Ginger Paste
Capers
Soy Sauce (regular and reduced sodium)
Tamari Sauce (regular and reduced sodium)
Cooking sherry
Tabasco or hot sauce
Liquid Smoke
Red Chili Paste
Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
Coconut extract
Cornstarch
Potato starch
Red curry paste
Yellow curry paste
Nutritional yeast
Molasses
Maple Syrup
Agave nectar and other sugar substitutes
Small lunchbox size of natural applesauce (for baking)
Egg substitute
Dijon mustard
Catsup
Garlic (fresh and pre-chopped)
non-stick spray
sea salt
peppercorns (with pepper grinder)

And finally -- parchment baking paper.  It's not a food item, but I use it so much for roasting veggies, it's something I keep well stocked.  Once I had a well-stocked pantry, it was almost simple to choose something to cook for dinner.   I could browse recipes and almost always have the ingredients I needed to make the dish.  It was the best investment I could have made!

Day 32 - Just Like Take-Out

My adventures in vegan cooking have produced some great successes and some pitiful failures. I've tried my had at modifying regular recipes to be vegan and fat-free.  Most of my failures seem to revolve around baking -- my fat-free, dairy-free Whole Wheat Bread and my Oatmeal Cookies with Craisins weren't the height of culinary achievement.  But I did manage to devise a favorite in my Wheatberry Salad and the spaghetti sauce I whipped up from scratch will make another appearance for dinner in the near future.

After trying the Garlic and Kale Soup, I decided  that I was really craving Hot and Sour Soup.  I looked for vegan recipes, but decided to make one up on my own based on three separate recipes I found.  Traditional recipes usually don't include wheatberries and kale -- and they do include eggs.  The soup turned out great, with a tangy, but spicy broth thickened slightly with cornstarch.  Add more vinegar or red pepper to suit your own taste.  More broth will make it "brothier."

 Vegan Hot and Sour Soup

5 oz. sliced fresh shitake mushrooms

1/2 cup small dried tree ear mushroom

1 cup dried shitake mushrooms

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can bamboo shoots, rinsed and julienned

2 medium carrots, peeled and julenned
½ bunch (5-6 leaves) kale, sliced into thin strips

32 oz. vegetable broth
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, more to taste

1 T. red chili paste

1 t. crushed red pepper flakes (more to taste)

3 T. cornstarch, mixed with 3 tablespoons water

3 T. soy sauce

1 T. miso (opt.)

2 T. catsup

1-2  c. cooked wheat berries (opt.)

5  ounces firm tofu, cut into 1/3 inch dice

3 scallions, finely sliced

Cook wheat berries on stovetop or in rice cooker.  In separate bowls, cover the tree ear and dried mushrooms with  hot water; let soak until softened, about 30 minutes.  Drain the mushrooms and tree ear. but reserve the liquid from the mushrooms.  Slice both into narrow strips.  Slice the fresh shitakes..

Spray the bottom of a large pot with non-stick cooking spray and sauté the fresh shitakes.  When slightly browned, add garlic and saute a few minutes more.  Then add the rest of the broth, the reserved mushroom broth, 1 c. water, mushrooms, tree ear, bamboo shoots, carrots, kale, ginger and salt; cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce the heat and simmer until the kale is tender, for 10-15 minutes.  Add the wheat berries (opt.), vinegar, red chili paste, catsup, miso (opt.) and crushed red pepper and boil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.  Taste broth and adjust the hot or sour by adding more red pepper flakes (or cayenne red pepper) or rice vinegar.  Once adjusted, drizzle the cornstarch mixture into the soup, stirring as you pour.  Add the soy sauce and tofu and heat until warmed through.  Garnish with raw scallions.

NOTE:  If you like a brothy soup, double the ingredients from the ginger through the catsup.

Day 31 - Don't Put Turmeric In The Rice Cooker . . . and other things I've learned

I've tried very hard over the last month to be a perfect vegan.  And for the most part, I have managed to adhere to the "no meat, no dairy" rule.  There was the one little slip with Worcestershire sauce (it has anchovies in it), but I'd forgotten to get the vegan version and was in the middle of cooking.   The "no fat" rule has also been pretty easy to follow.  But the sugar rule, which is of my own making, is another story.   I think, when you can't have fat, you crave sweet even more.  In my previous life as an omnivore, I really wasn't much of a sweets person.  Snack and junk food was almost always savory, not sweet.

I've also learned a few new rules concerning vegan cooking and shopping that try to repeat to myself on a regular basis.

1) Don't put turmeric in the rice cooker.  I recently tried cooking lentils, spiced with turmeric, in my trusty rice cooker.  It boiled over, spilling yellow water all over the counter and the yellow water stained the countertop, the rice cooker, my dish rag and dish towel, and the coffeemaker sitting nearby.

2) Don't put greens in your morning smoothie unless you want to drink a green smoothie.  Try as I might, I can't bring myself to drink something that's a muddy green color, no matter how good it tastes or how many times I try it.  I've found that frozen dark red cherries make a deep red smoothie -- for about 10 minutes.  After that, it turns green.  So I drink very fast and get my greens.

3)  Do rely on favorite recipes while you search for something new.  I have a favorite chili recipe that is almost always in my fridge.  As I try new recipes, it's nice to know that I have something I really love at hand.  I've found two or three new recipes that I'll be making every week or so.  I think variety is the key and over the course of the next year, I hope to find a lot more.

4) Don't write off any product as unappealing until you've tried it.  I always felt this way about soy milk.  Yuk!  I couldn't understand how anyone could drink it and enjoy it.  And now I do.  I barely remember what cow's milk tastes like.  I'm going to try soy yogurt next.

5)  Do focus on the positives of a vegan diet.  Like how good you feel and how easy it is too cook.  How simple clean-up is without greasy dishes.  How inexpensive it is to grocery shop.  Don't let the negatives creep into your mind.  Don't long for the things you can't eat but realize that your body is becoming healthier every day by not eating them.  I remind myself of this daily.

I do think that for someone like me, someone at risk of heart disease and diabetes, a fat-free vegan diet is the fastest and safest way to get healthy.  I feel it already.  No more acid reflux or stomach problems.  No more  sleepless nights.  No more fuzzy brain.  No more ups and downs from sugar highs and lows.  I feel . . . clean.  That's the only way I can describe it.  Though it's hard not to focus on the weight I've lost, that has also become a motivator.  After just a month, I've lost nearly 20 pounds -- without ever feeling hungry or deprived.        

Day 30 - For Want Of A Dishwasher

Over the past month, I've had a chance to reflect on how and why my diet (and health) got so out of control.  There are many different reasons.  Stress was a major factor.  Depression probably played a part.  But those were symptoms and looking further back, I've been trying to pinpoint the causes.  Crazy as it seems, a broken dishwasher was one of those causes.

About three or four years ago, my dishwasher broke.  Because of some tight financial circumstances, I never had the money to replace it.  I hate-hate-hate doing dishes (I cannot state this more strongly) and will avoid doing them at all costs.  Dishes would pile up and I'd spend a day washing through them, but they never seemed to end.  I never had a completely clean kitchen.  There were always dishes in the sink or on the counter.

I hated going into the kitchen because it only reminded me that I needed to do the damn dishes.  I avoided cooking for myself because I would only be adding to the pile of undone dishes.  So I bought take-out or deli or I went to my favorite family restaurant and sat in a booth on my own and had dinner.  All to avoid doing dishes!

In the weeks before Christmas, I had a little extra money and decided that I'd done with a dishwasher for long enough.  A friend had given me an old one from her kitchen and when I brought someone in to install it, he refused, saying that the seals would probably be cracked and it would leak after so long sitting outside and in my garage.  So I told him I wanted something basic and a few weeks later, it was installed and ready to go.

Without the burden of dirty dishes, I'm free to cook to my heart's content.  I don't have a half-hour of dishes to do after an evening of cooking.  Dishes no longer pile up and I don't feel guilty or want to avoid walking into the kitchen.  It's a silly, silly thing.  I could have scraped together the money for a dishwasher when it broke, but I it put it off.  The same way I put off getting healthy.

I'm sure I'll discover some other interesting insights along the way.  But I have to remember not to put anything off for a later date.  Take care of things today and they won't spiral out of control tomorrow, or next month, or next year.  That's goes for both dishwashers and pounds put on.

It's a hard lesson to learn, but I think about it every time I load my new dishwasher.