Dijon-Balsamic Vinaigrette

We've been enjoying Roasted Brussels Sprouts lately and Mike wanted to try a Dijon mustard based sauce to put over them.  We found some great candidates on the internet and put together a sauce we really like.  This is very easy and uses common ingredients.  Note: there's really no substitute for Balsamic vinegar for this recipe in my opinion.

Dijon-Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. maple syrup (or agave nectar), or to taste

Put all ingredients into blender and blend well.  Taste and add maple syrup to taste.  Makes about 2 cups.

Pour over roasted Brussels sprouts, or even use as a salad dressing.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts is one of our favorite cruciferous veggies and our favorite way to eat them is roasted.  This is easy and tastes wonderful.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1 lb. fresh Brussels Sprouts

cooking oil spray

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Take a pound of Brussels Sprouts, rinse them well, cut off the stem ends, cut them in half and add them to a bowl.  Spritz the sprouts lightly with cooking spray, mix them well to coat them, add salt and pepper to taste, mix again.

Add them, cut sides down, to a baking pan lined with enough parchment paper to cover the bottom and be wrapped over the top.

Fold the edges of the parchment paper over the sprouts, and bake for 30 minutes.  Check to see if they are cooked and bake longer if necessary until they are cooked to your preference.  They're best when they're a bit crispy on the cut sides. They should look like this when they're done:

YUM!  Serve with Dijon-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ratatouille with Rice

Ratatouille with Rice

2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes halved
1 bay leaf
3 cups cooked brown rice
1/8 tsp. turmeric
3 Tbsp. Vegan Alfredo Sauce (see recipe below)
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1-1/2 cups chopped onions
3 cups diced green and/or red bell peppers (1-inch dice)
3 cups diced zucchini (1-inch dice)
2 large eggplants cut into 1-inch cubes (6-8 cups)
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
Ground black pepper
Fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced (optional)

Cook the brown rice for 45 minutes until tender and water is absorbed (or use leftover
cooked brown rice). Add the tomato halves and bay leaf, cover and cook over low heat
until the tomatoes wilt, taking care not to let the contents scorch at the bottom of the
pan. Add the turmeric and Vegan Alfredo Sauce to the rice mixture, stir well, cover and
remove from heat.

Warm the balsamic vinegar in a soup pot, add the onions and bell pepper, stir and cook
over medium heat for about 4 minutes, or until the onions start to become translucent.
Add the zucchini and cook for a few minutes more until the zucchini starts to soften.
Add the eggplant, thyme, oregano, pepper and salt and cook, stirring occasionally until
all the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes.

Add the rice mixture to the vegetables and stir well. Serve in bowls topped with fresh
basil (optional).

Vegan Alfredo Sauce


Ingredients
Makes 4 servings
1 cup raw cashews
2 tablespoons raw pine nuts
1 1/2 cups water
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/16 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
4 cups cooked fettuccine (or other pasta of your choice)
3 tablespoons freshly minced parsley

Directions
In a blender, grind cashews and pine nuts into a fine powder. Add water, lemon juice,
garlic, nutmeg, and salt. Blend until completely smooth.
Transfer to a small saucepan over medium heat and whisk as you bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for 7 minutes, whisking regularly. Stir in black pepper.
Serve over hot pasta and garnish with parsley and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Black-eyed Pea Hummus from Fat Free Vegan

Black-eyed Pea Hummus

One of our favorite sources of recipes is Susan Voisin's Fat Free Vegan website.  She's a brilliant cook and her recipes are so tasty and satisfying.  You will definitely want to bookmark her site!

One of our favorite recipes from her is this Black-eyed Pea Hummus.  It's an amazing, wonderful recipe idea!  It's especially good with whole wheat chips made from Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Lavash Bread cut into 1-1/2" squares and baked.  We can't stop eating this stuff, yum!

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/09/black-eyed-pea-hummus.html

Our Garden August 2012

Living in a mobile home park means small lots and tight quarters so we decided to make our little home and lot colorful and friendly.  Our garden has evolved to include plants grown from cuttings and found objects added for color and interest.  We've really enjoyed putting it together over the past 16 months.

Welcome to L Row!

We found used wine barrels for planters

Most of our plants are from cuttings of plants found in our area

We love the colors and variety of shapes

We found driftwood on a beach close by...

...and added river stone found locally... 

...added found objects...

...and a few store bought objects

The neighbors stop often to examine the latest additions

Sedums do really well in Morro Bay

The area to the right around the corner is the nursery for plant cuttings. 

It doesn't take much effort to turn cuttings into full grown plants here, so it's easy and inexpensive to create a garden.  It didn't cost much money to put this together, just time and lots of backpack loads of rocks and cuttings.

Green Leafy Vegetables

We've all heard it hundreds of times, eating green leafy vegetables is one of the most important things you can do to get healthy and stay healthy. They are loaded with fiber, calcium, vitamins, vital minerals and antioxidants!  For the first 22 years of our marriage we always had greens in the fridge knowing we needed to eat as much as possible but just how many damned salads can you eat?  At least half the time they went bad before we could eat them.

When we became low fat vegans 5 months ago we decided to get serious about eating greens which called up memories of my grandmother who lived to be 91. She generally had year round gardens all her life and her winter garden always had a row of collard greens. When we visited she usually had a large pot of collards with ham hocks simmering on the stove. Grandma's collards have been my favorite food all my life but Kim & I seldom prepared them before we became vegan. Now greens are the nutrition centerpiece of our diet, we try to each eat at least ONE POUND per day of collards, kale, chard or spinach (we almost never eat lettuce because it has little nutrition value compared to the other greens).

Here's how we do it:

We buy greens from local organic farmers in bulk so we can get them at discounted prices. In order to preserve them we cook and freeze them in quart freezer bags.

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Two large bowls of greens when cooked will fit in a one quart freezer bag which for us is one serving each:

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All greens (no matter if the package says "Ready to Eat") should be thoroughly washed before eating raw.  If pressure cooked, organic toxins like E. coli will be zapped; we pressure cook all our greens:

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We load the pressure cooker and compact the greens moderately to get a good amount into each batch, over packing will result in uneven cooking:

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Add 1/2 cup of water:

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We use and recommend the Fagor 6 qt. Rapid Express pressure cooker (can be purchased at Bed, Bath & Beyond):

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We allow the cooker to get up to pressure and keep it there 5 minutes for collards, 4 minutes for chard and kale, and 2 minutes for spinach.  We put the cooker under a faucet running cold water to cool it down and bring the pressure down fast (also called rapid pressure release).  Here's how the greens look after cooking under pressure:

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We cool our cooked greens to speed up the process because we're usually processing 10 to 20 pound quantities:

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We try to remove all excess water before freezing so when they're thawed for reheating it doesn't
dilute the sauce and spices we use to flavor them (it also requires less space in the freezer):

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We load them into quart freezer bags:

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As you can see our small freezer is loaded with greens! We're serious about our greens:

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We can quickly thaw a 2 pound bag by submerging it in hot tap water for 5 minutes, then bring them to serving temperature in the microwave.

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The traditional sauce to use on cooked greens in the Southeastern US is Pepper Sauce (peppered vinegar) which can be difficult to find in the western US. You can order it online or just do without the peppers and use white vinegar. Other vinegars work really well also: red wine, balsamic, rice, apple cider, etc.

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Our favorite flavoring is a great ginger dressing that Kim makes (recipe here). As with most vegan dishes each person will have to experiment with different sauces and spices. Mike combines equal parts Bragg Liquid Aminos, ginger dressing, and pepper sauce for his greens. Kim just uses ginger dressing.

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse

One of the things I had in mind when we bought all of those wonderful raspberries at the Morro Bay Farmers Market last Thursday was to try this recipe adapted from the PCRM website  It's a wonderful way to get a chocolate fix. Yum!

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse

1 14 oz. package of soft silken tofu
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup fresh raspberries

Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.  Chill in the refrigerator before serving.  Males 4 servings.

Romanesco Broccoli with Ginger Dressing

Romanesco Broccoli with Ginger Dressing

The wonderful Romanesco Broccoli we found at the farmers market day before yesterday is too beautiful to cut into florets, so last night we just steamed the broccoli and served with a wonderful Ginger Dressing.

Almost Fat Free Ginger Dressing

4 garlic cloves
1 piece of fresh ginger (about the size of 2 garlic cloves) grated
6 oz. soy sauce or tamari sauce
3 oz. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. sesame oil
1 oz. water

Put ingredients together in a blender and blend well.

Morro Bay Farmers Market

Morro Bay Farmers Market Goodies

People ask us what we eat since we decided to quit eating all animal products.  Here's a nice example: today's treasures from the local farmers market here in Morro Bay.  This includes heirloom varieties of carrots, tomatoes and summer squash, plus beets, Russian kale, cilantro, asparagus, purslane, celery, green onions, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and a really cool looking cruciferous vegetable called Romanesco broccoli.  There's a Fibonacci sequence in every bite!

We'll post later on what we do with these great treasures!

Vegan Parmesan "Cheese"

Vegan Parmesan "Cheese"

This is an easy way to enjoy a "cheesy" sprinkle on your pasta dishes.  This contains sesame seeds so it does have fat in it (2 teaspoons has about 21 calories and 1.4 grams of fat).  This recipe and others like it are easy to find on the internet, so I'm not the creator of this idea.  Here goes:

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Whir in a food processor until ingredients are incorporated into a powder.  That's it! Enjoy!

Home Fries with Vegan Ketchup

This is an easy low fat way to enjoy home fries.  Scrub 3-4 medium sized red potatoes (or other type if you don't have red potatoes) into 1" pieces, put into a microwave safe bowl, add 1/2 cup water, cover the bowl with a microwave safe lid and microwave for 3-4 minutes on high.  You want the potatoes to start to cook.

Set oven on broil and line a baking sheet with parchment paper making sure the edges of the paper are not sticking up at the edges.  Add the partially cooked potatoes to a bowl, spray lightly with cooking spray, lightly sprinkle with salt and stir to coat the potatoes.  Spread the potatoes in a single layer on the baking pan and put under the broiler until the edges are brown, turn the potatoes and put under the broiler until the other side is brown.  Serve with ketchup.  Yum!

Roasted Yellow Tomato Sauce over Whole Wheat Rotini

Roasted Yellow Tomato Sauce over Whole Wheat Rotini

We are fortunate to live in an area where there are deliveries of out of date and blemished produce and bread products donated by local grocery stores which are distributed to homeless shelters, then to mobile home parks a few times a week.

Our mobile home park is the last stop on the route and anything not taken by the residents of our park will be put into the dumpster.  Everyone else takes the doughnuts and cheese bread before the delivery gets to our park and all that's left for us is blemished veggies and whole grain breads and sometimes even silken tofu.  Perfect!  We always give the guy making the delivery a few dollars to help put gas in his truck.

We never know what will be in the truck when the delivery gets to us, and it's always fun to figure out what to do with the sometimes exotic blemished fruits and vegetables we get.

The last delivery included about 5 pounds of yellow tomatoes, most of which were pretty soft and needed to be eaten or cooked soon.  I washed them, wrapped them in parchment paper and put them into a large baking pan, roasting at 350°F for 45 minutes, then let them cool enough to handle so we could remove the skins.

We blended them and refrigerated them until I could take time to make a sauce.  At this point the tomatoes could be frozen but I wanted to make a pasta sauce soon.

We already had some out of date basil that had been saved from demise by picking through the packages of fresh leaves to save what we could, washing well, steaming, then freezing in portions until we had a chance to use it.  We had some whole wheat rotini pasta from another of the food deliveries to our park, so I cooked that to put the sauce over.  It's topped with vegan Parmesan "cheese" which I make at home.

I put the various food gifts together for our dinner tonight.

Roasted Yellow Tomato Sauce over Whole Wheat Rotini

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. salt, divided

5 lbs. yellow tomatoes, roasted, skins removed

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

1 cup salsa

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

2 tsp. dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)

1 lb. dry whole wheat rotini pasta

Heat the balsamic vinegar in a large pot over medium heat, then saute the chopped onion and minced garlic, until onion is translucent, sprinkling a teaspoon of salt over the onions and garlic while sauteing.

Add the crushed yellow tomatoes, tomato paste, salsa, nutritional yeast, basil, oregano, thyme, crushed red pepper, remaining teaspoon of salt, and black pepper.  Cook over medium low heat for about 10 minutes, then use a stick blender to make a smooth sauce.  Leave to simmer over low heat while the pasta is cooking.

Cook the pasta according to package directions and top with sauce and top with vegan Parmesan "cheese".

Tofu Scramble with Home Fries

Today's breakfast includes a tofu scramble including vegetables that we had leftover from other dishes and home fries made from lovely organically grown red potatoes:

Tofu Scramble

14 oz. firm tofu crumbled into a colander and allowed to drain for about 5 minutes
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small tomato, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. or more Bragg liquid aminos (or tamari sauce or soy sauce)
1-2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast (optional)
vegetable broth or water for sauteing

Add about 1/4 cup vegetable broth or water to a large skillet and heat over medium heat.  Add the vegetables, saute until soft.  Add the tofu, nutritional yeast, Bragg aminos and turmeric.  Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes to blend flavors.  Taste, adjust seasonings to suit your palette and serve.

Note:  Add whatever veggies you might have leftover from other dishes.  Corn or black beans would be good, as well and carrots diced small (about 1/4 inch dice), mushrooms, yellow squash, you name it.

Home Fries

6 red potatoes (about 2-2-1/2" diameter each) diced into 3/4" pieces
1/2 cup vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 450°F.  Toss the potato pieces with broth and pour into a pan lined with parchment paper or lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  Cover with foil.  Bake for 15 minutes, remove foil and turn the potato pieces over with a spatula.  Bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and browned on the edges.

Vegan Waldorf Salad

This is an easy to make, simply wonderful dish that you can bring to any get together and it will be loved by all.  The salad in the photo below is made with only Granny Smith apples since that's all we had at the time.  Mix and match apples to suit availability and your taste.  Golden raisins instead of brown raisins would be great in this too.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raisins (soaked for 20 minutes, then drained)
1/3 cup vegan mayo (I make my own with silken tofu, we'll post the recipe soon)
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons regular agave nectar
3 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped into 1/2-1 inch pieces
3 Fuji or Gala apples, cored and chopped into 1/2-1 inch pieces
2 celery ribs, diced small
1 cup toasted walnut pieces

Chop the apples and celery and add to a large bowl, then whisk the vegan mayo, vinegar, and agave nectar together in a measuring cup and pour over the apples.  Add the soaked, drained raisins and toasted walnuts and stir to mix until everything is evenly coated with the dressing.  Chill in the fridge, covered, for about 20 minutes and then serve.

VEGAN GYPSIES 2012

Current Goal July 14, 2012:

Hi all, we are Kim Davis and Mike Stangeland. This is our lifelong, we call it Vegan Gypsies because we have been traveling the US and Mexico continuously since early 2004 in a 5th wheel and diesel truck and we became low fat vegans March 20, 2012 which has been one of the most important and positive lifestyle changes we've ever undertaken.  The present goal of this log is to pass on the experiences we've encountered during the transition to veganism from the viewpoint of an older couple (Mike 66, Kim 54) on a very limited income, trying to make it on the expensive left coast of the US and trying to eat, as close as we can afford, an all organic, non-GMO, whole foods diet. We've sort of settled in Morro Bay California for the time being and may be back traveling next year.

Current History:


We've been vegetarians for 4 years but included dairy and fish in the diet and could never reach our health goals even through we ate what we thought was a 'good' diet and exercised every day usually climbing steep hills for 1 to 4 hours to get in our aerobic time. We read about the new movie "Forks Over Knives" in early March, watched it on Netflix March 19th and became very strict low fat vegans the next day. It's a very powerful movie that every person on the planet should watch. 


The diet we've adopted is a low fat, whole foods, plant based diet which includes NO meat, dairy, eggs or animal products of any kind and no vegetable oils.  When you follow this diet any excess weight should drop off effortlessly as long as you avoid added fats and processed foods.

Since March 20th Mike's lost 15 pounds and Kim's lost 10 pounds with no other change to our lifestyle than the new diet.  Mike's blood pressure is normal now for the first time in 20 years, he has been able to reduce his diabetes medicine to 1/3 of the original dose and we can't wait to see the results of his blood work in a couple of weeks! He should be able to discontinue all medications within a few months which will be an enormous boost to our budget.

We eat lots of green, orange, yellow, red and blue fruits and vegetables and make sure we're eating whole grains such as whole wheat breads, pasta and brown rice, plus beans and lentils and minimally processed soy products such as edamame, tofu and tempeh.

We avoid processed "pseudo-meat" products that contain textured vegetable protein, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate or other concentrated soy protein additives.  Many times processed soy "cheese" and "meat" actually contain whey protein from cow's milk, or casein protein (also from cow's milk) so you have to read the ingredients label carefully if you decide to eat those kinds of foods. Products with soy isolate have been found to be carcinogenic and should be shunned, and casein has been proven to be one of the most health damaging foods humans can eat, "Got Milk" is like saying "Got Poison".  We also try to avoid products made with GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) soy and corn, otherwise known as 'frankenfoods', (more on this horrible planet wide disaster later).

As we ramble along we'll probably include a lot of recipes with photos, maybe a few films of dish preparation, and recommendations for good value vegan products. We'll probably create list of great vegan websites, stories, books, lectures, organizations, and anything else that compliments the goal. 

We've both dabbled in the arts and music over the years so will probably go off subject with image series as mini-installations, observational essays, and even images and stories from the past that are brought back by current experiences. We've been naturalists for 20 years and have studied birds, plants, and now butterflies all over America and Mexico so will often include stories and images from this side of our life.