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My Top 7 Favorite Kitchen Gadgets

My Top 7 Favorite Kitchen Gadgets

by | Dec 14, 2022 | Whole Food Plant Based

I’m pretty sure you can get everything cooked that you need with just a few pots and pans, a stove top and an oven. It’s the way people have been cooking for decades and if that’s what works best for you, by all means, stick with it.

However, since I cook more these days, I’ve found these kitchen gadgets to be helpful time savers in preparing healthy plant-based meals. Bonus: these items come in at various price points and could make excellent gifts!

1) I love my food processor. I have a Cuisinart because that’s what my mom has always used so it’s a brand I’m familiar with. I’m sure there are other wonderful food processors out there. My old model was kind of a hassle though. It was heavy, and getting the bowl on and off and positioned correction was often a headache. When I visited my mom last summer, she had a new model and it worked much better. I purchased one when I got home and LOVE it!

I use it for: gazpacho, homemade hummus, shredding potatoes for potato pancakes (latkes- which is only once a year, but it’s a big job), and chocolate pudding made with avocado among other recipes.

2) We’ve had a Ninja blender for a few years, and it works well. My understanding is that food processors are used for solid foods and blenders are used for more liquidy foods though sometimes either will do the job. My son makes smoothies in it when he’s home and I use it for cheesy sauces and Caesar dressing.

This model is great becasue it comes with the individual smoothie size blending cups as well as the full size pitcher.

3) Until a couple of years ago, I had never heard of an Air Fryer. My husband gifted me one and I had no idea what to do with it. Some people use them all the time and they are great in the summer when you don’t want to use your oven. I most often use it to pre-cook the tofu pieces that go into the tofu teriyaki recipe (that we shared in the group).

We also make really good French fries in it that come out crispy with just a teensy weensy bit of oil. If I ever get another one, I’d get an all in one that includes a toaster as a counter top space saver.

4) If you saw my video a while ago, you heard me wax poetic about my Instant Pot. My love for it has grown even deeper. I cook brown rice at least once a week and it is a game changer for me. Rice never used to come out right when I made it on the stove-top and it always boiled over and made a mess. Now I just set the instant pot, forget about it, and when it’s done I have perfect rice.

I’ve only made a couple other recipes in it, but my intention is to do way more.

5) I love my tofu press. Do you need one? Absolutely not. A couple of plates and some towels work too. But since I cook tofu every week, it does come in handy. And it’s an inexpensive gadget.

The old one I had didn’t work well with 14 ounce tofu blocks and required me to press down really hard to get it to engage. I just invested in a Tofuture press and it is super easy to use.

6) This is my absolute new favorite gadget. I’ve been making a big pot of hot cereal a couple of mornings each week and it always bubbles over, making a mess on the stove. I just learned of this silicone spill stopper thingie that works amazing at preventing the spillover.

It will be good for pastas too (and if I ever cook rice on the stovetop again, it would be good for that).

7) When I started cooking more, I realized that my measuring cups and measuring spoons would get used during a recipe and I always seemed to need a clean one ‘right now’.

An inexpensive solution is an extra set of either or both!

That’s it!

Do you have a favorite gadget? I’d love to know!

This post contains affiliate links.

How You Can Feel Empowered During Crazy Times

How You Can Feel Empowered During Crazy Times

by | Nov 30, 2022 | My Story, Whole Food Plant Based

There are so many big issues out of our control such as war, senseless shootings, pandemics, etc. and we often feel helpless.

And while we don’t have direct power to impact everything, like politics and wars and epidemics, we have more power than we think.

We can vote.  We can demonstrate.  We can wear masks.

But there’s more.

We are also empowered by our food choices.

Eating plant-based or being totally vegan has inherent merits. The most commonly discussed merits are: Our health, the health of our planet, and of course the innocent animals that we aren’t eating. (There are equally important social and spiritual merits but those are topics for another day.) 

It may not seem like such a big deal, but most of us do have control over what we choose to eat. (Granted, many people in the US and around the world do not have many food options. But for much of western society, we do have choice.) 

Our choices can impact how we feel as well as the situation, and that is empowering. 

The Power of a Plant-Based Lifestyle to Take Charge of Our Health 

Choosing plant-based products over animal-based products gives us much more power over our health than we ever realized. After studying plant-based nutrition at Cornell, and from the books and films I’ve read and watched, I’m more than convinced that eating plant-based is the healthiest option. And eating whole food plant-based takes it all up a big notch. (If you want some suggested books and films to learn more, email me and I will give you a few to get started.) 

I feel empowered knowing that I’m energizing my body with nutritious fuel. 

The Power of Choosing Plant-Based for Our Earth 

We’ve been hearing about climate change for years. Animal agriculture is one of the largest contributors to global warming and yet it’s not even part of the Paris Agreement. (The Plant-Based Treaty, created as a companion to the Paris Agreement has been endorsed by dozens of cities, businesses, organizations and politicians around the world.) Doesn’t it feel like dealing with climate change is all up to big corporations and government to do something about it? For the most part it is. But that makes us feel powerless.

We are interdependent beings.  We rely on a healthy earth, all of her plants and trees, each other, the animals and creatures that walk the earth, the ones that fly above it, swim in our oceans and more.

Many people are choosing cars with better gas mileage, or even electric cars. We turn off lights in our home and turn off the water while brushing our teeth. When we do this collectively, it has impact. 

As we each awaken to the importance of choosing a plant-based lifestyle that does not harm our environment, we awaken to our individual and collective power. Knowing how powerful these changes can be, how can we not?

 The Power of Compassion from Choosing a Plant-Based Lifestyle

For a long time I declared myself an animal lover because I was a champion for companion animals. One day it clicked that as long as I was consuming animal products, I was only a companion animal lover. Since I would like to think of myself as aligned with my values, I knew it was time to stop eating animals.

Billions of animals are slaughtered each year and 25 million land animals are slaughtered in the United States EVERY DAY.

By choosing a plant-based lifestyle, we are not exploiting other souls. I can sleep at night knowing that I didn’t knowingly abuse an animal for my consumption. My heart continues to break for the animals that aren’t so lucky.

The more people that choose to eat plants instead of animals, the more we can make a difference. The plant-based sector is the fastest growing sector in the supermarket so there is no shortage of options.

Just like each vote matters, all of our choices matter. Our food choices and spending habits matter to our health the earth and the animals. 

I also have a lot of compassion for people who are concerned about their health and the planet and who do love animals, but who aren’t yet ready to go fully plant-based. It was not that long ago that I was one of those people.

If that sounds like you, stick around What’s Plant-Based Cooking Good Looking? We want to make eating plant-based as easy as possible so that you too can feel empowered by your choices.

How About ThanksLiving Instead of Thanksgiving?

How About ThanksLiving Instead of Thanksgiving?

by | Nov 16, 2022 | My Story, Whole Food Plant Based

How about we rename this holiday, “ThanksLiving”? This major holiday in the US is slowly experiencing a makeover on a couple of levels. 

First, there’s a burgeoning sensitivity to Native Americans and their plight amid centuries of oppression. For Native Americans, Thanksgiving Day is (understandably) a day of mourning. You can read more here.

Second, increasing numbers of people are choosing compassionate food choices on their celebration table. For my vegan friends and me, we call it ThanksLiving! Let’s celebrate being together and the sanctity of all lives, human and animal.  

And there’s no shortage of plant-based food options either! Nutriciously has curated a massive list of options which you can find here. (I recommend subscribing to their newsletter too for good tips yearound.) 

Sam Turnbull, the chef from It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken (where I get many of my recipes) has curated a suggested list of recipes. She just sent out a great list to her email subscribers.  You can subscribe to her email list here.

She also offers a HUGE list of suggested vegan Thanksgiving recipes on her website that you can find here.

(It differs from the list she emailed out, so let me know if you’d like her recently emailed list. If you email me, I can forward it to you.) 

If you would like some ideas to have a more compassionate holiday this year (and every year in the future), this short post offers some tips.  

And here’s Alicia Silverstone’s well-written take on the holiday including her favorite dishes.  

This year we will have a quiet ThanksLiving at home. At least one of my kids will be here and it’s possible that both will be, which will be nice. They’ve never had a vegan Thanksgiving before. I’m still pulling together a menu, though I do know that there will be cranberry sauce. (I love homemade cranberry sauce and it’s so easy to make!). 

I suspect there will be a bit of grumbling, but there will be plenty of food and I bet they will even enjoy a dish or two. 

Enjoy a safe and compassionate holiday however you choose to celebrate.

I’m Going to Stop Using the Word “Diet”

I’m Going to Stop Using the Word “Diet”

by | Nov 2, 2022 | My Story, Whole Food Plant Based

I’m going to stop using the word “diet”.

Why? Because our society has primarily coupled the word diet with the sole purpose of weight loss.

Let’s look at the Oxford online definition of the word diet:

1. the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.

“a vegetarian diet”

2. a special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.

“I’m going on a diet”

3. restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight.

“it’s difficult to diet”

While the top definition is the actual connotation meant when I refer to a plant-based diet, much of our society perceives diets as restrictive.

Look at the second and third definitions. The examples they use even suggest that dieting is restrictive or hard.

Instead, I’m shifting to the word lifestyle.

Lifestyle defined by Oxford:

The way in which a person or group lives.

“the benefits of a healthy lifestyle”

How do I use it in a sentence? I live a healthy plant-based lifestyle.

A plant-based lifestyle is about a healthy way of living that is NOT restrictive but actually grants us our best possible health with more variety than ever.

Now, I don’t swear that I’m going to completely stop using the word diet because I could slip up.

But the word has bothered me for years. I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s and dieting was (and still is) a toxic topic because it was associated with the ideal of being thin.

My mom, who will likely read this post, tried almost every diet trend there was. Most worked in the moment but as soon as she stopped whatever restrictive diet she was on, well, you can guess what happened.

Fun Fact: Do you remember The Scarsdale Diet? It was originally published in 1978. Well, my mom was a nurse and worked for the doctor who wrote the book. (She even got a thank you in the acknowledgments!) You can be sure that there was a lot of grapefruit and melba toast eating going on in my house back then. 

While I LOVE grapefruit and do eat them when in season, that is no way to exist.

Thus, we will delve deeper in future posts as to what a healthy plant-based lifestyle means. and how by adopting a healthy plant-based lifestyle, you can enjoy its benefits.

For now, I just want to move away from the restrictiveness of the word diet. Eating plant-based is actually rather freeing. There are so many options, especially these days. From foods you can find in your supermarket, to the gazillion recipes available online from wonderful bloggers and chefs. Would you join me in switching to a plant-based lifestyle?

 

I Love Sugar But It Doesn’t Love Me

I Love Sugar But It Doesn’t Love Me

by | Aug 24, 2022 | Food & Ingredients, Whole Food Plant Based

When I was growing up, I had a serious sweet tooth. And if it wasn’t chocolate, it wasn’t dessert. As an adult, I still love sweets. But if it’s a cooked dessert, I now prefer a fruity dessert (like an apple crumble… mmmm…. Apple crumble).  I still love chocolate, just in smaller doses.

For the most part though, nowadays I avoid refined sugar. And I feel a whole lot better when I do.

When I’m eating a clean whole foods plant-based diet, there are no processed sugars in the foods I eat. I feel good and any sugar cravings go away.

Feeling good becomes a baseline and I don’t notice that I’m feeling good until… I eat some sugar. Then I feel out of whack.

AND, once I eat a little bit, I end up eating sugar for a few days until I realize that I feel lousy, and then I go back to eating clean. I like the sugar. It just doesn’t like me.

My kids were home visiting a few weeks ago and I baked cookies for them. I also bought vegan ice cream and oh boy, after a couple of days of this my body rebelled. Refined sugars in treats are an immediate jolt to my system. I like the sugar. It just doesn’t like me.

And this sugar conversation extends beyond refined sugars.

When my kids were home, we went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert at SoFi stadium. The stadium displays signs for veggie chili or veggie burgers, but they didn’t have them available. Come on. Really? 

I was starving so I had a giant pretzel. That was my dinner.  I don’t eat a lot of refined wheat because it has a high glycemic index and turns right into glucose.

It didn’t help that I also had a beer at the concert. I don’t drink much anymore because alcohol turns straight into sugar and even if I just have just one drink, I feel lousy the next day. Years ago, I was a wine drinker. I finally had to acknowledge that it no longer agrees with me. I just don’t like losing a whole day the following day feeling lousy. Life is too short. I still do imbibe occasionally because I like it.  It just doesn’t like me.

It’s amazing how our bodies speak to us. The foods we put into our bodies are so important and our bodies respond. We just have to pay attention and be willing to cut out the foods that don’t serve us.

Once I’m on track and feeling good, I find it easy to stay on track. I don’t crave the sugary foods.

Yet, I also believe in balance. If I have an occasional pretzel or cookie or glass of wine at a special event, I make sure that I enjoy it while I’m eating it. If I have my wits about me, I don’t let it slide into a multi-day event and quickly return to eating whole foods plant-based.

So, what’s a girl with a sweet tooth to do? I still enjoy sweets and here are a few of my not-guilty pleasures: 

🍓 I love fruit. I eat berries in the morning, often a banana in the afternoon. The nighttime fruit varies by season. In the winter I eat apples and dates and, in the summer, I eat peaches or melon or dates. Dates are seriously nature’s candy.

🌱 I almost always have homemade peanut butter oat bars in the pantry for when I want a little sweet snack. A small piece usually does the trick.

☕ I love unsweetened sparkling water (like La Croix). Many nights after dinner I want a little somethin’ somethin’ and a can of that is perfect. Or a cup of herbal tea. It satisfies my desire to have something yummy without the sugar.

Lastly, I have always enjoyed baking for my family. Since I know that refined sugar is not good for any of us, I will only bake with sugar in moderation. And I will continue seeking whole food plant-based recipes that are yummy too. Balance.

How about you? Do you have a sweet tooth? How do you satisfy it?

The Low Carb Myth

The Low Carb Myth

by | Aug 17, 2022 | Whole Food Plant Based

“I need to make sure I’m eating low-carb.”

I hear this a lot. It’s a big topic. And understandably so! We’ve been indoctrinated to eat lean animal protein with a salad or vegetables for “optimal health” and weight loss.

Up until recently, this is what I believed too. 

I got used to eating the high protein way, but I also missed eating carbohydrates. (And when I did eat carbs, I overdid it.) Then I studied plant-based nutrition though Cornell and learned that when we eat a proper whole foods plant-based (WFPB) diet, we are supposed to eat carbs. In fact, the majority of our nutritional intake should be carbs.

Here’s the catch. If they are refined or processes carbs- like white rice, white bread (or wheat bread or pasta that isn’t whole grain), chips, pretzels, then no, they are not good for you. These foods are high on the glycemic index and turn right into blood sugar. These are the “bad for you” carbs.

However, when you eat whole grains, brown rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes along with legumes, greens and fruits, then you are eating protein, fiber and complex carbohydrates.* This way of eating offers all the nutrients your body needs and satisfies your hunger. Foods are absorbed properly, and you aren’t experiencing blood sugar spikes. These are the “good for you” carbs.

In The China Study, the healthiest participants all ate a high carbohydrate diet that included vegetables and legumes. And despite consuming more calories than western diet participants, they were trimmer. It’s all about the quality of the food.

In addition to this study, I have learned of, and personally witnessed, countless people who have lost weight by switching to a WFPB lifestyle.  

🌿 The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has documented people with diabetes losing weight and reversing or improving their diabetes with a WFPB diet.

🌿 Caldwell Esselstyn, of the Cleveland Clinic has documented numerous people with heart disease who have switched to a WFPB diet, gotten healthy, dropped weight and reversed their heart disease. 

🌿 A childhood friend of mine, Naomi, is a breast cancer survivor and now eats a clean, WFPB diet and is trimmer and healthier than ever. Naomi also has an established coaching practice for people interested in a WFPB lifestyle to improve health and lose weight. I’m happy to introduce you if you are interested.

And I have personally experienced it. When I am eating clean foods (no or minimal oil, no sugars, whole foods), I drop a couple of pounds too. When I’m not paying attention to my food intake and eat more processed foods, I gain a couple of pounds. 

One of the big diet buzzwords these days is keto which is a high fat, low-carb diet. According to Harvard Health “It’s advertised as a weight-loss wonder but this eating plan is actually a medical diet that comes with serious risks.” This is just one article that explains a little about why it’s just not healthy.  

The same risks come with the Atkins and Paleo diets which are just modifications of the keto diet.

These diets are the polar opposite of a WFPB diet which is rich in antioxidants, fiber, nutrients and yes, protein! I eat whole grain wraps, breads, bean spreads (like hummus), nuts and nut butters, brown rice, leafy salads, tofu, edamame, beans, quinoa, veggies, oats, fruit, and so much more. I’m constantly finding new delicious recipes that are easy and yummy.

If we were having this conversation even five years ago, I wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic. But the vegan world has come so far that you can choose plant-based foods and feel satisfied. I enjoy Asian, Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern-inspired foods and more. And when you focus on whole foods, according to years of research, you are preventing and possibly reversing diseases, all by making a conscious choice. 

Always consult your doctor if you have concerns. If you have questions about starting a WFPB diet, please ask me. I also have a great plant-based nutritionist who can help you sort out your food needs as well.

We already have a few WFPB recipes in our group with more on the way. So go ahead and eat your whole food plant-based carbs!

*If you missed last week’s post about where vegans get their protein, you can find it here. Included in that post are resources for protein sources as well.