So it’s now 3.5 weeks into the vegan diet.  Surprisingly, I’m not yet ogling anyone’s burgers, wings, or even bacon (altho’ I do feel we need new legislation to regulate what is allowed to be called bacon.  Soy bacon is definitely an oxymoron).  The whole thing (maybe due to its newness) still feels like a bit of a grand adventure.  I always seem to be eating outside of the mainstream anyway, so “not eating what everyone else is eating” is nothing new. 

While I don’t really miss the meat, I do miss the cheese.  I used to eat a lot of cheese - it was such a quick and delicious snack.  And it “really” melts, not like the “puddling” of soy cheese.  The Dr. Barnard book I read said that there are 4 types of foods that we physiologically crave, and they have been shown to affect our brains in similar ways to drugs or alcohol.  They are:  sugar, chocolate, meat and cheese.  So maybe I need to go to some “Cheese-Eaters-Anonymous” 12-step program to help me through this withdrawal.  Or maybe systematic desensitization where I work my way up to being able to watch pizza commercials without screaming in agony.

On the upside, I’ve lost 4 pounds while eating my usual huge amounts of food.  I’ve also re-discovered the cookbook section at the library and have effectively cleared the shelves of dozens of vegan cookbooks.  I’m planning to post some excellent new recipes on my cookbook site ellenlovescookbooks.com  so check it out if you’re in the mood for eating beans.  I’m the queen of beans these days!

And my blood sugars you ask?  The jury is still out on those.  As far as I can tell, they’ve stayed about the same (at least in the morning which is my every day testing time).  Maybe they’ll continue to improve as I stay on the diet.  And losing more weight may help, and giving up all caffeine and almost all artificial sweeteners, and exercising more, and reducing stress, etc., etc., etc. (I hear the King of Siam in my head when I type that).  I feel I need to trust this process (that’s not easy for me) and stay the course.  I still have 2 months until my next A1c (3-month blood sugar average) and I’m hoping for the best.  Wish me luck and send me your best vegan recipes … 

If you’ve enjoyed reading my blog (my general ramblings on life and diabetes), you may want to check out one of my other sites as well - my ramblings on food, (specifically recipes and cookbooks) is at www.ellenloves.com/cookbooks and my ramblings on Vancouver-area restaurants is at www.ellenloves.com/restaurants.

One of the newest additions to my cookbooks site is a weekly post of one (or more) of my favourite recipes.  It’s something that I have cooked during the preceding week and is called my “weekly FILL (food I love lots).”

Hope to see you there!

It’s hard to believe, but Wednesday June 20, 2007 marks my first anniversary of blogging.

To celebrate the 90 some-odd posts on my life (in general and specific), my family, my friends, my diabetes, my obsession with food and all things tasty, and my overall conviction to have some laughs while still upright, I’d like to invite you all, dear readers, to post some comments.

I know, I know, you don’t really want to post anything because you’re enjoying your anonymity while being a voyeur into my life. But what about if I promise you a chance for some nifty prizes? Or at least an opportunity to be read by tens of people (who can resist that?) Or you could see it as a chance to use up that vast resource of puns you have at your ready disposal. Or just an avenue for congratulating me on sticking to something for a whole year (did I mention I get bored easily?)

The reasons are countless and my gratitude would be fathomless. So please, take a moment to post a nifty little comment. I so want to hear from you.

This soup is our family’s equivalent of “Grandma’s chicken soup.” It’s wonderful when you have a cold or just need some “comfort in a bowl.” The original recipe is from “Quick and Easy: Enjoy Chinese Cuisine” by Judy Lew.

This recipe serves 4 to 6 people. I generally make a jumbo pot of this soup to feed the whole family plus have leftovers. Also, that way I can use full packages of ingredients like bamboo shoots because I find partial cans often go unused. So feel free to adjust the amounts upwards!

Hot and Sour Soup

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup slivered pork (you could also use minced pork or sliced chicken thighs)

1/4 cup slivered bamboo shoots

2 Chinese mushrooms (soaked, rinsed and sliced thin) or fresh Shiitake mushrooms sliced thin

a few cloud ears (tree ears) soaked, rinsed and thinly sliced

1/2 cube tofu sliced into thin strips

1/2 teaspoon white pepper or to taste

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

chili sauce to taste (I use toban djan, guilin chili sauce or chili garlic sauce - any chili sauce that has a deep rich flavour)

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons preserved Szechuan vegetable, chopped

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1. Combine the stock, pork, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and cloud ears. Bring to a boil and cook for at least 5 minutes, stirring to break up the pork.

2. Reduce heat and spoon off any foam/scum on the surface. Soup should look fairly clear.

3. Add tofu and cook gently for a few minutes.

4. Add white pepper, rice vinegar and chili sauce. Add egg and stir to distribute.

5. Stir gently and bring back up to a slow boil. Add preserved vegetable.

6. Taste and adjust seasoning (I find the vinegar evaporates quite quickly so you may need to add more).

7. Add green onions and sesame oil just before serving.

As Rachael says “yum-o!”

This is a yummy take-off on nuts and bolts. Since my kids won’t eat nuts (and they’re not allowed to take nuts to school anyway), we developed this nut-free alternative. This version is far better than the commercial brands - way less salt and open to endless variations. If you don’t want to make such a big batch, halve all the ingredients. Alternately, if you want a really big batch feel free to double or triple the recipe.
If you don’t have enough grey hairs yet, I highly recommend cooking with your children!

Missy T’s Munchie Mix

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Farenheit.

Ingredients:

2 cups pretzels (stick pretzels, ABC pretzels, mini twists, lower sodium, etc.)

2 cups goldfish crackers (President’s Choice gators, mini Ritz, etc. work well here too)

2 cups Crispix cereal (these get really crispy and yummy)

2 cups Cheerios cereal (can use multigrain or a sweet version like Apple Cinnamon as well)

3 tbsp unsalted butter (I prefer unsalted butter but you could also use a trans-fat free margarine like Becel; keep in mind Becel is saltier)

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (use less if you don’t like it too savoury)

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1. In a 9″ x 13″ pan, mix together the pretzels, goldfish crackers and both cereals.

2. Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave (30 to 60 seconds). Add the Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. Mix well and pour over the munchie mix. Stir well to thoroughly distribute the liquid.

3. Bake in a 250 degree F. oven for 30 minutes - stir every 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Remove from oven and cool before eating. Warning - this stuff is addictive!

Since this is way too many carbs for my diet I was thinking that a nutty version with similar seasonings may prove to work really well for me. I’ll do my best to develop and post a recipe.

At a recent dinner party this was the most requested recipe.  I adapted it from a recipe in “The Complete Book of Indian Cooking” by Shehzad Husain and Rafi Fernandez.  The recipes are all in the “Balti style” - a quick and easy style of Indian cooking, similar to Chinese stirfrying. 

When I made the beef and carrot version of the recipe it took longer than stirfrying as I used chunks of beef stew meat and simmered them until tender.  You can also use lamb, pork or more tender cuts of beef to cook a faster version of this curry.  Enjoy …

Beef and Carrot Curry

Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion, diced

1 piece fresh ginger, 2 inches long, grated or finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

6-8 curry leaves (I used dried ones)

3 tbsp hot curry paste (I used Patak’s brand, it comes in a bottle and is available at most grocery stores)

3 tsp cayenne powder

1 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

2 lb lean lamb, beef or pork, cubed

3-4 medium carrots, peeled and cut in stew size chunks

3/4 cup thick coconut milk

chopped tomato and cilantro leaves for garnish

1.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan or wok and fry the onion, ginger, garlic and curry leaves until the onion is soft, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the curry paste, cayenne, turmeric and salt and cook for a few moments, stirring frequently.

2.  Add the meat and stir well over a medium heat to seal and evenly brown the meat pieces.  Keep stirring until the oil separates.  Cover and cook for about 20 minutes - or longer if the meat is not tender.  I simmered the stew meat for a few hours to tenderize it.  Lamb or pork would cook much more quickly. 

3.  Add the coconut milk, mix well.  Add the carrots and simmer until they are tender - 20 to 30 minutes.  Towards the end of cooking, uncover the pan to reduce the excess liquid.  Garnish and serve hot.

In my continuing exploration of the produce department I have forced my family to try chayote squash and charentais melon. First the squash - yum! It looks like a green pear and tastes like a firmer, tastier zucchini. Very easily prepared - I cut it in half, removed the very small pit and then sliced it. We ate it a few times: once it was grilled in our stirfry basket on the bbq - seasoned with salt and pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The second time I stirfried it with a peanut sauce. Both ways were delicious. Very little wastage with this veggie and the peel is also delicious. Apparently you can also eat it raw but I found the peel to be very astringent.  Our squash made its journey here from Costa Rica.
The Charentais melon (said “French Kiss” melon on the label) looks like a smaller cantaloupe but has a greener rind and green lines on it. It tastes like an excellent cantaloupe. I would highly recommend it - ours came from T&T via Arizona.

I made this carrot cake for a school function and have had many requests for the recipe. It was adapted from a recipe in Simply Delicious by Bev Atkinson. My version is “naked” as it is without the nuts, raisins and pineapple found in many other carrot cake recipes. This cake is light and scrumptious. Feel free to make more icing if you like yours with lots.

Ingredients:

2 cups cake and pastry flour (makes the cake much lighter than using all-purpose)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 cups grated carrots (about 4 medium carrots)

Cream cheese icing:

one 8 oz (250 g) pkg cream cheese, softened

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 3/4 cups sifted icing sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a large bowl add the sugar gradually to the oil, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl beat the eggs until very light. Gradually beat them into the oil and sugar mixture. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until thoroughly blended.

Stir the carrots into the batter, mixing well.

Pour the batter into a 9″ x 13″ pan and bake for 70 minutes.

When ready, the cake will be golden brown and the top will spring back when touched. Cool in pan on rack.

Cream Cheese Icing:

Cream together the cream cheese and vegetable oil. Gradually add the icing sugar and mix until smooth.

Ice the cake when it is completely cool.

Eat it up yum!

On June 30, 2006 I e-mailed Karen Barnaby at the Fish House to regale her with stories of how much I adored her cookbook “the Low Carb Gourmet.” Alas, she never replied. Do I sound like a stalker? Following is a verbatim copy of my e-mail. I’ll let you be the judge …

Dear Karen:

I’m convinced we shared a palate in a former life, or at the very least are identical twins separated at birth.

The reason I say this is because I believe every recipe from your cookbook, “the Low Carb Gourmet” was created specifically for me.

I’ve tried dozens of recipes from your book and have savoured every one! My family is getting used to the “triple threat” - three recipes from your cookbook all in the same meal, and have also begun to refer to you as “mommy’s hero.”

I have hundreds of cookbooks, most of which I use a recipe or two out of, and often have to modify to my own liking. With your book I know I will love the way the recipe tastes before I even make it.

Last night I made the prawns and tomato coconut cream, the cinnamon spiced lemon chicken and the cucumber lime peanut salad. Absolutely delicious. I threw some fresh sugar snap peas from the garden in with the prawn dish - ooh la la, it was incredible.

The night before I made the lamb feta meatballs - but converted them to burgers to cook on the bbq. They were so moist and flavourful - a great summer time meal.

Earlier in the week I made the bbq ribs and the edamame with chili, garlic and soy. Another night I made the Korean style tofu, and pork shiitake meatballs. I could go on and on but it makes me too hungry.

My 5 year old daughter made me some bookmarks just for your cookbook so I can refer to several recipes at once.

What’s also great about your book is all the excellent information on ingredients, low carb-ing, cooking tips and techniques, etc. I only wish there was a photograph for every recipe.

I have NEVER written a letter like this to anyone else before. But I felt compelled to write to you to thank you for your amazing taste, passion and willingness to share your love and knowledge of food through your writing.

I’d love to cook you dinner one day!

Sincerely,

Ellen Kurz

The jicama turned into quite a refreshing summer salad.  After looking at quite a few recipes I ended up just doing my own thing.  Very simple, tart and crisp.  The jicama has a unique peel - I found it easiest to start peeling with a veggie peeler and then pulling the strips of peel off by hand.  The jicama flesh is a bit starchy and leaves a slippery film on your hands.  I’ve heard it described as tasting like green apple but I found it didn’t have as much flavour as a green apple.  It’s more of a crisp texture that needs some zestiness.  The flesh needs to be grated or sliced quite thinly as the texture can be quite woody otherwise.  Anyway, here’s my salad recipe:

Jicama Salad

1/2 large jicama, peeled and cut into matchsticks

(probably about 1 lb)

lime juice - 2 to 3 tbsp

dried red chili flakes to taste

sea salt to taste

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Put the jicama in a bowl.  Toss with the lime juice, chili flakes and salt.  Garnish with the cilantro.  Chill until serving. 

This salad would go well with barbequed meats, spicy stirfries or Mexican food.  Enjoy!