Whole- Food Plant Based ... 4 Weeks and Counting

   

Just one of  many varieties of tasty meatless meals..

  The middle of November I posted my new Blog about how Linda and I planned to switch to a whole-food plant based diet. We have been pretty much there for the past 4 weeks.
      Many of the expected body changes have already taken place. The first 14 days resulted in a lot of trips to the washroom. I had no idea what cutting out meat and adding more vegetables could do to your system. By the 3rd week things settled down but lets just say things are  working far better then before the switch.
   
Another positive effect of being a vegan is the improvement in sleeping. Now one tends to wonder if all the health benefits are real or psychological. I decided to check my garmin watch which tracks my sleep every night.

 The graph on the left shows my average night's sleep during the middle week of October ( 1 month before we changed to Plant Based eating. The graph on the right shows my average night's sleep during the last week of November. The change in deep sleep is remarkable. A better night's sleep has given me much more energy.

Linda and I had set up goals what we wanted out weight to be. Linda's weight loss has been constant and steady. My goal was to return my weight to what it was when  training for the marathon. Expecting to have this happen by mid December I was pleased when this occurred by Dec 1st
There are several other health benefits that we have experienced and continue to be very excited about....

We have been experimenting with lots and lots of recipes trying out new foods that I have never eaten before. Over all everything had been pretty successful, but I may as well start with my mega fail:

What seitan should look like!

I was attempting to make Seitan ( a vegan meat analogue made with wheat gluten. With the addition of a variety of spices can develop the flavor of  pork, chicken or beef)
Now my sister in-law Daphne has made this successfully many times and it turned out great.


I messed up one ingredient and what should of looked like this:

A  brain from Frankenstein's laboratory 

Now it was not long into the cooking process when I realized it was a mega fail!





With another recipe from Daphne my attempt was successful with  vegan seitan

A Few Of Our Successful Meals

Lets start with breakfast:
 In the past Linda and I have been big egg eaters for breakfast. This was a challenge for us to get use to eating something else.
Following a recipe I received from my niece, Dorothy I created an awesome breakfast of scrambled tofu.

Scrambled tofu has the look of scrambled eggs and with the addition
of Nutritional Yeast, lemon juice,  onion powder, turmeric, salt & pepper.

 Now add  onions, green peppers, red peppers and mushrooms to the mix along with kiwi and tomato on the side and you have an amazing breakfast.








Now for some breakfast variety a  couple times a
 week we have refried beans. Adding onions. corn  and peppers to the mixture equals a very healthy meal.






Snacks:

Daphne made this vegan pepperoni and it turned out picture perfect and tasted great. She sent  us the recipe we we tried it for a party and it was a big hit.










We have also had some very interesting and tasty Dinners. 

Squash soup has always been a long time favorite and it can fit the requirements to be vegan. A great addition to a cool winter day.

How about a simple meal of roasted vegetables. Lay some vegetables on a tray, sprinkle  with onion powder, salt, pepper and a dash of smoked peprika and what ever else you may wish to add. Roast at 375 degrees for 40 minutes and wow













Deserts

Other then the tasty vegan deserts we were treated to when we were visiting Daphne and Terry we had pretty much stuck to berries and fruit. Then on Nov 29th Linda's birthday  arrived and she decided she did not want a birthday cake, so I decided to  make a special desert for her.

Pumpkin Cheese Cake!
What a huge hit! it was amazing! not made with any dairy products at all.

My next creation was banana pie, smothered with berries. This is one desert you could pig out on and be completely guilt free. Have to say I am really getting to like this plant based eating.








Our son Tim dropped over last Saturday carrying a bag of supplies telling us he was going to make a nacho tray with vegan toppings.It was fantastic! He used a cheesy sauce along with a hot tomato salsa with lots of veggies and TVP.



To sum up the last month both Linda and I are very pleased with the results and are more then amazed with the 100's of options for meals and we have a very long list of meals we can't wait to try.
We have more vegetables, fruit, ,berries in our fridge  and freezer then we ever thought possible. Our plan is to stick to plant based eating and decide in January if we may introduce some items back in our menu like eggs or milk. At this point we have no desire to.

Now I would like to give a shout out to a local restaurant that  we visit on a regular bases. The Brass Rail in Cole Harbour. Three weeks ago we went in for breakfast. I ordered my regular breakfast asking to replace the meat with grilled tomatoes, and  if they could replace the eggs with orange slices.



 With the help of suggestions from Terry and Daphne along with the many recipes on You Tube we are having a great time trying new food and creations.
As I mentioned in my last post we are cooking turkey for our Christmas Dinner but plan to have a few more veggie options.....
Stay tuned for the next post early in January. If you have any questions or would like more information about our experience please feel free to drop me a message or email.


Ask your self: Do I live to eat or eat to live?