When Everyone Runs, Stand Still
I am not a chef. I don’t peel anything and if it looks even a little bit complicated, I don’t make it. What we have found is that eating plant based WITHOUT OIL is delicious, easy and above all magical.
Follow 8 principles and you may well find yourself becoming PLANT PERFECT!
1. Eat
oats (Old Fashioned) for breakfast, any way you can as
oatmeal, as a cold cereal as we do with alternative milk and fruit or in
waffles or pancakes or just put your cereal bowl with oats, banana and
alternative milk and a table spoon of flax seed into your waffle iron and you
have your oat breakfast in waffle form There are delicious ways to use
steel cut oats too. Oats help lower cholesterol and also reduce
artery inflammation. Find the breakfast with oats you love then eat it
EVERY DAY!!!
2. Eat
GREENS especially leafy greens as well as all the symphony
of rainbow colored vegetables. Cooked or raw vegetables are king!
Make leafy greens like Kale, collards and Swiss chard the nest on which
you put your food, mix greens into your food or pile greens on the side of your
plate. Make kale sandwiches (see below), mix greens into soup, cook kale,
etc. cut in small pieces into pasta 4 minutes before it is done, then drain and
you have a meal in one (see below) or mix a bunch of greens into pasta sauce and
spread on your whole wheat, no oil pizza crust and top with vegetables of your
choice. Never cheese.
3. Eat
Beans and Lentils instead of meat and dairy. All lentils are
delicious. Try red lentils in soup. They cook quickly and make the
soup a nice color. Put beans in salads. Hummus made without tahini
or oil has become our mayonnaise as a sandwich spread or dip for
vegetables and crackers and even part of our favorite salad dressing.
Our main party dish is brown rice and black beans piled high with chopped
tomatoes, thawed frozen corn, chopped green onions, water chestnuts, chopped
cilantro, chopped arugula, chopped peppers, etc. and topped with salsa, low
sodium tamari or if you don’t have heart disease with guacamole. AVOID
all the highly processed fake soy meats and any of the vegan cheeses, which
have lots of oil in them.
4. Eat
WHOLE Grains. Be sure that the word WHOLE is in front of
wheat or rye in the ingredient list. If not then it is just white flour
fancied up to sound impressive. Check also to be sure that there is no
added oil in the bread. Ezekiel makes many wonderful sprouted grain
products available in the frozen food departments of health food stores. The
Ezekiel Tortilla wraps are excellent and useful for everyday or parties.
Fill them with your choice and then roll them up and bake them for 10
minutes in a 450 degree oven. Delicious! Use whole wheat pastry
flour or barley flour in baking instead of white flour.
5. Eliminate
oil! Empty all oil, even virgin olive oil out of your
cupboards then you CAN’T use it. Instead any liquid works.
Vegetable broth (no sodium), water, wine, beer, orange juice, carrot
juice, vinegar all work in stir -frying. Instead of oil in baking, use
applesauce, baby food prunes, bananas. Finding a salad dressing
you love is a challenge at first but there are so many possibilities out there
you will soon never miss the oil filled ones.
6. Drink
WATER! You can’t go wrong with water. You can
flavor it with a splash of orange or apple, etc. juice occasionally.
Never drink juices! And absolutely never drink pop, with or without
added sugar.
7. Avoid
sugar and salt as much as possible. Save sugar for
birthdays or special holiday treats. Instead put grapes in your freezer
for an amazing sweet treat or freeze bananas or mangoes and blend them in a
strong blender for delicious “ice creams". Look at the government
label for the amount of salt in a product. No added salt is ideal or aim
for the salt content being equal to the calorie content. Instead of salt
add vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice or hot sauces. You will lose your
taste for salt before you know it.
8. Read
Labels, especially the ingredients. You will be surprised that
often proclaimed zero fat products have oil listed in the ingredients.
The government allows anything under 0.5 grams of fat to be called FAT
FREE.
My Dr told us that he has to deal with people who are killing themselves with what they eat...and nothing will change their attitudes.
ReplyDeleteI think vegans should get a reduction in their life insurance policies the same as non smokers do.
Jane x
Hi Jane - That's a good idea, but it will probably never happen!
DeleteKay :)
Thanks for taking the time to write up these guidelines. I'm sue others will find them as useful as I do, either when they're getting started or as a reminder of what we're aspiring to.
ReplyDeleteAs Scarlet said, giving up meat is the easy part, the rest comes in gradual steps.
I would definitely agree about the salt. I have not added it to my food in any form for 15 years and avoid any hidden salt in the food I buy. Of course if you cook from scratch you can control this perfectly well yourself.
Well done Kay and Sime, helping us in the right direction.
I shall be checking out the products you mentioned :-)
I did laugh at the thought of you going "beige", I shall come hurtling down the M5 with my tie-dye kit if that ever happens LOL
Hi Kath - afraid the guidelines are Ann Esselstyn's (I just copied them) & the products are all in the USA - unfortunately we can't get healthy ready made tortillas over here... But I can say that cilantro is coriander & arugula is rocket. We've adapted her recipes from the book the best we can, but we just like her attitude about keeping food simple!
DeleteCan't you imagine me with a perm & blue rinse, beige pleated skirt & brogues? And Sime with a pork pie hat, sensible beige trousers with matching beige jacket? Now that would be funny... ;)
I wonder if those people who would rather eat what they want and die young have experienced the devastation of a premature death in their family.Surely they can't have, or they wouldn't have that attitude. I am one of those who has been inspired by the dramatic effect your diet has had on your health. My book should be with me within the next couple of days and I am busy collecting vege/ vegan recipes - baby steps but ones in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteThanks Scarlet - one of those people even has children too, which to us seems very selfish!
DeleteWe found the book so exciting, that I ended up reading it out loud over about 3 nights... It just felt like everything clicked into place!
You know where I am if you need any more help.
Kay :)
We gave up cooking with oil last fall, other than using a smidge of sesame oil every now & then (and we're probably going to eliminate that eventually, too, once we can find a suitable seasoning replacement).
ReplyDeleteSo many of our co-workers give us that "I'd rather eat what I want and die younger" schpeel, which I just hate. We're not vegan for our health, but we still want to be able to enjoy our life as we age rather than be plagued with all of the health problems so many people we know deal with. So frustrating to hear that!
Great post. :)
Thanks Molly - We use miso & soy sauce if we want a savoury flavour & just a little water instead of oil.
DeleteKay :)