Just Humans Being...

  The idea for this stew came from Caldwell Esselstyn's book  Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease . His recipe for Marrakesh Express Red Lentil Soup is delicious, but we wanted something more filling. I added celery seed, as we didn't have any fresh celery, a pinch each of sage and thyme instead of a bay leaf and ground coriander (cilantro) instead of fresh. Along with fresh garlic, carrots, potato, leek and kale. Ingredients 1 large onion 4 cloves garlic 1 leek Small knob fresh ginger 2 large tomatoes 2 large carrots 3 medium potatoes A few handfuls of kale 300g dried red lentils 300g cooked chickpeas 1/2 tsp dried turmeric 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp celery seed 1 tsp ground coriander Pinch each of sage and thyme 1 litre or more of cold water Juice of half lemon Few drops liquid aminos Instructions 1. Chop all the veg into required size and place into a large pan. 2. Add herbs, spices and enough water to stir-fry ingredients. 3. Fry for around 10 minutes. 4. Add lentils and the res...

  We were asked recently if we still stick to Ann and Caldwell Esselstyn's principles...being vegan and oil free and yes we do. It's over 8 years now since we stopped using oil and apart from when other people cook or we buy something while out we continue to eat the same healthy way - always vegan and oil-free.  Simple vegan meals really don't take long to make and are easy enough to cook from scratch each day. There isn't any need to spend huge amounts of money on junk food, when simply cooked vegetables taste so good! We wrote a blog post about this some years ago:  When Everyone Runs, Stand Still  but thought it would be good to remind people... It was Caldwell's 87th birthday on December 12th and he continues to enjoy good health...35 years of eating a whole food, plant based, oil-free diet has obviously worked wonders!  As a reminder, here is the list again... 1. Eat oats  (Old Fashioned) for breakfast, any way you can as oatmeal, as a cold cereal ...

We continue to feel surprised by the amount of folks who say we inspire them... Whether it's due to the way we are with our kidlets and each other, the way we live, home education, being self employed or what food we eat... We are just us.   One of the people who has inspired us is  Donald Watson , we first read about him when Sime joined The Vegan Society in 1994 & since then we have thought lots about getting older & finding ways to stay as healthy as possible. People around us are committing suicide with the food choices they make & either don't realise or don't care about the consequences. We've been told again & again by some of these folks that they would rather die young & eat whatever they want, than give up everything they love just to live longer! These same people believe we are denying ourselves to the point of misery just in hope that we'll live a few more years...  Hahaha! Being vegan isn't just about...