How are you all doing with your VEGANUARY? Are you keeping it together? Are you experimenting? Are you feeling great yet? Are you frustrated? Do you want to strangle me? Hit me up in comments, and I’ll help all I can, I promise.

I threw this meal together completely from whole cloth last night. Even the sauce, which came out great. I was just inspired. There are four recipes in this post, although one is simply steamed broccolini, but still, everything you need for this complete meal is below.

HOWEVER, the fusion sauce is for paid subscribers only to THANK YOU for supporting the blog.

Spiced Rice

I just love throwing rice into the cooker with different groups of herbs and spices. Every week I try a different flavor blend. One tip: if you’re adding nutritional yeast for a cheesy rice, add it AFTER the rice is cooked, not before, or it’ll soak up the liquid and rice won’t cook fully.

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups brown rice, rinsed thoroughly

• 3 cups mushroom broth, low or no sodium

• 1 tablespoon reduced sodium tamari

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 3/4 teaspoon curry powder

Method

Rinse the rice thoroughly and put into rice cooker or pan. Add broth and seasonings, stir well, start cooker. Or cook on stovetop at slow simmer until all liquid is gone and rice is tender.

Steamed Broccolini

Ingredients

• Broccolini

• Salt & pepper

• Water

• White vinegar

Method

Rinse the broccolini thoroughly.

Put water into the pot part of a double boiler and heat to boiling.

Place broccolini into the basket, place atop the broiler and sprinkle with white vinegar. This will keep the vivid green from fading to sad yellow. Cover and steam until stems are fork tender. Scatter with a small amount of salt or salt substitute and grind on fresh pepper.

Herbed Carrots with Soybeans

I’ll never call them endamame
And only partly because I can’t say it.

Ingredients

• About 2 cups carrots, sliced

• About 2 cups soybeans

• About 2 tablespoons slivered almonds

• 1 teaspoon thyme

• 1 teaspoon parsley

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

If starting from raw, precook the beans and carrots separately. The beans until tender, the carrots until almost tender. You want to leave a bit of crisp bite to them. I used frozen carrots, and honestly, they seemed overcooked.

Spread the pre-cooked carrots onto a baking sheet lined in parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Sprinkle the herbs (except pepper) over the carrots.

Cook under the broiler on low for just a few minutes, watching closely. You just want to brown the them a bit.

Take the carrots out and add the soybeans. Stir around to blend with the herbs.

Return to broiler for one or two more minutes. The beans will burn fast, so don’t leave them too long.

Remove from oven.

Sprinkle fresh pepper and scatter slivered almonds over the top.

Share

Subscribe now

Maggie’s Fusion Sauce (below paywall)

HARRISON HYDE and the RUNAWAY BRIDE

“A heart-stealing, small-town rom-com that’ll lift you right up!”

Learn more!

Read more

Two Holiday Meal Worthy Recipes!

Apple Crisp

Preheat oven to 425º F.

Line a 13” x 9” cake pan with parchment paper

Ingredients: Apple Filling

• 8 cups apples, peeled, cored, diced

• 1/4 cup raw sugar

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients: Crumbly Topping

• 2 cups rolled oats

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 1/4 cup almond butter

• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

• 1 more teaspoon cinnamon

Method: Apple Filling

• Peel, core, and dice the apples.

• Mix in large bowl with the raw sugar and cinnamon.

• Spread into a 9” x 13” cake pan

Method: The Crumbly Topping

• In large bowl, stir together flour, oats, maple syrup, chopped pecans, and cinnamon.

• Mix well, then add in the 1/4 cup almond butter. Using a fork or freshly washed and well rinsed hands to squish and work that little bit of almond butter in until all the dry ingredients are blended with it.

• Crumble this mixture over the top of the apples in the pan.

Bake for 20 minutes at 425, middle rack.
You want the crumb topping to get golden brown and a bit crispy.

Share

Stuffed Mushrooms

A Thanksgiving style stuffing that fills big tender mushrooms and saves a turkey’s life.

Read more

These sweet potatoes are a super simple, four-ingredient recipe.

I think I’ve said this before. I cook like I write. I start thinking I need an idea for dinner, and I cast my awareness around, and I just find ideas and start putting them together.

This bowl was the most recent result of this process. It started with the maple-glazed sweet potatoes, and I went from there.

Paying subscribers get bonus recipes for the rice, the beans, and the mushrooms.

Maple-Glazed Sweet Potatos

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

• Black pepper

• Water to cover

• Optional: slivered almonds

Method

Dice the sweet potatoes to what you consider bite-sized, and pour them into a frying pan wide enough that they’re in a single layer. Pour in enough water to just cover. Drizzle the maple syrup over them, spreading it all over the surface.

Put a lid on the pan, and turn the heat to medium. When steam begins to emerge, remove the cover, lower the heat until you’ve reduced it to a simmer.

Allow to simmer, stirring frequently. Sometimes I put the cover back on for a couple of minutes, then remove it again. The goal is to cook the potatoes all the way through, while allowing the liquid to reduce into a thicker and thicker substance.

Do not burn! Keep the heat low.

Check the potatoes with a fork. Don’t cook them too much, you want a little firmness, a little resistance. You don’t want a bite of mush, right?

As the syrup thickens, stir to be sure every piece is coated.

Finally, grind black pepper over the entire surface, not too thick, but enough to know it’s there.

Serve as part of a bowl, as shown above or as a side dish to any meal.

Option: Garnish with slivered almonds.

Enjoy!

A Note on the dressing…

It’s not my recipe to share, but I’ll tell you about it so you can decide if you want the book. (Hint: You do!) It’s called Anne and Essy’s Favorite, and it’s from The Engine 2 Cookbook, which has become my very favorite cookbook. It’s hummus-based, thinned with orange juice. There’s ginger, there’s mustard.

It was a little bit too tangy for me, but Lance loved it.

I’m going to try every dressing in that book!

Bonus content as a thank you to paid subscribers is below this line.

Read more

This is another thank-you bonus post chock full of charts, graphs, and data, for our paid subscribers. We can’t keep this site going without you!

The chart above compares the rising rates of worldwide obesity, with the rising rates of animal protein consumption.

So first to clarify, by animal protein, I mean anything that came from any animal—birds and fish included; breast milk included, eggs included.

You can see from the chart that that the two rise in tandem.

Animal products are calorie-dense. They have lots of calories in a little space. (So do ultra processed foods, by the way, and we’ll discuss that below.) So if you eat enough of them to fill your belly and trigger your satiation response, you’ve by necessity eaten about triple the calories you should have in a day. When we eat more calories than we use, our bodies squirrel away for hard times. Our muscles store a little, and our livers store a little, and a little lives in our blood for quick access, but they can only hold a small amount of the extra. Most of it is converted to lipids, the best way our bodies have to store energy long term.

Read more

This is another thank you post for paid subscribers! I try to give you a bonus every week in addition to the weekly free posts. Thank you for supporting this work.

To my fellow ladies of a certain age, don’t stop reading this post due to that. Read it anyway. Age is all in your head!

So here’s the thing

It’s not the thing I wanted, but as usual, it is the thing I needed. Changing what we eat will take us a long way toward peak health. I mean, a long way. But there is a way we can go even further. And that way involves moving our asses a little bit more than we are currently moving them.

I’ve done the science on this one myself, with my blood pressure issues. I corrected them on a whole food plant based diet, during which I was also running a couple of times a week. After a while, I got busier with work involving the computer, stopped running, and sat most of the day. This went on for a few weeks.

I was still eating a WFPB diet. But my blood pressure started creeping back up anyway. I was at a loss, at first. I thought I was doing great.

Rule of thumb: We always think we’re doing better than we are actually doing.

But then I saw something or read something that gave me the answer. (By the way, this always happens. Most of us are not aware of how the universe works, but when you ask a question, you literally summon the answer. For more on that, read BlissBlog.org)

The answer was to get my heart rate up a significant amount, for an extended period of twenty to thirty minutes, frequently, throughout the week.

I’ve been at this a while, folks. I know truth when I hear it. This made perfect sense. So started I jogging a couple days a week once again, and kept track of my BP. It returned to my customary 117/72 almost immediately.

Read more

This is another thank-you post for my paid subscribers, and I’ve filled it with research, facts and figures you can use to back up your pro-veggie arguments with the naysayers in your life. But I’m leaving the info-graphic above the paywall, so even if you’re just seeing the free preview, you can download it.

What harm is there in a steak?

From the year 2000 on, our beautiful planet has lost approximately 5 million hectares of forest every year. (That’s 12,355,270 or twelve million, three hundred fifty-five thousand, two hundred and seventy acres, gone every single year.)

75% of that forest has been cleared due to animal agriculture, and 41% of it for beef alone. Palm oil and soybeans account for another 18%; and logging for paper and wood, another 13%.  (Ritchie and Roser)

Read more

The television ads are running nonstop on stations I watch. In one TV spot for the fruit & veggie pills, a mature man is in a gym, lifting weights, and talking about how he takes these fruit and veggie pills because something like “there’s no way I have time to put together all the fruits and vegetables I need. No way!”

My immediate question is, okay, so then, what are you eating?

I mean, if you don’t have time to eat fruits and veggies, then what, exactly, are you eating? These little capsules aren’t going to fill you up, even though they expect you to swallow six capsules plus “2 heaping scoops” of powder every day.

That’s a lot, but it’s not enough to fill you up. So what are you eating to fill you up? If it was fruits, veggies and whole grains, then you wouldn’t need the supplement, so what are you eating?

Besides fruits, veggies, and whole grains, what else is there to eat? Well, mainly there’s meat, dairy, ultra-processed fake meat and fake dairy, and lots of chips and sweets.

Why the form of your food matters

Some of the wonderful chemical reactions we experience when we eat, begin in our mouths, when we chew. They continue in our stomachs and all the way through, with most of our nutrients being absorbed in the small intestine. (This is why Dr. Essylstyn doesn’t recommend smoothies.) I have trouble believing there’s anything left of powdered veggies once the hydrochloric acid in our stomachs gets through with them, but maybe.

Read more

When we change what we eat, it’s a major catastrophe for many of our friends and relatives. How can you possibly have Thanksgiving without turkey? Christmas without a ham? Bacon with Sunday breakfast.

Our traditions are planted deep in our psyches. I can call up the memory of my Grandma Wood’s house as fresh as yesterday, just on the basis of food. On Sunday mornings, Grandpa would make breakfast; bacon and eggs. And I can still smell the mingled scents of bacon and freshly brewed coffee that would wake my uncle Lennie and I, (only a month apart in age, so we grew up more like cousins) on Sundays. Now, the smell of freshly brewed coffee can sweep me back there without the bacon.

Of course the smell of bacon isn’t actually the scent of cooking meat, it’s the seasonings; hickory smoke, maple syrup, brown sugar, a little garlic and onion. We can recreate the flavor with just those ingredients, without the piggy. We can put them on mushrooms or tofu or baked potatoes or 1000 things.

Veganism Makes People Angry

Read more

You are going to want to add this fabulous peanut sauce to your repertoire. It’s wonderful, and I can think of a dozen ways to use it.

Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup peanut butter

• 1 & 1/2 cups water

• 1 small shallot, finely minced

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoons low sodium tamari

• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon curry powder

• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (Start with 1/4 and taste.)

• Splash of lemon juice.

Instructions
Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl. It takes some effort to get the peanut butter to blend. Then pour it to a saucepan over medium high heat. Heat, stirring frequently to constantly. Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Pour hot over vegetables, mushrooms, potatoes, anything you that needs a little sauce.

Notes
The peanut sauce will get thicker as it cools. The first batch I made was so thick, I could use it as a sandwich spread.

To make the sauce thinner just heat the sauce in a saucepan, stirring, and water a little at a time, bringing to a boil between additions until it’s as thin as you want.

To make the sauce thicker heat the sauce in a saucepan over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to keep it between a simmer and a soft boil, stirring frequently to reduce the liquid. The longer you simmer it, the thicker the sauce will become, as the water leaves in the form of steam.

Share

Last night after I’d made the perfect peanut sauce, I noticed we had leftover baked potatoes, so I decided to use them and incorporate the sauce.

Here’s what I came up with…

Veggie-Loaded Baked Potato with Peanut Sauce

Read more

Pancakes can be sweet or savory, fruit covered, or layered with mushrooms and onions. They’re far more versatile than as a conveyance device for syrup. This post includes my base pancake recipe for all subscribers, plus a bonus recipe for paid subscribers: Savory Pancakes.

Pancake tips:

• Always let the batter rest at least 10 minutes before cooking.

• “Too much mixing makes ‘em tough.” —Gramma Betty.

• Wait until the upside is covered in bubbles and the downside is no longer sticking to the pan, to flip.

• Cook at just above medium heat in a pan you’ve pre-heated until droplets of water will bead up and dance.

PANCAKE MASTER RECIPE

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole grain GF flour blend

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal

• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

• 1 ¼ cups water

• 1 ¼ cups unsweetened, unflavored plant based milk 

• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (optional)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Lightly whisk in 2½ cups milk, then the maple syrup, if using. Let stand 5 minutes to thicken. Add up to ¼ cup more milk, if necessary, to thin the batter to a pourable consistency. Don’t overmix.
   

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium. Ladle ⅓ cup batter into skillet for each pancake; cook 2 to 3 minutes per side or until golden brown

SAVORY PANCAKES

A paid subscriber bonus recipe

Read more

My three week plan is for people who want to make the shift into a whole food, plant-based lifestyle gradually.

But for some, myself included, diving into the deep end is our preferred method. So for those of you who want everything, everywhere, all at once, this is the full plan all in one spot.

Read more

By now you are feeling it. Admit it! You’re feeling a sense of lightness, as if your body isn’t as heavy and dense as before. Pounds have dropped, but more importantly, the plaque that has been lining your arteries is dissolving away. The inflammation in your body is cooling and healing. Inflammation is the earliest cause of countless diseases and disorders, but your body is just eliminating it. Your gut biome is becoming a balanced ecosystem for processing good, healthy foods into pure positive energy.

And now we’re going to take it the rest of the way. Are you ready? I know you are! Let’s do this!

Read more

You’ve done beautifully! You’ve no doubt dropped a few pounds already, and that will continue for a while, even if you only continue following the Week 1 protocol. Eventually the weight loss will begin to level out and you’ll have to up your game a little more. But I think the way you are already starting to feel tells you that the pounds are just a symptom of something bigger—a food-borne illness. Food poisoning, in a way, that had your whole body out of balance. But now you’re balancing all your systems again, and creating a healthy gut biome. When we give it proper nutrition, I’m convinced there’s almost nothing our bodies can’t heal.

During Week 2, you will up your game, heal even more, and lose many more pounds. Here are my second round of suggestions, challenges, and a few tips that might be fun to try.

Every pound of fat you lose is also coming off the insides of your arteries! And it only goes back into those arteries when you eat meat, dairy, or oils.

The greens and cruciferous veggies are actually repairing the damage a lifetime of meat and dairy have done to your endothelium, which produce nitrous oxide, which keeps your blood from clotting, prevents heart attacks, and keeps your arteries nice and expanded.

So let’s see if we can find some ways to up your game even more.

Bear in mind that as you move into week 2, you should still be doing all the things from week 1.

Read more

It gets easier over time, as you begin to fill your kitchen with the things you’ll need. Once your ingredients are on hand, you’ll be able to make any recipe you come across. Some of the ingredients common to those eating plant-based diets are unheard of by omnivores; nutritional yeast, tamari, tofu for example. It takes a little time and courage to buy and experiment with these foods, but you will be very glad you did. Don’t feel like you need to get everything on the list the first time out. Get a few things, and expand over time.

GROCERY LIST

• Apples

• Asparagus

• Avocado

• Baby Spinach

• Balsamic vinegar

• Bananas

• Black Pepper

• Blueberries

• Bread: Ezekial brand bread, wraps, and English muffins

• Breadcrumbs

• Broccoli

Read more

Week 1, Goal 1
Go Cruciferous!

Try to get in some green leafies and cruciferous vegetables most days. Every day is the brass ring, but we do what we can. These vegetables can actually REDUCE the amount of plaque inside your coronary arteries. No surgery, bypass, stent, or medication can do that. These veggies include:

• Spinach

• Turnip greens

• Swiss chard

• Kale

• Mustard greens

• Arugula

• Broccoli

• Cauliflower

• Cabbage

• Asparagus

• Brussels sprouts

Here are some ways to get these super-foods into your meals besides a big giant salad:

• Wash and finely chop the leafy greens and put them into your soups, stews, chilis, pasta sauce, and goulash. You won’t even notice they are in there once they cook down.

• Make the leafies the first layer of your tacos, burritos, sandwiches, and wraps.

• The broccoli and cauliflower are fantastic chopped up in stir fries with peppers, onions, garlic, snap peas, mushrooms, diced pineapple, and some Tamari.

• Toss raw florets of broccoli and/or cauliflower in some veggie broth, then coat in nutritional yeast and garlic powder and then roast them in the oven.

• Take raw asparagus with the bottom part of the stem trimmed off, where it’s pale and tough, so you really have the upper half with the tip. Dip this in veggie broth, then roll it nutritional yeast and bread crumbs mixed 1 to 1. Lay on a silicone mat or parchment paper on a baking sheet, and bake at 425 until tender. If you leave them longer they’ll get a little crispy. I haven’t timed these, I just bake until they’re done and starting to crisp on the outside.

Serving Size

A serving of green leafies and cruciferous vegetables is about 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw. I’d like you to shoot for 2 servings a day, but think that as your minimum. You sold really be having 4 and if you’re a heart patient looking to reverse coronary artery disease, 5 to 6.

That’s not as much as it sounds like. 1/2 cup of cooked veggies is a very small amount.

Tips

• Do not put butter or margarine on these veggies. It goes straight into your arteries.

• Massage your kale with a splash of balsamic vinegar before using. Massage until it’s shiny and its texture has softened. You’ll know when it’s ready.

• Stretch your imagination and try lots of seasonings to see what tastes best to you. Lemon pepper, smoked pepper, Mrs. Dash, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, a splash of tamari, vinegar, and more.

Week 1, Goal 2
Swap out your breakfasts!

Read more