The First Step to Changing How I Think About Food

“You can put five people in a room with a cake, there will be one or two people who couldn’t care less about the cake, unless they’re really hungry. But at least a few of them will have a hard time thinking about anything but the cake,” says eating-disorders researcher Gayle Timmerman, Ph.D., R.N., of the University of Texas at Austin.

While I am a person who wants to lose weight, I've never thought of myself as one of the people obsessed with the cake. I'm not interested in fad diets, but curious about diets that change your relationship with food, like the potato diet and intermittent fasting. But will those diets actually work if I haven't admitted that I have a problem with my relationship with food?

In his book Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales, Pen Jillette has to admit he has an unhealthy relationship with food before he can commit to the potato diet and lose all of that extra weight. Part of that for him was due to his lifestyle change. In his past, he didn't get a lot of opportunities to eat out, especially not in fancy restaurants. As he became a celebrity that changed. He got to eat in fancy restaurants all the time, but in some part of his mind, he still looked at the menu as if he were getting a treat, rather than making a healthy choice.

That really resonated with me, not because I've become some sort of celebrity, but because the way I access food has changed and I still look at menus like I get to choose a treat. I always order the loaded vegan truffle fries at this one cafe near my house because I know they are the most delicious thing on the menu, not because they are good for me.

Like Jillette, I make excuses for my shape and size. "Obesity runs in my family, so it's a wonder I'm not fatter." "I'm getting older and a lot of people gain weight as they age." Well, you know what? There are a lot of people in my family who are not overweight and some of them are older than me.

I still don't think I am one of the three people who would be obsessed with the cake, but that might just be that I don't have much of a sweet tooth. Leave me in a room with pizza or tacos and oh my God!

Thinking about this, my relationship with food and how it might be unhealthy is my goal for this week. I don't think I will be able to change how I feel about pizza or tacos because you can't choose what you love, can you?

Soy: is it bad for you?

Half the time, when I talk with people about eating a plant-based diet, I hear that I should avoid soy. It seems that most of the people around me worry that soy is full of estrogen. Ironically, most of these people regularly consume dairy products. When pressed on the subject, my friends usually think it would be ideal to avoid both. A week later, they are still only avoiding soy. Why? Is soy really bad for you or is this more propaganda against giving up meat?

Many people switch from meat to tofu and quickly benefit from reduced saturated fat and cholesterol. Sure, you can still get these benefits from a plant-based diet without consuming soy.

Most people, who accept the logic of a plant-based diet, would agree that tofu is safer to eat than steak. Those same people would also agree that tofu or edamame is better for you than a tofu dog or other processed soy products because many of the nutrients in soy, like fiber, are filtered out in the process of making the tofu dog or tofu-based cream "cheese."

People worry about consuming the estrogen in soy because for years we were told that estrogen caused breast cancer. Many blogs still support this idea. Is it true? Does soy even contain estrogen?

When I started writing this post, I knew that soy contained isoflavones and phytoestrogens. I've been reading up on what that means:

Isoflavones are polyphenolic compounds that possess both estrogen-agonist and estrogen-antagonist properties. For this reason, they are classified as phytoestrogens — plant-derived compounds with estrogenic activity. Isoflavones are the major flavonoids found in legumes, particularly soybeans.

We know that during the early stages of breast cancer estrogen encourages cancer cells to grow and spread. This makes many doctors worry that soy could make things worse for women with breast cancer. A 2014 American study looked like it may support this idea, but the study lost funding and couldn't go on long enough for conclusive results. During this study, 70 women at the early stages of breast cancer consumed four cups of soy milk a day, while 70 others consumed a placebo. I don't know anyone who consumes that much soy per day. They found that several genes that encourage cancer growth were active in women in the soy group. They didn't find out if this actually caused cancer to grow.

They also didn't find out anything about the effect of soy on people who don't have cancer. Many studies suggest that consuming soy prevents cancer, including prostate cancer in men.

In fact, soy has been found to have so many health benefits that it is available as a supplement. People take soy supplements to treat high blood pressure, heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, asthma, lung cancer, endometrial cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, osteoporosis, and kidney disease. It's used to regulate bowel movements, improve memory, to relieve muscle and breast pain, for menopause, and premenstrual syndrome. People also take it to prevent breast cancer. Though, we all know how I feel about supplements.

A study of the quality of commercially available soy supplements suggests that less than 25% of products contain within 90% of labeled isoflavone content. Paying more for a product doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the content shown on the label is accurate. 

But wait a minute... can soy prevent cancer?

When we want to know more about the benefits of plant-based diets, we keep looking to China because the Chinese have been eating plant-based diets for centuries. Researchers studied more than 73,000 Chinese women and found that those who ate at least one or two servings of soy per day were 11% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who did not.

Of course, there are problems with that study too, at least when we apply it to the lives of women who ate McDonald's and Dairy Queen as kids, rather than tofu and miso. We don't know how soy benefited those women in China. Did it start to work when they were children? Is starting a soy diet at 40 too late?

I don't know. None of the research available is persuasive enough for this skeptical woman. I would likely be more concerned about soy if I had breast cancer. If I had breast cancer, I wouldn't take advice from my blog, but would listen to the professionals helping me get rid of the cancer.

If you don't have cancer, these studies are only telling you to eat soy in moderation, by which they mean one or two servings per day. That doesn't sound very moderate to me, but I'm less concerned about soy now than I was when I started researching it.

Thanks for reading. Please share any more information about the benefits and dangers of soy in the comments.

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Eat healthy for under $50 a week

You can eat a healthy plant-based diet for less than $50 per week!

Two weeks ago, I wrote a post like this after a new Whole Foods 365 opened in my neighbourhood. I meant to write another post like this last week, but I didn’t finish it on time. It was my birthday and I had a lot of other stuff going on. Sorry.

This week, I met with Abe Nabors, second-generation owner of the Mustard Seed Market & Cafe, also in my neighbourhood! I wanted to show that you can eat healthy at your locally-owned health food store for the same low price as Amazon-owned chain retailers. Coincidentally, helping people eat well on a budget is part of Nabors’ mission in life.

Nabors volunteers to teach classes on how to eat healthy food without spending too much money. I could write a separate post on what I learned speaking with him for an hour.

We also agree on the basic approach that I have been using to create these shopping lists and menus. Begin in the produce section, then look at what you can buy in bulk. Everything else is convenience food. Though Nabors also shops in the meat department. As Michael Pollan says: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Nabors told me that the bulk food section of his store is under-utilized by customers. Customers feel intimidated when they see that granola costs $3.99 per pound. This week, however, you’re going to eat 1/2 cup of Organic Classic Granola and that only costs about $1.37 bought in bulk. Bulk food is cheaper because you don't have to pay for marketing and packaging. If you're nervous buying it, most bulk food sections have a scale so that you can weigh your food before heading to the checkout.

The last meal planning post I wrote left me worried that I was requiring you to spend too much time cooking. To remedy that, this week you will be cooking more food at once and eating leftovers. If you don’t like leftovers, you will spend more time cooking. There’s no way around that, unless you can afford to eat out!

The shopping list below comes to about $49.27. The amount is approximate because we are buying a lot of things that are priced by weight — not all apples are the same size/weight. Approximately $49.27 worth of food will give you enough to cook all the meals on my meal plan, except oils, salt, pepper, and spices. Being a grown-up and all, you should have oils, salt, pepper, and spices at home.

The optional ingredients are not included in the $49.27 total. Buy the tofu, if you want tofu scrambles with your breakfast hash. Buy the jackfruit and the wine, if you want to add it to your soup. I don’t think the soup needs it.

The Benevolent Bacon is included in the $49.27 total, though it is secretly optional as well. I just really like it in this breakfast hash.

Finally, I’d like to mention the Field Day Organic brand. Field Day Organic products are available in most locally owned health food stores because small businesses usually can’t afford to produce an affordable store brand, like Whole Foods 365. Nabors showed me that most store brands aren’t organic, and use BPA lined cans. Though Whole Foods is working on changing that, some of their 365 brand canned goods come in BPA-lined cans. Shopping locally is not only good for your community, it is good for you too!

Shopping List

1 box blueberries $1.99
3 medium Fuji apples $3.69
1 lime 1 lime is 0.75 (can substitute for lemon)

2 oranges $1.50

1 1/4 cup green beans $2.00

1 avocado $1.99
1 small cauliflower $1.99
I bag organic frozen whole kernel sweet corn $2.79
1 bunch of orange carrots $1.99
1 whole butternut squash $1.79
1 box cherry tomatoes $2.99
1 bunch kale $2.99
1 small bunch (1/2 pound) broccoli $1
1 bell pepper 0.80
1 small jalapeño for 0.25
1 cup green onion $1.49
3 shallots $1.50
2 large white or yellow onion $1.49
1 small red onion 0.80
1 fresh garlic bulb 0.30
2/3 cup uncooked barley 0.75
1 pkg linguini $2.50
2 14.5 ounce cans Muir Glen Organic diced tomatoes  $2.50

1 can (8 ounces) Field Day Organic tomato sauce $1.79
1/2 can Field Day Organic white beans $1.25
1/4 can Field Day Organic Chickpeas (Garbanzo) $1.25
1/2 cup Organic Brown Basmati Rice 0.67
1/2 cup Organic Classic Granola $1.37
1 bottle Field Day Organic Lemon Tahini Dressing $3.99
1 tetra pack Blue Diamond Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla almond-coconut milk $2.00
1 pkg veggie bacon Sweet Earth Benevolent Bacon $4.99
1 pkg extra firm tofu (optional) $2.50
1 pkg jackfruit (optional) $5.99
1 bottle Tillsdale white wine (optional $4.59)

Total: $49.27

Day One:

Breakfast: Roasted Butternut Squash Hash with Apples & Bacon
Substitute the package of Benevolent bacon for real bacon, or go without.
You can make this recipe the night before and divide it into four portions, to be eaten over the course of the week (freeze three of the portions).
Because it is pictured with eggs, I might be tempted to serve it with a tofu scramble, which is why the package of tofu is optional in our grocery list.

Lunch to-go: big salad
Wash and chop a bowl of kale, a little red onion, a little broccoli, a few cherry tomatoes, and some simple homemade vinaigrette.

Snack to-go: handful of blueberries

Dinner: Thyme White Bean Pot Pies and mini apple pies
For this recipe, make your own vegetable broth from kitchen scraps.
I had trouble finding fresh thyme, so we have to substitute dried.
You are going to half this recipe, but make the full amount of pie crust, so that you can make sweet pies as well.
Once you have the crust done, mini apple pies are easy to make.
Just peel and thinly slice two apples. Sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar. Put them in three muffin cups and place the crust on top.
Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes and PRESTO!
Since you are making plenty of food, you might as well invite a friend over. Even halved, this recipe makes three servings: you can feed a friend AND have leftovers tomorrow!

Day Two:

Breakfast: mini apple pie
Because who doesn’t want pie for breakfast?

Lunch to-go: leftover pot pie
Though these taste delicious, warmed up, they are just as good to eat at room temperature. Because they are meat and dairy free, we don’t have to worry about them spoiling as quickly.
Also, if you didn't share your food last night, you still have a mini apple pie and an extra pot pie. You could share your lunch or eat like a pig!

Snack to-go: 1 orange (save the peel)

Dinner: Spicy Sesame Noodle, Green Bean, and Carrot Salad 
Again, you will be halving this recipe. Yet, you will still get three servings out of it. So, you can feed a friend and take some for lunch tomorrow. OR be a piggy!

Day Three:

Breakfast: Breakfast: Roasted Butternut Squash Hash with Apples & Bacon (from your freezer) with optional tofu scramble
Saving money and time! Isn't life amazing?

Lunch to-go: leftover Sesame Noodle Salad

Snack to-go: handful of blueberries

Dinner: Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower with Cherry Tomatoes and Beans 
Half this recipe and use the leftover white beans from day one.
Substitute lime for lemon because that is what we have on hand.

Day Four:

Breakfast: granola with blueberries and almond milk
Freeze the remaining blueberries.

Lunch to-go: leftover roasted cauliflower.

Snack to-go: orange

Dinner: Butternut Squash, Chickpea Buddha Bowl with tahini dressing
This recipe makes enough to share, or you can take the leftovers for your lunch tomorrow.
You will need to have on hand: water or your favourite cooking oil, salt & pepper, spices (like cumin, child powder, garlic — which you bought fresh, oregano, and turmeric).
You will use from the shopping list: red onion slices, remaining butternut squash, a little broccoli, a little kale, a can of chickpeas, avocado, rice, tahini dressing and roasted chickpeas.
Preheat your oven to 400. Wash the chickpeas and season with oil and spices. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes, turning occasionally. Cube the remaining butternut squash, then season with oil and spices. Roast for 20-30 minutes, turning once. Prepare the rice. Thinly slice a little red onion and a quarter avocado for each bowl. Freeze the remaining avocado. Cut the broccoli into bite size pieces. Wash and chop a handful of kale.
To serve, put the cooked rice in the bottom of your bowl and arrange the kale, half the butternut squash, broccoli, red onion, and a quarter of the chickpeas on top of the rice. Drizzle with tahini dressing.
Enjoy!
Don’t forget to save the leftover roasted chickpeas.

Day Five:

Breakfast: Breakfast: Roasted Butternut Squash Hash with Apples & Bacon (from your freezer) with optional tofu scramble
Make dinner in the morning!

Lunch to-go: leftover Butternut Squash, Chickpea Buddha Bowl with tahini dressing

Snack to-go: roasted chickpeas

Dinner: Slow Cooker Vegetable Barley Soup
This soup is so delicious you will enjoy eating it all weekend.

Ingredients
3/4 cup frozen cut green beans
2/3 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 pkg optional jackfruit (I would do it without, but if you want something meaty...)
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 large onion, chopped
2/3 cup uncooked barley
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 carton (32 ounces) vegetable broth or beef-flavoured vegan broth
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes with roasted garlic
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
You can also add an optional glass of white wine, but what would you do with the rest of the bottle?

Instructions
Put everything in the slow cooker. Cook at low temperature for 8-9 hours.
Makes 10 servings! Why not share with a friend?

Day Six:

Breakfast: Breakfast: Roasted Butternut Squash Hash with Apples & Bacon (from your freezer) with optional tofu scramble

Lunch: leftover Vegetable Barley Soup

Snack: roasted chickpeas

Dinner: leftover Vegetable Barley Soup and a big salad
Use the remaining 1/2 carton of cherry tomatoes. Chop the remaining red onion. Grate your leftover carrots and green onions. If you have some leftover green pepper throw that in too. Wash and tear up your remaining kale.
Half of this salad will make for good eating tomorrow too. Don't forget to put half in the fridge!

Day Seven:

Breakfast: avocado berry smoothie
Put frozen avocado and blueberries in the blender with 1 cup of almond milk. Blend and enjoy!

Lunch: leftover Vegetable Barley Soup

Snack: roasted chickpeas

Dinner: leftover Vegetable Barley Soup and a big salad

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What kind of foodie are you?

I made a quiz.

Here's the link.

Any recommendations for better sites to create quizzes for free?

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Eat healthy for under $50 a week!

What if I told you that you could eat a plant-based whole food diet for $50 a week?

I browsed the Whole Foods 365 website, for my area, and assembled this shopping list. I assume you have salt, baking powder, vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, sriracha, brown sugar, spices... If you don't have those things, you should. Also, your initial shop might cost a little more. The ingredients in my list filled a seven-day meal plan, outlined below. The grand total of my shopping list was $42.01, plus an optional bottle of wine for the weekend and a $3 slice of pizza when you go back to the store at dinner time on the last day.

Also, there are days that you can entertain... sometimes, you have too much food for one.

There are a couple days when the cooking seems a bit labour intensive, but I made sure at least five of the lunches could be taken to go.

Here's how you do it:

Shopping List

2 green peppers 0.50
1 cob bi-colour corn 0.33
2 lbs or 7 individual bananas $1.00
1 lime 0.25
4 lemons $2.00
1 cucumber 0.50
1 bunch fresh cilantro 0.50
1 bunch scallions 0.50
1 bunch fresh Italian parsley 0.50 ea
4 sweet potato yams $2.00
1 Yukon gold potato 0.45
3-4 Roma tomatoes $2.00
1 bunch spinach $1.00
1 bunch green leaf lettuce $1.00
1 hass avocado $1.45
1 red onion 0.45
Handful green beans 0.50
1 big bok choy $1.50
5 organic Bosc pears $3.50
1 package penne rigate 0.99
1 can black beans 0.69
Califia Farms unsweetened almond milk $3.99
3-4 cups long grain brown rice $2.00
4 1/4 cups unbleached white flour $1.00
1 tbsp organic chia seeds 0.50
1 package organic extra-firm tofu $1.79
2 cups French vanilla granola $1.00
Organic Earl Grey tea $4.39
Handful organic dry roasted peanuts 0.50
I bulb garlic 0.25
Organic chocolate syrup $3.49
1 package Forbidden Rice Ramen with Miso soup 0.99
Three Wishes wine $3.49 bottle (optional)

Day One:

Breakfast is simple: 1/2 cup granola, 1 chopped banana,  1 cup almond milk in a bowl, with a cup of tea on the side.

Lunch-to-go: pack a salad made of 1 cup green leaf lettuce, 2 slices of red onion, 1/4 cucumber, 1/2 cup spinach, and make a little lemon parsley vinaigrette.
For the vinaigrette combine freshly squeezed lemon juice with chopped parsley, garlic powder, a vinegar of your choice, and a little olive oil.

Dinner: Spicy Peanut Tofu and Bok Choy Rice Bowl!
Only make half the recipe (2 servings). Use 1 clove garlic, 1/2 pkg tofu, 1/2 bok choy, 2 cups brown rice, 1/8 cup chopped scallions, and 1/8 cup peanuts (crush them yourself). (Put half in a sealed container to take with you for lunch tomorrow.)

Dessert: make a pear crumble using 4 pears, 1/2 cup granola, 1/4 cup flour. I hope here that you have the cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar in your pantry. Makes 9 servings.

Day Two:

Breakfast: 1 serving pear crumble. I cup of Earl Grey tea.

Lunch-to-go: leftover rice bowl.

Dinner: sweet potato and avocado tacos!
Make your own flour tortillas.
Chop up a sweet potato, cover it in olive oil, chilli powder, salt and pepper.
Roast the potatoes for 20 minutes, while draining and rinsing the black beans. Then, stir the potatoes with the black beans and roast for another 10 minutes.
Dice up half an avocado and make yourself three delicious tacos for dinner. Top with fresh chopped cilantro. Store the leftover tortillas and sweet potato bean mixture separately for future use.

Dessert: 1 serving pear crumble.
Freeze the remaining six servings of pear crumble in individual portions that can be microwaved later.

Day Three:

Breakfast:  1/2 cup granola, 1 chopped banana,  1 cup almond milk in a bowl, with a cup of tea on the side.

Lunch-to-go: guacamole and tortilla chips.
Make your own guacamole with the other half of last night's avocado, the juice of 1 lemon, minced garlic, and 1/2 tsp olive oil.
Make your own tortilla chips using the leftover tortillas from last night; simply cut each one into 6 triangles, brush with olive oil and salt, then bake at 350 for 7 minutes.
You can make your lunch the night before, or in the morning.

Snack-to-go: 1 serving frozen pear crumble, it can thaw over the course of the day and still be cold when you eat it, or you can microwave it.

Dinner: Mexican rice bowl.
Invite someone over, if you feel like you have enough for two to eat.
The sweet potatoes are better the next day.
Boil and de-kernel 1 cob of corn, reheat 1/2-1 cup leftover sweet potato bean mixture from yesterday's tacos. Mix with 1 cup cooked rice, a handful of fresh spinach, and a sliced tomato. Top with a chopped scallion and lemon wedges to squeeze over it as you eat.

Pro-tip: put leftover lemon wedges in a jug of water in the fridge to drink later.

Dessert: chocolate banana shake. Put 1 cup almond milk, 1 banana, and some chocolate syrup in the blender.

Day Four:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup granola, 1 chopped banana,  1 cup almond milk in a bowl, with a cup of tea on the side.

Lunch-to-go: 1 serving pasta salad.
Make in the morning or the night before.
Prepare 1 cup penne. Chop parsley, garlic, a tomato, a scallion, 1/2 red onion, and 1/2 cucumber. Put it all in a bowl, add a handful of spinach, a little vinegar, and olive oil. Mix.
Makes 2 servings, so set half aside for tomorrow.

Dinner: hearty miso soup.
Prepare Forbidden Rice Ramen, prepare as directed, but add 1/2 cup extra water. As the water boils, add 1/4 bok choy, 1/4 of pkg tofu, a chopped clove garlic, powdered ginger, and three chopped mushrooms.

Dessert: 1 serving pear crumble OR make banana bread out of leftover bananas. Uses 3 bananas, 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup almond milk, as well as other ingredients from your pantry.

Day Five:

Breakfast: 1 serving banana bread (hopefully, you made it last night). Top with peanut butter. Make a cup of tea.

Lunch-to-go: 1 serving pasta salad (from yesterday).

Snack-to-go: banana bread. It's Friday, bring a few extra individually wrapped slices of banana bread to share friends.

Dinner: Thai Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins.
It's Friday, invite a few of the friends you made sharing banana bread over. This recipe makes enough to share. Use green pepper because it was on sale. Substitute powdered ginger for fresh and use your favourite brand of siracha. This would be a great night to open that optional bottle of wine!

Day Six:

Make brunch for your friends, or reduce this recipe and only use one, or two slices of your banana bread for French toast! That's right... you can eat French toast!

Lunch: salad. After a heavy breakfast, it is better to eat a light lunch.
This is the same salad you made on Monday so you can pack it up to go if you want. It is good for using up leftover produce.
1 cup green leaf lettuce, 2 slices of red onion, 1/4 cucumber, 1/2 cup spinach, and make a little lemon parsley vinaigrette.
For the vinaigrette combine freshly squeezed lemon juice with chopped parsley, garlic powder, a vinegar of your choice, and a little olive oil.

Dinner: green stir fry with rice.
Prepare 1/2 cup rice. Saute remaining bok choy, a handful of green beans, 1/2 green pepper in a little olive oil, with garlic and powdered ginger. Season with soy sauce.

Dessert: 1 serving pear crumble.

Day Seven:

Breakfast: pear, peanut butter and tea. Simple, yet satisfying.

Lunch: tofu scramble with roasted potato.
Cube potato and mix with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, turning once.
Heat teaspoon olive oil in a small frying pan. Crumble your remaining tofu into the pan. Sprinkle turmeric over the tofu and saute, watching the potatoes turn yellow. Add diced tomato and a handful of spinach.
To serve, put the tofu scramble right on top of the potatoes, and sprinkle some chopped parsley, or cilantro on top.

Dinner: you have to go shopping for next week. Buy a slice of vegan pizza for $3, while you are there!

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17 plant-based recipes to try in fall 2017

Reportedly now is the best time to go plant-based. Veganism is having a moment. Even Taco Bell has vegan options. You don't even need to buy a new cookbook; there are vegan substitutes for everything and loads of recipes online.

I've been (mostly) eating a plant-based whole food diet for two months now. I haven't had this much energy since I was in my 20s and I'm finally losing the extra weight I've gained in my 40s.

Autumn is my favourite time of year. Fall fairs have better food than summer festivals. It's harvest time: feast time. 

As this is my first plant-based autumn, I've created this list of recipes to eat my way through before the snow falls.

If you try any of them, let me know how they turn out.

Happy eating!

Breakfast

Banana Bread with Maple Glaze

And yes, it has chocolate chips in it. Of course, it does!

Sweet Cinnamon Couscous 

I love the idea of using couscous as a breakfast food. Couscous lends itself well to savory dishes but shows itself to be much more versatile in this role. When I try this recipe, I will likely substitute almond milk because that is my favorite.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

I don't usually follow a recipe for smoothies. Whatever frozen fruit is on hand will usually do, but this sounds damned delicious!

Spinach Tofu Benedict

I probably won't make this recipe because I don't normally wake up in the mood to make sauces. I would really love to try it though.

Soups

Irish Vegetable and Barley Soup

Irish stew ruled when I was in my teens and twenties, this recipe reminds me of Scotch broth, without the lamb or whiskey. It might even taste good with some whiskey.

Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Cream of broccoli soup is my favorite.

Refried Bean and Salsa Soup

Because it is like tacos! Also, I have a can of refried beans I've been wanting to use up and this summer I started making my own tortillas.

African Peanut Stew

Because I love Ethiopian food and I love Thai peanut sauce.

Lunch and Dinner

Pasta & Sweet Potato Fries

Because who doesn't want a plate or two full of carbs on a chilly fall night?

Curried Vegetable Wraps

Recipes like this one rule. It calls for four cups of chopped vegetables, whatever you have on hand: potatoes, green beans, cauliflower, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, whatever... throw it in! It will be great with homemade tortillas.

Grilled Zucchini and Green Bean Salad

They call this a salad, but it looks like a meal on its own. I might have it with a homemade dinner roll or rice in the evening; on its own the next day for lunch!

Butternut Squash Ravioli

I had this in a restaurant once and have never forgotten it.

Lentil and Fingerling Potato Salad with Spicy Mustard

Rather than boiling the potatoes, I'd probably roast or steam them because they taste better and are better for you that way. Otherwise, yum!

Bean Boulangerie

This recipe reminds me of scalloped potatoes, which I always loved (but no more dairy for this girl).

Mushroom Stroganoff

People rave about this recipe after they try it.

Sweets

Cardamon Baked Pears

Seriously sounds easy to make too!

Gingery Apple Crisp

Step One: Gather Your Ingredients
Approximately four cups of diced tart apples (about 4 large apples)
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup flour (regular or gluten-free)
4 tablespoons butter (or a vegan substitute such as Earth Balance spread) – kept cold and hard
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Step Two: Prepare Crumble Topping
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a bowl, add dry ingredients (flour, oats, spices, salt, sugar) and mix. Using a pastry cutter or two butter knives, dice the cold butter or spread into the dry ingredients until the mixture begins to resemble a dry crumbly mix with small pearls of butter coated in the dry ingredients.

Step Three: Create Crisp
Grease or butter an 8×8 inch square metal or glass baking dish. Pour the apples into the dish and squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice over them. Sift the dry crumbly mixture evenly over the apples.Step Four: Bake CrispBake the crisp at 375 for about 35 minutes, or until the crisp begins to turn brown and the apples are softened.

Changes I experienced switching to plant-based whole foods

I've been eating a plant-based whole food diet for one month and I've noticed some changes.

I've only really slipped up three times, two of them involving my husband. One day, he ordered my favourite sweet & sour chicken from our favourite Chinese food place, and I ate some. I was less than a week in at that time. The next week, he made beer-battered fish & chips. On the weekend, I had a cold brew frappe at a street festival, which had milk in it.

The most notable change that I've noticed is how much I paid for that frappe by running to the bathroom for the next 36 hours. It turns out that most adults are lactose intolerant, we simply don't notice it because we are so used to consuming dairy (source), which brings me to the next change I noticed...

I feel more energetic. I haven't felt this energetic since I was in my 20s. I've started doing pushups every day.

My acne is gone. I used to get pimples between my eyebrows and on my chin. Those pimples are GONE!

If the clear skin isn't good enough, my food is cheaper! A portobello mushroom cap is cheaper than a steak... go figure! I haven't found a vegan cheese I like, so I don't eat as much of it. Almond milk is a dollar cheaper per litre than the organic grass-fed cow's milk that I was drinking before. Usually, making things from scratch costs less than buying them pre-made and full of preservatives.

On the downside, I got bloated for a while and have been gassier than I was before.

I'm also always hungry, but don't feel bad about snacking. My meals have fewer calories in them and so do my snacks, so I feel like I can eat as much as I want without worrying. I don't weigh myself often, so I don't know if my weight has changed. However, my pants don't feel as tight anymore!

I used (Gavin Murphy) the Healthy Irishman's recipe
for eggplant marinara and ate it all before we could
snap a photo.

There are many meals that I've wanted to blog about, like eggplant marinara and the vegan Buddha bowl, but I ate them before I could take a picture... I was so hungry!

Ending on a low note: I've been moody. Most of the time, I feel happier and healthier than I have in a long time, but, when I'm tired and hungry and have to deal with some-jerk-in-the-world, I get really upset. I've even had a panic attack. Panic and anxiety attacks are not new to me, but it has been over a year (maybe more) since I had a panic attack.

My moodiness isn't enough to be concerned about yet. Maybe I was even too tolerant of those jerks before. However, some evidence shows that not eating meat could have a dangerous effect on women's mental health. To date, the evidence isn't all that persuasive. Anecdotally, I know quite a few level headed vegan and vegetarian women. The vegans on the message boards even say that moodiness is part of "detoxing" from a diet centred around animal slavery. These vegans assure me my moodiness will pass.

If I put my moodiness on one side and all the pain I was in from my arthritis and various other ailments that eating a plant-based whole food diet have relieved me from on the other, I'm still going for the plants.

That being said, I will keep you posted. Thanks for reading! Here is a far more detailed blog post on what to expect, if you go plant-based (or even vegan).