Vegan Chili from fatfreevegan.com

This is one of the most delicious chili recipes I have ever had!  I made it with 8 oz of chopped mushrooms sauteed first in vegetable broth with onions.  Today is my second day as a full-fledged vegan.  I used a teaspoon of nutritional yeast and a splash of unsweetened soy cream mixed in my serving of chili which I served with a small handful of whole wheat pasta..... MMMMMMH!  This recipe alone has made me a believer in vegan dishes.

Here is the recipe:

• Mom’s Vegi Chili

My mom used to make this recipe for me when I was in high school, sometimes waiting for me after basketball practice during the winter. 8 years later…I finally got the recipe. Enjoy!

• Recipe by: jdoochin
• Serves: 5-6
• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hr 30 minutes

Ingredients:

•  2 (15 ounce) cans of black beans, drained
•  2 (15 ounce) cans of dark red kidney beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can of red light kidney beans
• 1 (12 ounce) can of tomato juice
• 2 (15 ounce) cans of  diced tomatoes with roasted garlic
• 3 1/2 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1 1/2 – 2 chopped onions
• Salt and pepper
• 1 3/4 tablespoons of ground cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 3 bay leaves

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a large pot, and bring to a simmer and cover.
2. Let simmer for an hour and a half.
3. Add salt and pepper accordingly
4. Serve

Vegan

So, since I quit smoking, I have been really wanting to physically be healthier.  I have eaten the same way for most of my life.  I never had a huge problem with my weight though, until I had children.  Specifically my first child.  Since his birth, I have struggled.  Starving myself is not an option just to eat the types of food I want... I would rather never eat that food and eat as much as I would like, because let's face it, I am overweight, and I can't starve myself just to eat what I like, because, well, lol, then I would be hungry!  Ha!  So my diet is from the Eat to Live book and lifestyle plan:

Necessities:

• 2 rounded tsp of nutritional yeast per day
• must east at least one cup of beans, legume, bean sprouts, or tofu a day
• fruit for breakfast, must eat a salad first before all lunches and dinner, and must eat a fruit after lunches and dinners
• Only 1 TBS flax per day

Limitations:

• Only 1 cup of starchy veg or whole grain product a day
• Only 1 oz of raw nuts or seeds per day
• Only 1 cup unswt soy milk per day

Unlimited:

• leafy and dark greens (strive to eat lb of each per day)
• fruit (must have 4 at least fresh a day; frozen is acceptable)
• beans, legume, bean sprouts, and tofu 
• eggplant, tomato, mushrooms, peppers, and all other non-starchy vegetables including zucchini

I am starting out at 155 lb... I have to eat this way for 6 weeks.  I am excited because the kickstart of this is aggressive weight loss and I can't wait to feel better.  I ate all day long and got plenty of all my needs for the day, including fat, protein, carbs, fiber (obviously lol)...  I really want some fat.  I am craving butter, pasta and cream sauce, cheese, but I trust this will go away... and nutritional yeast does taste kind of cheesy.  That helps!  

Vegan Mushroom Gravy from fatfreevegan.com

Vegan Mushroom Gravy

My mushroom gravy is always an ad lib affair; I don’t think I ever make it the same way twice. Here’s the basic recipe, but the amounts of herbs should be adjusted as necessary–more for blander foods and less for highly seasoned dishes.

Ingredients

• 1/2 large onion, minced
• 10 regular-sized or 6 large mushrooms, sliced or chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed (optional)
• 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon sherry (optional)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce or gluten-free tamari
• 2 tablespoons unbleached flour (substitute with arrowroot for gluten-free)
• 1/4 cup plain non-dairy milk
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium-sized non-stick saucepan, saute the onion until beginning to brown, about 5-10 minutes (adding a pinch of baking soda speeds things up). Add the mushrooms and 1 tablespoon of water, and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, for another minute.
2. Add the vegetable broth, herbs, nutritional yeast, sherry, and soy sauce. In a bowl, whisk or blend (with a hand blender) the “milk” and flour together until smooth. Add it to the saucepan and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Variations

You can make this gravy more palatable to mushroom-haters by blending it until smooth. For a smoother gravy with some pieces of mushroom, blend only half the gravy.

For a bacony-flavored gravy, add a few drops of Liquid Smoke with the salt and pepper. (Bacony gravy is excellent over biscuits!)

Preparation time: 5 minute(s) | Cooking time: 25 minute(s)

Savory Lentil-Mushroom Burgers from fatfreevegan.com

This recipe is from fatfreevegan.com.  She is a genius.

Savory Lentil-Mushroom Burgers

These burgers come together quickly if you have cooked lentils on-hand. I cooked 1 1/2 cups of lentils with a little dried thyme and black pepper in 3 cups water for about 30 minutes and had enough lentils for this recipe and about a cup leftover.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons chia seeds
• 3 tablespoons warm water
• 1 medium onion
• 6 ounces mushrooms, washed
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 cups cooked lentils (green or brown), well drained
• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats (certified gluten-free, if necessary)
• 2 tablespoons potato starch or cornstarch (see note below)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce or wheat-free tamari (omit for soy-free)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional or to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• Generous grating black pepper

Instructions

1. Mix the chia seeds and warm water in a small bowl and set aside. Chop the onion finely. Place the mushrooms into the food processor and pulse until they are finely minced. Mince the garlic.
2. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until they begin to brown, adding a splash of water if they begin to stick. Stir in the mushrooms and garlic and another splash of water. Cover and cook until the mushrooms soften (about 2-3 minutes), stirring often.
3. When the mushrooms have softened, transfer them to the food processor and add the lentils. Pulse until the lentils are just combined with the mushrooms. Add the chia seed mixture and all remaining ingredients and pulse to combine well. It’s okay if a few lentils remain whole, but the mixture should be more sticky than crumbly. If it seems too wet, add a little more oats.
4. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and set aside for about 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or with parchment paper.
5. Shape the burger mixture into 6 patties, each about 3 inches wide and 3/4 inch thick. Place them on the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Since ovens can vary, check them after 25 minutes to make sure they are firm in the middle but not burning and give extra time if necessary.
6. Use a spatula to remove the burgers from the baking sheet. Serve at once or refrigerate for later use.

Notes

You can omit the starch, but the burgers may not hold together quite as well.

Preparation time: 20 minute(s) | Cooking time: 40 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

Nutrition (per serving, with salt): 130 calories, 8 calories from fat, <1g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 320.2mg sodium, 431mg potassium, 23.5g carbohydrates, 7g fiber, 3g sugar, 8.2g protein, 3.8 points.

Saturday Afternoon.... Alone?!?!

Yea, I don't even know what happened.  I took a nap and woke up to Jason giving me two choices: "either you can stay home and have an afternoon to yourself or you can come to Tulsa with us"...

What?!

It honestly was a hard decision.  Being away from my son just feels wrong.  No matter the circumstances.  We are RARELY ever separated.

However, I have been really neeeeeeding some uninterrupted art time.  Since that time is basically unheard of, now that it is offered... it was a no-brainer.  Even if it felt like I was missing out on family time.

So, they just left... I lovingly  dressed and kissed and banana-fed my son before hitting the road with his fellow adventurer, Dad and.... here I am.  Walked back into a house, still, so still.  I sit on the length of my couch, looking around at mess and light and it seems lacking, as if there should be noise and bodies completing the scene... odd for it to be so quiet here.  Abandoned toys frozen in silence... the only life in the house seems to be coming from the clock up and to my left.

Chk, Chk, Chk, as if on repeat... as if it is stuttering over and over, unable to free itself from it's boring schpeel, this clock.

In spite of the awkwardness of this house kind of sleeping, resting till the next takeover, it is nice to sit here for a moment.  No one needing me.  Just for a moment.  Thoughts, not letting me forget my task, keep reminding me, I must take advantage of this precious time... I feel like a child on Christmas... excited and in awe of the wonder of the season, but afraid that all too soon it will be gone, and instead of the anticipation of what may happen, I will be left with what didn't happen or that either way, even if it happened nicely, it is still gone again... just the reality that those moments passed by and they always give way to the hustle and bustle of the every day... no one treats the every day as special or to be seized... as if they allow themselves that excuse of Christmas to feel magical and whimsy, and then the season passes and you must push push push, back to business, strapped to the mundane, if you will... So for now, like one of these blocks, books, or toys, I am still, purposefully freezing myself... taking in the refreshment of anticipation and the unkown... busy makes time fly... and this time is so rare.  Once a year, kind of.... like Christmas for a child...

Deep breath in....

(Sigh) Okay, on to the art room to fill every second left available with creativity and energized focus... to do anything I can fit in this time that I have trouble finding time for when the boys are home.  I can feel myself on the inside getting in move-mode... already separating myself from the scene of stillness... the slow and steady ticking of the clock, reminding me that though time is really this methodically slow sounding.... once I move, the noise will fade from my ears and it will seem to whiz, without a sound, on by... but if I can have that full sense of accomplishment at the end of this small fraction of alone time, then I won't feel like I lost any of it.

So here I go.  

Family Evening

You know we don't have many evenings where all of us get to just be together as a family doing what everyone does.  This evening was such a blessing.  We went to the store together and everything!

I finally deleted my Facebook last night.  I am bothered that a person can't really delete it.  I wish it were that easy, but they keep the information so if one is ever bored, he/she remembers, "all I have to do is reactivate"... and then wait the 24 reactivation period. LOL.  I would like to not do that.  I don't want to be on Facebook when I am bored.  In fact, not ever again.  I do love to see what my loved ones are up to and pictures of their families, but I have too much life to live to be watching others post about theirs on the internet off and on all day long.  Time just rains down... sometimes it's hard and sometimes soft, but eventually it will stop; I want to enjoy being on Earth as much as I can until you take me home. My husband works so much, has too many projects, and busies himself too often, so I take care of our baby pretty much by myself most days, and that means time is scarce for myself, and I am believing for energy all day long... So, I am going back to the basics...

Also, thank You that my husband killed a dear last weekend!  This is beyond exciting for me.  It is his first kill, skin, butcher, process, and skull mount.  He is so happy that you have enabled him to put food on our table like men since You began time, and I didn't even think I liked venison until I ate if fresh, but I do!  In fact, I love it!  Thank You Father for blessing my taste buds to enjoy the bounty!!! I thought you had to have a variety of all types of food, but Jason says you don't need variety in protein if it is healthy, so I think we won't buy any other protein for the most part.... just chicken every once in a while.  Really, we don't have much variety in protein anyway... we eat chicken and beef.... the occasional seafood which comes from a can or lunch meat... fresh deer is way better!!!  We will still be eating a variety of vegetables of course ;)  Evan ate his first deer as well... he, like his parents, is a total fan!  I had doubts about him eating wild game as he is a week away from a year old, but then it dawned on me... people have been feeding babies for a looooong time... and I believe the deer is healthier than anything bought from the store.  So, I have faith that You will bless the food to the nourishment of his body, and I have faith that I made the best choice I could make with the knowledge I had and the accountability of his mom and believing You are making all things work for good...  I am sure it, like cooked mushrooms, is a controversy.... which I will give him cooked mushrooms anytime as well!  There is not much he does not eat.... only nuts and honey... that is it.

Lastly, I am waiting for Monday... I have a progesterone test on Monday.... I believe my daughter is on her way... I am not going to type much else as I am not even speaking anything else... not to myself or anyone.  In just those words, even to You... I am faithful...  My daughter is on her way.  Thank You Lord that Jason's quiver is full for your glory.

Good night Father.

Here We Go Again

Why do fertility again?

     A: Because I know that I have an illness affecting my ovaries.  I believe the effects from the PCOS COULD be the reason for what happened to Parker.  Fertility does not guarantee a healthy baby.  Though I pray God not let us endure another heartache again, I am reassured that I have done all that I could by going through the rigamarole-to make sure the egg getting ready for fertilization is in great shape, producing enough estradial, etc are viable and my body is optimal condition for fertilization...   Fertility gives me peace.  God will give me the baby we are supposed to have.  I am taking my illness out of the equation.  So I won't blame myself.  Because I have done all I can do.

I don't know if I will get pregnant on this cycle or not.  I am hopeful.... for a girl?  That would be great!  It is a tedious process when cycles come and go and your eggs don't grow enough so you have to cancel this round, etc.  BUT  I just believe it is happening quickly.  I believe excitement is on my horizon!  I remember, and I am ready.  Thank you Lord for our baby... healthy loving baby!  In Jesus name we pray for this joy... Amen.

My appointment is Wednesday.