That all sounds quite yummy, Indi. Makes my own choices seem sort of boring. I'm a good cook, but am so used to cooking with lots of meats, fats, and starches that I find my current list of acceptable dishes rather limited. I guess I could try some new things, but in some ways I don't like looking at cookbooks or recipes, esp illustrated ones, because they make me think of food and eating when I'm not hungry. Catch-22.
I've been on auto-pilot with my eating the past few days, and doing well. Just eating what I've already prepared or previously frozen, but now it's time to do some cooking again. I chopped fine a bunch of salad makings this evening and am planning on eating those tomorrow. I also have some broth for soup and will make split pea soup with greens/carrots/celery/onions, and maybe mushrooms. I love having a large batch of soup that I can just ladel out and warm for a nice, fast meal. I also want to make a big batch of steamed veggies, and freeze some. I like having spares of those too.
I spent a good minute fishing out the peppers and a tiny bit of curry around the oil... ended up with a bit anyway, but definitely not as much as the other guests who piled heaping portions of the dish on their plate. Amazing how much oil is in this diet.
That was always my sentiment as I watched my Indian friends cook. Would you say there are a lot of overweight Indians? I have only known one and she only became overweight after living in Germany for many years. And if they are not overweight, how do you figure they counteract the huge amounts of oil and ghee?
And real Indians make ALL their food super spicy - have you become accustomed to the hotness?
jansan: I LOVE split pea soup - I could just bathe in it....
So, my stomach is a bit 'gassy' - I cannot really pinpoint what caused it:
I happened to have an Activia yogurt drink yesterday - normally I don't eat much yogurt at all.
The increase in kale and spinach.
Roasted brussel sprouts.
Anyway, its not the end of the world. I'll live. I definitely think the body has to, quite literally, adapt to health. It sort of rebels at first! Good chewing does help a bit.
jansan split pea soup... that sounds so good right now. Do you have a recipe you can share? I've never made it before.
Unna The obesity rates between wealthy and poor are dramatic. Because income inequality is so gaping here you can see literally scrawny malnourished workers whose legs look like they could snap in two carrying stones on their head to a construction site, as well as very, very fat women in beautiful sarees lounging on couches with two or three maids around them bringing them water and their reading glasses (as I saw last night at our host's dinner party).
Poorer people move around a lot and are in heavy labor jobs, which offset the oil, paneer, and ghee (perhaps too much). Alternatively, wealthier people tend to move around far less than Westerners, even Americans, and no offsetting of large caloric consumption occurs. Not only are the lifestyles sedentary, but they have drivers which open the doors, maids which do all the housework, cooking, answering the doorbell, and carrying handbags when shopping. In fact, a couple told us they moved back from America because "it was too hard... there you have to do everything yourself." If you are wealthy here it's quite easy to exert very little more than your BMR each day.
So to me, the offsetting of the high calorie diet is not much of a mystery as the Serbian one... where high calorie fatty meals are followed by two-hours of smoking and chatting with friends at a coffee shop.
Question to you: my vegetarian friend lost 15 lbs studying abroad in Germany because the only foods around her were meat and beer. It sounds like you have a much wider range of options. Is eating healthfully and proportionally easy there?
Anyway, its not the end of the world. I'll live. I definitely think the body has to, quite literally, adapt to health. It sort of rebels at first! Good chewing does help a bit.
On the Fuhrman boards, gas is often described as an initial symptom to this way of eating. Of course they were referring more to eating legumes, but all the greens are probably also an issue. Anyway, they say to just stick with it until your intestinal flora change to suit your new diet.
I think because I eased into it, I did not have too much problem, though on occasion, there is some gas. Not too bad however.
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jansan split pea soup... that sounds so good right now. Do you have a recipe you can share? I've never made it before.
I rarely follow recipes, and making the soup this morning was not an acception.
But this is how I made this batch:
Ham broth ( a friend gave me a bone from a holiday meal) with a wee bit of ham. I had simmered that (long and slow) in filtered water the other day, then strained and refrigerated. When cold, all fat was removed from the surface.
1 pound split peas, sorted and washed. I put these into the heated broth and let cook till peas were very close to totally soft. Lentils would probably work as well.
I then put in half a bag of frozen chopped spinach, about a pound of shredded kale, one very large shredded onion, 3 stalks of celery, some dry parsley, oregano, some cayenne for interest, and the few bits of meat picked from the bone. Oh, and a fair amount of sliced mushrooms. Maybe 2 cups. I wasnt sure how they would taste in the soup, but I wanted to eat them because of Fuhrman's GOMBBS (greens, onions, mushrooms, beans, berries and seeds). I also put in one smallish not-hot red pepper. I would have also put in sliced carrots, ..but didn't. I also added water as I went, as the veggies kept 'adding up'. This made a large batch of soup and should last several days.
I just had a bowl of it for a late breakfast, and it is extremely good. Better than I had thought with all the 'healthy stuff' in it. It's not necessarily the meat I want, it's the meat flavor.
I made a massive batch of roasted vegetables two days ago and have been loving them. Cauliflower, broccoli, onions, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, tossed in EVOO, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. 425 for 30 minutes, stirring every 10. Delicious, especially the broccoli and carrots.
Jansan thanks for the recipe! It's in my queue to try in the coming weeks
I love that you keep reminding us of GOMBBS. I eat tons of onions and beans so that one's easy for me. Do greens specifically mean leafy greens, or can it include green beans and broccoli?
I could do better on the mushrooms and seeds. They're both available, although there's only one kind of mushroom here (button).
Berries are not found in most parts of India. I get mine frozen, imported, but only every 2 months. I could eat them at every meal though. Low in calories and sugar, high in nutrients and antioxidants. Pretty good combo!
I love that you keep reminding us of GOMBBS. I eat tons of onions and beans so that one's easy for me. Do greens specifically mean leafy greens, or can it include green beans and broccoli?
I think it is the greens that are most nutrient rich - kale, collards, bok choi, spinach, leaf lettuce, etc. And after that are the solid colored veggies, though they are not as high on the list. I eat green beans and broccoli, but I always try to toss in some of the leafy things with them. I use alot of frozen veggies for that.
Thanks jansan. That makes sense. I really can't wait to get kale and collards back in the US.
Yesterday I went on a veggie-fest. Prepared red cabbage salad with mint, cilantro, and cucumber, tossed with my Asian vinaigrette (rice wine, brown sugar, fish sauce, lemon). Roasted a huge casserole dish of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, and garlic. Still have lots of leafy lettuce left over from earlier in the week.
I've had marinated eggplant at friends houses recently that was very, very good. I'm going to ask for their recipes. Could my aversion to eggplant be changing?? I hope so!
Your dressing sounds good. I want to find one I like without oil.
I'm still plugging away. After several months, this is becoming more just how I eat now, without having to think about it too much. And less animal products as I go, and I'm not even missing them. Yesterday just a wee bit of cheese for flavor.
I've been swamped but I've been doing better with the plant based thing over the past week.
I've cut out most dairy, especially the cheese as a response to my recent conviction about dairy. this feels right, right now.
I've been doing smoothies but it's difficult in this cold weather. All I want is warm bread, root veggies and pasta. What hearty, veggie based meals are you trying??
Tonight I made a yummy quasi stir-fry. The veggies I cooked in the microwave, then added them to quick-sauteed chicken breast chunks in a non-stick pan. The veggies were onion, mushroom, kale, broccoli, peas, and pepper (but I forgot to add the pepper). I flavored it with Italian seasoning and low salt soy sauce. Fusion cooking. It was extremely good. If you don't eat any meat, you probably could substitute tofu.
I also eat lots and lots of hot, chunky soups. Most are bean based with lots and lots of various veggies tossed in.
I also steam lots of chopped veggies and put a very small amount of flavorful cheese on them. You probably could put that over some brown rice too.
I'm still seeking out things I like to eat that are good and plant-based. I was such a meat eater, and although I still eat some, it's far less than before. And finding replacement veggies for meals hasn't been that easy. But over the months I am finding more and more that I totally enjoy eating. Thank goodness.
Indi, I enjoyed reading your description above of the differences between the poor and the wealthy, it was very interesting. Do you happen to have a blog where you write about your experiences there?
Jansan, I'm a big soup eater as well and I also like mine chunky. And thick. I want to start making soups that I can add kale to, as I'm still trying to find a way that I'll love kale without just turning it into kale chips. Do you have any favorite soup recipes or do you just toss in anything handy?
Hi ladies! I made a chili tonight that was easy and delicious.
-2 chopped onions
-3 bell peppers chopped
-4 cups of chopped tomatoes with juice
- 1 can of tomato paste
- 1 can of black beans
- 1 can of kidney beans
- one package of morning star crumbles
- garlic, cumin and tobasco to taste
- juice of one lime
I sauteed the veggies and spices, added the other stuff when that got soft. Let it come to a boil then turn down to low heat and cover for twenty minutes.
160 calories per cup. The sodium is a bit high but i didn't add salt and you can get low sodium canned goods.
My current obsession is quinoa tacos I don't use the crispy taco shell but buy the lowest cal corn tortillas I can find and toss them in a hot skillet till crispy, then fold over. I fill with lettuce, quinoa, and veggies. I don't season them because I prefer the fresh taste this way.
I'm loving quinoa! I also enjoy it mixed with spinach, sundried tomatoes and other goodies. I love that I can make a batch of quinoa and keep it in the fridge for a few days, and do so many different things with it.
Jansan, I'm a big soup eater as well and I also like mine chunky. And thick. I want to start making soups that I can add kale to, as I'm still trying to find a way that I'll love kale without just turning it into kale chips. Do you have any favorite soup recipes or do you just toss in anything handy?
I'll toss it and spinach into a great number of things. A key for me is to chop it fine - in that way, you won't notice it as much. I add fresh kale to salads, chopped very fine. I'll add frozen chopped spinach and kale/collards to almost any soup I make. Chopped fine. I even added blended spinach to a strawberry dessert and other than seeing some dark flecks, did not taste anything off. Let the food processor be your friend.
At first I did not love kale, but knew I wanted to eat lots of it, and other greens. I'm not sure I love them yet, but the food I eat tastes very good, and it has lots of them in it. For example, tonight's soup is lentil with onion, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, and collard greens, in a turkey-flavored broth. Yum.
Hubby and I watched Forks over Knives over the weekend and after some talk, , made the decision to give the Plant Strong way of eating a try. We are both trying to lose weight and over-all want to be healthier, and feel that the diets and changes we have tried ared working. I'm trying out recipes from a vegatarian cookbook I bought a few years back. Part of me is just tired of making the same meatloaf and grilled chicken, so I have to admit I'm enjoying the cooking, learning about new foods, and tasting new things. I feel like a new door has been opened for me, I've been restricting what and how much I can eat for so long that the idea that I can eat new-to-me foods, eat more with less cals and eat more often is exciting.
I plan on majority veggie meals with the occasional meat, dairy, cheese and eggs. I have a inner bet with myself to see how long I can go before I eat chicken or beef, so far its only 24 hours but that's 4 meals since lunch yesterday, LOL.
So I look forward to getting to know you guys and asking all sorts of questions about what about food, what it is, and how to cook it.
, made the decision to give the Plant Strong way of eating a try. We are both trying to lose weight and over-all want to be healthier, and feel that the diets and changes we have tried ared working. I'm trying out recipes from a vegatarian cookbook I bought a few years back. Part of me is just tired of making the same meatloaf and grilled chicken, so I have to admit I'm enjoying the cooking, learning about new foods, and tasting new things. I feel like a new door has been opened for me, I've been restricting what and how much I can eat for so long that the idea that I can eat new-to-me foods, eat more with less cals and eat more often is exciting. 
