Coffee

I gave up coffee a couple of years back, but a link to this slide show came to my email box, today. The slide show is called, Coffee: The Original Wonder Drug? 

If you're not a member of Medscape, you won't be able to see the slide show.  I recommend joining Medscape, not just to see this slide show, but to get access to peer-reviewed work in the world of medicine. 

I used to love coffee, but I gave it up because I thought it would be better for me to not drink it.  I still drink caffeine in the form of black and white tea.  However, after viewing the slides I kind of want to drink coffee again.  The benefits that are attributed to coffee include:

• lower risk of coronary disease--potentially because of antioxidants that reduce oxidation in LDL cholesterol; coffee drinking is also associated with lower inflammatory markers in the blood
• lower risk of stroke (a meta-analysis showed this)
• improved glucose metabolism and lower risk of type 2 diabetes
• increased ability to lose weight
• reduction in some types of cancer--potentially due to antioxidants and anti-mutagenic properties
• potentially neuroprotective (less dementia progression in coffee drinkers)
• lower risk for depression
• protection for the liver
• reduced risk for MRSA (also true for tea drinkers)
• helpful in dry eye syndrome
• reduced risk for gout

(As I said, get membership in Medscape!)

Coffee's not perfect as the slide show creators end with the associate risks:

• increased blood pressure
• causing or worsening anxiety, insomnia, and tremor  
• potentially elevated risk for glaucoma

What I want to figure out is how many of the benefits of coffee are also associated with tea because of the caffeine.  I may need to add both coffee and tea to my diet for the health benefits.

The slide show also notes that one risk is caffeine withdrawal syndrome; it is being considered as an entry in the DSM-5 because of the debilitating symptoms.  (Just don't quit?)  I'm not ever planning on quitting working out, so maybe it should be the same for caffeine.

Yum

 

Green smoothie (with stainless steel straw) in the coveted Apple mug.  Everyone LOVES drinking green smoothies out of this cup!

Lazy vegan weekend!

Last weekend was a lazy vegan weekend.  I didn't feel like cooking so I got vegan hot dogs and burgers at the store and the girls loved it.  They enjoyed these hot dogs* and these burgers,  while Nick and I enjoyed vegan chicken masala.   We got sprouted wheat buns for the girls and we ate our masala with kale (me) and brown rice (Nick).

These were super easy meals--we'll save them for those nights I just don't feel like cooking. I really prefer to prepare whole foods, but every now and then, a little break is nice!


*The girls are very excited by the hot dogs.  I'm not sure why.  We didn't eat hot dogs before going vegan, but I guess hot dogs =  happy kid food.  Life is good.

Weights

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/06/26/science/100000001622839/weight-gains.html

Great video!

Who needs to lift weights??  Everyone as they age!  About 3 years ago, I was doing a lot of Zumba.  I hurt my knee.  The reason why? Doing so much Zumba was causing me to lose muscle in my legs.

I now do 2-3 strength building exercise classes a week.  My goal for the coming year is 3-4 strength building classes a week.  I don't love the strength building the way I love cardio, but to keep me strong enough to do all the cardio I want to do, I hit the weights. 

(Almost my) Dad's spaghetti sauce

 

It's been a while since I got the recipe from my Dad and Mom, and now they are no longer with us so I can't double check with them, but here's what I do:

2 jars of tomato paste
1-2 teaspoons of olive oil
1-2 teaspoons of dried garlic or 1-2 cloves of fresh chopped garlic

Start with these 3 and saute the garlic for just a minute--I find that by adding the paste at the same time I don't overcook the garlic.

1 jar of the strained tomatoes
2-3 teaspoons of dried oregano (or more... I'm an oregano fan)
2-3 teaspoons of dried basil
Salt to taste (I usually do 1 teaspoon)
2 cans of the diced tomatoes with Italian herbs (or not if you don't like chunks--just use another jar of sauce sauce)
(Add red pepper flakes if you want a little heat... start with a 1/4 of a teaspoon?)

Simmer forever ...  Okay an hour or two.

Add "meatballs" if you can!

Serve over whole grain pasta (penne, spaghetti, or whatever you like best).  We usually do whole wheat.

You can add other veggies, like broccoli, carrots, kale, and / or cauliflower and turn it into a vegetarian feast, but my girls aren't quite ready for that so I mix chopped kale into my pasta and make a festive red. green. and white dish for me.  I'll add a picture next time I make this!

In the meantime, try it! It's a tasty way enjoy some lycopene!

Italian "meatballs"

We go to a local vegan restaurant and all of the fake meats are listed in quotes... We order things like, noble broccoli with "beef," or spicy sweet potato curry with "chicken."  Today, I made Italian "meatballs."  Maybe we should put the Italian in quotes, too. Here's the recipe:


Ingredients:
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 piece of sourdough bread
1 16-ounce package of super firm tofu
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
2 tablespoons flax


Ingredients are listed in the order we processed them in the the food processor.  We put the walnuts in first and made them very smooth--almost a walnut butter.  (I told my daughter a "minute" and didn't realize she was literal.  No worries, we went forward; it worked out okay.)   We added the bread and made it all crumbly and then added the rest of the ingredients: tofu, spices, and flax.  We pulsed this again until it was still kind of crumbly.

Previously, I tried making "meatballs" using extra firm tofu, but in the food processor with the extra firm, the mixture became too wet.  The super firm seemed to be able to handle the food processor and all the pulsing me and my two helpers gave it.  It was a little smoother than I wanted, but next time we won't do the extra pulses and it'll be perfect.

We made 35 little balls and baked them in oven on a convection setting at 300 for 30 minutes.  (I rolled the balls over about 1/2 way through and kept checking on them.)  (They may only need 25 minutes...)

Here's a picture of the "super firm" tofu:

Here are a couple of pictures of our "meatballs":

After baking...

Soaked in sauce...  (It's good to let them soak for a few hours, just like real meatballs.)

They are super yummy on sandwich, too!

Next up, my Dad's easy sauce recipe!

Hardly any sugar Peanut Butter Cookies

The recipe below isn't the one I've been working on that I mentioned here--I'm still working on it.  I hope to finalize the new one and share it this week. The recipe below is adapted from the PB cookie recipe on the "My Vegan Cookbook" site and mostly changed to make these less sugary.

My girls like them and it's great to have cookies that I don't mind giving them.  These cookies are SUPER easy to make; they don't even require getting out a mixer.

1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup PB2
2/3 Cup Ground Flax Seed
1/4 Cup Oat Bran (or you can grind up some oat meal in a food processor or just use oats)
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Banana mashed up
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
1/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

Note, for chocolate-y deliciousness, add 1/4-1/2 cup of dark (vegan) chocolate chip. Peanut Butter and Chocolate are my two favorite foods so I combine them whenever I can. If you want slightly sweeter cookies / bars, add a little more maple syrup or brown sugar.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all the ingredients well. (You will really need to work at getting the ingredients mixed well by hand.)

Make balls of about 1 tablespoon size and mash them down some with a fork. They are VERY sticky during this phase, so don't expect criss-cross patterns to show on top!

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly golden. After they are baked, let them cool for 10 minutes. They will be soft out of the oven and crisp up as they cool.


Here are the nutrition facts for cookies (without the chocolate chips) if you make 12 cookies.  I like to make the cookies in the shape of granola bars and use them as pre-workout treats.