Road Trip!

Several weeks ago my family headed west to Arizona to visit family. Fast food options for Vegan eating are rare, so I packed my own food. I chose some options that were easy to throw in a lunch box and kept it close to me in the car.  

We stopped several times on the road for the family to eat, I just made sure to eat before we stopped. I didn't want to be hungry when we were in the middle of fast foodness. I wouldn't have gone off plan, it was too important for me to feel well on our trip, and just for life in general,...but it's nice to not be looking at the burger next to you with a hungry stomach.

For the road trip I packed:

Toasted GF Vegan bread,...my favorite brand, Little Northern Bakehouse.
Sliced tomatoes
Lettuce leaves
Vegan mayo

Vegan/Gluten Free bars

Tea bags, I could buy a hot water at the quick mart and brew my own yummy tea.

Water

Dried soups, Dr. McDougall's soups are my go to several times a week for lunch and worked perfectly for a travel road trip. I could add hot water to these along the way and then have a meal ready in no time.

I had a blast with my family, and the benefit to going to a larger city is there were so many Vegan options with restaurants and grocery stores stocked with vegan options. I had some separation anxiety when leaving Sprouts ; ).

The Boy Scout motto is the key when traveling with food allergies...be prepared.

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza

I love pizza.

It has been a bit over 2 years since I have had a non-gluten pizza crust. I have tried multiple times to make a gluten free pizza. Today I made a pizza crust that is my favorite so far. It is not exactly like a "regular" gluten pizza crust, but it sure was good.

I used this recipe here for the crust, then this recipe for the toppings.  I added artichoke, pineapple and olives to this mix. I was super sad I got out of the grocery store without jalapeños, shopping off my memory isn't always the most efficient. I bought pre-cut yellow, red and green bell peppers and onions, all packaged together. Cooking a yummy meal can take up most of my night once I get home from work, so this helps prep go a bit more quickly.

This pizza was delicious. The cheese you see on top, isn't really dairy cheese. Here is the recipe for the parmesan sprinkles and I used mozzarella shreds.

My RA has hurt me this week. Part of the protocol I follow states pretty clearly that oil will slow the healing and cause pain and inflammation. I have used olive oil a couple of times this week and I can feel it in my hands. My left hand is the worst and I am having to take off my wedding ring here and there - I don't want to have it cut off like I did several months ago before I started my vegan eating.

This pizza has a little bit of oil in the crust. Instead of using 1 tablespoon, I used 1 tsp. I probably could have left it out entirely, but never making this crust before I thought it might have needed a bit of fat to keep it together. I don't think it was necessary. When I roasted the veggies I used a bit of olive oil, about a teaspoon.

I probably need to keep my distance from the oil for a bit to help my hands feel better. Healing from RA is not an overnight process. There's a lot of give and take and trial and error. My RA recovery while so much better, has it's ups and downs, and will take months to years for all of my inflammation numbers to read normal.

Whatever I have to do to be well is worth the journey!!

Zucchini Parmesan

I made a most delicious dinner tonight! 

It started with an amazing Zucchini fresh out of the Little Acorn Farm garden sautéed in a tablespoon of water for a couple of minutes after sprinkling a little bit of basil, garlic, salt and pepper on top. (I use the freeze dried basil in the vegetable section in the grocery store), 

then I cooked a Hilary's Veggie Burger till it was a little crispy, chopped it up and placed it on top. I topped it with Mom's Marina Pasta Sauce. This meal was amazing. Super fresh, but the vegetable burger made this meal reminiscent of an eggplant parmesan. 

Super yummy!

Ingredients:
Zucchini and seasonings of choice to sprinkle on top.
Vegetable Burger
Marinara Sauce

Enjoy!

Vegan Burrito

This burrito was a throw together of what I had in my fridge and cupboard and it was delicious!

Ingredients:
Canned Black Beans
Frozen potatoes, cooked in a bit of coconut oil or olive oil
Cilantro
El Pinto Red Chile Sauce
Brown Rice Tortilla

Zucchini or squash would have been awesome in this, too.

#glutenfree #vegan

Oats and Blueberries

I love a good breakfast. I love blueberries. I love oats. For the first month of my vegan diet I ate oats and blueberries each morning. I buy gluten free oats, real oats...not the quick cook. They are super filling and healthy.

I took a break from oats because my fingers were swelling a bit and I didn't know if I had a sensitivity to them. I have heard that some people who can't eat gluten might have a bit of a sensitivity to oats...even gluten free. I am going to give oats a try again soon. As Ross says...we were on a break. Maybe we can reunite over the breakfast table again soon.

Vegan Raisin Bread

One of my favorite vegan breakfasts is a piece or two of Little Northern Bakehouse Raisin Bread and my fresh juiced greens. The bread is great toasted.

I love toast and was so glad to find a great gluten free vegan bread.
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I bought this particular bread at Sprouts in Arizona. I requested for our local Natural Grocer's to carry it. I have 3 pieces left so I am hoping they do!

Portabella Grill Out

While we were gone on our vacation my awesome brother and sister in law cooked us steaks upon arrival. There is such a learning curve with Vegan food, but they came up with the idea of grilling me a Portabella Mushroom in place of a steak. I toasted up a piece of my favorite bread, slathered that and the sweet corn on the cob with coconut oil, that along with the roasted red pepper salad dressing I brought, (Amy's salad dressing) made the perfect meal.

To cook the portabella mushroom my brother put a little bit of olive oil on it, then salt and pepper and that was it. It was perfect.

Years ago when my sister's family was coming to visit I had my first experience of being hospitable to people with food allergies. My sister's family has several who suffer with celiacs, along with a couple more food allergies. I would have jumped through hoops to make my family comfortable, and my sister brought lots of staples with her, so through collaboration I feel like we did a great job of keeping every one fed and feeling good.

Food allergies are becoming prevalent within families. It might seem daunting, but when we all work together and we are blessed with hospitable hosts the dinner table can be a great place for all of us to enjoy a meal and fellowship.

My Daily Greens

A staple for me in my diet is juiced greens. Each day I pull out some organic celery and cucumbers from my refrigerator, wash them off and throw them in my juicer to start my day off with lots of nutrients. When I hear Vegan or Vegetarian I automatically think of someone who eats a salad twice a day, which has very little appeal to me. I do like vegetables, but I am not someone who just loves to nosh on a salad. However, of all the vegetables we eat the greens have such an important place. So to get my greens in, I drink them. The celery and cucumber are substantial veggies, they have lots of bulk so they do a good job of filling up a glass. I have tried to juice more leafy greens but I don't think much juices out of spinach or kale. So if I want to use spinach or kale then I juice my celery and cucumber, then put that mixture in my Bullet Blender as the liquid and then fill it with the spinach and kale and blend. All of these greens are super alkalizing to your body. Alkalizing = Good. Acid =Bad. Healing takes place best in an alkaline environment. There are other things I do to try and keep my body in an alkaline state. It's easy to google different options. I choose alkalized water, add lemon when I can, drink Alka Salts that my doctor sells, eat lots of fresh veggies. All these alkalize.  

A couple of weeks ago we went on a family vacation. I loaded up the juicer along with all of our suitcases and it travelled to Arizona and back with us. I believe the nutrients in these greens are part of the reason I felt so much better so quickly, and I didn't want to miss a day.

We had a busy week this last week and I didn't get out to buy my celery and cucumbers so twice I went by Big Country Coffee and bought the Turtle Power Smoothie. It is filled with Spinach, Kale, a half of a frozen peach and a quarter of a lemon (rind and all). I really love this smoothie. 

What's up with the green drinks in the stores? Depending on the sugar content they could be maybe more nutritious than a soda pop. When I was in school I would often buy a brand named green drink from the drink cooler. I would notice that I felt sugar jittery after I drank it but it was a while before I actually looked at the sugar content. It had 50 grams of sugar in it. When we were on our trip in Arizona I had one day I didn't get to juice so I stopped by a Sprouts to buy a fresh made juice, but the Sprouts we were at didn't have the juicing bar...sad. I begrudgingly went to the cooler and searched high and low for a green juice that didn't have a lot of sugar. Out of about 15 brands I found one with only 5 grams. The nutrients in the greens become less potent over time, it's best to drink your juice within 30 minutes of juicing. So store bought and packaged isn't ideal, but sometimes it's all that's available.

As a side note...I learned a huge lesson about reading labels. I spend so much time reading labels in stores I feel like I have read a novel as I finally walk out the door. Well, for whatever reason I missed reading the label of a "veggie burger". My daughter (a vegetarian) and I cooked ours up and enjoyed it for the 4th of July when everyone else was enjoying burgers. I had severe stiffness in my hand for many days following. It turns out the veggie burger I had bought had wheat in it. Live and Learn. 

#vegan #glutenfree #fightingRAwithnutrition

Rice Bowl

I am packing my lunches each day to take to work. Rice and beans are a favorite easy lunch for me. At the beginning of the week I make a big batch of either rice, quinoa or buckwheat and keep it in my fridge. Then each day I add something to the "starch of the week" and pack it for my lunch. Todays lunch was rice, beans, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice and some salsa on top.

I bought the Koa Lavender Olakino at Market Street this week. Normally I race by sampling stations because the food options aren't vegan/gluten free, but last weekend the sampling station had Kale Chips and flavored water. It was like Disneyland ; )  This water was super yummy and such a treat.

My Favorite Fast Food

One of the challenges of following a vegan diet if you are used to grabbing food and going is finding healthy replacements for fast food. My favorite fast food these days is vegetable sushi with brown rice. Our Market Street carries it and it makes me happy. I LOVE sushi and I have for almost 30 years. Vegetable sushi is a great substitute. My diet is also gluten free so I substitute an alternative for the soy sauce, I use either Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Healthy vegan fast food!

You're a What?

Rheumatoid Arthritis and Vegan eating...there is hope.  Read below for my on-going journey with RA and how a Vegan diet changed everything.

You're a what? I prefer to say that I eat a vegan diet,...not necessarily wanting to make vegan my identity. Lots of political swirlings can run through your mind when you hear someone's a vegan. I am a Texas girl, I have bought and cooked meat more days than not in my adult years. In fact, I still buy meat and cook it for my family. If you want a steak and you are coming to my house to eat dinner, then I will be thrilled to grill it for you. I love to grill.

But...

I wont be eating it with you. I will be enjoying an amazing starch based meal with lots of fragrant seasonings and vegetables giving a colorful edge to the plate. 

Just over a year ago I began to hurt. Each joint from my toes to my shoulders hurt, minimally at first and then about 6 months ago the pain began to affect my day to day activities. Opening a water bottle was excruciating, climbing stairs took deep breathing and determination, my fingers started to malform, I didn't know what was happening to me. I had severe fatigue. After research I figured out that my symptoms fit the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. After a blood draw my doctor confirmed my suspicions. To make a long story short, I searched and searched on the internet for an answer to how to heal my body naturally, and what I found was that a vegan diet would bring healing.

The first helpful link I found was here. The Paddington Program. A RA survivor who is totally healed from the disease shared how he did it. He uses several doctor's programs and combined them to make his plan. His main sources come from Dr. John McDougall's research, practice and eating plan. The Paddington program had a minimal cost, McDougall's info is free. If I had to go back and do it all again I wouldn't change anything. I would start the first 12 days with Paddington's elimination diet and then on day 13 move over to McDougall's vegan eating options. On the 3rd day of Paddington's plan my pain was down 80%. I had my life back. There are dozens of video's by each of these guys on you tube that are available to watch. I spent hours and hours watching their lectures to understand why the vegan diet would help me. The first 12 days was hard but my pain was so much lower that it wasn't hard to stay on the plan. Then day 13 as I started to add foods back in it seemed like the vegan option was a treat compared to the elimination diet. I believe this is what made the transition easier for me. I believe the results would in the end have been the same, but this combination worked for me.

I am about 8 weeks into vegan eating. I love how I feel. I obviously love that my pain is much lower than it was before, in fact 8 weeks ago it would have hurt to type this on the computer, but even besides the subsiding pain I feel so good I don't believe I will ever go back to eating animal protein. The hardest our body has to work is when it is digesting food. Because I am feeding my body foods that are easier to digest I have more energy than I can remember ever having, I feel healthy. When my blood tests were run for RA at diagnosis my markers were at 39 (high) 6 weeks later my markers had gone down to 23.3. In 6 weeks I was able to make a huge difference not only in pain and function, but it showed up in the levels measured in my blood.

Am I getting enough protein? YES! The meat industry has done it's job well. It has engrained in us that meat is the be all and end all of protein. That's just not true. I am getting more protein now through my grains and veggies than I ever had before.

Am I getting enough calcium? YES! There is so much absorbable calcium in our vegetables, especially greens. I am not a huge fan of green salads so I juice greens every day. 

This blog will be mainly a recipe blog. My food really does make a difference. Until this year I haven't fully embraced that, but given the choice between debilitating pain or eating what my body needs I will choose to eat well for me. Food has often had the stronger hand in our relationship, I am now choosing to rise strong and be the boss of what goes in my body and not let it be the boss of me any more.