I'm not sure if I've posted another hashbrowns recipe so just to be safe I'm labeling this one as the second. I made this last night so Nick had something to eat for lunch today. He snacked on some of it and remarked at its deliciousness!
1 16oz package of frozen Alexia Hashed Browns
1 can organic chili beans (or any types or varieties of beans) drained and rinsed
1 cup sliced crimini mushrooms
1/3 or 1/2 package of Gimme Lean sausage meat substitute
Daiya mozzarella
Mrs. Dash extra spicy seasoning
Paprika
In an electric wok, first cook the mushrooms then add the sausage, breaking it up into smaller and smaller chunks as it cooks. Add the hashbrowns and cook, both covered and uncovered (to help it thaw). Once the hashbrowns are no longer frozen, add the seasoning and paprika, mix. Add the beans and wait until they are warm before adding the Daiya. Once the Daiya is melted it is ready to eat!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Injury
Today I am one week away from completing my Bikram Yoga 60-Day Challenge. The one benefit about this yoga is that, with regular practice and time and patience, you can work out and fix injuries or imbalances that have been around for years. That's what is happening to me now.
I first experienced knee pain during my first season of college soccer. As I recall, the pain wasn't prevalent during soccer practice but I remember pain climbing into and out of my lofted bed, along with pain that would wake me up during the middle of the night. Now that kind of pain is back.
I've tried ice which seems to make it way worse. Heat seems to be more helpful so I'll sleep with my knee resting on a low-heat heating pad. The pain still wakes me up but I can turn the heating pad back on and fall back to sleep. The pain has also been progressing in yoga. At first it only hurt when my leg was bent at about at 10-20 degree angle with weight on it, but now it hurts even when I lock my knee and tighten up my quad muscles (which makes Bikram really difficult). For several days I decided to lay off of it any time I felt any pain. But that seemed to make it worse! So I'm experimenting with pushing through some of the pain while still being protective of my knee.
The good news is I have scheduled an appointment to see an orthopedist who specializes in sports medicine (and treats the Cleveland Indians during Spring Training!) who will hopefully be able to diagnose my pain and give me treatment options that will allow me to continue to be active. I can deal with the pain, I just want to know what is making my injury worse or better.
The not knowing is making my yoga practice difficult, annoying, and unsatisfying. I hate not being able to do the postures or do them to their fullest extent. This is funny because some days all I wanted was a break! It also leaves my body somewhat out-of-whack and uneven. But the show must go on!
I first experienced knee pain during my first season of college soccer. As I recall, the pain wasn't prevalent during soccer practice but I remember pain climbing into and out of my lofted bed, along with pain that would wake me up during the middle of the night. Now that kind of pain is back.
I've tried ice which seems to make it way worse. Heat seems to be more helpful so I'll sleep with my knee resting on a low-heat heating pad. The pain still wakes me up but I can turn the heating pad back on and fall back to sleep. The pain has also been progressing in yoga. At first it only hurt when my leg was bent at about at 10-20 degree angle with weight on it, but now it hurts even when I lock my knee and tighten up my quad muscles (which makes Bikram really difficult). For several days I decided to lay off of it any time I felt any pain. But that seemed to make it worse! So I'm experimenting with pushing through some of the pain while still being protective of my knee.
The good news is I have scheduled an appointment to see an orthopedist who specializes in sports medicine (and treats the Cleveland Indians during Spring Training!) who will hopefully be able to diagnose my pain and give me treatment options that will allow me to continue to be active. I can deal with the pain, I just want to know what is making my injury worse or better.
The not knowing is making my yoga practice difficult, annoying, and unsatisfying. I hate not being able to do the postures or do them to their fullest extent. This is funny because some days all I wanted was a break! It also leaves my body somewhat out-of-whack and uneven. But the show must go on!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tips for a New Vegan
A friend just contacted me for tips as she is trying veganism for 21 days. I thought I would share with the world what I wrote her in case it may help others who are considering doing the same. I think this post will also show the abundance of food choices vegans have despite the lack of meat or dairy. Additionally, perhaps omnivores will want to add some of these foods into their diets! If you are new to my blog, look around for additional recipes in my What I'm Eating mini-series.
Ok here are some tips! Of course, try and remove as many non-vegan food items from your house as possible. Replace these with some vegan staples:
Beans: canned and dried. Canned are quick but come from cans which aren't the healthiest. Be sure to drain and rinse canned beans to reduce sodium. Dried beans must be soaked overnight (or a minimum of 4 hours) and boiled for about an hour to be ready. Dried beans are significantly cheaper than canned, and buying in bulk reduces waste and energy (lost in the recycling process).
Tofu: Most people I've talked to are scared of cooking with tofu. I was, too. The good news is you can eat it out of the container if you really wanted which means you can't screw it up, only make it better. Firm and extrafirm I find the most versatile. Drain and cut in to cubes or squish through your fingers into your pan for a scramble.
Veggies: My staple veggies are mushrooms (crimini/portobello), zucchini and yellow squash. With these three I can make countless meals. I've used them for taco/burrito/enchilada filling, stir fry, tofu scrambles, roasted.. I can always think of something if that's all I have in the fridge. I find it useful to also have onions, tomatos, avocados, and garlic on hand. Also, potatoes or sweet potatoes can be your best friend for a quick, hearty meal. Cut up into big pieces, toss in olive oil with rosemary and salt, roast, and eat with organic ketchup! Oh, I (and my omnivorous friends, too) love roasted asparagus (olive oil and salt).
Greens: still veggies, obviously, but more specific. Leafy greens have lots of protein and tons of nutrition. I still find it hard to get enough of them before they go bad in the fridge but I feel like my nutrition is lacking if I don't have them around. Kale is widely used.. I like to make Garlic and Greens soup using kale which makes it very palatable. I have the recipe for this on my blog. Spinach, I find, is easier for me to eat raw. I used to make this awesome breakfast (i really should start again) where I would grill an Amy's gardenburger (not all are vegan, check the labels!) on the George Foreman then top it with peach-mango salsa, nutritional yeast, alfalfa sprouts, and spinach. It was quick, delicious, and nutritious.
Frozen: Frozen fruits and veggies are great since they retain their nutrients and last a lot longer than the fresh versions. Frozen fruit make for great smoothies with some fortified orange juice and rice milk... I use this to take my flax oil. I also like having frozen potato wedges and hash browns (quality brands, few ingredients) on hand for quick meals. If you can find good quality frozen vegan burritos that's nice to have on hand. But really, i find myself wanting to make my own food because I know exactly what I'm getting.
Dairy alternatives: First thing's first: cheese. If you can find Daiya cheese your vegan transition will be a lot easier. Daiya is super delicious (I like the mozzarella kind) and it melts, making it easy to use anywhere you would use regular cheese. It does not taste identical to real cheese but it tastes really good, if not better in some cases. To find this cheese, you can give your local chain grocer a try. I've seen it here in recent days. Otherwise, more specialized natural markets and health food stores will probably have it. You can even pay a premium to buy it online. It's worth it. It's lasts forever in the fridge so stock up. As for milk, I tend to like Rice milk (chocolate rice milk is delectable... kiddos would love it!). Soy milk has a mild flavor but i've heard soy in that form is not the best for you.. idk i haven't researched but I stick to rice for drinking and soy for cooking. Fortunately, I weaned myself off milk a lot before I became vegan and I really still do prefer water over any other drink. Coconut milk chocolate ice cream is equally amazing as the chocolate rice milk. Sooooo good.
Grains: Ezekiel bread is so healthy and I think it tastes pretty good, too. The texture is a little thicker than your normal wheat breads but you'll get so much more out of Ezekiel. I use toasted Ezekiel bread, Vegenaise, paprika, and sliced avocado for a delicious breakfast or lunch. I find tortillas to be very handy. I can tear them up and dip them in hummus, make a quick quesadilla on the Foreman, make enchiladas or burritos... be sure to get quality brand, with as few ingredients as possible. They can put a lot of crap in there... I'm not a huge cereal eater but I do like a nice box of Nature's Path raisin bran with flax and other goodies. I keep it in the car to snack on.
Miscellaneous: Vegenaise (sub. mayonnaise), Nutritional Yeast (dry, yellow flakes that taste yummy and kind of cheesy), Bragg's Liquid Aminos (provides all of your essential amino acids and has a salty, soy-saucey taste that can be sprayed on food or poured while cooking), Amy's canned soups are a quick and filling lunch, Lara Bars are survival food as is good quality trail mix. I have to keep some survival food on me at all times because I get really low blood sugar when I'm hungry and it's bad news. I can put a Lara bar in my purse or backpack, nuts or trailmix in the car, etc. I find it easiest to sway from being vegan when i'm starving! If you crave meats, there are lots of different mock meats available to try. If you can find soy chorizo it's heaven... Gardein is a great company that does quite convincing mock meats in a variety of preparations.
Resources: vegweb.com, vegnews.com, engine2diet.com, Veganomicon, Supermarket Vegan, How It All Vegan/Garden of Vegan, my blog: ashinaz.blogspot.com, as education and motivation I encourage you to read "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer.
Hopefully this is helpful and not too overwhelming for you! I hope you will experience that going vegan is not as difficult as you thought. Indeed, I went vegan for one week as a cleanse then decided to extend it to two weeks, to the end of the month and I here I am now 11 months and going strong!
Please do not hesitate to comment with any questions about veganism, I'd love to share my experiences.
Ok here are some tips! Of course, try and remove as many non-vegan food items from your house as possible. Replace these with some vegan staples:
Beans: canned and dried. Canned are quick but come from cans which aren't the healthiest. Be sure to drain and rinse canned beans to reduce sodium. Dried beans must be soaked overnight (or a minimum of 4 hours) and boiled for about an hour to be ready. Dried beans are significantly cheaper than canned, and buying in bulk reduces waste and energy (lost in the recycling process).
Tofu: Most people I've talked to are scared of cooking with tofu. I was, too. The good news is you can eat it out of the container if you really wanted which means you can't screw it up, only make it better. Firm and extrafirm I find the most versatile. Drain and cut in to cubes or squish through your fingers into your pan for a scramble.
Veggies: My staple veggies are mushrooms (crimini/portobello), zucchini and yellow squash. With these three I can make countless meals. I've used them for taco/burrito/enchilada filling, stir fry, tofu scrambles, roasted.. I can always think of something if that's all I have in the fridge. I find it useful to also have onions, tomatos, avocados, and garlic on hand. Also, potatoes or sweet potatoes can be your best friend for a quick, hearty meal. Cut up into big pieces, toss in olive oil with rosemary and salt, roast, and eat with organic ketchup! Oh, I (and my omnivorous friends, too) love roasted asparagus (olive oil and salt).
Greens: still veggies, obviously, but more specific. Leafy greens have lots of protein and tons of nutrition. I still find it hard to get enough of them before they go bad in the fridge but I feel like my nutrition is lacking if I don't have them around. Kale is widely used.. I like to make Garlic and Greens soup using kale which makes it very palatable. I have the recipe for this on my blog. Spinach, I find, is easier for me to eat raw. I used to make this awesome breakfast (i really should start again) where I would grill an Amy's gardenburger (not all are vegan, check the labels!) on the George Foreman then top it with peach-mango salsa, nutritional yeast, alfalfa sprouts, and spinach. It was quick, delicious, and nutritious.
Frozen: Frozen fruits and veggies are great since they retain their nutrients and last a lot longer than the fresh versions. Frozen fruit make for great smoothies with some fortified orange juice and rice milk... I use this to take my flax oil. I also like having frozen potato wedges and hash browns (quality brands, few ingredients) on hand for quick meals. If you can find good quality frozen vegan burritos that's nice to have on hand. But really, i find myself wanting to make my own food because I know exactly what I'm getting.
Dairy alternatives: First thing's first: cheese. If you can find Daiya cheese your vegan transition will be a lot easier. Daiya is super delicious (I like the mozzarella kind) and it melts, making it easy to use anywhere you would use regular cheese. It does not taste identical to real cheese but it tastes really good, if not better in some cases. To find this cheese, you can give your local chain grocer a try. I've seen it here in recent days. Otherwise, more specialized natural markets and health food stores will probably have it. You can even pay a premium to buy it online. It's worth it. It's lasts forever in the fridge so stock up. As for milk, I tend to like Rice milk (chocolate rice milk is delectable... kiddos would love it!). Soy milk has a mild flavor but i've heard soy in that form is not the best for you.. idk i haven't researched but I stick to rice for drinking and soy for cooking. Fortunately, I weaned myself off milk a lot before I became vegan and I really still do prefer water over any other drink. Coconut milk chocolate ice cream is equally amazing as the chocolate rice milk. Sooooo good.
Grains: Ezekiel bread is so healthy and I think it tastes pretty good, too. The texture is a little thicker than your normal wheat breads but you'll get so much more out of Ezekiel. I use toasted Ezekiel bread, Vegenaise, paprika, and sliced avocado for a delicious breakfast or lunch. I find tortillas to be very handy. I can tear them up and dip them in hummus, make a quick quesadilla on the Foreman, make enchiladas or burritos... be sure to get quality brand, with as few ingredients as possible. They can put a lot of crap in there... I'm not a huge cereal eater but I do like a nice box of Nature's Path raisin bran with flax and other goodies. I keep it in the car to snack on.
Miscellaneous: Vegenaise (sub. mayonnaise), Nutritional Yeast (dry, yellow flakes that taste yummy and kind of cheesy), Bragg's Liquid Aminos (provides all of your essential amino acids and has a salty, soy-saucey taste that can be sprayed on food or poured while cooking), Amy's canned soups are a quick and filling lunch, Lara Bars are survival food as is good quality trail mix. I have to keep some survival food on me at all times because I get really low blood sugar when I'm hungry and it's bad news. I can put a Lara bar in my purse or backpack, nuts or trailmix in the car, etc. I find it easiest to sway from being vegan when i'm starving! If you crave meats, there are lots of different mock meats available to try. If you can find soy chorizo it's heaven... Gardein is a great company that does quite convincing mock meats in a variety of preparations.
Resources: vegweb.com, vegnews.com, engine2diet.com, Veganomicon, Supermarket Vegan, How It All Vegan/Garden of Vegan, my blog: ashinaz.blogspot.com, as education and motivation I encourage you to read "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer.
Hopefully this is helpful and not too overwhelming for you! I hope you will experience that going vegan is not as difficult as you thought. Indeed, I went vegan for one week as a cleanse then decided to extend it to two weeks, to the end of the month and I here I am now 11 months and going strong!
Please do not hesitate to comment with any questions about veganism, I'd love to share my experiences.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
What I'm Eating: Go-To-Class Scramble
Quick! I've got to go to class but I've got to eat something (it's a three hour class, afterall).
Firm tofu
1 tomato
1/4 yellow bell pepper
1 small portobello mushroom
Braggs aminos
Various spices and nutritional yeast
Yves morning "sausage" patties
Start the veggies a few minutes early before you put in the tofu. Crumble the tofu the fun way by squishing it out through your fingers in to the pan! Add spices, nutritional yeast, Braggs, and more Braggs.
Meanwhile in an adjacent pan, cook "sausage" patties until warm.
Poor in bowl, eat, then go to class!
Oh, drink your Vega protein drink on the side. Yum!
Firm tofu
1 tomato
1/4 yellow bell pepper
1 small portobello mushroom
Braggs aminos
Various spices and nutritional yeast
Yves morning "sausage" patties
Start the veggies a few minutes early before you put in the tofu. Crumble the tofu the fun way by squishing it out through your fingers in to the pan! Add spices, nutritional yeast, Braggs, and more Braggs.
Meanwhile in an adjacent pan, cook "sausage" patties until warm.
Poor in bowl, eat, then go to class!
Oh, drink your Vega protein drink on the side. Yum!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Bikram Yoga... Day 40 of 60
So I'm going to write a quick update about my 60-day challenge (quick since I should be studying for my physics test occurring later today). As the title suggests, today I completed my 40th class. Here's what's been going on:
Number one issue is I've been feeling light headed/head rush/near black out in between every posture of the standing series. I breathe, I hydrate, I supplement... but to no avail. I'm going to work on consuming some natural sugar, i.e. fruit, before class and see if that helps (NOT orange juice... worst mistake I could have possibly made). I know that my average is in the athletic, low range (around 100/60 sometimes in the 90s/60). I'm concerned I'm anemic but I've been taking iron supplements and the yoga itself should help with that so I'm thinking it's something else?
Number two issue is fatigue in general. It's hard to know how much I should be eating, if I'm eating enough or too little, and if I'm doing a good enough job to get proper nutrition. I have started trying Vega Sport supplements, a vegan sport drink series for pre- and post-workouts. I think adding a high-quality, vegan protein drink will help substantially.
Number three is pain. I'm feeling various pain in various places. My knee has been bothering me the most, feeling like it did during college when I was playing soccer. My teachers suggest that since I'm practicing yoga everyday the slightest misalignment might be to blame. My other big pain is in my semitendinosus muscle (as best I can tell) which lies in the the back of my thigh and connects deep to my pelvis. I've adjusted my triangle posture accordingly, as my stance may have been to wide, causing the pain. Still, I can't hold the right side of triangle for very long. I just get concerned that the pain is the bad pain and not the good.
Number four, a minor conflict, is that going to the same classes day after day I see the same people constantly. Most people I like seeing around but there are two or three who just bother me. It's not their faults, it's just me, but seeing them causes me to silently grumble in my head. So silly.
Anyways, I must move on to studying. Have a happy day!
Number one issue is I've been feeling light headed/head rush/near black out in between every posture of the standing series. I breathe, I hydrate, I supplement... but to no avail. I'm going to work on consuming some natural sugar, i.e. fruit, before class and see if that helps (NOT orange juice... worst mistake I could have possibly made). I know that my average is in the athletic, low range (around 100/60 sometimes in the 90s/60). I'm concerned I'm anemic but I've been taking iron supplements and the yoga itself should help with that so I'm thinking it's something else?
Number two issue is fatigue in general. It's hard to know how much I should be eating, if I'm eating enough or too little, and if I'm doing a good enough job to get proper nutrition. I have started trying Vega Sport supplements, a vegan sport drink series for pre- and post-workouts. I think adding a high-quality, vegan protein drink will help substantially.
Number three is pain. I'm feeling various pain in various places. My knee has been bothering me the most, feeling like it did during college when I was playing soccer. My teachers suggest that since I'm practicing yoga everyday the slightest misalignment might be to blame. My other big pain is in my semitendinosus muscle (as best I can tell) which lies in the the back of my thigh and connects deep to my pelvis. I've adjusted my triangle posture accordingly, as my stance may have been to wide, causing the pain. Still, I can't hold the right side of triangle for very long. I just get concerned that the pain is the bad pain and not the good.
Number four, a minor conflict, is that going to the same classes day after day I see the same people constantly. Most people I like seeing around but there are two or three who just bother me. It's not their faults, it's just me, but seeing them causes me to silently grumble in my head. So silly.
Anyways, I must move on to studying. Have a happy day!
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