Speaking of Firefighter Approved…

I’m sure you’ve seen the firefighters at the grocery store or Costco, buying their food for dinner, maybe flirting with a few women in the produce aisle. It’s part of their job, it should be in their job description. Everyone loves a firefighter, you can’t deny that!

You don’t understand, my husband NEVER reads for pleasure. EVER! So when he bought AND read the “Engine 2 Diet” cover to cover, I about fell over in my chair! I figured it had to be good to keep his attention so I read it too. It’s information I’ve been learning about for years so it wasn’t anything new for me but it was an excellent book.

Real men eat plants… that’s what Firefighter and author of “The Engine 2 Diet” claims… and so did his entire crew once they learned how much their newly adopted plant-based diet improved their health. One of the guys had a cholesterol level of 350! Not that I’m surprised, do you have any idea how firemen eat?

Rip Esselstyn - Author of "Engine 2 Diet"

Rip Esselstyn is his name, he’s a former professional triathlete turned firefighter.

He took first place in many major events, including the 2001 Police and Fire World Games, the world’s largest athletic competition. He also won the Capital of Texas triathlon eight times and was the leader and top-three finisher at many televised events, including the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, where he was first out of the frigid, shark-infested waters six years in a row. Rip still competes in various events, recently winning the master national championships and setting the national record in the process.

His father, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, chief of surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, discovered through medical research that a plant-based, low-fat diet could reverse heart disease and diabetes. I have to say, I believe him.

Anyways, if you are looking for a great book to read I recommend it… and so does my husband!

Buy it here on Amazon.com

Forks Over Knives – The most important movie you may ever see.

Have you seen Food Inc? Most people tell me they loved it because it made them think. If you enjoy movies that make you question things then you need to see Forks Over Knives, it’s a life-changing film! Here’s the trailer for the movie…

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Raw Collard & Apple Salad

I love my greens! I enjoy hearty meal-type salads and I’ve been making a few lately that we really enjoy! Kale is my go-to salad green but I’ve been trying to venture out. I came across this Raw Collard and Apple Salad from my latest favorite vegan food blog MELOMEALS: Vegan for $3.33 A Day. You can use collard greens or kale – I used collard greens. I love the spiciness of the dijon mustard with the sweetness of the raisins! I’ve been eating this with my collard wraps for lunch, it’s just so awesome that it keeps in the fridge and doesn’t wilt and sog like regular salad!

Raw Collard and Apple Salad

Yummy!

Raw Collard Salad
4 c finely chopped collard greens
½ c diced celery
2 c diced or shredded carrots
2 c apples, diced ( toss with ½ t apple cider vinegar before adding to salad )
4 T toasted sesame seeds
1 c golden raisins
1 t chunky sea salt ( less if using fine salt )
2 t onion powder
Pinch stevia powder or 3 T agave or honey
¼ t cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
¼ t white pepper
3 T olive oil
2 T Dijon mustard
3 T apple cider vinegar
Toss everything together with your hands. Allow salad to sit for an hour ( or overnight ) before eating. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Collard Greens... in case you didn't know 🙂

Strip leaves off of the tough stem (chop stem and add to soups for extra fiber)

I roll the leaves and chop them this way, then chop them again into smaller bites

Add chopped celery

then carrots... I like extra carrots...

chop your apples and add

toast your sesame seeds until fragrant - I use my cast iron pan (dry)

Add sesame seeds and golden raisins

Combine dressing ingredients

Add to salad

Mix together with your hands, let sit in fridge for a few hours or overnight before serving

Yummy!

It was yummy with my leftover sushi!

Raw Collard and Apple Salad

Yummy Protein Pancakes

My latest favorite vegan food blog is MELOMEALS: Vegan For $3.33 A Day. She has awesome recipes and I love everything I’ve made off of her site.

Protein Pancakes

Tried out her Protein Pancakes yesterday morning, they were delicious! My daughter loves them and ate them again for breakfast this morning! I put the extra pancakes in the freezer so I can just pop them in the toaster oven when I need a quick breakfast.

This recipe calls for chickpea flour (also known as besan, garbanzo or gram flour) which is nutrient dense and reasonably higher in protein than other regular flours – 21 grams per 1 cup. It also has almost 10 grams of fiber per 1 cup, that’s 40% of your daily fiber needs. It’s also gluten-free for those who are avoiding gluten in their diets.

I found 2 – 35oz bags of Organic Chickpea Flour on Amazon for $14.62 / free shipping. I plan on using it to make flatbread pizza and wraps next!

My New Obsession… Collard Green Wraps!

I love collard greens almost as much as I love kale. They are awesome for making wraps, I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of stuffings for my daily collard wraps. Right now I’m into my Tempeh Salad mixture, similar to a chicken or tuna salad but without the chicken or fish.

Tempeh Salad Mixture – for sandwiches or wraps

* I cut up 2-8oz blocks of Tempeh (Trader Joe’s Organic Tempeh) into cubes and boil them for about 20 minutes in salted water.

Tempeh Salad Mixture

* I drain these cubes and let them cool a bit. Then I mash them with a potato masher until crumbly

* I add (eyeballing along the way) Veganaise (vegan mayo) – about 1/4 to 1/2 cup

* Green onions, minced – about 6

* Half of a red or yellow bell pepper, diced

* 4 stalks of celery, diced

* About 3-4 Tbsp pickle relish

* 1-2 Tbsp each dijon mustard and spicy brown mustard

* 1 tsp garlic powder

* 2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes or fresh parsley

* Juice of half a lemon or more to taste

* Salt & Pepper to taste

** Add it all together, mix well and let sit in refrigerator for at least an hour. Overnight is best, if you can wait that long!

– My hubby and daughter like this between two pieces of toasted wheat bread with sprouts and avocado on top. We keep this in the fridge at all times, I make a batch of it about once a week. This is one of my husbands favorite things to take to the station.

I like to take a large collard green leaf, wash it, dry it and cut off the bottom part of the stem and slice the stem flat on the veiny side of the leaf.

I slather a bunch of Kale Spread on the bottom, slap a sandwich sized amount of the Tempeh Salad Mixture on top of that followed by Daikon Sprouts, Avocado and a little Salt & Pepper. After I finished rolling the green wrap I realized I forgot bean sprouts! I’ll add that next time as well as some leftover blanched asparagus!

Collard Wraps with Tempeh Filling

I’ve noticed that the leaves roll better after sitting in the fridge for a couple days. I’ve been making a few of these at a time, wrapping them in plastic wrap and storing them in the fridge for lunches or snacks on the go.

YUMMY!!!!

Garlic Kale Hummus

I’m always thinking about how I can make more spreads to go on our veggie sandwiches/wraps. Plain or Red Pepper Hummus is generally our go-to spread but I’m learning to venture out a little. I’m always looking for ways to get more healthy greens into my daily diet so I came up with this “Kale Garlic Sandwich Spread”. (I’ll go into detail about kale soon – all the details you need!)

First I start with one bunch of kale – I like to use Lacinato Kale the most, also called “Black Kale” or “Elephant Kale. There are two other kinds of kale – red and green. The red and green look similar except for the color. They are a little more prickly than the lacinato and provide a little different texture. I used green kale for this recipe because that’s all I had on hand.

I also love garlic… who doesn’t!?!

I threw this little mixture together yesterday and it came out pretty good!

Kale Spread

* 1 bunch of kale – I used green kale

* 4-6 cloves garlic

* Juice of half a lemon

* Splash of bean-cooking liquid (or water)

* 1 can white beans – drained

* Salt & Pepper to taste

I mixed all these ingredients in my food processor until smooth, scraping the sides along the way.

I wonder if my toddler will eat this on pasta or toast with avocado? Hmmm… I”m going to try that tomorrow!

End Result:

Garlic Kale Spread