Robust Tomato Based Veggie Stew with Eggplant and Sun-dried Tomatoes

A few days ago I decided to concoct a new recipe with some ingredients I had on hand.  It turned out to be very tasty so I am posting it here for anyone who likes these ingredients.

This recipe is so rich and flavorful that you will be satisfied with a small serving. It has lots of powerful plant nutrients too. Be sure to use organic ingredients wherever possible.  Makes a wonderful meal served with a green salad.

½ large yellow onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, diced

½ medium sized eggplant, diced (about 2 cups)

2 tablespoons crushed garlic

1 link Tofurkey Italian sausage, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil (or use olive oil cooking spray)

½ cup sundried tomato, chopped (I used the type that is marinated   
  in olive oil)

26 ounce can of seasoned spaghetti sauce (e.g., garlic and onion)

14 ounce can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning

½ cup dry cooking sherry

2 teaspoons dried sweet basil

15 ounce can of black beans, drained

In a large sauce pot, sauté the onion, pepper, eggplant, garlic and Italian sausage in olive oil or olive oil cooking spray for a few minutes to soften.  Add sundried tomato, spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, cooking sherry, basil and black beans.  Simmer until all ingredients are tender and flavors are blended, about 30 minutes.  Enjoy!!!

Veggie Weight Loss Plan

Yesterday I decided to start a weight loss program based on a combination of several different plans I have read about.  My goal is to lose about 20 pounds in the next 7 weeks.  One of the plans is a vegetarian option focusing on low starch vegetables and high fiber fruits and whole grains.  This is the Eat to Live Diet which was discussed in one of my previous posts. (Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss)  The second plan is also vegetarian (although it also includes options for nonvegetarians) and includes more selections of high protein grains and legumes such as quinoa, soy, and nut butters--one small serving with each meal or snack.  This plan also emphasizes 15 minutes of high intensity weight training at least 3 times per week.  I will try to manage the intensity level as best I can even though I am not very big on high stress workouts.  I will probably include more types of interval workouts which alternate cardio and weights.  Here is a link to the Fat Burning Furnace diet plan if you want to check it out: Click Here!  The third plan focuses on belly fat by suggesting foods that help to target that part of the body.  These foods are packed with monunsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) which help to burn fat and reduce inflammation, including olive oil, avocados and certain nuts and seeds.  The best book I have found which centers on this concept is this one: Flat Belly Diet!    All of these plans have options that I really like, so I am going to pick the foods and the suggestions that appeal the most to me and see how it goes, making adjustments as I go along.  I will report here on my progress periodically.

These are the basic foods I will be eating:  green veggies (lettuce, kale, bell peppers, broccoli, green beans, spinach, asparagus, brussel sprouts, cabbage, celery, cucumber, zucchini, artichoke), other low starch veggies (cauliflower, eggplant, onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots), plant proteins (soybeans, tofu, black/navy/pinto beans, chick peas (garbanzos), lentils, green peas, raw nuts and nut butters, seeds), high fiber fruits (apples, oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, papaya, bananas, berries, grapes, peaches, pineapples, mangos), whole grains (oats, whole wheat pasta or bread, rye, quinoa, millet, barley, sprouted grain bread or tortillas), and other nutrient rich whole foods such as sweet potato, melons and fresh corn (limited quantities).  Fats include olive oil, avocados, nut oils, sesame oil and coconut oil, plus flax seeds.

For beverages I will try to stick to herbal teas and water or mineral water flavored with small amounts of fruit juice such as freshly squeezed lemon, lime or grapefruit, or blended smoothies made with fresh fruit and soy or almond milk.

For two meals a day I will include 2 servings of fruit or veggies (about a cup each), 1 serving of protein (palm of the hand for legumes or tofu), and one serving of carbohydrates (1/2 to one cup depending on how dense the food is).  The third meal will be primarily low starch veggies and a small serving of protein.  Fats should be limited to small portions, just enough to stir fry the veggies or add texture to salad dressings (sticking to low fat dressings on salads).

For snacks I plan to include cut veggies such as carrots, celery, cucumber, zucchini seasoned with herbs and some fat free marinade.  Also apples or applesauce, edamame, or some raw nuts and seeds.  Green salads with low starch veggies and fat-free sugar-free dressing can also be used as snacks, and can be included with meals without adding much to total calories.  For a treat, the Flat Belly Diet also allows some indulgence in dark chocolate, which has natural substances that boost good HDL cholesterol, relax blood vessels and help regulate insulin and seratonin, the "feel good" brain chemical.  The darker the chocolate the higher the cacao content and the least amount of sweetener will be added in processing.  It is possible to find good organic chocolate that is lightly sweetened with organic evaporated cane juice; I look for chocolate that is at least 70% cacao and has less than 7 grams of sugar per 100 calorie serving.

For the next 7 weeks I am going to stay away from added sugar (with the exception of the small amounts in dark chocolate) or excess sodium, and highly processed foods.  Even some of the meatless veggie products such as veggie burgers can contain ingredients that are not natural so I am going to read the ingredients before I buy them.  In sticking with natural whole foods, I believe that my body will get all the nutrients it needs and be relieved of some of the burdens of filtering out toxic chemicals that are found in many of the processed foods we find in grocery stores.

OK, that's the plan.  I will report my progress and any pitfalls I run into as I go along....

Food Agenda 2020

Please consider this important alert from the Organic Consumers Association and learn how you can take action to help change our policies relating to food production. I would also add that when we choose to buy healthy, natural and environmentally friendly products we are placing a vote with our wallets and adding demand for those products while decreasing the demand for those that have detrimental effects on ourselves and our world.

Three Food Policies Essential to Solving the Climate Crisis:

1. Truth in Labeling --Tell Consumers How Food Choices Impact Climate Change

Local, organic & fair trade food and products are the climate-friendly, humane and healthy choice, but consumers should have the same right to know when their purchases have a negative impact on health, justice or sustainability. Food labels should reveal the presence of genetically engineered ingredients and pesticide residues, the use of antibiotics and artificial hormones, the product's carbon footprint and its country of origin.

2. Green Budget Priorities--Subsidize Solutions Not Pollution!

Voters want clean energy, green jobs, and a food system that's local, organic and fair trade, but it's not going to happen as long as our tax dollars are spent on industrial food and farming, fossil fuels, and war.

U.S. taxpayer subsidies to fossil fuels and industrial food and farming amount to $60 billion a year, while resource wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost us $200 billion annually. This wasted money is enough to fast-track the conversion of the U.S. and global economy to organic agriculture and clean energy and save the world from climate catastrophe.

3. Regulations That Promote Health and Sustainability--Protect Consumers and the Environment from Hazardous Agricultural Practices

Consumers often complain that local, organic and fair trade products are too expensive. Of course, you can economize on your organic food or green product purchases if you can buy directly from the farmer or producer or buy in bulk quantities with others in your community, but there's no denying that Food Inc.'s "business as usual" practices - polluting the earth, destabilizing the climate, using toxic chemicals, cutting corners on ingredients and nutrition, and exploiting workers from the farm to the checkout counter - generate products with lower sticker prices. However if you add in the hidden health and environmental costs and collateral damage of GMOs, pesticides, antibiotics, heavily processed and packaged foods, and the climate and environmental "footprint" of chemical and energy-intensive food and farming, our cheap food system is in fact dangerously expensive.

To level the playing field for healthy, organic climate-friendly foods and products, we need to make the polluters and junk food purveyors pay for the damage they are causing to public health and the environment. We need to demand sensible and equitable regulations from our elected public officials that protect consumers and the environment, and we need these policies now, not in ten years. We can start by phasing out the inhumane confinement of animals in factory farms and eliminating billion dollar subsidies for genetically engineered crops and biofuels. We can phase out toxic pesticides, methane generating chemical fertilizers, artificial hormones, the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics, sewage sludge "fertilizer," and animal feed made from slaughterhouse waste.

Sign the Petition: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4442

Organic Solutions to Climate Crisis

Just returned from a very relaxing holiday (vacation) in beautiful Kauai.  If you've never been there I highly recommend going. It has a great variety of scenery from the dry eastern side of the island which boasts a mini grand canyon to the rainforest interior that has the honor of having the wettest spot on earth, receiving an average of over 35 feet of rain annually! Of course there are beautiful beaches galore for swimming, snorkeling and boogie boarding. The island has also been the location for filming of countless movies and television shows, including Jurassic Park, Gilligan's Island, Fantasy Island, Blue Hawaii (Elvis Presley), and more recently Pirates of the Caribbean 4, a new Adam Sandler movie (not yet named), and a new movie with George Clooney titled The Descendants I was told.  There are island tours you can take that are specifically geared for pointing out many movie locations.  And don't miss taking either a helicopter or boat tour of the breathtaking Napali Coastline with its jagged and lush vertical cliffs.  

Hawaiian cuisine can be quite interesting and delicious; I especially enjoyed the fresh caught fish such as Ono and Ahi.  There is also locally raised grass fed beef which is used by many of the high end restaurants.  (I am not a beef eater so I didn't partake in the local beef dishes.)  The local fruits and veggies are absolutely incredible--fresh sweet pineapples, mangoes, papayas and bananas, plus Hawaiian staples such as the traditional taro root and some rice farms that were created by migrant Chinese sugar plantation workers.  Kauai had the first commercial sugar mill that was built in Hawaii, although sugar production has now declined and is no longer a major Hawaiian crop, and the sugar mill is no longer operational.  There is still lots of wild sugar cane growing by the side of the roads. 

One of the newer crops in Kauai is the cacao plant which is grown by small local farms.  There are several companies now producing gourmet chocolate which can be purchased in some of the grocery stores.  We took a tour of one organic farm that practices biodiversity and raises many different kinds of tropical fruits along with the cacao. There is an increasing emphasis in buying locally grown organic produce, and you will find many farmers markets available in different locations on the island. 

Speaking of organic farming, here is the "quote of the week" that I found in an e-mail from the Organic Consumers Association: 

"The future of life on this planet may depend on what we eat. Factory farmed junk food is the #1 cause of climate change, but we can save the planet by going organic.

"The greenhouse gas emissions from factory farms, deforestation, industrial crop production, food processing, and long-distance distribution make the food sector the biggest cause of climate change, responsible for at least a third of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Factory farmed meat, dairy and eggs alone may contribute as much as 51%!

"But we can change food system pollution into food system solutions. A worldwide shift to local, organic food production would drastically reduce food system emissions and turn the world's farmland into a carbon sink to capture and store 40% of global greenhouse gas pollution."

- Excerpt from Organic Consumers Association's "Food Agenda 2020: The Organic Alternative" http://organicconsumers.org/food-agenda/