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- 1 cup hot water
- 1 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 tsp agave nectar
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp ginger juice or root grated
Wild Mushroom Pâté with Crudités
July 26th, 2010 |
| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I hope everyone has had a great weekend because the week is upon us already! My weekend was filled with interesting tidbits ranging from a crazy and deranged migraine to a mildly sick husband to a then nice visit with a friend from Texas. I know it is a mixture of things but I can say right now that my Sunday is ending on a nice note.
I think I finally figured what might be bringing about these migraines this weekend. I ended up chatting with another fellow blogger who also expressed her migraine woes from this weekend. We finally agreed it had to do with this darn humidity and heat. I know y’all are probably sick of me expressing my migraine woes but I think I have honed in on a nice cure for the meantime. I am totally NOT a pill popper when treating ailments but God reminded me of the Natural Remedies book in my library, so I turned to the migraine page and read on the herbs that are good for migraines. I loved the herbs that they listed because I had most of them in my kitchen. I started with my base tea:
And then added the herbs recommended:
I drank this Friday night before going to bed and literally went to bed with NO pain! Praise the Lord. I had also rubbed a Headache Ease Oil on my pressure points which consisted of peppermint, lavendar, rosemary, wintergreen, ylang-ylang, roman chamomile, clove, and jojoba oil. This was and is very soothing!
I know that migraines can be painful but there is a natural solution. Beside the detox that I am currently on, I am taking calcium and magnesium and other minerals. Studies show that migraines are due to an electrolyte imbalance so having a daily dose of minerals is essential.
I awoke Saturday ready to have my voice lesson. Since Ryan had a sore throat, he decided to stay home since it is not good to sing while sick. I had a wonderful lesson vocalizing and sustaining to a high D. I was so happy. I love working on my range for sure! We then focused on an aria from Puccini’s opera Turandot called Signore Ascolta. I had it memorized and performed it for my teacher. We then worked on phrasing and interpretation and sustaining the right high notes. After a few tries I finally got it. I was so happy! Here is what the aria sounds like:
After this voice lesson, I visited Holland’s farmer’s market and found a delicious amount of veggies, ready to be consumed for the week.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I decided that dinner had to be surrounded by raw veggies and a new recipe I recently saw on C’est La Vegan. Even though this is a mock pâté, it is, in my opinion, a GREAT vegan version. I hate to admit it but my Chilean grandmother used to serve liver pâté with chilean biscuits at tea time. Egad! I am glad that was just on several occasions and not a regular habit. Anyway, this Mushroom Pâté is very flavorful and is even better tasting the day after.
Prepare the pâté the day before or early in the morning so that the flavors have time to come together. I served it with raw veggies otherwise known as crudités. I used my zucchini, celery and a lemon cucumber that I found. I had never had a lemon cucumber and was excited to try it.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I started by using oyster mushrooms and I sauteed them with onions, garlic, and thyme until the liquid evaporated.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Then I placed them in the food processor with ground almonds and olive oil and a little sea salt to come to this final product. Enjoy!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Wild Mushroom Pâté
adapted from C’est La Vegan
makes 2 cups
2 cup finely chopped white onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cup finely chopped wild mushrooms (combo of shitake and oyster mushrooms)
1 1/2 teaspoons dry thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup toasted almonds, finely ground
1/2 tsp Herbamare (Seasoned salt)
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Toast the ground almonds in the oven on 400F for 3-5 minutes until golden brown.
Sauté the onion, garlic, mushrooms, and thyme in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until the liquids evaporate. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the almonds and the remaining olive oil. In a food processor, combine the mushroom mixture and the almond mixture, the balsamic vinegar and Herbamare.
Chill and serve with crackers or vegetables.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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BBQ Seitan Ribz
July 24th, 2010
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Today was my first day plunging back into my exercise routine and boy did it have repercussions. I woke up at 8am and chose to go to my gym’s kickboxing class since I knew that I was not going to be able to go in the evening. I remember telling the instructor that I would be taking my own pace since I did not want to over do it. I felt like I did the best not to over work myself, but I still ended up with a red face. What does a red face usually mean for me? An impending migraine except I did not think it would affect me.
After my workout I came home and blended my morning smoothie with the new protein shake and detox meal that my naturopath gave me and made sure I followed my meal plan based on 1300 calories. I tried not to make it hard for myself when I found out I was eating too much fruit. A body that has not been detoxed tends to have other issues such as problems with too much yeast. My fruit intake require attention which meant I only can half 1/2 cup berries counting as 1 serving. I think I am going to be all right. The good thing is that I continue to make my green smoothies with half water and half almond milk. I was glad to know that the smoothie did not taste all too bad.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
My work day continued and I kept in mind that I was to eat every 3 hours whether it was a snack, lunch, or another smoothie. Do you know that I felt full most of the day? I really did not crave anything but I felt like I was full of good stuff.
Upon rising: Vitamin C powder (1tsp) in water
Breakfast: Protein Smoothie with berries, almond milk, and spinach
Snack (skipped) was too full from smoothie
Lunch: Leftover Multi-colored Green Salad
Pre-workout Snack: Another smoothie
Dinner: BBQ Seitan Ribz with a big green salad.
I played raquetball with Ryan even with a headache but at my own pace. I managed to get dinner together and decided I did not want to take anything for my migraine since I was detoxing. I did not see the need to ingest unnecessary pills. But here I am at 11pm, after 9 hours of this dreadful headache, wondering if I eill be able to sleep tonight and be ready for a VOICE LESSON! Sigh. I hope and pray so! All I know is that tomorrow is another day and today is an evening to share a new recipe for me.
Seitan is the new vegan meat for me. I first tried seitan when I bought Uptons Naturals and made the Lasagna in a Bowl and Supreme Vegan Pizza. I really like their products but since they only sell them at Whole Foods and it is nearly an hour away, I decided it was time to try my hand at making seitan. Now I know I have many non-vegan readers so I want to start by explaining what seitan is made of.
Seitan is pronounced SAY-tan and is “‘wheat meat.‘ It’s made by a process that removes the starch and bran from whole wheat flour. The result is a dough-like food with a high gluten content which has no saturated fat or cholesterol.” Essentially it is considered a wheat protein and is heavily consumed by vegans.
It has been nearly 10 months since I transitioned into veganism and I had yet tried making my own. I had read many articles and blog posts sharing that it was MUCH MORE tastier when made at home as opposed to buying it pre-made.
How did I decide what recipe to make? Well, it all depended on the time I had so I came across Susan’s recipe on Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. It sounded too easy since most recipes required boiling or steaming. Even so, I decided to make her recipe which required oven baking and grilling. I had a hard time planning tonight’s meal because I had not tasted this recipe so I winged it. This dinner came out more like a COOKOUT meal than ever. I steamed some corn for Ryan and I made a big romaine lettuce and kale salad to accompany the Seitan Ribz. The seitan recipe is a mock on real ribs, which I NEVER preferred, but this recipe won me over.
I mixed the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I mixed them together to bring the dough together. I used my hands since it require kneading.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I then sprayed coconut oil on an 8x* glass dish and spread the dough onto the dish. I cut the dough in 16 parts with a knife.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
It baked for 25 minutes, while I preheated a stovetop grill with olive oil. When the seitan was baked, I added 1 1/2 Tbsp BBQ sauce and brushed until evenly spread. I turned it over on the grill for a great flavor.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
After 5 minutes, I removed from heat and RIBZ were ready to pull apart!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Prepare a big salad and enjoy!
BBQ Seitan Ribz
serves 4
slightly adapted from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons tahini or other nut butter
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke (I omitted, since this is not healthy, I added Dijon)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 Tbsp BBQ sauce + more for serving
Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly spray an 8×8 baking dish with coconut spray. Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the water with the nut butter, Dijon, and soy sauce and add it to the dry ingredients. Stir to mix well and then knead lightly in the bowl for a couple of minutes.
Put the dough into the baking dish and flatten it so that it evenly fills the pan. Take a sharp knife and cut it into 8 strips; then turn the pan and cut those strips in half to form 16 pieces:
Put it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. While it’s cooking, prepare your grill.
Remove it from the oven and carefully re-cut each strip, going over each cut to make sure that the ribz will pull apart easily later. Generously brush the top with barbecue sauce. Take it to the grill and invert the whole baking dish onto the grill (or use a large spatula to lift the seitan out, placing it sauce-side down on the grill). Brush the top of the seitan with more sauce:
Watch it closely to make sure that it doesn’t burn. When it’s sufficiently brown on one side, turn over and cook the other side, adding more sauce, if necessary. When done, remove to a platter and cut or pull apart the individual ribs to serve.
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Multi-colored Green Salad with Tortilla Strips and Avocado-Serrano Dressing
July 23rd, 2010 |
| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
We are finally home after an extra few days in Texas. We returned to find all things where they should be along with some sad plants and herbs. I quickly watered them and waited for them to look happy. Evidently there had been some hot weather since there were some patches of scorched grass.
We settled in and started talking about how our exercise routine needed to be back in place. I wondered today why it tended to be so hard to exercise while visiting family. I know that while on a vacation, I like walking ALOT and forget using any form of transportation, so I know I will be getting lots of excerise, but while visiting family, well that is another thing. We are terribly disciplined at home and even work out twice in one day, but it amazes me that I can’t seem to fit in my exercise DVDs.
Does anyone else seem to have this problem?
Today I just eased into a gentle routine and planned to start my workout routine with a little Zumba. Little did I know that when I arrived the class had been cancelled! The gym is pretty good about sending emails communicating cancellations but it seemed to happen very last minute that there was no time. I returned home and decided to do a workout DVD for 30 minutes since I promised to visit the kickboxing class tomorrow. I kind of feel like I am going to be sorry about that. I am trying to stay positive.
Tomorrow I start back on my prescribed calorie intake of 1300 calories along with my protein supplement for my smoothies and all my vitamins and minerals. Today I was reminded of a verse in Matthew 4:4 “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ “
Even though I keep a food blog I tend to focus on food too much at times and am reminded that food is for nourishment. Even though I have some people tell me I must spend SO SO much preparing meals and planning such fancy dishes, I do not feel that I am cooking any differently than when I was preparing non-vegan meals. Ryan has even been told that he should look double his size with the foods I have been cooking. I know that sometimes people speak out of ignorance, but what people do not know is that this vegan lifestyle has been a personal conviction to focus on whole foods and to bring my physical lifestyle into check.
So what does all this mean? I hope that you continue enjoying the recipes that I keep posting because even though it is a recipe journal this is also a blog about my journey to regain control and discipline. Abusing this temporal body is not what I am called to do.
Moving right along…Today I made a delicious Berry Parfait Torte for dessert and an enormous dinner salad to cleanse my stomach. I started with picking some serrano peppers from my pots. I was happy to put them to good use.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I deveined these a bit and seeded them and set them aside for the dressing. The salad I envisioned was going to be a fusion of a Mexican and a Raw Green Salad that could be prepared in a salad bar. I added shredded carrots and beets for fiber along with some chickpeas for MORE fiber! Cilantro gave it it’s Mexican flair while the avocado-serrano dressing sealed all the flavors. Tortilla strips came in for the crunch.
Enjoy this salad since it is a hearty and healthy salad that has all the essentials.
I submitted this to My Kitchen Addiction Salad Challenge for Kitchen Bootcamp!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Multi-colored Green Salad with Tortilla Strips and Avocado-Serrano Dressing
serves 6
5 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 beet, spiralized or grated
2 carrots, spiralized or grated
1/2 English cucumber, peeled
1 1/2 cups chickpeas
Wash all the vegetables and peel the beets, carrots, and cucumbers. Add to a big salad bowl.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Baked Tortilla Strips
8 tortillas, cut in 1/4 inch strips lengthwise
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place tortilla strips on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Avocado-Serrano Dressing
2 serrano peppers, deveined and seeded
1 tomato, quarted
1 avocado, seeded and peeled
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
Prepare all the vegetables and place in a food processor and blend well. This dressing is going to be a bit thick but perfect as the dressing. Prepare first before the salad so that it can be refrigerated before preparations.
Assembly
Add dressing and tortilla strips to the salad bowl and toss with salad dressing.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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Vegan eats and 3 days later
July 18th, 2010Hello folks. Today I figured I would be writing from Michigan but instead I post from Houston. We were getting ready for our flight on Saturday and geting ready to say our goodbyes, while Ryan was going to print our boarding passes when he returned to to me and shut the bedroom door. He begins by telling me that we missed our flight. Instead of flying on Saturday we were supposed to fly on Friday. D’oh!
I was amazed that I hardly had a reaction. I mean what could we do? All we had to do was wait for the next flight. Um, no. Our next possible flight would be for Wednesdays, 4 day later. Thanks GOD that we did not have to pay extra but our frequent flyer miles were transferable. Thumbs up! Have you ever asked yourself why things like this happen? I mentioned to Ryan that we needed to thank God for protecting us and even though we do NOT know why we missed our flight, we thank Him for our provisions.
Meanwhile, we have been trying to figure out how to spend our time. I mean that has not been hard. Work goes on normally for meanwhile Ryan figures it out for himself. Crazy how life is, so our 10 day trip turns out to be 14 days. What to do?
Tonight we hope to see Inception, which we have heard from LOTS of people say that it is by far the BEST movie EVER to come out. The screenplay has been in the works over 10 years so I guess it has to be a pretty perfect movie, eh?
Since we know we have extra days here I have been cooking fo my in-laws. Last night I made some brown rice to accompany two types of stir-fry. One had pressed and marinated tofu with mushrooms and another had chicken with the same veggies.
After we ate dinner we had time to rest before having some cinnamon rolls. These are cinnamon rolls made for muffin cups but this is the second time they do not rise as they should. I think I am officially not a good cinnamon roll expert. Probably good that I am not great at this type of bread recipe. 🙂
These were perfect for the afternoon rain we received.
You know what is also perfect? Iced coffee. Ryan had extra french press coffee left over from a Starbucks visit and he split it with me. I poured som agave and almond milk over ice and coffee and perfections!
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A naturopathic visit after 9 months
July 16th, 2010Hello from humid and hot Houston. We have two and a half days before we return home but no rush since it will probably will be hot and humid in Michigan. We have loved visiting with family and visiting friends and enjoying good laughs.
One thing I also took advantage of while being in Houston was to make sure I was able to go to a naturopath. I expressed 2 months that I had not seen ANY weight change despite my energy and overall increased exercise regimen. I have been playing racquetball in afternoons while I added a Zumba class and recently added a kickboxing class.
I tried looking for a naturopath in Michigan but I was not getting much help from area folks. So after a few days in Houston, I was recommended a naturopath and nutritionist that had helped a mission pastor’s wife regain hormonal balance. After that, the whole family started seeing the naturopath. This is what I needed. I immediately made an appointment and found out that the test included hair analysis, a quick blood test and many other things.
Even though I have lost nearly 25 pounds, I KNOW my body was missing something or that perhaps I was doing something wrong. Ryan agreed and totally back my going to this recommended naturopath.
I had a body composition test performed where I was later told what my current Body Mass Index was and what my ideal weight should be for my height. I had been asked what my goal weight was and the naturopath stated it was healthy. The test also indicated the amount of fat my body was carrying which helped to know this number. I know God has been giving me strength not to look at numbers, but to know that I am wanting to make a change. THIS IS A BIG STEP.
The test also explained my cell health through the Extracellular cell and Intracellular cell. The extracellular water is the amount of water OUTSIDE of the cell. Higher levels indicate fluid retention, toxicity, allergies, stress, malabsorption, and insulin resistance. I have HIGH levels opf at least 8%. One important fact that I was trying to grasp and explain to Ryan and others that a person trying to lose weight can STILL be toxic. I felt that God had been revealing this to me and thus the reason for introducing a more RAW lifestyle.
The intracellular water is the amount of water inside the cell which is also the muscle water. Healthy cells maintain their integrity and hold their fluid inside. My levels were LOW which indicates low minerals and electrolytes at 9% the normal level.
Yes, I know it could sound depressing but for me it tells me the next step I need to take in addition to my eating lifestyle. I really had not been incorporating vitamins or minerals to my diet since I thought I could flush through the right foods I consumed. I then realized that a proper detoxification NEEDS to happen with the right consumption of vitamins and minerals.
My blood test indicated I am deficient in Vitamin B12. I was able to see a picture of my red blood cells floating with the occasional white blood cell indicating the B12 deficiency. How comforting, right? This is a picture of what one of my white blood cell looked like.
I also saw some red blood cells with a circle in the middle but there were not so many. It indicated a little anemia which was explained that it was attributed to the B12 deficiency. The following picture is a more pronounced case of anemia, but it shows you the nucleated red blood cell (circle in the middle).
All red blood cells need to be round and I had the occasional slightly oval red blood cell that indicated a little protein deficiency. I know that there have been people that have thought that people should not eat a certain way for their blood type but supposedly the naturopath explained that Type A blood did better with a vegetarian diet. I explained that I was following a vegan lifestyle and hoped not to incorporate eggs or dairy.
The naturopath stated that I would need to focus on making sure I was getting my 1300 calories for my body type and eating a food on the low glycemic chart. I sat down with the nutritionist and we realized I was eating all the right foods but that my limit on these foods needed attention. I am NOT to focus on too many grains but making sure I had one serving and to focus more on vegatables and proteins in the form of tofu, beans, and tempeh. I was fine with that.
All this set plan was to be supplemented with protein powders to be added to my daily smoothies. I was asked if I consumed smoothies or if it would be an issue. Good thing I was stuck on those. I was to start adding flaxseed oil to my smoothies so that I could be getting a dosI have of Omega nutrition for my essential fatty acids.Thumbs up. My protein powder is vegan so that was great. I was also given a detox powder to also add to my smoothie so that I can start detoxing my liver and gallbladder.
It feels GREAT to have direction for better health. If it is ANY encouragement to anyone having a hard time losing weight it has to do with the way our red blood cells show to us. How wonderful and powerful is that?
Who said making a lifestyle was easy? I totally do not want to discourage anyone, but despite my exercising EVERY day and eating well for the past 9 months, I have the seen results like others because I believe that my body needs to heal itself with detoxing and proper vitamin and mineral consumption. I hope and PRAY that 9 months from now I can be better informed and feel EVEN better.
The key is persistance and a good support system and God’s strength. So even though people follow different lifestyles for ethical reasons I will follow it because God calls me to be a healthy person INSIDE and OUT through his strength and power not by my own strength. I look forward to the next 9 months and what it will show me.
