Recipe Review: Cashew Ranch Dressing and Fudgy Black Bean Brownies

I am not a talented cook--but by golly, my reading skills are above average so hopefully I can follow a recipe accurately! I had a great grandmother who never needed a recipe book--she cooked from her heart. Me, I'm a technical writer by trade and need to read the manual! I enjoy getting recipes from all over the Internet and various cook books. However, my favorite two sources are: 

Website: Susan Voisin's FatFree Vegan Kitchen, http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/ Susan blogs from the Deep South and develops yummy vegan recipes. Much of her work falls within Dr. Fuhrman's Eat-to-Live nutritarian diet. Susan gives practical tips for the preparation of each recipe. For example, if you're making the Cashew Ranch Dressing, she advises you soak the cashews for a few hours if you don't have a powerful blender like the Vitamix. Because I am not a divinely talented cook, I appreciate instructions like this!

Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live Cookbook. This cookbook contains about 200 recipes from smoothies to salads to main entrees such as stews, soups, and more. I have this fantasy of making a recipe from his book each day and blogging about it--as did that young woman in the movie who blogged about cooking Julia Child's recipes. I'd really like to take a shot at it as it will give me a reason to really stick to the Eat-to-Live regime and get some writing practice in. I don't think there is a movie deal in it for me, but becoming healthier and getting off my pre-diabetes medicine is a good possibility.  

Today's recipe review includes: 

* Cashew Ranch Dressing, from Susan Voisin's FatFree Vegan Kitchen. The main ingredients are cashews and non-dairy milk with seasonings. The surprise ingredient for those unfamiliar with it is chia seeds. These little babies are packed with protein and fiber. The seeds are small and grind up well. You won't taste them. I diverted from Susan's recipe by adding a bit of Mrs. Dash instead of chives. This dressing was cool and creamy on my salad. I don't miss the bottled ranch dressing from the store--fresh, home-made is so much better. Aside from soaking the cashews for four hours, this recipe took less than five minutes to whip up in the blender. Don't worry--you don't need a Vitamix to do this. (I don't have one either.) My good old Osterizer blender worked. 

* Fudgy Black Bean Brownies, from Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live Cookbook. I made this in my food processor. I used the S blade and processed the ingredients until they were smooth and were starting to form a heavy ball of dough. The batter had the texture of fudge, heavy fudge, more than it did that of traditional brownie batter. I was skeptical at first because there is no liquid ingredient or oil in the recipe except that of the small amount of almond butter. There's no sugar--dates take the place of that.
      My teenagers refused to try the brownies. My son held up a small pot of dirt next to the brownies. "Hm, there's no difference," he said. I had to laugh. My daughter smiled politely and said she didn't want to try them. My husband took one bite and said with great feeling, "YUCK." I am not sure I will make these again
--I think they'd be nice with walnuts. 

Looks like I'll have those brownies all to myself. Have you made this recipe? And did your family like it?

Reboot Tools for a New Year

It's a new year. A time to make and break resolutions--or to succeed. I've been stalled on my weight loss for several months now. Why? It's a tangled mesh of external factors that challenge me and my own bad choices. Time to start anew. Why do I want to lose weight? Well, I'm past the age of wanting to rock a bikini, so here's what I want to achieve and why: 

• Lose weight to lower my blood sugar and cholesterol and get off metformin forever. 
• Strengthen my core so that my lower back is more stable and pain free (I have degenerative disc disease in my lower back as many of us middle-aged folk do). 
• Increase my cardio endurance to keep my heart healthy and so I can get back to some activities I used to enjoy when I was younger. 
• Advance in yoga so I remain flexible.
• Take up weight-bearing exercises to strengthen my bones. 
• Stay healthy physically so that I can maintain mental clarity.

I want to live a long life, but I want a healthy long life. I want to age "gracefully" and maintain my independence as long as I can. I'd like to enjoy my grand children some day and pursue a useful and meaningful life for as long as I can. 

I'm rebooting. I've assembled some "tools" to help me. Here they are--take a look. Some of them you may find useful. 

Nutrition Tools 

• Dr. Fuhrman's Eat-to-Live books. For those who wish to transition to a vegan, plant-based diet or who just wish to incorporate more plant foods in their eating, these books explain the health benefits of this type of diet. Dr. Fuhrman's "nutritarian" diet as he calls it, incorporates beans, legumes, fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts. In his food pyramid, there is flexibility for those who still wish to eat meat and diary. He recently published a cookbook. For more information, go to http://www.drfuhrman.com/
• Dr. Michael Gregor, NutritionFacts.org. Dr. Gregor provides free videos several times a week with updates on nutrition and research findings on the impact nutrition has on our health. His quirky sense of humor and the ease with which he explains science will get you hooked. You can find him at http://nutritionfacts.org/. He also has a channel on YouTube.
• MyFitnessPal.com. I use this free online tool to track my eating choices, nutrition, and exercise. It's very educational to see what my eating choices are really worth.
• Vegetarian Society of Hawaii. Even if you don't plan to give up meat and just want to start eating more plants in your diet, this group uploads its once-a-month lectures on Youtube. Search for vhsvideo and subscribe to their channel. Overall, this channel has provided me with solid information from doctors and nutritionists such as Colin Campbell, Joel Furhman, Neal Barnard, and John McDougall. Website: http://www.vsh.org/

Exercise Tools

• Bands and tubes. A few months ago I entered physical therapy to help me strengthen my lower back and manage pain. My physical therapist has taught me how to use bands and tubes to exercise at home. The exercises she gives me both stretch and strengthen my muscles. 
• Yoga. I have been using Alan Finger's yoga DVDs at home. He explains each poise carefully and thoroughly. He has two instructors, one on each side of him, showing the beginning level and the advanced level for each poise.  I also follow Ekhart Yoga on YouTube to find supplemental poises for specific problems I am having. Yoga has given me flexibility and strength; it has also helped me clear up asthma. 
• Horses. When I have access to a horse, riding is such great spirit therapy and exercise.
• The Great Outdoors. Walking outside is great for cardio, your back, and your spirit.

Motivational Tools

• Facebook Groups. I joined some Eat-to-Live and vegan support groups. We truly cheer each other on and celebrate each other's success. If someone falls off the wagon for a day, a week, or month, there is no condemnation or judgement. Tomorrow is another day and a brand new start. I really need this support. I recently joined a Facebook group led by Judi Finneran for Eat-to-Live fans who have  specific weight goals. Judi is very perky and encouraging and posts useful information every day. 
• Friends with Similar Goals. Having a friend you have daily contact with to report to helps immensely. I find this particularly helpful if my family or spouse doesn't want to participate in health goals. 
• Eat-to-Live Yahoo Group. I get a daily email of postings from this group.We share recipes, questions and answers, nutritional information, reviews of cookbooks, advice on cooking appliances and tools, and so forth. I have a learned much from this group.

Cooking Tools 

• Dr. Fuhrman's Eat-to Live Cookbook. 
• Susan Voisin's blog, "FatFree Vegan Kitchen" at http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/. Susan blogs daily with wonderful, tasty vegan dishes. I hope she does a cookbook someday. 
• Robyn Openshaw, Green Smoothie Girl at http://greensmoothiegirl.com/. This website is packed with nutritional information on green smoothies, with recipes, and with directions on how to implement green smoothies in your diet. 
• Kitchen appliances such as blenders, food processors, and pressure cookers. Our cheap little Ninja blender has helped me use green smoothies to lose weight. Recently, I was given a food processor for Christmas--it makes creating salads and dressings for lunch so much easier. I am now coveting a pressure cooker for my birthday . . . 

Tools for the Spirit

What ever your beliefs are about making yourself a better person and shining light in your corner of the world, draw upon the power of those beliefs to keep you motivated on your journey to better health. It doesn't matter if you are Christian, Buddhist, Wiccan, or atheist! 

This is a lot of information--I've assembled my "toolkit" over the past two years. I'm 30 lbs. down and have several more to go. I hope you'll find some of these tools useful for your health goals. Good luck to all of us!