Meal plan

Monday:  Pepper Ridge Sandwiches (from My Beef with Meat)

Tuesday:  Sweet Potato and black bean quesadillas (from My Beef with Meat)

Wednesday:  bubbles and mash (from My Beef with Meat) 

Thursday:  spring rolls

Friday:  riza maraka (Chaldean dish my coworker, Candice, told me about)

My First Mother's Day

Nothing long, just short and sweet to remember my first Mother's Day.  Trevor had to work on early Sunday morning until 11ish.  Jack and I woke up together and snuggled in bed which is all I really wanted.  We had breakfast together (on the floor, it is his new favorite way to eat...unconstricted by a high chair) and then when Trevor came home we went to LA Cafe in Waterford to get Spuds-A-Rama...yum!  We were thinking of going to Seva in Detroit or Inn Season in Royal Oak but I didn't want to drive all over.  We did a few errands and then took a walk.  Trevor and Jack each got me a card and tickets for Trevor and I to go see Of Monsters and Men on 5/28.  I am pretty excited.  I really honestly didn't need or want anything but to spend time with my family.  I feel so blessed and love my boys so much, they are all enough and all I need.

Book Reviews

I've recently read 3 really great books on eating healthfully and I wanted to share them with my readers.  As I've stated before, I am an info junkie.  These are non-fiction, clearly, and interesting!  I got them all from the library (minimalist me only keeps cookbooks!), so they are readily available to pretty much anyone with access to a library.

Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss

Michael Moss is the man that first started all of the talk about the pink slime meat being sold in schools, fast food restaurants and supermarkets.  This book doesn't advocate a plant based whold foods diet but it does advocate being aware.  He breaks the book up into three sections, addressing how food processors and distributors use these three ingredients to entice us, hook us and keep us coming back for more.  In his investigative reporting he talks with heavy hitters in all sections of the industry.  He goes to labs that try to determine the WHY we have these attractions, the food scientists that manipulate the ingredients to figure out HOW to put them in foods and then marketers and CEOs that have to package all of these products so they are WHAT we buy.  What was really interesting is that I see a lot of issues with class.  Most of these white collared educated scientists, CEOs, and marketers do NOT eat the foods they sell.  They eat clean and work out.  This really bothered me.  It is well known that poor communities have a lack of places to get fresh food.  In addition, he likens the chemical and psychological reactions we have to these ingredients in these foods to nicotine addiction in cigarettes.  This makes sense since for a long time Phillip Morris (Marlboro) owned both General Foods and Kraft.  It also makes me think that we need more education about food to overcome the obesity epidemic as well as the healthcare crisis which I believe is mostly caused by people living unhealthy lives and looking for drugs and medicines rather than lifestyle changes.  In the end, while he does place heavy blame on the industry for creating addicting products that manipulate and abuse our natural instincts, Moss says that in the end we have a choice and that if we want things to change and we want to see better products and ingredients, then we need to vote with our dollars.  I whole heartedly agree.

The Starch Solution by John McDougall, MD   

I am a big fan of Dr. McDougall.  He is in the documentary Forks over Knives (which I HIGHLY recommend watching...it is free streaming on Netflix and Amazon, by the way).  He graduated from MSU (for the State fans out there) and is a part of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.  In this book he explains how starches (beans, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, pasta, etc) are NOT bad for us but rather what we do to them.  Baked potatoes are extremely healthy....until they are lathered in sour cream and butter.  These products are high in fiber, low in dietary fat, keep us fuller longer and give us most of the nutrients we need.  In the back he has several recipes which I plan to try next week.  I already kind of knew this information but it was nice to read the information on why and see studies he cited.  One MSU study had men eat what they normally do just adding in extra starches in carbs...huge amounts of bread actually.  These men lost weight, tons of it.  No shame in eating these foods, just don't eat french fries...eat a baked potato with steam broccoli and avocado...yum!

Mindless Eating by Brian Wansick

Like Salt Sugar Fat, this book doesn't advocate a plant based whold foods diet either but I still learned a lot.  Wansick is a professor that studies food psychology and our behaviors surrounding food.  I was extremely impressed with how so many of our food habits are dictated by things in our head and environment.  Things we THINK we have control over and THINK we are conscious of but really aren't.  He touches on the impact of plates/bowls/cups/silverware, the atmosphere where we are eating, the people we are eating with, the health perception of the food, the words used to describe the food, etc.  It really has made me think twice about the way I eat.  Especially the section related to food scripts.  He says that we have engrained in us times where we always eat, so we always do.  Like watching TV, at meetings, etc.  I am definitely guilty of this.  Also, he says that if we can see how much we have ate, we stop.  But foods that don't have evidence, we will over eat with.  This is really true.  I was eating cherries with Jack last night and notice we had so many pits.  So, I stopped before we demolished the box.  Blueberries however do not show that evidence.  All of his research was done in experiments on real, unsuspecting people.  It was a fun read learning how humans behave.  I definitely have become more mindful of my eating since then but I still have a long way to go.


In the end I definitely recommend all of these books.  On my list to read now are Whole by T. Colin Campbell, and The Pleasure Trap by Douglas Lisle. 

Weekly Menu

So last week I decided to share my meal plans to help give others ideas on how to eat healthier.  Check out the original post for ideas on breakfast, lunch and snacks.  Follow me on Instagram (@a16343) for pictures of my meals.  My dinners for this week are the following:

Sunday: 6 ingredient quick black bean burgers (with Ezekial brand buns, lettuce, avocado and tomato), teeny tiny roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, grilled corn on the cob

Monday:  Spinach, rice, chickpeas and gravy (I ended up eating out with Trev one night so this is from last week)

Tuesday:  California Quinoa Salad (made this last week and it was DELICIOUS), it called for half of most ingredients so I wanted to use them up this week-all I needed to buy was the edamame and limes

Wednesday:  Roasted tomato pilaf from Happy Herbivore Abroad (beans added)

Thursday:  Tempeh chili mac from Everyday Happy Herbivore with broccoli
 
Friday:  Ghandi bowl from Happy Herbivore Cookbook

I hate pumping

I love to nurse Jack. 

I love giving him the best food possible for him; no GMOs, no corn syrup, no cost.

I love that I was able to fight through SO many trials and still be breastfeeding him. 

I am lucky. 

But, I hate pumping. 

I hate carrying my pump to school. 

I hate washing the parts. 

I hate devoting 30 minutes of my prep hour every day to it. 

I hate having to eat my lunch alone every day. 

I hate having to do this in a freezing cold room. 

I hate having to drink nasty tea to help my supply because I don't get as much out of pumping as I do when nursing. 

But, I love pumping. 

I love that it has given me a new outlook on veganism. 

I love that I feel for dairy cows now more than ever. 

I love that it keeps me firm in my desires to not eat dairy. 

I love that every time I go to pump and send Trevor a text that whines "ugh, I hate this", it reminds me that I have a choice. A powerful one. 

I love that it shows me that just as I hate drinking that tea, I am sure the dairy cows hate being force fed an unnatural diet and medicines to produce more milk. 

I love that it reminds me that just as I hate to do this away from my baby and would rather nurse, dairy cows are ripped away from their young moments after birth only to be stuck in a pen indoors, constantly being sucked of their breast milk to give to people that "just can't give up cheese". 

I love that with each painful clogged duct I get from pumping, never from nursing, that I can empathize with the raw, blistering, udders of a dairy cow that can not stop or alter what is done and must keep being pumped for those that want milk for calcium or vitamin D rather than from sunshine or leafy greens and plants. 

I love that pumping has taught me I have a choice to continue or not and give formula or even when I do this again for another child. I can get a break. The poor dairy cow that is kept in a never ending state of pregnancy by means of artificial insemination until she is spent and then becomes hamburger does not. 

Did you know all hamburger meat comes from spent dairy cows?  No longer able to provide milk or get pregnant, the cow is killed and mixed with thousands of other dairy cows to become your hamburger. 

I love that pumping has taught me to be compassionate, convicted and make choices that help and do no harm. 

I love that pumping gave me the strength to be the voice for those that don't have one. Even though most people probably stopped reading this because they just don't want to know. 

Yes, I used to eat dairy. 

Yes, I enjoyed it before. 

No, I will no longer eat or drink the breast milk of another being because pumping taught me so. 

Jack is 8 Months Old!

Jack, Jackariah, Bubba is inching towards toddlerhood and out of infant life ever so quickly.  Babies don't stay babies for long!  Jack is already trying to pull himself up, stand alone holding onto furniture and is successfully crawling backwards.  I am betting that next month, he will be quite mobile.  Therefore, the crib is no longer sidecarred and the front rail is up (still in our room) so that he can't crawl out onto the floor or our bed.  He still doesn't have any teeth, though, so we still have a gummy, adorable baby smile that gets flashed ALL the time to ANYONE that talks to him.  If we had a dollar for every time someone tells Trevor and I how adorable/cute/beautiful/easy going/wonderful/calm/cuter than their own kids were/should be a model etc. Jack is....we could retire.  I feel so blessed!

Jack is constantly squirming away wanting down but also wants to be held all the time.  He is in this interesting stage of wanting independence while still needing mommy (and daddy, if mommy isn't available...we are still dealing with some separation anxiety when mommy is around).  He really enjoyed Nature's Playhouse with Holly and Milo in Clawson because there was so much to do and he also enjoys swim class (and so do I since he usually sleeps well that night).  Jack loves to be active and has enjoyed his time at his first VegFest, hike, and nightly walks this month.  He is getting so smart and interactive.  He can go from sitting to laying on his belly, can crawl backwards, can shake his head when we say "no", laughs SO hard at Sofía, looks and locates Sofía when we ask "Where's the puppy?", smiles at absolutely everyone, looks at the door from the crib looking for us when we open it after naps, enjoys looking at pictures of himself and laughs at them, likes playing with the Fisher Price "Laugh and Learn Animals App", makes monkey noises all the time, hums himself to sleep, claps his feet together after peeling his socks off (which is ALL THE TIME) and wears 12 month PJs now for length. 

We are still going strong with nursing and have tried many new foods this month with Baby-Led Weaning.  He has tried: peaches, eggplant, butternut squash, veggie lo mein with tofu, parsnips, pear, green beans, apple, spinach, zucchini, strawberries, pasta, spaghetti squash, lentils, udon noodles, rice, mango, corn on the cob, dates, rhubarb, summer squash and kiwi.  His favorites are the squash family (zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, etc.) and the mango we share nightly together.  He is ALWAYS wanting to try whatever I am eating so he has also taken to my after school snack of dates dipped in almond butter.  I find these to be a great alternative to prepackaged/processed fruit snacks.  Luckily I have done a really good job of cutting back on sugar (and salt slowly) and Trev is doing an awesome job of eating healthy, so whatever we eat is usually fine for Jack to have.  One exception would be the other night when he tried some of our spicy mexican food.  The faces he made were hilarious, priceless and adorable.  Our little vegan baby eats such a variety of food.  He has tried ALL of these things for the first time this month; this is in ADDITION to what he already has been eating from the months before.  I make a homemade meal for us every night and although it takes roughly an hour from start to finish (cooking, eating and cleanup included), I think it is really important to instill the values of healthy eating in him from a young age.  He is really having fun with "helping" me cook anyway.  I will put him on the floor in the kitchen with a bowl, spoon and piece of fruit or a vegetable and he will "cook" while I cook.  After we take a walk and enjoy nature and then we get ready for bed.  I really love our nighttime together. 

On a family note, we finished our refi on our house and it is exciting to think that we could have our house paid off in 15 years.  My car is paid off and by the end of this month/beginning of next Trev's should be paid off.  Outside of our mortgage and student loans, we are debt free.  We are hoping to build up our savings more and do some reno in our house.  Trev and I are switching to a family doctor next month that is a holistic practitioner to better align ourselves with medical professionals that hold similar beliefs to us.  If we like the doctor, we will also take Jack to see her.  That's it for now.  Life is good!  No complaints! :)

Weekly Menus

I've decided to start posting my weekly meal plans to hopefully inspire others to eat healthier as well. I am sure most people think, "What the HECK do vegans eat?", and I want to show them.  It isn't all salad and tofu!  And there is a lot of variety...although admittedly I will gravitate towards my favorites frequently (for ease of cooking, because I know the recipes by heart, because I like them and because they are usually pretty inexpensive). 

I can't imagine how people grocery shop without meal planning.  How do they know what to eat for dinner?  This is how I have always done it and can't imagine doing otherwise!

First, these are only dinners. Here is how I work other meals:

For breakfast every morning I have 1 cup of instant oats in the microwave with 2 cups of water.  I then add sliced up fruit, ground flaxseed, cinnamon and some non dairy milk. I do this because it is healthy, filling, cheap (I buy my oats in the bulk bins at Whole Foods), quick and ultimately really good for my milk supply.  My only beverage is water with the occasional herbal tea (although many are unsafe for nursing...I can NOT wait to have Breathe Deep tea again!). 

My snacks are fruit, air popped popcorn with nutritional yeast sprinkled on (a flaky cheese tasting product sold in the bulk bins at Whole Foods that is a great natural source of B12), veggies with hummus, dates dipped in almond butter, or Ezekial bread (freezer section of almost all groceries) toasted with avocado slices and then cholula drizzled on.

My lunches are just dinner leftovers!

OK, so here is this week's meal plan:

Saturday:  Hawaiian chickpea teriyaki over brown rice with a side of kale baked in different herbs/spices (Happy Herbivore cookbook)

Sunday:  Veggie Lo Mein (Forks over Knives cookbook) with baked marinated tofu (Appetite for Reduction cookbook)

Monday:  Copycat Whole Foods California Quinoa Salad

Tuesday:  Moroccan Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas with a side of whatever leafy greens are on sale (Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook)

Wednesday:  Pasta con Broccoli (Appetite for Reduction cookbook)

Thursday:  Brown rice, chickpeas, frozen spinach and vegan gravy mixed together (Thursdays I need quick and healthy because of swim class-I know this sounds so bland and gross but it is easy peasy and the gravy is awesome...I got it from a Happy Herbivore meal plan-it is one of my favorite quick meals).

Friday:  Black beans and rice with a side of whatever leafy greens are on sale (cuban style with both-Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook)

If you are on instagram, follow me @a16343 to see my pictures of our dinners!

Tip:  Did you know that you can buy brown rice super cheap in the bulk bins at whole foods, make a big batch one day and then portion it in containers and freeze it for quick use during the week?  This saves us SO much time and we already have rice ready to add to every meal!  No more waiting 45 minutes for rice to cook or using white rice to save time!

Take a Hike!

On Saturday, Jack and I joined my parents, Annie and Max, my Aunt Chris and co-workers and friends of my Dad to hike through Highland State Park.  The cause was to raise money for my Dad's Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraising since he was nominated as Man of the Year.  It was the perfect day for a hike, sunny and warm but not too hot.  We met at 1 and then took a 5 mile hike past all of the Ford family buildings (lodge, swimming pool, fountain, etc.) all lead by a wonderful guide who gave us SO SO much information on the trail that we would have just breezed right by without knowing.  The entire time I carried Jack in my Boba carrier (even nursing him in it at one point).  He was such a calm and happy baby through it all: sleeping, smiling, talking, enjoying the outdoors.  I am surprised I did as well as I did!  It was nice to spend the time with my family and to talk with my Aunt Chris, who has been vegan for a few weeks now.  I'm glad I have got to see her at least once each month in the last 3 months.  Afterwards we went out for some mediterranean food at one of my favorite restaurants, La Marsa.  Only downside was that little arm below got quite the sunburn.  No matter what I did, he would not put that arm in the carrier.  First time mom figured he would be OK without sunscreen.  Needless to say, we bought aloe and sunscreen after the hike.

Now that the weather is so beautiful, I try to get Jack and I out in it almost every night.  We walk, picnic, go to the park or play with Sofía.  He is such an easy going little one that he is always happy to do whatever.  I'm looking forward to more times like these this summer, especially now since we have a state park car pass to use!   

Rip Esseltyn's My Beef with Meat Blog Tour

If you don't know who Rip Esseltyn is, you should!  He is the mastermind behind the Engine 2 Diet and his family has contributed SO MUCH to the plant-based diet community.  He has created an entire line of plant-based, oil-free and delicious products that are available at Whole Foods and there are even plant-based and oil-free items at the salad bar and hot bar as well.  Jack and I eat them every weekend for lunch when we go get groceries!  His family played a huge role in the movie Forks over Knives (streaming on Netflix and Amazon), which is what ultimately convinced me to fully follow this lifestyle.

About 2 years ago, Trevor and I went to see a screening of FOK with my friends Heather and Margaret and Rip was there.  We were able to meet him and get our copy of his first book, The Engine 2 Diet, signed.  Additionally we were able to participate in a Q&A session with Rip and local firefighters that had had success with this diet.  It was a great motivator for Trevor.  Since then we have been following the Engine 2 Diet Facebook page, blog, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram (@engine2diet) and also watched his short film, Kitchen Rescue, on Netflix. 

We were so excited to learn that Rip was coming out with a new book, My Beef with Meat, to knock down all of the myths out there about being plant based.  Sometimes people question if what we are doing is healthy, and I struggle with putting what I know into words.  This book helps with that issue...and then gives us all new recipes to try out!  Needless to say Rip is a huge inspiration and I am so happy to be able to be part of the blog tour for his new book. 

SO, THE BOOK, WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

For the millions who are following a plant-based diet, as well as those meat-eaters who are considering it, MY BEEF WITH MEAT, is the definitive guide to convincing all that it's truly the best way to eat!

New York Times Bestselling author of The Engine 2 Diet and nutrition lecturer Rip Esselstyn, is back and ready to arm readers with the knowledge they need to win any argument with those who doubt the health benefits of a plant-based diet.  Esselstyn reveals information on the foods that most people believe are healthy, yet that scientific research shows are not. Some foods, in fact, he deems so destructive they deserve a warning label.  Want to prevent heart attacks, stroke, cancer and Alzheimer's? Then learn the facts and gain the knowledge to convince those skeptics that they are misinformed about plant-base diets, for instance:

 

-You don't need meat and dairy to have strong bones or get enough protein

-You get enough calcium and iron in plants

-The myth of the Mediterranean diet

-There is a serious problem with the Paleo diet

-If you eat plants, you lose weight and feel great

MY BEEF WITH MEAT proves the Engine 2 way of eating can optimize health and ultimately save lives and includes more than 145 delicious recipes to help readers reach that goal.

 

WHY DID YOU WRITE THIS BOOK?

 

I've discovered that there is a HUGE disconnect between what people think is healthy and what medical science knows to be healthy; for example, people have been bamboozled into believing that olive oil, Greek yogurt, chicken, and fish are healthy. Many people think the diet of the day is salmon, low fat dairy, and olive oil, washed down with a glass of red wine and a Lipitor pill for good measure. This is how confused, distracted, and off-course we have gotten--because this is NOT a good diet!  This book explains to plant eaters and meat eaters alike why a whole food, plant-strong diet rocks on a jillion different levels, hence the subtitle: The Healthiest Argument for Eating a Plant-Strong Diet. The primary driving force behind the book was to delve deeper into the major myths that keep surfacing about eating plants, such as: “You won’t get enough protein”, “You won’t get enough calcium”, “Eating plants is too expensive”, “Real men (and women) eat meat”, “Olive oil is heart-healthy”, and “Moderation in everything.” The book shows how wrong each of these myths is. It gives the reader real science, not fad-diet talk. One of the titles we thought about was “How to Win an Argument with a Meat-eater” and believe me, after reading this book, you will never lose another argument with a carnivore again.  By the way, once you’ve won the argument, you can start cooking up any one of the 140 lip smacking, rib-sticking outrageously good recipes to prove your point with food as well as with words.

THERE ARE SOME CONTROVERSIAL THINGS YOU TACKLE IN THIS BOOK, LIKE THE PALEO DIET.  WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO ADDRESS THAT SPECIFIC DIET?

The two big dueling diets right now are paleo and planteo. I believe that the paleo diet is just a good gimmick. The paleo people have taken the South Beach/Atkins diets and put a little spin on it. There are some positives with paleo, such as no refined or processed foods, and no dairy products. But any diet that promotes animal products with saturated fats, and animal protein isn’t promoting health. The consensus among the researchers who have studied the diets of humans in paleo times have said that at least 80 percent of their food was plant-based. Yes, they ate some animals, but we've evolved since then, we're smarter; we do not need, want, or get healthy from animal products. Back in the day, you would do anything you could to get calories into your body--it was a matter of survival. But in this day and age, you can go down the street to any grocery store and get all that you need without resorting to animal flesh.  An interesting article in US News & World Report in 2011 reviewed many different popular diets and decided that the one people should avoid is the paleo diet.  What about the people who say that they get results from a paleo diet? That’s because the Standard American Diet (SAD) is such an abomination you will get good results when switching to any diet that is even remotely healthier. If you want to get to the next step, cut out the meat!

THERE ARE A COUPLE OF CHAPTERS THAT TALK ABOUT HOW PLANT-STRONG CAN MAKE YOU STRONGER IN THE BEDROOM.  WHY DO PLANTS HELP IN THAT DEPARTMENT?

Plants help in a number of ways. When you are eating meat/dairy/processed foods, your arteries clog up. Believe it or not, the smallest artery men have is the artery to the penis, so it's not surprising that one of the first signs of heart disease is erectile dysfunction (ED). When you start eating a plant-strong diet, you begin to metabolize away some of the fat/cholesterol that you've built up, and you start to restore your endothelial lining. As my dad (Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn) likes to say, “Endothelial cells are the life jacket of your vascular system.” They are the inner lining of our 65,000 miles of vessels. When you bring them back to life, they produce nitric oxide. Nitric oxide allows those vessels to open up. When that happens, it allows for more blood flow, which is key to a great erection.  Interestingly, the one area that we have more endothelial cells per unit volume is the male penis.  It’s amazing how many guys e-mail us and tell us about their ED going away.  Likewise, women experience similar success. When they cut out the animal products and processed junk foods, they have increased blood flow to the clitoris and surrounding tissues, which creates lubrication. We’ve also received hundreds of e-mails from women telling us about their new, healthier sex life as a result of going plant-strong.  So remember guys and gals plant-strong makes you pant-strong!

DO YOUR KIDS LIKE EATING THIS WAY?
My kids, Kole and Sophie, do not like eating this way--they LOVE eating this way! They have no
interest in eating anything from animals. If they find out that cake and ice-cream offered to them
has things like eggs, butter or milk they politely decline. Kole and Sophie love mangoes, grapefruit, brown rice, baked tofu, peanut butter on whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, cheese-less whole grain pizza and banana ice-cream. Kole was hungry, and I told him I'd give him anything he wanted. Guess what he asked for.... he asked for broccoli!

WHAT ABOUT ATHLETES--CAN THEY BE PLANT-STRONG?

Yes they can and should be plant-strong. It is the absolute dope when it comes to taking your athletic performance to the next level. When I was a full time triathlete, I was guilty of taking performance enhancing…… foods. They are nature’s legal performance enhancing drugs! Plants give you an abundance of protein, water, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals that support your body after training. Plants are loaded with clean, unprocessed carbs that will replace depleted glycogen stores in your muscle and liver--allowing you to train harder, adapt faster, and improve quicker.  Plants give you a dose of alkaline, and anti-inflammatory substances that protect you from the stresses of long training days. Plants give you a clear head that will allow you to focus like a laser beam. Plants give you youthful arteries that will improve blood flow to all of your working muscles for maximum oxygen uptake. Plants strengthen your immune system and keep you healthy and free from illness. Plants give you a lean and muscular body that doesn't carry excessive weight.  When you are eating plant-strong, you are getting unprocessed carbs, healthy fats, plant-proteins, fiber and anti oxidants -- all of the things that your body relishes and craves and takes your performance to the next level.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU HAVE A BEEF WITH?

The huge disconnect with what people think is healthy and what we actually know to be healthy.  This creates confusion and distraction. The answer is so incredibly simple. Eat more whole plant based foods!

I have a beef with dairy.
I have a beef with processed/refined foods.
I have a beef with the Mediterranean diet.
I have a beef with drinking your calories.
I have a beef with olive oil and ALL other extracted oils.
I have a beef with supplements.
I have a beef with the belief that carbs are the devil.
I have a beef with the myth that soy is evil.
I have a beef with “everything in moderation.”
But -- I have no beef with plants!

Rip was also kind enough to share a recipe from the book with me.  Last night we made the Reuben's and they were delicious!  Even better they were inexpensive and super quick...just what we needed after spending the night outside with Jack at the playground by us.  We served them with oil-free home fries.

 

Prep time/Cook time: 30 minutes

Makes: 4 sandwiches

Ingredients:

8oz. tempeh or for lower fat version, use portobello mushroom slices.

½ cup tamari

8 oz. silken tofu

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup pickle relish

1 cup fresh spinach

1 jar sauerkraut, your favorite

Rye bread, one loaf or for gluten free version use brown rice bread or millet bread.

Instructions:

 

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Slice tempeh in half vertically and then horizontally, thus making four, thin square patties

Pour tamari over tempeh and marinate for a few minutes, time permitting

Place tempeh on a no-stick pan or on parchment paper and cook for 15 minutes

In a bowl, mix tofu, ketchup and relish until it looks like a tofu-based 1000 Island dressing

Toast rye bread until desired crispiness 

Spread with tofu-based 1000 Island dressing

Add a layer of sauerkraut, tempeh, then spinach 

Cut in half and serve

©Engine2Diet

I really hope you consider purchasing this book and becoming healthier.  My readers are my family and friends and I would love nothing more than to see everyone healthy and happy and live long and disease free lives.  I have a beef with how non-plant-based foods hurt my loved ones, animals and our planet.  I hope eventually you all do as well.