This blog is moving and staying at the same time!

I've decided to move this blog over to another blogspot.com url. Well, this one will still be here, but I created the blog "Eating Kale" over at http://eatingkale.blogspot.com so it's easier to find. I will start posting over there, so please update your feeds/readers, etc. I will eventually transfer over the recipes page and the restaurant page too.

It seemed like it was going to be super difficult to just change the url of my blog, because there are so many links to it already and it's in the search engines already. So I will keep this one here and will link back to recipes on this blog when necessary. I hope it's not too much of a pain for you guys....please follow me over there :)

Thanks for keeping up with me and reading my blog! Now it's time for Thanksgiving preparations.....

What are you cooking up for Thanksgiving?

Eat smart,
T.

Who's done a detox/cleanse?

(multi-layered juice!)

Not me. Never done one. I was, however, tempted the other day. What I did didn't even last 24 hours, but I felt great! So I thought I'd share my little experiment with you.

I started the day with my regular oatmeal. I think it was steel-cut oats that day, with some nuts and dried fruit. And I had one cup of decaf coffee with soymilk. Then I was off to work and only drank water at our rehearsal break (I usually snack on pretzels and nuts). We got home around lunchtime and I made a big pitcher of fresh juice (cucumber, carrots, celery, lettuce, ginger, zucchini, apple, beet,etc.). I drank a big glass and continued to drink the rest of the juice throughout the day. Nothing else except water. Around dinner time I made some brown rice and just had that with some gomasio mixed in (mine also has seaweed in it). And more water. Then later in the evening I was back to my normal snacks and beer :)

I didn't feel bloated all day! No processed stuff during the day felt really good. Only fresh juice and whole grains really. And lots of water. I think the liquid helps push toxins out of your body. But seriously, I hadn't felt that good in a while and let's just say all was back to normal in the bathroom (ewwwww). I also thought I wouldn't have enough energy for a workout, but I was wrong! Lots of energy!! Though they do say one side effect is "breaking out" because your body is pushing the toxins out every which way it can. I see it now....even though I only did it for a short amount of time.

Sometimes I end up eating more processed foods than I should, like brown rice pasta or sprouted grain english muffins or pre-made soups, etc.....and I forget that my body needs a break.

I'm ready to do this once a week. Even if it IS only for a partial day. It did my body good!

Have you ever done a juice cleanse? Brown rice detox? Any other short term detox?

Eat smart,
T.

Review: Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Happy Halloween and last day of Vegan MoFo!! Even though I didn't blog every single day, this really got me off my butt and back to blogging more regularly. So thank you!

I asked Robert Cheeke for a copy of his book Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness: The Complete Guide to Building Your Body on a Plant-Based Diet and he kindly sent me one, signed even! It seems to be pretty relative to my current lifestyle, as I started the P90X program and wanted more info on how to train on a vegan diet. Now, I'm not actually doing bodybuilding, but it is a pretty intensive workout program combining cardio, yoga, and weight training.

I finally got through the book and really wanted to review it during Vegan Mofo....I've been ultra busy, but I finally did it.

He begins by telling us how he started eating a plant-based diet and how he got into bodybuilding. It's always nice to have some sort of background information. It brings you closer to the writer. He talks about how he started his company, Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness and he lays out some great points for starting out in the bodybuilding world, which could really go for any hobby or career.

He then goes on to discuss a nutrition program and how to go about putting one together. Cheeke encourages you to go out and research what your body needs and gives a great overview of various nutrients and how they interact with your body. He gives some sample meal programs, some to build mass, some for fat burning, and some for competing in bodybuilding competitions. Though he doesn't follow a raw food diet himself, he also gives sample raw food meal programs, based on a fellow bodybuilder, Giacomo Marchese.

Cheeke discusses how to create your own training programs from warm-ups to exercises to include that don't require any equipment at all. He includes sample training programs in Chapter 4 and makes sure to include the inevitable question: "Where do you get your protein?" in Chapter 5.

Now I did skim my way through parts of the book, as I'm not competing in any bodybuilding competitions, nor do I want to bulk up. But there's definitely good info in there for those of you that are doing just that. Towards the end of the book he talks about various supplements and amino acids, and gives sources for finding equipment and products/supplements needed for bodybuilding.

This is definitely a great book to have if you're ready to start bodybuilding on a plant-based diet. Or even if you just want some helpful tips on what to eat pre or post workout, what supplements to add to your diet, and which exercises are most helpful for you.

Thanks, Robert!

Eat smart,
T.

Pumpkin Pie Granola

It's that time of year again...pumpkin time! I have to admit, the idea of cutting a pumpkin open and scooping out its insides doesn't really sound appetizing. But a lot of people do it....and that's why we get pumpkin in a can :)

Yay!

So today I have a seasonal recipe for you:

Pumpkin Pie Granola
-adapted from Oh She Glows.

2 cups oats (any kind, you can even use quick oats, barley flakes, etc.)
1/2 cup uncooked millet
2 TB chia seeds
2 TB flaxmeal
1/2 cup chopped almonds & walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 TB date sugar


1/4 cup agave nectar (or 1/2 cup if you like your granola really sweet)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup water (leave out if using 1/2 cup agave instead of 1/4 cup)
1 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat the oven to 325 F. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a smaller bowl, stir together the wet ingredients, then add them to the dry. Mix well, coating everything. Put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spread the granola out as much as you can. Bake  for about 35 minutes, stirring twice. Take it out of the oven and let it sit for about 15 minutes, to dry out even more. This is not a very sweet granola, but if you serve it with yogurt and/or dried fruit, it will taste sweeter.

I like it in yogurt with dried cranberries, but you could use almond milk instead of yogurt.

Hope you have a nice Halloween weekend. I'm still super busy, but hope to crank out at least one more post before VeganMoFo is over.

Eat smart,
T.