Book Review: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

With the new year here and so many people blogging about resolutions and starting over on the road to health, I know it's kind of strange that my first post of the new year is a book review.  To be honest, there are so many things I want to post on but I am lacking the motivation to actually put a post together.  I feel like the weekends fly by and time is so limited.  We moved into our new rental house 3-4 weeks ago but are still not completely settled in.  Every weekend is filled with unpacking and getting the house in order.  But enough of that for now.....

Over the holidays, I made a trip home to see my family.  I started reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer on my last trip home and I finished it this trip.  This book was excellent.  I would recommend it to anyone.  I would recommend it to meat eaters, not to convert them to veganism, but to open their eyes to what goes on.  I feel like that's something they owe the animal they are eating.  At least find it in yourself to see the life and death of that animal.  I know everyone is not going to be vegetarian, I am not that naive, but I would like to think that if people knew more about factory farms and the life and death of the animals, they might be more likely to seek out "humane" options.  I say humane in quotations because my opinion is that no meat is humane but, once again, those are my beliefs.  I would be thrilled if the book at least converted someone into a meat eater that is informed about the type of farm they get their meat from.

I never felt like this book was just spitting out facts and figures.  I always felt like there was a story to Foer's writing.  He went to some factory farms and interviewed some of the workers, the owners of the farms and animal rights advocates.  I love that he decided to start working and researching this book after he had a child and he wanted to know what he was feeding his child.  I think that's a really good point.  People always worry about kids getting sick, getting infections, etc. but they often don't think about one of the most fundamental things to our survival and well-being: the food we eat. 

If you have not read this book yet, I definitely recommend it.  I think it will be an eye opener.  I have been a vegan for 6 1/2 years and it still opened my eyes to many things I was not aware of.  Some of the things were painful to read, however, I am very happy I did read the book.  Go and read it!  :)

Eat to Live

(Photo source:  DrFuhrman.com)

I know I have mentioned this several times on the blog, but ever since moving to Asheville, I have been struggling to lose weight.  In fact, I have been struggling not to gain weight.  Typically what happens is that I have a successful week, then I end up eating too much on the weekends.  The weekends in Asheville are usually full of festivals, trips to downtown and other things where I am surrounded by good vegan food.  This has been a struggle since July now.  I have been trying to get it in gear but I just haven’t been successful. 

Where I work, all of the seniors have to do a senior project in order to graduate.  One student is doing her project on the Eat to Live program and she sent out an e-mail asking if any faculty members would participate in the program for 6 weeks so she could keep track of our results.  I knew that Eat to Live was a vegan diet, I knew it was healthy and I had also seen Dr. Fuhrman interviewed in Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and Forks Over Knives.  Because I knew it was vegan and healthy, I decided that this would be the push I needed to get back on track.  Committing to 6 weeks will be a very good thing for me.  Plus, it really came at a perfect time.  I took a trip to see my family last weekend through the beginning part of this week and I knew that I would start Eat to Live as soon as I got back.  I could indulge at the Spiral Diner while I was in Dallas and enjoy some other treats while I was on vacation and then I knew I would have a fresh start with Eat to Live as soon as I got back. 

Also, I knew the plane rides to and from my parents’ house would give me the opportunity to read Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to Live book.  I wanted to fully understand the program before I jumped in.  I am so glad that I did.  Reading the book from cover to cover gave me such a better understanding of the research and reasoning behind Dr. Fuhrman’s guidelines for the program.  For example, he explains true hunger vs. toxic hunger.  Toxic hunger is often felt due to the body withdrawing from caffeine, other substances, or even nutrient poor food.  He said that many overfed Americans may have never actually experienced true hunger.  I had never heard anything like this before.  Also, Dr. Fuhrman says that even alternative sweeteners such as stevia cause a person to overeat because the sweet taste from sweeteners encourages a person to crave more food.  Coffee and stevia…..two of my main staples.  I knew that starting the Eat to Live program would require some changes to my diet, for sure.  The main areas I knew I would have to work on were:

-Giving up caffeine

-Cutting out stevia

-No in between meal snacking

Other than that, I felt like Eat to Live wasn’t too far off from how I eat already.  But those 3 areas I needed to work on are MAJOR areas.   While I was at my parents’ I started to wean myself off of coffee.  Instead of drinking coffee right when I wake up, I decided to drink a cup later in the day.  I did this for about 3 days.  Yesterday was my first day completely caffeine free.  It was a little rough!  However, I am already feeling better today with just a minor headache.  I know it can take up to a week to completely detox my body off of caffeine so I am trying to be patient with this. 

Also, it was a little rough yesterday not snacking.  But I am trying to remember what Dr. Fuhrman says about toxic hunger and giving myself some time to get used to a different way of eating.  I think this will pass too with time. 

So far, I am feeling pretty optimistic about Eat to Live.  Because not many faculty members are participating, I feel really motivated to stick with it and be successful.  I want to provide reliable data for the student but I also want to work through the 6 weeks of the program and see how I feel.  I think it’s the motivation I need to truly get back on track. 



Book Review: 21 Day Weight Loss Kickstart

(Photo of book cover from PCRM)

When I went home over spring break in April, I bought a copy of Dr. Neal Barnard's 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart.  I have to confess, I probably wouldn't have bought this book, but I knew I was planning on hearing him speak and wanted to have him sign a copy!  So I started reading the book on my way home from Oklahoma on the airplane.  When I got back to NC, I went to his talk/book signing and had him sign a copy of his Get Healthy, Go Vegan cookbook and the 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart.  Like a star struck nerd, I froze up when I met him.  I wanted to tell him how inspired I was by his books and his PCRM recipes and website, but all I could do was tell him my name.  That was it!  I felt so lame!

(Dr. Barnard signing my book)

Dr. Neal Barnard truly amazes me.  He has published too many books to count, he travels the country speaking, he is the president of PCRM, he is a professor at George Washington University and he is always at the forefront of current discussions on veganism and health.  

(Photo of Dr. Barnard from PCRM)

Now to the book review part.  :)  I really liked this book a lot.  I like a lot of things about it, but I think what I liked the most is the simplicity of it.  Dr. Barnard does an excellent job of explaining concepts and terms in an "everyday person" kind of way.  Here were some of my favorite parts (in case you already have the book or you are planning on buying/checking out the book, I will include chapters and page numbers):

-Food that naturally tame your hunger/appetite--Chapter 2

-Glycemic Index foods--page 35

-Metabolism and food that help--Chapter 3

-Heart Healthy foods--Chapter 4

-Explaining Vitamin B12 (page 83)

-Reading food labels (pages 106-107)

-Adapting favorite recipes to make them vegan (pages 108-110)

-Restaurant suggestions and advice (pages 112-118)

-Navigating social situations (page 143)

-Fighting disease with diet (page 176)

-Fighting pain with diet (p. 198) ***Dr. Barnard has an entire book devoted to this topic***

-A brief overview of ethics and the environment (but not too much to turn someone away)--page 213

I loved that this book is truly veganism in a nutshell from the health perspective.  I know there's so much more to veganism regarding ethics, the environment and other issues, however, this is a great book for someone interested in veganism just for health reasons.  I definitely believe that reading about veganism from an ethical and environmental standpoint is very important but many people who are just interested in health and losing weight would never pick up one of those books.  If Skinny Bitch was called "Skinny Vegan" I don't think as many people would have read it.  I am not sure it would have gotten the attention and publicity that it has.  But that's just my opinion.  Many people first come to veganism for health reasons but then they read about ethical reasons later on down the road.  I am just the opposite of that.  I came to veganism because of ethical reasons (and that's still my number one reason for being vegan) but now I am very interested in veganism for health.  

The 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart helps explain veganism, guides your through the grocery store, provides an ingredients glossary, showcases some cooking techniques (I especially liked the caramelized onions without oil tutorial on pages 331-332), and the restaurant suggestions and advice.  I feel like a person who eats the SAD diet (Standard American Diet) would be able to read this book and have the confidence to jump into veganism.  They may feel a little overwhelmed just for the fact that they are switching their diet.  I know when I started Weight Watchers, I felt a little overwhelmed at first with trying to figure out all of the Points Values for foods.  But once you get the hang of it, you don't even have to think about it anymore.  I even felt the same way when I switched over to counting calories with Spark People.  It was a little stressful at first trying to get everything programmed into Spark People but now that I have most of the foods I eat programmed in, I just have to get on the computer or my phone and log it in without really thinking much about it.  I also love that if a person is confused about something, they can always go to the PCRM website and get additional information and recipes.  There's so much information out there to help a person become a healthy vegan.  I love that!

I also love that the 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart has a recipe section.  I made a list of all of the recipes that I want to try!  Some of those recipes include:

-Cuban Black Bean and Potato Soup (page 255)

-Caldo Verde (p. 256)

-Red Pepper Vinaigrette (p. 260)

-Creamy Chipotle Dressing (p. 260)

-Quinoa and Red Bean Salad (p. 261)

-Balsamic Zucchini Sandwich (p. 267)

-Jamaican Stir Fry (p. 276)

-Hakka Noodles (p. 277)

-Grilled Portabello Steaks (p. 280)

-Sundried tomato Lentil Loaf (p. 281)

-Shredded BBQ (p. 284)

-Sundried Tomato Sauce (p. 293)

-Masala Chai Apple Crisp (p. 304)

-Wacky Chocolate Cake (p. 305)

That's a list!  :)  If you haven't already read this book, I would highly recommend it.  If you have been vegan for a long time, many of the concepts you will already know but it's still a very interesting and informative book to read.  Also, if you have a friend who wants to become vegan for health reasons, this would be a great book for them.  Even though the title of the book is about losing weight, I really think it's just about reclaiming your health with a vegan diet. 

AFR Love: Sushi Roll Edamame Salad!

If you have Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, make this salad!  It's rocking my world right now!  It has all of the components of sushi without having to make sushi.  I double up on the nori sheets to give it more of a sushi taste.  Also, I owe it to this salad for making me realize that avocado is not as high in Weight Watchers points as what I thought.  The key is to measure the avocado out on the food scale.  It's really very reasonable to eat 1/4 of an avocado and even 1/2 of one. 

There are two of us at my house and the salad dressing made enough for 4 servings so what we did is made the salad twice in one week since we had the dressing all ready to go.  It's my current favorite recipe from the cookbook!  We also made the Red Velvet Mole this past week and it was delicious as well.  I did a post awhile back on some of the other recipes I have made from the book so far.  

If you haven't already, buy this cookbook (especially if you are a vegan trying to cook healthy)!

Books for Frugal Vegans

(Photo Source: Vegsource.com)

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about participating in the "No Buy Month" challenge.  So far, so good!  I have been utilizing the library A LOT lately!  One book I am currently reading and loving is John Robbins's The New Good Life.  It's a great book about living with less but not feeling deprived.  I haven't finished reading it yet, but so far I am really enjoying it. 

(Photo source: Amazon.com)

Vegan on the Cheap is great cookbook that focuses on inexpensive ingredients.  I have cooked a few recipes out of it, and I have really liked what I have tried.  There's also a comprehensive section at the beginning about different ways to save money on groceries.

(Photo source: VRG)

I haven't made a lot from this cookbook, but Supermarket Vegan is another cookbook that uses easy to find, inexpensive ingredients you can find at most grocery stores.  I have made one recipe that was tasty and I have made a list of others to make, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I am always on the lookout for new vegan books that will help me be frugal.  There are also lots of blogs and online articles out there that tackle the subject.  These are just a few of the books I have.

Cookbook Review: Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

(Photo from the Post Punk Kitchen)

I have been a big fan of Isa Chandra Moskowitz for a long time now.  Shortly after I became vegan, I bought a copy of Vegan with a Vengeance.  I loved this book from the start.  Since then, she has published many more excellent vegan cookbooks.  Her list of cookbooks include:

Vegan with a Vengeance

Veganomicon

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Vegan Brunch

Appetite for Reduction

I don’t think I have ever made a recipe that I did not like.  Every recipe has been a hit.  Also, many of her recipes are “crowd pleasers.”  These are the recipes I choose to make when we have non-veg*n friends over for dinner.  Her Blackeyed Pea Quinoa Croquettes and mushroom gravy recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance has made its way on to our dinner table many evenings when trying to please the pickiest of our omni friends.  Her recipes are always a hit.  What I love the most about Isa’s recipes is that they are never boring.  There is always a ton of flavor in her cooking but it’s never too complicated.  So many vegan recipes can be boring and lack flavor and then others can be too complicated with hard to find ingredients.  That’s never the case with Isa’s cooking. 

I have been on my weight loss journey for over 1 ½ years now.  This means that I have to be very selective about the recipes I choose to make now.  I also have to modify recipes quite a bit now.  If there’s too much oil, margarine, sugar, etc., I have to cut it way down if not eliminate it from the recipe all together.  This can be a hassle and it can also compromise the taste of the recipe.  However, I have still been able to cook with Vegan with a Vengeance, Veganomicon and Vegan Brunch without too much difficulty.  I am so thankful for this because I love Isa’s recipes too much.  But when I found out that she would be publishing a low fat vegan cookbook, I was super excited!  At first, I thought it was just a rumor.  I didn’t want to get my hopes up and then for it to not be true.  (Yes, I am a nerd.)  But then I found out it was true!  It felt like I had to wait forever for the book to be published.  So, needless to say, I was very excited to receive my copy at the beginning of December. 

I have been working my way through different recipes, and everything I have tried has been excellent.  Full of flavor, as always.  Plus, it’s so nice to cook with recipes that call for 1-2 teaspoons of oil (if any at all) instead of 2 tablespoons.  I don’t have to modify ingredients due to them being fattening and the nutritional information is even included for each recipe.  If you watch what you eat and you are trying to make better food choices, I highly recommend Appetite for Reduction.  I can’t wait to cook more recipes from it!  Below are the recipes I have made from Appetite for Reduction.  If I have any notes on the recipes, I will include them. 

Recipes cooked:

OMG Oven-Baked Onion Rings-We have made these twice now.  They are great!  I would make sure to follow all of Isa's directions for preparing the onion rings.  Also, we use less salt and more bread crumbs than what the recipe calls for. 

Butternut Coconut Rice-Lots of flavor-this made an excellent side dish for the jerk asparagus and broiled blackened tofu. 

Jerk Asparagus-A great way to cook asparagus.  It was nice to mix it up a bit-we tend to cook our asparagus the same way every time. 

Broiled Blackened Tofu-This turned out pretty spicy.  If you can't handle much spice, I might modify the spices in the recipe a little bit. 

Tempeh Helper-We made this back when it was just a recipe posted on the Post Punk Kitchen website.  I made it without the cheesy sauce.  It still turned out delicious-very much a comfort food!

(Photo of Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto from the Post Punk Kitchen)

Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto-We also started making this recipe back when it was just posted on the Post Punk Kitchen website.  We have made this countless times.  In fact, we had basil growing in our garden this summer and decided to make several batches of this pesto and freeze it.  We still have a few batches left in the freezer and it's always a treat to eat this! 

(Photo of Quinoa, White Bean and Kale Stew from the Post Punk Kitchen)

Quinoa, White Bean and Kale Stew-This was a delicious, wintery stew.  It also makes a lot of left overs so it's a good recipe to make over the weekend and you will have it for the week ahead.  I had a bunch of collards that needed to be used, so I used collards instead of kale in this recipe. 

Smoky Tempeh & Greens Stew-I made this recipe just yesterday.  This was the first time I used smoked paprika because I was just recently able to find it.  It's been one of those spices I have been trying to find for awhile now and finally did on my trip home over the holidays.  This was a very filling stew with a lot of great flavor.  I loved it!

Healthy at 100-Book Review

I was lucky enough to find a copy of Healthy at 100 by John Robbins at my local library.  It took me awhile to read this book at first, not because I didn't like it, I just don't typically sit down and read a lot at one time.  So I started reading this book at the end of the summer and just now finished it.  I took it with me on my trip to visit my parents and finished it up on the plane.  I loved it!  One thing I have found with veganism is that I am not really able to handle reading or watching ethical issues involving animals.  It's just too hard to watch.  I have always told myself that if I start to falter with my veganism, that I will force myself to watch Earthlings or Meet Your Meat or read Animal Liberation or something like that.  Luckily I have not gotten to that point.  :)  So I have really been interested in this division of veganism that solely focuses on the health aspects of a vegan diet.  I have been discovering so many authors promoting veganism in this way.  When I was at Whole Foods this past week, I noticed they even have a section near their deli with many of these books and DVDs-it's called Eat Right America.  I was amazed!  Below is a video clip talking about the Eat Right America program:

 I am not sure if I am just seeking out more information in this area or if people are starting to catch on to the health benefits of a vegan diet.  A documentary is even coming out in March of 2011 called Forks Over Knives which focuses on this-how veganism can reverse many deadly medical problems such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, blood pressure, etc.  Here's the trailer:

So, there's so much information out there to benefit our health.  Below are some of the doctors who are promoting veganism (or at least a mostly vegan diet).  Most of them have books, cookbooks or other resources to check out.

Dr. Neal Barnard

Dr. John McDougall

Dr. T. Colin Campbell

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn

I am sure there are others to add to this list, but these are the doctors I have heard of.  Lots of good stuff to check out.  But back to Healthy at 100.  I love John Robbins.  I have also read Food Revolution-also an excellent book.  Food Revolution was harder to read because it does cover some issues involving the treatment of animals on factory farms.  I loved how the book covered different groups of people from around the world who live to be well into their 100s.  The first part of the books talks about these different groups of people while the second half of the group covers changes that we can make to live longer lives.  I would definitely recommend this book or any book by John Robbins for that matter.  

Book Review: Get Healthy, Go Vegan

I have to be honest, I have never read one of Dr. Neal Barnard's books.  He has written countless introductions in the many vegan cookbooks I own, but I have yet to read an actual book he has written.  (It is definitely on my to do list!)  When I found out about his cookbook though, I knew I needed to get it.  And now that I own it, I couldn't be happier about it.  I have made 5 recipes and they have all been delicious and relatively easy.  I will go through the recipes I have made so you can have an idea about them.  Another added perk to this cookbook is that it includes all of the nutritional information at the bottom of the recipe.  This helps out a lot if you are counting calories or tracking Weight Watchers points. 

Vanilla French Toast:  I just used the non-dairy milk I had on hand for these which was Silk Pure Almond Original milk.  I may have added a little extra milk to the recipe too.  I cooked the french toast on the griddle using a small amount of oil.  The good thing about using silken tofu in this recipe is that it provides protein to keep you full longer.  I also made some Gimme Lean Sausage style patties to go along with the french toast.  The recipe turned out great and I only used 1 TBSP of maple syrup to go with the french toast.  It was enough syrup to cover the french toast without adding a lot of sugar.  This recipe was easy and a hit! 

Fire Roasted Tomato Black Bean Chili:  I am really not that fond of chili-it's just never been one of my favorite meals.  However, my spouse loves it.  So I try to make it every so often for that reason.  I did like this chili recipe as far as chili recipes go, however, I would make one change.  The recipe calls for 2 TBSP of chipotle seasoning and I would use far less than this.  I used the 2 TBSP and the chili was VERY spicy!  I would probably use 1/2 TBSP or maybe even less.  Other than that, the recipe turned out great and was a very easy dinner to make. 

Mixed Veggie Curry with Whole Wheat Couscous:  I LOVED the flavors of this recipe!  Once again, this was another easy to make.  It wouldn't be out of the question for a busy work night.  The thing I love about couscous is that it cooks up so fast and the whole wheat variety has quite a bit of protein per serving.  If you wanted to add extra protein, I would throw in some chickpeas to the recipe or serve them on the side.

Three Layer Tortilla Casserole:  Instead of using a pie plate for this recipe, I used an 8x8 casserole dish.  This recipe was very filling and was also super healthy.  I loved how the recipe basically has you make your own refried beans out of black beans.  You put the cooked black beans in the food processor along with some other spices and ingredients to create more of a bean paste than actual beans.  I think this is a good move for a layered casserole.  I use the Carb Watch tortillas from Trader Joes which are very Weight Watchers friendly.  This recipe was very low in points and it's on my list of recipes to make again! 

Raspberry Cake:  This cake makes 2 servings.  So if you are entertaining you will probably, at least, want to double the recipe.  With that said, I have made this cake at least 4 times now!  The first time, I made it exactly like the recipe said.  Very delicious!  The second time, I decided to make it a chocolate cake.  I think I would have to do a little more tweaking to that to make it just how I want it.  The only drawback to this recipe is that it calls for Grand Marnier to be poured over the cake.  I didn't realize this until I got into the liquor store, but Grand Marnier is expensive!  At my local liquor store, it was $25 for the smallest bottle they had.  But luckily the recipe just calls for 2 TBSP to be poured over it.  I even use less now.  I just use one TBSP over the cake and that's plenty.  It was actually a little strong the first time I made it.  The cake is super easy to whip up, but you have to allow at least one hour for the Grand Marnier to sit on the cake before serving.  So you have to be willing to wait a little while for dessert.  :)  Another thing I slightly changed is that I don't sift out the seeds from the raspberry sauce.  The seeds don't bother me or my spouse so I just cook the raspberrys until they are a sauce and pour it directly over the cake.  That saves a little extra time and energy. 

These are the recipes I have made so far.  When I first got the cookbook, I went through and wrote down every recipe I wanted to make.  I still have 25 recipes to make!  :)