Day 92: Vegan Oatmeal Cookies

     The other day I had a major sweet craving, so I decided to pull out my handy dandy cook book "The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur" by Kelly Peloza, that I originally talked about on day 28, and make her Crispy Chewy Oatmeal Cookies.

       

       The recipe came out perfect with the sugar caramelizing around the edges. I left out the raisins in mine for I was too lazy to go to the store. I also inevitably ended up halving the recipe as well since I have no self control and would eat them all if I didn't, but am listing the full original recipe below. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cookies

2/3 cup of canola oil

2/3 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup of soymilk

1 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 2/3 cups of oats

1 1/3 cups raisins

    Step 1: In a large mixing bowl stir in all the ingredients, except the oats and raisins, and beat with an electric beater. Stir in the oats and raisins. If the dough is too dry and crumbly, add an additional amount of soymilk until it reaches it desired consistency.

    Step 2: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take about two tablespoons worth of dough, place lightly on a greased baking sheet, and flatten. Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown around the edges.

Day 91: Poop

       The more and more I learn about nutrition, the more I heard about the fact that if you are eating right it will show up in your poop. Yes I said it Poop! now lets get over it and move on.

       There are three things your are looking for in your poop; shape, consistency, and color. Dr. Oz, whom many of you might remember from the Oprah show, has a short video called ""Poop Primer" which goes into detail of what your poop should look like with a scale of clay poop models ordered from 1 to 7, one being diarrhea and 7 being constipated.You should have a 4, and have a sort of S-shaped poop.

      If you are on the lower end with diahirra then it could be because of irrtable bowl syndrome, allergies, or some other problem going on. If you are on the higher end of the spectrum and are constipated that means your poop does not have enough water in it. To help cure this problem you should have more water, and eat more fiber which you can find in a lot of leafy green vegetables.

    Another thing you should look for is color. If it is brown or a little green that's ok, but if you poop is black that means there is blood in your stool. Also if its red it could be hemorrhoids or lower intestinal bleeding. Certain foods can also change the color as well. If you have some bizarre poop colors its always a good idea to get checked out by your doctor.

     Ok, so now what does this have to do with being vegan you may ask. Everything! When you become vegan you will notice a major difference in your poop. When you first transition you might have a little bit of diarrhea at first from cutting out cheese and other dairy products, which work as natural binding agents. But once your body has gotten rid of that toxins from you previous diet you will enjoy plenty of those easy S-shaped healthy poops Dr. Oz talked about, and you will find that you will use the bathroom more frequently from the loads of fiber in your diet.

Day 90: Whitewash

     I just recently finished the book "Whitwash; the disturbing truth about cow's milk and your health" by Joseph Keon. Since I have started this challenge 90 days ago, I have read some pretty awful stuff about milk products but nothing compares to the in depth description of the harmful effects of dairy products on the human body as well as the environment that Joseph Keon goes into in this great new book. If there is one book ever person should read, this would be it.

     Joesph Keon leaves no stone unturned as he goes on about the nutritional pitfall of dairy products, their harmful side effects, and how our consumption of dairy products is hurting us as a nation with the rising rate of obesity and osteoporosis. There were a few things I read in this book that I truthfully didn't believe when I first read it for it seemed to outrageous, like the fact that there is actually rocket fuel in milk, but once I went to the back of the book and went through his 50 or so pages of his references I was convinced. Plus I found three other well known books that said the exact same thing! So yes there is traces of rocket fuel in our milk.

     If dairy products came with a list of there side effects, like most of our medications do, you might think twice before consuming them. Here is a list of some of the side effects dairy products have on the human body and a ton of serious diseases it can lead to.

Side Effects - the consumption of dairy products may cause....
Acne
Addiction (to dairy products, especially cheese)
Allergy (lactose intolerance,or actual allergy to milk)
Headache
Backpain
Arthritis and Joint Pain
Cataracts
Heart Disease
Obesity
Crohn's Disease
Cancer- Breast Cancer, Ovarian Cancer, Prostate Cancer
Multiple Sclerosis
Parkinson's Disease
Infertility
Menstrual Cramps
Mad Cow Disease
Tuberculosis

     If you are curious about how dairy products could possible cause such diseases, each one of these side effects is explained in depth in Joseph Keon's book "Whitewash".

Day 89: Orange and Spice Mashed Sweet Potatoes

       Recently I picked up a free recipe at Ralph's for Orange and Spice Mashed Sweet Potatoes. So the other day for lunch I decided to try out this new recipe, for I have a seemingly profound love for well baked sweet potatoes.

Orange and Spice Mashed Sweet Potatoes
4 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of allspice
2 tablespoons plus one teaspoon of vegan margarine
1 tablespoon of molasses

    Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 and bake the sweet potatoes whole for 45 to 55 minutes or until very tender (they should start to ooze a little out of the skin). After they have slightly cooled cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the pulp with a spoon into a mixing bowl. Add the orange juice, nutmeg, allspice, and 2 tablespoons of butter. Beat with an electric beater until fluffy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

    Step 2: Lightly coat a 1-quart baking dish with vegan butter or oil before spooning the potato mixture into the dish. Drizzle molasses over the potatoes and dot with the remaining 1 teaspoon of butter.

    Step 3: Bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Serves 3 to 4

Day 88: Food Corps

      The other night I took my boyfriend to The Original Pizza Cookery for dinner, for I absolutely love that place, and we had the vegan Gourmet Garden Pizza with vegan mozzarella cheese, artichoke hearts, fresh garlic, sun dried tomatoes, and fresh cilantro on a whole grain crust. It was wonderful, but I must say that crust wise the mini pizzas are better they are more thick and fluffy than the crispy thin crust of our large pizza, but then again that is just a personal preference.

      Lately I have been hitting up whole foods a lot. I even will go just to browse through the store, since it is too expensive for me to buy anything there on a consistent basis,  where I will get ideas on what vegan products are available out there. They other day I picked up a flier about Whole Food's Whole Kids Foundation which is now partnering with Food Corps to help kids learn healthy eating habits and teach them how it effects their bodies. I thought this was a fascinating project and went to do more research on what Food Corps is all about.

    Like government agencies such as the peace corps, food corps is a full year commitment of paid public service. People who choose to serve in this organization teach children about food and nutrition, grow healthy food with kids and communities in school gardens, and help change what these children are eating for lunch by connecting farms and schools.

     Also like Peace Corps you will be offered a living allowance which is $15,000 for Food Corps, as well as health insurance, student loan forbearance, childcare if needed, and a $5,550 education award for those of you that want to continue your education. All you need to be eligible for such a position is to be over the age of 18, have a high school degree, and be a legal resident of the United States. I have always thought about joining the peace corp, but this is way more up my alley. Who knows maybe someday I will join the team and work to make a difference in the health of children of today.

Day 87: Corn and Garbanzo Bean Salad

   I must say that as I have been getting further into my challenge I find that I love salads that are more a mixture of various beans and veggies with a little bit of simple salad dressing, rather than the more traditional lettuce based salads.

      My boyfriend's mom makes the best salads, and a while ago she made this amazing salad which mainly consisted for corn and garbanzo beans with a little bit of lime juice. Today I tried to recreate it for it is a easy dish to make in just a few minutes.

Corn and Garbanzo Bean Salad
1 can of garbanzo beans
1 can or corn
1 small cucumber
4 to 5 baby sweet peppers
cilantro
2 to 3 tablespoons of lemon juice

     Step 1: Cut the cucumber and sweet peppers into small slices, chop the cilantro, and add them into a large bowl along with the corn and garbanzo beans. Mix in the 2 to 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, and toss before serving.

Serves 3 to 4 

Day 86: Skinny Bitch

       I just recently finished listening to the book on tape “Skinny Bitch; a no-nonsense tough-love guide for savy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous” by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin with my boyfriend when we made our trip down to San Diego two weeks ago.

     This has to have been one of the best overall health and nutrition books I have read. It is absolutely hilarious with chapters named “sugar is the devil”, “Dead, Rotting, Decomposing Flesh”, “Don’t be a Pussy” and so one. These authors really tell you like it is with eye catching verbiage and language you normally won’t see in most health books. My favorite quote from this book was when she referred to soda as “liquid Satan”, I mean who says that!

     While I was laughing throughout this whole book, I also was learning some important information such as the fact that diet soda is ten times worse than normal soda for the chemicals in diet soda actually help preserve your fat cells!

   One of the most eye opening chapters for me personally was Chapter 11 “Let’s Eat” for it listed all those ingredients on the back of packages that most of us don’t know what they are and why we shouldn’t be eating them. Here are some of the most disgusting / scary ones that some of us eat without even realizing it.

Bad or Potentially Bad Ingredients

Ambergris – From whale intestines (used to flavor foods and beverages)

Artificial, FD & C food coloring – Derived from coal-tar and can contain trace amounts of lead and arsenic.

Butylated Hhydroxanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) – a preservative that can cause cancer, birth defects, and infertility

Carmine, cochineal, carminic acid – red pigment from crushed female cochineal insect and often it takes 70,000 beetles to produce one pound of this die.

Cystine – an amino acid found in horse hair and urine

Duodenum substances – come from the digestive tracts of cows and pigs

Gelatin, gel – protein obtained by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments and/or bones with water from cows and pigs.

Isinglass – a form of gelatin prepared from internal membranes of fish bladders

Lipase – enzyme from the stomachs and tongue glands of calves, baby goats, and lambs

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) – flavor enhancer which is blamed for reproductive, nervous system and brain disorders

Nitrates – potentially deadly carcinogenic preservatives found in processed food and meats

Pepsin – in hog’s stomachs, that works as a clotting agent

Potassium Bromate – Can cause cancer, nervous system disorders, and kidney failure (banned worldwide expect for Japan and the US)

Urea, uric acid, carbamide – excreted from urine and other bodily fluids

     After reading this sample from book of the long list of ingredients you really shouldn’t be eating you might be over whelmed. I know I was, but it all comes back to the point that you should only buy food with ingredients that you know what they are. I always feel a sense of relief when I find peanut butter that has only one ingredient; peanuts. So if you see a long list of confusing ingredients just don’t buy it. You really don’t want to be putting all that junk in your body any way.