Daily Reflection
Daily Tasks
1. Remind yourself of the commitment you have made to work on the needed lifestyle changes that will boost your immunity. Soon you will feel a significant difference in your health and energy levels.
2. Write down on a sheet of paper everything you have eaten yesterday. Is that a typical meal plan you follow every day, or are there some other things you eat frequently that you want to add to your list?
3. Analyze your food consumption. How much do you consume on plant products and how much animal products? How much whole grain and how much refined or processed? How much of refined fats or even fried? What are the contaminants you can avoid? Decide what you can improve in order to reach an optimal nutrition status for your body.
4. Look at the results you have found that need improvement. Decide on one or two areas of change that you think would be most important. Then make a commitment to follow through on that. Set some specific goals and have a look what you need to put on your shopping list in order to start a diet change by tomorrow.
Recipes
Today we have covered the benefits of unrefined plant foods for our immune system as well as for your overall health. All of the recipes we have covered until now are plant based, so you are already covered when practicing them. We will be looking now how you can replace some of your favorite animal products with healthier plant alternatives.
Switching to soy meat will give you some benefits compared to the real thing, and if you put on the right spices, it can be even tasty. But even so, it is highly processed and will not give you a lot of nutritional value. Still better, you could switch to an oat burger. The soy milk you purchase in the store is surely healthier than the cow’s milk, but why not try out the almond recipe below? Have a look at the options below and see how much you can substitute for healthier alternatives.
Almond Milk
This is a basic almond milk recipe that you can easily customize to your taste, i.e. more sweetener or some vanilla extract. This recipe tastes best if made fresh.
1 cup water
1 tablespoon almond butter
1 date
Add the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth and well mixed.
Vegan Falafel
Falafel patties are a great dish of Middle Eastern Cuisine. We will adapt them here for a vegan version.
Ingredients
2 cups garbanzo beans, cooked
2 Tbsp garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1⁄4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1⁄4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tsp lemon juice, fresh
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1⁄2-1 tsp salt or to taste
spray oil (to prevent sticking)
In a dry skillet over medium high heat, stir coriander, chili powder, and cumin. Stir constantly for 2-3 minutes or until the spices are fragrant. Set spices aside.
Using a food processor with the “S” blade, combine all of the ingredients and pulse until everything is coarsely combined but enough so it sticks together. Be careful not to process too much, or you will have a hummus consistency.
Spray your skillet with oil to prevent sticking, and turn your burner to medium high. Drop 1-2 Tbsp of falafel mixture and form little patties. Brown on each side about 2-3 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes.
Serve these with tahini sauce, hummus, or your favorite topping.
Serves 2-3
Oat Burger
Scrumptious burgers are an American classic. However, these burgers are much cheaper and much healthier than store-bought vegeburgers. As a bonus, they freeze well, so you can pull a few out of the freezer when you need a quick meal.
INGREDIENTS
4 1/2 cups rolled oats
4 1/2 cups water
1 cup walnut meal (make your own with almonds and a food processor)
1/4 cup Bragg’s liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons sage
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine the oats, water, and Bragg’s and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.
3. Form patties on a sprayed/oiled cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 10 to 20 minutes at 375 degrees, then flip and bake for 10 – 15 more minutes. (Time may vary according to thickness and your oven.) Enjoy!
Efficiency Tip: Instead of grinding nuts and chopping the onion, place water and all ingredients (except oats and bulgur wheat) in a blender. Cover and turn on for 2 or 3 seconds, just long enough for all to go through the blades and get chopped fine, but not pureed. Then proceed as in Step 1.
Variation #1: Try adding 1 tablespoon each of molasses and tomato puree for a richer flavor.
Variation #2: Make a chili burger by replacing the sage with 1 teaspoon cumin and 1 tablespoon chili powder, or 1⁄2 package of mild taco seasoning.
Note: Be sure to get plenty of flavor in your burger! Remember, it is usually eaten in a bun with burger fixings, and if the burger is bland, you will hardly know it’s there.
Ready in about: 45 minutes
Makes: 15 to 20 pattiesa
Enjoy!
Zuccini Burger
These burgers are an excellent way to use up your summer zucchini. They are hearty, healthy, and have a wonderful texture. As a bonus, you can easily make these burgers gluten-free by using gluten-free flour and oats.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups zucchini, shredded
2 tablespoons Bill’s Best Chick’nish Seasoning
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup carrots, shredded
1 cup onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup walnuts (omit if allergic to nuts)
½ cup all purpose flour (gluten-free optional)
½ cup quick oats (gluten-free optional)
¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Mix zucchini with Bill’s seasoning and salt. Set this aside.
2. Process the walnuts until chopped finely.
3. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and blend them together.
4. Set the mixture aside.
5. Combine the carrots, onion, and garlic and blend them.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the processor and mix well.
7. Combine the zucchini mixture with everything else in a bowl and hand mix.
8. Form your mixture into patties and cook until golden brown. (You can do this in the oven, baking them for 12 minutes on each side at 375 degrees, or you could brown them in a griddle.)
Enjoy!
Vegan Sour Cream
A great sour cream substitute that you can add to a whole variety of recipes. You can really make your baked potatoes or nachos pop.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound tofu, firm
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh chives
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Add all the ingredients except for the chives into a high-speed blender.
2. Blend until the mixture is creamy.
3. Add the chopped chives and pulse until the chives are spread throughout the cream. Serve and enjoy.
Ready in about: 5 minutes
Tofu Vegan Cheese
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup cashews
3/4 cup Tofu
2 tablespoon yeast flakes
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup pimento
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Blend smooth all ingredients. Chilling will make ingredients thicker.
Melty Vegan Cheese
11/2 C hot water
2 TBL corn flour
3/4 C cashews
1/4 C pimentos or red bell pepper
3’/3 TBL sesame seeds
1/3 C Brewer’s yeast flakes
I tsp salt
I TBL lemon juice
2 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
BLEND all but lemon juice. BRING to boil while stirring constantly; BOIL for 2-3 minutes. REMOVE from heat and ADD lemon juice.
Vegan Mayonnaise
1 block tofu, 1 c garlic, 1 tab lemon, 1/2 teasp bullion, 1teasp tomatoe pure, 2 tabs Flax oil, enough soya milk to blend – place all ingredients in a blender.
Have with Baked jacket potato – Thats the real cheese and jacket potatoe!!! and its dead easy to make. Have with sauted brocolli, cauli and sweet corn.