Well, it has been awhile since I posted to my blog. Since my last entry, Pam and I went on Thanksgiving vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama (AKA The Redneck Riveria) with my brother, his wife and in-laws in side-by-side condos on the beach. We had a great time and stayed on our vegan diet with the help of Vicki, my brother's wife. It was the first meatless Thanksgiving dinner we have ever had, and it all tasted great. We ate so much, though, that Pam gained three pounds. Too many great tasting desserts. My weight stayed the same. I learned that eating vegan food does not mean eating low calorie food and that I need to watch the carbs and eat more veggies if I want to see the pounds melt off like they did in the first three months of this new way of eating.
Pam and Vicki on the beach at Gulf Shores, Alabama
Shasta keeping an eye on me
We really missed our Aussie Shasta, and she was really excited to see us return. It seems that everything has now kind of settled down as we prepare for Christmas. It is snowing here in Olympia, Washington and everything outside my office window, including the trees and the lake, take on a magical quality. It looks like a giant snow globe. It is beautiful, but actually a little too cold for my taste. I can imagine laying on a warm beach somewhere drinking those vegan cervezas. The grain makes them legal. (Whoops. I mean lite cervezas).
Looking out of my office window at the snow, lake and trees.
Pam has lost the Thanksgiving weight plus one pound for a total of thirty-one pounds. I have lost a total of twenty-three. Not bad for all we have been eating.
A couple of nights ago I made a loaf of Cinnamon Raisin Bread in our new Zojirushi BBCCX20 bread machine that we ordered from Amazon.com. It works great and makes 2 pound horizontal loaves. The bread was so good that I snacked on it all night and all day yesterday until it was completely gone. Pam didn't get much of it and so I made another loaf last night. I plan to stay away from it and give her a chance this time. We will see how that works out. ( I totaled up the calories in a loaf of this bread and was amazed that, even though there was zero fat, there was close to 2500 calories. It all came from the raisins (715 calories), flour (1760 calories) and applesauce (25 calories). I guess it might be a good idea to cut back on the number of raisins. Maybe 3/4 cup instead of 1 1/3 cups. That would cut it back by 325 calories (total 390 calories) and probably wouldn't change the taste a bunch.
Here is the bread machine recipe for anyone who is interested (It makes a 2 lb loaf):
1 1/3 cups of warm water
3 tablespoons of applesauce
4 cups of King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
4 tablespoons of Apriva no-calorie sweetener.
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.
3 teaspoons of cinnamon (I like cinnamon. Recipe called for 2 teaspoons).
3 teaspoons of Red Star Bread Machine fast acting yeast.
1 1/3 cups of raisins (I like raisins. Recipe called for 1 cup).
Place water, applesauce, flour, sweetener, salt, and cinnamon in the bread machine.
Press a dry pocket into the flour and add the yeast to the pocket, making sure the yeast doesn't get wet. Use the quick baking feature found on most bread machines. Baking takes 1 hour 58 minutes. Half-way through the dough kneading process, add the raisins. Our machine tells us to add the raisins with about 1 hour and 35 minutes left in the process.
The raisin cinnamon bread masterpiece made in our new Zojirushi Bread Machine
Vicki has gotten me excited about trying new recipes. So far I have made a tofu cheesecake, a couple of great pizzas (the bread machine makes great pizza dough), and scrambled tofu and potatoes O'brien. Now I intend to try new recipes that use more vegetables and less carbs.
We have been going out to find restaurants where we can eat while staying legal. There is a franchise restaurant called Panda Express where they stir fry vegetables in corn starch, water and garlic. We have a large order of vegetables and white rice at a total cost to us of a little more than $6.00 for both of us to eat until we are full. Their vegetables are some of the best I have ever eaten. Not too soft and not too crunchy. We put soy sauce on them. We have also found a Thai restaurant that has agreed to cook us a mango dish in water rather than oil. We go there with friends at least once a week. It is more difficult to eat out because most places use oil in their dishes, but we see it as an adventure to try to find food that we can eat. The other day, we went to a Teriyaki restaurant and ordered vegetables without oil. When they came, I could tell that they tasted funny so I asked how they had been cooked. The waitress said that they didn't use oil, but instead used chicken broth. I only ate the rice. It is amazing, but after eating without meat or oil, it is very easy to tell when something is added to your food that doesn't taste right.
