evolve day 19: abominable agar cups

So I decide to make agar chia protein cups. Abomination of agar seaweed for a vegan 'gelatin' base mixed with chia gel and some scoops of whey protein powder. Agar agar is seaweed and vegan, unlike Jello or gelatin, which is boiled animal bones. 

This is one of my creations that shocks my husband; he says it does not look edible or appetizing at all. I have to agree a little bit; agar agar sets at room temperature, unlike gelatin, which needs to be chilled and kept cold in order to stay solid. The chia seed looks like tadpoles incubating in a petrie dish. The whey powder gives it a curdled appearance. 

I get the agar agar at the asian food store. I have been looking for powder agar agar for a while with no avail. It is the consistency of styrofoam, like a cheap beer cooler. The color is ghastly bright orange. 

I cut half off with scissors; 7 oz of dried seaweed agar is all I need for 4 cups of liquid. this liquid was 1 cup chia gel to 3 cups water. The chia gel is 1 cup water to 4 tablespoons seeds, soaked overnight. 

Tadpoles? No. Ch-ch-ch-CHIA!

Incorporate the agar agar into the boiling water and chia gel. It will melt in and the water will be thicker and colored dark and orange. 

Toss in four scoops of whey protein powder. I had to use the hand mixer because it didnt want to blend well at all; superchunk is not desireable. You want smooth. 

I poured the concoction into sillicone cupcake liners. Love these little sillicone cups so much. I use them for so many things. 

They dont need to be refridgerated, so they just hung out on my countertop until they set; they reached room temps in about an hour or so. Cool, because my refrigerator is so full. 

The agar agar has hardly any calories at all, and is fillling; if you have problems feeling hungry, agar agar is the way to go. It makes you feel full!

Did I scare you with this weird food? I didn't mean to, but they are odd little things. 

evolve day 17: prince of darkness or protein veggie meat?

When bad things happen, my mother used to say the devil is 'visiting' that household. Well, it's true; Seitan has come knocking on my door. 

Bad? What could be bad about a protein source derived from wheat? Vital wheat gluten. Ah ha! That material we demonize as GLUTEN. Yes it's true. It's the G-word. 

But wait! Don't discount this yet! The macronutrients are phenomenal 

Image is from honeyville.com's 3 lb. vital wheat gluten canister. It's only $12.99 + $4.99 flat ship fee! wheeeee!!!

Not bad eh? Even if G is the spawn of the devil for those with celiac sensitivity/allergies. For us who have jumped on the GF bandwagon for no other reason than carb watching or trying to get more veg in/less enriched flour than this might be a notable note! 

Firstly, boil up a veggie stock. I'm super lazy and used onion soup mix. 

Then, take a cup of VWG (vital wheat gluten) and spice it up. I used the recipe on Bob Mills VWG; onion powder, sage, marjorum and garlic powder. Take a cup of water and mix it in. Don't use too much water. The dough is gonna be super bouncy and brain-like. It was ugly, y'all. 

I cut into a dozen pieces and put in the boiling onion soup mix. 

Before. 

1 hour later it soaked up all the liquid and got huge! 

At this point you can use em as you wish...bake, broil, batter and fry, whatever. I've seen recipies for BBQ spare ribs made from VWG (ingenious!!!!) as well as burgers, meatloaf, stir fry etc...you get the picture. Very flexible and has a little more substantial gusto than soy and tofu. 

I decided to make Seitan Jerky! You know how I love my food

dehydrator! Put slices in baggie and toss up with teriyaki soy sauce. Cut into 1/4" slices and dry em out. 

Evolve detox forbids gluten. I am, yet again, violating the rules. But since it's not meat and am honoring my ethical vegan(no suffering moral code)...whatever. It's a violation. I beg you to forgive me, as I am SOY-ed to death! Tofu is so bland and not satisfying at all. Plus I am suspecting my recent bloated midsection to consuming way to much of one thing. Variety is healthy! 

Unless the evil G decides to stick it to my intestines, I will have to wait and see.

Do I need the rites of exorcism to remove the demons from my guts?

 We will see...

evolve day 16

Admittedly, Ive been messing up frequently on this detox. Hitting the almost halfway mark was the time of faltering. Not gonna lie, its been brutal. From a cupcake to a cup of coffee and now by-products from 'beta testing', I am not happy with my progress. 

The one thing I can claim is the removal of flesh and meat. I have not touched meat since that nasty egg roll at my niece's baby shower. I have not eaten fish, although I feel that if Jesus ate it then its okay. I am struggling with choosing VIshnu or JC right now. Should I eat egg, should I not eat egg. Should I eat dairy or not. Its a toss us, for real. If i eat fish its once a month. But its going against the grain of my beliefs of a world with no suffering.

Today is Lentil Redemption day. I made a huge pot of curried lentil stew. I plan to eat this and my magic muffins for the next two days or until I cook up something new. I may have a salad later, just to get some variety. 

Leeks, celary (whole thing) 10 oz brown lentils, 5 oz blackbeans (both raw) some evoo, 3 cubes of veggie boullion with 3 cups of water and hella seasonings: curry, cumin, greek, salt pepper corriander etc...

I did mention I am a curry freak? Oh yes.

Soak the beans overnight, then sautee leeks, add celary and water/boullion next..boil it...add beans and seasonings...boil it...and boil it...45 mins later you get this: 

Nutrients, protein, hella fiber and low carbs. Woo hoo!

But there is a backstory....these devilish little pastries that make me feel guilty.....the other day I made pao de quejiro (brazillian cheese bread) for my husband. I am in the process of 'veganizing' these, as they are simply wonderful. Flexible too, i added garlic powder and use parmesan cheese as well as regular shredded chedder. Ive made several batches this weekend, as he demanded them repeatedly!

Google up a recipe, they are all basically the same on the internet. Ive looked at half a dozen and picked the smallest batch. No wonder these are often made in double, triple batches, as they get gobbled up quickly!

1 cup tapioca flour. 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 oil, an egg and then cheese or whatever else next. 

You have to warm up the milk and oil together first to get them to 'bubble' and incorporate. I cheated and put the pyrex measuring up directly in the microwave at full power for 2 min. 

Then mix this liquids with just the tapioca.  Its gonna be sticky batter. Then add the egg. Obviously the milk will be almond for my upcoming vegan version. The egg, however is a levening and binding agent. Flax and chia did not work (it failed miserbly in my first attempt; gritty and ugly, they neither binded or leavened. I am looking at vegan wolf's website for suggestions. I have to mix oils, flour and baking powder to get a good combination...hold tight, its gonna be worth the wait and wasted ingredients)

Fold the cheese in. For a vegan version I have seen mashed potatos to replace the cheese. Will update as soon as I can experiment. Will use Nutritional Yeast here also. 

I used a well oiled baking muffin tins. These little devils are sticky and hard to manuver into the cups. Little tiny 1-1.5" balls.

They are not good for you. Ok. I know...but they are impressive. I had to, for the sake of experimentation, eat several to taste. My evolve detox is wrecked at this point but since Im going vegan (and am about 90% at this point) then who cares If i mess up).

My lentils will redeem me for today. Wholesome, innocent and righteous lentils will save me. 

evolve day 13

I am posting this on day 16, actually. Since my first two days at LifePower yoga teacher training, I have been playing catch up. Those two days took it out of me, as they were very physical, and the second day long and arduous.

Friday at class we actually started teaching. Tell you what, I have a new-found respect for my instructors, as this is NOT as easy as it seems. You have to verbally communicate, in a certain order, what they have to do and what to focus on. Its easy to get lost and fuddle up, forget or just simply stumble over words.

I pre made a TON of these red lentil burgers to make it through the weekend. They yielded a dozen and I kept extra rolls in the fridge and freezer. They are just like ground round. 

Shred to death carrots, red bell pepper, leeks or onions. Sautee the onions until they are soft and then add everything else. Sesason this generously. I, of course, used curry and cumin along with salt and pepper, greek seasoning etc...

The lentils cook in a separate pot. Cover with water until just past the top of the beans. They turn mushy and are awesome for forming patties, no grinding or food processing needed. If you made green, french or brown lentils, i imagine you would have to process them to get the beans to mush up.

I also made a sort of 'Magic Muffin' or microwave muffin to replace my soy chia pancakes (and those pancakes replaced my two a day whey protein shake, that supplements my massive protein intake). I just got tired of busting out the pan to cook them. I have sillicone cupcake liners that work great for this. 

I nuke it at 50% power, 40 seconds for 1/2 filled cup or heaping tablespoon full.

8 tablespoons oat flour

16 tablespoons soy protein powder

2 tablespoons ground chia (egg replacement)

1 cup almond 'buttermilk' (1 tablespoon vinegar and fill to 1 cup with milk substitute, you can use soy or whatever)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

dash cinnamon

dash vanilla extract

10 packets stevia 

Its not pretty but its got hella protein and low carbs

Mix oat, soy, stevia, cinnamon, baking soda and powder together. blend well

Make buttermilk. Let it sit for 10 mins or so. Then add ground chia. Its gonna get thick and then get thicker. Make sure you mix it well initially so you dont get a ball of chia hiding in the soy buttermilk.

Mix that bad boy up good.

The chia is very sticky. Its hard to get it cleaned off the grinder.

Portable, ugly, tasty though and easy to cook up...I leave the batter in the fridge and nuke as needed. The fiber is phenomenal.

These two foods sustained me through two days of training. I constantly graze so foods I can grab and eat without being conspicuous is helpful. We did get meal breaks but I dont sit and eat a large quantity. I am weird like that. 

evolve day 12

 

Today I curried some veg and tofu. You can pretty much curry anything. Zucchini, leeks and dehydrated tofu curry are complimented by fluffy cauliflower 'rice' to make this super low carb.There are commercially made curry pastes out there and are much easier than the old fashioned method I use. Patak makes a great line of curry pastes. If you choose to use a paste, you can eliminate the 45 mins of simmer time to less than half of that time; you don't need to meld the seasonings with time, as they are already ready as is.

I started off with evoo and leeks. Then when the leeks were translucent, I added the tofu (cut into 1x1 inch squares) which are sturdier than Firm because they were dehydrated first. Its just easier for me this way. I don't have to press and dry the cube, which takes an extra 30 mins. Then toss i the zucchini. At this point you want to add the curry powder. I know it seems weird, but it has to go in now. I used about two tablespoons. I usually use Indian curry, but this is Vietnamese curry. I was worried the anise would be weird, but it isnt. I also had to drop in a bouillon cube, as the lack of a meat and fats make a tofu curry bland and boring. It just needs a little help, but its worth it.

My secret weapon is 'Rotel' style diced tomato and chiles. It gives it the perfect heat. Exciting!

Then simmer your creation for 45 mins until it all meshes together. If you don't, the curry powder will be bitter and gritty. A good high simmer too, not just a 2 or 3 on an electric stovetop. I did mine at 3-4 and added extra water to make sure it would be enough to soak into the veg and tofu. I would say about 2/3 cup to 1 cup. 

Now, with all this heat and excitement, you need something to anchor to. Something starchy if you can handle the carbs because its usually a bed of basmati rice. In my case it is jasmine rice, the fuel of my life, or former life, as I do not eat rice with every meal as I did from the ages of 2-3 years old to 40. Its been several years since I've removed this starchy/sugary item from my diet. Its not worth it for me, to eat only a couple tablespoons. I would rather not eat it at all If I cant enjoy it fully. Most Asians eat a cup or so each meal. Its amazing how they do stay so thin; this Asian (me) gets the super chunk and start getting thick again. Oh no!

It makes a total mess, but I use a food processor to get the pieces so tiny. Then I put in a covered microwavable bowl with a splash of water for a few mins...get it to steam up....and voila! No carb cauliflower rice!

I have to say making curry from powder (slow method) does take a little practice. I have wasted my fair share when learning how to make this, as I had to teach myself. I had no proper Indian mother to show me how to make Dahl or Aloo Gobi :( I have no interest in Filipino food, strangely enough.

My mother was a microbiologist and was busy saving the world, one contagion identification at a time. She basically told the doctors what she saw in the blood and told them what was wrong with the patients as well as working with CDC (Center for Disease Control). I have nothing but pure gratitude for the service she served humanity. She retired from Ben Taub in 2010 after working at the Texas Medical center (MD Anderson back in the 80's, The Methodist and part time at St Lukes in the 90's and she finished at Ben Taub the last 15 years).

evolve day 11 (failure day)

Turds? No. Carrot pulp muffins! Shame on me semi sweet choco chips :((((((((

Today I am just not feeling very positive. I started the day with a cup of coffee and paid the price; I was punished with heartburn that lasted all day. Excess acid is a surefire indicator that you are doing your digestion no good. No good at all. 

I am making juicer pulp muffins. Visually, they are ugly. I didnt add any all purpose gluten free flour, and just used oat flour instead. They came out like hard little nuggets. They are high in fiber and taste pretty good. 

I use any old morning glory muffin recipe (you can find dozens of em) and sub the sugar for Stevia, egg for flax and water (1:3 ratio with 1 tablespoon flax to 3 water). Even with 1 tablespoon baking powder and 2 baking soda, they did not rise. I always use unsweetened applesauce for butter or oil. This recipe is not critical, as the texture from the pulp disguises most any blemish, except the fact that I didnt use enough flour. They usually rise a little more. I want my muffins to have muffin tops!

Oh yea, those little dark dots are mini semi-sweet chocolate chips; another forbidden evolve food item. Man! I am on a role today, and not in a good way. 

This detox is taking a toll on my mood. I am so critical and feel emotional today. I am not doing so well on this program; every time I turn around I find myself rebeling. At least I'm honest? phooey 

I also made pho soup and rice vermicelli to go in it. Miso paste to the rescue. I will add tofu, bits of cilantro and maybe a slice of fresh jalepeno...but I dont have any bean sprouts, which I love with this soup. oh wel...I told you I'm not feeling it today. Bleh!!!!