Where's the undo button...ACK

I was trying out a new blog and a new template...and I somehow deleted this blog's template and all of my buttons...ummm tear. I am going to undo this...somehow. If I entered your contest and I said that I had your button...well, I did...and I will add it again...soon...

Merry CHRISTmas

Still good...

Well, life is good again. Technical problems are overwhelming though. Trying to fix a friends router, trying to fix our router, trying to add memory to all the compys in the house, trying to clean up to sell, trying to print out invites to a Christmas party for a friend. But hectic is good.

Updated my spice setup...used to be on a lazy susan and I could never find anything...look now <----- . I bought the jars at dollarama for 3/$1. I bought the stand at the home store that is associated with the bay and zellers. Now I can see what I got...of course it does not help me to use the spices...need more information for that.

Take Care all.

Connie

Feeling better

There it is. 3 days on a omnivore diet and I'm already feeling better. No feeling completely sad. No negativism although last night I was a wee bit negative about whether having a big emergency fund was like a beacon saying "Pick me, Murphy". lol. Hubby didn't understand.

I guess I am going to have to change my blog...but to what???

God BLess,
Connie

Depression and Veganism

Well, I've tried to keep my depression out of this blog... I wanted to give the vegan thing a chance. From the first week on, I've been battling depression. I went to a vegan website and asked if anyone had any suggestions about things I could try to fix my depression. I got yelled at. People suggested that I was lying about my depression and that it certainly was not linked to the vegan diet. I am telling you it is linked (at least for me). I also called the doctor who had suggested that the vegan diet would help me. I told him I was depressed and he said it wasn't linked to the food changes... I will be looking for someone who can help me. I am convinced that my problems are linked to my intolerances. It is so affected by my food. If anyone has any suggestions on who I could call/talk to/visit.

On a lighter note, John got a big paycheck today and we are out of debt...yay!!! I think I will celebrate by taking out a car loan....kidding...lol

I just sent my good friend Janet this recipe

Here is the link on my recipe list blog:

Baba Ganoush

It is really good...I think I'll make it for the vegetarians meet and recipe exchange.

Connie

The baked beans vs. me Part 2

Well, the last time I made baked beans, they won. Some were hard some were burnt, none were good. I don't even think I mentioned what the recipe was...didn't want someone to inadvertently make that disaster. So tonight I made the recipe I had meant to make in the first place. It's out of my favorite cookbook:

Finally... Food I can eat by Shirley Plant.

Oh this recipe book rocks. Not only is the food good, but I can eat it. The baked beans recipe I made tonight is nothing like the baked beans in a tomato-ey sauce. This is a spiced and delicious baked beans. I think this is my new favorite recipe...

Baked Beans that Rock

As well I made another recipe today...I officially can tell the difference between buttercup squash and butternut squash....read the little sticky thing on it...lol. I made a butternut squash soup with apples and nectarines in it. It was pretty good. I had to add salt because it was a little bland, and I fear it would not keep me full as there is little protein or complex carbs. It is a good soup but I think I will continue my quest for the perfect butternut sqash soup.

Butternut Squash and Pear Soup

That's all folks....

Blessings,
Connie

Cleaning the veggies out of the fridge cook day

Okay, I deem today another cooking day. Have lots of recipes backed up, but I need to use the veggies in my fridge. So this day is thusforth deemed...Cleaning the veggies out of the fridge cook day. Will let ya'all know how it goes...

Well, vegetarians don't eat turkey...what???

Oh boy, never was veganism so hard. I travelled down to Southern Ontario to visit my sisters and my mom and the whole clan. It was wonderful. Have I told you how very cool my family is. My sisters all sat around and cooked and served and cleaned and laughed non-stop. Everyone had such good food. My sisters all made sure to bring me something that I could eat...lol. Otherwise I would have starved...NOT.

It wasn't thanksgiving proper that was hard, it was getting there and back. Okay, 8 hours (at least) of driving each way. And no coffee...this is where I tell you with my sweetest voice..."Not in this century". Okay I only had 3 coffees there and back...okay they had all sorts of bad stuff in them...okay they were extra large...according to Tim's web site an extra large is 20 oz. For the record an extra large triple triple has 5,000,000,000 calories in each one. (420 calories for those who really care). Coffee aside there is nothing to eat on the road. I ended up bringing trail mix, and soups in tupperware but where do you stop to heat them (have you seen the KD commercial with the guy moving all his stuff and he uses the fish's water and a microwave he is moving to make the KD)? We stopped at a swiss chalet and they tried to heat the soup...I ended up with cold carrot soup... isn't that a delicacy somewhere???

On the way back it was even worse because it was late and everything was closed. Stopped at a pizza pizza. They have the gluten free pizza, but unfortunately due to an ordering problem, mine came with real cheese...oops...yum...oops. It's like the lady at a restaurant who says to the waiter "I'd like to order a salad, but if you bring me a cheeseburger by mistake there is a huge tip in it for you."

Today was our anniversary...woot 18 years married and a couple before that dating. We discussed whether we were together longer than we were apart. We started dating mid-January of 1988. I was born in February 1968. It is now October 2008. I did all the math (it's incredible how hard math is when you can't add) and we have been dating/together/married longer than we were single/teenagers/short people. So where did we go out to eat...don't ask...it was bad...really bad...I was close to throwing up. Don't get me wrong the food tasted heavenly, but my body's reaction to it...well it was less than enthusiastic. So note to self, from now on make special dinners at home so that we can get to the romance.

One of our friends Lorraine sent me some recipes:

Butternut Squash and Pear soup

Now the one problem I have with this recipe is that I have a butternut and a buttercup squash...which one is which???? I originally bought them for a recipe that calls for 2 cups of each...no problem I can do that. But when they want one or the other...we have a small problem. The squash are having an identity crisis.

Anyway Good Night and God Bless,
Connie

Thanksgiving side dish

My good friend CannedAm (from frugalshopper.ca) has given me this recipe. I think I will bring it to thanksgiving.

I've also done scalloped sweet potatoes & apples and also scalloped butternut squash and apples. Both really good and equally easy. I slice them alternating slices of the sweet potatoes or butternut and apples (baking dish is sprayed) dot with butter (about 2 tablespoons to a 2 quart dish), sprinkle with brown sugar and add cinnamon & a bit (just a bit) of nutmeg. Bake till everything's soft at 325. (About 30 minutes) It's good (If it's drying out in the oven, cover it with foil.)

I love being a vegan but

I am loving being vegan. I never feel hungry, I am feeling healthier. John thinks that I have cut out another allergen (or intolerance). Maybe it was eggs. Unfortunately, my IBS problem is worse than ever. Stewie is also having the problem right now so maybe we have a virus. Hopefully. Like I said Darlene's soup was amazing. I have to make a couple of meals for me to take down south. I think I will make a squash soup...I know I have one somewhere...I will add it later.

I am watching Biggest Loser sitting on the couch like a lump. But it's been great, I think I've lost 8 lbs in the last week. I got my prescription for nystatin (sp?) for the yeast problem the Dr thinks I have. We'll see.

God Bless,
Connie

Going to bed now but I thought I'd let ya'all know..

how Darlene's recipe turned out...YUM!!!

Yay for friends who know how to cook. I had to change the cumin for that red spice...accessing accessing ah yes Chili. And I didn't have any fresh Ginger root hanging around so I substituted ginger spice. Still, it tasted wonderful. It is sitting on the counter so that I can put it away tomorrow. Tomorrow I think I'm going to try Vegetarian Ratatouille. It doesn't have any recommendations, but my sister Irene's friend recommended a vegetarian ratatouille as a good recipe...we'll see how capable I am of making it.

I am going tomorrow to look at houses. Hubby believes if I see some houses that I like, I may be spurred into working on the house...hmmmm. Will have an open mind.

God Bless,
Connie

Things have been going along pretty well. I am enjoying the new food choices. Never would have believed that a couple weeks ago. I have basically lost my taste for the things that used to make me happy (and fat...lol). I make a number of dishes at a time and then heat them up to eat with the family. So far on the go I have in my rotation:

Red Lentil Soup
Creamy Broccoli Soup
Stagg Vegetarian Chili
Baba Ganoush (for snacks)
Trail mix (for snacks)
Fresca (Dr advised me to go off this but right now I cannot find an alternative that I like)
1 Coffee a day

I am going to go back and make certain changes to my recipes that I think will make them better. I am going to add more brown rice to the broccoli soup to make it fill you longer. The only time I've felt hungry after a meal was tehe broccoli soup, but today I had it with added rice and I'm not hungry.

Tonight I think I'm going to make Darlene's Carrot Lentil Soup...recipe is here: Carrot Lentil Soup.

Let you know what I figure out tomorrow

Blessings,
Connie

Yowza Yowza, yesterday was a big cooking day. I made broccoli soup and vegetable rice and Irene's fabulous potatoes. I made a mistake and put way too much hot spice (a reddish orange one that Karen gave me) in the potatoes. As a result, John loved them, I could hardly eat them. lol. I ate a few and then drank 3 big glasses of water. I think I will try and be more careful with the chili spice (that's it...kept wanting to call it paprika). Reminds me of a story. When I was a little girl my mom used to put paprika on the burner on the stove and then turn it on low and the house would smell nice. One time she took down the wrong reddish spice and put chili powder on the stove element. We laughed and coughed and cried for a week.

So here's the recipes I tried...

No Cream Creamy Broccoli Soup

Irene's Famous Baked French Fries

God Bless,
Connie

Things they are a changin

Somethin's happenin here,
What it is we're not too sure, (John tells me I got the song wrong...for all those hippies out there...I apologize)

Okay, I am not the most observant person in the world, but...2 strange things have happened since I was "vegan".

When I was a little girl (maybe 5 or so) my mom used to say that one time she decided since I was a little plump she was going to cut out one of my snacks...we'll according to her I caterwauled for 2 hours straight...she just could not take it. Thus began my dieting career. Every "diet" I've ever been on, I think about food 24/7, I dream about it, I obsess about my next meal. I cry tears of hunger (most diets tell you, you will never get "hungry"), I am basically miserable to be around. It's like I'm throwing an adult tantrum. lol. This time it's very different. First of all, I have not been hungry. Like normal "boy my stomach feels a little growly, better stuff it with something" stuff, but no I'm going to bed early because if I stay up I know I'm going to start eating EVERYTHING. And I lost 7 lbs, what's that about. Even in the first week of starving myself on Weight Watchers, the most I've lost is like 3 lbs. Now I know it's all water weight but WOW!!!

Second thing, ever since I've started my monthly. I have never had a month where I didn't have at least one zit on the first day... well today's the day... and nada. I think this is the first time this has happened since the accutane years.

Tues, Wed, and Thurs this week I was horribly tired and I thought it was the "slump". On Wednesday, I decided that I couldn't put up with the cramps from a drug "detrol" and went off. It's still preliminary but I'm not as tired...usual 8 hrs of sleep last night. Of course one of the side effects of the drugs is fatigue. So I ask the Dr if my urine leakage and burning and abdominal cramps could be causing my fatigue, in response she puts me on detrol which causes fatigue. hmmm. Maybe I'll try it again in a few weeks to see if it causes the fatigue again.

Okay, food!!! Well my beans had to be trashed...some were hard and some were stuck to the bottom. Kinda raw and kinda burnt...worst of both worlds. I'm going to say the recipe was not a good one and I am still searching for a baked bean recipe (anyone, anyone...Sherri???). My dear friend Darlene sent me some recipes after a wonderful day spent together visiting downtown. I am so eager to try them.

Carrot Lentil Soup

15 Minute Tomato Soup

Sweet Potato Soup with Jalapeno Corn


I am hungry now because of all this good food...Cannot wait...

Take Care and God Bless
Connie

Well, 15 hours later and my beans are still hard...don't know what to do, maybe I will serve them crunchy and call them al dente??? John and the boys don't particularly like beans so I think I will just let them cook till they are done. One of my dear friends from bible study made a wonderful dessert for the group and Karen brought some home to me...yum. Now to get the recipe...yay!! I think for dinner I am going to make something easy for dinner...ham for the family, soup for me and maybe...beans (beans beans the musical fruit) and potatoes from my sister Irene's recipe. The recipe is really easy, cut up potatoes and then toss them in a mixture of oil, paprika and any other spice that suits your fancy...yum...I could live on this.

Well, it seems like my sleeping patterns have changed again. All summer I was darn good. Sleeping 7-10 hours a night...perfect. With the fall weather, I could not get out of bed this morning. I tried to get up at 7:30 and do some stuff and kept falling asleep doing it. I think right now I need 12 hours, if the trend from last year continues I will start needing 14 and sometimes 16 to feel okay. The CPAP misteriously ends up off me in the middle of the night, John said I pulled it off at 4:00am. Now this is nothing for me who can have a full conversation with someone in my sleep. Or go for walks, or any number of things. Maybe this need for additional sleep is CPAP related. Don't know, will ask the technician when I go for my appt.

God Bless,
COnnie

Well, Karen is my hero and she saved the day.

When I left ya'all, I was sitting at the kitchen table with a bunch of unrecognizable food and no clue how to cook it. The first recipe I tried was a red lentil soup...it is below. It smelled so very good. I was so cocky, it looked like my first recipe was going to be good and I could actually do this. I was letting it simmer and I decided to taste it...it was just plum awful. It tasted like...like...like nothing...lumpy nothing. ewww. Karen came upstairs just as I was getting ready to Christen the garbage pail with a vegetarian delight. She tasted it and told me to get the salt and the ??? (it's a red powder, and she told me it would taste good.) I think the red powder stuff was kinda hot but have no idea. After she was done doctoring it, it tasted pretty darn good.

I was going to try buckwheat pancakes for dinner. Kids had bacon with theirs. I specially bought blueberries for the pancakes and guess what??? Yep I forgot to put them in. At the last minute I was able to put blueberries in the last set of pancakes. Everyone got a blueberry pancake; Stewart (the kid who gets blueberry muffins at Tim's) decide that he doesn't like blueberries in his pancake (I guess he only likes fake blueberry bits not real ones). I ate his, as a show of support of his independance. Really it was nothing to do with the fact that everyone else was munching on bacon and I felt a little ...ummm... upset. The buckwheat pancakes were pretty good, not light and fluffy. I will see if I can find something that will add to their fluffyness. Maybe my baking soda is old???

Tonight, I am making beans in the slow cooker. I will turn it off in the morning...hmmm, we will see.

I think today all my rainbows and lollipops view of veganism fell away. I think if I do this, I will never love food again. I guess that is a little strong...no duh. Like altoids are a little strong.

I'll let you know how the beans turn out...hopefully Karen will be available for a consult. lol

God Bless,
Connie

Greek Red Lentil Soup

First of all, thank you for everyone's support. I am sitting here in front of a pile of unidentified uncooked food. Don't have a clue how to cook it...lol. Did you know that there are about 10 types of flaxseed (I had to call the manufacturer to find out which one went into recipes...lol). Did you know that they sell beans dry (I'm sure most of you did but I didn't) and you have to soak them overnight... and that if you rince them many times there is less chance of ummm.... farting...lol. Did you know that there are other spices than oregano and garlic powder? There is a spice called garam masala (I thought it was referring to the italian dish made by a guy named garam) and it has tonnes of different variations (depending on where in India you come from). Did you know there is a thing called millet and it looks like little balls (like the size of 1/2 a grain of rice) and you cook it and add it to recipes (of course I have no idea how...that will come later). And did you know that buying vegetables/vegetarian food costs more than meat??? How is that possible...I have no idea.

There are so many funny stories to come I can just feel it. All this food looks rather foreign. The only thing I recognize is the garlic. John and Karen are going to help me eat all the recipes that I have recieved. Until I learn to cook vegetarian, I see lots of potatoes in our future. Pray for them, they don't have much to lose before they starve to death. I should be okay.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie

My journey begins

Today I went to see a doc. Nice guy, told me I was crazy, like I didn't know that. lol. He told me the reason that I had such fatigue is that I have Chronic Fatigue Something. Well, I laughed, because really I don't believe that helps me anyhow. It's not like there is a little blue pill. What he suggested is pretty funny. Become a vegan...lol. Doesn't he realize that I already can't eat anything, cutting out meat, eggs and milk (okay that one is already gone) leaves pretty much nothing. He also said that I should do the Yeast Elimination Diet. Knock sugar off the diet.

Okay, I can either sulk and throw things (okay I did already sulk, but it got old pretty quick when no-one came to my pity party.) or I can put on my big girl shoes and figure out how I'm going to do this.

I need recipes. If you could adapt one of your favorites in a way that I can eat it, I will be very happy. I don't think my doc had in mind that I should eat french fries and potato chips 24/7, but with my cooking they are looking pretty good. lol. Here is what I can eat:

any veg beside turnip and spinach and soy and mushrooms(I hate cooking onions though so feel free to leave those out)
any fresh fruit (love them all)
rice
rice milk
rice crackers, rice round thingy's
any rice derivative that does not have things on the nono list
goat cheese that is hard (I have a lovely sharp cheddar that I can buy)
olives
nuts and seeds
stevia (sweetener) maybe sorbitol, and xylitol
Strubs pickles
gluten-free flours
olives
beans except soy
honey and molasses
oil

NoNo list
-meat
-fish
-eggs
-cow's milk anything (includes butter)
-soy in any form (includes margarine)
-anything with vinegar (most salad dressings, ketchups, mustards, mayonnaise bbq sauce, some spaghetti sauces, some pizza sauces)
-any flour with gluten, oats,
-mushrooms,turnip, spinach
-anything with yeast
-coffee tea or chocolate


Pretty daunting, eh??? Well as far as I'm concerned, here are the priorities:

1. Soy, gluten, milk, yeast and sugar are right out...lol (monty python). I'm going to be really careful about these.
2. vinager I'd like to stay away from but I think I will be less picky about.
3. meat, eggs and fish...??? I have no idea what I'm going to do without these...like I'm irish...meat and potatoes, hold the meat...For now I am going to phase this part in really slowly. I will try recipes that don't have these items and as I find more and more good recipes I will phase meat out.
4. coffee tea chocolate. I have coffee substitute made from chicory and other weird stuff. If I could find a goat's cream...I would be a happy girl. I've decided for my purposes I will eat goat's products because...well just because I need to eat something.

To help us with recipe conversions here are some ideas:

I usually use 1 T ground flax seed, 1 T cornstarch, 1 T oil
plus 2 T water or rice milk, in place of 1 egg
and have had no problems yet!

Shortening can be used in the place of butter in desserts

Try lemon or lime juice for vinegar

that is all I got...

Thank you for all being there for me. I appreciate anything you can do, examining labels to see which commercial/health food stuff I can have, would be amazing...praying for me would be the ultimate. Sending me a personal cook would be appreciated (but make sure he's cute ... Watching "No Reservations" right now...lol.) Oh and if anyone has a cure for bum burps as one child I knew referred to them that you get from beans...that would be good. (Beano is not allowed)

Oh and an update, my CPAP machine is going well. Wore it the first night and only threw it off in disgust once. John wondered all night if the window was open...lol.

Take care and God Bless,
Connie