Tiffany's TGIF Breakfast

Hi everyone!  Do you recall my sharing our intent to switch from dairy to nut milk?  Last week, Tiffany purchased and drank a quart of off-the-shelf almond milk (unsweetened & unflavored) to establish a baseline.  Tiffany has subsequently made her first pitcher (4 cups) of fresh almond milk.

• Will it replace dairy milk?  "Yes, easily so."
• Does it taste good?  "Yes, quite delicious."
• Can I switch to the stuff?  "Yes, no problem."
• Are the calories low enough?  "Yes, approximately 40-calories per glass."
• Is it easy to make from scratch?  "Yes, just let the Blendtec blender do the work."
• Will I choose to switch?  "Yes, have already decided to do so."
• Isn't there left-over ground almond after I make the milk?  "Yes, quite a lot actually."
• Is it cheaper than milk?  "Yes, much cheaper.  Costs only 3/4 cup of raw organic almonds to make 4 cups milk."
• Is the expiration period greater than that of dairy milk?  "Yes, it keeps well in the fridge."
• What will I do with all of that remaining almond meal (pulp)?  "Ah-ha!  We're getting back the reason for this blog, aren't we?"

And what did Tiffany do with the left-over ground raw almond pulp?  She made the most delicious organic cornmeal pancakes that included the delicious buttery almond meal.  Using Bob's Red Mills organic cornmeal pancake & waffle mix she used egg white, the left-over almond pulp, water and a tablespoon of canola oil.

The batch made six fluffy and delicious 4" pancakes.  Add some margarine and sugar-free pancake syrup and you've got yourself a very filling breakfast.  When I added the ingredients into Diet Power, it calculates to be 177-calories per pancake.  Yeah.  Although delicious and extremely nutritious, almonds carry a wallop of calories.  I ate two pancakes and they were more than enough to satisfy all cravings.

"Yes.  Yes.  Yes, mother dear."  I have already entered the Tiffany smoothie and the two pancakes into my food log for the day.  Lunch and dinner will just have to be a little lighter today.

Hi-dee hi-dee almonds rock my friends!

The Caloric Truth

Okay.  Here's the scoop.  I find myself comparing my switch to vegetarianism like adopting a new diet.  I know.  I know.  I will inherently lose weight simply by dropping meats from my diet.  After all, I have dramatically reduced fat and cholesterol simply by adopting a vegetarian lifestyle.

But, let's be honest my friends.  Chucky is greedy.  No, wait a minute.  Chucky is really greedy.  He wants to accelerate his weight loss if possible.  And, how does he do this?

Speaking from experience (er... inexperience), the one tried and true method to weight loss is maintaining a food log.  To simply be totally conscious of how many calories consumed.  Myself?  I use a product call Diet Power (see screenshot below).  It tracks my daily food intake, tracks calories, metabolic rate and provides me an extra tool to achieve my goal.  Most enlightening and always astonishing to me is the price of food (calorie count, in my case).  I just ran today's numbers through Diet Power and I've got some serious work to do my friends.

I used to exercise due diligence logging my daily food intake but have been slacking lately.  Today's entries reaffirms my need to dust off the software and begin using it once again.  My goal is simple.  Eat vegetarian and monitor calorie count. I truly believe the two combined can best be marked by the metric accomplishments that I will share.

Wish me luck.  Your thoughts on Chucky's approach to weight loss and achieving true health?

Hi-dee hi-dee ho ya'll!

Chucky & Tiffany Go Grocery Shopping

Hmm... Besides "Shopping for Brains", what should I blog about today?  I'll tell you what's been on my mind.  One of the most noticeable lifestyle changes that Tiffany and I have experienced these past 34-days as newly converted vegetarians?  Grocery shopping!  Undoubtedly much, much simply than ever before.  So many things.  So many choices.
 

Besides being easier and more fun, it's been rather nice on the wallet as well.  Mind you, I'd much rather stash a dagger in the back pocket of my overalls than a wallet!  Fun?  How can grocery shopping be fun you ask?  Although it may someday wear thin and lose its luster, our weekly treks into both old and new markets are treasure hunts.  We just never know what exotic and strange new vegetable, fruit, recipe component, or non-meat packaged item we may stumble onto.

It's simply too.  We just breeze past the meat and deli sections of the market.  Instead we concentrate on the non-meat vegetarian-friendly regions of the food jungle.  You know.  It's that part of the store where monkeys swing from the ceiling holding blocks of tofu.  Where lush green gardens of bok choy, collard green, and spinach abound.  Where it rains almond milk, oat milk and tasty showers of liquid joy.  A quick glance at any item piquing our interest immediately triggers a barrage of subconscious questions.  "Is it meatless?"  "Are meat products being used as ingredients?"  "Can I even buy this item?"

I won't even begin to describe the thrill of walking through the newly discovered "health market".  From end-cap to end-cap, from isle to isle, from cashier to back wall... A true plethora of items, products, and tastes that we've never previously fathomed or imagined!

I suppose I simply could have said, "Keep an open mind when traveling the vegetarian road."  But that would be a rather short blog, wouldn't it?

You truly cannot say that you do not like something unless you've tried it.  Right?  For those items that stump the imagination ("What in the heck do I do with this stuff?"), the trusty web search can spit shine even the dullest of culinary creativity.  Go ahead!  Try something new.  Re-experience dishes from days gone by.  This time, try it meatless.

So, trust me... Should you elect to take the righteous vegetarian path of discovery I encourage you to keep an open mind.  Take off your blinders, open up your world of culinary discovery, and enjoy!  The payoff will be tremendously rewarding.

Hi-dee hi-dee successful shopping-ho my friends!

Shopping for Brains

A cannibal entered the meat market to buy something nice for dinner. The owner greeted him and told him to look around. The cannibal began to inspect the meat case and noticed the market specialized in brain.

Upon further inspection he noticed a marked disparity between the costs of brain meats. A carpenter's brain sells for $1.50 per pound. A plumber's brain sells for $2.25 per pound. He noticed with alarm that a politician's brain sells for $375.00 a pound. With not a little curiosity he asked the owner why the huge difference in price between the similar meats.

The owner responded with a deadpan look on his face, "Do you realize how many politicians it takes to get a pound of brains?"

Hi-dee hi-dee ha-ha-ha my friends.  :)

Eureka! Found The Promised Land.

Tiffany and I have always had an overly zealous love for tacos.  Like Monty Python's quest for the holy grail, we have forever been seeking a recipe that closely emulates our favorite Mexican restaurant's ground beef taco filling.  We found it tonight!!!

I found the following TVP Taco Filling on SparkPeople.

• 1 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)
• 1 cup water or broth
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp ketchup

1. Bring the water to a boil.  Add TVP and simmer on low until water has been absorbed.
2. Add the taco seasoning.  Mix well.

Note:  We chose to use fresh Penzeys spices and Tabasco's Spicy ketchup.

Tiffany laid out some flour tortilla shells, added some TVP taco filling, brown rice, black bean, and goat cheese.  She microwaved the soft tacos before topping with fresh lettuce, fresh homemade salsa, and jalapeno slices.  Add some habanero hot sauce and you've got yourself a truly wonderful meal!

The reason that I am so excited to share this with you is because we've tried a lot of taco filling recipes, before and after becoming vegetarians.  I've just never found one that gives me that wonderful taste that we've been looking for.  This recipe has both the flavors and finely ground texture that I demand.

Do you have a better taco filling recipe?  Don't sit there smugly grinning at your screen.  Share it!  And... Don't worry if it's a non-vegetarian recipe because I can adapt it.

Hi-dee hi-dee ho amigos!

Welcome Nomeatber! It's Baseline Time.

No·meat·ber

/ɒkˈtoʊbər/ Show Spelled[noh-meet-ber]

–noun

1.

the eleventh month of the year, containing 30 days. Abbreviation:  Nom.

2.

the second month in the year 2010 of Chucky and Tiffany's vegetarian lifestyle. 

---

Origin, Concatenation:

bef. 900;  ME; OE nā,  equiv. to ne  not + ā  ever ( see ay¹ ) 
bef. 900;  ME, OE mete  food, c. OHG maz,  ON matr,  Goth mats  

bef. 1000;  ME, OE < L: the ninth month of the early Roman calendar, compound with novem nine;  for final element see December

Ugh.  It's time to lay down the metrics. Trust me.  This is what they mean when they say "the truth isn't pretty".  Pictures are worth a thousand words?  Perhaps pictures are worth a thousand pounds?  But, remember... the camera adds a couple of pounds. Can you at least give me this much?

Chucky

Weight:  318.4 lbs
Glucose (fasting):  114 mg/dL
Systolic:  123 mmHg
Diastolic:  79 mmHg
Heart Rate:  74 pulses/minute

Tiffany

I originally had reservation of posting pictures and stats on my blog.  But when Tiffany and I discussed it, we both agreed it's really only sharing the truth, numbers and pictures will most certainly improve over time, and someday we'll both look back and laugh at these pictures.  Posting this particular blog reflects the faith and trust we both have in our lifestyle change. 

It's been 31 days meat-free.  I find it difficult to describe how much better we both feel.  Most noticeable for both of us is an elevated energy level.  Tiffany used to feel tired and dragging about 3:00 in the afternoons.  No longer.  Not since Tofuber 1st.

Me?  I tend to believe that it may be psychosomatic.  You simply feel better about what you're doing with your body.  When you feel better of what you're doing, you naturally feel better about yourself.   You feel better about yourself, your body reciprocates in kind.  Am I right?  Keep visiting and you shall see my friend.

Hi-dee hi-dee healthy-ho to you!

We Have A Winner!

"Hobo" girl wins chicken!

Ladies and gents, I just wish you all could have been here last night!  At first I thought my home might have been in the path of the "Hundred Child March".  We had so many happy children.  "Mister! Was that a salmon puck that you tossed into my bag?"  "Mister?  I don't eat fish.  Can I have a frozen hot dog instead?"

I can probably sum up Halloween at Chucky's in a single word, "celebration".  Elation, joy, and the thrill of having a hunk of meat tossed into their little plastic pumpkin buckets.  If I had a block of tofu for every time I heard, "Mister...  I've never gotten trick-or-treat meat before."

The only one truly more excited was that little "Hobo" girl who was the first to ring our doorbell.  You'd think that she had been met at our door by Justin Bieber!  I may have seen tears of joy rolling down her hobo makeup.  I was choking and struggling to get the words to from my mouth, "Here little girl.  Have a frozen chicken!  Happy Halloween!"

She just stood there.  Mouth wide open.  The size of her speechless mouth was only slightly smaller than those big wide amazed eyes!  I stunned her!  She was flabbergasted.

My only regret?  Tofuber has ended and Halloween is but only one short night per year.  Hey kids!  Next year tofu, TVP pucks, seitan, vegetables and fruits!

Welcome Nomeatber (formerly known as November)!

Hi-dee hi-dee meatless-ho my fine friends!