After several reschedulings, the much-anticipated Sanjay Gupta CNN special “The Last Heart Attack” featuring President Bill Clinton, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, and Dr. Dean Ornish finally aired.
The message is a powerful one in favor of regular screenings and a plant-based diet. Clearly an important wake-up call to many that deserves to be shared with friends and family. I hope you’ll recommend they watch…
Having received a review copy of Chef AJ’s new book Unprocessed some weeks ago, it’s about time I get down to saying a few words about it. Which, aside from finding that elusive chunk of so-called free time do so, is not hard at all. In other words, I’m really enjoying this one and can definitely see myself leaving it handy for the recipe ideas.
The book begins with Chef AJ’s story from childhood, when the food was good and wholesome, thru how it changed to the more Standard American Diet when she left the fold (and the sad times that followed), up thru making the choice to eat healthier and more simply (and the happiness that brought her).
Chef AJ cites her influences as, among others, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Dean Ornish, and, of course, The China Study by T.Colin Campbell, PhD.
Reading the works of these well-known vegan authors and advocates cemented her understanding of the hazards of added oils, sugar, and salt. The result was a clean and vibrant diet which she explains with ease and confidence in the first part of the book and which shines through in the remaining two-thirds comprising a collection of recipes, both her own and others’.
To my mind, this is a great first book to send a friend or family member as it’s filled with encouragement and guidance that is sure to have them at least taking their first inquisitive steps along the journey to health and well-being. The recipes are right up my alley too, with no added oils, sugar, or salt (though a few use low-sodium tamari, which is actually still rather high in it).
There are lots of dessert and snack recipes and soups and meals that feel ripe for entertaining guests. I’ll try to present a couple with pictures in future posts. In the meantime, when Chef AJ was asked over on Vegan Done Light’s Facebook page to name some of her favorites, she responded, “My favorite entree recipes are the white bean and kale lasagna and the sweet potato nachos.” -Chef AJ
A couple weeks ago, I had an unfortunate bout of the “dropsies.” No, not dropsy as in the old word once commonly used for edema (swelling), rather the colloquial kind whereupon you clumsily drop everything you touch. Sadly, two of my favorite pieces of kitchenware met their fate in as many days.
The first to swim among its brethren was my beloved Pisces coffee cup from, heck, at least my teenage years. The next day, my garlic dish for grating fresh garlic with no risk to the knuckles and easy-peasy cleanup. Both, gifts from Mom.
The front of the mug says “The Fishes” on the top piece, Pisces at the base. Here’s what the back reads:
Pisces, February 19 – March 20
Jupiter – Planet
Water – Element
Virgo – Complement
Generous, Sensitive and kind, You are an imaginative person
- i.e., Elizabeth Taylor, Caruso & Jackie Gleason,
Gem – Aquamarine
Flower – Jonquil
Color – Azure
Numbers – 9, 12, 33
What’s kitchen item have you broken that made you the saddest? What’s its story?
The other day my Dad was telling me how his most recent experience with store-bought hummus was a huge letdown. He described it as being too thick and… I don’t remember all the adjectives, but suffice it to say, he thought it pretty bad.
In the future, he said he’d be getting it from Neomonde‘s. I think I mentioned them before. They make real Mediterranean food. It was a big container of their sinfully delicious hummus and a bunch of cut up veggies (ok and some dark chocolate) that sustained me on the ~15 hour drive back home from my visit in North Carolina earlier this year.
Anyway, here’s a great tip for those times you have cruddy hummus, i.e., you didn’t have the time to make your own or get some real stuff. I actually don’t mind the brand with which he had the negative experience, but there are definitely some I avoid. One was like whipped hummus or something, though they didn’t tell you that. It was the reverse of the thick and pasty issue, instead being super airy like it came out of an aerosol can. Yuck.
OK, back to the hummus helper: Simply grill up some peppers — red, orange, and green — and throw in a hot too, if you like. This was just delicious and makes for a super-simple repair job.
The little round ones with the seeds poking out are thai chilis. 
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