Sugar Withdrawal

I ordered the book Eat To Live by Dr. Joel Furhman. I have been re-reading posts from last year and decided it is time that I take a serious look at healthy food and living. Of course when it comes to holiday time again (once a month or bi-monthly) I will do something that makes life a treat, but I am really wanting to make a change and lose a little flour. Geish! I can't believe I said that, I was a whole grain organic baker for a living for 5 years before going into teaching (health and life skills/ occupational family and consumer science) and a cooking mom before that.... freshly milled whole grain flour IS HEALTHY right! Yes, I cannot deny, but I think I need a little break from wheat and easy going more with the whole grain. Now I will not give up all that I enjoy, just not make it daily or even every week habits.

I don't have my book in yet, Thursday is the big day according to amazon. I will also get my circular knitting needle on this day so I can knit two socks at the same time. I am looking forward to this, but I know it will be a slow process!

Here's a food report:

I have been taking meal ideas from both Bryanna Clark-Grogan and Dreena Burton cookbooks for meals. I know there are some new cookbooks out, but I just need to stick in my personal comfort zone for awhile.

BRYANNA's Sharp Chedda' Cheez

Bryanna has some nice cheez recipes in the previous Vegan Feast newsletters. I was impressed with their goodness when the original recipes calling for Emes vegan gelatin came out, then we went through the fall of the company and the wonderful cheez recipe needed a new ingredient that would give it the perfect texture. IRISH MOSS powder was one suggestion and it is what I have available, as stinky as it is. I had to order a pound of the green powder and was asked by other coop members how I intended to use it. When I told them it was for vegan cheez making, I think they thought I was losing my mind and when I first made the cheez using it I wondered whether it was a mistake also. As you can see in the picture below it is green inside the glass measure..... it also smells pretty fishy. But once all is added and cooked the way the recipe says, the green goes away and it doesn't smell or taste the way the Irish moss powder does.

Here is the cheez topping the Mexican Lasagna in Dreena Burton's latest book Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. You can see the chedda and the frozen block of cheez in the background. It even browns beautifully, however Dreena's recipe says to cover for the main baking process and then uncover for the last few minutes, I left the casseroles uncovered the entire baking time. Here's "close-up", it appears to me that the peice I ate is a little blurry. It was delish though and I, for the first time in my entire life, ate avocado.
Next up is the enchilada casserole that I tried from Dreena's Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan Cookbook. I had it for supper and then again for lunch and the last of it will be for lunch today. I like it and again a new avacado experience. The bad thing about avacado is the $1.84 price for one.

Lasy quick picture is of a lunch salad and homemade croutons using the innards of the red pepper sage bread that I made for the muffaletta awhile back. Hope your lunches are healthy and nutritious.