Cream of Mushroom Soup

If I were having the British royal family over for dinner, I'd serve them this amazing vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup as a first course. It's so rich, so decadent, so bursting with mushroom and cream flavors, it's fit for royalty...or for a windy, cold day like this past Saturday when I made it. Its lusciousness is not without a calorie cost, though: vegan sour cream and margarine help make this soup spectacular.

Yes, vegan sour cream and margarine are processed foods that come in packages--evil things I usually swear off. But I had fond memories of this soup when I first made it last year, so I splurged this weekend. Really though, the soup is pretty good before you add the soymilk and soy sour cream, so I'd make it without the non-dairy for a healthier version.

Last year when I made it, an omni coworker tried it and loved it, so I don't think omnivores would miss the dairy.

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup
recipe from About.com

• 3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp vegan margarine
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup vegan non-dairy sour cream substitute
• 1 cup soymilk
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large soup or stock pot, saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic in vegan margarine for 3 - 5 minutes, until onions are soft.

 

2. Reduce heat to medium low and add the vegetable broth. Cover and allow to simmer for at least 45 minutes. (Note: stop here for a non-cream but still good mushroom soup!)

3. Add the flour, non-dairy sour cream and soymilk, stirring well to combine. Allow to simmer another 20 - 30 minutes, or until soup has thickened. Season generously with salt and pepper before serving.

Weekend Challenge: Pushups & Lunges

I love the Weekend Challenge idea from Women's Health Magazine for those who eat right and exercise Monday through Friday but let the happy hours and dinners out on weekends wreck their eating and fitness routines. Before every weekend, the Women's Health Facebook page posts a new challenge to do a set of exercise before you eat every meal.

I'm guilty of thawing out the vegan cookies in the freezer and eating more on weekends, so I'm excited to give this challenge a try. When I first saw the challenge, I must have looked at an old one to do three sets of 10 pushups before every meal, so I planned to do that this weekend. Last night before going out for dinner to Mad Mex, I did all the pushups.

But today I saw that this weekend's challenge is actually three sets of lunges on each leg before each meal.

So this weekend I'm planning on doing both pushups and lunges before every meal. Are you in? I am!

Accidentally Vegan, Guilty Pleasure Find

Like Meghan, who recently posted a top 10 accidentally vegan junk foods list, I usually turn my nose up at processed junk foods. But on a recent grocery store visit, I entered an aisle I rarely go down: the packaged cereal aisle. Sugary and artificially flavored, these cereals aren't good for you. I know this. But one cereal caught my eye, and when I looked at the ingredients, I found that it's accidentally vegan. Dulce de Leche Cheerios! So I pushed aside my inner voice screaming, "Put it back! It's no good for you! It's high in WeightWatchers points! And it's $4!!!" and bought it.

It's about as good an accidentally vegan junk food as you can get. With vanilla soymilk, it's good. But eaten plain with some vegan chocolate chips, it's almost as sinfully good as a vegan cupcake.

And now back to my regularly scheduled healthy eating broadcast...

Spicy Tomato Chickpea Soup

Tomato soup in winter sounds good. Spicy tomato soup sounds better. And spicy tomato soup made with pureed chickpeas? Awesome! This recipe from Vegan Yum Yum is a winner.

Spicy Tomato Chickpea Soup

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil (I omitted the oil and used vegetable broth)
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I used about 1.5 cups of chickpeas I cooked)
• 1 (28oz) can of diced tomatoes (or fresh plum tomatoes if in season)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 cup hot water
• black pepper to taste

1. Sautee the diced onion in a large pot until soft, about three minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes and stir another minute.

2. Add the chickpeas, mustard seeds, and turmeric, and saute until the chickpeas turn golden. Note that if using veg broth in place of oil, keep adding enough broth so things don't stick to the pan.

3. Add tomatoes and salt and simmer 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes are cooked through.

4. Add the nutritional yeast if using and the hot water. Either transfer the soup to a blender to puree, or use an immersion blender. This was my first chance to use the immersion blender I got for Christmas. It was exciting and messy at the same time. Bits of pureed chickpeas and tomatoes were everywhere by the time I was done.

But the finished soup was amazing. Hearty and hot, it's a perfect winter comfort food. Plus, it's nutritious, light, and filling.

I liked it so much, I'm thinking of giving out jars of soup for holiday gifts this year instead of my usual vegan cookies. Wouldn't these jars look cute with some festive ribbon?

Dr. Vonda Wright on Aging with Vitality

Dr. Vonda Wright
(image from http://www.vondawright.com)

When I first saw Dr. Vonda Wright before the talk she gave at Carnegie Mellon University last week as part of the university's Fitness Challenge for staff and faculty, I exclaimed out loud, "Wow, she's young!" With her impressive bio as an orthopedic surgeon, author of multiple books, and a national expert who has given more than 200 media interviews in the past two years, I expected her to look, well, older. Turns out that Dr. Wright is the poster child for the subject she's passionate about: healthy aging. 

Specializing in fitness over 40, Dr. Wright herself is fit, vibrant, and radiant--and she's 45 (or will be soon, I think she said). Some of the highlights from her inspiring talk are:

• We can die from not being physically active! Sedentary death syndrome accounts for some 33 diseases that can kill people, like heart disease and diabetes. Just 30 minutes of exercise a day can decrease the risk of many of these diseases.
• When polled, 70% of people said that physical activity is important; only 30% of people exercise regularly, though.
• 70% of what determines how we age is due to our lifestyle. Only 30% is genetic.
• Research shows that a 60-year-old man is equally as strong as an 85-year-old man who does resistance training.
• A good indicator of how healthy your weight is (better than BMI) is your waist-to-hip ratio. Divide your hip measurement (around the biggest part of your butt) by your waist measurement (right below the belly button). You should be under .8. If you're over 1, you're "a disaster!"
• One 30-minute exercise session can provide feel-good feelings for up to 12 hours.
• Strive for an intense physical exercise (high-impact exercise like running and plyometrics that "bash your bones") every other day.

Dr. Wright explained that previous research on how people age (think of a frail, shuffling old man using a walker) is based on those people being sedentary. Her research proves that physically active people can look and feel youthful as they age. She gave many examples of people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s who are living with vitality because they incorporate fitness into their lives. One amazing photo showed a 92-year-old patient she works with--who regularly windsurfs!

Her message was clear. It's our choice: we can choose to be frail, weak, and unhealthy as we grow older, or we be can be strong, fit, and healthy and live our golden years to the fullest. I choose fitness. I choose vitality!

Restaurant Review: North Country Brewing Company

This weekend my husband and I celebrated our 13th when-we-met anniversary. On Saturday we headed north to visit small towns, play in the snow, and have dinner at the North Country Brewing Company in Slippery Rock.

First we stopped at McConnell's Mill State Park. Pittsburgh got about four inches of snow Friday night--our biggest snowfall of winter so far--and this area up north got about eight inches. I nearly had a heart attack from the terror of driving down the winding, narrow, slushy/slippery road to get to the mill in my nine-year-old VW Golf, but we made it safely.

It was a winter wonderland! Everything looked so pretty with all the snow. We stopped at the old mill and the covered bridge first.

 Then we went on a little hike through a forested trail along the river.

 

We realized that we'd never gone hiking in winter before. It was a lot of fun and so pretty. I loved the frozen  waterfalls, though a little hard to see in the following picture.

We left the park and drove up to Volant, a tiny town north of New Castle with a few cute shops. We stopped at Volant Mills, a restored old mill, and got hand-made pickles and candy and visited with Mabel, a friendly black-and-white kitty who lives there.

Then we headed to Slippery Rock for dinner at North Country Brewing Company. They had a number of veggie selections, including Hummus Pita, Falafel Pita, Black Bean Burger, Portobello Reuben, and Breaded Zucchini Sub. We got the Pub Pretzels as an appetizer, served with a spicy mustard. The pretzels were deep-fried and crispy--definitely not light and healthy--but absolutely delicious. I got the Artichoke Sub with marinated, grilled artichokes, tomatoes, and red onions (I ordered it without cheese). It was also delicious! I never drink beer, but in the spirit of being at the brewery, I got a Raspberry Beret beer. Yum! It was fruity without being overly fruity, light, and refreshing.

I also liked the brew pub's environmentally friendly focus. The owners have their own farm and raise their own cattle for beef that's served in the restaurant. They also grow vegetables for the restaurant. They use the spent grains from the brewing process to feed their cattle, and the majority of the restaurant waste is composted. They also contribute some proceeds to the local fire department and lead a community clean-up initiative. Here's a recent Pittsburgh City Paper article about their environmental initiatives.

We thought we would be eating OPD style (that is, Old People Dinner style) when we got there at 5, but it was packed and lively. According to our waiter, it's usually busy. No wonder--great food, good veggie options, good beer, and an environmentally friendly focus. Two thumbs up!

Exercise for the Health of It

I first heard the term skinny-fat in this Women's Health Magazine article about type 2 diabetes in young, slim women. Another term is "TOFI—thin outside, fat inside. Nearly undetectable from a person's appearance, TOFI happens when fat that would normally build up under your skin (hello, thunder thighs!) gloms onto your abdominal organs instead. This visceral fat is way worse than any muffin-top chub—it can cause inflammatory substances to affect your liver and pancreas, and lower your insulin sensitivity, putting you at risk for type 2. With TOFI, you might look slim, but your insides are behaving as if you are obese."

Yikes! The article goes on to say, "A big skinny-fat risk factor? Neglecting exercise and regulating weight through food choices alone, a behavior plenty of young women in our diet-obsessed, desk-strapped culture are prone to. Turns out, breaking a sweat is key in lowering blood sugar, because even moderate exercise causes muscles to suck up glucose at 20 times the normal rate (regular workouts are also the only way to shed visceral fat)."

If that's not enough motivation for those who don't exercise regularly, consider these statistics from the January 2012 issue of Shape Magazine:

• Get moving for just 15 minutes six days a week and you'll increase your lifespan by three years, according to a Taiwanese study.
• Working out boosts your energy and reduces stress. Plus a Duke University study found that 45 minutes of cardio three days a week may be as effective as prescription drugs for treating depression.
• Research published in Circulation found that 2.5 hours of exercise lowers a woman's risk of heart disease by 14 percent.

Still not sold? Consider these 21 other benefits from Fitness Magazine. And remember that exercise doesn't just mean going to the gym. Walking, playing tag with your kids, cranking up the music and dancing around the house, skiing, and playing sports all count. Just get moving--your body (and mind and spirit) will thank you!