Coming Up On Three Years WFPB Vegan

In January, I will have been on this fantastic vegan nutrition journey for three years. I have honestly never felt better in my life.

Today, my wife Deborah and I rode our new bike smart trainers using the Rouvy cycling app that let's you ride actual bike routes around the world, virtually. Today I rode Stage One Part Two of the Tour de France. It was only eight miles, but it had some significant hill climbs. The smart trainers simulate real road riding by electronically changing the resistance of the trainer depending on the slope of the rode in the virtual ride simulator. How fun! I burned off quite a few calories, although probably not enough to compensate for the two bowls of fantastic vegan Thai curry I threw together tonight. Hard to say for sure, but the scale will tell me in the morning.

The End.

A Recipe: Oil Free Vegan Southwest Tofu Breakfast Scramble - Super Easy!

I love this simple, tasty, whole food, plant-based recipe for a vegan, oil-free, southwest tofu breakfast scramble. The tofu is in place of scrambled eggs.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cheap red wine (you can also use red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, veggie broth, or a combination).
A bit of lime juice (optional).
1/2 tsp garam masala or curry powder.
1/2 tsp chili powder.
1/2 tsp ground black pepper.
1/2 tsp cumin.
1/2 tsp dried basil.
1/2 tsp ground thyme.
1/2 tsp dried rosemary.
1/2 tsp of turmeric.
salt to taste (optional).
ground cayenne pepper to taste (optional).
50 grams or so of mushrooms (chopped).
A russet potato (chopped).
A medium zucchini or yellow summer squash (chopped).
A medium red, yellow, or orange pepper (chopped).
A half cup of red, yellow, and/or white onion (chopped).
Note: You can chop and add additional veggies if you want!
Half a block (about 8-10 oz) of extra or super firm tofu mashed up with a potato masher.
100 grams of cooked red kidney beans (quasi-optional).

Add the herbs and spices to the red wine (with or without lime juice) and stir it all up.

Put all the veggies (but not the tofu and beans) in a big saucepan and pour the red wine sauce over them.

Crank the heat to high for 5 minutes to get the wine sauce boiling and stir frequently.

Add the tofu and beans, then immediately reduce heat to medium/low for 5 more minutes and stir frequently.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for a few more minutes until potatoes are cooked how you like them.

Eat it and enjoy,

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A Recipe: Oil Free WFPB Vegan Bean Chili

Today I refined my dad's infamous chili recipe to produce a delicious whole-food, plant-based, oil-free, vegan version, just in time for Easter.

1. To half a cup of cheap red wine, add the following herbs and spices: cumin (2-3 tsp), black pepper (3-4 tsp), garlic powder (2-3 tsp), chili powder (1-2 tsp), salt (to taste), and optionally basil, thyme, rosemary, ground red pepper (for heat), and/or curry powder (for earthiness, whatever that is...) to taste.

2. Chop up a few cups of your favorite chili veggies, but hold off on the sweet bell peppers for now. I like to use onion, celery, sweet potato, mushrooms, zucchini or yellow summer squash, and matchstick carrots at a minimum. Put the veggies in a large saucepan and pour in the wine sauce from Step 1. Put the pot on the stove and crank the heat on high for 5 minutes.

3. During the 5 minutes, chop up 2 or 3 sweet peppers and then add them to the fast simmering veggies. Stir them around. Simmer on high 3 more minutes.

4. During the 3 minutes, open a 15 ounce can of crushed or diced tomatoes and dump the entire contents into the saucepan. Stir it all around. Then open two 15 ounce cans of any kind of beans you like, drain (but don't rinse) them, and add them to the saucepan. Stir them all around.

5. Lower the heat to medium-low and gently simmer for 30 more minutes.

That should yield you a decent amount of kickass chili. I'd keep the bottle of red wine handy in case your stove is hotter than mine and you need to lubricate the chili occasionally so it doesn't burn. Lubricate yourself too, if you like. Use common sense regarding what herbs to add to the wine sauce base, but the cumin, black pepper, and garlic powder (or real garlic) are must-haves, in my opinion. Optional add-ons would be some lentils (high protein substitute for ground beef) or vegan "fake" ground beef, such as the Gardein brand beefless ground crumbles, if you're feeding a group that includes omnivores. Note, the fake meat substitutes are often high in sugar, fat, and salt...though still better than animal foods from a health and ecological standpoint. So, adding them would not be strictly wfpbNO compliant.

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