Wellness

Strong Shallow Roots

by ladypbwiggins
My roots are strong but shallow!

Knowing your roots is important. If you don’t know where you came from, how can you know where you are going? Non-colored people are more likely to shout this epitaph and are thrilled to go to Scotland or that little village in Italy to discover their roots. I was watching Project Runway All Stars and in one of the episodes the 23 and Me founder offered the designers free DNA tests. She talked about the importance of knowing your ancestry, knowing your roots. There was great enthusiasm for this activity and its results. Then a commercial for Ancestry.com came on and echoed the same thing. My mind turned to my ancestry. What is it? I know it’s African but which country. Is it Ghanaian, Nigerian, Kenyan, Zambian? More often than not the response when a black person speaks about not knowing and the effect of not knowing is “Get over it. You are American.”

Because I can’t reach in to Africa with specificity of country, how deep can my roots go?

My known ancestry tree is planted in Alabama. Each branch is strong. I am the granddaughter of strong women and men. I am the great-granddaughter of strong  women and men. I am the grandneice of strong women and men. I am the mentee of strong women. They all survived Jim Crow south with wisdom and grace. They taught me how to see and perform to survive.

My roots are shallow but strong.

Can you imagine how much stronger I would be if my shallow roots ran deeper; deeper back to the black soil of a specific country, a specific city or village, a specific tribe of Africa.
Inspite of all this, I am grateful and proud of my Strong Shallow Roots!

The “Eat Loaf”

by ladypbwiggins

Most of us who have changed to a plant-based eating lifestyle are on a continuous search for great tasting meat substitutes.

Yesterday I prepared the Esselstyn’s “eat loaf” recipe contained in their The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook. I refrigerated it and we ate it for dinner today. I was so involved with getting the other dishes prepared that I forgot to take a picture. The picture below is what is left of the loaf. If you decide to try this, it makes enough for two loaves.

Heart healthy “Eat Loaf”


This loaf can be a meal with nothing else. It has so many different veggies; carrots, greens, beans, onions, garlic and for added texture, oats.

Teff flour or Cornbread

by ladypbwiggins

I find it very interesting that my most viewed post was written in 2016. I had begun my research and experimentation with heart healthy recipes. I was trying gluten-free flours to make familiar food items. This is when Teff flour entered my life. I had never heard of it before. I had made soup and I wanted some cornbread. I decided to use teff flour in making it. I shared the outcome and it has been my most viewed post. I don’t know why. Is the interest the Teff flour or the cornbread? I wonder.

S.O.B. Burgers

by ladypbwiggins

Yes that is the name of the burgers. Anne Esselstyn and Jane Esselstyn have the recipe in their cookbook, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. It is the Smokey, Oat, Bean Burger. Because I had to make some substitutes I renamed it. My version is the  Smokey, Flax and Pea Burger.
I discovered that I was out of oats and I didn’t have any cannellini beans. I substituted ground flax seeds for oats and black-eyed peas for beans. The seasonings were the same.
It was so good. I served it with romaine lettuce leaves as the bun and tomatoes with brown mustard and hot sauce. I will try the recipe again with oats and beans.

Looking Back to Find Gems

by ladypbwiggins

Sometimes looking back over old posts remind you of the reasons you’re doing certain things now. My husband nor I are gluten intolerant so why do I have a gluten-free vegan cookbook? When did no oil cooking become important and why?

I wasn’t looking for these answers but I stumbled over the post that gave them. It was simple. His cardiologist instructed us to do that. I also unearthed The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook that is plant-based and oil free. I purchased this at the beginning of our journey 3 years ago after watching an Engine 2 video.
I read through it and now I am adding the recipes to my re-energized food preparation  experiences.

Hemp Seed Milk

by ladypbwiggins

I made hemp seed milk for the first time. I had being seeing it in some recipes and I always told myself I would make some. Today was the day.

It was easy. Three fourths cup of seeds and 4 cups of filtered water. Creamy to the mouth but it had a raw plant taste. Definitely an acquired taste. I’ve checked my raw vegan/ vegan books and the hemp seed milk seed to taste better with cashew milk. I plan to try it in combination with other milks. I am going to soak the seeds next time. Maybe that will help the taste.

Raw Vegan Tacos

by ladypbwiggins

I tried something new today. I made vegan tacos without tempeh or TVP. I used mushrooms to give the meat texture but I marinated the chopped mushrooms in Mexican spice seasonings first. I discovered I had run out of dry oregano so I used Young Living Oregano Vitality. I made spicy salsa and used “cheese” that I had made for another meal. Romaine lettuce leaves were the shells. Oh yeah, also used the pinto beans I made the other day. Now their gone.

Sorry there are no pictures. We ate them before I realized I hadn’t taken a picture. I guess we were hungry.😀

Starting All Over

by ladypbwiggins

In 2017 my husband and I began a raw vegan lifestyle for his heart health. I joined him because I don’t like to cook and making two meals was out of the question. I also thought it could improve my health; make what was good, better.

In 2018 cooked vegan was introduced into our plan. That was good but by now I was exhausted. The Dr. told me that I didn’t have to make everything from scratch. Well, O happy day. I thought this was a blessing. I began a new journey into the vegan processed food world. Label reading became more of a necessity. As with most products in our stores the packaging can be misleading or barely truthful. Some brands are vegetarian but intimate that they are okay for vegans. Some meat substitutes taste decent and others don’t. One thing they all have in common is too much sodium and they are PROCESSED. In 2019 I gained weight eating processed food.

Here I am in 2020 beginning our raw journey again. This time it is for me. This time it is harder. I don’t know if I know too much or not enough. One thing I do know is the processed meat substitutes will be eliminated and if ever returned it will be sparingly.

As a singer once put it

Starting All Over Again is going to be tough but we’re, I’m going to make it.

Leftover Sausage Mixture

by ladypbwiggins

Yesterday I decided to try frying the leftover sausage mixture that I made a few days ago. To my surprise when I removed “meat” from the refrigerator the texture was more meatlike than when first made.


Baking didn’t yield a product with sausage-like texture. It looked more like a “not so done” puffy biscuit. I decided to try frying this time. Frying was not successful. It seared the outside but did not cook the inside. I put it in the oven to bake it through.

Frying

That worked. I also tried it in the waffle iron just for giggles. I was making banana nut waffles.

To Recap

Making Vegan Sausage Patties

by ladypbwiggins

(I made these sausages on the 21st)
A year ago at least I searched the web for a vegan breakfast sausage pattie recipe. I found several but this one appealed to me. I don’t remember why it has taken me so long to try it. Maybe it’s because of the TVP and the Vital Wheat Gluten. I wanted to eat clean back then. I don’t know the source of this recipe so I can’t give the appropriate credit. I gave it a try.


Breakfast Sausage

1 c black beans*
1 c veggie broth
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP Tamari
2 TBSP Maple syrup*
1 TBSP sage
1/2 tsp thyme*

1/2 tsp rosemary *
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp whole fennel seeds*
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1/4 c TVP
1 1/4 c vital wheat gluten
Red pepper or cayenne to taste

*My substitutions
   White beans
    Rosemary Vitality Essential oil
     Thyme Vitality Essential Oil
     1TBSP ground fennel seeds
      1/2 tsp raw blue agave

Soak the TVP for about an hour in the veggie broth. Combine all ingredients.  Bake in a 350° oven.

The flavor is good but the texture was not comparable to store bought vegan or vegetarian sausages. On that I was disappointed.