My post-surgery update and liquid diet menu

Most of my readers know that I had an oral surgery two weeks ago. The surgery did not go as well as planned, but I made it through. I had to be on a liquid and pureed diet for the first week. Then I could start gently chewing on soft foods. I still cannot eat anything too hard. I had to learn how to eat and speak with a big plastic thing in my mouth which was very hard. I felt as if I was gagging and choking the whole time and every time I tried to swallow anything from water to a smoothie it was painful and difficult. I was in a lot of pain because I could not take any heavy duty pain meds and the regular stuff was not very strong. I was icing my face 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off the first few days, then less often. I had to take the week off from work and stayed home (a really fun vacation, don't you think? ), mostly glued to my chair in front of the TV or in the bed. I had all these plans to read and blog, and catch up on things that I did not have time for during my busy work schedule. Well, all these plans went out of the window because I was in so much pain and discomfort, that I could not concentrate on something for more than a few minutes and I was lacking any motivation and strength.

The day before the surgery I stocked up on frozen and fresh fruits and veggies for smoothies and purees. I used a bag of frozen peas as an ice pack. The picture above is just a few examples of what I used to make my liquid and pureed foods. To make things even more complicated, I could not have any smoothies made with fruits with even the smallest seeds (such as raspberries, strawberries) for the first few days, since the tiny seeds would get into my wound underneath the stitches.

Some of the things that I was eating (drinking) for a week:

*banana smoothie

*blueberry smoothie

*mango smoothie (I added rice protein powder, coconut oil and agave nectar to most of those smoothies)

*various fruit juices

*water

*softened up soy ice cream

*soy yogurt

*pureed silken tofu and canned peaches (almost like a peach mousse)

*pureed silken tofu with almond milk,lemon juice and cucumber (with seeds removed-a cold cucumber soup)

*cold fruit tea

*pureed green peas and water

*pureed sweet potatoes and water

*pureed chili (room temperature)

*pureed soups (room temperature)

*pureed broccoli and vegan cheese pasta casserole

*liquid magnesium drink

And here are the smoothies that I enjoyed the most:

Happy Herbivore's "Cinnamon Bun Smoothie". I added presoaked blended rolled oats to the original recipe for a thicker and more nutritious smoothie. I love this smoothie (with and without oats)! It was one of the smoothies that I enjoyed everyday during my recovery and that I will continue making in the future. It tastes and smells amazing!

And this was a fun smoothie that was also very tasty : Chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie :-)

What is your favorite homemade smoothie? Have you ever had any oral surgery and was on a liquid diet? If so, what did you eat-drink?

My new published recipe and a surprise package

I have been going through a lot lately, I have been fighting an infection due to several painful abscesses on two of my teeth. I am having a surgery next week and I have been a mess because of that. My anxiety and fear from the surgery are making my life miserable and I cannot wait for this to be over. In the last few days two very nice things happened that made my days a little brighter and put a smile on my face. Several months ago Eating Well bought a recipe from me. They recently published the recipe in their newest cookbook and sent me a copy. I was thrilled to see my recipe in a beautiful cookbook. It felt really good :-) They even took a nice picture of the pie and put in the cookbook as well. That is probably one of my best recipes for a dessert so far: "Chocolate Raspberry Tofu Pie".

This is the cookbook :-) You can buy it from Amazon, it has a lot of vegan recipes, and most of the vegetarian recipes in this book can be easily veganized. Each recipe has a nutritional information and many of them have very useful and informative notes.

Few days ago I got a beautiful surprise package from my friends at the Czech Vegan Society .

The package was full of vegan goodies, spices, salamis, pates, delicious cookies, spreads, puddings, and a big supply of my favorite vanilla sugar that I use for baking :-) These guys are wonderful, they are working very hard on making Czech Republic a better and more compassionate place and they are raising awareness about veganism and cruelty-free living. Czech Republic is fairly new to veganism and there is not a big vegan community so it is very impressive that they are doing this despite all the hard-headed meat-eating population. Please, check out their website, they have an English version as well.

Gnocchi with sauerkraut and caramelized onions aka Hairy Dumplings

When I lived in Czech Republic I used to visit my great-grandma and grandma's house every summer. They have a very old, but beautiful house with a cute garden and tons of rescued animals. Their house is just a few miles away from the German and Polish border. I enjoyed hanging out with the animals, eating fresh raspberries straight from the garden and swimming in a nearby lake. One of my favorite dishes that I would eat there were "hairy dumplings". They are basically small dumplings tossed with sauerkraut and served as a side dish to a baked pork. The pork part was always an issue for me so I would just eat a double portion of the side dish and didn't miss out on anything. The funny thing is that the name hairy dumplings was originally given to that dish because of the sauerkraut part, but at that house, sometimes the dish was truly hairy since there were so many animals all over the place- dogs and cats in the kitchen and dining room so you can imagine that some of their hair would get into the meal......

I missed that dish so much that I decided to recreate it and veganize it here in the US. Real dumplings take a lot of work and time to prepare so I have been using potato gnocchi instead. Gnocchi are perfect for this, but feel free and make little dumplings instead if you prefer that. Try not to skip the caraway seeds since they give it a nice Czech flavor.

Gnocchi with sauerkraut and caramelized onions

aka Hairy Dumplings

1 16-oz package vegan gnocchi (or homemade-about 3 cups cooked)

2 cups sauerkraut

3 Tbs oil

2 tsp ground caraway seeds

2 tsp sugar

1/3 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups water (or more if necessary)

1 small onion, cut into thin circles

extra salt to taste

　

Heat 1 Tbs oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add sauerkraut, water, ground caraway seeds, 1/3 tsp salt, sugar, stir and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir and cook uncovered for another 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbs oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook 8-10 minutes, or until nicely browned, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle onion with little bit of salt and carefully remove from the skillet. Place onion on a layer of paper towels to drain excess oil.

Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions.

Toss warm gnocchi with sauerkraut and top with fried onion rings.

Roasted lemon pepper asparagus

I love asparagus! I love it grilled, steamed, sautéed, and roasted. I love it in risotto, soups, warm salads, as a side dish, but most of all, I love eating it by itself with some lemon juice, salt and black pepper. This is a very easy and quick method that creates mouthwatering results. You can eat it warm, fresh out of the over, or cold the next day.

Roasted Lemon Pepper Asparagus

1 pound fresh green asparagus, the bottoms trimmed about 1 inch of each stem

1-2 Tbs olive or canola oil

juice from 1/2 lemon (or more if you want tangier flavor)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 500 F. Lightly grease large baking sheet. Rub each asparagus stem lightly with oil and lemon juice and place on baking sheet, in one layer. Season with black pepper and salt.

Bake 5 minutes. Flip asparagus (using tongs or a fork, be careful not to burn yourself) and bake 5 more minutes.

Carrot Cake with drunk raisins and vanilla frosting

In this recipe I used dark rum-soaked raisins, but if you don't want to use alcohol, soak the raisins in hot water instead. Feel free to use different baking pan, but adjust the baking time. If you prefer cream cheese frosting, use your favorite vegan cream cheese frosting instead of my vanilla frosting.

Carrot Cake with drunk raisins

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)

1 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup raisins

rum or hot water for soaking raisins

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 10-inch round cake pan.

Soak the raisins in warm rum or hot water for at least 5-10 minutes, drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

In a smaller bowl, combine applesauce, oil and vanilla extract. Pour the oil mixture into the flour mixture and stir until well blended. Add walnuts, carrots a raisins and stir well.

Pour the batter into the pan and smooth top with rubber spatula. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

8 Tbs vegan margarine, melted

5 Tbs vegan shortening, melted

3 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbs (or more if needed) soy or almond milk

In a large bowl, combine the powdered sugar with the shortening and margarine. Beat with an electric mixer or fork for few minutes, until well blended. Add the vanilla extract and non-dairy milk and beat until nice and fluffy, adding more milk if necessary. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before frosting the cake.

Vegan Breakfast and Lunch-What vegans eat & Carol J. Adams

I was recently filling out a survey about what I eat on a typical day, plus my favorite foods, cookbooks, books and restaurants. The survey was for a new book that one of my favorite vegan authors, Carol J. Adams, and a co-author Patti Breitman are working on. They are still looking for more vegans who are willing to tell others what they eat on a typical day and some of their favorite foods for a new book to help others discover the ease, joy, variety, and abundance of a vegan diet. If you are interested, please respond to Carol at cja[at]caroljadams.com. You can also download the survey on Carol's website www.caroljadams.com. The due date is April 29 2011.

The survey made me think about what I eat daily. I usually eat different dinner every night so there is a nice variety, however my breakfast and lunch are almost always the same. I work long hours and my job does not allow me to eat out and I don't like wasting my money on food deliveries, not to mention, sometimes it takes forever to get your food delivered. I don't have real lunch breaks, since my job does not allow me to take a regular break so I eat little bites whenever I get a minute throughout the day. I don't use the microwave at work because my coworkers' meaty dishes explode there all the time, so I haven't had a warm lunch at work for at least six years now. If I bring some leftovers from the previous night, I have to eat them at a room temperature or cold. I got used to it, even though I envy people who have a an hour lunch break and can eat anywhere they like, including a park when the weather is nice.

On a typical work day, my breakfast is almost always a soy yogurt, berries and granola or cereal parfait. I usually use frozen berries that defrost by the time I get to work. They seem to be cheaper and always ready to use, and I don't have to worry that they would go bad unlike fresh berries. For lunch I usually have a sandwich made with Tofurky Deli Slices, or jam and vegan butter. I have a late afternoon snack that is either a granola bar, or a candy bar. My favorite candy bars are Twilight and Jokerz from Go Max Go .

What do you eat at work on a typical day?

A nice addition to my "boring" lunch- a leftover vegan crab cake :-)

When I am not at work, I usually have the same breakfast and lunch like on a work day, or leftovers from previous dinner. Sometimes I feel like cooking lunch so I make something nice, or I eat out. I rarely eat out, but when I do I enjoy it a lot.

My lunch: Recently, I discovered my favorite pizza ever: Tuscan pizza with garlic, sauce, mushrooms, caramelized onions, truffle oil, vegan cheese and fresh thyme from Zpizza . The original Tuscan pizza is made with regular cheese, but I ask for a vegan cheese instead. They use Daiya cheese that stretches and melts perfectly. Unfortunately the closest Zpizza is about an hour away from where I live :-( Too far to get a delivery or to go there often. If I could have that for lunch everyday, I would :-)

My lunch: Orzo pasta salad with peas, caramelized onions, asparagus and walnuts on a bed of raw spinach. The recipe was from an old issue of Vegetarian Times Magazine.

My lunch: Fried rice and baked tofu.

My lunch: Falafel sandwich with dill sauce, leftovers from previous dinner. It actually tastes pretty good cold the next day.

Those were just few of my lunch examples. What do you eat for lunch when you are not working or studying?

Carol J. Adams is a kind-hearted, smart, and talented woman. She is a vegan writer, feminist, animal rights advocate, activist and an author of many books and articles.

Some of her books include: The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory, Living Among Meat Eaters: The Vegetarian's Survival Handbook, The Pornography of Meat, The Inner Art of Vegetarianism, Help! My Child Stopped Eating Meat: The A-Z Guide to Surviving a Conflict in Diets, and many more.

I have read two of her books: The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory, and Living Among Meat Eaters: The Vegetarian's Survival Handbook. Both of these book were very helpful on my vegan journey and I highly recommend them to vegans, vegetarians, anyone who cares about animals and women, and people who are thinking about becoming vegetarians or vegans.

Me and my sister contributed a picture to the newest edition of The Sexual Politics of Meat (Twentieth Anniversary Edition). I had the honor to meet Carol in person at her book signing in Atlanta last year.

Product spotlight: Gardein

Gardein is a company that makes wonderful, high-protein, plant-based convenient foods. I have been enjoying Gardein products since 2009. Their name is a combination of two words: Garden and Protein- protein from garden. They make several meat alternatives in fresh (refrigerated) and frozen forms. Over the years I have had a chance to try most of them. Most companies that make fake meat products for vegans and vegetarians use soy or wheat, or the combination of both as the main ingredients. Gardein is very unique when it comes to main ingredients, on top of soy and wheat they use pea protein, vegetables and ancient grains, such as quinoa, kamut, millet and amaranth. Quinoa is amazing, it contains all essential amino acids which makes it a complete protein. I like the combination of different proteins in Gardein products. Their products have meaty texture and flavor. I like that many of them are very versatile and can be used in many recipes that would call for chicken or beef. I have used the "Beefless Tips" in most of my stew and goulash recipes with a great success. Here is a link to my goulash recipe.

Gardein works closely with a vegan celebrity chef Tal Ronnen who is helping them with developing different textures, flavors and variations. He also creates tasty recipes that you can find on Gardein's website.

Gardein products are tasty, very easy to prepare, they are versatile in recipes and most of them are prepared quickly, too.

Here are some of my meals using Gardein products over the years. I haven't had any that I didn't like. I do have my favorite though: Beefless Tips, BBQ Skewers and Buffalo Wings.

Have you tried Gardein products yet?

*Breaded Chick'n stuffed with marinara sauce and vegan cheese, grilled asparagus and salad

*Czech goulash made with juicy, beefy Beefless Tips, and bread dumplings

*Thanksgiving breaded stuffed Turk'y with gravy. The savory stuffing was made with celery, onions and cranberries and it was soooo good. It was very festive and I served it with baked sweet potato that I smothered in the gravy (which was included with the Turk'y). The only downside was that there was not enough gravy for two people, even though there were two pieces of Turk'y.

*Chick'n Filets with black pepper sauce, asian veggies and rice

*Grilled Chick'n Filets and french fries

*BBQ Skewers and baked potato wedges

*BBQ Pulled Shreds sandwich. I used the BBQ Pulled Shreds in other sandwiches and on top of baked beans and it was pretty good.

*Tuscan Breasts, mushroom couscous and lingonberry jam

*Buffalo Wings and salad

*BBQ Skewers and french fries again :-)