by Victoria Laine | Sep 27, 2013 | BOOK: Real-Life Vegan, Jams, Sauces, Chutneys, RECIPES: Whole-food Nutrition Kitchen
Welcome to Victoria’s Whole-food Nutrition Kitchen where you will discover both a weekly *Health Bite* as well as a plant-strong, gluten-free recipe and delicious inspiration!
Today’s Health Bite – The mighty *APPLE*
The quintessential symbol of nutrition. Sweet and crunchy, one-a-day is said to keep the doc away. So why is this once-forbidden yet-now-so-common fruit a healthy choice?
One of reasons nutritionists recommend a regular apple intake is because of the phytochemical “quercetin,” which is a flavonoid, part of the Vitamin C complex. Quercetin (pronounced: keer-ci-tin) helps reduce the release of histamine and other inflammatory chemicals in the body making it, and therefore apples, delicious allergy and asthma fighters.
Pesticide alert! Apples are near the highest of the Dirty Dozen list (see: Environmental Working Group) for pesticide and herbicide contamination. Choose non-sprayed apples whenever possible.
Today’s Whole-food Recipe…
(Slow-Cooker) Apple-Butter
~ makes: 6-8 cups ~
from: Real-Life Vegan by: Victoria Laine, p.220
Use up your excess apples and enjoy a delicious, thick apple-jam all year round! Commercial apple-butter, while delicious, can be pretty pricey, likely because it takes so many apples for each batch. Use your slow-cooker to use up excess or over-ripe apples without having to watch over them as they reduce down into concentrated, spreadable sweetness.
5 lbs chopped apple (about 12-15 cups, cored and quartered)
1 cup dry unrefined sugar cane (Sucanat, Rapadera, etc)
1 cup water (or omit sugar and use apple cider)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each: ground cloves, nutmeg, and allspice (opt)
pinch salt
1. Note: Don’t remove the valuable skin from your apples! Wash apples, cut them into quarters and remove the cores. Alternately if you own an apple corer…well, you’ll know what to do!
2. Place the quartered apples in the slow-cooker insert. Add liquid and other ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon and put the lid on. Simmer apples on LOW for about 10-12 hours, or overnight.
3. Remove the lid and allow to simmer another several hours to thicken. This can vary depending on the juiciness of the apples, so be patient, even another 3-8 hours potentially.
4. Turn off the heat and allow to cool in the slow cooker. Blend apple puree using an immersion hand-stick blender, or transfer cooled apples to a blender. Process until smooth. Transfer to clean glass jars and refrigerate up to 2 months. For longer term storage, freeze in ziplock style bags or suitable freezer containers.
by Victoria Laine | Jan 10, 2013 | BOOK: Real-Life Vegan
Thank you Real-Life Vegan advance copy readers for all of your valuable comments and praise!!
READER COMMENTS
Wow! What an impressive book. Not just a cookbook, but a good all-around guide for changing to a better, healthier way of eating. The information section is summarized nicely so you don’t need to read several books, the basic information is right there. I really appreciate the flexitarian options, as my husband is still transitioning to a vegan diet. The layout and look of the book is very attractive and easy to work with. And the recipes are amazing!
We have tried the Quinoa Nutty Fig Salad, Thumbprint Cookies with Blueberry Chia Jam, Zesty BBQ Black Bean Dip (the company I served that to were very impressed!), Super Green Quacamole, Maple Cranapple Baked Beans, Irish Veggie Mash, Artichoke Salad, Oatrageous Bean Burgers, Apple Avocado Salad and just this morning the Pumpkin Spice Scones.
I’m loving the two new additions to my breakfast selections – Raspberry Chia Breakfast and Maple-Kissed Quinoa cereal.
We’ve loved everything we’ve tried. Next up: Portobello Pesto Steak Sandwich, can’t wait!
I’ll admit that I wasn’t planning to purchase this book, as I recently purchased a few other vegan cookbooks that I have yet to try any recipes from and promised myself that I wouldn’t buy another cookbook until I used some of my others. I’m glad I caved. This book helped keep me on track over the Christmas holidays.
Thank you Victoria, for this great eating resource.
~ Laurine Salmon, Edmonton, AB
This book is amazing. It contains so much easy to use, practical information to help new vegans, moms who are preparing food for vegans and onmivores. I love the snack recipes and breakfast ideas, too! Well done!
~ Judith Cobb, Calgary, AB
Real-Life Vegan is a cookbook for real-life people living in the real world. I applaud Victoria Laine’s intrepid move to include vegetarian, flexitarian and gluten-free options to her vegan recipes. Hard-core vegans should not be discouraged by such a bold move. Real-Life Vegan encourages conscious eating by introducing a whole food, plant-based diet. Victoria provides well documented research on why following a vegan diet is overall more beneficial. But, she also knows the challenges that many household cooks have when dealing with multiple dietary preferences.
I am one of those household cooks. I have four adult children, each with different dietary preferences; my son Shane and his family are vegans, my daughter Meaghan is a flexitarian, my daughter Courtney and her family are gluten-free and my daughter Chelsea-Lyne is a dairy-free flexitarian. Preparing meals that meet all their needs has always been a bit of a challenge. Now I can just go to my Real-Life Vegan cookbook to find recipes that everyone will love. I also bought a copy for each of them – the perfect gift.
I have tried many of Victoria’s recipes. They are easy to make and simply delicious. So much so, that my 80 year old mother-in-law (who is experiencing a diminished appetite these days) asked for seconds of the Creamy Cheezy Broccoli Pasta. It was only after her second helping that I told her there was no cheese in the recipe. She was astonished! Hence, Real-Life Vegan should be part of every cook’s kitchen library.
~ Lucie Heins, Edmonton, AB
I was thinking it was going to be a cookbook, but it is so much more. I particularly like the educational information – the research, the helpful hints, the strong focus on health and nutrition. I plan to use it as a guide or resource to help me talk to my vegetarian daughter about nutrition. She doesn’t eat meat and relies heavily on dairy. This book will hopefully help her see a broader range of options. The real-life vegan’s stories are wonderful!! I am really looking forward to trying the lime pie (made from avocados!!! – go figure).
~ Sharon Welsh, Vancouver Island, B.C.
This book will help make my transition to veganism seamless and easy. With vibrant, mouth watering pictures, the menu plans and shopping lists give people with busy schedual’s the ability to eat healthy and wholesome diets. I will definitely be sharing this book with the people in my life. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge!!
~ Deanna Romanchuk, Edmonton, AB
Back in Dec 2011, I decided to try veganism as a lifestyle. I purchased tons of Vegan books and cooked several recipes. The downside is that I found too many of the books focused on tofu and tempeh, of which I have a sensitivity to. Lots of “fake meats” were featured in recipes that included gluten and soy, another sensitivity. Around April I finally gave up being a vegan and added eggs to my diet in order to support higher protein counts (I did not like quinoa that much).
Since then I have been creating my own recipes out of sheer boredom and was recently trying to sell off my Vegan books that I didn’t like. I just picked up Victoria’s book and was bowled over by how much information is packed in to her book. It is quite honestly the BEST book I have ever picked up because it caters to vegans, vegetarians AND flexitarians. Victoria has gone above and beyond expectations by painstakingly adding in substitutions in EACH of her recipes to cater to the different types of “meat vs non meat eaters”. This is something I have not seen before in any of my books.
There is a lot of education behind each of her recipes and the beautiful pictures and overall layout are easy on the eyes. The recipes in her book are varied with fabulous combinations of food (Vegan Gel-o??? I have NEVER seen this before and it looks fantastic!). I love that Victoria has used natural foods such as grains and lentils as part of her dinners. I honestly wish I found THIS book as I was entering in my Vegan days, even vegetarian days (which is now going on year 4). This book is your one stop shop for education, visual stimulation, nutrition and a bevvy of excellent tips, tricks and tastes. Thanks Victoria. I can’t wait to try out every single one of your recipes 🙂
~ Lisa Ammirati, Calgary, AB
The book is a perfect accompaniment to the annual New Year’s contemplations that we should feed ourselves better. We now have lots of healthy recipes lined up for the next few weeks. Our favourite so far are the Maple Cranapple Baked Beans. We also tried making the Spiced Edamame and Chickpeas. YUM. Thank you for creating this great resource.
~Fiona Audy, Sherwood Park, AB
My name is Amy Wanechko. I have recently moved back to Sherwood Park. I happened to be in Earth’s General Store when you were signing copies of your book “Real-Life Vegan”. I am extremely happy I was there that day. I am a huge fan of your “Health by Chocolate” book. I have made many recipes from this one – and loved each and everyone one!
I love the look of the book. The design makes it an easy read. I like the little tips everywhere. The information you provide at the beginning is really useful especially to a person who has always wanted to become a Vegan but has always been too scared to start. The ‘Daily Serving Guide for VEGAN and PLANT-STRONG Diets’…wow, amazing! You put it all in one place. Not going to lie…a little overwhelming, but good (overwhelming only because it new to me).
The way you have written this book and the information you have provided makes me believe I can do this. Your useful grocery checklist makes it helpful for an overwhelmed mind. The charts are excellent for a quick reference too.
I do not have Celiac, but I am someone who definitely feels better when I do not eat gluten. Providing this variation is also very useful part of your book. I find so many Vegan books that contain too much pasta and bread for my liking.
I enjoyed reading all the stories of Real-Life Vegans. Thanks for putting these in your book.
I have already showed and talked about your book to friends and family members, sparking interest in many of them.
Thanks again for this outstanding book. I look forward to trying these delicious recipes. (Pictures are GREAT, thanks!)
~ Amy Wanechko, Sherwood Park, AB
(See Amy’s follow-up …)
Hello Victoria,
I sent you my original email December 29th letting you know how much I appreciated the book you put together. At this point I had not yet started Vegan eating. The original email went as follows…(SEE ABOVE)
As of today, I am 9 days in of being a Real-Life Vegan.
I have now tasted all the week one recipes and here are my thoughts…
Absolutely AMAZING! The recipes can all be made without difficulty. They are all full of flavor and each recipe offers a different variety of foods and flavors from the previous.
I live alone, so I love when you tell me the recipes can be frozen. I have already run into days where I was too busy cook supper or have run out of time to make my lunch, but not to worry…I have left-overs that I am excited to eat again (and again).
My favorites from week one recipes are the lentil vegetable soup and the bean burgers. The lentil vegetable soup was so extremely easy and delicious. I couldn’t believe such a simple recipe could have so much flavour. And for the bean burger…well let’s just say I even copied your picture from recipe picture and put the avocado, salsa and sprouts on top—wonderful (and the presentation was so nice that I even got complements from the ladies I work with)!
The first review I sent I talked about how much I appreciated your Daily Serving Guide for VEGAN and PLANT-STRONG Diets. From this I created myself a little spreadsheet to coincide with it to make sure I am within the guidelines and getting my daily food requirements.
With one final note, I would like to, one more time, say thanks for your time and energy that you put into creating this book. It gives a nice transition for people to make the lifestyle change without fear of the unknown. I actually started to use the title of your book to voice to people the life change I have made. I tell people I am a Real-Life Vegan.
Thanks again,
~ Amy Wanechko, Sherwood Park, AB
I am loving your book. I only made the sweet potato salad and the maple beans (on Christmas 🙂 and the ‘turtles’ (I got your “Health by Chocolate” from the library) by now – everything was so good! The ‘Turtles’ are ingenious 🙂
I find the book optically very attractive and it is easy to read.
My favourite part is the educational part about macro-, micro- and phytonutrients, about organic foods and about the food villains. I love to know why good food is good for me, what it is important for in the body and how much of what is in food (e.g. so much calcium in brussel sprouts!).
I appreciate most how accessible and near to life the book is, very thoughtful of all practicalities of the day-to-day (from kitchen set-up, to pre-prep recipes, and cooking charts).
Reading your own story was very touching, every detail of your book conveys passion, caring and honesty.
This is a real gift to the world. I will whole-heartedly recommend your book and I can’t wait to try out more recipes.
Keep up the good work!
~ Christiane Panesar, Edmonton, AB
“I love the grocery lists. So handy. The recipes are quick to prepare and have all turned out so far. I think I’ve tried around 10 of them and I’ve been impressed. The fruit crisp from the desserts section was fantastic! A great breakfast.”
Also I think the book title is misleading. Just the fact that it claims to be “vegan” would stop me from picking it up in the store, since I disagree with veganism from a nutritional standpoint. (And how much more would it discourage those who think veganism is just weird and hippy?!) HOWEVER, a plant-based/whole foods diet is brilliant and really the only healthy way to eat. Perhaps consider the making the primary title something along those lines (real life whole foods, health food for real life!), and then subtitle it, “a vegan cookbook with gluten-free, vegetarian, and meat-lover options.” The recipes are all initially vegan, but I think the title would turn a lot of non-vegans away. Which would be a shame because your book could have a huge impact on them!
Off to cook one of your tasty recipes”
~ Kathleen Belland, Edmonton, AB
by Victoria Laine | Dec 12, 2012 | Beverages, BLOG: Victoria's Health Secrets, BOOK: Real-Life Vegan, RECIPES: Whole-food Nutrition Kitchen
When I assist clients who are having health challenges, be it digestive distress, allergies, or weight regulation, I recommend they avoid or minimize their alcohol intake to allow their livers and pancreas the ability to be free of having to metabolize alcohol. This allows their organs an opportunity to do the other important functions that help them to overcome their issues.
p.166, Real-Life Vegan (www.RealLifeVegan.com)
Most hosts today will ensure there are non-alcoholic beverages but in so many cases those choices are sugar-ladened soda pop, or punches laced with soda pop. Not a healthy choice and possibly no less damaging to our liver and pancreas. So what to do? If you are a health conscious host, here are some delicious, easy ideas for your guests.
There are several beverage ideas and recipes in Real-Life Vegan (my second book available at eStore) including: Mint Mojito Mocktails, Juice Spritzers, Coconut Chia Water, Maple Lemonade, and Iced Herbal Teas.
WARM SPICED WINTER BEVERAGE RECIPE!
As we’re heading into the winter holiday however, I want to arm you with a healthy version of an easy, popular, warm, non-alcoholic beverage for entertaining. I’ve served this up for many parties and even taken it in a thermos for after-tobogganing or skating get-togethers.
For parties I either use a large pot on the back burner of the stove if space allows, or I plug-in a large slow cooker / crock pot in an area where everyone can help themselves.
This is so simple, yet so wonderfully festive! It’s only two ingredients…pure organic non-clarified apple juice (sometimes also labelled “apple cider”) or pear juice or a combination of both…simmered with tea bags that contain spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, and cloves…for example this one that is easily found in most grocery stores > http://www.celestialseasonings.com/products/herbal-teas/bengal-spice
Now…be sure not to wimp out on the spices! This is where people go wrong when making herbal teas, and you don’t want to make the same mistake with spiced cider. You’ll want to use at least one tea bag for every 3-4 cups of juice. So if you’re making a large pot (I’ve used my canning pot for large crowds) you’ll likely be adding an entire 20 bag box of tea bags. A large slow cooker maybe 8-10 tea bags.
Be sure to allow time for simmering the spiced cider so it can activate the spices and develop the rich flavors that are so delightful. Once your juice is simmering, let it continue to simmer for at least 20-30 minutes. If you make it in advance you can turn off the heat and then rewarm when the party begins. Your house (or office staff room, or party room) will fill with a holiday fragrance that even the alcohol drinkers will be commenting on!
Warm Spiced Cider (no sugar added)
HEALTH BENEFITS of SPICES!
That’s it…2 ingredients, juice and tea bags! No refined sugar…no artificial ingredients…no regrets! There are healthful benefits thanks to the power of spices. Even though pure, organic apple juice is a much healthier choice than soda pop and other sugary beverages it still contains a high concentration of natural sugar (carbohydrate.) Cinnamon has been shown in numerous studies to assist the metabolism of carbohydrates. Ginger root is an anti-inflammatory spice. Cloves and cardamon have immune supporting properties. So by adding spices to this delicious beverage you are getting health benefits. People with diabetes may even be able to handle a moderate size mug, especially if sipped along with a whole-food, plant-strong diet. (www.RealLifeVegan.com)
I hope you enjoyed this blog. I would love to hear your comments, and receive your feedback on suggestions future blog ideas! Thanks for “tuning in!”
To your health and happiness, Victoria
