Author Archives: doubledogyoga

Vegan Coconut PB-n-B Stuffed French Toast

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Oh. My.

I’ve really outdone myself!   :)

I decided to participate in Vegan Appetite’s Food Network Friday.
The challenge was to “veganize” a recipe from the Food Network’s website for Banana Stuffed French Toast.
We had the option to add or omit ingredients as we like.

In my opinion, what goes great with bananas?? Peanut Butter of course!
AND…I had some canned coconut milk that was leftover from a curry I made a few days ago.
AND…I had a carton of So Delicious’ Vanilla Coconut Milk Beverage (which by the way I am CRAZY about!)

So you see it was a no-brainer.

And thus Vegan Coconut Peanut Butter and Banana Stuffed French Toast was born!

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So how to make eggless French Toast you might ask? There are actually tons of recipes for vegan French Toast. I started out by looking at Vegan with a Vengeance’s vegan “Fronch Toast”  recipe. I had made it before and the use of chickpea flour is just genius. Thank you Isa! From there it was simple.

Vegan Coconut Peanut Butter and Banana Stuffed French Toast
Makes about 4-5 thick slices

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf of Italian bread (purchase this UNsliced)
  • 1-2 ripe bananas
  • peanut butter (natural please!)
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk from a can
  • 1/2 cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk Beverage
  • 1/4 cup chickpea flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • dash of salt (optional)
  • vegetable or canola oil
  • maple syrup
  • toasted coconut (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat over to 375.
  2. Cut off about 2 inches or so from the end of the loaf of bread – do whatever you like with it!
  3. Cut a slice of bread about 1.5″ wide. Make a slit down the center of the slice  but only from the top going straight down so you leave the sides and bottom intact. Basically you are creating a “pocket” for the stuffing. Repeat for 3-4 more slices.
  4. Place the bread on a cookie sheet into the preheated oven. Let bake for about 3 minutes – you want the bread to feel dried out and slightly stale – but not toasted. Alternatively of course you could just use stale bread!
  5. Once the bread is dried out, cut the bananas into small slices and place the slices into a bowl. Add some peanut butter and mix around – it’s ok if the bananas get smooshed.
  6. Stuff the banana mixture into the bread “pocket.”
  7. In a separate wide and shallow bowl, combine the coconut milk, coconut milk beverage, vanilla, cinnamon, salt (if using), and chickpea flour. Mix until combined – it’s ok if there are a few lumps.
  8. Pour oil into a large non-stick skillet until there is a very thin coating on the bottom – I used a 12″ skillet and used about 2T oil. Preheat the skillet.
  9. Place the stuffed bread slices into the coconut milk mixture until well soaked. Then carefully place the soaked bread into the preheated skillet.
  10. Cook each side for about 2 minutes. When it’s browned and crispy it’s done!
  11. Serve with maple syrup, sprinkle with toasted coconut, and eat your “vegan coconut peanut butter and banana french toast” right away!

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YUMMY!

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7 Reasons to Read The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl

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I just finished reading a book called The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl.dietgirl-us-cover

The book is written about Shauna Reid, who chronicles her weight loss journey over the course of several years.

In the beginning of the book, Shauna is extremely self-conscious, depressed, and frustrated. Her sister convinces her to go to a Weight Watchers meeting, where Shauna faces the grim reality that at just 23 years old she is just over 350 pounds. From there, she becomes a “dieting super hero” and starts a blog so that she can share her experience with others. I think it was also a forum for venting ;)

I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down. Here’s why I loved this book:

  1. Shauna Reid uses humor throughout her process. Even though at times she obviously wasn’t feeling humorous, she managed to bring lightness into her writings. As a result the book is a real joy to read.
  2. Shauna shows just how difficult losing weight can be. I think a lot of us think it should be easy (wasn’t it easy to put the weight on?), and so we get discouraged when the weight doesn’t peel off at our slightest effort. Shauna’s book shows us just how much effort it really is to lose weight and keep it off.
  3. I loved seeing how Shauna transforms during her process. In the beginning of The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl, she was very focused on the number on the scale. I also felt she was very focused on herself – worrying about what everyone was thinking about her,  how she looked, her failures in the workplace. And as she lost the weight this really didn’t change at first. It wasn’t until she started really living her life that she began to look around her and see that there are other things in this world besides her. She shifted her focus to being happy and sharing that happiness with others. As she focused less on her self, she started to go on adventures and take risks – to enjoy her life.
  4. The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl is overall a happy book. It felt good to read it. There aren’t any murders or tragedies. Although she has her moments, Shauna is constantly picking her self up and striving for a happier life.
  5. The book is inspiring. I don’t need to lose 150+ pounds – I’m more in “maintenance” mode -  but seeing Shauna struggle with her weight issues – both physical and mental – enabled me to take a step back and see my own thought processes about weight. I feel inspired to “stay on track” without getting “neurotic” about it.
  6. There is a clear message to parents about how to communicate with your children about weight issues. I don’t know if Shauna intended this or not in The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl, but I thought the connection between parental criticism about weight and future weight issues was crystal clear. I hope parents will read this and consider how they talk to their children.
  7. Finally, the best part is that this book lives on after you’ve read it! You know how you read a good book and you don’t want it to be over? Well, in this case it’s not because you can keep up with Shauna on her blog. How cool is that?

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French Toast: I'd Love YOUR Help!

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I’ve been thinking about French Toast a lot lately, ever since I made vegan French Toast during the Labor Day weekend. It was so delicious. I hadn’t had French Toast, much less VEGAN French Toast, in a very  very long time.

So I was thrilled to stumble upon Vegan Appetite’s Food Network Friday to discover that the topic for this week is Banana Stuffed French Toast!

Here’s how Food Network Friday works.

Vegan Appetite selects recipe from The Food Network – in this case it’s the Neely’s Banana Stuffed French Toast.
All you do then is veganize it – remake the recipe without any meat, dairy, eggs, honey – any animal product at all.
And in the process you can add things in, take things out. Basically, make it your own.

So I have lots of ideas swimming around in my head for this.
But I thought it would be fun to ask YOU what you think would make an awesome stuffed French Toast.
Peanut Butter?
Marshmallow?
Coconut?
All of the above?

I’d love your help – what would be your idea makeover of the Banana Stuffed French Toast recipe?

Looking forward to reading your ideas!

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Vegan Yum Yum: Hurry Up Alfredo

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Today for lunch I made “Hurry Up Alfredo” from Vegan Yum Yum’s new cookbook, called Vegan Yum Yum.

It was delicious! I served it over egg(less) noodles with sauteed kale. It was so yummy I forgot to take a picture! It was also super easy to make – just toss all the ingredients into the blender and whip it up! So technically it’s  not only vegan, it’s raw too. :)

The recipe for Hurry Up Alfredo is posted on Vegan Yum Yum’s website. I highly suggest you check it out and enjoy!

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Why Joe Wilson Needs to Practice Yoga + Recipe Giveaway Winner!

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{{w|Joe Wilson (U.S. politician)}}, U.S. Congr...
Image via Wikipedia

I’ve been thinking about Joe Wilson since his outburst during President Obama‘s address to a joint session of congress on Wednesday night. As you’ve probably heard, Joe Wilson apologized to President Obama immediately after the session ended, which is nice. But I’ve been thinking that apologizing doesn’t really help Joe Wilson to change in any way – you know, to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. As you may know, Joe Wilson has a history of “outbursts” for which he later apologizes. So to help Joe out, I am recommending that he take up the practice of yoga. I really think yoga can only help Joe Wilson become a better politician. Here’s how:

  1. By practicing yoga, Joe will learn how to be present. He’ll learn how to maintain focus on what is in front of him and how to stop letting his mind runaway and make stuff up. So the next time he is “listening” to someone speak he’ll perhaps really hear what they are saying.
  2. Joe Wilson will also learn how to maintain his inner calm while being in difficult situations. His emotions will no longer “get the best of him” as he will learn how to breathe and remain peaceful inside, no matter what is happening around him.
  3. Most yoga practices encourage students to “turn inward;” to become more introspective and self-aware. I highly suggest that Joe Wilson seek out this style of yoga practice, as it will help him gain insight into how HE is part of the solution or the problem rather than simply calling people with whom he disagrees “liars.”

Joe, I sincerely would be willing to help you with this. Let me know.

OK, now it’s Compassionate Cooks Recipe Giveaway time!

To pick the winner, I used random.org.

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What’s kinda weird about this is that there were 22 comments, and #23-25 represented the three tweets/blog posts that people told me they did. So #24 corresponded with Mimi of damnthefreshman15‘s tweet! Congratulations, Mimi! Be sure to contact me with your address so that Compassionate Cooks can send you your recipe packet! Thanks everyone for participating – there will be more giveaways to come!

Happy weekend everyone! I’ll be at DC VegFest tomorrow – yippee!

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Recipe Giveaway – Just One Day Left!

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Guess who loves the new shrubs that D. and I planted in our yard last weekend?

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Rosie is so adorable – I didn’t have the heart to tell her to move.

The Compassionate Cooks Recipe Giveaway ends tomorrow Friday Sept 11 at noon. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau of Compassionate Cooks is giving away a set of five brand new vegan Italian recipes to our lucky winner who will be randomly selected tomorrow. These recipes haven’t been published in any of the Compassionate Cooks cookbooks (The Joy of Vegan Baking and The Joyful Vegan) so our winner will be one of the first people to have them! All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of yesterday’s post about your favorite vegetarian recipe. You can also increase your chances of winning if you:

  1. Tweet the contest on Twitter and make sure you mention @doubledogyoga.
  2. Post the contest on your blog if you have one – let me know that you’ve done so by emailing me at julia AT doubledogyoga DOT com.

Good luck! I can’t wait to see who wins!

Marty Update

Well good news is that Marty had her second surgery this morning and the surgeon called to let me know that all went well. She should hopefully be coming home later today. Since surgery has a 95% cure rate for fibrosarcoma, I fully expect that we are in the clear for now. Thank you so much for your thoughtful words and hopeful prayers. It really does make all the difference in the world.

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Don’t forget to enter into our Recipe Giveaway!

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Compassionate Cooks Recipe Giveaway!

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I’ve mentioned Compassionate Cooks several times on this blog.  :)

Foods from plant sources
Image via Wikipedia

Compassionate Cooks is an organization founded by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Their mission is to empower people to make informed food choices, and to debunk myths about vegetarianism and animal rights. I listen to Colleen’s podcasts regularly, and I love love love her cookbooks The Joy of Vegan Baking and The Vegan Table.

You might say I’m a huge fan! I really admire the work she has done. Her website is chock full of information, as are her podcasts. And whether you are vegetarian, vegan, or omnivore I’m sure you would find many recipes to love in her books and on her website. The Compassionate Cooks’ website also offers recipes in packets of five based on certain themes such as “Thanksgiving,”"Afternoon Tea,” and “High Flavor, Low Calorie,” to name a few.

So….I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to give away a set of Compassionate Cooks’ recipes called “Hearty Italian!”

From the website: These filling dishes will satisfy anyone who thinks eating vegan means eating like a rabbit! These delicious recipes are perfect comfort food. Each recipe includes serving suggestions and variations of the recipe, as well as explanations of ingredients that might be unfamiliar.

And…these are all NEW recipes that will be in Colleen’s third cookbook!

To enter, please leave a comment here on your current favorite vegetarian recipe. I know, it’s so hard to choose just one! Be sure to either provide the recipe if it’s your own (and you want to share!) or let us know where to find it.

Get an additional entry each if you:

  1. Tweet the contest on Twitter and make sure you mention @doubledogyoga.
  2. Post the contest on your blog if you have one – let me know that you’ve done so by emailing me at julia AT doubledogyoga DOT com.

The giveaway closes at noon on Friday September 11. After Friday at noonthe winner will be randomly chosen by me and announced here.

Good luck!

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9-A-Day Fruits and Vegetables Challenge Check In

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So….how’s it going?

Fruit and Spinach Smoothie
Image by tiffanywashko via Flickr

How have you been meeting your 9-a-day?

Me…I didn’t do so great yesterday. The reason being, I skipped lunch!
That RARELY happens but that’s how circumstances unfolded yesterday.

So here’s the tally:

  • 1 banana in my morning smoothie
  • 1 serving spinach in the smoothie
  • 1 apple snack
  • 2 servings Tomato Salad while I was waiting for the pizza to cook
  • 1 serving Tomato Salad on my pizza

6 total. I think if I had had a proper lunch I could have made it to 9.

So today is another day. It’s 9-9-09 after all so of course I should go for 9 fruits and veggies!

How about you?

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Marty Update + Daiya Vegan Cheeze

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We got great news about Marty today :)

We took her to the Oncologist, who said we have four options. We have OPTIONS! That alone was awesome to hear.
I won’t bore you with the details, but basically we are opting for surgery, which has a 95% cure rate!
The surgery will be on Thursday at South Paws in Fairfax.
I feel very good about this. I really liked the Oncologist. We met the surgeon too, and I really liked his as well.
So we’re all feeling very optimistic today :)

I also got my root canal finished today – yay!

Run

I went for an early run today at the gym because it was rainy and gloomy out.

  • 6.21 miles
  • averaged 7.2 mph which is about an 8:20 minute mile – I was cruisin’!
  • average incline: 0.75

I’m so excited to run the 5k with the Runners in Training in November!

Eats

Next to learning more about Marty’s situation and getting my root canal topped off, the a highlight today was making vegan pizza with Daiya cheese.

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Daiya is a relatively new brand of vegan cheese. In case you’ve never tried vegan cheese before I can tell you this: they ain’t great. The better “non-dairy” cheeses aren’t really non-dairy as they contain casein in them. The non-casein cheeses rarely melt very well and don’t have the best taste.

Daiya is different! It’s completely vegan, made with plant-based ingredients.
I used the “Italian Blend” flavor and found that it melted very well and had a creamy, full mouth-feel to it.
I also put other vegetables on my pizza and so the Daiya was a wonderful accent to those veggies (I used up the rest of my Tomato Salad! Thank you again Kat for the recipe!).
D. had a plain “cheeze” pizza because as I’ve mentioned before he will only eat plain pizza. He liked the Daiya too. He called it “pizza-y” and said it tasted good. He said it didn’t taste as good as dairy cheese but it’s definitely something to buy again.
Now I thought the Daiya tasted great but then again I don’t think dairy mozzarella really has much flavor and the Daiya was pretty mild too. But I also had it with other veggies so I’m sure that makes a difference.

Before going into the oven

Before going into the oven

Before...

Before...

After baking for about 10 minutes

After baking for about 10 minutes

Daiya also comes in Cheddar Style which I will definitely be trying. Overall I give Daiya a solid “A!”

(By the way I made the yeast-free pizza crust from La Dolce Vegan! It was so good – thin and crispy – but kind of more like a cracker than pizza crust.)

Have a great evening…stay tuned tomorrow for a GIVEAWAY!

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Labor Day Vegan French Toast

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Ahhh yesssssssssssssssssssssss.

I FINALLY have cooked from Vegan with a Vengeance! I was beginning to think I was the only veg who hasn’t.

Yesterday I made the Scrambled Tofu and Chorizo Sausage. I forgot to take photos BOO :(
But I can say it was delish. I think next time…a little less salt ;)

And tonight…French Toast! Or as Isa says, “Fronch Toast!”

And you might say, how on earth can French Toast be vegan?

Well, the recipe uses soy creamer, rice milk (I used almond), and chickpea flour.
And it was fabulous.
It’s been so long since I have had French Toast.
I used to like it but only when it wasn’t “eggy.” I always detested eggy French toast.

DSC_0001Next time I will add some cinnamon, or vanilla extract, or both. But even plain it was awesome.

Eats

I made it to 8 fruits and veggies today as part of my 9-A-Day Fruits and Veggie Challenge!

  • 1 Banana in my morning smoothie
  • 1 serving spinach in smoothie
  • 1 serving Tomato Salad snack – yummy yum yum!
  • 1 apple snack
  • 3 servings of veggies at Thai lunch
  • 1 serving Tomato Salad at dinner

I could make it to 9 tonight but I’m just not very hungry so I’m going to stop here. I’m pretty happy with 8!

One thing I’ve noticed since starting the Challenge is that I’m selecting my food more consciously. Instead of snacking mindlessly I’m thinking, “what fruit or veggie could I eat?”

Run

We have a new “Runner in Training!”

RIT2 and I started with a 2 mile run today:

  • walk 5 minutes
  • run 1 minute, walk 1 minute for 21 minutes
  • walk 4 minutes

RIT2 did AWESOME his first time out. I was really impressed with how well he was breathing during our run. He is planning to run a 5K with me in November – Details about that race will be coming!

Marty Update

Several of you have emailed me asking about how Marty is doing.IMG_0499
We found out on Thursday that the lump she had removed on Monday was malignant. She has fibrosarcoma.
The good news is that this type of cancer stays local and she was diagnosed as a “grade 1″ – we caught it early and it was small.
We got a chest xray on Friday and her lungs are clear. So that’s good, too.

We are going to the Oncologist tomorrow to find out what our next steps should be.
We know from the biopsy that some of the cells had started to migrate to the edge of the tumor, and so most likely she will have another surgery where they will remove more tissue from that area to make sure the cancerous cells have all been removed.

I was pretty distraught when I first learned all of this and it took me a few days to accept all of this. We’re staying optimistic and taking it one day at a time.
I really appreciate your kind words and prayers.

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