veggie lo mein

Well, the first attempt, without a recipe, making it up as I go along, was not horrible.  In fact, Carly had two helpings and Cooper liked it but didn't want to eat it again.  I'll take it.

This is what I did:

Start a pot of water boiling for the spaghetti noodles (I used Trader Joe's brown rice spaghetti).  At the same time heat garlic olive oil in a skillet and add red onion, carrots, red bell peppers, and scallions.

Photo Courtesy of Cooper

When the water boils add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 4 minutes.  At the same time add broccoli, kale, and cabbage to the other veggies.

Photo Courtesy of Cooper

I added ladles of pasta water to steam the veggies and a couple splashes of tamari (gluten-free soy sauce).  Once the pasta was done I removed it from the water with a slotted spoon and added it to the veggies.  My pasta stuck together and I didn't like the way it was turning out.  While my pasta water was still hot I added more noodles and cooked until al dente.  When it was ready I drained and rinsed it then added it to a hot saute pan with more garlic olive oil.  These noodles crisped up a bit which was the texture I wanted.  I added these noodles to the pasta & veggie skillet.  I tossed them with a fork and topped with cilantro.

Photo Courtesy of Cooper

It was good.  It did not satisfy my craving for Chinese food and I realized I need some kind of sauce.  I guess it's back to the drawing board.  Stay tuned.

Thanks, Cooper, for helping me make dinner and for taking great pictures!

new dawn, new day...

New Day by bradsworld

...a new life for me, and I wanna feel good...

Last April I went gluten-free.  I immediately noticed a difference in my chronic pain, intestinal discomfort, and energy.  After 8 months I was beginning to realize it was not all I needed to do for my body to function as it should.  Change is a tough road to travel.

2012 started with the Whole Living Action Plan, a healthy detox our whole family could do.  I made some great discoveries:  I love kale, I definitely am gluten intolerant, I can live a decent life without red meat, too much ginger is bad, I love roasted beets, and I can eat healthy and like it!

I think it's time to start sharing my gluten-free, fried-free, processed-free, sugar-free, meat-free adventures.

Some favorites from the cleanse:

Carly - almost any salad with a dijon vinaigrette: whisk together 1T olive oil, 1T dijon, 1t apple cider vinegar, sea salt & pepper.

Cooper - Vegan Creamy Potato-Leek Soup

Everybody - Kale Slaw

It's been a couple of months and I haven't eaten healthy the whole time.  When I'm feeling lousy I take a look at what I've been eating, add more vegetables, drink more water.  At this point I know I shouldn't steer too far away from the basics - fruits & veggies.

I have been craving Chinese food and so I am determined to make my own version of healthy, gluten-free Vegetable Lo Mein for dinner tonight.  Yum!  If it turns out, I'll post the recipe tomorrow.