Showing posts with label nutrition. Show all posts

Change The World by One Meal a Day - A Review

Today I'm reviewing Changing the World by One Meal a Day by Suzy Amis Cameron.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Photo Source - OMD



Author Links - Link
Amazon Book Link
Amazon Author Link
Good Reads Book Link
Good Reads Author Link
My Good Reads Profile
My Facebook Page


Generally I like to start out with a disclaimer. I am an contemporary witch.  I look for the connection between magic and science without the need to search for a creator. I receive no compensation for these reviews and all my links are standard Amazon links and not affiliate links. I am a practicing photo reader and have spent the last 16 years honing my craft.  I offer personal readings by request and have a strong online history that boasts over 412,000 views.


As usual, I'm going to start my review with my opinion on the physical book. I received a hard cover dust jacketed book as a gift for contributing to the OMD Blog project.  You can find my interview here.  The forward of the book is written by Dr. Dean Ornish, MD.  A well renowned advocate for living a healthy lifestyle.  While not completely plant based I respect Dr. Ornish for his work related to helping create a holistic approach to lifestyle management. I have read many of his books and recommend them often.  My particular way of living is more in line with Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. I am a firm believer that oil is at the root of the majority of the diseases of affluence that impact our society today. This book boasts a nice since index and notes section.  It even includes a list of packaged foods that are acceptable to those living a vegan lifestyle.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Photo Source - OMD


The premise of this book and the mission statement of OMD is to save the planet by switching one meal a day to a plant based meal. The book lists vegan options for reaching this goal.  To me, I believe in a whole food plant based approach to eating.  While it does fit the "vegan" moniker, it isn't your traditional vegan menu.  There are so many foods that are vegan but are not good for you.  Oreo cookies are vegan but are completely unhealthy. The book is a great resource for information on how much of our resources are used each day by continuing to eat meat and meat products. The author explains that having only one plant based meal a day for a year will save 675,250 gallons of water.  To put that in perspective, it is the same amount of water to fill an Olympic size pool.

I enjoyed the section of the book that included the lists of plant based sources for common vitamins and minerals. Page 113 for example, gives a pretty good list of Omega-3S sources.  A common source of Omega 3 is attributed to consuming fish.  The list contains 23 options for plant based sources of Omega 3 fatty acid.  Personally, I try to include chia seeds, sesame seeds and walnuts in my diet daily.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Photo Source - OMD


Chapter five kicks off your journey to OMD living. The author provides a list of tips and tricks for making your experience a success.  The table of grab and go options are a life saver for those just starting on this journey. The idea here is you're only switching one meal a day. As you begin to see how much better you feel, you'll want to change more and slowly remove meat and animal products completely from your diet.  I started out my journey by ordering HungryRoot food delivery service.  This is a vegan home meal delivery kit that provides a great way to slowly wean yourself off of highly processed animal fat and chemical laden foods. The same holds true for the new craze of the Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger which are making their way around fast food establishments across the united states.  While not on my menu, this is a great way to begin the path to removing animals from your diet.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Photo Source - OMD


Chapter seven is where the fun begins. The author takes us on a culinary journey to delight the vegan taste buds of every newly transitioning foodie.  From Jasper's Red Shake to Food Forest Organics Coco-Mint Slice you'll find a tasty plant based recipe to fit any taste level.  You'll learn how to use tofu and coconut cream to make a delicious meal that will convert even the most strict meat eater. There are recipes for chili sauce, pesto and even spring rolls! Eating a plant based meal doesn't have to be bland and boring. After all, most of the meat prepared today has herbs and spices added to it to make it flavorful.  Herbs and spices are plants!  This book includes a 14 day All-In Meal plan and shopping list to get you ready for the big move to a healthier plant based life style.


Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Photo Source - OMD

Over all this is a great book and I applaud the author for providing, to me, one of the most important parts of the book.  The Great Eater Meter on page 293 offers the reader a chance to see the impact of animal based foods on our environment. One stick of butter for example, takes 173 gallons of water to produce.  One cup of milk takes 43 gallons of water. When you begin to look at the impact of the individual choices we make everyday on our planet, you really can see how you can be the change you want to see in this world.

If you're on the fence about this, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book and taking the time to really learn about a plant based lifestyle.  You can look up several documentaries on the subject such as Devour the Earth, Eating You Alive, Forks Over Knives and The Game Changers just to name a few.




Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul - A Review

Today I'm reviewing Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul by Deborah Kensten.

Image Credit - Book Cover
Src - Internet



Author - Link
Amazon Book Link
Amazon Author Link
Good Reads Book Link
Good Reads Author Link
My Good Reads Profile
My Facebook Page


Generally I like to start out with a disclaimer. I am an contemporary witch.  I look for the connection between magic and science without the need to search for a creator. I receive no compensation for these reviews and all my links are standard Amazon links and not affiliate links. I am a practicing photo reader and have spent the last 16 years honing my craft.  I offer personal readings by request and have a strong online history that boasts over 412,000 views.


As this was sent to me as an e-Book I'll not be reviewing the physical book and instead going directly into the review of the material covered by the author.


I was a bit skeptical at first beginning this book. I sometimes find that when modern science begins to address things like prana or the metaphysical in general it usually ends in "magic" being labeled as bunk.  I was pleasantly surprised in this book.  The author takes a look at several different groups and shows how religion or spiritually applies to not only to the preparation of food but also our relationship to it.  She takes us through several traditions, as well as ethnic groups to fully digest, pardon the pun, the impact of food on our spiritual being.

She address the strength in ritual preparations that take place in the Jewish and Catholic communities as well as the spirituality of the meals prepared by Africans taken as slaves to the United States. within the chapter African Roots: American Soul Food, the section "Making Do",  really connected with me.  Living in rural North Carolina and growing up poor many of the food listed were staples in my grandmother's household.  We had many meals of tomatoes and rice or liver-pudding and rice. We made do with what we had, and what we had was pretty limited.  As I grew into an adult and looked back on these times, I remember my grandmother rationing butter and using saccharine because sugar was scarce.

The next section, "Cooking from the Feel", resonates with me.  I can usually tell just by smelling something if its "right" or not. While not subjugated to illiteracy by institutionalized racism, the majority of our recipes were shared by watching and doing.  I watched my grandmother make biscuits every day for years until I finally attempted them myself. And before her passing on, I was able to stand at the table beside her and make them with her.  On several occasions, as I entered the house she would yell in her 97 year old voice, "Rhonda Renee, get in here and make these biscuits. I've been waiting on you!"  Now, some 6 years later, I can still get a whiff of something and tell you if it's just right.

The author goes on to talk about Yogic Nutrition from India.  For me, a student of yoga and with a background in witchcraft, I believe that what you send out comes back to you times three.  If you send out negative, it comes back to you.  If you put in negativity into your food, your life or being it all comes back to you. I believe that the everything round us is made of energy.  That includes our food. For me this is what Empathetic Eating is all about.  I covered this in an article I wrote in February. I've also noticed when I'm in a mood or my husband doesn't feel just right, his dishes aren't as flavorful. To me, this is adding prana, or love to the dish.  The author goes on to tell us about how savoring food with your eyes first with the following quote:

"The food an natural colors are often arranged beautifully, so the eyes appreciated it first.  Then the nose smells the food and digestion has already begun." 

Making food appealing to the eyes is something I strive for. I believe that if you can look at it and see the beauty, you're taking that beauty into your body and becoming one with it.  For me that is the essence of soul food. You'll see and appreciate the life-force contained within.  Of all the eating styles in the book the Indian style is the most I am aligned with.

The author goes on to tell us about the Islamic meal traditions which include fasting as well as Buddhisms look at mindful meals.  She then journeys to China and Japan to explore food, folklore and tea. She reaches into the Native American vision quest and the wedding feasts of Hinduism showing us how teach culture connects the act of preparing and consuming food with our spiritual well-being.

Two important chapters are 11 & 12 - Enlightened Eating and The Starving Spirit take the reader into the mindset of what can happen to a person who has a disconnect between food and spirit. From a personal level, as a person with an eating disorder, body dysphoria and morbid obesity, I can tell you that when you have lost that connection to good food you suffer.  Filling my body with highly processed foods and an animal product rich diet, I felt ever bit of pain those animals endured.  I felt the pain of the chemicals in my body through Fibromyalgia.  I felt the sickness of pre-diabetes with each bit of garbage that passed through my lips.  My body ached from pain feeling each death blow dealt to the animals in the slaughterhouses that fed my addition.

Understanding the connection between the food and the mind is tricky. The author dedicates an entire chapter on understanding how each food type can work with or against our emotions. Leading us to crave foods that are good for us or foods that will break down our bodies.  That emotional connection is something I struggled with for a long time.  I'm happy to say that today I'm able to move past that and look at the food as sustenance, while thoroughly enjoying dishes I make with the same zeal, excitement and satisfaction of a young girl watching her grandma make biscuits.

Overall this is a fantastic book for those interested in understanding the spiritual connection we all have to food.  I love the way the author included the scientific background and included personal stories to fully demonstrate the power and the connection of food between human beings. As a foodie myself, I believe that those interested in learning more about how we as a race have similar practices related to food, will enjoy this book.

If you're interested in learning more about my journey you can find it here.  If you'd like to join me in learning new recipes and the science around Whole Food Plant Based living you can find my page here.












Hungryroot - Unboxing and Update

Happy Thursday!  This is an update on my work with Hungryroot.  Eli and I have been using the service for about two full months now.  We are continuing losing weight and it is really something. We have coined a new phrase that we use when we're asked, "What's for dinner?"   We say - REAL RATIONS!


Over the years we have both struggled with our weight as many of you are aware.  We have tested out several meal delivery services while trying to get ourselves out of the emotional and physical addiction to our food.  

When we added Hungryroot we also cut all added sugar out of our diet.  The results have been astounding.  And Hungryroot got us there.  Below is our progress over the years at fully understanding veganism and nutritarianism. Now we only eat foods that give us nutrients.  Any "junk" food, packaged foods or fast foods are off the table.



Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Elijah's Weight Transformation



Photo Credit - Elijah Olson
Renee's Weight Transformation
The cost of the package I order is 69.00 per delivery. I can see for a larger family or someone on a fixed income, that this could be out of your price range.  I have included in this next video how to split up the food and place the orders in a specific way to make them last longer while still enjoying the benefits of fast, vegan delivery.  


Here is a list of my most recent order.  We discovered that we really liked the Lemongrass Tofu so we purchased that along with two Chickpea Medleys and one Roasted Corn Edamame to go with them.  We Then picked up some bags of organic shredded broccoli slaw and/or super-green mix from the supermarket to create out own dishes.  This allowed us to make this box meant for 5 meals for two week last us for 12 meals for two.  We essentially doubled the yield by adding $6 worth of veg from the supermarket.


Screen Capture - Hungryroot






I cannot tell you how much this box service has helped me.  I recommend starting out with their largest box and get a variety of dishes to try.  Then, on the follow week or two switch to the smaller size and then pick and choose what you like.  Use the meal planner they supply to learn about the foods.  I discovered Kholrabi for the first time with Hungryroot. Now I seek it out in the stores.  I found that Alberton's in Las Cruces and Whole Foods in El Paso both carry it.   This is something that you can toss into a salad to eat raw or lightly saute to use as the noodle component to a pasta dish.

If you think you'd like to try Hungryroot, I have a link below that you can use for a discount to the service. If you do try it, be sure to comment here and tell me how its working for you. I would love to see your before and after photos or just an update on how you're feeling after adding a bit more veg to your diet. - Hungryroot Link







Look for our upcoming book and website on learning to eat real!

A Witch's View - Miyoko's Kitchen

This week I'm doing a review of some of the amazing products from Miyoko's Kitchen.  My life as a vegan has been a sort of struggle as it relates to my life with Cheese or rather without it.  I love cheese. I would think nothing of sitting down and eating and entire block of cheese with crackers.  I would tell myself it was healthy because I would use "good" cheese.  But frankly my body was telling another story.  After hubby and I decided to go vegan, we took all dairy from our diet. My heart would yearn for the stringy bubbly goodness of a hot slice or a creamy grilled cheese. I had resigned the fact that I would never have that back in my life again.

Until now!

A while back I did a search and found a video of Miyoko and her amazing cheese recipes.  I started writing down everything so I could make her a cheese for a pizza.


Then while searching I found her website where she sells her cheese already done!!  We ordered the cheddar cheese sauce, the double cream and chive spread and the fresh mozz.

From http://miyokoskitchen.com/products-miyoko/


This spreadable cheese replacement is amazing. We have it with crackers and it was simply amazing. I loved it.

http://miyokoskitchen.com/products-miyoko/


The Fresh VeganMozz was simply amazing. I have not had a pizza with cheese in years.  Now I have had ones with Daiya and it was like eating cardboard.  I grabbed some pizza dough from the deli section of my grocery store and added some vegan butter with garlic a few herbs and this cheese grated.  YES GRATED.  You can slice or grate it and it melts and browns so amazingly. I am in love. I will have this in my house forever!!!

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson



From: http://miyokoskitchen.com/products-miyoko/
Finally we tried the Cheddar Style Cheese Sauce.  Sadly the cheese sauce was really strong with nutritional yeast and mustard.  I took one bite and spit it out.  It was just horrid.  So my quest for mac and cheese continues, however I will be purchasing the VeganMozz and the Creamy Spreads again!










A Witch's View - Purple Carrot - White Bean Ball Subs

This is my second recipe from Purple Carrot.  We had a bumpy road with Purple Carrot with the quality of the veg and with missing (and this time extra) ingredients.  I ended up canceling this service but wanted to do a review on the recipes since I had them.  I decided to continue with GreenChef and I highly recommend them.

Today I'm reviewing the White Beanball Sub with a salad.  I ended up with all my ingredients, however I had double of the flaxseed flour, which makes me wonder if someone was missing theirs??

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson 
Hubby prepped the onion and the peppers for this recipe while I prepped the bean ball ingredients.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson


 In the processor we added the beans, a clove of garlic, nutritional yeast, the flaxseed flour and salt.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 I used an ice cream scoop to make the balls and then just patted them round and added them to the pan.  Looking back, these were way too big. I would probably make 8 balls instead of six out of this much bean mixture.  Also the instructions said to "coat the balls in oil"  I had no idea how to do that so I just put oil on the pan.


Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Next we cooked up the onions and the peppers and then added the sauce.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 They had this mixture of panko, fresh parsley and a "lemony salt" mixture that was included in the package.  It was ok.  I think they were going for something that looked like Parmesan cheese on the top of the sub.


Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 Over all the meal was ok.  The salad was dressed with lemon juice and salt.  Pretty simple. The beanballs desperately needed flavor.  Maybe some more garlic or oregano and basil in the mixture. Something to give it a little life.  I did appreciate the fact that this recipe taught me how to make these "balls" so I can easily now make my own black bean burgers or even sub sandwiches using this method.


Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Next week we're reviewing the final recipe from Purple Carrot.

A Witch's View - GreenChef Review - Black Rice Stir-fry

This week I'm reviewing GreenChef's Black Rice Stir-fry. Over all I've been pleased with my first week of GreenChef.  They are one of the few places that deliver restaurant quality meals that I can prepare in 30 mins and are completely organic and vegan.  I have continued my subscription and will have another delivery next week.

My delivery this week as a 2 out of 3 ain't bad deal.  The first two were really good.  I enjoyed them a lot.  This last one however, I'm not sure if I didn't cook the rice long enough or if the Kimchi was just over the top for me but it wasn't something I was happy with.  If I was dining out, I would have sent this dish back.  It just wasn't for me.  It turned out really beautiful though.  And perhaps some one with a broader taste may like it.  I will say that it has red bell pepper which I hate in it, but I didn't taste the peppers at all.  That makes me more willing to try more recipes with them in the future.  So over all I didn't lose out completely.

So here's what we got:

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 We started by coating the sweet potato in olive oil and salt and pepper.  They go into the oven to bake while we were getting everything else together.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 Hubby diced up the remain veg, while I cleaned the cilantro and got the rice and soybeans together.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
After the Bok Choy is cooked we set it aside.  Next the bell pepper gets cooked in olive oil until tender.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 Next you add all the veg to the pan with the bell pepper and cook
Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 Everything cooks for about 2-3 mins and then you serve.  As you can see the dish was lovely.

It just wasn't for me.  I'm not sure what it was about it, but there was this spicy after taste that I really didn't care for.
Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 So that's my review. I don't like to end on a sour note (pun intended) so I think I may follow up with another set of three just to get a good over all sense of how this food delivery system works.  If you think you'd like to try GreenChef out here's a link to sign up.  Portion sizes for the meal for two are very generous. We had extra with each meal we tried.


This is what's on the menu for the next two weeks.  I'm really excited about these.
Screenshot - GreenChef.com
Screenshot - GreenChef.com




A Witch's View - GreenChef - A Review - Unstuffed Enmoladas

This week I'm reviewing GreenChef's Unstuffed Enmoladas.  This is by far one of the best dishes I have had with any of the delivery services.  It was really good.  I omitted the onions in mine because I just don't like them.  But this is what is how we did it.

The produce was really fresh.  I did however find that the tortillas were a bit crumbly.  A couple of them tore as I was trying to prepare them.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

The Salsa was really good.  I made the mistake of substituting the coconut oil for olive oil.  You don't want to do that.  Because coconut oil solidifies as a lower temperature my salsa seized up. I had to set it in a bowl of warm water, like you would a double boiler to make where I could stir it again. Over all it was really tasty.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 I added my avocado to the salsa after taking hubby's portion out. He's allergic.


Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 Next we had to cook the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side.  I found them to be a little oily. But over all while I was working on the mole sauce they dried nicely.  You then just put them in the mole to coat them and serve.
Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
This was my finished dish. It turned out to look pretty attractive. Mine doesn't have the onions on top but otherwise picture perfect.  As I said, this was my favorite dish so far.  I highly recommend checking out GreenChef.  For the price it is a great way to get restaurant quality dishes to your home, completely vegan and completely organic.  I love it.


Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

A Witch's View - GreenChef - A Review - Portobello Tagine

For the last three weeks I've shared the meals I had from Blue Apron.  This week I'm going to start with GreenChef.  The first complaint I hear about these deliveries is the packaging.  Both Blue Apron and GreenChef (and probably all of them) offer a recycling program.  The main reason I switched to GreenChef was because they offered Vegan options.


Here's how my GreenChef Arrived.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

There was a layer of ice over the top and bottom and even though the big storm delayed my delivery by one day everything was still ice cold inside.


So here we go with the dish. Portobello Tagine with Roasted Root Veggies and Almond Couscous.

So first, I love the way the recipe ingredients are color coded.  You know what everything goes with at a glance.


Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
We cleaned the mushrooms.  I was a little disappointed at the size of the mushrooms.  They could have been bigger.


Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
They get rolled in the sauce and placed on a foil baking sheet.  Saving he extra sauce for the root veg.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Mix the root veg around in the same bowl with salt and pepper.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Put on the same pan as the mushroom and put in the oven.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 Start the couscous.  It only takes about 5 minutes to cook.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 Toast the almonds.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 After the onions and garlic cook a bit you'll add the chickpea sauce and the kale.  (I still can't believe I ate kale and I liked it.)

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
 The finished dish.  It turned out really good.  I liked it.


Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Be sure to come back for our next recipe review!


If you think you'd like to try GreenChef here's a link.