Guest Post: Jack & Trisha’s amazing year!

(Lynne here) I met “Santa Jack” & Trisha of Happy Times Two about a month ago when they passed thru Chicago on their “around the U.S.” RV tour.  Their vegan transformation this year has been nothing short of AMAZING (together, they’ve lost a staggering 120 lbs and counting!).  I just knew that fellow Vegan Vagabond readers would love to hear their story, so I asked Jack to write this guest blog post.  Enjoy!)

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We’re Jack and Trisha, and are currently 6 months into a 7 month RV excursion around the country to celebrate Trisha’s joining me in retirement. When we started planning this trip, we were excited about seeing so much of the country, but as it’s turned out, by far the greatest gift we’ve received from this experience is a total transformation in our health, as we’ve become “mostly vegan!” I can’t begin to describe how wonderful this has been, how much better we feel physically, and how our outlook on life has changed since we started this journey.

First, a little background. All my life I’ve wrestled with being overweight, starting in childhood. Through the years I’ve done probably every conceivable diet, with some success at times, but invariably I’ve put back on the weight I had lost, and steadily gaining more. I’ve often said my closet looked like a men’s store--from slim and trim sizes all the way up to designs by Omar the Tentmaker! Even though I had run a marathon at age 35, in recent years I had become much more sedentary and less active. I started taking cholesterol and blood pressure medications years ago, and my doctors kept having to increase the dosage. In January of this year my doctor added a third BP med to my regimen, and this was pretty unsettling-- I had figured I would always be on these meds, but adding this new one was sobering.

Some “Before” pictures--


Well, about this time we were preparing to embark on our trip and while surfing the web for tips on RVing, I ran across Lynne’s WinnieViews blog, discovering to my delight that she had the identical model RV we had recently bought. Her blog was incredibly helpful, and she was kind enough to answer many questions I had. But by far the most significant thing about her blog was her link to Vegan Vagabonds, and a gift for which both Trisha and I will be forever in her debt.

On a lark, I just started reading some of her posts on this blog, as well as those from Tessa and Evelyn and a light just went off in my head, I mean like exploded!! For reasons I can’t really explain, the picture she posted of the spinach and kale smoothie just hit me like a ton of bricks--just a sudden enlightenment moment!! I was also intrigued by her stories of weight loss due to adopting a plant based diet. I showed Trisha the picture and some of the blog posts and we both just said “Let’s do this!”

At the beginning of our trip!


So I ordered a Blendtec, and we both read Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to Live, and were amazed at the many success stories he described. What was without a doubt the most helpful advice to us from his book, as well as from all three wonderful women who started Vegan Vagabonds was that you didn’t have to be a slave to this approach. As Lynne says, she occasionally eats non-vegan foods, just doesn’t make a habit of it anymore. We had known some vegans who were just Nazis about it and this approach was something of a turn off. But hearing that you could successfully be “mostly vegan” was just the approach both of us needed.

I had been scheduled to go back to see my doctor in February since she had been concerned about my increasing blood pressure and she wanted to monitor it more closely. We had just started this new way of eating a couple of days before my appointment and when I told her what we were doing she was just ecstatic! She told me that she and her husband eat about 80% plant based, eating some meat/fish/dairy usually on the weekends, but with this way of eating her husband had been able to get off his blood pressure medications completely.

I went back to see my doctor in March, just before we left on our trip, and in this one month I had lost 24 pounds, and my blood pressure was starting to come down! In just one month! So she told me to send her a log of my bp readings so she could decide whether to reduce my meds. It’s now been 7 months since we started eating this way and I’ve lost 80 pounds, and she has taken me off two of the three bp meds! Hopefully, by the time we get back home in another month she will be able to take me off the other meds as well. Trisha has lost more than 40 pounds, and we both just marvel at how much better we feel.

We didn’t have bikes when we started our trip, but bought some 7 speed bikes in Alabama and started riding. By the time we got to Colorado we traded these in for 24 speed bikes and we’ve done some 20 mile rides and one over 30! We’re hiking a lot and just feeling super!



And it’s been much easier to eat a vegan diet on the road than what you might expect. We brought our Blendtec on the RV and have smoothies just about every day for breakfast. When we are dry camping and can’t run the generator, we have oatmeal, with blueberries, sometimes craisins, sometimes a little honey. Our smoothies are variations of the recipe Lynne posted on this blog--we add some chia powder, sometimes a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder and use just frozen blueberries for a dark chocolate flavor/color; sometimes we add peanut butter (we have been able to find stores where we can grind our own fresh), and we’ve just experimented with different frozen fruits. When we’ve been able to get fresh berries at farmers markets or “u-pick” places, we’ve frozen those to use later.

For lunch we usually have tomato sandwiches, made with either whole wheat pita pockets or other whole grain organic breads we’ve found at health food stores along the way, usually just using one slice, open face style. We use tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, avocado, greens of any variety. We’ll usually top this off with some fresh fruit.

For supper we have a variety, lots of times with quinoa or black rice topped with steamed or grilled veggies, a salad made with whatever fresh veggies we’ve been able to find at roadside stands or farmers markets--for grilling, we like to use chunks of onion, beets, carrots, yellow and zucchini squash, sweet potatoes, peppers, cauliflower, whatever. We’ll spray a little PAM over this, use some Mrs. Dash salt free seasoning, some basil, maybe other spices, wrap it in foil and use our little portable grill out on the table at the campsite. We discovered black rice on this trip and really love it, either hot and topped with veggies, or cold added to salads; same with quinoa. I’ll often saute some tempeh, tofu or seitan to put in salads as well.

Always load up the salads with chickpeas, black beans or other types of beans, and add some seeds or nuts. We often use nutritional yeast sprinkled on salad, or over the steamed veggies, great flavor, more protein--good on corn on the cob!

For snacks we usually have carrots and hummus, some we buy and some we make, or some raw cashews or almonds and dried fruit. When we’re out hiking or biking, we take along a baggie of nuts and dried fruit, apples or oranges, and usually some Cliff Bars--the Builder Bars have a really high protein content and this really helps.

We love finding farmers markets along the way, stopping at roadside fruit and vegetable stands for whatever is fresh and in season. We’ve been able to find lots of health food stores or organic/natural grocers along the way, so we can stock up on protein powder. almond milk--unsweetened original--ground flaxseed, dried fruits (especially love white figs!). In Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Oregon we discovered Winco grocery stores, where we found wonderful bulk items, including a hummus powder we use to make up batches of our own.

We eat mostly meals we fix in the RV, but we do eat out from time to time, usually when we want to enjoy local specialties, like sampling the seafood gumbo along the Gulf coast, Mexican food in the Southwest, or a lobster roll in Maine. When we do this we try to make sure we avoid side dishes like fries, bread, etc. We’ve had great success using Happy Cow to find vegan friendly places to eat, and it’s always a good bet that at Mexican, Indian, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants you can find several vegan choices. More and more places are responding favorably to requests to make something vegan by either withholding cheese, cream, etc. or substituting a vegan alternative.

Vegan Platter we ordered at a restaurant--


We use recipes from Eat to Live, Everyday Happy Herbivore, and the Blendtec cookbook, but more often than not, we’ll just make it up as we go along, with whatever fresh veggies we have on hand.

Delicious dinner of corn on the cob with a little salt free Mrs. Dash, salad topped with black rice and sauteed seitan--


We’ve found a brand of prepared dishes we really like, called Tasty Bite. Mostly Indian, like lentils or chickpeas, and they also have different rice varieties--great for when we’re late getting into a campground and are tired, just microwave for 90 seconds and you’re done! We make a lot of soups, using some quick dry mixes we’ve found at health food stores, some from bean mixes we brought from home. One of our best purchases was a small microwave steamer we got at Camping World, and we use that a lot. It will steam a meal of vegetables in 5 minutes or less and it’s just so easy!

Now I can honestly say I don’t find myself craving all those foods that I always have, such as ice cream, donuts, fries, etc. People ask how hard this is, and for both of us it has been so much easier than we had ever thought possible. When we go out to eat, if there simply are no vegan alternatives, we just find the closest thing we can and don’t worry about it. When we’ve visited friends along the way, we’ve let them know about our eating pattern, but have always insisted that they not go out of their way to change, and we’ve been able to do okay just eating mostly salad and veggies that are usually part of their meals, and when they have asked, suggesting things to fix that aren’t radically different from what they usually have.

All those times in the past when I would go “on” a diet, I would eventually go “off” of it, which inevitably lead to the regaining of the weight. Now, we look at this not as a diet, but just a different way of eating, and I can’t imagine ever leaving this path. There are so many benefits we’ve already experienced, and I know our lives are so much better now! Not only are we able to exercise more and more, but just simple things of everyday life are so much easier, like walking up stairs, bending down to pick something up off the floor--before, we would tend to find excuses for not doing things, but now we look for ways to be more active. It’s just made a tremendous difference in all aspects of our lives!

We had the wonderful chance to meet Lynne when we were in the Chicago area! What an inspiration she has been to us and thank you to Tessa and Evelyn as well for all your wonderful inspirational blog posts!!

The Vagabonds Together at Last!

While Evelyn had met both Tessa and me in-person on multiple occasions, I had only known Tessa via online exchanges.  I had originally planned to spend a few weeks in Colorado this summer, and Evelyn noted that Tessa would be coming to Colorado as well, but not until a bit later.  So, again, it looked as though we would not yet meet up.

But, my plans subsequently changed, and when I saw that it could be arranged to coincide with Tessa’s visit to Manitou Springs, I began a secret plan with Evelyn to surprise Tessa.  

Tessa and her daughter, Lia, arrived to what they thought would be a simple lunch with Evelyn and her husband, Steve.  Meanwhile, my brother and his girlfriend were driving me down from Vail.  We were running a bit late, so Evelyn had to get rather “creative” the last few minutes when her lunch entrée had come out of the oven, yet, she mysteriously refrained from serving lunch to a table of hungry vegans!

Soon, the doorbell rang, and Evelyn asked Tessa to come to the door with her.  SURPRISE!!!!  (and, yes, the plan succeeded and Tessa was, indeed, surprised!).

Evelyn, Tessa, and Lynne finally united at last!

Evelyn prepared a wonderful vegan lunch for everyone, and graciously hosted me overnight before I would travel back to Chicago the next evening.

Although our time together was short, we had great fun together.  Later in the afternoon, Evelyn took me for a great walking tour of Manitou Springs.  What an adorable little Victorian town surrounded by mountains!

That evening, we joined Tessa and Lia for a fantastic Middle Eastern meal.  Can you believe Manitou Springs has not one, but TWO Middle Eastern restaurants in town?!!  Evelyn and I both had this terrific “Vegetarian Combo Plate” featuring Tabouleh salad (lower left), Hummas (lower right), 2 Falafel balls (center), 2 stuffed grape leaves (top), and fresh, warm pita triangles.  I’m hooked!

Meanwhile, Tessa & Lia were devouring a Falafel sandwich (Tessa had been dreaming about one of these since she had tried one during her previous summer visit).

The next morning, Evelyn and Tessa decided to try out Evelyn’s old juicer, a Salton Vitamin Bar, making a refreshing orange, carrot, apple & ginger juice.  The Salton is about 1/2 the size of today’s jumbo-sized juicers, and should be compact enough to take in the RV this winter to Mexico.

After gabbing awhile, it was time for lunch on the patio at the delicious Adam’s Mountain Café’  (are you getting the impression yet that we vegan vagabonds just live to EAT?!!)

Tessa and I each had this spicy Thai salad:

while Evelyn enjoyed this savory blend of grilled veggies, almonds, and rice --

After walking our lunch off around town and chatting non-stop, by mid-afternoon, it was time for me to head home by taking a shuttle bus from Colorado Springs to catch the evening Amtrak train from Denver back to Chicago.  I was originally going to do an airport shuttle to Denver and fly home, but thought it would be more fun and unusual to take the train instead.  So, we hugged and said our farewells, and Evelyn dropped me off at the bus station.

Fast forward an hour later—the bus was running WAY late.  So late, that it was now looking like I’d miss my train in Denver (and that could become a real panic as there are no accommodations within walking distance of the train station, and I also needed to be back to Chicago for an important appointment and could not be delayed a full day).  What’s a frantic vegan to do?  Call her fellow meatless musketeers to beg for a rescue, that’s what!

Tessa fired up her little red Prius (affectionately named “Toots”), picked up Evelyn, and soon was “taking off like a rocket” to transport me up to Denver on a first-ever Vegan Vagabonds road trip!

Do these gals seem a bit obsessed with their techno-gadgets?!!!

Unfortunately, we not only hit rush hour traffic, but construction delays and a few accidents as well.  What once had seemed like a slam-dunk to get me to my train on time, was now turning into a nail-biter.  As it began looking like we weren’t going to make it, I checked the Amtrak website one last time to check on the train’s status.  Miraculously, the train was now showing 3 hours late!  YIPPEE!  Not only would I make my train after all, but we’d now have enough time to grab dinner at Tessa’s favorite vegan restaurant in Denver!  Hooray Toots!

Tessa had be raving about WaterCourse Foods, and the raves were well-deserved.  It was the best vegan/vegetarian restaurant I’ve ever eaten at!

I had a Po’ Boy sandwich made with batter-dipped artichoke hearts that looked/tasted like fried shrimp bites, topped with fresh cole slaw in a lemon caper aioli sauce on a kaiser roll.  Tessa and I had the same side dishes--  a spicy tomato curry bisque soup, and vegan mashed potatoes and gravy.  Not the healthiest low-cal meal, but a delicious special treat, for sure!

Evelyn was the “good girl” of the bunch and had an interesting and tasty, low-cal, green tomato caprese salad, while Tessa grinned with glee over her seitan roast “beef” Grinder sandwich with melted vegan swiss cheese and au jus for dipping.  Who says plant-based diets have to be depriving?!!

Thank you to my fellow vagabonds for hosting me, sharing some great restaurant finds, and rescuing me from a near-disaster with my travel!  Can’t wait until we meet up again!

Spice up those cold, dreary days with a slow-cooker!

When the clocks roll back and days start getting shorter and colder, it’s time to put away the grill and pull out the slow-cooker! 

Today, was my first slow-cooker meal of the season, and what a great kick-off it was—Ratatouille, that thick and robust French chunky tomato stew, full of flavorful spices, yet a low-calorie, nutrient-dense vegan meal.

I assembled my ingredients into the slow-cooker, turned it on Low at 9:00am, and headed upstairs to work.  I don’t know why, but smelling a delicious dinner simmering away in the Crock Pot seems to make my work day move along a little better—perhaps it’s that little added thrill and anticipation of what will be waiting for me at the end of the work day at 5:00!  But, it sure makes the cold, gray days of winter a bit more tolerable.

Most slow-cooker cookbooks are filled with meat dishes, so finding good vegan recipes can sometimes be a challenge.  I discovered this Ratatouille recipe last winter when I was RVing down in Arizona.  It fits my 3 1/2 quart Crock Pot perfectly, and that size slow-cooker fits nicely into my Winnebago View making this a great Vegan Vagabond meal!  

Add a few bread slices from a fresh whole wheat French baguette, and a nice glass of red wine, and “ooo la la”—a yummy and comforting meal to warm up a cold winter’s day!

Slow-Cooker Ratatouille:

adapted from: Better Homes and Gardens Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes

Ingredients:

• 2 medium onions (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 6 oz. can of tomato paste (as low-sodium as you can find)
• 1 TB olive oil
• 1 TB raw turbinado sugar (or other less-processed sugar)
• 3 small cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 TSP dried basil
• 1 TSP kosher sea salt
• 1 TSP dried thyme
• 1/4 TSP ground black pepper
• 5 fresh roma tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 small/medium unpeeled zucchini, halved lengthwise and finely sliced
• 3 cups of unpeeled eggplant, diced into small cubes
  

Preparation:

1. Place ingredients into a 3 1/2 quart slow-cooker in the exact sequence as listed above. 

2. After adding the spices (and before adding the fresh tomatoes), spread the tomato paste to cover the onions, but ensure the onions remain on the bottom of the pot.

3. Add the remaining ingredients and lightly pack down so that the lid will still fit firmly on top of the pot.

4. Turn the slow-cooker on Low and cook for about 7 1/2 to 8 hours.  Leave the lid on the whole time and DO NOT STIR until within the last 30-45 minutes (to allow the tomato juices to combine better with the eggplant).

5. Turn off the slow-cooker and let rest for 10-15 minutes while you warm a baguette in the oven and slice it.

6. Serve in large soup bowls. Makes about 4 cups (2 – 3 servings).

Beans and Quinoa

There is a recipe, that I can’t find right now, in the Engine 2 Diet recipe book that calls for beans and quinoa and several other ingredients.  My pantry is always stocked with quinoa and cans of beans, and depending on what else is on hand, these two main ingredient make a great dish that has become a once a week standby in our home.  Today I used about 1 1/2 cups of cooked quinoa along with a can of drained and rinsed red beans, some diced jicama, chopped red bell pepper, chopped red onion, cilantro, toasted walnuts, and flavored balsamic vinegar.

When Tessa visited here this summer, she bought me a bottle of Bordeaux cherry balsamic vinegar from a nearby store called The Olive Tap.  This vinegar is absolute perfection and doesn’t require the addition of oil because it’s not as acidic as normal balsamic vinegar.  There are only 6 of these stores in the US (Lynne, 3 are in Illinois) but perhaps there are other shops around the country that sell flavored balsamic vinegars.

Cooking quinoa usually requires 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups water that cooks to make 3 cups.  What to do with the leftover quinoa?  I had been wanting to experiment  and make a cereal for breakfast.  So with the leftover 1 1/2 cups, I first made about 1 cup oatmeal that I purposely undercooked for 1 minute with some water in the microwave.  To this I added about 3/4 cup frozen blueberries which naturally thawed quickly in the hot oatmeal, the quinoa,  one chopped apple (should have used 2),  2 TB brown sugar (is that a no-no?), and some chopped walnuts.  Mixed it all up and now breakfast is made for tomorrow morning.  My daughter already had a bowl and absolutely loved it. 

One of these days I will get the hang of photographing food.  Lynne gave me several pointers but it’s still difficult.

What do you EAT??

by Tessa

"What do you EAT??"

This popular question typically follows a realization that all of a person's previous favorite foods are no longer eating options.

So I will show you what I eat in a day!

Breakfast:  My Green Smoothie was made of raw spinach, banana, apple, and strawberries.  It's a delicious powerhouse!  I feel clean and light after drinking it.

Simply use spinach because it doesn't change the flavor, add a banana for sweetness, and just add one more fruit (apple, orange, ripe pear, etc) into the blender.  Delicious!   Half your blender should be filled with spinach, kale, or another green.

I take a multi-vitamin (not sure if it's helpful) and one 1000 mcg B-12 tablet that is methylcobalamin based (not the cyan based).  My B-12 level in April was great.  Vegans need to get B-12 from a source other than meat, but some plants have it too.

Also for breakfast I had cereal:  Muesli (1/2 c), oats, about 20 raisins, ground flaxseed (to cleanse the liver), sprinkle of granola, and some cold almond milk:

For lunch, I had two corn tortillas with black beans, vegetarian no-fat refried beans, salsa, tomato, and a little guacamole (only one is shown below, but I made another).  Ate 4 blackberries and 4 strawberries too!

Drink lots of water during the day, of course, so you feel good!

Mid-afternoon Snacks:  Into a nice cup of Detox Tea, I added half a stevia (natural sweetener) tablet.  Since toxins are stored in your liver, it's good to de-tox.  My tea was a little too sweet, so I shouldn't have added the stevia.

More Snack:  An organic apple cut into chunks with a little cinnamon, muesli, oats, ground flaxseed, and raisins with some almond milk tastes like apple crumble!  So good!

Dinner:  We ate Black Bean Burgers from the Engine 2 Diet book.  I made the burgers in about 10 minutes using my Vitamix blender (Vitamix and Blendtec are high-speed blenders) and then baked them for 15 minutes.  They are made of 2 cans of black beans (rinsed) and instant oatmeal.

Since it's important to get lots of raw food in your diet, we topped our burgers with spinach, tomatoes, onions, and avocados.

For buns, we use whole wheat buns, bread or pita pockets.  Always make sure all grains that you buy say "whole" before the "grain" or "wheat".  Pasta and rice must always be whole grain too. Just buy the brown stuff and look for the word "whole".  Simple!

We munched on a salad too to eat more greens today.  Spinach (organic), shredded carrots, avocado, onion and tomatoes.  I mixed together a simple mustard, balsamic vinaigrette to put on it.  Fresh cantaloup to finish off a great meal!

Bedtime Snack:  I promise I will also have before bed a half cup of muesli with almond milk and a banana.  It's healthier if you can avoid eating after dinner, but I get too hungry in the night and can't sleep.  So I eat before bed, but limit the muesli amount by using a 1/2 c. measuring cup.

Some days I crave muesli, other days it might be avocados, dates, etc and I while I do limit my intake, I think my body must crave it for a reason, so I eat it!  I just limit the portion size.  Today, I think it is muesli.

See how simple we keep it?  Just get everything bad out of your house:  processed packages of food, sugars, extra oils, etc and then load in a great variety of produce.  You'll start craving the good stuff while losing weight.

Losing Weight, Gaining Health:
My weight is down:  I weighed 140 pounds in August but am down to 121 today, just 2 pounds from my high school weight!  I feel great!  My body will determine my ideal weight once all the fat (which is a risk factor in most diseases) is off my body.  It is likely lower than my 119 initial goal.  But my ultimate goal is exceptional health!

So that's a typical day of eating.  No muss, no fuss, no starvation, no worries.

Enjoy your plant-based diet!  You will be amazed at how good you feel while the fat slides off!

Tessa