Tuna Noodle Casserole sans Tuna

One recipe down, one hundred and twenty-four to go! Here is Creamy Noodle Casserole, the first recipe from my inspiration book. Creamy and noodle-y it was. With both my hubby and I working together in the kitchen to prepare this giant 9x 13 deep-dish casserole, it took almost 1½ hours to prepare and another 40 minutes to bake. All the time I kept praying that it was worth the effort.

The recipe had three parts: whole-wheat pasta, veggies (onions, carrots, celery, green beans, peas) with cannellini beans, and a thickened veggie broth spiced with paprika and thyme. It was supposed to have panko bread crumbs on the top, but we didn’t have any so we used regular bread crumbs.

And the verdict? Just OK. It was extremely bland, but very filling. Next time (if there is one considering how long it took to make) I would figure out some way to give it more flavor.

However, there was a plus side to spending that much time preparing the casserole. My hubby and I did have a wonderful time working side by side to create a such a healthy meal.

No, those aren’t some alien ear muffs. That was our dessert! Fresh mangoes. Yum! We decided to buy the whole mangoes from Costco and they did not disappoint! Usually we buy the cut up ones in the plastic container so that we can easily put them in smoothies. But my hubby figured out how to easily cut them up. To eat it, you actually pick it up as you see it in the picture and then just bite into it. So sweet and juicy! As our family always says, “Yum Punch!!”

What is the difference between whole-foods and plant-based?

One of the questions I was asked in my blog comments is “What is the difference between whole-foods and plant-based?” The best way to describe this is taken directly from my inspirational companion book Forks Over Knives by Gene Stone.

Plant-based means anything that has never had a face or a mother. In other words, avoiding all meat, fish, dairy and eggs. What can be eaten are grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and legumes.

Whole-foods means the food is as close to intact as possible or minimally refined. Overly processed foods include bleached flour, refined sugars, and extracted oils. While these come from plants, they have been stripped of most of the nutritional properties they once had. A person can eat a 100% plant-based diet and have potato chips, pretzels, dairy-free pastries, and low-calorie soda. Hence the “fat vegan” as I describe myself. I do love my pita chips.

But I have to say that it is all-OK. Pita chips and coconut milk ice cream got me through my first year of eating a plant-based diet. That in itself was a dramatic life change. But if I am ever going to lose weight I have to work harder at focusing on whole-foods.…and eating a lot less fats (bye-bye handfuls of peanuts!) and exercising.

I guess I never mentioned that I am very happy with this lifestyle. Very happy indeed!

I bought ingredients to create one of the recipes in my book, but won’t be able to cook it till later this week. In the mean time, the photo above is a dinner that my hubby and I made tonight. We saw a picture of it on a blog we enjoy following called “Get Sconed!” (http://getsconedpdx.com). It is orechiete (we used whole wheat) pasta with sautéed red and sungold cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, red pepper, black pepper, and fresh basil. We served it with asparagus and mushrooms drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It was a quick and filling meal - in fact I ate only half of what you see in the photo.

What's it all about, Joanie??

Welcome to my blog! As the tag line says, this is my journey to better health through a whole-foods, plant-based diet. It will feature recipes I have made – no matter how they turn out – and discuss the experiences I have working towards my goal. I WILL make mistakes, but I am hoping this blog will keep me motivated and accountable.

You may be curious as to why I selected the title “Forks Over Joan”. Well, there just happens to be a story behind that:

My journey began just about one year ago in July of 2010 when my acupuncturist recommended I read the book The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell. The book made a life-changing impression on me. See, I’m in my 50s and everyone around me is getting cancer, diabetes, heart and other chronic diseases, or is on some type of medication. So far none of that has affected me, but I know it’s only a matter of time. The China Study is a 30-year study on clinical nutrition that opened my eyes to the fact that adopting a whole-foods, plant-based diet will produce powerful health benefits.

That profound message led me to read endless books on the subject, scour the internet for blogs and knowledge, take classes on how to live this new lifestyle, and talk with Registered Dietitians and other experts that have been eating this way for years. As of August 2010, I made the decision to make the change to a 100% plant-based diet. Did you notice I didn’t include the words “whole-foods”? (Obviously, I still have a way to go on my journey.)

I was fortunate to see the premier of the documentary “Forks Over Knives” (www.forksoverknives.com). It traces the personal journeys of Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn as they discover that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods. After seeing the movie, somehow I accidentally ordered the companion book. I didn’t even know about it until it arrived at my door. Once I started reading it, it re-motivated me to make the next step. That step is a big one that is scary to me – increasing the whole foods in my diet.

I discovered there were tons of really great looking recipes in the companion book. Right then and there I decided I was going to make ALL 125 of them. (Just like in the movie “Julie and Julia” where Julie makes all of Julia Child's recipes from one of her books and then blogs about it.) I told my husband and he asked “and are you going to blog about it?” Hence the birth of “Forks Over Joan”.

So that brings me back to the title. “Forks Over Knives” means using your fork to put healthy food in your mouth so that you don’t have to go under the surgical knife (the bad alternative). “Forks Over Joan” means using my fork for the same purpose and not listening to the Joan that wants to eat processed foods (the bad alternative).