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Mountain Gran

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Growing in a Greenhouse in Winter

One thing I love doing that goes along well with my whole-food plant-based eating is growing my own food. With growing your own food you know whether or not it is truly organic. Also, there is nothing better than truly fresh produce.

The Winter months can be challenging and depressing. With the exception of kale, Swiss chard, and the garlic that is growing, I don’t grow much in the garden in the Winter. I realize there are other vegetables that I could be growing this Winter, but I just didn’t get around to planting them.

In late Spring of 2020 we added a greenhouse. It wasn’t built in time for starting bedding plants in the Spring, but I was able to start some other plants in the Summer.

This Winter I have three types of kale, Swiss Chard, and a rogue parsley plant growing in the greenhouse. I hope you will enjoy my YouTube video of my Winter Greenhouse tour. The tour was recorded the day before our snowfall.

Greenhouse Winter
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Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup

One thing I love about eating a whole-food plant-food diet is the huge variety of soups and stews you can make. Some are easy with just dump and cook. Others involve chopping vegetables and fresh herbs. One way or the other, soups and stews are great all year long as a starter for a meal or as the meal itself.

Start by cutting up a head of cauliflower into florets. Cut 1 medium potato into cubes. I like to use a Yukon gold potato. Place on a parchment-lined or silicone mat lined baking sheet. For those of you who don’t like using aluminum foil you can just leave the garlic bulb whole to roast it. If you don’t mind using foil you can cut the top off the bulb and wrap it in foil before roasting. If you roast the whole bulb without the foil, you can peel the individual cloves by hand. If you use foil you can scoop out the garlic cloves from the bulb with a spoon.

Roast for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celcius) until cauliflower is tender.

Remove from oven. Place 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth in high speed blender or large mixing bowl. Add 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast and 2 teaspoons miso paste. On the garlic cloves add as many as you like. I use about 2 roasted cloves and save the others in the fridge for future recipes–it’s all a matter of personal taste as to how much garlic flavor you want the soup to have.

The use of a high-speed blender versus an immersion blender will change the texture and appearance of the soup. The soup on the left in the picture was done with an immersion blender. The soup on the right was done with a high-speed blender. Once again, it’s a matter of preference as to which texture you prefer.

I like to top my soup with a dollop of vegan sour cream. As always, the sour cream here is homemade. I then topped it with home-grown broccoli sprouts as a garnish and for added flavor.

The Recipe

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 potato, cubed (I use a Yukon gold)
2 tsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp miso paste
2-6 cloves roasted garlic
1 1/2 to 2 cups vegetable broth

Instructions:
Roast cauliflower, potato, and garlic bulb at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celcius) for 25-30 minutes–roast until cauliflower is tender.

Options: Using 1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth, place all ingredients in a high-speed blender or a large bowl to use immersion blender. Blend until smooth adding more vegetable broth if needed.
Serve with a dollop of vegan sour cream.

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What Is a Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet?

Many people misunderstand what a whole food plant based diet is. They hear of it and immediately think of a vegan diet. However, the two diets vary greatly. (A quick aside here… grammatically speaking, the terms whole food and plant based should be hyphenated. But, quite frankly all those hyphens won’t be used by me at all times.)

                                         

A whole food plant based diet focuses on unrefined, minimally processed whole plant foods. It is one that includes no animal products although some people say it includes minimal animal products. As for me, I try to eliminate all animal products. That means no meat, dairy, eggs, or fish. One exception for me is an occasional egg. The explanation of my egg consumption is an entirely different blog post. Highly-refined foods such as sugars, oils, and flours are not a part of this way of eating.

A vegan diet is one that, like the whole food plant based diet, includes no animal products. It does not, however, eliminate processed foods. That means that a vegan diet can include refined sugars, oils, and flours.

Many people on a whole food plant based diet chose to go SOS (sugar, oil, salt) free. It’s amazing what changes you can realize in eliminating these things in your diet.

One thing I quickly realized when eliminating the salt in cooking was that I could taste foods better. Don’t get me wrong on this. I do use some salt, but when I do it is applied at the table and it is a small amount. I’ve learned that the taste buds that are the receptors for salt are on the tip of your tongue. By adding the salt at the table you don’t really miss salt that is eliminated in the cooking process. All of a sudden when you eat foods that have been cooked with salt they may seem too salty.

In starting my whole food plant based way of eating I began researching the diet. I relied then and continue to rely now upon the information provided by respected whole food plant based doctors. It is important that you get your information from doctors and not just from some WFPB person who is not a doctor, dietician, or nutritionist. By following doctors you will understand what you are eating and the benefits of those things. In other words, don’t look to me for medical advice. I can provide recipes and tips for this way of eating, but I am not a medical doctor.

There are films that you can watch that will introduce you to this way of eating. Perhaps the best-known and most watched is the documentary Forks Over Knives. No, it’s not a boring documentary. It’s a great introduction to the whole food plant based way of eating. Another great documentary is The Game Changers. Both documentaries are usually free online. Apps that allow free watching vary from time to time. Try  Netflix or  Amazon Prime or YouTube.

It’s amazing what new foods you will discover when eating whole food plant based. You’ll also discover that some foods you used to think you hated you will actually grow to love. I look at this way of eating not as what I can’t eat but as what I can and should eat.

 

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The Year 2020

We’ve all at one time heard or used the saying 20/20 vision. Well, it seems nobody had 20/20 vision when it came to the year 2020. To say the very least, it’s been an interesting year.

      

At the beginning of the year everything seemed “normal”. Then along came news reports of something called Covid-19. Before we knew it shortages of products and lockdowns began.

With lockdowns what was old became new. So many things of years past were suddenly injected into 2020. People began to garden, cook at home, and gather around the table for three meals a day. With the gardening came shortages of seeds, tools, and canning supplies. Some of us were able to easily deal with the shortages because we already had the supplies of these things on hand. Others had no means of obtaining what they wanted or needed.

School days for all ages switched from going to class to having class online. There were no more sporting events, graduation ceremonies and proms. All of a sudden computers were needed for school instead of playing games.

Businesses were all effected in one way or another by Covid. Restaurants, health clubs, and stores of all kinds went into lockdown. Some survived the doors being closed by implementing new curbside delivery options. Others did not survive. Internet businesses like Amazon thrived.

Shortages of all kinds of everyday supplies became the norm. There was no assuming that you could go online or into one of the “essential” businesses and buy exactly what you were looking for. Whether it was a parts manufacturer, farmer, meat packaging plant, or numerous other businesses, Covid effected their ability to meet with consumer demands. Who knew that toilet paper would become a hard-to-find item?

When Covid first began we were told that wearing masks wouldn’t help. But there were so many things unknown then and still unknown today about the Covid-19 virus. Now there are mask mandates in many areas of the world. Local governments that at first said there would be no mask mandate are now enforcing the mandates they later put in place. Had you gone into a business on January first of this year wearing a facemask the employees would have assumed that you were there to rob the business. Now if you go into a business without a facemask you might be asked to leave.

The year 2020 has come to an end. We still don’t have 20/20 vision of what our future holds. So much is still unknown about the Covid-19 virus. So much more must still be learned. This virus has brought both the good and the bad into our lives. Regardless of whether we look at something in particular as good or bad we have learned that life as we’ve known it can change dramatically in the blink of an eye.

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I am Not a Medical Professional

I hope that in reading my blog you’ll understand that I am not a medical professional. I am not a doctor or a nurse or a dietician or a nutritionist. What I will share with you should not be taken as always true. I am only human and I can be misled at times. I don’t want to mislead you. I urge each and every person to do their research. Don’t rely on some blogger or YouTuber. Do your own research.

       
What I do recommend is that when you do your research you are using information provided from medical doctors. I prefer to use doctors who are advocates of the whole-food plant-based way of eating. The average medical doctor has very little education in the field of nutrition. Most doctors won’t recommend a certain way of eating to address the cause of a disease or condition. Often, they feel that a diet that eliminates animal products is one that you won’t stick to. So even if they do know the advantages of a whole-food plant-based diet they won’t recommend it.

                  
As with any subject there is a lot of faulty information out there on the internet. And if that faulty information doesn’t get you, the well-meaning but faulty advice of a friend might. So, whether what you believe to be true comes from the internet or from a friend, please do your own research.

Some of the doctors I’ve found that have researched, practice, and give advice on whole-food plant-based eating are: Dean Ornish, John McDougall, Michael Greger, Caldwell Esselstyn, T. Colin Campbell, Neal Barnard. Their books, websites, and YouTube videos hold a wealth of information. These are just a few of the many doctors who have come to realize that WFPB is not only a way of eating but a cure for many diseases and conditions.

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Why I Started a Blog

Throughout my school years I enjoyed creative writing. When the teacher assigned an essay or poem, I was all for it. Term papers were another story. I didn’t like spending my time putting in a bunch of footnotes as to sources. I just wanted to write.

Then along came my whole food plant-based way of eating. I saw such dramatic changes in my health that I wanted to share this way of eating with others. My weight went down and my energy level went up. I found such mixed reactions to my enthusiasm about having changed what I eat. Some people wanted to hear more while other people dismissed me as a crazy vegan.

The more I learn, the more I want to share. I have friends and family who complain about this or that health issue that I’ve read or seen a video on. So many of those health issues could be eliminated or helped by switching to a whole food plant-based diet.

This way of eating has been proven to reverse heart disease, reverse type 2 diabetes, eliminate arthritis, and so much more. I encourage you to do your research. I am not a medical doctor. But, I am an avid researcher on things that I do in my life.

So many times when I talk to people about this way of eating they tell me they can’t do it. There’s a difference between can’t do something and won’t do something. I suggest that anytime you say “can’t” you need to ask yourself if you should be saying “won’t”.

Here I hope to share with you what has changed in my life. I’ve seen an increase in energy, many “issues” have lessened or gone away. I’ve definitely changed the things I cook and I’m eager to share with you.

From time to time I’ll share recipes, tips, gardening, and other personal experiences. Any suggestions for topics are truly appreciated.

Eventually you will see links on my blog to items I use and you can purchase. These will be affiliate links where I might get paid a small commission, but it won’t cost you extra. A girl has to make a living somehow, right?

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