Kimchi and Sauerkraut

Kimchi is korean fermented cabbage. A different type of chinese cabbage fermented with chilly pepper paste and sea food .
Sauerkraut on the other hand is German fermented cabbage. English cabbage fermented with just plain salt.
IN both cases similar organisms ferment the cabbage and make it more palatable(less palatable depending on what you find palatable or agreeable taste)
Both these types of fermentation definitely reduce the myrocin induced cabbagey smell of cabbage and impart a more sourish taste to it.
Kimchi is used like a pickle in korea , as a side to a bowl of rice.
Sauerkraut is used to saute with bacons bits and onion for breakfast or in soups or stews per say.
The thing is, I make my own vegan version of kimchi and sauerkraut.
I make kimchi sans the seafood bits. I make sauerkraut the usual way but use it to make sauerkraut omelette or sauerkraut soups.
I love them both as condiments or in salads to spike up the deal .
I usually don't post recipes in here due to recipe stealers who won't give me any credit or link back to me on their foodblogs . I also am saving up the pictures and recipes for my future vegan cookbook. If inspite of this if you need my recipe, place a request in the comments section.If I accumulate twenty requests from 20 people, I shall take the time to post a step by step picture blog for the recipe.Free time is hard to come by and unless i have solid requests , I won't waste time watermarking stuff and putting them up on this blog.

My breakfast patterns from 2006-How I gave up eggs and milk one day

whoa , I cannot believe it is 2009. three years down the drain? Shall we call them that? Or three years of soul searching and self discovery.
Well, I am just gonna be happy and all positive and call them, THOSE THREE YEARS OF PERSONAL GROWTH AMONGST RELATIVE SELF IMPOSED SOLITUDE.
So yeah, I remember my breakfasts from 2006. I used to more patient, I used to take time to set my plates neatly on the table one by one after fixing them and then finally , I would make my cup of coffee and then lay this whole beautiful set up near the window of the balcony and then finally take a picture with the rising sun and then slowly proceed to eat them one after another.
I became vegan in the past six months. I was ovolacto vegetarian prior to that. For one, till i gave up eggs and milk, I was super addicted to both eggs and milk and cheese . To such an extent that though In my head I had been wanting to become vegan since the age of 14, I just could not fathom not eating eggs and being happy. I was afraid that If i stopped eating cheese, I would die or be miserable for the rest of my life. So for most part, I kinda felt like a hypocrite eating up tons of cheese and then talking about how animals are not part of our natural diet and such. One night suddenly I realized that the only way to gain respect in my own eyes would be to actually just give up eggs and that is that. I gave up eggs that night. I took my last eggs(there were three and i made a midnight snack with those three eggs and ate them up telling that they would be my last eggs. I ate them and rinsed my mouth( I don't remember if i did rinse ) and then with a nodding conviction went to sleep. I haven't eggs since then. Ya know what, it doesn't matter . coz , eggs do not belong to us. The wild hens would peck you if you attempted stealign their eggs in the wild. So yes, keeping a poor hen in a cage and not allowing it enough room even to turn around and then stupidly stealing those eggs and eating them up, not something we must be proud of. I haven't eaten eggs in six months, and I am very proud, I have more respect for myself than ever before. I haven't eaten cheese in six months or more, and surprise, surprise, I haven't died.
anways, My breakfasts in 2006 invariably used to contain eggs. each day one type of egg preparation. I also used to add up toasted bread with jelly or jam and butter and a small serving fo sliced fruit with each egg serving each morning. And a good latte to go with it all.
The pictures all llok cool, scarmbled eggs, bull's eye fried egg, frittatta, this and that, scones with eggs, cake with eggs and fruits. It was all great.
fastforward to 2009, my breakfasts contain nice bean tortillas, millet panckaes, corn bread, fruit , toast and jelly, vegan scones, raisin bun, vegan cinnamon bun, vegan bagels and what not. Infact, after I gave up egg, the variety of my breakfast has multiplied.
So yeah, Now I have this urge to go and look at all those breakfast pictures. Maybe I will go look right now.

Malting and fermentation as methods to enhance nutritive value

I did write a blog post about fermentation. I just gave out a basic definition of fermentation and how it can make foods more digestible. Now that I have talked about fermentation, why not talk about Malting.
Malting is a natural way of processing foods.
Malting essentially involves sprouting various types of grain and thus arresting this process of germination by suddenly application of moderate heat- as in not roasting out the germinated cereal but actually slow gentle heating of the germinated cereal and then finely powdering this grain.
Fermentation might occur to a lil extent during the time that the grain is left in damp conditions to sprout.
Either ways, Malting makes things easier to assimilate and digest. Therefore ofcourse in older times home malting of tough grains and then making baby food out of the malted grain was a better way to ensure that the baby is able to take full advantage of the diet being fed.
My gramma for one actually undertook huge projects of home malting to make baby food for her grandchildren(me included) I was trying to recall in my head what she used to do while she malted millets for my aunt's babies . No one really tries home malting anymore . They should though, especially if one is vegan and wants a super great milk supplement in the morning that does not contain non vegan ingredients in them. Look at it this way, On a sunday , if it takes a good 20 minutes to go out and then 20 minutes to order your breakfast and then 10 min to eat it and another 20 minutes to come back home., why not just save gas and save the environment and spend the two hours at home malting stuff that will last a whole month?
Anyways, if you look at modern protein supplements and those protein powders that people that work out partake of, many of them do contain one or more malted cereals in them. Go look on the food labels. Many liquors also use malted grains . so , if you are one big drunk ass, you sure are consuming some malted stuff .
So yeah, coming back to home malting, Germination is gonna be easy to do .Wet your grains damp , let them sprout.the tricky bit is the gentle heating part. What my grammy used to do was to sun dry the germinated grain, thus ensuring that everything dries gently but crisply dry . If you live in the sunny southern states, you could very well try this trick of drying things on your back porch on large polyethene sheets. works. try it and tell me how it worked.cheers.

spiced savory crunchy tea biscuits aka vegan shortbreadcookies

Damn, I did it. I did it big time, I made a great batch of these oh so slightly spiced, semi sweet, but slightly salty and ultra crunchy(read not so chewy and light and crumbly) shortbread cookies. These are prolly called tea biscuits in England and prolly called as biscuits to go with tea in turkey and some mediterranean countries.
I added italian dried herbs and some oh so good coarsely ground spices. Coz i wanted all the myriad of flavors. These are vegan cookies. But no earth balance used .i have an issue with Earth balance coz it uses palm oil and according to me palm oil cultivation is one of the chief causes of deforestation in favor of agriculture or commercial produce of palm oil. Seriously, we don't need anything other than plain ole vegetable oil to make those greasy cookies-not that my cookies were greasy .
These turned out so great and that i chomped down a good ten after dinner. Yeah, they were small light fragrant cookies.
So, it is all okay, with the cookie chomping in large numbers since they are small and bite sized.
I am thrilled coz i have been wanting to master the art of making shortbread cookies at home. These are perfect.
If you need a recipe, please place a request in the comments for this blog.when i accumulate twenty requests, I shall post a step by step picture blog to help you make these cookies. Till then, my recipes and pictures are under lock and key.

Home made Rose-Orange-coconut Hard candy-vegan candy

Made some homemade hard candy. I love candy. I need to pop them each time i feel hypoglcemic. I also have a sweet tooth. I have a desperate need to immediately eat something sweet after I eat a nice wholesome spicy lunch or dinner.
I don't like candy from the store. The usual reason, Not to my exact preference, Not available in the flavors i desire. Many of them have only artifical flavors and colors and preservatives etc.
Again, sugar by itself a preservative, so why add more preservatives.
So yeah, where on earth do you get rose-orange-coconut hard candy? all vegan candy at that?
well, At my home.
Making candy is not really tough as you might think.
Either ways, I have a large box of them now . Also, candies are better than chocolate(read my other entries on vegan chocolate and candy) coz they last longer . That way , one candy lasts a good 10 min of rolling around in the mouth rather than the quick bite and swallow action with one piece of chocolate.
Like always, NO recipe.
But if you do need step by step picture tutorials with recipes for this item, leave a comment under this entry.
if for any entry , i accumulate twenty requests, I shall give in and post the pictures nad recipe.
I mostly don't post recipes due to recipe stealers who don't give me credit while posting my own recipe on their blog. You see, I device these recipes on my own . I need credit. I am a credit hungry person.

Onion and multigrain flour savory pancakes

Prior to becoming vegan, Most of my breafasts used to be eggs cooked in different ways. But now that i am vegan, I switched to pancakes. All and sundry varieties making sure i get my daily quota of proteins and calcium and what not.
These pancakes we just right, just enoughly savoury and the onions were the best thing i could add to the batter.
Cool and tasty.
As usual no recipes posted here coz i don't like recipe stealers who give no credit to the original recipe makers.
If you need the recipe to this, leave a request on the comments.If I get more than 20 comments, I will post a wonderful step by step picture guide on how to make them.
cheers

Millet and lentil pancakes-A great way to use millets!

This one i fermented overnight.The batter. Fermentation helps pancakes rise too.
I had them, They tasted better than i had anticipated.
Worked well with a cuppa.
No recipes, not yet. If you need a recipe for these, place a request on the comments section .If 20 or more people place requests, I shall post a detailed step by step picture recipe for ya.

OCT 2013 UPDATE
Way back in 2008,when I started this vegetarian blog, I did so to make TINY records of my food diary..Just for myself.
Since then,the blog has expanded to include visitor requests,answering food and nutrition queries for readers and such.
This particular blog entry about MILLET and LENTIL PANCAKES basically was made for myself-food diary purposes,but then,this blog entry is ONE OF MY MOST VISITED blog entries on this blog...So, I figured I EXPAND IT FURTHER and add a wee bit more nutrition information for the benefit of the eager readers.

Again,basic questions first
WHAT ARE MILLETS?WHAT ARE LENTILS?
As many regular readers of this blog already know,I studied food biochemistry and biotech BEFORE i suddenly transfered during my final year in grad school to MED SCHOOL.Then i proceeded to complete my med school successfully and then NOW I AM A KICK-ASS medical doctor.
What my years in grad school prior to med school have done is,EQUIP ME to combine my medical knowledge and my intricate knowledge about food TO qualify me to provide a more EXPANDED AND SENSIBLE view of foods to my readers.
Anyways,each time I write specific food information,I LOOK THE RESPECTIVE WIKIPEDIA ARTICLES on those topics,NOT ,so that i can plagiarize from those entries onto my blog entry(much like so many ignorant parrot food-bloggers seems to be doing these days),BUT ,in order to read what is written there and then CORRECT any popular MYTHS or incorrect information THAT IS DOING THE INTERNET ROUNDS.
I also will then proceed to write nutrition info on those topics THAT IS NOT ALREADY there on the wikipedia page,SO THAT ,readers can get something extra from my page.

PEOPLE ASK ME,why not go and correct and edit the wikipedia page then?why write blog entries..
Well,FOR ONE,there is no gaurantee that someone else will not come and RE-EDIT what I painstakingly write there and more than anything,SINCE I AM A QUALIFIED expert on the subject of health and also nutrition,I MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY and credit for what I WRITE AND post blog entries, WHICH CAN THEN BE QUOTED on a wiki article later.maybe?

GOSH,
Anyways,COMING TO topic on hand,

MILLETS,WHAT ARE THEY?
millets are seeds of grassplants.AGain,WHEAT is also a seed of a grass plant,rice is also a seed of grass plant
And all the above are cereals.

What are cereals now?
Cereals are a category of food that we humans eat as chief sources of energy and calories.
Contrary to the nutritional FADS of the 90s ,where calories were considered the ENEMY,I insist,
our body runs on calories.WE NEED CALORIES.

it is only when we consume TOO MANY CALORIES,much more than what an average human body requires per day,that the consumed calories then get converted into fat and are stored as fat in the body, to be accessed for LATER USE.

WHAT IS FAT NOW?
FAT is a type of compound,that on breakdown yield MORE calories per gram than carbohydrates.

What are carboyhdrates?
gosh,look how the TRAIN OF QUESTIONING GOES?
again,carbohydrates are compounds made of carbon,hydrogen and oxygen.They are seen in large amounts in cereals and are great as an energy source .

so,yeah,coming back to MILLETS.

LET US COMPARE MILLETS versus rice and wheat
how do millets fare against wheat and rice
Actually,millets fare quite great.

Amongst the three,rice has the highest amount of calories per equal weight consumed.But,wheat and millets come a CLOSE second..and yeild considerable amounts of calories too.

REMEMBER,calories are GOOD for the body.We need calories.(i am a doctor, and I am telling you that,so ,you have to trust me)

Again,WHEAT FARES HIGHEST in protein content amongst the three.Most of wheat protein comes from GLUTEN..
millets fare on par with wheat when it comes to protein content,but NATURALLY, the protein in millets is NOT gluten.Gluten is specific to wheat.

sO,YEAH,

When it comes to searching for a cereals which have both carbohydrates and protein,BOTH ,wheat and millets FARE BETTER THAN RICE.

For people with gluten intolerance,millets are a great cereal choice.

again,BOTH Wheat and millets have comparable quantitites of calcium,so,really,can't choose one over the other..

BUT,,
HERE IS WHERE MILLET SCORES over wheat.

MILLET HAS AMAZING QUANTITIES OF B VITAMINS....much more than any other cereal food.

And millet,especially SORGHUM millet,HAS HIGHER QUANTITIES OF IRON than even wheat..
So GREAT SCORING POINT FOR MILLET THERE.

does millet score environmentally and agriculturally over other cereals?
aCTUALLY,damn yes,

Rice requires extremely MOIST waterlogged conditions to grow especially after sapling planting..once a field is chosen to grow rice paddy,it should be reserved for it forever..

wheat is relatively better when it comes to being able to grow it in DRIER conditions..

But MILLETS SCORE big time when it comes to being able to grow well in Arid to semi arid conditions.
Since,water is such a scarce commodity these days,thanks to the EXPLODING POPULATION,millets can be our ANSWER for our future....
so little watering is needed, with nutrition comparable to wheat or rice and better in vitamin content too..YAY!SCORE.

IT APPEARS that millets were FAR MORE USED than rice or wheat in ancient times.Maybe,our ancestors were agriculturally WISER than us..:))

how do millets taste?
Because we are so used to the taste of wheat and rice,we might take some time getting used to the taste of millets.
In my personal taste opinion,THEY ARE NUTTIER IN TASTE..and once you eat them ,over time,you develop a CRAVING for this nutty taste.

are millets easy to cook?
I think,once you cook them a few times USING DIFFERENT METHODS,you get the hang of it....
FERMENTED MILLET AND LENTIL BATTER PANCAKES ARE once such experiment of mine..
i didn't invent this method,but i have experimented and modified designing recipes for today's time
populations have been eating a VERSION of this idea for centuries now.
again,MILLETS, can sometimes take longer to cook.but,processes like PRE-FERMENTATION overnight, CAN , pre-digest then enough, to make them EASY TO COOK and easier to digest.
Since the water percentage in each grain of millet is FAR LESS than a grain of rice or wheat,THEY WILL REQUIRE more water per weight than rice or wheat,get it?

now coming to my millet and lentil pancakes
When I set out to update this article, i was planning to write about lentils too..but judging from how long this article already is,I SHALL reserve the lentil information for a seperate blog entry,k?
So,yeah,lentils are a great source of protein.
and when you combine a cereal with a protein and add in some vegetables, your diet BECOMES BALANCED.

enough said,
go to a cereal and grain place,
get your whole millets and lentils,
soak them,
for hours ,
then wet grind them,
then set them aside to ferment,
preferably overnight or longer (depending on if it snows in your city or town)
and then just lay them out as pancakes like you would breakfast pancakes on a griddle,
voila,
UBER TASTY,UBER TASTY...

TAGS: #millets, #lentils, #pancakes, #millets_vs_wheat, #millets_vs_rice , #millets_and_cereals, #recipes_with_millets_and_lentils,#fermenations,#fermented_batter , #nutrtional_information_about_millets,


For information about fermentation, please examine my tagcloud and click on fermentation..I have written more than one article on fermentation.
If you have any other specific question,please email me, and I shall get around to writing a blog entry based on your request.
cheers and good eating please!~

Easily available vegan sources of Calcium

As soon as I tell that I am a vegan, the people around me suddenly have this concerned look on their face. Whoa, what do you do for protein.
And what do you do for calcium.. Milk is so full of calcium and what do you .. ohhh, aaah.

well, for one, Elephants , are vegetarian. They derive all the proteins they need from non animal source. If An elephant can manage getting so big and strong eating just plant matter, I am sure I can too.

Here is a very small but useful list of plants or plant products that are immensely rich in calcium.

Oranges-- These are easily available.. many of us actually drink orange juice with breakfast. Not the best source of calcium but a decent source of calcium. Most packaged orange juices have preservatives or are made of concentrate. I prefer eating up a whole orange rather than drinking orange juice. That way i get the requisite fiber too.

Spinach- Any green leafy vegetable is a great source of calcium. Since most of us, vegans and non vegans alike use spinach very frequently, I have put this on my list. Spinach essentially is a good source of vit A too, All other vitamins infact. lots of fiber too. So yeah, just add in spinach wherever you can and you make sure you get your calcium.

Broccoli--yet again, I am only including items that everyone already is familliar with. That way hunting for your vegan calcium source is not really tough. I love broccoli. The fun part of cooking is making everything more tastier by choosing the right balance of salt and herbs . experiment and device recipes on your own.

Millets-- This is not such a common ingredient. But damn. This by far is the richest source of Calcium. I mean, You eat one serving of millets each day and you really will get more calcium than even milk . Use millet flour in cake making, or in bread making . Use millets for porridge and such. In africa, they make a fermeneted pancake out of mIllets called Injera. It is not only rich in calcium but is tasty as hell. Fermentation overnight makes the batter all fluffy for pancake making the next day. try it.

Soy tofu made with calcium coagulants. --Now now, you must remember that there are very many methods to make tofu. Some of them use calcium based coagulants and such type of coagulation adds to the calcium content of the tofu thus produced. So, be careful when you choose your tofu. You just might be under the false impression that all tofu is rich in calcium which it is not. It is the processing method that determines the calcium content of soy tofu. Please read the labels to purchase the rich type of tofu.

Nuts- almonds- Infact all nuts are very good sources of minerals .Many of them are laden with fat , so please only use nuts are garnishes or minimini snacks rather than chomping up platefuls of them. Almonds for one are surely rich in calcium. Though many vegans drink almond milk, I would rather suggest that all vegans eat a bunch of almonds so that they don't lose out on the vitamins and fiber in the skin of almonds.


yeah, the list is actually extensive , but I will stop here coz i don't want to overhwhelm the newbee vegans reading this page. let us do this with baby steps, Lil by little. K?

Also, all those vouching for how much milk is great for calcium, Please understand that the calcium in milk is in the presence of so much of protein that it hardly gets absorbed. What use is a ton of calcium if it goes waste?

Lotus root chips

Okay,some of you night not even be familiar with lotus root , Unless you are japanese or south east asian or east indian.
Lotus root is, well, just that, root of lotus.
You do know what a lotus is, right?
It growns in swampy ponds mostly freshwater. It propogates by tubers which run in the slush at the bottom.
during summers, the ponds dry up exposing these roots, and ofcourse, greedy hungry people dig them out and eat them
I was thrilled to find some at the grocers last week.
made some chips, though i had initially boght them for soups and stews.
ATe up all the chips too .In one go.
You see, I have these deep fried craving once every two weeks. I mostly don't like eating fried stuff, but once in two weeks, i have to eat a batch.

Thick potato soup

Something about potato is very very comforting.
I think it is the starch.
Starch is a complex carbohydrate and potato has minor quantities of protein and fiber to go with it.
Ideal meal for a person who is seriously hungry and raving for some fuel.
I made a large bowl of it and presently downing it all as I type.
So filling and comforting , I gotta go eat it before it gets cold.

Warm fermented Cornbread

Like i said in one of my recent blog entries, Fermentation prevents gas formation in the large intestine.
I feremented some cornbread batter, all vegan ofcourse, and absolutely loved the cornbread with some great coffee.
No recipes, no pictures, Not for now .Maybe after april 22.k?
chao
SEPTEMBER 2013
I really meant this TINY blog entry to be a mini-food-journal,but,judging from the number of search queries that lead to this blog entry,I ASSUME that a bigger,more elaborate blog entry is warranted on the subject of WARM FERMENTED CORNBREAD.

Fermentation is a process by which certain UNDIGESTIBLE components of otherwise tasty and nutritious food can be PRE-DIGESTED outside of the body using various MICROBIAL CULTURES and then this fermented product can be cooked and consumed.
I have written a separate blog entry on the finer details of fermentation.PLEASE SEARCH in my archives or look in my TAG CLOUD for the said topic.

hmmmmm,
I am gonna try and make this POSTNOTE as elaborate as possible,solely for the benefit for all the eager readers who come running to this blog entry searching for "FERMENTED CORNBREAD"

CORNBREAD,what is it?
Bread made from corn.
IT COULD BE LEAVENED bread-as in fermented with yeast.

It could be unleavened flat cornbread aka, tortillas or any other flatbread made out by flattening massa dough and roasted on a griddle!

It could also be PANCAKES, made out of batter which includes corn components .and inorder for the pancakes to be fluffy,the batter needs to be FERMENTED PRIOR to cooking or laying out on the griddle!

When corn based batter is fermented overnight-not only does the NATURAL YEAST in the air ferment the batter,but also, various bacteria will act on the batter and kinda digest it to various levels,adding a sour taste to the batter.Thus the batter is now MORE EASILY DIGESTED when consumed and also has a COMPLEX taste spectrum MOSTLY due the acids that have developed as a result of bacterial and yeast digestion of the cornbread batter.The gas released during this microbial pre-digestion also makes the batter airy and fluffy,thus making our pancakes all spongy and fun to eat.

When bacteria digest out the batter PRIOR to cooking and consumption,we save ourselves the FARTING issues that might often come along with consuming bean based batters or even corn based batters.
The farting usually occurs because of undigested food getting acted upon by the bacteria in the LARGE INTESTINE-where the solid wastes stay till we finally defecate.

Enough about farting,coming back to topic on hand,WHICH IS,fermented cornbread,

The cornbread I made ,i made from a batter that I fermented overnight.

Having talked about cornbreads,I would like to add a small note on corncakes-which are famous in the south of USA.
corncakes,THEY MAKE IT LIKE HOW WE MAKE CAKES.
They use cornmeal/polenta flour to make the corncakes.They use the bacteria in yogurt or buttermilk to quickly ferment the corncake batter  for a wee bit,before actually baking it.That is another form of fermenation, but a different example of fermentation nevertheless.

The unleavened corn massa tortillas that are made fresh really do NOT involve any process of fermenation at all...they are cornbreads nevertheless.

Now that we are talking about CORN, I WOULD like to talk a little bit about nutritional deficiences associated with a SOLELY CORN BASED DIET.
Corn is also called maize and in so many parts of south america and in africa,MAIZE is used a a chief staple food,,and unfortunately,corn in its NATURAL FORM,prevents absorption of certain B VITAMINS AND CAN LEAD TO nutritional deficiences especially PELLAGRA.

I will take the time to write a separate blog entry ABOUT PELLAGRA..but for now,let it be mentioned that pellagra is associated with a predominantly maize based diet.

Though corn comes from southamerica, and is very commonly consumed as a staple diet in southamerica,PELLAGRA is rare there.why?
The south americans MODIFY corn INTO an alkalized form .A process that makes B vitamins MORE available and more absorbable and which is why,PELLAGRA is not as prevelant historically or currently in southamerica though corn is a staple food there.
In africa however,maize flour is consumed as is and no modification procedures are adopted , and thus PELLAGRA is widely prevelant in AFRICAN COUNTRIES where maize is a staple diet.

I will write about southamerica and africa,maize,and pellagra and how to prevent it in ANOTHER BLOG ENTRY.
For now,HOPEFULLY, this blog entry suffices and does justice to the header of WARM FERMENTED CORNBREAD!

The advantages of Making Soy milk at home

What are the advantages of making soy milk at home?

1/First off, YOu can be rest assured that the milk is fresh.

2/You can make it to your preference, as in 'thick milk', 'thin milk' and 'very thin milk' all in one batch.
As in, from one batch of soaked soy beans, you can first extract the very thick milk which you can then use to make thick soy yogurt, soyanaise for your salad dressings and soy cheese and soy creme for desserts.
The second extract , the thin milk, you can use as coffee/tea whitener, to make white sauce etc
The third extract, the very thin soy milk works very well for soups and buttermilk and such.

3/When you make soymilk at home , you also get okara as a byproduct.
'Okara' is a japanese word for the pulp you get after extracting milk from soybeans.
This okara is what has all the minerals especially iron and other minerals.Don't throw it away.This okara can be used in cakes,cookies, casseroles, fritters etc.

4/Homemade soymilk is dirt cheap when compared to storebought soymilk.

5/Homemade soymilk has no added preservatives or aritifical flavors .That is good.

BUT PLEASE DO REMEMBER THAT HOMEMADE SOYMILK IS NOT FORTIFIED LIKE SOME GOOD BRANDS OF SOYMILK AT THE STORE. Fortification is a process by which extra minerals and vitamins are added to processed food to improve their nutritive value.

Soymilk is not as rich in calcium as in Cow's milk.Having said that, Though cow's milk is rich in calcium, this calcium is really not as easily absorbable in the human body as in plant source of calcium.
So, while on soymilk regime, please make sure you eat enough broccoli and spinach to get your daily requirements of calcium.Spinach calcium is almost hundred percent absorbable.

Hi to all new readers

heya people.
It is nice to be able to know that fellow vegans read this blog.
I absolutely love it.
Well, I am a physician who had a two year stint in nutrition college prior to pursuing Med school.
So yes, If you want me to blog about specific things or have specific queries , Leave me a comment here or even better, Email me.
If you want me to figure out a recipe for the vegan ingredients you have on hand, do email me the list of your ingredient set and i shall post recipes for you.
Either ways, Peace and hugs

Fermented foods-improved nutritive value and easily digestible too

First off, fermentation is a process where the foods are allowed to be acted upon by friendly bacteria that then digest previously undigestible components of foods and then make them more available in a form which is easily absorbed in the gut.
How does it increase nutritive value?
Well the microbes covert certain foods structures into simpler forms that can then be absorbed with ease in the gut and such.
Examples of fermented foods you might ask
Even simply soaking and sprouting your beans prior to cooking will prevent flatulence or farting later.
farting primarily with bean consumption is due to the fact that bean shells have a sugar called raffinose which has no corresponding enzyme in our body to digest it.
Microbes on the other hand are able to digest this sugar and make it simpler .
If we consume raffinose as such, it never gets absorbed and therefore reaches our large intestine where there the bacteria in the gut convert it into gas .
other examples of fermented foods will be
Fermented rice and black lentil cake very famous in southern india called as Idli
Fermented lentil flour pancakes very famouns in ethiopia and locally called as injera.
Tempeh , fermented soybean cake , very nutritive and used commonly in java.
Fermented soy bean cake , especially in china.

Some fermented food may be highly sour too and some of them might qualify as an acquired taste too..But, hey, anything vegetarian or vegan is worth trying.

Mushroooms

I made the bread myself too. A multigrain home bread.
ofcourse, I love mushrooms.
Mushrooms are solid plant protien.
Great source of minerals too. vitamins too if you eat them only very midly cooked.
I had some great open faced toasted bread with mushroom topping.
btw, mushrooms are fungi which qualify as plants coz their cells have cell walls. animal cells have no cell walls, which is why amoeba is an animal.LOL
yeah, I also made this wonderful pasta conjee with mushrooms.
Cool.

Made almond vegan chocolate, vegan chocolate

Instead of buying the next bar of chocolate( read my previous entries on this bar) , made a large batch of homemade almond vegan chocolate. I love love lovved it that i ate up the whole batch in two days. That was like 3500 calories for nothing. But since i decided to put on a good 4 pounds, the chocolate helped . the crunching almonds in between chocolate richness , looveed it.
the sad part is, i bought half a pound of almonds to last me atleast four such batches .. but , instead, i just chowed down the rest of almonds just as is.
So yes, the next batch of chocolate i made with raisins. which turned out even better.yay
As is usual, no recipes here. People steal recipes and then post them as their own on their own fake like blogs and no decency to link back or give credit.
Also, no pics(though i take pics of every thing i make) coz again, people steal pics . stupid people. I am saving the recipes and pics for a future vegan cookbook
bye and peace

Ramen marathon and soba cravings

I like authentic homemade or handmade noodles. especially soba or ramen. But then, Just like the rest of us, I end up eating the instant ones when i get a craving for noodles. Ya know, those are the only ones available on the shelf.
I don't really like the taste of stuff which have added preservatives .I can practically taste the chemicals.
So yeah, but then from time to time, I end up craving a spicy spicy cup of noodles. the ramen variety. On those days, I end up eating a bowl of ramen each day for three or four days in a row, Mostly as midnight snacks when i suddenly remember ramen and then i have to have them.
so yeah, I recently had such a spree, but then i think, giving in to craving breeds more craving. I vowed to myself that i would go buy a whole box of it when i went to the supermarket .
The funny part is, when i went to the store, ramen totally slipped my mind, while i was busy looking for millets(which btw, i did find,can you believe that?) and finally, i am back home with the grocery all set for the next ten days and therefore no reason to go back to the grocery store, but then no ramen.
And just like that the ramen craving just went away.
Meanwhile, what i find most appealing about soba is that it can be tasty though it is served cold and i like the fact that it is served on a small bamboo mat.. I like the presentation.

candies and chillies

I always end up with a craving for candy right after dinner.
And the store candy leaves my mucosa sore after rolling around in the mouth,
Yeah, so therefore, i made my own candy at home.Candy making is fairly simple if you understand the chemistry of crystallizition and melting ponit and such.
Also, Have been having seriously insane cravings for chillies-not chili, but chili the vegetable--ya know.. the peppers.
I bought some pepper pickle -It is an east indian recipe and very hot. I am trying to figure out the recipe just by eating it coz i am pretty sure the store guy won't be able to tell me the recipe either.

Date cookies

for 9one dates are great source of iron,
I made a large batch of date cookies last month. They were rich and rustic and had date and peanut bits in them
As usual no recipes in here . I am pretty sure you can figure the recipes out on your own, Also, I am reserving all my personal recipes for my future vegan cookbook
Dates work very well as a natural sweetening agent too and also , tthey can add texture and oomph to cakes and cookies.

The kickass vegan chocolate bar that i downed !

I finally gave in and purchased this large dark chocolate bar with nuts. I had been eyeing it ever since i discoverd that this particular chocolate bar had vegan ingredients. They used only cocoa butter instead of butter . Use of a larger percentage of cocoa and cocoa butter instead of butter makes for premier and pricier and tastier chocolate in general.
This cocoa bar was rich, absolutely satisfying and had tons of hazelnuts too. Ofcourse this bar was 12times the price of an average bar of milk chocolate but well, what can a chocolate nut crazy vegan do now? Especially if the vegan is lazy to make chocolate at home ..I downed a whole bar after i freezed it for ten minutes.Freezing my chocolate makes it snap when i finaly take a bit.

What next? I am hooked. I have have to go and get another bar of it.. seriously..damn i am hooked. I knew i was going that path.