Thumb Print Cookies

     These chewy thumb print cookies have Simply Fruit jam in the center.  The the dough is made with banana, fiber cereal, oatmeal, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla extract, almond milk, and pumpkin pie spice.  I don't use exact measurements because this isn't really baking in the sense that you need to measure precisely for the recipe to work. These cookies have no flour, eggs, sugar, leavening, and so on.

Peach Salsa With Grape Tomatoes

     Sometimes it's too hot to cook.  Today, we made this colorful peach salsa.  It's a refreshing mix of fresh peach, grape tomatoes, mild sweet vidalia onion, fresh raw sweet corn taken off the cob, black beans, cilantro, and hot sauce. It was a tasty way to beat the heat.

Fennel

     When I was living in Florence, Italy, my friend Alice would cook the most amazing things. We would walk to the daily outdoor market, shop, and then go back to her home and cook.  She often served raw fennel salad.  I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it's fresh delicate flavor and it's crunch. 

     Now, I have been buying  fennel from the farmers market. I like  eating it raw. It is similar to celery in crunch and texture. I take off the green tops and slice the bulb parts. I store the sliced bulb, like I do celery, in a bowl of water in the refrigerator. The fennel keeps drinking and stays crisp.

What's On My Vegan Shopping List?

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My low fat, low sodium, low glycemic index, high fiber, vegan shopping list

Breakfast:

• Fiber One original 57% cereal (looks like twigs)
• Steel cut oatmeal
• Fruit (except watermelon and pineapple)
• Unsweetened low fat almond milk or soy milk
• Multi-vitamin/mineral
• Water
• Green and other decaf teas
• Teeccino coffee alternative

Lunch and Dinner:

• Beans like navy, black, chick peas, kidney, and so on
• Lentils
• Brown basmati rice
• Hulled barley
• Herbs and spices
• Garlic 
• low sodium hot sauce
• low sodium mustard
• Pasta
• Ezekiel sprouted grain tortillas
• No-salt-added, or low sodium canned diced or pureed tomatoes
• Vegetables
• Sweet potato or yam (no white potatoes)
• TVP (texturized vegetable protein)
• Tofu
• Nutritional yeast
• vinegar

I use these high fat foods sparingly:

• Walnuts (unsalted, no added oil)
• Almonds (unsalted, no added oil)
• Avocado
• Extra virgin first cold-pressed olive oil (used only to dress raw salad, 1 teaspoon)

NOT on my low fat, low sodium, low glycemic index, high fiber, vegan shopping list

• no cold cereal
  
• no dairy products like cheese, milk, yogurt, butter, and so on
• no watermelon
• no pineapple
• no bread (no whole wheat bread either), if you must eat bread choose pumpernickel or rye
• no crackers, chips, and so on
• no white potatoes
• no popcorn
• no eggs
• no meats like beef, pork, chicken, and so on
• no fish
• no refined flour or sugar products like cookies, cakes, and so on
• avoid products with preservatives or artificial colors
• no high fat or high sodium prepackaged vegan products like burgers, cheese, hot dogs, and so on
• no added salt 
• no alcoholic beverages  
• no soda
• no diet soda
• no artificial sweeteners
• no added sugar
• no honey
• nothing fried

For specific information on shopping tips, meal prep, the do's and don'ts, and the why's and wherefore's of the low fat, low sodium, low glycemic index, high fiber, vegan diet go to Dr. Neal Barnard's website listed above on my helpful links.

Oatmeal Cookies

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     My daughter made yummy oatmeal cookies that are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  She made some in bars and some in haystack shapes.  Similar to most cookie recipes, the raw dough is as good as the baked cookies.  They are a mix of Fiber One cereal, oatmeal, banana, vanilla extract, almond milk, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.  The cookies are either rolled out in a slab or dolloped on parchment paper.  They are baked at 350 degrees until crispy on outside and still chewy on the inside.