Salad and Sandwich

I don't like salads. At least not the traditional variety -- I don't like cucumbers, carrots, or tomatoes, and the traditional salad dressings never really did much for me. However, I'm all for an interesting salad with nontraditional ingredients. This one has some mixed field greens, kidney beans, golden raisins. I've topped it with my "homemade" Thousand Island salad dressing, which is a mixture of Vegenaise and Heinz ketchup.

For the sandwich, I've used Montana Mills whole wheat bread. Inside is Tofurky, hummus, and avocado.

Salad and sandwich. A little unconventional. But done my way.

Graduation!

To culminate this crazy weekend, tonight was my cardiology fellowship graduation dinner. And, I've learned that you never know who reads these blogs.

Our program director normally gives a little speech about each of us that is graduating. I wasn't sure what he'd say about me, but I knew there'd be something in there about me being the vegan. Not only did he talk of me as the most health conscious of the cardiology fellows, but he also said that he's been reading my blog! He said he was looking for some "rants about the department", which he didn't find, but instead he "learned a lot about what to do with tofu and peppers." Too funny!

So yes, I think I've now graduated from cardiology fellowship, even though I still have four more official weeks of work. I guess they can't flunk me..... or I'd have to do something pretty horrific to not get to move on.

First Triathlon of the Season

Today was my first triathlon of the season and my second one ever. It was cold, rainy, and yucky, but I felt great. The swim was in a pool and the bike was on a hilly course. The run was tough because my legs felt so tired, so even though I felt like my lungs would have let me go faster, I just couldn't do it, and was a lot slower than I had wanted to be. Preliminary results say I was 7th out of 26 women in my age category, but I have a feeling that will change because we were all staggered at the start. So, we'll see. Nonetheless, I'm happy. My goal is to do my best and not to be DFL (Dead f.....ing last).

That pic is from the triathlon I did last year. Yes I know I look goofy.

Helping Animals 101

Yesterday, I attended a seminar called Helping Animals 101. We heard about all types of animal cruelty, from circuses to puppy mills to the way our food is raised, and then how best to advocate for the animals.

Chase Corporate Challenge

I ran my 3.5 miles in 31:39. Whoo hoo!

And that is a turkey I met at Farm Sanctuary. He has nothing to do with my running, he's just cute.

People can surprise you....

This weekend, I was moonlighting at a small town hospital. The people in the area are for the most part simple folks; many live on farms, or have been in that community for generations.

I admitted an 83 year-old man who'd had a stroke. He hadn't seen a doctor in probably ten years, so in addition to treating his stroke I diagnosed him with hypertension and hyperlipidemia. He asked what he should be eating.

When I give diet advice, usually I don't use the word vegetarian, let alone vegan. "Lots of fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Stay away from animal products, like meat, eggs, or dairy."

His response: "Oh, vegetarian! My daughter is a vegetarian!"

"Yes," I said. "You should definitely have her help you out."

Never in a million years would I think this man or his family would have any concept of what a vegetarian is. I was pleasantly surprised.

Carb Loading

Tomorrow I am running the Chase Corporate Challenge in Rochester. It's a packed race of 3.5 miles, with over 9,000 participants, many of whom are walkers. So, anyone who runs at all can feel like they're fast.

Dinner tonight was angel hair pasta, baby bellas, yellow peppers, Morningstar burger crumbles, and Enrico pasta sauce. The pasta sauce was a departure for me, because I'm so used to Prego, which is loaded with added sugar.

Now I am carb loaded and ready to run!

Training Progress

Whew it's been a hot few days! Yesterday, I was up at 6:30 am to do a 45-minute run before it got hot out. Today I swam indoors and then went for a 2-hour bike ride with the Bettys, a local group of women who ride on Tuesday evenings from the local bike shop. I like when I can do my workouts with other people; it makes things more interesting.

It's going well. Each week I'm biking about 45 miles, running about 15 miles, and spending one dreaded afternoon swimming about 1300 meters in the pool. I don't really like swimming in a pool -- I feel like a rat on a wheel.

My coach Mary puts together a training plan for me. At first I thought it was a bit ambitious, with me working out every day, and with about 8-9 hours of training each week. But, I'm doing it. And if it weren't for her, I wouldn't be pushing myself this hard.

My first triathlon is on Sunday. We'll see if it all pays off.

Cold Food for a Hot Day

It was hot today -- over 90 degrees! I was in no mood to fire up the oven.

The hummus is supposedly California Pizza Kitchen's recipe. It's probably the best hummus that I've ever made in my kitchen. I also made my version of a spinach dip. Most recipes for vegan spinach dip call for a lot of Vegenaise and vegan sour cream. I use a pound of spinach, about a tablespoon and a half of Vegenaise, and then add water chestnuts and soup mix to give it flavor so you don't miss the extra fat.

Farm Sanctuary

This weekend, I was on call for a small town hospital. I had some free time on Sunday, so I drove the 35 miles to Farm Sanctuary!

I've visited before, but it's always so much fun to see the animals and hear their stories. The animals are absolutely beautiful. It's a reminder that a vegan diet is the most compassionate diet for the animals.

Coconut Curry

I have had a can of lite coconut milk sitting in my cabinet forever and decided to put it to use.

I sauteed orange and yellow peppers and cauliflower in a little canola oil. Then I poured in the can of coconut milk, added sliced organic sweet potatoes and extra-firm tofu, salt and pepper, Bragg's sauce, and some spices like cumin, coriander, paprika, and chili powder. I covered and cooked this for about 30 minutes.

This dish went well with Indian roti bread.

Ouch!

I love being in the cardiac cath lab, but the job has its inherent hazards. One day this week, while removing the sharps from our cath table, I was stuck with a sharp needle.

Fortunately, the needle was only used to draw up medications and had never touched our patient. But what if it had? The small wound in my hand is healing well, and my risk of contracting anything is exceedingly low.

From now on, I'm going to be much more careful.

Organic Alley

Organic Alley has been open for five months. My first visit was on Monday evening after a run along the Erie Canal with a couple of friends. I had the Zen Delight, which had tofu marinated in teriyaki, onions, peppers, and greens -- Yum!

They also have a yoga studio and a small grocery store with organic items.

I'm thrilled that Rochester can support an organic place. I'll be visiting them often!

Stir Frying

My favorite kitchen toy by far is my wok. Woks are great because stir frys come out so well and the vegetables stay so crisp.

Here, I used about a tablespoon of canola oil, an organic cooking onion, red and orange hydroponic peppers, organic baby bella mushrooms, cauliflower and broccoli. The cauliflower and broccoli were blanched in hot water for about five minutes before I added them to the stir fry. At the end I added Morningstar Farms Chik'n Strips.

For flavor, I used Bragg's sauce, but found the taste weak, so then added my standard sesame garlic sauce to the recipe.

My Letter to the Editor

Baked Beans

I attend the Rochester Area Vegetarian Society meetings every month, and there is always a baked bean dish there, and I've always enjoyed these. However, I've never prepared them at home.

I sauteed an onion in canola, then added a can of Heinz vegetarian baked beans, some frozen corn, and two chopped veggie dogs. A serving of this made for a terrific in-between workouts snack.

Speaking of my triathlon training, I am sitting here with an ice pack on my knee, which I hope helps before meeting up with my friend to go running this evening. Otherwise, everything is great!

Indian Wedding

A friend from residency got married this weekend. She's Indian, as were most of the guests. Another friend's mother, "Auntie", offered to dress me for the occasion. It was a fun wedding. I love the music and the outfits.

The food was mostly vegetarian, but with heavy emphasis on the "lacto". The ghee (clarified butter) was omnipresent. There was one dish that appeared to be some form of green vegetables in oil, and I think the rest had meat or a cream sauce. I also enjoyed some whole wheath paratha bread and basmati rice, so even with the limited vegan selection I ate well. Ok, I am pretty sure what I ate was vegan; I do my best and don't want to be a difficult vegan guest.

I saw a yellow sauce next to one of the breads, so I put some on my plate thinking it was mango. I dipped my bread in it and found the flavor quite dull. On my next trip to the buffet, I saw the label that I missed the first time: ghee. Whoops!

Mock Egg Salad

The egg salad is made from extra-firm tofu. I squeezed out the excess moisture and mashed it with a potato masher. Then, I mixed in one stalk of organic celery chopped finely, half an organic cooking onion, paprika, turmeric, and a quarter cup of Vegenaise.

I put the egg salad on toasted whole wheat bread with an organic yam that I had microwaved for about 5 minutes. Since organic yams are sweeter than the conventional ones (at least I've found this.... has anyone else?), I only topped the yam with a little bit of Earth Balance Buttery Spread (vegan margarine).

This felt like the perfect dinner for my first week of intense triathlon training. I am calling 8 1/2 hours of training intense, which for some may be a walk in the park, but I'm definitely feeling like I'm working hard!

Adam Durand Sentenced to 6 Months Jail

I read this today:

Adam Durand, the Compassionate Consumers investigator who revealed egregious animal cruelty at Wegmans Egg Farm, was today sentenced to six months in jail for trespassing. Adam should be applauded, not sent to jail, for his courageous efforts to bring to light the suffering of animals perpetrated by Wegmans. Wegmans requested the harsh sentence received by Durand—-a first time offender-—in an obvious attempt to silence critics of the company’s inhumane practices.

You can read more in the article from Newsday.

I am really mad about this. Adam isn't a criminal, he didn't harm property, he's just someone trying to educate the public about where their eggs come from, and that there are better more humane ways to do things.

For the first time ever, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Democrat and Chronicle, our Rochester newspaper. I hope it's published. More importantly, I hope Adam Durand is able to successfully appeal his sentence.

Chop Suey

I saw Kai-Vegan's chop suey post from May 11, and I decided to give it a shot. My version has garlic, onion, celery, carrot, cauliflower, baby bellas, and seitan for a little extra protein. I forgot (whoops!) the corn starch, so it's a little watery, but nonetheless very good. I ate this with Indian paratha bread for a superb post-workout dinner.