The Email That Took Me Weeks to Write (and the super short sentence I received in return.)

So I got some courage. I finally sent an email that I have been trying to cleverly craft for a few weeks. I
wanted it to be smart and impossible to ignore. And while the likelyhood of GMO ingredients being used in Shakeology is small, there is still a chance. I love Shakeology. I love what it has done for me in terms of my health and my energy levels. But I am also terrified of GMO foods and distrustful of companies. So I sent the email with the full understanding that I may be ignored, that I may be shuffled into the file of mass messages sent hourly, or that I may be told no. But I will not give up. For a company to put so much effort into developing a product that they call it the "healthiest meal of the day,"I feel the effort to assure the safety of the one or two ingredients that might have a chance of being GMO, is a small step that would mean so much to so many.

The email I sent to Darin Olein, the creator of Shakeology himself, is below:


I wanted to thank you for developing a product like Shakeology. It has completely changed my eating habits like it has for thousands of others. I absolutely love the product and am so pleased there is a vegan option available for those of us who like to limit their intake of animal products.

I was wondering if there is any talk about assuring customers that there are no GMO products in Shakeology. I know customer service has informed me that "to Beachbody's knowledge" there are no GMO products in Shakeology. However, there is a huge movement right now to force companies to label their products containing GMO crops. There is also a lot of talk about the harm GMO can do to our bodies, evidence of which can be found in the rising food allergies and illnesses diagnosed in our children who have grown up eating GMO foods.

Many states are taking it upon themselves to vote on mandatory labeling for GMO products. Many companies, such as Chipotle and Applegate Farms are moving forward with complete transparency and labeling GMO products while simultaneously trying to minimize or eliminate the use of them wherever possible. A non GMO verification process and label has been developed and was just approved to place on not just products that directly contain GMO's but on things like meat and dairy so the consumer knows the animals have not been fed GMO feed. It is truly unfortunate that the producers of real food are the ones that have to pay for testing and labeling to prove the safety of their product to their customers. It is terrible that the burden of all the testing is borne by the companies and passed onto the consumer, making processed foods more affordable than real foods. I firmly believe that it should be all the chemical laden and processed foods that contain the labels, but sadly that is not the world we live in.

With the effort put in by the Shakeology team, especially recently hearing about the process to develop the vanilla flavor, I am hoping that Beachbody is at the forefront of this movement. I do believe in Beachbody's effort to avoid GMO's when possible, but unfortunately trust is something that is hard to find in the business world. To see Beachbody stand up and voluntary label their product regarding GMO's, before the laws mandate it, would be an amazing thing to see. I truly believe in this company and the products. I want to be able to assure the safety of my customers and the safety of my child, who also loves drinking Shakeology daily.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read this.

And guess what?!?!

He replied.

Himself.

Sure it was one sentence (and I felt kind of deflated after the crazy excitement I had when I saw his name in my inbox) but I got an answer (sort of.)

And that is what is awesome.



And the answer by the way - and I quote "We test for gmos and do not accept any in our product"

From the man himself.

I knew the risk was small based on the ingredients themselves but it was nice to hear. Now I just need to keep bugging them until they get it tested (and labeled) by a third party like the Non-GMO project. And I will, even if I have to keep emailing Darin Olein himself.



**UPDATE***

I was perusing the Shakeology FAQ's again yesterday and found this....

And it is different than the response I got the last time I harassed Beachbody about GMO's and Shakeology. I like to think that I am not the only one giving them a hard time. So a big thanks to everyone who has emailed, called and in any other way made Beachbody aware that we do not want GMO's in our Shakeology. Because if it is truly "the healthiest meal of the day" it shouldn't include anything that is genetically modified.

Road Trip! (I wish! -- I mean cross country airline trip with LOTS of baggage)

We travel. A lot. When your husband works on the opposite side of the country from which you live and you refuse to give up something you love that pays you in hugs and kisses (and not really your pocketbook,) maintaining a relationship is left to skype, phone calls and lots of air travel.

Now that I am obsessed with not eating things like GMO's and food that isn't "real," it puts a whole new spin on how hard it is to travel. Especially when you tend to pack heavy and your entorauge through the airport includes a toddler and two dogs.

While we have perfected getting through ticketing and security (we can totally beat any well traveled businessman, toddler & carry on terrier included - which I think is hilarious because everyone avoids getting behind us in line. Ha! Jokes on you. I rock security. I also have similar feelings to the nasty looks I get when boarding a plane with my child. I get all my kid has probably traveled more than you dude save your looks for the rookie parent travelers.)

One thing I know about air travel is it is unpredictable. Just when you get used to everything being delayed and running to try and catch your connecting flight, everything is on time or early and you actually have extra time to seek out something yummy (and as healthy as you can find in an airport- good luck!) to eat.

Either way, when we stop I have two priorities - a potty break for B (which is sometimes a change as we are in the middle moving to the end *fingers crossed* of potty training) and a potty break for the little dog. (She will chews holes in her carrier if she doesn't get a potty break. Keeping her claws and teeth of of the mesh that holds her in the bag for the entirety of a 4+ hour flight - not fun for my back or my scratched up hands or the drunk lady on the 9 a.m. flight who accused me of abusing and suffocating my dog since I had my hand in her bag the entire time. But that is another-get-me-fired-up-story.)

I have found these two potty breaks take presidence and whatever we have time for after is great. In case there is no time left at all, I have a nice list of go to airplane (or car) friendly snacks I love to pack.

Quartered strawberries in a few small tupperware containers
Blueberries in small tupperware containers
An apple or two
Clementines
Sugar snap peas
Carrot chips or sticks (B still needs them small) or baby carrots

And small baggies of:

Almonds
Cashews
Raisins
Dried Apple Rings (make sure all fruit is no sugar added)
Shakeology packets

All super easy and nothing requires cooking or baking on top of trying to get your life packed into a suitcase (or 6. Okay, maybe 8.) That is what I need when we are making our yearly trek to wherever John is working. I have enough to worry about with trying to get the dogs' healthy travel certificates and making sure I don't forget whatever stuffed animal has the coveted favorite-B-can't-sleep-without-it spot. (Forgetting that is a melt down on a plane stuffed with angry travelers waiting to happen.) I try to keep it simple with things I can partition into snack size baggies or small tupperware containers. I can just pass out the snacks when we are on the plane and not get sucked into buying one of those overpriced snack boxes full of processed goodies. I also vary the fruit to what is in season (or on sale.) If it is a winter trip, you will not find me buying strawberries and blueberries.

Happy Travels!

Fourth of July - Cleaning up Grandma's Freezer Slaw

Happy Fourth! 

I love the Fourth.

I love that the good old colors of the USA can be represented in things with fresh berries. I love that John (typically) doesn't have to work and can come home from wherever he is. Plus we have fireworks, beer, playing outside, grilling and more beer. What isn't to love?

In an effort to bring something a little more healthy to the table this year, I am taking my very favorite coleslaw recipe and cleaning it up by replacing the sugar with honey. I am also mixing in some broccoli slaw with the cabbage so at least there are some extra veggies in there.

Now I am not a creamy dressing girl. On anything, coleslaw included. I love me a good vinegar based coleslaw dressing - just like my Grandma made it.

Now my Grandma's recipe calls for 4 cups of sugar! 4 cups! That is a ton of sugar. When I was google searching vinegar based coleslaw for some other options, I didn't really find anything that would be close to the same. I was torn. Do I chalk it up to a "treat" and just go with it the way it is or do I experiment? Since I have been playing around with recipes (while standing on my soap box preaching about healthy eating) I decided it was in everyone's best interest to clean it up.

And I cheated and bought pre cut cabbage. I hate the cutting part and with the travel this weekend

So here is what I did:

1 bag angel hair shredded cabbage
2 bags of broccoli slaw

And those get dumped in my big travel bowl

 1/2 cup honey*
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed

Combine all these ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add to the cabbage while hot.

Refrigerate or freeze and thaw before serving.

*I played with the honey and didn't really measure it. I mixed everything up in a large pyrex measuring cup to make sure I got all the honey whisked in with the vinegar. The lowest measuremtne was 1 cup. I I tried to eyeball half a cup, but I think it was a little less. I whisked, tasted and added another large squeeze of honey. This did leave my dressing with some bite.

I did consider not cooking the dressing to help keep the health benefits of the honey & apple cider vinegar in tact. However, my love for wilty lettuce won that battle. I love how the hot dressing "cooks" the cabbage a little bit. The slaw still has a lot of bite and crunch but that little bit of heat makes it just a little wilty. (I seriously have a wilty lettuce obsession, borderline problem.) Plus the apple cider vinegar I had was pasteurized so it was already heated anyway. Some say the heating process destroys the benefits, some say it doesn't. It's another one of those health arguments that makes my head spin.

I did use apple cider vinegar because I like the taste it brings and just in case any of those enzymes that are so good for you aren't destroyed (it's like a bonus!) The orginal recipe did call for all white vinegar which is a little bit less acidic than apple cider vinegar. If you aren't hanging with people who are a fan of vinegar, you may want to stick to the white or do 1/2 and 1/2. I could eat vinegar on everything so we play it up in this house.

Happy eating (and drinking! Don't forget to toast to America and everyone who sacrifices to keep us safe.) Cheers!

How I am Staying on Track when My Body is Saying Hell No (thanks to my loving and overprotective dog)

 Injuries suck. Big time. And none of them are the same so how you approach exercise when you are injured is going to vary greatly based on your injury. But whether you are too injured to work out or just  need to take it down a notch, there are things you can do to make sure your injury doesn't throw you completely off course.

This is what I tried to do after my 80 lb dog  and another large dog decided to not play so nicely at the park. I was knocked down and drug around on my back by two very angry, very large dogs. I ended up being bumped and bruised and sore for almost a week. I knew bouncing around with Chalene Johnson was not going to be an option when I woke up the day after our little party and my back ached.

Keep your schedule in tact 

This might mean taking your typical work out time and going for a walk or changing your workout routine to something your doctor advises (like low impact modifications.) Whatever you do don't use the time to sit on the couch and play games on your tablet or phone (or watch bad tv) because the more of a bad habit you build here, the harder it is going to be to get back into your workout routine when you are back to normal.

I walked. I did yoga because it actually helped my achy back. Don't do anything your doctor doesn't recommend or that causes you pain but talk to him or her about what they recommend. And listen to your body. Mine was telling me to stretch and not sit still (it hurt more if I sat for long periods of time) so I listened. No, I didn't burn crazy amounts of calories with a intense workout like I was used to and that was okay. My body was recovering. I did however keep the good habits I've built these last couple of months in check. And that makes all the difference.

If any exercise is off the table use the time you would exercise to do things like cleaning out the pantry, catching up on your meal planning, reading about health and wellness, planning what workout program you are going to tackle next or to set new goals. Do something that keeps you focused on getting started again as soon as you are cleared.

Eat at the times you typically eat. Keep that meal schedule in tact. I know when I don't feel well all I want to do is eat pizza or mac and cheese (hello comfort food) but giving in to these cravings now will make it that much harder to get back on track later. Besides, let's build some new habits and maybe break the I-got-a-boo-boo-I-deserve-a-cookie habit that was so lovingly formed in our youth.

Tighten up on your meal plan

I looked at my meal plans and saw where I could cut and trim. No extras the week I was off my normal workouts. I wasn't burning the calories to allow the expenditure. I made sure there were no little slip ups with cheese (the one dairy vice I can't quite seem to quit completely) and no extra bread at dinner. I upped my veggie intake and lowered my fruit intake. I tried to eat around 1200-1300 calories a day instead of 1500-1800.  And while I didn't lose any weight, I didn't gain any either. That for me is a win.

Look at what you typically eat and cut out the obvious (and easy) things. No alcohol (which if you are on pain meds or anything like that you probably shouldn't have anyway) no dessert, the little treats we allow ourselves for having a great week need to go when you aren't working out.

Get lots of good quality sleep

Look at your sleep habits and try to improve them while you are healing. Sleep is a luxury in this house (by morning I have a toddler and a terrier fighting for space in my bed!) but sleep can make you feel so much better while you are healing (and our bodies need it!) Plus banking some shut eye also helps with the food cravings and cheats. I know I am much more likely to go off the rails when I am cranky and tired. Being super sleep deprived also has me craving pizza like a crazy person, so sleeping (as well as I can) is a tool I try to use whenever possible.

I was extremely grateful my injury was not severe and I started feeling better within the inside of a week. I was able to walk and do yoga and am looking forward to jumping, punching, squatting and kicking with Turbofire in a few days. I also know that by working really hard to keep my days structured the same as they were when I was working out has really helped me stay eager to jump back into my scheduled workouts (and miss them too!)

Always always always talk to your doctor (or physical therapist) about any injuries and exercise you may want to continue doing or new exercise you want to try. These suggestions are based on my own experiences and what worked for me, personally and are not in any way medical advice.

The next best thing to salt and vinegar chips (and how I handle those crunchy, salty cravings)

I've never been a huge chip girl. I am more of a chocolate or artificial cheese flavored popcorn kind of girl. But every once in a while I get a hankering for some greasy, crunchy chips, preferably salt and vinegar flavored. The stronger, the better. I could eat them until it feels like there is a hole being burned in the center of my tongue from the vinegar-ness. They were the one snack food my mom would cave and buy if I was having friends over. (Typically we lived in a no junk food house.) So eating salt and vinegar chips not only gives me a party in my tummy but there is that deep seeded association that they are for super fun times. (Yay sleepovers!)

I am trying to avoid processed foods and really commit to clean eating, I knew I had to find another way. And since I don't really eat meat, I knew if I could get some more protein in my diet, it would be killing two birds with one stone. I turned to my friend the garbanzo bean. I knew they could be roasted and get super crunchy but I always found that I burnt them before I could get them good and crunchy. They were often burned on the outside and still soft on the inside.

So I channeled a much more patient person and tried to get them to take over my body to cook these
babies for me, because I knew what I had to do. Lower the temp and lengthen the time. (I am so not patient. At all.) I picked a time when I knew I would be home and I knew I would be preoccupied (like sitting at the dining room table and writing a blog post.)

I set the oven temp to 250 and let the oven preheat while I rinsed the garbanzo beans (Typically I use dried beans - it's super easy as long as you think ahead. I had some cans on hand for dinner emergencies and since we are moving across the country again I figured it would be smart to use them up.)

Make sure to dry the beans after they are rinsed. This really helps. I like to cook mine on parchment paper so if the paper gets wet from the beans it takes even longer for them to roast (and for this impatient chick right here, it takes long enough as it is. I don't need to add any extra time to this recipe.)

And I set the timer for 25 minutes. And I stirred them. And I set the timer for 25 minutes. And I stirred them. And I set the timer for 25 minutes and I stirred them (you get the idea.)

They roasted for probably 2 1/2 to 3 hours. This will vary based on your oven temp too. It is pretty easy to tell when they are done. They shrink up really small and sometimes crack in the middle. Once they aren't so hot they will burn a hole in your mouth, test one. If it is crunchy, they are done. If it crunches on the outside and is still soft in the middle, give 'em another stir and stick them back in the oven.

I have also had better luck getting them crunchy dry roasting them instead of tossing them in olive oil. I just rinse, dry and throw them in the oven. When they are done and it is flavor adding time, I can toss in olive oil and any seasoning I am feeling like. Plus I like the idea that I don't have to commit to making a whole batch one flavor. I can flavor them before I eat so I have lots of options depending on what I feel like (and anyone who has traveled with me knows I need lots of options, hence the entourage of suitcases I typically travel with.)

So for the salt and vinegar chip goodness, all I do is toss them with a little malt vinegar and some salt
and whala I have crunchy salty burn a hole in my tongue vinegary goodness. A really great, protein packed crunchy snack that is even good thrown on top of salads.

These babies, although they have lots of good for you nutrients, do have calories. All legumes pack a lot of calories (think along the lines of almonds and other nuts.) I like to have about a 1/4 or 1/3 of a cup of crunchy chickpeas with half an apple as a snack. The apple combined with the protein really helps fill me up.

Happy Eats!

The Omnivore's Dilemma (and why we should be thinking about our food in ways other than calories and fat grams)

My favorite reaction when I tell people I try not to eat meat or dairy very often is when they look at me, almost bug eyed and utter (and sometimes whisper) but what do you eat? It is a shock to people that a meal can be filling and full of veggies and grains. This journey of really looking into what my family is eating started about a year ago with the documentary Forks Over Knives. I went crazy for a few months but not in a good way. If it was vegan, I assumed I could eat it. No problems. Well there is a problem when vegan junk food is on the market and sugar is still vegan. I never particularly cared for the taste of meat, but dairy was more difficult to give up. (I still go crazy over some really yummy creamy goat cheese.) Fish and seafood never really left the picture.

But the important part was I started thinking about what I ate. Not in the way of calories and fat grams but what it was and where it came from. So many of our meals are consumed in a rush, on the go, in the car or at our desks while we work and even in front of the television. There is no thinking about what we eat as much as there is let's get shove this in my mouth real quick to get rid of this hunger feeling and move on with what is really important in life.

But our food is important. We spend so much time eating. Our bodies are literally made from what we feed them. From our food is where our bodies get the energy to move, to create new cells, to repair what needs fixed, to fight off infection....what we eat every day could be the most important decisions we make. And it goes even further than that because not only are we affected by what we eat, but we are affected by the food our food eats. The quality, the nutritional value, the taste.... Unfortunately, most of what we eat today isn't what our great-grandparents ate even when it looks like it used to. A steak today is different from a steak 50 years ago. There are farmers out there striving to bring farming back to it's roots and Michael Pollan was able to find one of them.

I just finished reading the The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I actually read the young adult version as that was what was available from the library (libraries rock!) I expected the book to lean away from the processed and toward the real food movement (even toward a plant based diet.) And while Pollan did not hesitate to admit his personal preference after all of his endeavors, the information is presented in a very matter of fact way (which this English major can appreciate.) The book is set up around his four meals. His goal is to eat one meal that is a direct result from each of the ways to produce food. His first meal is a meal that is produced thanks to the industrialized food industry -- McDonald's and is eaten like many Americans eat fast food, in the car.

He starts off visiting the farms that produce the majority of the food here in America. The industrialized corn farm and the industrialized beef farm. He goes as far to purchase a steer so he can follow the steer until it meets his end (where he was not allowed to visit -- journalists, among others, are not permitted in slaughterhouses and on many industrial farms.) He interviews a corn farmer about how working on a farm has changed. And it is explained (in a way that is both scary and fascinating) how a single kernel of corn is processed. How all parts of the corn are used and extracted and turned into something else. Things I didn't even know were made with corn -- like glue and fireworks. (Seriously. Fireworks. Mind blown. This was the part of the book where I kept waking John up every five minutes to spout off something new I learned about corn. He was nowhere near as enthusiastic as I was.)

For the second meal, he visits an industrial organic farm. While many of these farms started out as small endeavors, they have grown into a billion dollar industries and are run much of the same way as non-organic industrialized farms. They do not use pesticides or hormones, they do allow chickens access to the outdoors but it is  a small sad yard that has a tiny door that isn't even open until the chickens are 5 weeks old. For the remaining two weeks of their lives, they rarely venture out doors.  These are not the happy chickens lives and farming practices that consumers are led to believe they are supporting. There is the fact that these farms are brining organic food to places that normally wouldn't have access to it. They are keeping farmlands from being sprayed with pesticides. There is good here and as a reader (and an eater) we are encouraged to take in the facts, do our own research and decide for ourselves if eating seasonally is an inconvenience we are willing to suffer.

His third meal he calls "beyond organic." Pollan found a farm that farms the way farming used to be done. (And apparently I was trying to see how many times I could use the word farm in a sentence.) He visits Polyface Farm in Virginia which practices sustainable agriculture. He has pasteurized beef and poultry and uses a rotation system so the cows don't destroy the pasture and then the chickens clean up after the cows and fertilize the pasture. Joel Salatin, the farm's owner, refers to himself as a grass farmer and an even more than that an orchestra conductor as he is doing the movement and organization but the animals are doing the work. He will not ship his meats instead he truly practices and believes that burning all that fossil fuel to ship his products is not sustainable. He sells directly to consumers, local restaurants and at farmer's markets. And this is what led Pollan to him in the first place. Because Salatin won't ship a steak to Pollan's home in California, Pollan instead visits, stays and works on the farm in Virginia experiencing it all first hand including processing (a nicer way to say killing) a chicken.

When it gets to the fourth meal, I am wondering really what is next. What kind of farm could he possibly visit to finish this book. But he doesn't visit a farm, instead, he chooses to create a meal from things he has hunted and gathered. Who does that now? Being a Western PA girl I am used to meals made with deer meat but not an entire meal that is foraged. Pollan stays true to the course and learns to hunt wild pig,  how to hunt mushrooms and even gather yeast from the air to make bread (again mind blown. Yeast from the air? Crazy business.) He even attempts to try and gather his own salt from the bay.

After being present at all of Pollan's meals through his writing, I was happy to find him encouraging his readers to think about what we are eating. With the obesity epidemic, we are so conditioned to think of food in terms of calories in and calories out but it is so much more than that. This book was a great way to begin to address that rumbling in our tummy in a much kinder way than just shoving whatever we can grab in our mouths to shut it up (and stay under our recommended calories for the day.)

I am eager to read the adult version of this book (and just ordered it in paper form so I can highlight and make notes in the margin and flip back and forth between chapters when I need to. Sometimes there are things an ebook can't provide. Like the lovely smell of an old book. Mmmmm.)

For more information on Micheal Pollan and his work please visit  http://michaelpollan.com/

Betty Goes Vegan Tacos (my adventures into the world of Tempeh)

After reading many recipes and blogs in the vegetarian and vegan world, I started to become familiar with the things that are used to substitute meat. And out here in the Pacific Northwest, many of these things are available in grocery stores. I can find things like bee pollen, veganaise, tofurky and soy yogurt and cheese (yet I cannot find whole wheat lasagna noodles. *shakes head*) I can also find plenty of substitutes for meat. One that I have heard a lot about is tempeh. I have seed many comments on recipes and blogs from people who aren't too crazy about tofu but love tempeh. So I grabbed some at the store. And it sat in my fridge.

Every time I opened the fridge, the tempeh and I kind of had a I know you are there but I am going to ignore you if you ignore me relationship. Then it got to the point where I had to acknowledge the tempeh by either cooking it or throwing it in the trash. Since I am not a big fan of throwing my money away, I chose to attempt to cook it. My default to attempt anything I know nothing about is to

*google*

*google*

*google*

And those searches brought me to ohmyveggies.com which is a delightful site I was happy to add into my rotation of sites to search for dinner ideas. On there I found a recipe for tempeh tacos and who doesn't love a taco (I actually didn't love tacos for a long time. They totally grossed me out. And then I met Moe's which lead to a love affair with Chipotle which has turned into me making vegan/vegetarian tacos in our home a lot and I am always looking for a variation on the black beans as protein.) So this was how I decided to cook up the tempeh in my fridge. It was starting to dare me, all I know you can't cook me. There is no way you can do this.

The recipe I found was from the cookbook Betty Goes Vegan. While I have read and tried things from many cookbooks, this was one I had yet to pick up (or borrow from the library. Libraries rock!) The blog put in lots of pretty pictures and even made me want to use crunchy shells (I am team soft taco.) My trip to the grocery store that carries weird but not basic things out here lead me to find that they do not in fact carry organic taco shells or hard taco shells. Seriously. So I went with wheat because at least the GMO chance there is lesser (as there isn't supposed to be any GMO wheat but the whole thing with the wheat in Oregon make me skeptical.) So soft tempeh tacos it is.

When I took the tempeh out of the package it was slimy and chunky. It has whole and halved soybeans in it and at that point I was missing the smooth texture of tofu. (And trying not to gag - visually the texture- I just can't.) I started breaking it up into pieces and then all urges to be sick disappeared. I mixed it up with the seasonings and the lime juice added some onion and was done. Super easy. (These are the kinds of recipes that make me all I love cooking. Especially when they turn out awesome and it is something that sounds kind of scary -- like tempeh sounds super intimdating. It makes me feel very victorious inside. It's the little things kids. Sometimes they are what you need to get through the day.)

So I threw it all in a pan until it is heated through (another one of the bonuses of meat free cooking. I don't have to worry about if things are cooked all the way through because someone could die. I just have to heat and serve. Whoop!) Then I threw it all in a warmed taco shell with some avocado and olives (for me and B anyway. John is an olive hater.) Balance out with a green salad with a cilantro lime vinigerette and whala dinner is served.

The link to the original recipe is here. I skipped all the liquid smoke and other things that sounded strange and just used what I had in my pantry. Maybe they would have been better had I included these ingredients, maybe not? I also skip the spicy and rely on John to use his own special blend of 85 million hot sauces that live in my cupboard.

Here is what I did:

For the Filling:

1 8oz package of tempeh
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2  red onion minced
3 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp dried oregano
Juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs water

You will also need:

Taco shells and toppings (I used avocado, pico de gallo and olives)

Instructions:

Crumble your tempeh into a large mixing bowl.

Then mix in the garlic, cumin, onion powder, oregano and lime juice.

Once the spices are well mixed, add the onion.

Drizzle the water in 1 TBS at a time into your mix while stirring.

Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Spray a skillet with olive oil  and heat to medium heat.

Add the tempeh mix and stir a few times so it browns evenly.  (About 10 minutes)

While the tempeh is cooking you can warm your taco shells and prep any toppings you may need to prep.

Fill, top and serve.


Once cooked up I really enjoyed the tempeh. It gave the tacos more of a ground meat texture than bean or another meat substitute does. The spices are true to what a traditional taco spice mix would be. All in all it was tasty and I count my trip into tempeh land as a success. (And it might be a place I come back to visit every once in a while. Especially when I am bored with my regular dinner rotation.) I was also so excited to eat my creation that I forgot to take pictures. Luckily, John came home late that night so I was able to play food photographer with his taco creations and I took photos of my leftover tempeh mixture (which was also yummy on a "taco" salad the next day for lunch.)