Plant-Based Diet Days 19-20: Tips and Sweet and Sour Chow Mein

I do not remember what I ate Friday, but I think I stayed "good." I do think my cheating may be catching up with me because I am not really losing as much weight at the rate I was when I started in the first week and my weight is fluctuating too much.

What I love about a non-busy weekend is the time you can spend planning your meals and cooking.
This morning I made hash browns with "Sausage"and mushrooms. For dinner, I made Sweet and Sour Chow Mein and it is one of my more successful dishes because so far it is one of my favorites.

Before I share the recipe here are a few tips I've learned while doing the PBD.

Tip #1: Stock your pantry with plenty of vegetable stock/broth...
And always keep it where you can easily reach it while cooking. Cooking without oil has been the most challenging thing for me. I have ruined 2 non-stick pans while "sauteing" onions or just trying to cook potatoes. I use veggie stock as a base to saute or braise vegetables and because it evaporates quickly, always have it on hand and use more when things start to stick. You can also use water but the stock will give you much more flavor.

Tip #2: Seasoning
Stock your pantry with a wide variety of seasonings. Because I've been cooking without meat or any type of fat or dairy, the food can get very bland. When you cook a really good piece of steak, all you really need is salt and pepper but I can't say the same for vegetables or mushrooms. Some of my favorites are chili powder, cumin, paprika, curry powder, grill seasoning, creole seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder and some dry herbs.

Tip #3: Sauces
Like seasoning, keep a pantry full of sauces (which also works for lazy cooking). The must haves are hot sauces (get a variety), soy sauce, tamari or liquid aminos (which I don't have but is highly recommended by the PBD), BBQ sauce, Sweet & Sour/Stir Fry, etc. All of these sauces are oil-free and use wheat flour.

Tip #4: Frozens
I highly recommend buying some frozen vegetables, frozen fruit and frozen brown rice. I have a hard time going through all of my fresh produce before they go bad, so for some vegetables and fruit I buy frozen. I recommend frozen green beans, zucchini, broccoli, strawberries/berries (for smoothies) and frozen brown rice you can cook in the bag using a microwave (this is incredibly convenient). Fresh vegetables, however, do taste much better than frozen.

Tip #5: Canned and pre-packaged
I'm not as concerned about being "green" as I am concerned about being inconvenienced. I like to buy canned tomatoes, canned beans and pre-packaged vegetable mixes. I know buying pre-packaged produces more pollution and I love the rain forest and all, but I like significantly reducing my cooking time better.

Sweet and Sour Chow Mein
1 very large serving or 2 servings 


What you need:


- Broccoli Slaw (pre-packaged and from Super Wal-Mart. You can also cut up your own broccoli, carrots and any vegetables of your choosing. The pre-packaged saves you so much work).
- Onion (a quarter)
- Minced garlic (half a TBS.)
- Fresh pack of chow mein noodles (use the Annie Chun brand because there is no oil and it is within the PBD rules. Also, there are two packs in the bag and I only used one).
- Celery (1 Stalk)
- Sweet and Sour Sauce (a generous 4 TBS)*
- Soy Sauce (2 TBS if low sodium)
- Red pepper flakes (optional)
- S&P
- Vegetable Stock (for braising)

*A little bit of the sauce goes a long way but use your own judgement on how much you use. Just make sure to use enough to coat all of the ingredients.

What to do:


Heat up a wok then reduce heat to medium and cover the bottom with vegetable stock. Throw in the chopped onions and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes to soften the onion then add celery and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add half a bag of the broccoli slaw mix along with the soy sauce. Cover the wok and cook for about 3 minutes. Season with a little S&P (not too much because you still have to put in the sauce!) The key is to not over cook the vegetables so make sure they still have some crunch. Put the vegetables aside on a plate.

Using the same wok, cover the bottom of the wok with stock and add one pack of noodles. The noodles come out in a block but just be patient it will start to separate after about 5 minutes. Watch carefully and keep adding broth if the noodles start to stick to the pan. Make sure not to add too much broth because you don't want a soup--just enough to not make the noodles stick. Cover and let cook for five minutes, but keep checking (carefully breaking up the block with a spatula because you do not want to end up chopping up the noodles into small pieces).

When the noodles have loosened up, turn the heat from medium to low (this is important because you don't want the noodles to get soggy). Add about two tablespoons of the Sweet and Sour sauce, stir and cook for 1 min. Then add the vegetables and add more Sweet and Sour Sauce along with red pepper flakes. Give it a good careful stir, take it off the heat and serve.

Obviously, you can use Stir Fry or Chow Mein sauce (though it may contain oil), but the sweet and sour gave it so much flavor. For a meat option, you can add leftover chicken (like if you buy the rotisserie from the grocery store) or stir fry some meat with the sauce. Trust me, you do not miss the meat in the vegetable version :)