Chili Addiction - Top notch oil free 3 Bean Euphoria

I've been reading about Chili Addiction over at QuarryGirl.com for months!  I hadn't really realized it was right next door to Real Food Daily (RFD) until I stumbled past it while attending Vegan Drinks this Saturday.  We enjoyed the veggies of the day at RFD so much last night we went back for dinner again today.  On our way out I decided to run into Chili Addiction and see if any of the vegan chili was prepared without oil & soy protein.  Luckily the chef was in and informed me he never uses oil and recommended the Three Bean Euphoria.

Wisely I went with a Large since I knew we'd be splitting it back in the hotel room later.  Unfortunately, I made the mistake of letting Kristin open it up to look at it when we hopped in the car...  10 minutes later the two of us polished off the entire thing.  (this is post Basic Three at RFD of Steamed Veggies, Pintos & Brown Rice)  I never got the car into drive!   We both kept thinking if we ever had a chili contest to win we'd just enter that stuff and lie our pants off!  If you are fortunate enough to live in Los Angeles RUN down to Chili Addiction and go with a large ($10).  The name makes sense after the first bite.  We're now both addicted to Chili Addiction.  See ya tomorrow there!

408 N La Cienega Blvd 

Hours of Operation

Sat-Sun 11:30AM - 9PM 

CLOSED MONDAY 

Tue through Fri Noon-2:30 5:30-9PM 

Menu Hacking Mani's

Most people will think of Mani's as TOO healthy.  They pride themselves in the use of alternative sweeteners, which give their fatty baked goods a different taste and knock to your blood sugar.  Healthy Vegans know sugar is just guilty by association and the real culprits of bad health are fats & animal products.  All that being said we were able to hack out our BEST menu score yet!

We scoured the menu looking at all the components in every Vegan or Vegan Option item on the menu.  We zeroed in on the New Mayan Wrap.  It comes stock with Black Bean Hummus (has oil), Mango, Cucumber, Tomato, Mixed Greens & Marinated Tofu (fatty).  Using our tried and true substitution routine we subbed black beans for the hummus & pico de gallo for the tofu.  Despite what the menu says you get a side as well, we choose the steamed spinach.  Add a few dashes of hot sauce and cram the steamed spinach into the wrap and we were in HEAVEN & at only $10 each!  Kristin can't stay away from the Strawberry Mint Lemonade.  They use some strange fruit reduction in it, though, which makes it too sweet for me!

Hacking the Health into Native Foods Part 2

After spending a month in Palm Springs we became experts at McDougallizing the Native Food's Menu and chef/owner Tanya is extremely accommodating & talented.  We were worried once we were back in Los Angeles we'd not get the same expert treatment at the Westwood location.  Amazingly enough we ended up hacking the best option we've ever come up with!  "Healthy" Tijuana Tacos.

The trick to ordering them is the Substitution game.  Normally if you order with Subtract and Add you'll end up increasing the price!  Follow these instructions to order these outstanding tacos.

#1. Sub Red Beans for Taco Meat (has oil)
#2. No Guacamole (fat)
#3. Sub Brown Rice for Native Cheese (self explanatory)

The best part is that they come with four shells (they are doubled).  We skillfully slide half of the ample filling into the bottom shell and end up with FOUR tacos!  Don't forget the hot sauce!  These are outstanding lot fat wonderful tacos for $7.95!  

The Vegan Cookie Diet - Whole Foods Health Start's Here Cookies

Well in honor of the great Meat Out we thought we'd post something really fun!  I was astonished to see the Health Start's Here LOGO in the bakery section of Whole Foods last night.  To my astonishment there were OatMeal, Chocolate Chip Cookies & Brownies to choose from!!!  The ingredients are simple - Flour, AppleSauce, Egg Replacer (coco powder / oatmeal depending on the selection).  At $1.69 each they are phenomenal deals compared to spending a ton of time making my own and eating a dozen instead of one!

Here are some cell phone pics so you know what to look for!  I recommend just sticking with the Oatmeal.  I'm not really sure how they do the chocolate chips in the brownies and chocolate chip cookies (they taste different).  Also, for readers on the Maximum WeightLoss diet note that Flour is a processed food and doesn't promote weightloss so keep in mind these are a treat and not a part of the daily routine :).   I guess if someone wanted to craft a Vegan version of the Cookie Diet, you could probably have some fun with these!!!

Well not exactly Healthy Eating, but not terribly unhealthy either!  I approve!

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Gnocchi

I was grazing the recipes over on the Food & Recipe Forum on Dr. McDougall's website and one caught my eye about Italian Veggie Stew with Gnocchi.  I was skimming over the comments and discovered another poster had found these Gia Russa Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Gnocchi.  Kristin was in World Market looking for a special spice for another recipe we'd learned at the McDougall Weekend and stumbled right onto said Gnocchi.  If you are unfamiliar with Gnocchi (pronounced nyo kee) its a dumpling type pasta that's been around since the Roman Empire.

Look for these at World Market stores.

Here are the ingredients.  Supposedly if it states Emulsifiers that means the mono and diglycerides are vegan.

9 Calories of fat out of 237 = > 4% fat  One package feeds two people & cooks in 2 to 3 minutes once you're water is boiling!!!  We paired ours with some smokey salsa from Trader Joes & Larocca wine.

Fat Free Organic Dressing (You can order online)

Getting tired of Balsamic Vinegar or Lime Juice as easy and fast fat free salad dressings?  We stumbled on Maple Grove's Fat Free Organic Dijon Salad Dressing.  What's extra special about this (aside from tasting amazing) is that its vegan (most dijon's contain honey).  We found this in a Ralph's in Palm Springs, but I suspect its in most large super market chains.  You can always order it from their website along with Fat Free Organic Raspberry & Fat Free Balsamic.    Unfortunately, as of this posting they are SOLD OUT!

Here's the page with the Fat Free Organic Salad Dressings (only 3 of them) http://maplegrove.stores.yahoo.net/orsadr.html

Here's where you can order our favorite.  ($3.95)
http://maplegrove.stores.yahoo.net/ordifatfrvi1.html

Low Fat No Oil Tortilla Chips

If you're like me a night without chips and salsa is like Christmas without Cookies.  When I finally made the commitment to the McDougall diet I was able to get by with Garden of Eat'n Tortilla Chips, but about two years ago the company did something entirely unexpected... THEY PUT MORE FAT in the chips!!!  How insane!  120 Calories 30 from fat = 25% fat from a nasty oil blend.  Gross, I don't want to carry around that garbage in my belly fat for decades.  Instead we got creative and found Food For Life Sprouted Corn Tortillas.  Now these Tortillas don't start out as crispy chips, they are usually found in the frozen food section.  You first let them thaw out, then pop them into the toaster (optionally if you have a toaster oven you can chop them up into chips).  DO NOT LET THEM CATCH ON FIRE - KEEP AN EYE ON THEM.

They usually take 2 full turns in the toaster.  On our toaster over, we use the full brown setting two times and KEEP OUR EYES on them.  Take them out as they BROWN (don't let them over brown, they'll be too crisp and don't undercook, they'll be soggy).  If you're using a regular upright toaster, you can break them up when they pop out.

TAKE THEM OUT WITH TONGS!  

Rub with lime.

Sprinkle on Sea Salt / Spices like Spike

Garnish with your favorite Salsa.

There you have it.  A plate of low fat, oil free, whole food crisp chips!  

INGREDIENTS (from the package):  Organic Sprouted Whole Kernel Corn, Filtered Water, Sea salt, Lime.

Can't beat that!!!