forks over knives

[EmilyGF]

I heard about this on this board.

 

If you've used it, how did the prep go? Did it take forever? Whenever I look at the very-veggie meal plans, I imagine standing in my kitchen cutting vegetables ALL DAY LONG.

 

I'm sort of thinking about using something like FOK but then making a meat to serve with the meal (my husband is a true midwesterner who recently said, as I went to the store, "I don't care what you buy as long as you get meat. And I mean meat, not fish.") so that we get more veggies but people stay happy.

 

Any help welcome.

 

Thanks,

Emily

[regentrude]

I eat mostly plant based (except for the meat DS wants/needs), and I do not find that prepping vegetables takes a long time.

A sharp knife and a cutting board makes prep go really quickly. I made a huge bowl of veggie salad for a potluck yesterday in a few minutes.

It's not like meat takes no time to cut and prep.

I buy organic carrots at the store and cukes at the farmer's market that do not need to be peeled. There are ways to prep potatoes that do not require peeling either.

 

ETA: I don't get "juicing". Why not actually EAT the fruits and veggies?

Edited August 21, 2016 by regentrude

[ktgrok]

I think juicing can be detrimental, mainly because we are meant to get the fiber with the fruit/veggie. Juicing is processed food, weather people want to believe it or not. That steady stream of fruit juice, with no fiber, is a lousy idea in my opinion. Adding in more veggies is a worthy goal, but that's not the healthiest way to do it. Those people got better because they cut OUT twinkles and fast food, not because they juiced. 

 

If you want to drink your fruits and veggies, using a blender that can pulverize them, not a juicer, would at least get you all the fiber. But I still think such a diet is lacking in protein and good fats that are needed for brain function and hormone production. But that doesn't mean I'm against green smoothies in general..I had one for breakfast, with spinach, berries, and greek yogurt. But I used a nutribullet to get the fiber, and I'll eat something else later. Varied diet. 

[Seasider]

As for juicing, I'd choose to prep veggies over scrubbing out a juice extractor multiple times a day any day of the week!

[ktgrok]

As for juicing, I'd choose to prep veggies over scrubbing out a juice extractor multiple times a day any day of the week!

 

So true....cleaning a juicer is a pain. Much easier to pour some frozen veggies onto a cookie sheet and roast them in the oven! ( I adore roasted veggies....california blend, peppers and onion, brussel sprouts, etc and it is easy to do with frozen prepared veggies)

[Mergath]

I think juicing can be detrimental, mainly because we are meant to get the fiber with the fruit/veggie. Juicing is processed food, weather people want to believe it or not. That steady stream of fruit juice, with no fiber, is a lousy idea in my opinion. Adding in more veggies is a worthy goal, but that's not the healthiest way to do it. Those people got better because they cut OUT twinkles and fast food, not because they juiced.

 

If you want to drink your fruits and veggies, using a blender that can pulverize them, not a juicer, would at least get you all the fiber. But I still think such a diet is lacking in protein and good fats that are needed for brain function and hormone production. But that doesn't mean I'm against green smoothies in general..I had one for breakfast, with spinach, berries, and greek yogurt. But I used a nutribullet to get the fiber, and I'll eat something else later. Varied diet.

Juicing can be a good intro to a plant-based diet for those who aren't used to it. If you aren't used to getting a lot of plant fiber, suddenly switching to all plants can cause some stomach ouchies. ;) With juicing, you get all the nutrients from the vegetables without a huge load of fiber. And some people find it hard to get enough of certain nutrients because they get full before they've eaten enough to get their rda of iron or whatever. Juicing can help with that, too.

 

Eating the whole plant is best of course, but juicing has its uses. I feel best on a whole food, heavy on the veg diet supplemented with occasional juicing. And tbh, my skin looks noticeably better when I'm also juicing than it does when I'm only eating a plant-based diet without juice.

[hornblower]

I don't juice but I do green smoothies in the vitamix. It's a fast way of consuming a lot of raw leafy greens and all the fibre is there which isn't the case with juicing. I also make my green smoothies very green, adding as little frozen fruit as possible.

 

FOK is low fat plant based eating. The recipes are designed to not have meat or dairy added but I guess you can serve anything on the side. The Forks Over Knives documentary is worth checking out.. It was on Netflix last I looked...

[ktgrok]

Juicing can be a good intro to a plant-based diet for those who aren't used to it. If you aren't used to getting a lot of plant fiber, suddenly switching to all plants can cause some stomach ouchies. ;) With juicing, you get all the nutrients from the vegetables without a huge load of fiber. And some people find it hard to get enough of certain nutrients because they get full before they've eaten enough to get their rda of iron or whatever. Juicing can help with that, too.

 

Eating the whole plant is best of course, but juicing has its uses. I feel best on a whole food, heavy on the veg diet supplemented with occasional juicing. And tbh, my skin looks noticeably better when I'm also juicing than it does when I'm only eating a plant-based diet without juice.

 

Good point, I can see how that would happen. Of course, if you are doing a juice fast like many do with this, you are getting zero fiber, which also isn't good. 

 

Some juice, sure. All juice, no whole foods not a great plan. 

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[EmilyGF]

Hmmm.... I've seen some of the Forks over Knives meal plans and didn't see anything about juicing. I'm not a juicer, period. I am into minimally processed foods, and juicing is a bunch of processing, IMO.

 

Emily

[ktgrok]

Hmmm.... I've seen some of the Forks over Knives meal plans and didn't see anything about juicing. I'm not a juicer, period. I am into minimally processed foods, and juicing is a bunch of processing, IMO.

 

Emily

 

You know, good point. I'm referring to the show, and the "juice fast" promoted by many to go along with it. I haven't seen the meal plans, I'm not sure there WERE meal plans when the documentary first came out, or at least I didn't seem them. Just a lot of people doing juice fasts. 

[Jyhwkmama]

There is no juicing in the FOK movie. Dr. Esselstyn is firmly against juicing.

 

You might be thinking of the movie Fat, Sick, and nearly dead.

 

I eat mainly a plant based diet. You get better at making plant based meals. My husband even eats them now. We eat beans all the time. Bean burgers with veggies on the side are a favorite meal.

[samba]

Where did the OP say she was juicing? FOK isn't about juicing. Most plant-based doctors advise against juicing because you're missing out on all the fiber that's in the food.

 

Anyway, we are heavily plant-based and I do not spend a lot of time prepping or chopping. I do enjoy cooking, though, so I probably spend more time in the kitchen than I need to. I try to always have something that dh will eat in addition to my typical meal plan. He's on-board with the rest of the family's way of eating but still struggles sometimes.

[ktgrok]

There is no juicing in the FOK movie. Dr. Esselstyn is firmly against juicing.

 

You might be thinking of the movie Fat, Sick, and nearly dead.

 

I eat mainly a plant based diet. You get better at making plant based meals. My husband even eats them now. We eat beans all the time. Bean burgers with veggies on the side are a favorite meal.

 

Oh my goodness! You are so right! I did have the wrong movie!!!!

 

My apologies to the OP, this is what I get for posting when pregnant, lol. Placenta brain. Yes, it's Fat, sick and nearly dead I was thinking about. 

 

I have no issues with plant based meals that are actual meals. So sorry!!!

[ktgrok]

Where did the OP say she was juicing? FOK isn't about juicing. Most plant-based doctors advise against juicing because you're missing out on all the fiber that's in the food.

 

Anyway, we are heavily plant-based and I do not spend a lot of time prepping or chopping. I do enjoy cooking, though, so I probably spend more time in the kitchen than I need to. I try to always have something that dh will eat in addition to my typical meal plan. He's on-board with the rest of the family's way of eating but still struggles sometimes.

 

I had the wrong movie! So sorry. I haven't even seen FOK, or at least not all of it. I saw parts. 

[December]

So true....cleaning a juicer is a pain. Much easier to pour some frozen veggies onto a cookie sheet and roast them in the oven! ( I adore roasted veggies....california blend, peppers and onion, brussel sprouts, etc and it is easy to do with frozen prepared veggies)

 

 

That really isn't a good option this time of year for people who don't have a/c.

[Bluegoat]

If you hate chopping and prep, I can see finding chopping and prepping a lot of veg annoying.  You could buy frozen or pre-chopped fresh.  frozen can be a particularly good option in winter and the quality is pretty good these days, and the cost too.  Pre-chopped fresh I'm not so crazy about, it often seems heavy on packaging, the quality is compromised, and it's expensive. 

 

You could also try to stick to less prep-heavy choices, or, enlist slave labour (kids.)

 

I guess there must be a companion book to the movie now?  I don't consider the movie to be a great resource on diet, it is so heavily based on the China study.

[mamaraby]

Happy Herbivore is similar and I find her recipes pretty bland, but she sells meal plans and utilizes batch cooking/batch prep in them. She even has some videos on YouTube that show the prep work/batch cooking. At the very least her videos might help inspire you.

 

Jill over at Simple Daily Recipes also is another quick and easy type resource. She uses her InstantPot quite heavily and her flavors are a lot more assertive. She and I share an abiding love for liquid smoke and smoked paprika. We've been vegan for just shy of two years now and I still learn new things from Jill all the time.

 

The cookbook "Isa Does It" is another quick-prep resource. Plus, I find her recipes are accessible to non-vegans.

 

Jeff Novick has DVDs you can order, but there are several of his videos on YouTube that you can watch to get suggestions - especially on the prepping veggies part. Your time is worth something too so if finding pre-prepped veggies in the produce dept or the freezer section means you eat more veggies? Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

 

But, it gets faster the more you do it. Sharp knife helps as pp mentioned - cutting bell peppers is much faster with a sharp knife than a dull one. And don't neglect mise en place. Veggies cook very quickly so having all your ingredients ready before you start will go a long way to making meal prep eaiser/more enjoyable.

 

My dh went vegan with me and the key for him was finding things he liked. If the food is good, and your meals have enough starch/fiber, most people will be satisfied. Also, your taste buds change so if at first you don't like it, try it again later. There are things we eat and enjoy now that we didn't care for at the beginning. It's a trial and error kind of thing.

 

Forks Over Knives/Engine 2 enabled dh and I to make a huge shift in our health/weight. I'm down 76lbs, dh is down 50lbs and all of our biometrics have improved significantly. In the end it's about what works for you. Give it a try - you never know if it will work unless you try it.

[Jyhwkmama]

So awesome, mamraby!!!

[Soror]

mamaraby- Congrats on you and your husband's weight loss!

 

I'm here because I've been slacking on my veggies (especially w/ being sick the last nearly 2 wks now) and I need inspiration.

 

Personally I think some juicing is fine, considering the sugars and chemicals(diet sodas and such) that people drink I don't think juicing fresh fruits and vegetables is on the list of concerning things people eat and drink! I've never done a juice fast because that seems too extreme for me but used to really love some green juice for breakfast. 

 

I have found with veggie prep that it actually saves me time to just do them all at once, rather than trying to do this and that multi-tasking and switching back and forth. Before I got sick I chopped a lot of my veggies on Sunday for the week and that worked really well, the cold crops especially stand up well to pre-chopping. Also, I need a plan/recipe/menu before I get started I waste a lot of time if I'm trying to figure out what I'm cooking as I'm cooking it. Lastly the more you do something the quicker you are at it- so I save things I'm not really as proficient at or take longer for those nights when I have more time and energy but do quicker meals with perhaps some frozen/prepared items on nights I'm crunched for time. As you get more used to the recipes that itself cuts down on a lot of time.

Edited August 22, 2016 by soror

[redsquirrel]

It's a valid concern if you are not used to doing a lot of food prep. I totally get you.  I used to have hours to prepare delicious veggie meals...then I had kids, lol.

 

FOK is extremely low fat and vegan...not just vegetarian, so I while I have made food from the FOK cookbook, it's not a way of life for me.

 

A couple of really handy things to have is some dependable cookbooks.  There is FOK cookbook. There is also website with a 'make the transition' link

http://www.forksoverknives.com/ Note: I don't know if that is free or costs.  But I bet if you google 'Forks over knives getting started' you might find some good recipes.

 

There is 'Engine 2" which is Dr Esselstyn's son.  He's a firefighter and has been waging his own war on heart disease. I think he also has a video on Netflix. His recipes are slightly higher in fat than FOK, but the same principles at work.  There is no competition between the two, they work together frequently and are very close.

 

http://engine2diet.com/

 

 

Here is a great blog by a person who made the transition.  She has since moved to a public Facebook page, and all this stuff might also be on facebook...I am not on facebook... but I really liked reading this when she was updating regularly.  I think all updates might be on facebook, or she has stopped updating.  But it was very educational to read.

 

http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/happy_healthy_long_life/

 

 

 

And as for saving time in the kitchen when making veggie food, I have a couple cookbooks that I use constantly. 

 

One is this

https://smile.amazon.com/Short-Cut-Vegan-Great-Taste-Time/dp/0061741116/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1471885556&sr=8-7&keywords=lorna+sass

 

It was originally published under the title "Short cut vegetarian" so you can also check that out, just know it's the same book It's a small book, not a huge tomb, but it's very handy.  Get it used.  She is very upfront that this is vegan food made from using canned stuff. So, it canned beans, canned tomatoes, jarred salsa type things. But she said that getting food on the table quickly was the number one request she got as a cookbook author. So, she was like 'you want it fast?  I'll give you fast"  When we had babies I used this all the time!

 

Lorna Sass also has another really useful book called "Vegetarian cooking under pressure" which I use more than any other in the colder months. I am not kidding I used that thing for years before I realized it was vegan, lol. I never missed the dairy.

 

https://smile.amazon.com/Great-Vegetarian-Cooking-Under-Pressure/dp/0688123260/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471885880&sr=8-1&keywords=lorna+sass

 

Again, if you are going full on FOK, your going to need to be very strict about the oils and other fats in everything. But, that said, we could ALL use more veggies in our diet so don't (please don't) let the perfect be the enemy of the good.  Small changes over time are more sustainable. And if you buy a few bags of pre-chopped veggies...well..who cares? I looooove me some bags of washed and chopped kale. It costs me 1$ more.  I am willing to pay 1$ for that saved time.