This Week's Q&A (talking Paleo Diet, Seitan, Gluten Free & More)

Posted by:Lindsay S. Nixon Category: FAQ

You've got questions, I've got answers!

1. Can you freeze the Quick Queso cheese sauce and then shred it like a block of cheddar cheese?

No, it won't get hard enough, even frozen. If you want a 'cheese' like that, you can try the Uncheese Cookbook - it has block cheese recipes

2. Some friends are coming to stay with me for awhile and there are 2 birthdays to celebrate. I'd like to make a cake, but one friend is allergic to gluten. Are there cake or cupcake recipes in either of your two books that we could use garbanzo flour instead?

You can use gluten free all purpose flour blends (either the recipe in EHH for a GF blend on page 303, or a commercial blend such as Bobs Red Mill) in any cake or cupcake recipe that uses whole wheat flour. You cannot use just garbanzo bean flour (in my recipes, or in any recipes). It doesn't work as a straight replacement. You need to blend multiple GF flours together and also mix in a binder.

3. I'd like some information on how to defend plant-based eating over the Paleo Diet. I have just skimmed it and my defense is that the food industry has so totally corrupted all animal products, that none of it is safe to eat anymore...do you have any more research on this or the Paleo Diet?

I've written about the paleo diet before. As far as I know, there are no scientific studies in peer reviewed journals that support the Paleo diet and I don't trust anything that isn't backed by impartial schools and is missing from peer reviewed journals. 

There are, however, tons of studies (both in the lab and clinical with people) and in peer reviewed journals that show eating meat, dairy and other animal products cause cancer and other sickness. It's the proteins in these animal products that turn cancer on and off, and they exist regardless of where the animal came from or what it was fed or how it was treated. The evidence is indisputable, a whole foods, plant-based diet is the only diet that is healthy, will prevent and reverse disease and is also the only diet that is truly sustainable for our world.

A biological archaeologist for NPR wrote an article about how the paleo diet isn't reflective of what caveman ate (and how it's not great for today's work either) see: Paleo Diet: Not the Way to a Healthy Future. Jeff Novick, a registered dietitian, also wrote a post about the Paleo Diet.

4. I finally found some vital wheat gluten flour and really want to try making seitan. Can I make the chicken style seitan from HHC earlier in the day but leave the baking step until later? 

‎Yes, you can make it ahead of time and then bake later.

5. Where do you buy kelp? Is it a powder?

I use a granule version of kelp, you can get it at most big grocery and health stores or online. I have heard that it comes in a liquid form, but I haven't tried that version.

That's a Wrap!

This week we finally got to see my new book, Happy Herbivore Abroad laid out -- how it will look as a book. She may be my prettiest book yet!

Once the book is laid out, we also see what recipes or sections need more pictures so Thursday was our final photo shoot.

I cooked 25 recipes and Kel (my amazing photographer for this book) shot them... and then we feasted! 

Here's the spread at the end:

and here are the messes all over my apartment that resulted from making the food:

Hope you enjoyed a little behind the scenes!

Don't forget to reserve your seat in one of my next webinars on Tuesday!

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