You've got questions...
Q: I am making pizza tonight! I made your whole-wheat pizza dough for the crust but I'm not sure what to put on it. Won't vegetables make it soggy?
A: To prevent sogginess, don't use too much marinara or pizza sauce. That's what makes pizza soggy, not veggies. Load up the veggies! My favorites are artichokes, mushrooms, olives, fresh basil, pineapple, bell pepper and arugula (though not necessarily all together!). Also check out Del's recipe for Thai Pizza here on the blog or the Polenta Pizza . I also have a recipe for melty vegan pizza cheese (fat-free, from scratch!) in HHC .
Q: Since starting to eat healthy, I eat three full meals and two snacks. I have been waking up hungry in the middle of the night. What low calorie yet filling pre-bedtime snacks do you recommend?
A: It sounds like you're not eating enough calories during the day. Generally, it is not advisable to eat before bed because it diminishes the quality of your sleep (which is important) and if you're trying to lose weight, you should have a long fast (from dinner to breakfast). Try eating a bigger dinner and check your caloric needs. I also can't recommend the meal plans enough for weight loss. Really takes all the guesswork out. The 3-Day Reboot and 10-Day Cleanse & Immersion can also be helpful for jump-starting and seeing how much you really need to lose *and* feel your best.
You can also check out this post on late night snacking urges .
Q: I am trying to find a way on my computer to store/organize recipes. What programs are vegan and gluten-free?
A: I don't use a program (I use my cookbooks ;)) so regrettably, I don't know anything about these programs. That said, I imagine all the ones that exist are very "mainstream" and won't have specialty stuff like brown rice flour. I'd be careful to purchase a program that allowed me to add items in manually. A pain in the butt at first, but eventually it would work great!
Here are some options on Amazon: Cook'n Recipe Organizer , Living Cookbook , MasterCook , and Home Cookin' .
Q: Do you have a recipe for a layered taco dip? One that doesn't use vegan fakes like vegan sour cream or Daiya?
A: There's a 7-layer dip in HHC and it's all from scratch! Always a hit at parties and super healthy, too!
Q: I'm new to the meal plans (first time today!) many of your soups are served with crackers. Can you give me some examples of what would be a whole foods, plant-based cracker?
A: Check out this post for my List of Oil-Free, Plant-Based/Vegan Brands . You can also use rice cakes.