"Chicken" Fajitas

A couple of months ago, three very close friends came over for a visit and decided to cook lunch for my family, and what did they make? Chicken Fajitas! Of course two months ago I was not vegan yet.  The Fajitas were so delicious, and I have been craving them for a while, but now I had to come up with a vegan recipe that kept all the flavors intact; this is my version:

4 whole wheat flour tortillas

1 medium thinly sliced onion

1 small garlic, minced

1/2 cup red bell pepper, julienned

1 large carrot, julienned

1/2 zucchini, julienned

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp. water

vegenaise

for the "chicken"

6 oz super firm tofu, cubed (or cut strips 2 in. long, although you might need to use more tofu)

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp onion salt

1/16 tsp ground cumin

1 small garlic, minced

1/4 tsp paprika (optional)

1/2 tsp olive oil

First marinate the "chicken" by doing the following: Put all the ingredients in a resealable sandwich bag , except for the tofu and olive oil. Close the bag and shake it to mix all the ingredients. Add the tofu; close bag again and shake one more time. Add the olive oil, close the bag and shake one last time. Set aside to marinate while you cut the vegetables. You can also do this 15 min before you start with the vegetables because the tofu will have more time to absorb all the flavors. 

Cut all the vegetables. Empty the contents of the bag into a skillet and cook over medium heat.

Brown the tofu lightly on all sides, then add onion, garlic, bell pepper and 1 tsp of water if the onion starts sticking to the skillet. Cover it, but stir occasionally; the steam will help to keep the onions from sticking. If at any point the veggies stick, add 1 tsp of water at a time. After about a minute add carrots, and after another minute add the zucchini and stir some more; add salt and pepper to taste and turn off after another minute. Heat up tortillas in a griddle or nonstick pan. Spread vegenaise to taste on warm tortillas (trust me, it will make a difference) and spoon tofu mixture down the center of each tortilla. Enjoy your "Chicken" Fajitas!

Why Did I Choose Vegan?

Actually, I did not choose vegan alone, I thank my husband for opening my eyes for me to be able to see, understand, and actually want to become vegan. I was diagnosed with cancer (lymphoma) four years ago, at the age of 25. What followed was a very intense chemo treatment and thanks to my Heavenly Father I have now been on remission for a year. Unfortunately, all the physical pain that came along with the cancer never disappeared, it actually continued to increase in intensity and after being tested many times and having tried so many different medications, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Very soon I was taking about 15 pills a day to control the pain. 

My motivation

I always wanted to have a big family, but becoming pregnant while taking narcotics was out of the question for my husband and me. Not being able to have more children has really affected me emotionally, but has also been my greatest motivation. 

Weaning Off of Medicine

From March 2011 to the end of July 2011, I was able to go from taking 15 pills a day down to 6; 9 less in five months. How did I do it? By lowering one dose at a time. I have to say that I went through tremendous amount of pain and withdrawal symptoms, but I did it. 

Learning and Understanding Vegan

At the end of July 2011 my husband started doing research on a healthier lifestyle and the more information he found, the more he was directed to becoming vegan. Together we reviewed his research: articles, books, videos, etc. and we both felt we needed to make a change. I personally felt that becoming vegan is really the only way to truly become healthy, clean my body from so much accumulated medication, and the only way to prevent my family from many future illnesses. So we became vegan!

The Results

I knew I would see results, but didn't know how fast they could come. In a little over a month, I have lost 9 lbs., but most important of all, I have been able to reduce my medication to 2 pills a day, but this time without all the pain that came before with lowering a dose, and with very minor withdrawal symptoms. I am sooo happy because I am very close to stop taking medicine all together. Before I could not even imagine a day without pain and medication; now I have already experimented it two nonconsecutive days and I can't wait to have my life back the way it used to be, or even better!  

Quesadilla

I am Mexican, so I crave the flavors that have been part of my life; so I came up with this recipe:

4 whole wheat flour tortillas

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup diced onions

8 slices of mozzarella soy cheese or

(4 slices mozzarella soy cheese and

4 slices cheddar soy cheese)

pinch of garlic salt

salt and pepper to taste

1/8 cup minced cilantro (optional)

Preheat the griddle on medium; if you don't have one, you can use a nonstick pan. In a bowl mix together the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and garlic salt. With your hands roughly cut the cheese slices into small pieces, drop them into the bowl and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place a tortilla on the griddle and spoon a quarter of the mixture into one half of the tortilla. Fold the tortilla in half as soon as it is soft enough to fold without breaking. Lower the heat to med-low and flip the quesadilla after about 30 seconds. Repeat the process of flipping the quesadilla until you have the desired crispness. Repeat the process with the remaining tortillas.

Lasagna