Change in eating habits give Rivers a new lease on life

Mardi Suhs | Cadillac News Susan Rivers flips through her cookbook. After a new way of eating transformed her health, Susan Rivers began collecting recipes and cooking for others.

It’s so easy to drive through a fast food outlet and get a bite to eat. If only there was a way to pick up some healthy take-out.

Have you ever had those thoughts?

If making better food choices and cooking healthy foods is something you’ve always wanted to try — but don’t have the time or know-how, Susan Rivers can help.

After losing weight and regaining youthful vitality by becoming a vegetarian, Rivers, who loves to cook, has decided to cook for others.

She is currently preparing private carry-out vegan foods for friends and family and has applied for a kitchen license to expand her business to the public.

When Rivers greeted me at her front door, it was with the energy and enthusiasm of a teenager.

But she told me that had I arrived at her front door nine months ago, I would have met an entirely different person.

“I was a person who stayed in bed until 11 a.m. because it was too painful to get out of bed,” she recalled. “I couldn’t sleep because I coughed all night. My blood pressure was high. My ears were ringing. I don’t know how to explain it — my whole body was just decaying. I felt like I was 100 years-old.”

In fact, last winter Rivers, 68, was so sick she was convinced she was dying.

After a friend encouraged her to attend the Start New session in January, Rivers was skeptical but desperate. Two weeks later she had dropped 18 pounds and started feeling better.

“Inside of three weeks I noticed my neck wasn’t hurting and I could turn my neck,” she said with some amazement. “It was so stiff with arthritis and my back had been just killing me. This started getting better.”

Soon she didn’t dread waking up in the morning. She started exercising and following the Start New plan, a weight loss program designed to help people through natural lifestyle changes and interventions.

“We’ve just been feeling great ever since we began eating vegan,” she said. “Out of this we decided that God had a plan for our lives and we didn’t know what that was.”

But Rivers got an idea from one of the Start New founders, George Corliss. He told Susan and her husband Dick that many people start the program and want to continue but they don’t have time to cook the meals.

Not only did Rivers have time to cook the meals, she was having the time of her life cooking for her new lifestyle and transposing old recipes into new healthy ones.

Rivers had also worked for her sister’s catering business in Grand Rapids. She was experienced in cooking, creating recipes and kitchen management.

She printed up a Carry-Out Vegan Food menu and began testing her new River’s Kitchen on family and friends, who responded with enthusiasm. Now Rivers is in the process of getting a kitchen license to offer her business to the public.

The River’s Kitchen take-out menu includes: Brown Rice Veggie Quiche, Seven Layer Casserole, Veggie Lasagna, and Sloppy Joes, just to name a few. She also offers fresh whole grain breads, breakfast items, desserts, dips and sauces and salads. Everything is made from scratch from organic or all natural foods (to the best of her ability).

For more information call 775-3378.

Your Local Connection

Baked Enchilada

Casserole

1-16 ounce can pinto beans, drained

1-16 ounce can chili beans, not drained

1 cup Bulgur burger, browned

1 large chopped onion

1/2 to 1 cup thick and chunky salsa

12 corn tortillas, cut into 1” squares

1-2 cups cheeseless sauce

Mix beans, onions, salsa and burger. Mix well. Spray an 8x11 pan with 2” sides. Sprinkle 1-tablespoon water on bottom of pan.

Layer pan with half the tortilla pieces, half the bean mix and half the cheese. Repeat layers.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve with chopped tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole and sour cream of choice.

Potato Vegetable Salad

6 medium potatoes boiled and cool

1-pound asparagus or green beans steamed and cool

Combine in bowl:

Potatoes, asparagus or green beans, finely grated carrots, finely chopped onion.

Sauce: Veggie-naise, sour cream, mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper-like seasoning, honey. Mix to taste and pour over vegetables. Mix well.

Blueberry-Orange Bread

1-cup date sugar or sweetener of choice

1 egg using an egg replacement

1/4-cup hot water

2 tablespoons Soy Garden margarine

1/2 cup orange juice

2 cups flour

1-teaspoon soda

1-cup blueberries

Beat sugar and egg replacement. Add water, margarine and orange juice. Add flour and soda. Mix well by hand. Add blueberries.

Pour into greased and flour loaf pan. Bake at 350 for one hour.

Optional: May glaze with 1/2 cup powdered sugar mixed with orange juice while warm.

Oatmeal Coconut Bars

Mix together and make a crust from:

1-1/2cups quick Oatmeal

2 tablespoons Soy margarine

1/2-cup maple syrup

Mix:

1 cup Carob chips

1/2 cups walnuts or pecans

1 cup shredded coconut

1-teaspoon vanilla

1/2-cup maple syrup

1-2 tablespoons soymilk

After mixing together the curst ingredients, form into a crust in an oiled 8” square pan. Then add the second mixture on top. Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool and cut into squares.

Easy Fruit Spread

Combine in large saucepan:

3 cups applesauce

2 cups dates or dried peaches

Bring to a boil and simmer. Stir frequently for 10-15 minutes until desired consistency.

Put in blender and blend until smooth. Add cinnamon to taste. Store in refrigerator.