Meatless Mama

Soup of the Day

2012-01-17T17:11:00.000-05:00

Soup is one of the easiest and quickest meals to serve up. It is also a great make ahead meal, I like to cook up a big pot of soup on the weekend to eat during the week. It's a great way to use up leftovers, so it never gets boring, the varieties are endless. Nearly every time I make soup I find something hiding in the fridge that needs using up which I add to the pot, so it's never exactly the same twice. Here's today's variety.

Spinach Mushroom Soup

1 qt. vegetable broth

1small red onion, chopped

1clove garlic, minced

8 oz. mushrooms, chopped

2 bay leaves

3 fresh tomatoes, chopped or 1 can diced tomatoes if you prefer

8 oz. fresh spinach, loosely chopped

2 c. cooked brown rice

freshly cracked black pepper

1/4 tsp. no-salt seasoning (I use Kirkland organic no-salt seasoning from Costco)

Start with a large pot- larger than you think you'll need, because the mushrooms and spinach both have large initial volumes and look like they will be too much for the soup, but they cook down quickly. I used a 4 quart pot for this and the pot was full when adding the spinach, but it shrank quickly and I ended up with about 2 quarts of finished soup.

Bring broth, onion, garlic, mushrooms, bay leaves and tomatoes to a boil. Simmer 15 minutes. Stir in spinach and rice. Simmer 3-4 minutes till rice is heated through and spinach is wilted. Remove bay leaves. Add freshly cracked black pepper and no-salt seasoning. Serve.

Vegiversary

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

I have only one week left of break before the new semester starts, so this week I've been sorting closets and organizing my kitchen. Getting things done ahead will make my life easier once school starts. As I've mentioned previously, I cook for my dogs. I don't believe any living creature should be forced to eat commercial processed food for every meal of it's life. (My dogs are 16 and 9 years old, so that is over eighteen thousand meals between the two of them over their lifetimes thus far.) So I have been cooking and freezing food ahead for them. At some point I will write a post about dog food, since I feel every living thing is entitled to real food. These are my furry friends, Cosmo and Oscar:

I wrote all of the upcoming events on the new family calendar that hangs on my fridge. While working on the calendar, I realized I am nearing my 5th anniversary of eating vegetarian. Do I call this a Vegiversary? I also realized that I have had a smoothie nearly every morning for five years now. That's a lot of smoothies! One of my favorites is pictured above; pineapple, banana, kale, cranberries and a handful of blackberries for color. I keep frozen cranberries in my freezer to use in smoothies throughout the year.

Oatmeal is another food I eat for breakfast most days.(Although regular readers know I also eat unconventional foods for breakfast like Brussels Sprouts with Orange Miso Sauce.) Today's oatmeal had tart cherries, mixed berries, chia, flax, cinnamon and ground brazil nuts mixed in. I love the rich color the berries impart.

I often hear people lament the difficulty of changing their eating habits and lifestyle in order to improve their health and I've even been told I couldn't understand because it was easy for me. I will let you in on a little secret- it took a Herculean effort for me to change.

For many years I was a smoker and I was addicted to Pepsi cola.The combination of nicotine and caffeine is difficult to kick.(They were a match made in ~~heaven~~ hell.) I ate all of the junk food and fast food that most Americans consume. I also had health problems like most Americans do. I quit smoking many times, but always for a limited period. I tried quitting smoking by using the nicotine patch; it didn't work- I smoked while wearing it. (It's the equivalent of giving alcohol to an alcoholic in order to end their addiction- it just doesn't work.) I tried cold turkey, it didn't work. (I never tried the drugs offered today to help in quitting- they hadn't been invented yet back in the days when I quit.)

I finally ran across Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking (which was first published in 1985 and has helped millions around the world quit smoking since then) and it changed my life. I read it, made up my mind to quit, and did so cold turkey, knowing I would never smoke again.

I know many former smokers who still have dreams about smoking and still feel like they are being deprived, even years after quitting. I can honestly say I've never felt deprived and never had dreams (at least ones that I can remember) about smoking again. Reading that book helped me to change the way I think, I never felt I was giving something up, instead I felt I was regaining my life and health. I can also say quitting was the single hardest thing I have ever done. Do not believe the "experts" statements that it only takes three days to withdraw. It takes months before the brain readjusts to "normal, non-smoker" status. Nicotine withdrawal felt like electric zings to the brain every few minutes, then gradually coming farther and farther apart, a process taking many weeks, till they finally stopped. It was horrible, yet I never felt deprived, I felt like I was fighting to rid myself of a monster that had its hooks in my brain.

Compared to kicking the cigarette and pop addictions, changing my eating habits was easy. Food doesn't have the same effect on the brain as nicotine; withdrawal doesn't cause those brain ''zings". And I felt better almost immediately upon changing my diet. I overcame health problems by changing my diet and I helped my son lose 80 lbs. with changes in his diet. Cancer also played a role in our dietary choices. Long-time readers know this already, so I won't rehash it here, but anyone interested can read more on my About Me page.

Note that I said changing my dietary habits was easy "compared to kicking the cigarette addiction". Of course switching to a mainly whole foods, plant based diet was challenging. There were temptations all around me along with the hostility I faced from some family members and in-laws. (I've never understood this, but maybe the changes I was making forced them to look more closely at themselves and things they didn't want to see.) The health improvements I gained enabled me to stick to it. I believe my voracious appetite for reading nutrition/health books and studies also strengthened my resolve during my switch. Keeping that information in my face really helped to stave off temptation during the transition.

I wrote all of this to let you know that I understand how hard change can be. And to say that I absolutely know that if I could do it, anyone can. So to all of you who have vowed to get healthier this year, I support you and please, never give up!

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have tolive.” ~ Jim Rohn

KISS Principle for Healthier Eating

2012-01-04T09:32:00.002-05:00

This is the time of year when many vow to make healthy changes and eat better. One of the easiest ways to ensure that you stick to your goals is to employ the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid). In order to stick to healthier eating goals, the first step is to get rid of unhealthy processed and junk food items. If they are around, you will eat them, so clean out those cupboards and clean out the fridge.

Next, stock your kitchen with nutritious foods. Choose fruits and veggies you already like and know how to prepare. There will be plenty of time later to experiment with new foods, but if you begin with a kitchen stocked full of unfamiliar items and find you don't like them, you are less likely to stick with your goal. Try only one new thing at a time; either a new food, recipe, or cooking method.

Finally, organize your fridge so that all those good for you items are easy to see and use. If you set aside a small amount of time to wash, dry and pre-cut fruits and veggies, you will be more likely to eat them. When you are hungry and in a hurry, you won't want to stop and take time to do it, and will be more likely to reach for something unhealthy. Keeping the good stuff ready to eat and in your face also helps get the kids to eat better. And it prevents those veggies from sitting unused and growing moldy while tucked away in some corner, behind less optimal choices.

I cleaned and reorganized my fridge yesterday and have glass containers filled with pre-washed and pre-cut celery, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, grape tomatoes, blueberries and red grapes. I also have pre-cut pineapple, red pepper strips and cooked brown rice.There is a platter of stuffed acorn squash and a huge bowl of pea soup. So when someone gets hungry around here and is in a hurry, it is easy for them to grab something good. With the KISS principle, there are no excuses.

I'm not sure if I ever showed my hanging produce baskets. They are incredibly handy in my tiny kitchen; using vertical space allows me full use of the counter space. And they are another great way to keep healthy food right in your face.

Why We Celebrated a Giftless Christmas and Thoughts for the New Year

2012-01-01T10:24:00.000-05:00

Most Americans are willing to go into debt to buy useless and unneeded things to celebrate Christmas. They would never go into debt to buy food for the hungry or clothing for the homeless. They make time to rush around from store to store shopping, waiting in long lines and then wrapping the items, but "just don't have the time" to volunteer at a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or anywhere else, unless compensation is involved.

The typical American Christmas is simply an economic exchange. You buy an item for Aunt Eleanor, and she buys you one in return. Or you draw names, and everyone purchases a $25 item for the person whose name they've drawn. Often "lists" are made, so everyone ends up with an item they want. Reciprocity is expected and the items exchanged had better be of equal dollar value or someone will feel slighted. Many see this as a good opportunity to ~~unload~~ re gift that too-small sweater or ugly knickknack they received last year. When all else fails, gift cards are exchanged. You give the co-worker, in-laws or friend a gift card, and they give you one in return. It is nothing more than an exercise in consumerism.

I won't call the items which are given "gifts", because very few people give actual gifts. A gift is something given willingly, with nothing expected in return- no reciprocity, not even a thanks is required.

Anyone looking for a deeper meaning, who wants to opt out of this greedy, materialistic exchange is deemed a grinch or a scrooge. Giving to a charity in lieu of this exchange is considered cheap and miserly by some.

I think we can do better. It's time to get off the materialistic merry-go-round and start making a difference. According to a recent piece in The Huffington Post by Jim Wallis, it would cost a mere $20 billion to provide clean water for every person on earth, while Americans spent $450 billion on Christmas last year. Just let that sink in.

Now I am not naive enough to think that my family opting out of the obscenity that has become Christmas could have any discernible effect on the suffering of humanity. But while I can't change the world, I can change me. Even though it may be very small, I can make a difference. If others begin to join in, the difference gets larger. To touch one life is make an impact. No act of kindness or generosity is ever wasted. Imagine what the world could be if everyone made an effort.

This blog is about nutrition and healthy living, and I debated whether to post this. However, nothing is more important to health than feeding the soul. So as the new year begins, I am choosing to live each day trying to do as Ghandi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Hope you join me.

Who will I be or die trying?

2011-10-29T12:51:00.000-04:00

I came across an essay on social responsibility today and it posed the question I used for this post's title.
Very thought provoking, and in the end, the true essence of life. Go, read, ponder.

http://www.coolmindwarmheart.com/the-heart-of-social-responsibility.html

Vegan Soup Review

2011-08-10T12:44:00.000-04:00

     Wow, look what I found on my porch last week- a whole case of Dr. McDougall's vegan soup!! They are in BPA-free cartons, contain no GMOs, are ready to serve, and did I mention vegan? Many of you are familiar with "The McDougall Plan" by John A. McDougall, M.D. and these soups are based on his program of plant-based, oil-free nutrition. He was a co-founder of Dr. McDougall's Right Food's Inc. and now serves as Chairman of the Company.
     If you are a regular reader here, you'll know I prefer to cook from scratch so that I can control my ingredients. However, that isn't always possible. Running a household of six, caring for a special needs child, and attending school full-time means that time is at a premium for me. A trip through the drive-thru for fast food burgers and fries is never an option here, nor are highly processed fake meats, so items like this vegan soup are a real find!!
     We tried two of the soups today, lentil and garden vegetable:

They were both seasoned well, had nice large veggie chunks; carrots, peas and potatoes, and got an enthusiastic thumbs up from my teen daughter- what more could you ask?! These are quality products and I would certainly recommend them for anyone short on time but still wanting to eat well.

Helen's Kitchen Product Review

2011-06-16T11:32:00.000-04:00

I recently recieved a coupon from the nice folks at Helen's Kitchen to try their new veggie fajita bowl. It's vegetarian, GMO free, and gluten free.

My teen daughter and I both tried it- she absolutely loved it, and I must say I was impressed with all the chunks of veggies it contained- strips of red pepper, carrots, peas and potatoes, along with black beans and brown rice. Here's a look:

I generally don't eat frozen or prepared meals, but I have to say this was quite good for a meal on the go, and so much better than the fast food teens usually eat!

Pinto Bean and Rice Soup

2011-04-19T08:10:00.000-04:00

     Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted! Although life has been extremely busy here, and finals are coming up later this week, my lack of posting has been partly due to my slight change of diet. My daughter and I have been eating entirely vegan. I haven't eaten meat in years, and kept my use of dairy low, so it wasn't a big change for me. I missed cheese for about two days, and that was that, not a big deal at all.

     While my diet change wasn't due to the nuclear disaster (I was already eating vegan when that occurred), radioactive cesium and iodine have been detected locally in our air, rain water, and drinking water, in milk from various parts of the country- found as far east as Vermont, and in spinach, mushrooms and strawberries from California. Since we know that toxins become more concentrated as they move up the food chain, it's one more reason to stick to a vegan diet and remain low on the food chain for the foreseeable future. I have noticed one change in my health since I made the change, my migraine headaches are much less frequent and much less intense.

    When the bulk of one's diet is whole foods; fruits, veggies, legumes and whole grains, there's not much involved in food preparation and few recipes are really needed. Unless you are trying to recreate processed foods at home, the most involved part of food prep is simply the chopping of veggies. Eating this way is perfectly suited to a busy lifestyle. I always have to smile to myself when someone says they do not have time to eat healthy. What could be faster than cracking open a banana, peeling an orange, or biting into a crisp juicy apple for a snack? They are ready to eat with no preparation needed.

     This soup has become our favorite of late. I make a huge pot, which disappears in one day at my house;) Here's what I did.

Pinto Bean and Rice Soup

4 carrots, diced

1 head celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 large handsful green beans

1 handful chopped red cabbage

1 can diced tomatoes or 2 freshly chopped tomatoes

1 bay leaf

2c. veggie broth

3 qts. water

6 c. cooked pinto beans

2 c. cooked brown rice

1 large handful chopped kale

2 T. no-salt seasoning (I use Costco organic no-salt seasoning)

Combine all ingredients through water on the list in a large soup pot, bring to a boil and simmer 20 min. Then remove bay leaf, stir in beans, rice, kale and seasoning and heat through about 5 minutes. Enjoy.

Pom is Wonderful

2011-01-07T16:08:00.000-05:00

A big thankyou to the nice people at Pom Wonderful who sent me a whole case of their pomegranate juice to try. It is 100% pomegranate juice, with nothing else added. Numerous studies have been done on the health benefits of pomegranate juice and have shown it to be beneficial for cardiac health, virus prevention and inhibiting cancer cell growth.

While it comes in adorably shaped bottles, the best thing about Pom Wonderful is that it tastes great; tangy and delicious! I rarely use any salad dressing on my salads, today I drizzled Pom Wonderful on our spinach, clementine and almond salad, what a delicious treat!!

If I can get to it before everyone in the house drinks it up, I will try to come up with a few recipes using it ;) No guarantees though, because it's hard to resist, it really is wonderful!

Reece's Rainbow

2010-11-16T08:47:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again; when the charity solicitations begin showing up in droves in the mailbox. There are so many places to donate where it will make a real difference that it can be hard to choose, and if my pocketbook allowed I would give to many. Since I must set limits, Reece's Rainbow is one of my choices.
As the parent of a mentally impaired child, the work that they are doing is near to my heart. Children with Down Syndrome who are born in other countries, and especially in eastern Europe, are usually institutionalized if they are not adopted by the age of 4. Reece's Rainbow raises funds to help those children get adopted, so they do not have to spend their lives languishing unloved in an institution. Every child deserves a home, a family and love, and special needs children are the least likely to get those things. As the bible says, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…defend the rights of the afflicted and needy." (Proverbs 31:8,9) No one needs to be spoken up for more than disabled children who can't speak for themselves.

As the holiday season approaches, if you intend to make a donation to a charity, Reese's Rainbow is one worth considering. These are tough economic times, especially in my state, so if you would like to help, but are financially unable, there is another powerful way to make a difference. Become a prayer warrior. Prayer is powerful.

Time for a Fresh Start

2010-11-03T13:56:00.000-04:00

Today is national Start! Eating Healthy Day, started by the American Heart Association to get people to take responsibility for their own health and cut down health care costs. It is never too late to make healthy changes, any time is a good time to make a fresh start.

The best gift you can give yourself is to increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables. Add some exercise to your day as well, and you will notice very quickly how much better you feel. A healthy lifestyle creates a healthy body. The medical community can't create health, it only treats disease. The only one who can make you healthy is you, so do yourself a favor and start! today!.

I have been making a fresh start in my personal life. The repair work on my home is finally all finished and everything is completely back to normal. It was a long, stressful few months and I missed enjoying most of the summer and a good deal of the fall. I also went back to school, starting college full time in September. Originally my plan was to go into something health care related, but I've changed my mind and now I think it will be accounting. Needless to say, I have very limited time between taking care of my large family and getting my schoolwork done. I have missed you, dear readers and blogging friends. I'll try to post here as often as I can.

A Slight Interruption

2010-07-21T20:38:00.000-04:00

Good evening to all of my wonderful readers, I am sorry I have been absent for a while. We have had a home disaster requiring major repairs on all three floors of our house. It will be some time yet before repairs are done and life is back to normal. I hope you'll bear with me, I will return. And I hope you are all making the most of the summer!

Rain Barrels and Raw Snowball Cookies

2010-07-11T21:06:00.002-04:00

A local environmental group partnered with a nearby community to host a truckload sale of rain barrels this weekend. I have longed for these for a while, and I was very excited to get two. So hubby and I spent this morning getting them set up. Just as we were finishing, we heard loud thunder. A short downpour filled one completely. The hubs then realized that the second, overflow barrel is not filling because it sits level with the first. So we need to dig out the base of the overflow barrel to lower it a few inches. I am so happy with these, they have screens to keep mosquitoes and debris out of the water, and spigots on the bottom that you can attach a hose to or use to fill a watering can. I am in love! It's funny, my eyes glaze over when women talk about their new shoes or jewelry, I have no interest in that stuff, but some rain barrels, now you're talking! ;-)

Now onto the food. On Saturday my mom's side of the family had a reunion of sorts, a big potluck picnic. It was wonderful to catch up with relatives I hadn't seen in over twenty years. It's funny, no matter how many years pass, nothing changes family. Everyone's different, and everyone belongs. Everyone was to bring a dish to share.

Since I know that our eating habits are not like the rest of the family, I just brought food for us. We ate our veggie subs, fruit salad and raw cookies, while the rest of the fam ate burgers, hot dogs, chips, cake, cheesecake, pop, etc. and everything worked out smoothly. Here are the raw cookies I made.

Raw Snowball Cookies

1 1/4 c. raw walnuts
1/4 c. raw brazil nuts
12-15 raw medjool dates, pitted
1/3 c. raw cacao
about 1/4 c. raw unsweetened shredded coconut

In food processor grind nuts till fine, add dates and process till dates and nuts begin to blend, then add cacao and process till mixture is nearly smooth. Form into 1 inch balls, roll in raw coconut. Chill till ready to eat.

These are a delicious cool treat on a hot day, enjoy!

Magical Lemon Balm

2010-07-06T17:23:00.001-04:00

Whenever I am working in the yard, the lemon balm draws me near. Its soothing scent is irresistible. Lemon balm is a member of the mint family and is easy to grow. It has been used for centuries to lift spirits, reduce anxiety, promote sleep, alleviate indigestion and treat insect bites. I use it in cooking, as a tisane, and in my homemade personal care products. I prefer to avoid synthetic chemicals both in my food and on my body. If like me, you love natural remedies, this is a good plant to have in your garden.

I picked up some fresh green beans at the farmers' market this morning, and I couldn't resist using some lemon balm with them. This is simple and very fresh tasting.

Green Beans with Lemon Balm

2 lb. green beans, ends removed

small hand full of lemon balm leaves

small hand full slivered almonds

squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Steam beans about 15 min., till just tender. Squeeze lemon juice over them, sprinkle with almond slivers and julienned lemon balm leaves.

I also made some toner/astringent with lemon balm. Combined with witch hazel, it works great on the face, as well as dabbed on insect bites. Just apply with a cotton ball.

Lemon Balm Toner

1 c. witch hazel

small hand full fresh lemon balm leaves, torn in half

Combine in a glass jar with a lid, let sit for a week in a cool spot, out of direct sunlight. Strain out leaves.

Here is how to make a tisane using lemon balm. I enjoy this, but not when it's near 100 degrees as it is here this week ;)

Lemon Balm Tisane

2 oz. fresh lemon balm leaves ( about 1/4 c.)

1 c. very hot, but not boiling, water

Combine and let steep about 5 minutes. Add a drop of honey if desired.

Lentil Burgers

2010-06-28T18:05:00.001-04:00

One of my daughters has been a vegetarian for a few years, and recently the other one decided to go veg as well. It has been harder for her, and she occasionally misses eating burgers. I, on the other hand do not, nor do I like to purchase the highly processed fake meat products. So to make the adjustment a bit easier for her, I came up with these homemade veggie burgers. I used lentils this time, but they are also good with black beans.

I vary the veggies used, sometimes I include chopped mushrooms, and sometimes I replace the walnuts with sunflower seeds. The seasonings can also be varied, if in the mood for Italian flavors I use basil and oregano, and sometimes I add jalapenos.

Although I dislike using gluten since it is so highly processed, I have been unable to find a suitable replacement. I tried using flax soaked with water like you would to replace eggs in baking, but it just doesn't bind the burgers together, nor is the texture right. So for now it's a small amount of gluten. I like the texture of these with the small bits of veggies and the rice, but if you like less texture, you can combine the ingredients in your food processor.

These were served on whole wheat buns with lettuce, tomato and avocado.

Lentil Burgers

1 carrot, finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 c. cooked lentils

2 c. cooked brown rice

1/4 c. finely chopped walnuts

3 T. gluten

1 tsp. each- sea salt, cumin, dry mustard and sweet paprika

1/4 tsp. black pepper

5-6 T. water

Preheat oven to 350.

Water saute carrot, celery, onion and garlic till tender. Combine with remaining ingredients, stirring well to make sure gluten develops. Form into patties ( I made about 14) and place on lightly oiled baking sheet. ( I got rid of all of my non-stick cookware a few years back, now I only use cast iron and stainless steel, but that's a post for another day...) Bake 15 min., flip patties over and bake an additional 15 min. Enjoy. These can also be frozen for a quick meal later.

This recipe has been featured at Foodista-

Carrot Burgers

Oil Disaster Video

2010-06-26T21:12:00.000-04:00

I was saddened, but not shocked to view this. The mainstream media has shown very little of what is actually going on, and how bad it really is. This affects us all, and the president was lying when he said the gulf will end up better than it was originally. Not even a remote possibility. I felt I needed to share this.

Salad Days

2010-06-22T21:46:00.001-04:00

I hope you are all having a good week. My dad has been in the hospital, so it's been a busy one for me and I have had very little time to cook.

Luckily, my garden has been producing well, and my greens and pea pods are ready for picking. It's been wonderful to step outside my door and pick most of a meal!

I added some heirloom tomatoes that I picked up at the farmers' market, an avocado, and some raw broccoli for a simple fresh meal. I didn't need any salad dressing since the tomatoes were so juicy. I added a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, which I do occasionally for the b vitamins.

I use very little salt, and when I do it is sea salt which is not iodized, so I occasionally use dulse granules to ensure my intake of iodine. So I sprinkled dulse on this salad as well. It was so fresh and delicious!

For dessert I had fresh strawberries, also from the farmers' market. I have eaten mostly raw for the last few days simply because of time restraints, but it is amazing how much more energy I have had. I always feel better when I have a high amount of raw food in my diet, and this time of year it's so easy to eat this way!

Coconut Lime Rice with Black Bean Salad

2010-06-17T21:23:00.000-04:00

I had small amounts of lots of things that needed using up before I went grocery shopping today, so I set them on the counter, put my thinking cap on, and this dish is what I came up with. Both my son and I were quite happy with this, we devoured it for lunch. The dressing on the bean salad is my new favorite. The combination of lime, balsamic, miso and jalapeno on top of the coconut lime rice was very refreshing.

I am a wimp when it comes to heat. I just like a hint of it, so I only used 1/8 of a large jalapeno, feel free to increase the heat as you like it. I pureed the pepper in the dressing, and it worked really well.
I used brown jasmine rice that I bought at Trader Joe's, any brown rice would do.
This made enough for 2 good size servings, with a little of the bean salad left over.

Coconut Lime Rice

1 c. brown jasmine rice

1 c. coconut milk

3/4 c. water

zest and juice of 1 lime

pinch sea salt

Place all in rice cooker, or cook on stove top 35-40 min.

While rice cooks, make bean salad.

Black Bean Salad

1 1/2 c. cooked black beans

2 stalks celery, diced

3 T. red onion, finely diced

1/2 of a red pepper, diced

1/2 of a cucumber, diced

Combine in medium bowl, toss with dressing.

Balsamic Lime Miso Dressing

juice of 2 limes
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1/8 of a large jalapeno pepper
1/2 tsp. miso
sprinkle of thai curry seasoning
dash black pepper

Combine ingredients in blender, process till smooth. Toss with beans and veggies, serve over rice.

The Fight Against Cancer Begins in Your Kitchen

2010-06-15T09:06:00.002-04:00

Last night PBS aired Anti-Cancer, a special with Dr. David Servan-Schreiber. I read his book by the same title when it was first published two years ago, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the show. It was nice to see the actual doctor talking, he is such a remarkable man. And I occasionally forget things, so it never hurts to have them reinforced. The video above gives a taste of what he has to say on diet, exercise and lifestyle. It is such important information that I had to share it. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you read his book. If you have never been touched by cancer, you may prevent it by living a healthy lifestyle. Cancer is such an ugly, pain-filled disease that I can't imagine not wanting to prevent it.

Lifestyle plays the biggest role in health issues. It affects our risk of heart disease and diabetes as well as various cancers. Sadly, many people do not want to make changes, so they try to blame disease on inherited genetics.

The results of an Oxford study, published in the Lancet showed that genes account for only a small proportion of breast cancers, and for most women the main risk factors remain the lifestyle factors such as child bearing, use of HRT, obesity and alcohol consumption. These are modifiable, so by changing their behaviour women can alter their risk of breast cancer.

This holds true for many cancers. So please, even if you don't want to change your entire lifestyle, make one healthy change today.

Hungarian Green Bean Soup

2010-06-09T13:30:00.000-04:00

Hungarian food has always been my favorite. There's just something about paprika and caraway seeds that I can't get enough of. Traditionally this would contain sour cream, but my version is vegan and uses raw cashew cream as a replacement.

This soup is thick and hearty, almost a stew. While not particularly photogenic, it is delicious and filling. If you soak the cashews overnight, it comes together in about half an hour - 5 minutes to chop the veggies and 20 minutes to cook.

Hungarian Green Bean Soup

1 lb. fresh green beans, ends removed and cut in 2" pieces

4 organic potatoes, skins on, diced

4 c. vegetable broth
1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 T. apple cider vinegar

2 T. sweet Hungarian paprika

1 tsp. caraway seeds

1 tsp. sea salt

Place all ingredients in large pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 min. Stir in cashew cream and serve.

Cashew cream

1/4 c. raw cashews, soaked and drained
1 1/2 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
pinch sea salt
water as needed to cover cashews

Place everything in food processor or blender and puree till smooth and creamy.

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year...

2010-06-06T20:00:00.000-04:00

is cherry season! And the photo above is my all-time favorite breakfast, oatmeal with cherries. Cherries are showing up at the grocery store, and the cherries on my tree are ripening. There are so many things you can do with cherries, from oatmeal to smoothies. I can probably come close to eating my weight in them just as they are ;-) If you weren't a reader last summer, you may have missed my amazing cherry salsa recipe. It's great with baked corn chips or pita, and makes a very tasty addition to salad in place of salad dressing.

My twin daughters graduated from their respective high schools this weekend. Please forgive me, but I am so proud of them, I have to get a little bragging in. One graduated Magna Cum Laude, and the other was Summa Cum Laude. Their party will be next weekend, where my cherry salsa will be making an appearance.

The quick and easy oatmeal doesn't really require a recipe, but I'll post it anyway, just in case it helps anyone. It makes 4 servings and reheats well in the microwave, but I like the leftovers cold too.

Cherry Oatmeal

2 c. old-fashioned oats
4 c. water
1 tsp. almond extract
2 c. pitted sweet cherries
12 brazil nuts, finely chopped or ground
4 T. chia seeds
4 T. ground flax

Bring water and almond extract to a boil. Stir in oats and lower heat to medium, cook and stir about 5 min. till oats are creamy. Stir in cherries, divide among 4 bowls, sprinkle each bowl with 1T. chia, 1T. flax, and 3 ground brazil nuts. Enjoy:)

And look what I was lucky enough to find and add to my garden-

a stevia plant! I've never grown one before, but from what I have read they can be quite finicky. If any of you has experience with these, I'd love to hear about it!

Garden Update

2010-06-01T08:58:00.001-04:00

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! There has not been much cooking going on here, so no new recipes to post right now. We had a power outage of unknown origin Thursday night, followed by a ridiculously hot weekend. This meant grilled veggies and tempeh,

and lots of salads and cold fruit :)
The heat did not prevent me from getting the rest of my gardening done, so I'll share some photos.
The top photo shows the lovely fuschia that hangs on my porch. Next we have the greens I'm growing in a small planter on my porch. The floating row cover worked extremely well. No problem with birds or insects getting my greens.

We used some of them in our salad, yummy! The greens below are in my square foot garden in the yard. They are coming along nicely. We had three really hard frosts after I planted this, and the floating row cover did a great job protecting them. This was the first year I used the cover and it's amazing, I'll be using this every year now. Today I need to thin out the greens a bit more. Some of the seed I used was two years old, so I overplanted to make sure I got at least some to grow, and then it all came up :)

I put my trellis together and set up my earthboxes. They contain tomatoes and red peppers that I started from the seed I saved last year. The pots contain red basil, lemon balm, bush cucumbers, jalapeno peppers and some marigolds.

Here is how the trellis looked midway through last summer. Last year was not a good one for tomatoes, I'm hoping this summer will be better.

And finally a photo of my delicious spearmint.

I'm going to make some iced green tea and add this to it today, along with some fresh lemon juice.

Vega Shake & Go Smoothie Review

2010-05-27T09:43:00.000-04:00

The very kind folks over at Vega sent me a sample of their newest product to review. Now if you've been reading here for any length of time, you'll know that I do not use protein powders or "nutritional" supplements. I am a firm believer that the only healthy nutrition comes from whole plant foods, not from pills or powders. Protein powders are not whole foods, they are heavily processed and refined, and I avoid them.

I am regularly offered products to try. Most of them are vegan junk foods full of highly processed soy, so I turn them down. I was willing to try the Vega smoothie because it was formulated by vegan ironman Brendan Brazier, who is a proponent of vegan whole foods. I recieved this simply for review, I make no profit from it. And as I've mentioned in the past, I will not recommend products I do not believe in. I do not like to give bad reviews, but I will not compromise my integrity.

The product arrived in beautiful packaging. As usual, the first thing I did was to read the ingredient list-

organic green pea protein, organic coconut palm nectar, flaxseed, hemp protein, organic sprouted brown rice protein, organic green food blend (alfalfa grass, organic kale leaf, organic spinach leaf, organic broccoli sprout, spirulina), natural flavours, xanthan gum, beet powder, digestive enzyme blend, citric acid, malic acid, dairy-free probiotic blend (L. acidophilus, B. bifidum).

I was happy to see this contained no soy.
I was immediately unhappy about the pea protein, the hemp protein, and the rice protein, as well as the natural flavors. Ground dried peas would have been great. Pea protein is not a whole food. And I discussed how unnatural "natural flavors" really are in this post.

Since I had agreed to try this, I went ahead and mixed up a glass for myself along with one for my son. Per package directions, I added 2 tablespoons to 1 c. of cold water. Very simple.

I was pleased to see that this contained no artificial colors. But it didn't mix well in the water and by the time I carried it to the table, it had all settled to the bottom of the glass. If you use this, it would be best to mix it in a drink bottle that you can shake to keep remixing it, or else guzzle it down as soon as you make it.

The smoothie mix comes in a variety of flavors- tropical fruit, chocolate, vanilla and berry. I was given the berry to review. Neither myself or my son cared for the flavor. It was reminiscent of berries, but quite odd, and the texture was just too thin to be considered a smoothie. It was really just a glass of water with some protein powder mixed in it.

Overall, I am sorry, but I must say I could never recommend this product. It is touted as a whole food product when clearly it is not one. I will stick to my real whole food smoothies, like these kale smoothies and these beet smoothies.

Spinach Dip

2010-05-24T13:31:00.001-04:00

After nearly a week of frustrating computer problems, I believe I've finally gotten everything under control. On Friday I decided that since I had everything working correctly, I was just going to have some fun. So I joined in the bloggers' quilt festival on my other blog, where hundreds of bloggers were sharing their favorite quilts. I visited a lot of talented folks blogs, but haven't made my way through all of them yet ;) As time allows, I intend to!

It is going to be in the upper 80's all week here, so I got a craving for some cold spinach dip. The spinach dip most people eat is loaded with mayo, sour cream and cheese. The vegan versions I've run across use tofu. Since neither of those options does it for me, I came up with a nearly fat-free, dairy-free, soy-free version that I really enjoy. It makes a great quick snack, or if you are like me, you can make a meal of it. It's a satisfying, cool, energizing meal on a hot day.

My favorite way to eat this dip is with lots of raw veggies, but it also makes a fun tortilla roll-up for my son's lunch or a picnic.

Spinach Dip

1 1/2 c. cooked white beans (I used cannelini, but great northern would work as well)

2 c. really packed raw spinach

4 stalks raw asparagus

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 c. diced red onion

juice of 1 lemon

2 T. nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp. sea salt

Combine all ingredients in food processor and process till smooth. Chill.

Cabbage Potato Pie

2010-05-17T08:39:00.001-04:00

Happy Monday everyone! I want to get this posted early, since I have tons to do today. This is a simple, but filling meal. It was fun to make and it has a nice presentation. I had a green cabbage, a red cabbage, and some potatoes to use up, and I was inspired by the quiche I bought at my son's school last week. I wanted to make something pie-ish, but vegan. This is one of the meals I came up with. I also made a variation of this which was delicious, and I will post it later this week.

Cabbage Potato Pie

5 large potatoes, diced and boiled about 15 min. till tender
6 green cabbage leaves
1 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 head red cabbage, shredded
1 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. caraway seeds

Preheat oven to 350. Par-boil cabbage leaves in boiling water 4 min., drain, reserving 1/2 c. cooking water. In a pie plate, arrange leaves in a rosette, with ribs in center of plate, and the leaves hanging over the edge of the dish, overlapping the leaves. Saute onion, garlic and shredded cabbage in some of the reserved water 5-6 min. till tender, stir in seasonings. Stir cooked veggies into potatoes, place on top of cabbage. Fold cabbage leaves over the filling. Cover with foil and bake 40 min. Enjoy!

Here's a photo showing how to arrange the leaves-

Then add the potato filling and fold the leaves over it.-

Voila! Then cover and bake.

Lentil Stuffed Peppers with Pine Nuts

2010-05-12T12:31:00.001-04:00

After two solid days of a raging migraine, I am feeling much better. Unfortunately I am behind on everything, so this will be a short post. I hope you all had a very happy Mother's day! And are having a great week!
For dinner on Sunday we had a variation of my three bean chili, this time served over sweet potatoes.

Next I made the lentil stuffed peppers, a cabbage salad, and a fruit salad, so luckily there were plenty of leftovers to hold everyone over till I felt better. It really pays to have some cooked brown rice in the fridge! It has been unseasonably cold here, so the hot food really hit the spot.

Lentil Stuffed Peppers

8 medium green peppers, tops and seeds removed
1/3 c. lentils
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small red onion, diced
1 bay leaf
3 c. cooked brown basmati rice
10 large basil leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 diced tomato
2 c. tomato sauce, homemade or your favorite
1 T. pine nuts

Par cook the peppers in a large pot of boiling water or in the microwave for about 5 min., remove and drain. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350. Meanwhile, cook lentils, garlic, onion and bay leaf in 2 c. of water for 20 min., drain. Combine lentils with rice, sea salt, basil and tomato, and stuff into peppers. Place in roaster, pour tomato sauce over all and sprinkle with pine nuts. Bake covered about 45 min. till peppers are tender.

Five Minute Fruit Salad

2010-05-06T15:36:00.000-04:00

I have mentioned before that my oldest son has had cancer and is mentally impaired. He goes to a special school, where they teach daily living skills and some vocational skills. Today was their spring craft sale, where they sell items made by the students, plants grown by the students in their greenhouse, and foods prepared by the students. The money they make from the sale goes back into the program. These young adults put their heart and soul into all that they do, so no one has to pull my leg to get me to support them. I bought a lovely little sage plant, some decorated tile coasters, and imagine my delight to find they were selling vegetarian foods. I bought the spinach and mushroom quiche above, not something I would normally eat, but I had to support the program, especially since they had only meatless items! So I get a break from cooking today. This will be dinner, along with a nice big green salad and a luscious fruit salad for dessert.

I put this fruit salad together in about five minutes, it doesn't really require a recipe. Fruit is probably my favorite thing to eat for dessert. Organic fresh strawberries don't show up around here often, and they are in now, so I have to eat my fill ;-)

Five Minute Fruit Salad

2 golden delicious apples, diced

1 qt. strawberries, tops removed and cut in half

2 pts. blackberries

juice of 1 lemon

1 T. honey, or sweetener of choice

Combine apples with 1/2 of the lemon juice, toss to coat and let sit while you get everything else ready.(This will prevent the apples from browning.) Mix remaining lemon juice with honey or sweetener of choice. Mix the rest of the fruit in with the apples, pour sweetened lemon juice over and toss to coat. Chill.

Kale Smoothies and A New Blog

2010-05-05T13:42:00.001-04:00

My kale is in full bloom, the bright yellow flowers are so cheery. I grow it to eat, but I would happily grow it just for the flowers. They attracted a bumblebee to my yard and I was so excited to see one finally. Of course it was gone by the time I got the camera. Isn't that always the way?!

My girls are taking AP exams this week, so it is more important than ever to start them out with a good breakfast. Of course in my house that means green smoothies packed with nutritious goodies ;-)

Since my kale is flowering and will soon be going to seed, I had to use store bought in my smoothie. I used a variety of fruits and veggies along with some spirulina and they were a lovely deep turquoise color. Sadly that doesn't come through in the photo.

I don't usually measure things when making smoothies. I like a lot of stuff in them and I just throw in whatever looks good, so this is a close estimate. I used my vitamix for this and it served 4.

Kale Smoothie

1 bunch kale
2 carrots
1 cucumber
1 apple
2 bananas
6 oz. fresh or frozen blackberries
2 c. fresh pineapple
1 orange, peeled
2 T. spirulina
4 T. chia seeds
water to thin as needed

Process in high powered blender, adding water to make it as thin as you like- I like mine thick.

And now for my blog news. As I've mentioned before, I love to knit, quilt and craft, and this isn't really the place for those pursuits, so I have started a new blog devoted to all the fun craftiness. If you enjoy handwork, you can check it out here- http://jaknitsquiltsandcrafts.blogspot.com/

Pasta with Pesto and Veggies

2010-05-03T14:45:00.000-04:00

I had a busy and productive weekend, but not a lot of time for cooking. On Saturday I went to a quilt show at a local church, this was the first show I've been to in years. I tend to be very shy, but was made to feel so welcome, I never even thought about it. I really enjoyed it, I had forgotten how much fun crafty people are! There were some amazing quilts on display, now the wheels are turning in my head, lots of ideas are playing around there. I am also considering starting a craft blog when time allows. After the show I came home inspired to work for a few hours on a quilt that's been half done for a few years. Now it's three quarters done ;)
For dinner I threw together a quick meal of pasta and veggies, so I could hurry up and get back to work.

I served it with some roasted garlic and asparagus. I have been eating so much raw food lately that I was really craving a cooked meal.

Pasta With Pesto And Veggies

1 lb. pea pods

1 red pepper, sliced

1/4 of a red onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tomatoes, chopped

few tablespoons water or veggie broth

1 lb.whole wheat rotini, cooked and drained

8 oz. homemade or your favorite pesto

Cook pasta and drain.

While pasta is cooking, stir fry pea pods, pepper, onion and garlic in a little water or veggie broth 4-5 min. till crisp tender. Add tomatoes and cook a minute or two longer. Toss veggies with pasta and pesto.

This goes well with salad, but I needed a break from all the salads I've been eating, so I roasted some asparagus to go with it.

Hope you're all having a happy Monday!

A Dandy Salad and A Review

2010-04-28T14:09:00.001-04:00

Springtime means dandelion salad at my house. Dandelions are one of the best spring tonics. They are loaded with potassium and calcium, and are great for detoxifying the liver and kidneys. I had already planned to make a salad with them when this arrived at my house-

The wonderful folks at Nuts Online sent me these Turkish Figs to sample and review. They also threw in a sample of their Gourmet Muesli, which looks yummy, but I haven't tried it yet. Now let me be clear- I am not an affiliate of theirs, and do not recieve anything from them if you order from them. They simply sent me this free sample to review as I saw fit. And I am giving it a huge thumbs up!! Their shipping was extremely fast, it was well packaged, and the figs are out of this world. I am a fig lover, they are a great source of fiber, potassium and calcium. They are a very healthy way to satisfy a sweet tooth, which I readily acknowledge that I have. I often eat fruit as a dessert. I also like to carry healthy snacks with me when I know I will be out for long periods of time, and these figs along with some nuts are perfect for that. This photo illustrates exactly why I adore these figs-

At the top of the plate are the organic figs I normally buy. At the bottom of the plate are the Turkish Figs from Nuts Online. You can easily see how small and dry my regular figs are and how large, moist and amazing the Turkish Figs are. They have won me over and I will be purchasing all of my figs from them from now on. They also sell a variety of other products from chia seeds to quinoa that I look forward to trying now that I know how high their quality is.

I knew I wanted to add some fruit to my dandelion salad, and once these figs arrived I knew they were the perfect thing. A little sweetness to balance out the bitter greens. This is a salad I will be making again.

Dandelion Fig Salad

For Salad Combine:

2 c. dandelion greens

2 figs, cut into quarters

3 walnuts, chopped

1 T. dried unsweetened cranberries

For dressing combine:

juice of 1 orange

1 tsp. raspberry balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. dijon mustard

The salad serves one, I had dressing left over for at least one or two more salads because I don't like my salad to be swimming in dressing.

Coconut Rice

2010-04-27T13:37:00.000-04:00

I normally only use brown rice, but I had a craving for jasmine rice and couldn't find any whole grain, so I used white. Shame on me, I know better and it won't happen again. It's funny how the taste buds change, and I can no longer stand the taste or texture of highly refined, processed foods like white rice or regular pasta. I find them just disgusting. I've been eating whole grains for so many years, it's hard to believe I ever liked the white stuff. Luckily, even my teens prefer things like quinoa and whole grain pastas to the "regular" stuff. Since the flavors of the seasonings I cooked the rice in were so yummy, I am posting this. But next time I will be using brown rice.

I made this in my rice cooker, but you can do it stovetop if you wish. On the stovetop I believe a bit more liquid is needed- the normal ratio is 2 parts liquid to 1 part rice. I served it with peppers, onion, garlic, broccoli, pea pods, water chestnuts, freshly grated ginger and tempeh stir-fried in a little veggie broth.

Coconut Rice

2 c. jasmine rice

2 c. coconut milk

1 1/2 c. water

juice of 1/2 of a lemon

1/2 tsp. thai curry seasoning

Place in rice cooker and follow your cooker's directions. Or cook on stovetop 20 min. or so until all liquid is absorbed.

What's Growing On

2010-04-23T08:32:00.000-04:00

I've been working in the yard a bit and was happy to see the violets beginning to bloom. They are early, but they'll soon be making their yearly appearance on my table in my Mango, Dandelion and Violet Salad which I posted last year.

I was really surprised to see that my chamomile came back after the winter, usually I have to start it again from seed.

On my front porch I planted some greens, which I covered with this fabulous floating row cover. Last spring I had an awful time with insects and birds eating my greens just as fast as they came up, now I no longer have to worry about it. This is product is wonderful, the sun goes through the cover, I can water through the cover, and the insects and birds can't touch my greens :) It's hard to see, but below the planter next to the bottom step is some of my kale. Most of it is two years old and going to seed now, as it is a biennial. The birds and insects do not seem to like kale, they have never bothered it.

I also planted some beets, spinach, and lettuces in one section of my square foot garden using this same floating row cover. Now I don't have to worry about frost either.

What's growing in your garden?
So far this spring I have seen no bees near my home, when my cherry tree was blooming, near the dandelions, and with all the other spring flowers in bloom, not a single bee of any kind, anywhere. When I was out walking in the neighborhood, I saw one bumblebee about six blocks from my house and it really caught my attention since it was the only bee I've seen and I have been watching for them. Anyone else notice a lack of bees?

Vegetable Tetrazzini

2010-04-21T12:35:00.000-04:00

I am going to get this posted while my computer likes me. It has been very finicky lately, and nothing I do seems to make it work any better. I've deleted old files and unused programs, run and re-run antivirus softwear, defragmented, etc., etc., etc., but it still runs incredibly slow and freezes up quite often. It's an older computer, so I do not want to invest any money in it, and a new one just isn't in the budget at this point. It was finally working fairly well this morning, and I was nearly ready to post, then the power went out and I lost my work. So, if my posting continues to remain sporadic, as well as my reading and commenting, you'll know why.

Today's recipe is for a simple veggie tetrazzini. If you are vegan, just leave off the parmesan cheese that I sprinkled on before baking.

Vegetable Tetrazzini

2 stalks celery, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 red pepper, seeded and diced

1 red onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 small head broccoli, chopped

1 c. fresh or frozen peas

4 T. organic cornstarch
2 3/4 c. vegetable broth, divided
24 oz. whole grain noodles
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 T. freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Simmer veggies in 1 3/4 c. of the vegetable broth about 15 min., till tender. Meanwhile cook and drain noodles. Add seasonings to veggies. Stir cornstarch into remaining 1 c. of vegetable broth, add to veggies and cook and stir until sauce begins to thicken. Stir in cooked noodles. Place in 9x13 pan, sprinkle with fresh parmesan and bake 10 min. till cheese is melted. Makes 8 servings.

Sweet Potato Gratin

2010-04-16T10:01:00.000-04:00

Two bags of potatoes were sitting on my counter. One was organic and the other conventional, which I almost never buy. The organic ones get eaten pretty quickly here, but this last bag sat for nearly two weeks, so it contained a few potatoes that were beginning to sprout. The conventional ones have been sitting on my counter for two months, not a sprout anywhere. That says it all. If they are so highly treated with chemicals that they can't grow, it's not a good idea to eat them.

Potatoes are root vegetables, so they absorb herbicides, pesticides and fungicides that end up in the soil. During the growing season they're treated with pesticides, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated to prevent them from sprouting.

This sprout inhibiting chemical is so toxic that protective clothing and respirators must be worn by those applying it. It should not be swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. It must not be used on seed potatoes, and should not contaminate water, food or feed. And yet they are putting this on potatoes that we are meant to eat. Isn't that food? So I will continue to stick to organic potatoes and avoid these chemicals as much as possible. Good whole foods spoil. If it is so heavily processed or treated that it won't spoil, chances are all of the nutrition is gone and it's simply not worth eating. And the chemicals may well be extremely harmful.

In order to use up my organic taters before the rest sprouted, I came up with this simple, creamy, vegan gratin. I used just half of a jalapeno, I don't like too much heat. Adjust it to suit your own tastes.
Here's a picture before baking:

Sweet Potato Gratin

4-5 sweet potatoes, with skin on, sliced thin

Combine for sauce:

2 c. light coconut milk

1 large clove garlic, minced

zest and juice from 1 lime

1/2 of a jalapeno pepper, finely minced

1/4 tsp. sea salt

black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Layer potatoes and sauce, bake uncovered about an hour. Serves 6.

Carrot Pineapple Salad

2010-04-07T09:37:00.000-04:00

I hope you have all been enjoying the Easter season! I've been under the weather, my son came home with a bad head cold right before Easter break began and generously shared it with me. Needless to say there has not been much cooking going on here. I haven't had much appetite and have just been throwing simple salads together out of whatever I have on hand for the most part. But this carrot pineapple salad is one worth sharing with you. The combination of textures with the crispy carrots, juicy pineapple and chewy dates is lovely. It is a very healthy way to satisfy a sweet tooth without any added sweeteners.

This makes three good size servings, but it can be easily doubled or tripled for a crowd.

Carrot Pineapple Salad

3 carrots, shredded
1 C. finely diced fresh pineapple
3 diced medjool dates
1 T. slivered almonds
1 T. unsweetened shredded coconut
juice of 1 orange

Combine ingredients and enjoy.

Hope you all have a great Wednesday!

Milk Replacers, Additives, and The Importance of Water

2010-03-31T12:54:00.001-04:00

I had a question on my last post from a reader, Starile, about processing and bad chemicals in commercial milk replacers such as soy, rice and almond milks. My answer is a little too long to place in the comment section, so I'll answer it here. I personally do not use milk replacers at all, and I'll share why.

Commercial soy milk is processed using hexane, a known neurotoxin. Unfermented soy such as soy milk also contains phytates and trypsin inhibitors which block the absorption of minerals and nutrients. A number of studies have also shown that unfermented soy may inhibit thyroid function.

Commercial rice milk was found to have excessively high levels of arsenic back in 2008. This was due to the chemicals used in growing the rice. I could not find any information that leads me to believe the situation has changed. The UK Food Standards Agency recommends that young children between the ages of 1 and 4.5 years old not drink any rice milk as a result.

Commercial brands of milk replacers generally contain lots of unhealthy additives. Most contain carageenan, which can cause severe gastric distress and is a tumor promoter, soy lecithin (you know how I feel about gmo, unfermented and chemically processed soy), and natural flavors.

Natural flavors are anything but natural. They are used by companies to trick consumers into thinking they are buying a healthy product, which they then charge more for. The difference between natural and artificial flavors is that at some point way back in time, the natural flavor was derived from an actual food. And the artificial flavor was not.

Here is the FDA definition of a natural flavor-
The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors include the natural essence or extractives obtained listed in 182.10, 182.20, 182.40, and 182.50 and part 184 of this chapter, and the substances listed in 172.510 of this chapter.

Lest you think that the natural flavor in a product containing natural strawberry flavoring contains actual dried or ground strawberries, the FDA goes on to say-
Substances obtained by cutting, grinding, drying, pulping, or similar processing of tissues derived from fruit, vegetable, meat, fish, or poultry, e.g., powdered or granulated onions, garlic powder, and celery powder, are commonly understood by consumers to be food rather than flavor and shall be declared by their common or usual name.

Once a chemical is extracted from a food, its properties can be copied, and off we go. Natural and artificial flavors are made in a lab by a chemical "flavorist". Natural flavors are not any safer or healthier than artificial flavors. Natural flavors can contain msg, and can be plant or animal based, so one cannot assume they are vegan, regardless of the product they are found in. There really is nothing natural about them.

Home made nut or seed milks, oat milk, and rice milk can be a much healthier option. It is easy to make and less costly than store bought too. There are tons of recipes if you google it. Since I don't use these, I have no recipe to recommend.

I often drink green and herbal teas, but my drink of choice is water. Water is the most vital component of the human body, it is what the human body was designed to run on. It is necessary for digestion and food absorption, transporting nutrients to cells, regulating body temperature, and the hugely important task of eliminating toxins from our bodies. Drinking water is crucial to good health, but is probably the most neglected part of most diets.

Raw Ranch-like Dressing

2010-03-30T09:31:00.001-04:00

I was really missing ranch dressing. I'm not vegan, but I use dairy sparingly. All of the non-dairy recipes I could find use tofu and soy milk, things I avoid. So I decided to try using the almonds I had soaking to create a healthier substitute. While nothing replaces the flavor of buttermilk and real mayo, this was a good sub for me. It was thick, creamy, ranch-ish. It satisfied my craving while giving me a boost of heart healthy nutrients rather than a boost of artery clogging fat and cancer promoting animal protein.

This can be left thick and makes a great dip for raw veggies, or thinned with a little more water for a dressing.

If you grow houseplants or happen to be starting seeds indoors for your garden like I am, here's a little tip- when draining off the soak water from soaking nuts or sprouting seeds, use it to water your plants. My plants love it!

Raw Ranch-like Dressing

3/4 c. raw almonds, soaked overnight and drained

juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 T. dried parsley

1 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1/3 to 1/2 water, depending on how thick you like it

black pepper to taste

Place everything in food processor and puree till smooth, adding water a little at a time until you get the desired consistency.

Vegan Three Bean Chili with Spaghetti Squash

2010-03-26T09:46:00.001-04:00

It went back down into the 20's last night, winter just doesn't want let go of it's grip here. So I wanted another hearty, filling meal. Fridays are vegan at my house, and they may soon be raw as well. But not until the weather warms up more. For days like this, I like this 3 bean chili. I love the combination of the hot, spicy chili with the slightly sweet, slightly crisp spaghetti squash, it's very satisfying.

Sadly, I am out of home canned tomatoes now, so I had to use store bought. I would have just subbed in fresh ones, but tomatoes available here right now are tasteless, colorless, odorless, useless things. So I bit the bullet and used canned. I added brown rice to this to make it a more hearty, filling meal. I had leftover cooked beans in my freezer, feel free to use canned if you wish. If you are short on time but still try to avoid bpa like I do, a company called Randall sells cooked beans in glass jars instead of in cans. I have used their great northern beans in a pinch and they weren't bad, I know they also make other varieties.

This makes a big pot of chili, since I have a large family. Feel free to cut the recipe in half.

Three Bean Chili with Spaghetti Squash

1 large red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 red pepper, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1 1/2 c. cooked black beans

1 1/2 c. cooked pinto beans

2 c. cooked great northern beans

2 -14 oz. cans diced tomatoes

8 oz. can tomato sauce

3 T. chili powder

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1/2 tsp. sea salt

2 1/2 c. cooked brown rice

cooked spaghetti squash ( 1/2 squash per person)

To cook spaghetti squash:

Preheat oven to 375, cut squash in half, scoop out seeds. Place cut side down on oiled baking sheet and bake 30-40 min. till just tender. Cool. Scrape with fork to remove squash strands.

Meanwhile, combine onion, garlic, and peppers in large pot. Add a little water and saute till tender. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 15 min. Serve over spaghetti squash.

Raw Chocolate Dip

2010-03-24T12:33:00.001-04:00

I eat a lot of fruit for snacks and dessert. This week my sweet tooth kicked in and I wanted something more than just fruit. But I have a to do list as long as my arm, so it needed to be something quick and easy, using ingredients I had on hand. I also have a love of raw desserts -my favorite is this raw blueberry pie, and I recently made this raw walnut spice cake that Chris at irawvegan came up with. It was so good it was gone before I could photograph it! So I came up with this ridiculously simple raw chocolate dip.

It too was mostly gone before I remembered to photograph it. I used raw honey for this. I have been reading a lot lately about just how processed agave is and I choose to avoid it now. It is neither natural nor healthy. It contains almost twice the amount of fructose that high fructose corn syrup does. That concentrated fructose has been shown to cause fatty liver disease, raise triglycerides, and increase insulin resistance among other problems. Here are a couple of links I found interesting- a piece in the Huffington Post by Dr. Jonny Bowden, and a Study written up in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

So what sweetener is best? Really, using none is the best choice. And we all know this. But many of us are not willing to give up all sweeteners. So I will continue to use raw organic honey, it has not undergone any processing and has been used since biblical times. I just keep its use very limited.

The dip I made went well with strawberries, and would be good with any fruit. It made enough to serve 4 sweet tooths. (Sweet teeth?) It doesn't harden, so it can't be used to coat chocolate covered strawberries. It is meant to be used as a soft dip.

Raw Chocolate Dip

1 T. raw cocoa

3 T. raw honey

1 -2 T. water

Combine cocoa and honey and 1 T. of water, if too thick add a bit more water. Serve with fruit and enjoy!

Stuffed Collard Greens

2010-03-22T13:39:00.001-04:00

Happy Spring everyone! Even though it doesn't feel like it, spring is officially here. This makes me very happy, and I can put up with the cold much easier when I know it won't last much longer. Since it did turn cold here again, I wanted something warm and filling. Stuffed cabbage sounded good, but loose collard leaves are so much easier to work with. So I stuffed those instead.
Collards are part of the brassica family, nutritional superstars and tasty to boot. Because the leaves are all different sizes, the filling and leaves do not always match up, and you may be left with a little of one or the other.

Stuffed Collard Greens

1 c. brown rice

2 1/2 c. vegetable broth

2 carrots, finely diced

6 stalks celery, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 bunches collard greens, washed, stems cut off

3 c. tomato sauce (homemade or your favorite)

Combine brown rice, broth, carrot, celery, garlic, onion, oregano, basil, salt and pepper in rice cooker and cook according to your cooker's directions, or in stovetop pan and simmer covered, 40-45 min. till tender and all liquid is absorbed.

While rice is cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil, add collard greens and boil 4-5 min. till just tender- don't overcook. You want the leaves to bend easily for rolling, but not to tear easily or get mushy. You may have to do this in 2 batches. Remove, place in colander, and run under cold water to stop cooking.

When rice is ready, preheat oven to 350. Pour 1/2 c. of tomato sauce in bottom of roaster pan. Place a small mound of rice in center of each leaf, fold in sides and roll up. Place seam side down in roaster pan. Pour remaining tomato sauce over rolls, cover, and bake 30-40 min.

This dish is easily adapted to using leftovers- brown rice, quinoa, or barley, and any veggies you have hanging around in your fridge can be put to use for a very quick meal.

Crockpot Cabbage and Potatoes

2010-03-17T08:36:00.000-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I haven't meant to neglect the blog, but this week has been crazy busy at my house. One of my girls became a licensed driver over the weekend, and the other one will become one within the next few weeks. These are scary times for mom!! Between the road test, going to the insurance office, secretary of state, taking the car she will be driving in to the repair shop to have some things fixed so that it will be extremely safe for her to drive, and taking the other daughter driving so she will be ready for her road test, there hasn't been much spare time. And to top it off the weather has been amazing! When it is this nice out, I can't stay indoors, I must go out and play ;-) So I came up with this simple slow cooker recipe, which also is appropriate for St. Paddy's day.

I wanted a light meal, so I served this with a large salad and it hit the spot. For a more substantial meal you could add some cooked beans.

Crockpot Cabbage and Potatoes

1/2 head cabbage, cut into chunks

2 potatoes, skins on, cut in large chunks

1 T. balsamic vinegar

2 T. olive oil

1 tsp. caraway seeds

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Place everything in slow cooker and cook on high for about 4 hours, or low about 6 hrs.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Sweet Potato Soup

2010-03-12T14:02:00.001-05:00

I am a long-time fan of Michael Pollan. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.", is very familiar to most of us. I'm not an Oprah fan, but happened to catch part of her show yesterday. I was folding laundry and the t.v. was on in the background. It was a re-broadcast, featuring Michael Pollan and Food Inc. I heard Michael Pollan say "If you eat real food, you don't have to worry about nutrients." This is my philosophy too.
I was lucky enough to grow up knowing both of my grandmothers and one of my great-grandmothers. They didn't count calories, carbs, fats or protein. They ate mainly real, whole foods. They did use cane sugar and olive oil, but sparingly, as I do. They used real butter, not trans-fat laden margarine. They did not subsist on a diet full of packaged industrial foods, each item loaded with sugar, sodium, fat and added chemicals. They did eat animal products, but unlike today's disease causing western diet, they were not a part of every meal. And the animals were raised under very different conditions, the chickens who gave them eggs lived outside, scratching at the ground and eating bugs. I don't think they could envision the way chickens are raised today, sickly, crammed into sheds, never seeing the sunlight, unable to walk, and pumped full of antibiotics.

Everything in my great-grandmother's day was organic. I doubt she could envision a world where one must pay extra to have the chemical toxins left off her food. Their bodies got more exercise than most of ours do in our now sedentary society. And they didn't have to fight the barrage of chemicals that are present in everything around us today.

One of my grandmothers and my great-grandmother lived into their nineties. None suffered heart disease or cancer. My great-grandmother rarely saw a doctor, and did not subsist on pills. She lived in her own home until she died, doing her own cooking, cleaning, and walking to the store. She worked in her garden, growing some of her own food. One of my fondest memories is sitting in her kitchen, eating a slice of pie. It was homemade of course, with the rhubarb she had grown in her yard. So these two rules of Michal Pollan's always hit home with me:

•Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.

•Don't eat anything with ingredients a third grader cannot pronounce.

These are some of the thoughts I come back to when I am asked why I do not consume things that are touted as healthier alternatives today, such as canola oil, protein powders and tvp. I can visualize my great-grandmother asking "what's a canola?"

I changed our diet for health concerns, mainly having to do with my son's battle with cancer, although I also care deeply about the animals and the environment. Readers have asked me if I am going to give up all oil, sugar, or become vegan. While I greatly respect those who choose to do so, the answer for us is no. We eat a lot of vegan meals, and Fridays here are always vegan. I do not miss meat at all, and will never go back to it, but I have no interest in completely eliminating all oil, sugar and animal products. I am picky about what I do use, and keep use to a minimum. I believe the single most important thing you can do for your body is to eat lots of colorful fruits and vegetables every day, and at least some of them should be raw. It is very rare for us when we do not get 10 servings of these in a day.

I absolutely believe that diet is paramount to good health and avoiding disease, but I also realize that my son's cancer was not caused by years of an unhealthy diet. He was an infant when diagnosed. It likely was linked to the chemicals I was exposed to at work each day before he was born, not to mention the chemicals polluting the water supply. I will probably never know for certain. And while I am like a junkie when it comes to nutritional information, reading books, studies, etc., I do not blindly follow the latest fads. I am well aware that studies can be biased and results slanted. In the end common sense must take precedence. So I tell my readers to do your own research, and make the choices you feel are right for your own families and that you can live with. If something isn't working for your families, change it. I believe that real food comes from nature, not from a factory, and that added chemicals are not food. And so we eat a mainly whole foods, plant based diet. I hope I've answered all of the questions, if not, feel free to email me.

Now on to today's recipe. We eat a lot of legumes around here, as well as lots of colorful veggies. This simple soup combines them. I did not have a fresh coconut on hand, so I used a can of coconut milk. When fresh is on hand, I puree the coconut meat and the coconut water in my blender.

Sweet Potato Soup

5 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small red onion, diced

2 c. vegetable broth

1 14oz. can coconut milk

1 c. cooked adzuki beans

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. thai curry seasoning

1/2 tsp. sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

In large pot combine sweet potatoes, garlic, onion and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 min. till potatoes are tender. Puree with stick blender or in blender till smooth. Stir in coconut milk, beans and seasonings. Heat through, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and serve.

Now I'm off to walk the dogs before the rain sets in. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Ode to Reusable Bags

2010-03-09T11:23:00.000-05:00

One bag.

Two bags.

Red bags.

Blue bags.

This bag has a little star.

These bags here are in the car.

Say, what a lot of bags there are!

Big bag, little bag.

Old bag.

New bag.

Bags on a chair.

Bags with some flair.

Bags are even on the stairs.

Bags on the floor.

Bags in a drawer.

Here are more bags.

24 bags.

and still more bags.

Yet none are with me in the store. Bags!

Homemade Vegetable Broth

2010-03-06T12:21:00.003-05:00

I make lots of soups, and often use broth to flavor other dishes like rice and quinoa. I realized that I never put up a recipe for homemade broth. It is simple to make, and tastes so much better than store bought. Plus it ensures avoidance of msg, excessive sodium and other nasty additives. And it is very economical, I can make a whole gallon of broth for less than the price of a 1 quart box. I freeze the extra in glass quart canning jars. Once you've made your own vegetable broth, you'll never want to go back to store bought.

Homemade broth is a great way to use up an over abundance of vegetables, those that are past the peak of freshness, and avoid wasting any organic scraps and peelings that would normally be thrown in the trash. When I am cooking, I place any unused veggies such as mushroom stems, celery tops, carrot peelings, etc, into a container in the freezer to save for making broth. Leeks, scallions, garlic, turnips, rutabaga, parsnips, zucchini and sweet potato are all nice additions to broth. Mushrooms and potatoes add a wonderful depth and richness to broth.

Another nice thing about making it yourself is that you can change it up and make it different each time. Vary the veggies as well as the seasonings. During winter I like to use bay leaves, in summer I add fresh dill from my garden. Have too many of something in your CSA box or garden? Throw them into your broth. Just be cautious about adding too many strong flavored veggies such as broccoli, brussels sprouts and cabbage as they can easily be overpowering. It isn't necessary to finely dice all your veggies, just make sure they are well cleaned and coarsely chop- most can be quartered or halved. Like I said, this is simple. In about an hour you'll have the best tasting fresh, nutritious broth you've ever tasted. Here is the recipe for my latest batch of broth, use it as a guide and add the veggies, scraps and seasonings of your choice. I did not add any salt to this. I do not use much salt and prefer to add it when I use the broth in other recipes. So salt to your own taste.

Homemade Vegetable Broth

1/2 of a red onion, cut in half

1 white onion, peeled and quartered

4-6 stalks celery, including tops, coarsely chopped

2 carrots, coarsely chopped

hand full green beans

2 potatoes, with skin on, quartered

2 bay leaves

1 T. parsley

1 T. black peppercorns

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 gallon water

Place everything in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for an hour. Strain, pressing liquid out of the veggies. Place in the fridge if not using right away, or freeze in quart containers for use later.

Edited to Add: I had to turn on comment moderation since I was spammed. Sorry, and hope you'll bear with me.

Collard Greens with Adzuki Beans

2010-03-04T11:14:00.000-05:00

Potholes are everywhere here. Nearly every road you travel has them. They are so bad in some areas that sometimes it's a case of choosing to drive through the smaller ones in order to miss the huge ones. Yesterday I couldn't avoid hitting a large one and damaged my car, so it's in the shop being repaired today. It was not a good day for that to happen- my hubby had to go out of town, and I had a lot of driving to do. I dropped my daughter and her friend off at one of the colleges for a seminar/competition in the morning. They needed a ride home in the afternoon. My other daughter didn't get my text message in time to catch the bus after school, so she also needed a ride home. And last night my daughter's orchestra had a concert. In between working all of this out, I needed to come up with a quick dinner. I had planned to shop yesterday, too. Obviously grocery shopping was out, so I had to work with what I had on hand.
A drawer full of collard greens and some cooked adzuki beans filled the bill perfectly.

The single most important food to include in a healthy diet is greens. They are the most nutrient dense food on the planet, and their health benefits are legendary. Most days I include a green smoothie and a salad in my diet. But occasionally I do like to cook greens, especially in winter. Yesterday was one of those days.

Collard Greens with Adzuki Beans

1 lb. collard greens, washed and chopped

1 red onion, diced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

3/4 c. salsa (I used my home canned salsa, use your favorite)

1 fresh tomato, chopped

1/4 c. apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 c. water

1 tsp. sea salt

1 c. cooked adzuki beans

1/2 of a red pepper, cut into matchsticks

In large pot combine everything except adzuki beans and red pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30-40 min. till collards are tender. Serve with adzuki beans on top and garnish with red pepper sticks. Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side dish.

Pressure Cooked Refried Beans

2010-03-01T09:07:00.002-05:00

Beans are a mainstay around here, I eat them in some form nearly every day. Because they can be time consuming to cook, I often cook large batches and freeze them for use later. When I'm all out, if I've forgotten to soak some overnight, I use lentils instead. Last night I did indeed soak some pinto beans. But today's a busy day and I just didn't have time to stay here while they cooked for hours. Then it hit me- I have a perfectly good pressure cooker sitting in the basement. I don't know why I forget to use it. So I pulled it out and my beans were done in in under an hour.

This is my version of refried beans. It is not authentic since I love to add a bay leaf to beans when I cook them. They are so much creamier and more flavorful than canned beans. They are also healthier, since we avoid the BPA from cans, the lard that is often used, and any additives. Leftovers can be frozen for later use if you are lucky enough to have some.
I know that some people do not pre-soak the beans they cook in the pressure cooker and some do not add oil, but I follow the directions that came with mine religiously in the interest of safety. Most of the oil pours off with the cooking water anyway. I used roasted garlic in this, for more depth of flavor.

Pressure Cooker Refried Beans

1 lb. pinto beans, soaked overnight and drained

20 c. water
1 T. olive oil ( to prevent foaming in the pressure cooker)
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1 bay leaf
1 head garlic, roasted
1 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
1 large red onion, diced
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tomato, finely diced
2 tsp. sea salt

In pressure cooker place pinto beans, water, olive oil, jalapenos, and bay leaf. Cook at 15 lbs. pressure for 20 min., allow pressure to drop normally. Remove bay leaf, drain, saving a little cooking water for mashing with.

Meanwhile, roast garlic. Preheat oven to 400. Cut 1/4" off of top of head of garlic, brush with olive oil, wrap in foil and roast about 40 min. Cool.

At the same time, saute onion, chili powder and cumin in sesame oil 2-3 min. , then sweat till tender. Add tomato and 6 cloves of roasted garlic. Cook and stir 3-4 min. more. Set aside.

Mash pinto beans adding cooking water as needed to get a creamy consistency. Add onion mixture and sea salt. Eat as is, in a tortilla, or however else you enjoy refried beans.

We enjoyed ours on whole grain tortillas with broccoli slaw.

Raw Beet Salad with Raspberry Orange Vinaigrette

2010-02-25T09:33:00.002-05:00

Colorful food is so much fun to eat, especially when it tastes this good. This salad is quick to make and bursting with flavor. Beets and citrus are a perfect match.

This salad always disappears quickly at family gatherings. I sometimes make a version of this using cooked, sliced beets. I have used canned to make this when pinched for time, but I try to avoid using canned goods to avoid BPA. And since I try to eat a large portion of my food raw each day, I came up with this version. I prefer this, the crunch of the beets is very satisfying. I only had one large beet left in the house, and I didn't feel like driving around in the snow and ice to get more, so this made enough salad for two. Feel free to double or triple it.

Raw Beet Salad with Raspberry Orange Vinaigrette

1 large beet, peeled and cut into matchsticks

2 clementines, peeled and sectioned

1 T. finely minced red onion

mixed greens

juice of 1 orange

1 T. raspberry balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. honey or agave

Combine beet, clementines and onion. Stir together orange juice, vinegar, olive oil, and honey or agave. Pour dressing over beets and toss gently. Serve on a bed of mixed greens.

Vegan Bean Goulash

2010-02-22T11:47:00.000-05:00

New vegetarians are often intimidated by the "weird" ingredients found in so many recipes. Things like agar agar, tempeh, seaweed, even agave can be off-putting to omni's because they are unfamiliar. I am often asked if it's possible to be vegetarian without eating "weird" or hard to find ingredients.

Of course the answer is a resounding yes. But I remember the difficulties I faced when I first became vegetarian. Most of the cookbooks I could find back then contained recipes calling for "weird" ingredients like brewer's yeast ( not to be confused with nutritional yeast), soy flour, carob, and TVP granules. Everything was brown and vile tasting. Bland brown rice and TVP casseroles appeared in nearly every cookbook. The few recipes with any flavor were Asian or Mexican.

As time went on available recipes called for more and more highly processed ingredients. Soy "cheeze", mock "chicken", and " Tofurky" are a real turn-off to me. As is "vegan beefy" ( read TVP) anything. I wasn't giving up unhealthy meat in order to replace it with unhealthy, highly processed imitation food.

Judging from my email, many new and aspiring vegetarians have trouble sticking with it because they are frustrated with the lack of recipes for "normal" food. While we've come a long way since the 1970's, there is still a dearth of whole food vegetarian recipes.
Fortunately, Asian and Mexican recipes still fill vegetarian cookbooks. But whole foods vegetarian recipes are still rare for those of us who miss the flavors of our traditional European ancestry. So, per a request, today I am sharing my goulash recipe.

I made this with leftover cooked beans , but you can sub canned beans if you use them. I used home canned tomatoes, but I wrote the recipe for store bought, since that is what most people use. The caraway seeds in this are a traditional flavor, but they also help to prevent the unpleasant gastric effect that beans have on some people. This recipe serves 6, feel free to cut it in half if needed. To increase nutrition I serve it over spaghetti squash rather than noodles. The flavors really complement each other. Figure on 1/2 of a spaghetti squash per person. The recipe below is vegan, if you are vegetarian, serve with a tsp. of sour cream on top. This one makes my taste buds sing!

Vegan Bean Goulash

3 spaghetti squash, cooked ( directions below)

1 onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 T. olive oil

2 c. vegetable broth

14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 clove garlic, minced

2 c. cooked kidney beans

2 1/2 c. cooked great northern beans

1 organic potato, skin on, diced

2 T. sweet hungarian paprika

1/8 tsp. basil

1 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

3/4 tsp. caraway seeds

To cook spaghetti squash:

Preheat oven to 375, cut squash in half, scoop out seeds. Place cut side down on oiled baking sheet and bake 30-40 min. till tender. Cool. Scrape with fork to remove squash strands.

Sweat onion and red pepper in oil 10 min. till tender. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25 min. till potato is tender and goulash has thickened a little. Serve over spaghetti squash.

This is a great meal to curl up in front of the Olympics with ;-) It's also much easier to get my workout done with the inspiring athletes to watch while I'm doing it.

Raw Brussels Sprouts Salad

2010-02-19T12:14:00.000-05:00

I was reading a great post on Alicia's blog Vegan Epicurean this morning. She has a lovely lemony brussels sprouts soup recipe and a link to an interesting article about the impact of certain raw veggies on cancer cells. We eat a lot of raw onions, garlic, kale, broccoli and brussels sprouts at our house and they are all strongly anti-cancer. Her post reminded me of a simple salad I make using raw brussels sprouts. I'm posting it today since we can all use more ways to include these powerhouse veggies in our diets.

We love the taste and the health benefits of raw garlic. If you find the taste of raw garlic to be too much, reduce the amount or leave it out. I make the dressing first, which allows the allicin in the garlic to develop while I make the salad.

Raw Brussels Sprouts Salad

24 brussels sprouts, ends and outer leaves removed, sliced thinly

1 grated carrot

2 T. raw walnuts, chopped

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp. olive oil

1 small clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. freshly minced ginger

1 1/2 tsp. agave

freshly cracked black pepper

Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, ginger and agave. Set aside. Prepare sprouts and grate carrots, mix together. Place in 2 bowls, top with walnuts and lemon zest. Drizzle with a little lemon dressing and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Makes 2 salads.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

2010-02-16T12:05:00.001-05:00

While I am known to eat a variety of "odd" foods for breakfast including brussels sprouts and salads, my absolute favorite breakfast is oatmeal. We all know it is a superfood, loaded with fiber, manganese, magnesium, selenium and thiamin. It's anticancer, helps regulate blood sugar, which is great for diabetics and those interested in weight-loss, and helps prevent heart disease.

Steel cut, old fashioned or quick are all healthy, whole foods. The only oats to avoid are the chemical filled little packets of instant oats. Oats are a great palette to add a variety of healthy fruits, nuts and spices to, and your breakfast can be different each day.

Today I had some butternut puree left, so I decided to make oatmeal reminiscent of pumpkin pie. You could sub canned pumpkin if necessary. I grind a variety of raw nuts in my food processor and freeze them for use in oatmeal and other recipes. My kids would never eat a whole brazil nut, but they happily eat ground ones on their oatmeal ; ) One or two brazil nuts daily will meet your need for the anticancer selenium. Do not consume more than this because selenium can build up in your body and cause toxicity. This will make 2 large servings or 3 regular ones.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

3/4 c. butternut puree

2 c. water

1 3/4 c. old fashioned oats

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

pinch sea salt

1/4 c. agave

2 T. ground flaxseed

ground brazil nuts and pecans

Combine butternut puree and water in pan, bring to boil. Stir in oats, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and salt. Cook and stir 4-5 min. till oats are done, stir in agave and flaxseed. Sprinkle with nuts and serve.

Butternut Kale Risotto

2010-02-11T11:36:00.001-05:00

I don't often have time to spend 20-30 minutes standing over a pot and stirring, but since yesterday was a snow day for the kids, I had nowhere to go. After my workout shoveling the 6.5 inches of snow we got, I was craving something warm and creamy. So I came up with this simple yummy risotto. The butternut squash puree made it luxuriously rich and creamy.

Traditional risotto calls for alcohol, but alcohol is verboten in our house. I used vegetable broth instead. Contrary to popular myth, cooking does not remove all the alcohol from a dish. Here is a list of some of the alcohol content remaining in cooked food from the USDA.

-alcohol added to boiling liquid & removed from heat 85%

-alcohol flamed 75%
-unheated and stored overnight 70%
-baked, 25 minutes, alcohol not stirred into mixture 45%
-baked/simmered, with alcohol stirred into mixture:
15 minutes 40%
30 minutes 35%
1 hour 25%
1.5 hours 20%
2 hours 10%

If you are cooking for someone with allergies, or in alcohol recovery, it would make sense to inform them if you cook with it. For someone in recovery, aside from the remaining alcohol content, the smell or taste alone could be a trigger to send them into relapse.

Alcohol is linked with a laundry list of health problems, including oral, breast, rectal and liver cancers as well as stroke. The Million Women Study showed that even low to moderate consumption of alcohol increases breast cancer risk. In an accompanying editorial in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute, Michael Lauer M.D., and Paul Sorlie, Ph.D., of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in Bethesda, M.D., stated "From a standpoint of cancer risk, the message of this report could not be clearer. There is no level of alcohol consumption that can be considered safe".

I used my butternut puree in the risotto, found at the bottom of this page- butternut puree, but you could sub canned pumpkin. If you are vegan, just use olive oil in place of the butter.

Butternut Kale Risotto

1 T. organic butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 c. arborio rice
5-8 c. vegetable broth ( I used 4 c. broth and about 2 cups water)
1/2 c. butternut puree
1 c. chopped kale
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. sea salt
black pepper to taste
hand full of toasted slivered almonds

Heat broth in saucepan and keep it at a low simmer. In a large saute pan, melt butter, add onion and saute till tender. Add rice and stir till white spots appear on grains, 2-3 min. Then add a ladle full of broth, cook and stir until it's absorbed. Continue to add hot broth, a ladle at a time and stir until it's absorbed. When it is about halfway cooked- about 10 min., add the butternut puree, kale, sage, and garlic. Continue to add broth, a ladle at a time and stir until it's absorbed, until rice is tender and creamy, but still has chew. Taste it to see if it is done to your liking. This took me about 20 min. total. Then add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and sprinkle with toasted slivered almonds.

Two Potato Kale Soup

2010-02-09T13:56:00.001-05:00

Snow gently falling all morning put me in the mood for soup. Potato kale soup is one of my favorites and my basic recipe for it is here.
If you read my blog regularly, you know I have trouble sticking to a recipe, even when it is my own. I always seem to need to tinker with recipes and change things. One of my grandmothers always cooked this way, no recipes. It would make me so mad when I would ask her how to make something and she would say "a pinch of this" and "just enough of that", "until it is done". When I was young I needed an exact recipe to follow. Now I cook like her, but I usually write down what I use so I can share my recipes and my girls can make the recipes they like.

The weather man is calling for up to 10 inches of snow here by tomorrow with strong winds, and we may have thunder snow tonight. This made me crave an even more nutrient dense soup. So I added a few of nature's superfoods to my recipe, and it is very satisfying. The sweet potatoes were the perfect touch, this is now my favorite version of it. Good to snuggle in and stay warm with.

Two Potato Kale Soup

1 red onion, diced

1 T. olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1 c. chopped cabbage

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

4 c. vegetable broth

4 russet potatoes, with skins on if organic, diced

1 sweet potato, with skin on if organic, diced

2 c. packed, chopped kale

sea salt and pepper to taste

In olive oil, sweat onion about 10 min., till tender. Add garlic, cabbage, bay leaf, vinegar, broth, and potatoes, and simmer 20 min. till potatoes are tender. Add kale and cook 2-3 min. till kale is bright green. Season with salt and pepper, serve.

Beet Smoothie

2010-02-08T13:52:00.001-05:00

When my brother told me the other day that he's been putting beets in his smoothies, I knew I would have to try it. I love adding beet greens to smoothies, but for some reason it never occurred to me to also add the actual beets. I love beets, but sadly my children did not inherit that taste from me. So adding them to smoothies is a great way to add this powerhouse to their diets. Beets are loaded with folate and manganese as well as fiber and vitamin c. Beets are anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer. The betacyanin which gives them their color is a cancer fighting agent. They also make the smoothies an amazing color.

Beets and dandelions are great for the liver and help to flush out toxins, so I combined them in this smoothie along with some fruit to add more vitamins and antioxidants and to make it a healthy yet tasty treat for the kids. I really liked this smoothie and could have drank it all myself! I like my smoothies thick- like a milkshake, if you like yours thinner just add a little water.

Beet Smoothie

large handfull baby spinach

large handfull dandelion greens

large handfull red grapes

2 bananas

2 oranges, peeled

1 c. pineapple cubes

1 beet, peeled

6 ice cubes

Place everything in blender and blend till smooth. Enjoy!

Birthday Fun

2010-02-05T10:57:00.000-05:00

Last night my daughter and I went to a meeting at the college she wants to attend, and when we got home this was waiting for me!! While we were gone, my other daughter sneakily baked this cake for me for my birthday :) ( I love you, girls!) While I have never been a big fan of cake, I prefer more fruity, healthier offerings, this is one cake I absolutely adore. Since it's my birthday, I'll enjoy every sugary, fat-filled bite without remorse. And knowing all the love that went into making it, I'll even have a second piece, savoring every morsel. The recipe for this cake is here if you are interested, I adapted it from an Ina Garten recipe. It could easily be healthied up if you choose.

Here are some famous folks who share my birthday:

Nancy Hanks Lincoln- Feb. 5, 1784 ( mother of Abraham Lincoln)

Lafayette Benedict Mendel -February 5, 1872 (American biochemist known for his work in nutrition)

Andrew Greeley- Feb. 5, 1928 (author)

Hank Aaron-Feb. 5, 1934

Don Cherry- Feb. 5, 1934 ( Canadian ice hockey commentator- I love this guy,he's so much fun and he wears the most outlandish suits!)

Christopher Guest- Feb.5, 1948 (from SNL)

Some things that happened on this day in history:

1922- The first issue of Readers Digest Magazine was published.

1936- The National Wildlife Federation was formed.

1958- The US Airforce lost a hydrogen bomb off the coast of Savannah, Georgia and has never found it.

1981- The world's largest Jell-O was made.(9246 gallons of watermelon flavored) ( all I can say is yuck!)

I'll be back on Monday with some healthier fare. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Natural Winter Hand Care for Cracked Fingertips

2010-02-02T13:46:00.002-05:00

My winter hiatus is now over, and everyone is feeling much better. Thanks for your kind words! I finished painting my library/craft room and am getting everything put back and organized. All of the scrubbing, painting and clean-up has taken a toll on my hands, as has this brutally cold weather of late. So today I am sharing some of my winter hand care tips and recipes.

Excessive hand washing removes moisture and natural oils from the skin. Most commercial liquid hand soaps contain unhealthy harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances. The extreme cold also works to dry and damage the skin. This can result in dry, chapped hands or even painful cracks in the fingertips near the edges of the nails. They resemble deep paper cuts, and while they don't look like much they can cause a lot of pain and interfere with simple everyday tasks. Little things like fastening a button, typing, writing, or any craft work become painful and difficult. If you have ever suffered from this, you know how challenging it is to work with bandaids on every fingertip. If you are lucky enough to never suffer from "winter hands", but like to avoid harsh chemicals and do things as naturally as possible, you may also enjoy my hand care recipes.

I have tried everything to heal cracked fingertips, from lotions and creams to antibiotic ointment, nu skin, and super glueing the cracks together. Super glue really helps, but I don't like using those chemicals on my body.

Having a variety of gloves on hand is a necessity. If you suffer from winter hands, it's best to keep them out of water as much as possible. This means wearing rubber gloves when doing dishes, scrubbing floors, etc. A pair of plastic restaurant-style gloves is great to wear when washing fruits and veggies. And wearing gloves when outdoors in very cold temperatures is extremely important. Just a few minutes unprotected in the bitter cold and wind can cause cracking to begin. Before going to bed, slather on a thick hand cream and slip on a pair of cotton gloves. Your hands will thank you in the morning.

Another thing that has really helped me is to apply tea tree oil once a day to all splits and cracks. Let dry, then apply hand cream. Tea tree oil is antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and an analgesic, so it stops the pain. Within hours of applying it I have noticed healing has begun. Using tea tree oil and my Rich Winter Hand Cream below, my hands become functional within 24 hours, instead of waiting days for them to heal using other lotions and creams.

I have found that switching to my homemade liquid herbal soap has really helped. I have tried a number of different liquid soap recipes, none is close to store bought since the chemicals are all left out. This one is the best I've come up with so far. In the winter I use soothing chamomile that I dried from my garden in the soap and in summer I often use rosehips. Green tea also works well. I use loose herbs, which I place in a coffee filter and tie with a twist tie, but any herbal tea bag will work fine. I begin with a good quality castile soap, grated in my food processor. It only takes a few minutes to make a whole gallon of liquid soap and it's very economical. My local health food store charges 6.99 for an 8 oz. bottle of liquid castile soap and I can make an entire gallon for less than that. Plus I can control the ingredients to suit my needs.

Liquid Herbal Hand Soap

2 - 4 oz. bars of castile soap, grated

1 gallon hot water

1 T. dried herb of your choice, tied in a coffee filter, or 1 herbal tea bag

1 T. aloe vera gel

2 tsp. coconut oil

2 tsp. honey

In large pot, heat water and grated soap till soap has melted/dissolved, add herbal tea bag and remove from heat. When cool, remove tea bag, add aloe vera gel, coconut oil and honey. Use hand mixer to blend, cover and let sit overnight, blend once more. Pour into gallon jar to store and fill soap dispensers as needed. Shake before refilling, and add a little more water if necessary.

A good natural hand cream or lotion free of synthetic chemicals is a must. I make mine using the recipe below. It is very thick, rich and creamy. I apply it at bedtime, and cotton gloves are great to put on at this time to allow it to soak in overnight. I add lavender essential oil to it since lavender is antiseptic and antifungal and it also induces sleep. Lavender and tea tree oils should be part of every home first aid kit.

Rich Winter Hand Cream

5 T. shea butter

1 1/2 T. coconut oil

1 tsp. aloe vera gel

2 drops lavender essential oil

Combine ingredients and mix till smooth. Store in glass jar.

For my all-purpose cleaner recipe and the world's easiest way to clean the microwave, see this post on Healthy Natural Cleaning Products .

House Full of Sickies

2010-01-28T16:05:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to let you all know I haven't forgotten about you. Work on the room has had to stop for a while, as well as cooking, due to the stomache flu making the rounds here, one by one. I was third to get it. It's been 3 days now and I'm just beginning to feel better. My daughter came down with it last night and since this is finals week, she missed two final exams today. Not a good time to be sick! Two of the kids still haven't gotten it, and while I hope they don't, I am not holding my breath. So no food posts till next week, and hope you all stay healthy!!

Tea and Creativity

2010-01-21T11:15:00.002-05:00

As I wrote a few weeks ago, our last guinea pig is now gone. The library/office was once also my craft/sewing room, but I gave that up 7 years ago so that our small herd of cavies could have a comfy home. We built them a cage that took up nearly an entire wall in the library, and it went through many renovations involving adding ramps and upper levels. It was great fun. Now that the cage has been dismantled, I am reclaiming my craft/sewing space and redoing the whole room. I am in the process of deciding on a paint color- it's a tough choice. I've narrowed it down to two opposite colors; one is bright, creative and artsy-fartsy, the other subdued and relaxing. The one I like best keeps changing, depending on what mood I'm in.

I am also looking for a new desk. After using a right-handed desk for 25 years this lefty has had enough! I've been shopping around and found something at IKEA that would work. But I don't really love anything I have seen at the furniture stores. I love old things. I love things with a history. So I've started browsing around at antique shops. I think I could live in one. I never knew how much fun antiquing is. Those who know me may be shocked- this could actually turn me into a shopper! While I was looking at old shelves, tables and cubbies that could be used for yarn storage, I came across the awesome tea strainer spoon in the photo above. For the sum of $3.81 I got the coolest tea accessory ever. Even though I made no progress on shopping for the room, I came home extremely happy and made myself a cup of tea.

There's nothing like a cup of herbal tea to relax and warm you on a cold winter evening. My favorite is chamomile, it is soothing and relaxing before bed. It's great alone or mixed with rosehips, valerian, or a little freshly grated ginger. It helps to induce sleep, is anti-inflammatory and soothes digestion. Rosehips are a great source of vitamin c. and valerian helps to induce sleep and relieve headaches. Ginger can also help with migraines, is anti-inflammatory and relieves nausea.

Herbal teas can be drunk simply for culinary pleasure. To get the most medicinal benefits from herbs, let them steep at least 10-20 minutes, the longer the better. It's fun to get creative and come up with your own favorite blends.

As Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food." Herbs and spices have healing and cancer fighting properties and a variety of them should be consumed each day. Turmeric, onions, garlic, black pepper, cinnamon and ginger all get regular news headlines because of their health promoting qualities. But did you know that rosemary may stop genetic mutations leading to cancer, and paprika is anti-inflammatory? Cloves are nutrient dense and anti-inflammatory. Peppermint is full of vitamin c, manganese and beta-carotene and has been shown to stop the growth of pancreatic and liver tumors as well as stopping the growth of bacteria including h.pylori, e.coli, and MRSA.

Adding a cup or two of herbal tea to your diet each day is a simple, delicious way to increase your intake of these health promoting substances.

My posting over the next week or two may be sporadic. I am still removing things from the walls, and must remove all of the books from the bookshelves in order to move the bookshelves and get at the walls. It is amazing how much stuff will fit in a small room! Once I get to the actual painting I won't have computer access for a while. But I really look forward to getting this room reorganized and useful. Then I may enjoy a cup of herbal tea in it.

Spinach Mushroom Tortillas

2010-01-19T08:58:00.000-05:00

While I sometimes enjoy making complicated dishes, I don't always have hours to spend in the kitchen. Today, with the glut of fast, processed food, people think you have to spend all day cooking in order to eat healthy. Good vegetarian or vegan food doesn't have to take lots of time.

This was a yummy, filling and fast meal that I threw together to clean out the fridge. It is also my submission to The Healthy Cooking Challenge at Alicia's wonderful blog Vegan Epicurean. This month, her challenge is to make a family favorite recipe healthy and vegan. Years ago, these tortillas would have contained meat and cheese. Now they are much healthier, and they taste better too.
My recipe makes 2 large tortillas and is ready to eat in about 15 minutes. If you have a family favorite that you would like to healthy up and make vegan, head on over to Alicia's and join in the fun!

Spinach Mushroom Tortillas

1 red pepper,seeded and sliced into thin strips

1 red onion, sliced into thin strips

1 8 oz. carton of baby bella mushrooms or mushrooms of your choice, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 c. baby spinach, roughly chopped
2 whole grain tortillas

2 T. salsa

2 T. guacamole

Saute pepper and onion in a little water over med. heat for 3-4 min.. Add mushrooms and garlic, cover, reduce heat and sweat about 10 min. till tender. Add spinach and heat 1-2 minutes, just till wilted. Divide between 2 whole grain tortillas, top each with 1 T. of guacamole and 1 T. salsa.
Serves 2.

Note: I used my home canned salsa found here , use whatever salsa you like. While I often make my own guacamole, this time I used Wholly Guacamole.

Rainbow Lentil Soup

2010-01-15T12:52:00.000-05:00

We all know it is crucial to get plenty of fruits and veggies in our diet. It is also important to ensure variety, we need all of the different color groups to ensure that we don't miss out on any nutrients. This soup is a simple way to get a large variety of them in one meal.

It is also an easy, quick meal, done in about 30 min., great for a night when you think you don't have time to cook. Just put everything in a pot and let it simmer while you go on with your busy life. Come back in 25-30 min. and dinner's ready. Soup always reheats well, so leftovers are a bonus. I used french green lentils here, but any lentils would be good.

Rainbow Lentil Soup

1 red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, diced

1 red pepper, seeded and diced

3 stalks celery , with leaves, chopped

handfull of green beans, cut in 1' lengths

1 zucchini, diced

handfull of shredded purple cabbage

14 oz. can diced tomatoes (I used home-canned)

1 c. french green lentils

2 bay leaves

2 T. balsamic vinegar

6 c. water

Place everything in large pot and simmer 25-30 min. till lentils are tender. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Avocado and Red Pepper Soup

2010-01-13T14:39:00.000-05:00

This week has been very busy at my house, so I have been cooking the quickest things possible. Fortunately, vegan food is very fast! While not necessary for this recipe, using my new vitamix blender also speeds things up. So here is a fast, simple soup that is satisfyingly rich and creamy.

You can easily make this without a vitamix, just puree everything in your blender, then heat in the microwave or on your stovetop. I love the somewhat sweet flavor of red pepper, so I only put a pinch of cayenne pepper in this. Also, I had rice milk that needed using up, but feel free to just use water instead. I like my soup very thick, add more water if you like it thinner. Adjust the seasonings to your own heat level.

Avocado and Red Pepper Soup

1 red pepper, seeded

1 avocado, peeled, pit removed

1 c. water

1 c. rice milk

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. dried parsley

pinch cayenne pepper

If using vitamix, place all ingredients in and process 4-5 min. till hot.

Brussels Sprouts with Orange Miso Sauce

2010-01-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

I like to combine colorful, nutrient dense foods in simple dishes, and todays breakfast was no exception. I know , I'm weird, who eats brussels sprouts for breakfast? I do. And this dish comes together in about 10 minutes, so it's great if you are in a hurry.

Red onion, caraway seed, brussels sprouts, garlic, orange and miso combine here to make a nutrient dense and tasty dish. In order to preserve the health benefits of miso it should not be boiled or microwaved. To avoid reheating, I made enough for only one serving so I wouldn't have leftovers. You can easily increase the recipe to serve more people. Here's my recipe.

Brussels Sprouts with Orange Miso Sauce

a dozen brussels sprouts, washed and cut in half

1/4 of a small red onion, diced

1 tsp. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. caraway seed

juice and zest of 1 organic orange

1 tsp. light miso

pinch sea salt and black pepper

1 tsp. agave

In cast iron skillet, saute brussels sprouts and red onion over med-high heat till lightly browned, about 4-5 min. Reduce heat, add garlic and a little water, cover and sweat for about 4-5 min. , till water has evaporated and sprouts are tender. Meanwhile, combine juice and zest of orange, miso, salt and pepper, and agave .

Add caraway seed and orange sauce to sprouts, remove from heat and enjoy.

Label Reading 101

2010-01-06T16:29:00.001-05:00

The biggest mistake that shoppers make when buying food is reading nutrition labels. Too many believe that the marketing gimmicks on labels are scientific fact. Labels scream "healthy", "natural", or "0 trans fat". Yet in fact the ingredient list often contains partially hydrogenated oil which is trans fat, is certainly not natural and has never been healthy.

The FDA allows products to be labeled 0 grams trans fat if there is less than .5 grams per serving. So some companies lower the serving size of their product until it falls within these guidelines. The amount the average person would consume could easily be double or triple the stated serving size. At the end of the day after eating a number of "no trans fat" products, one could easily consume significant amounts of it. The American Heart Association suggests that you limit your daily intake to less than 2 g., even though it admits there is no safe level to consume.

The Only Part of the Label that Matters

The nutrition facts box listing calories, fat grams, and synthetic vitamins is all but useless. A product low in fat, sugar, sodium, and calories isn't necessarily healthy or nutritious. An example of this is rice. The nutrition facts on a bag of refined white rice states that it contains 0 g. total fat, 0 g. sodium, and 160 calories per 1/4 c. serving. The nutrition box on a bag of unrefined brown rice states that it contains 1.5 g. total fat, 20 mg. sodium, and 170 calories per 1/4 c. serving. According to what the FDA tells us about reading labels, the white rice is the better choice. If we are smart enough to avoid letting them educate us right out of our common sense, we will ignore the nutrition facts box and look at the ingredient list. There we will find that white rice contains long grain rice enriched with a long list of synthetic vitamins that I'm too lazy to type out. On the brown rice package, the ingredient list contains one ingredient- long grain brown rice. It's obvious which one is really the better choice. The only part of the label that matters is the ingredient list.

Eat Mostly Whole Foods

Eating healthy doesn't require a phd, nor do we need to do an in-depth nutritional analysis of every thing we eat. A healthy diet can not simply be broken down into protein, fats, carbs and fiber. That's how we got into these ridiculous eating patterns like the low-fat craze, followed by the low-carb craze. Then it was the omega 3 craze and companies began adding it to everything including orange juice. Now it's becoming the fiber-added craze and I see commercials for fiber supplements as well as products with added fiber popping up everywhere, including yogurt.

Scientists do a study, find that a particular isolated nutrient appears to be good for health, and suddenly it's used in supplements and added to every processed food product. Common sense gets thrown out the window in exchange for profits.

Nature intended for us to eat whole foods in order to get complete nutrition. The nutrients in whole foods work together as a whole, they were never meant to be isolated. Industrial processed foods can never replicate this. They are made for shelf life and profit. Healthy foods spoil. Processed foods have had most of their nutrition processed out and chemicals added to preserve the little that's left.

The words "fortified", "enriched", "extra", and "plus" on a label are all warnings to watch out for. They mean that the nutrition and fiber have been removed during processing, and the manufacturer has tried to add some of it back.

Whole foods are foods that are still in their natural state. Most of them don't have a label. They haven't been processed or refined and contain all of their original nutrients. They are easily recognizable as having come from nature. They include fruits, vegetables, brown rice, oats, quinoa, nuts, beans and lentils. Juice is not a whole food, the nutritious pulp and peel of the fruits have been wasted. Egg whites are not a whole food. If you eat eggs, eat the whole egg, don't throw away the yolk, it is where all the nutrition is. White rice is not a whole food, the nutritious hull, bran and germ have been removed. A baked potato is a whole food, instant mashed potatoes in a box are not. By shopping the perimeter of the store, you can find most of the whole foods and avoid most of the processed junk. When available, farmers' markets are even better.

Here's my rule of thumb- anything that requires a laboratory or factory to be created is not food. If you can't make it in your own kitchen, you probably shouldn't be eating it. An example of this is tvp. It requires chemicals and industrial machinery to make. As I've mentioned before, many soy products such as tvp, fake meats and even Clif bars were found to have hexane residues from processing. Hexane is a neurotoxin and it is not yet known if it is also a carcinogen. Tempeh, on the other hand, has been made for thousands of years and can be made in your kitchen, no hexane necessary. High fructose corn syrup is another good example. It's an industrial product that can not be made at home, and is made using genetically modified enzymes and usually genetically modified corn as well. This additive does not qualify as food according to my definition.

Rather than trying to analyze how much of this or that nutrient is in the food, all you need to do is eat a variety of mostly whole, plant foods.

Food Additives to Avoid

These are additives I avoid when reading the ingredient list on the few packaged foods I buy. Additives are cheap replacements for quality ingredients. They are not nutrients. And just because they are legal to use, doesn't mean they are healthy or safe. Cigarettes are legal too, but they are deadly.

Trans fat- can be listed as partially hydrogenated oil, or sometimes as shortening. Causes heart disease, is linked with stroke, diabetes, promotes inflammation and may also be linked to cancers.

High fructose corn syrup- made with genetically modified ingredients, often contains mercury, is linked to liver problems, obesity and diabetes.

mono- and diglycerides- another type of highly processed fat that may contain trans fat, is used to emulsify and extend shelf life.

msg- monosodium glutamate is added to food to trick your brain into thinking it tastes better than it does. It may cause headaches, asthma, and is an excitotoxin which kills brain cells.

BHA and BHT- can cause liver enlargement and are known to be carcinogenic. Found in everything from cereal to dog food.

TBHQ- carcinogenic, a neurotoxin, alters red blood cell activity.

Artificial colors- have been linked to hyperactivity, allergic reactions, and cancers. Most are made from petrochemicals which the body is not designed to eat.

Sodium nitrite and nitrate- used in processed meats, known to cause cancer.

Artificial flavoring- consists of hundreds of chemicals, may contain msg, do not have to list them separately.

Sodium Benzoate- when used in products along with ascorbic acid (vitamin c), it can react to form benzene, a known carcinogen. Some, but not all soft drink makers have removed it from their products. It is also commonly found in jams and jellies.

Carageenan- used in many products including most ice creams and dairy products as well as imitation dairy products. Linked to colon cancer and gastrointestinal problems. My daughter and I both react strongly to this additive.

Aspartame, neotame, acesulfame k, saccharin, sucralose- have been linked to a host of health problems including cancers. All are synthetic chemicals that the body wasn't designed to consume.

Potassium Bromate- used in some baked goods, causes cancer.

Propyl gallate- linked to cancer.

Sulfites- used in dried fruits and processed potatoes. Destroy b vitamins and can cause severe reactions in those sensitive to them.

Soy lecithin- highly processed, extracted from soy waste products using hexane, a neurotoxin.

When reading ingredient lists, if you don't recognize it and can't pronounce it, don't eat it. I get tired of the food manufacturers saying a little of this or that won't hurt you. One cigarette won't kill you either, but it is still a good idea to avoid smoking.

Just Five More Minutes

2010-01-03T21:57:00.002-05:00

How many times have we said that as we hit the snooze button? The ugliest sound in the world is the incessant beeping of an alarm clock on a cold, dark morning when you haven't gotten enough sleep. Crawling out from beneath those cozy covers is torture when your body is craving a few more hours of zzzzzs. Sleep is essential to good health, yet according to the CDC, 29% of American adults get less than 7 hrs. of sleep per night.

Why We Sleep Less

We sleep considerably less than people did 100 years ago. Our schedules no longer revolve around the rising and setting of the sun. With today's artificial light, 24 hour restaurants and shops, there are plenty of places for us to go instead of home to bed.

At home, technology beckons us. Computers and t.v. that never goes off the air keep us awake. We forego sleep to watch the end of that movie, play one more level of that video game, or finish reading the emails in our inbox.

Coffee shops and energy drinks are everywhere and many have come to rely on them to replace the sleep they are sacrificing. Some prominent high achievers such as Margaret Thatcher and Bill Clinton have touted their need for very little sleep. This has made some of us feel as if we are not productive enough because we waste too much time sleeping. Don't be fooled, lack of sleep can be dangerous to your health and is not something to be proud of.

Risks of Too Little Sleep

Lack of sleep decreases your ability to pay attention and to remember things. Because it interferes with reaction time, it may put your life and the life of others at risk. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that there are at least 100,000 crashes and 1,550 deaths each year due to drowsy drivers.

If you are having trouble maintaining a healthy weight, sleep may be a contributing factor. A study from the International Journal of Obesity found here showed that the risk of obesity was 3.7 times greater in men and 2.3 times greater in women who slept less than 5 hours per night.

Skimping on sleep may increase your risk of heart disease. According to this abstract from National Institutes of Health of an University of Chicago study, those who slept less were more likely to develop calcification of the coronary arteries, which is a predictor of heart disease.

Lack of sleep lowers your immunity. In this study abstract in the Archives of Internal Medicine those who slept less than 7 hours per night were nearly 3 times as likely to develop a cold than those who slept 8 or more. I have personal experience with this one. I lived for months on very little sleep when my son was going through chemo. My resistance was at an all time low and I caught every cold that went around.

Results of another study showed that those with short sleep duration are at increased risk of diabetes.

Losing sleep may even put you at risk for breast cancer according this study.

So How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?

Most adults need between 7 and 9 hours per night unless they have accumulated a sleep debt that needs to be paid off. However, sleep needs are individual and there really is no magic number. The best way to know if you are getting enough sleep is to pay attention to your body. How does it feel?

Are you healthy?

Do you suffer health issues or obesity?

Are you happy and energetic?

Do you feel depressed or feel like you are dragging?

Do you often feel sleepy when driving?

Does it take caffeine or energy drinks to get you through the day?

Do you regularly wake before the alarm clock goes off?

Or do you repeatedly hit the snooze button?

We all know how good it feels when we've had enough sleep. Yet far too often we rob ourselves in order to get more things done, without considering the consequences to our health.

How to Get Better Sleep

Try to go to bed and rise at roughly the same time each day. Your body will get used to the routine.

Get regular exercise, it improves sleep quality. Exercise early in the day- too close to bedtime and it will keep you awake.

Use your bedroom only for sleep, not for watching t.v. or using the computer.

Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Eat a well-balanced nutrient dense diet.

Keep your bedroom as dark as possible.

The temperature should not be too warm, for best sleep cooler is better.

Create a calming bedtime routine such as dimming the lights and listening to relaxing music for half an hour before bedtime.

Drink a cup of relaxing chamomile tea before bed.

Take a warm herbal bath to help you relax. Add lavender oil or chamomile to the bathwater.

Place a drop of lavender essential oil on the edge of your pillowcase. Lavender is very soothing and can help induce sleep.

Try prayer or meditation. These can help reduce stress and relax you.

Control your thoughts. It is good to go back over your day, analyze mistakes you've made, and think of better ways to do things. But when you get into bed you want to be thinking happy thoughts that will help you drift off, not negative thoughts that will keep you awake. Do not allow yourself to think about the problems you had today, or to worry about what will happen tomorrow. These will stress you out and prevent good sleep. Focus instead on what you look forward to tomorrow, or things you are thankful for. Sometimes it can be hard to turn off your mind, but it gets easier with practice.

It's so easy to put off going to bed in order to work on a project for just 5 more minutes (which often turns into another hour). Sometimes we need a reminder to stop cheating ourselves and get more sleep. Our health depends on it.

I have never been one to make new year's resolutions. But I do reassess my lifestyle every once in a while and make adjustments. I need a kick in the pants occasionally to get back on track. I think we all do. So I am doing a series of posts on healthy living, to remind us to make changes in whatever areas we have slacked off. If like me, you have gotten lax somewhere, I hope I inspire you to get back on track.

Creative Outlet aka Keeping Sane

2009-12-30T10:37:00.004-05:00

On this blog I write about the importance lifestyle plays in health, mainly focusing on diet and sharing recipes. This week, through blogging, I reconnected with a cousin that I have not seen since childhood. I am so excited to have found you Dolly! Reading her blog reminded me of something that I believe is essential to good health. Since it's second nature to me, I've completely overlooked mentioning it. But I know that in my own life it is crucial, and I could not function without it.

It is a creative outlet. Creativity fosters a sense of accomplishment and well-being. It helps relieve stress, lifts your mood and can help ease depression. Creative self expression takes many forms; art, crafts, dance, music, writing, cooking, blogging, gardening, decorating one's home, etc. The list goes on and on. Everyone needs some form of creative outlet.

I know that in my own life if I go too long without a project of some kind, I just don't feel right. I get cranky, impatient, stressed and sometimes depressed. I have a deep need to create with my hands. Once I am working on something, I immediately feel better. Dolly, it's nice to know we share the same crafty/creative gene that our grandma had! I really enjoy looking at all of your fabulous work on your blog!

I have tried just about every craft out there. I have done woodworking, ceramics, counted cross-stitch, crochet, sewing, quilting, knitting, black and white photography, and drawing with charcoal. Quilting and knitting are my favorites, and the two I always come back to. I love knitting since it is so portable and is great for when I am hauling kids around and waiting for them at music lessons, etc. I have a pinwheel quilt top that I finished a few years ago and them set aside. Dolly, you have inspired me to get that quilt finished, thanks! I pulled it out and here is a photo of it:

Here are some photos of other quilts I have done (or things that keep me sane!):

This rose quilt hangs in my living room.

I quilted this blue one by hand.

I quilted the bird quilt by machine. It's one of my favorites. And here is some of my knitting:

This is the traveling cables cardigan, the branching out scarf and 2 pairs of socks. You can't see them well, but there are cables on the blue socks. I love knitting cables and lace, they are so much fun!

I know that many of you use your creativity in your fabulous food, what other creative outlets do you have? I would love it if you share them, we can all use some creative inspiration!

Goodbye Oreo

2009-12-28T06:32:00.000-05:00

To all of you dear readers, I wish you the happiest of holidays! They are going by so quickly that I do not want to miss a minute of the time with my family. Things will be back to normal next week and I will resume posting regularly.
We had a nice Christmas, but sadly my daughter's guinea pig died on Christmas day. Oreo was six years old and we knew it was coming, but it's never easy. She was the last of our little herd. She was the sweetest, friendliest guinea pig I've ever seen and she was greatly loved. Her cage took up a whole wall in the library where the computer is and the room seems big and empty without her now.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart"

— Helen Keller

Love deeply my friends.

I Won!

2009-12-22T09:05:00.001-05:00

I am so excited, I won the giveaway at one of my favorite blogs, Green and Crunchy ! When I arrived home last night this little beauty was waiting for me:

It's a thinksport stainless steel drink bottle. It's insulated to keep drinks hot or cold for hours, is free of BPA, PVC, pthalates, lead, and cadmium. And my favorite part- it has an awesome removable mesh strainer, so I can put loose leaf tea in it and I don't get any leaves in my mouth when I drink it. I am drinking my tea from it as I write this.

I spend ridiculous amounts of time hauling kids around to their various activities, because they all go to different schools. It is going to be amazing to be able to take my tea with me. It's also great for working out, I can fill it with cold water and ice cubes, and the strainer keeps the ice cubes in the bottle instead of my mouth. So a huge Thankyou to Sheri for hosting such a fabulous giveaway and writing such a fabulous blog! And thanks to Thinksport too!

And speaking of working out...On a slightly related note, the American Heart Association released the findings of a new study in their journal Circulation. The study showed that elderly people who attended cardiac rehab greatly reduced their risk of death. Those who attended 36 sessions were 47% less likely to die than those who only went to one. That's huge! Sadly less than 20% of those eligible for rehab go. The purpose of cardiac rehab is to slow or reverse cardiac disease by changing lifestyle factors. Rehab focuses on exercise, nutrition and stress management. We need to get this country focused on doing these things before disease develops. Prevention is far better than treatment. And as this research shows, it's never too late to begin making healthier changes. You are never too old to exercise. Nuff preaching. I'm off to workout with my awesome new thinksport bottle. Thanks again, Sheri!

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

2009-12-21T08:18:00.001-05:00

Today is winter solstice, officially marking the first day of winter and the darkest day of the year. Beginning tomorrow, the days will begin to get longer again. This makes me incredibly happy. Even though the snow is beautiful, I long for spring. So I decided to make something with a little heat to warm and cheer us on this, the longest night of the year.

I came up with these vegan lentil stuffed peppers with a Mexican bent. Adjust the heat to your own tastes. I often make a big pot of brown rice to use throughout the week. If you don't have any leftover cooked rice, start the rice before you cook the lentils. I have homemade canned salsa, use whatever salsa is your favorite.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

1/2 c. lentils

1 small red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tomatoes, diced

2 c. cooked brown rice

1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced (opt.)

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. sea salt

pinch cayenne pepper

salsa

4-6 bell peppers, depending on size, tops removed and seeded

Preheat oven to 375. Cook lentils, onion and garlic in about 2 c. water for 20 min. Drain. Combine in large bowl with tomatoes, rice, jalapeno if using, chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne. Stuff into peppers, place in roasting pan. Drizzle a little salsa over each and put a little water in bottom of pan. Cover and bake about 1 hr. till peppers are tender. Serve with more salsa.

Tea, Glorious Tea

2009-12-18T12:34:00.001-05:00

Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. Green, black, or oolong, they all come from the same species of plant- Camellia sinensis. The difference is in the processing. Green tea is unfermented, so the least processed. It retains the most antioxidant polyphenols. One of these, a catechin called epigallocatechin gallate or ECGC, is thought to be responsible for most of the long list of health benefits attributed to green tea. And it's quite an impressive list.

Numerous studies have shown that those consuming green tea are at lower risk for heart disease, stroke, periodontal disease, osteoporosis, and a slew of cancers including prostate, ovarian, breast, kidney, leukemia and childhood brain tumors. The catechins in tea prevent cell mutation, inhibit the growth of blood vessels that tumors need to grow and metastasize, help eliminate carcinogens from the body, and trigger cancer cell suicide (apoptosis). A recent study even showed that green tea inhibits the influenza virus.

Oohlong tea has been partially fermented, and black tea has been fully fermented. Black tea contains the least antioxidants of the three. There have been fewer studies done on oohlong and black teas, but they show similar health benefits to green tea. Just keep in mind that to gain the benefits, tea consumption should be part of a healthy lifestyle. You can't live on fast food, avoid exercise, drink alcohol and smoke and expect tea to be a miracle cure.

While tea bags are convenient, loose leaf teas produce a higher quality cup of tea. Loose leaf teas contain whole leaves or large pieces of leaves. Tea bags contain tiny pieces of broken leaves whose oils have evaporated, so they have less flavor. If you want the convenience of tea bags, be sure to look for unbleached bags. To use loose leaf tea you need to place it in an infusor or strainer.

Use 1 tsp. of loose green tea or 1 bag to 8 oz. water. Heat the water to just below boiling to prevent a bitter taste. While it's generally recommended to steep green tea for 2-5 minutes, to get the most benefit from green tea, allow it to steep for 10 minutes. Black tea should be steeped for 3-5 min. using boiling water. Oolong tea is usually steeped 1-3 min.

Herbal teas, which are not actually tea, but are called tisanes, have their own health benefits. I'm working on a series of posts about them which you will see sometime in January. Herbal teas must steep much longer to get the full benefits; from 10 min. up to 1 hour.

I drink lots of herbal teas, but for years I was not able to acquire a taste for green tea. Knowing its amazing health benefits, I really wanted to. Alicia over at Vegan Epicurean gave me lots of encouragement as well as ideas to try such as adding pomegranate juice or lemon and ginger to it. That really helped. Thanks Alicia! I also recently discovered chai green tea. Chai tea traditionally contains milk, which I do not add. I only add a little honey or a dash of agave. The combination of spices- especially the cloves, got me hooked. It is my new favorite tea! The spices also contain health benefits. Cloves contain eugenol which is anti-inflammatory and may help prevent digestive tract cancers.

All true tea contains tannic acid, which blocks the absorption of iron. If this is a concern for you, do not drink tea for one hour before or after meals, or try adding lemon to the tea to help increase iron absorption.

Tea Review

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am an affiliate for Mountain Rose Herbs, and they sent me this to review:

The Oregon Chai is an herbal blend that made me swoon with delight when I opened the bag and smelled it.
The Oolong Tea is a blend of green and black tea which also had a delightful, fresh fragrance.

They are both high quality loose leaf varieties which I prefer over tea bags. I adored the Oregon Chai, it was a perfect blend of spices. I am sorry to say that I am still not a fan of plain green or black teas, so I mixed the Oolong with the Oregon Chai and it was fabulous! I get the health benefits of the tea combined with those of the spices and the flavor is addictive. Both are certified Kosher and Organic. I will definitely order more of these when my free samples are used up. I am very satisfied with Mountain Rose Herbs products and with the way the company does business.

Finally, a shameless plug. If you still need a Christmas gift for someone, tea, an infuser or a teapot make nice gifts. If you order anything from Mountain Rose Herbs through a link on my page, I earn a small commission.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Salad

2009-12-16T14:01:00.002-05:00

When people find out I'm vegetarian, they often think I only eat salad. While that is certainly not true, salads made up of dark leafy greens are one of the most important things you can eat. Most people don't eat nearly enough. According to the CDC State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables for 2009, only 14% of American adults eat the minimum recommended five servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Now keep in mind that the minimum recommendation is to avoid serious deficiencies, not to promote actual health. To promote health and reduce risk of cancer, heart disease, etc. you need to eat double that amount. Here are 10 reasons to get more salad into your diet.

Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Salad

1. Dark leafy greens are the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. You can't eat too many.

2. Eating salad helps increase your raw vegetable intake. Raw vegetables contain enzymes that help your body digest food properly, as well as nutrients that are destroyed by cooking. Everyone should eat some of their food raw each day.

3. Eating a large salad as the centerpiece of your meal will fill you up with fiber rich, nutrient-dense food and help you to control your weight. This time of year that's a big issue for so many people. If you are craving sweets, adding some fruit or a fruity dressing can satisfy that craving and leave you feeling energized.

4. It requires no skill. Even if you can't boil water, you can put together a healthy salad, no cooking is required.

5. It's fast, salads are a great convenience food. Wash your greens, spin them dry, add a few chopped veggies or fruits, maybe some nuts or beans, voila! If that even takes too much time, prewashed packaged greens and chopped veggies are available at every supermarket. You can put a healthy salad together in less time than it takes to go out and pick up a pizza.

6. If you enjoy dining out, you can get one in pretty much any restaurant. Just leave out the bacon, chicken, cheese, croutons, and half cup of high calorie salad dressing. I've seen some restaurant salads touted as healthy that contain grilled chicken and over 1000 calories. Ask if they can add some extra veggies, or order some steamed or grilled veggies as a side dish and mix them into your salad.

7. The more you eat healthy foods the better your body will feel. Your taste buds will also adapt and you will begin to crave more healthy foods.

8. The varieties are endless. You never have to eat the same salad twice. There are buttery lettuces, peppery watercress, bitter arugula, softer textured dandelions, and crispy baby bok choy and romaine. You can add other vegetables, fruits, nuts, and legumes such as chickpeas or black beans. The more variety you add to your salads, the more nutritious they'll be. Use lots of colorful ingredients for optimal health.

9. It's important to get healthy fats. In this abstract from The Journal of Nutrition of an Ohio State University study the healthy fat in avocado significantly enhances carotenoid absorption from salad and also from salsa.
Vitamin D, beta-carotene, and vitamin E are just some of the nutrients that require fat to be absorbed. If you are eating that salad or those carrot sticks without any fat, you are not absorbing the nutrients. However, a little goes a long way, and make sure it is healthy fat- olive oil, a few nuts or seeds or some avocado.

10. This is my favorite reason- salads are fun and they taste good!

The salad photographed above was quite tasty. The vitamin c in the clementine helps with iron absorption from the spinach. I used my vitamix to make the smooth dressing, but you could use any blender, then just strain it.

Spinach Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

vinaigrette:

seeds from 1 pomegranate (reserve a few to sprinkle on the salad)

1/8 c. rice vinegar

1/4 c. olive oil

1 medjool date, pitted

pinch sea salt and pepper

Puree in blender, strain if needed. Drizzle a little over salad, store the rest in the fridge.

salad:

spinach

1 clementine, peeled and sectioned

few reserved pomegranate seeds

handful of raw sunflower seeds

Five Minute Gazpacho Soup Recipe

2009-12-14T22:47:00.002-05:00

Lookie what I got!! Christmas came early at my house. I am so excited to say that I am now the proud owner of one of these:

Yessirree, my very own Vita-mix. Last weekend the demonstrator was at Costco. The hubby happened to be shopping with me and knowing that I've wanted one for quite some time, and that the demonstrator wasn't going to be back until next year, he told me to go ahead and get it. Merry Christmas to me!!

I am in love. Now I can add things to my smoothies that my old blender couldn't handle like whole apples, lemon slices, carrots, celery, etc. and they are ultrasmoooooth. I've never been interested in juicing. With juicing, the pulp which contains nutrients and fiber gets discarded. I prefer smoothies because they use the whole food, retaining the nutrients and fiber. And now I can add anything I like to my smoothies!

I love that this machine makes hot soup from whole raw vegetables in about five minutes. I am always looking for ways to increase our fruit and veggie intake, and this will certainly help. I made a couple of quick raw veggie soups this weekend.

I was out all day finishing up the Christmas shopping. (Boy does it feel good to be done. I am not a shopper and it is definitely not fun for me.) I got home just before the kids and so had nothing cooked. It is so amazing to be able to throw a bunch of raw veggies in the Vita-mix and have a delicious creamy hot soup in about 5 minutes. Did I mention that I am in love with my Vita-mix?

I will be experimenting with recipes and posting them as I get time. I feel like a kid with a new toy!

Meanwhile, here is the recipe for the gazpacho soup I made. The avocado made it rich and creamy.

Vita-mix Five Minute Gazpacho Soup

3 tomatoes

1 red bell pepper, seeded

1 cucumber (peeled if it is waxed)

1/2 of a small onion

1 clove garlic, minced and set aside for 10 min.

juice of 1 small lemon

1 avocado, remove skin and pit

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

Place all ingredients in Vita-mix and let blend 5 min. till steamy.

Christmas Cookies to Savor

2009-12-11T10:32:00.000-05:00

I have been on an avocado kick this week. I purchased too many and after yesterday's mexican pizza, still needed to use some up. So I went surfing for ideas. I came across this article about substituting avocado for butter in baking . The cold, snow and Christmas music on the radio had me craving cookies, so I went for it.

While these cookies contain lots of healthy ingredients; avocado, oats, walnuts and brazil nuts, I am not pretending they are healthy. They are cookies.

I usually only bake cookies at Christmas, so I feel no guilt about it. I believe that what you eat on a daily basis is far more important than a few cookies once or twice a year. A good Christmas cookie is meant to be savored and enjoyed. A pleasure that, as my daughter says, feeds the soul.

These cookies are somewhat of a cross between toll house cookies and traditional oatmeal cookies. The recipe makes about three dozen. I froze half of them for Christmas eve when the family comes over. We have been thoroughly enjoying the rest! They are rich and delicious, with no hint that they contain avocado.

Avocado Oat Drop Cookies

1/2 of an avocado

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. cane sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. sea salt

2 c. old fashioned oats

1/2 c. shredded coconut

1/4 c. chopped walnuts

1/4 c. ground brazil nuts

1 c. dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Cream avocado, butter, and sugars. Add egg and vanilla, mix well. Add flour, soda, salt, oats , coconut and nuts. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets, bake about 15 min., till golden.

Mexican Pizza

2009-12-10T09:26:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was one of those days. Everything I touched seemed to go wrong. As I was filling a bucket of water to wash the floor, I lost control of the laundry tub hose and completely drenched myself and the whole laundry room. After washing the floor and cleaning the kitchen, I spilled ground flaxseed everywhere and had to rewash the floor. And the day just went downhill after that.

Oscar broke an ornament on the Christmas tree in his frenzy to chase the mail carrier away by barking in the window. So I had to re-vacuum the living room. Here's the guilty party-

It's pretty hard to stay mad at him when he looks at you with those big eyes.

It was a day that I knew would be short on time, and my daughter's orchestra was giving their Christmas concert last night. So I decided to make pizza for a quick easy dinner. It was on my list of things to make this week anyway. Earlier this week I overbought avocados, and now they were getting overripe, so I was also looking for a way to use them up. So I came up with this simple Mexican Pizza. Not really a recipe, just a guide. In spite of the day I was having, the pizza came out very tasty. It was a nice variation from the regular veggie pizza I make. Here's what I did.

Mexican Pizza

whole wheat/flax pizza dough , or pizza dough of your choice

1 can organic refried black beans

salsa

lettuce, chopped

tomato, sliced

onion, diced

peppers ( sweet and hot), diced

cheese (optional)

avocados, sliced

Spread black refried beans over pizza dough, top with lettuce, sliced tomato, onion and peppers. Spoon salsa over all of this, top with cheese if using. Bake 450 about 20 min. Top with sliced avocado and enjoy.

Red Lentil Soup

2009-12-09T07:37:00.000-05:00

I could eat soup everyday. It's quite possibly the perfect food. It can be made raw or cooked, from beans, lentils, veggies or fruits. The possibilities are endless. Lentil soup is one of my favorites, and even that has many varieties. There are brown lentils, french green lentils and these lovely red lentils.

Unfortunately they lose their lovely color when cooked, but they taste wonderful. Red lentils also lose their shape when cooked, taking on a thick, creamy consistancy similar to pea soup. Lentils are the convenience food of the legume family, requiring no presoaking. Which makes them perfect for a spur of the moment soup.

Soup is one of the most fun things to cook because it is so forgiving. You can add things, substitute ingredients, totally change the recipe from one time to the next and it is still always tasty. It's hard to mess up soup. And it never gets boring.

Here's my current red lentil soup recipe. What's your favorite soup?

Red Lentil Soup

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 c. red lentils

3 T. brown rice

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 qt. vegetable broth

2 c. water

Place all ingredients in large pot, simmer covered 1 hr. till thick and creamy. Serve sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper.

Home Fermented Sauerkraut

2009-12-07T13:49:00.000-05:00

Even though I love diy projects, I was very nervous about making home fermented sauerkraut. I finally tried it and now there's no going back! People have been fermenting vegetables for thousands of years, but our culture of cheap, fast convenience bombards us with the message that processed store-bought food is better and safer. It convinces us we might get botulism if we do it ourselves. I'm glad I let go of that fear.

Fresh sauerkraut contains live bacteria (probiotics) and enzymes that are beneficial to digestive and immune health. An excellent source of vitamin C, sailors used to take sauerkraut on long voyages to prevent scurvy. It's also a revelation in taste and texture. It retains a wonderful crispy, crunchy texture and a tangy taste that is not vinegary.

Store bought sauerkraut is definitely faster and more convenient, but it is useless because it's dead. It usually contains a vinegar brine and has been pasteurized, killing all of the beneficial bacteria and enzymes- removing the digestive and immune benefits. It is also too soft, having lost all of its crispy crunch when processed.

Fortunately, it's simple to make your own fresh sauerkraut at home. It requires only three ingredients, although once you know how to make it, you can add other flavorings to it such as onion, garlic, shredded carrot, a tablespoon of caraway seeds, dill, or even hot pepper.

The first ingredient is cabbage. Use a firm, fresh cabbage with the core and any blemishes removed. Shred the cabbage using a knife or mandolin.

The second ingredient is salt. Use pure sea salt, kosher salt or canning/pickling salt. Table salt containing iodine can't be used- iodine interferes with the fermentation process.

The third ingredient is spring or purified water. It must be non-chlorinated. Tap water contains chlorine which will stop the fermentation process.

You will need a gallon jar, ceramic crock or food-grade plastic bucket, along with two 2-gallon ziploc bags.

Be prepared for some odor. By day 2 or 3 it will be bubbly and start to smell, which lets you know that fermentation is taking place. By the end of 7 days it will begin to smell better; more like sauerkraut. You may want to place it in the basement or a spare room while it's fermenting. Be sure to check it daily. If at any time there is not a covering of brine, add some (mix 2 tsp. non-iodized salt to 1 c. non-chlorinated water).

The temperature of the room where you ferment the cabbage should be between 60 and 75 degrees. If you like it extremely mild, you can eat it after 8 or 9 days, depending on the temperature. It takes 3-6 weeks to fully ferment- 3 weeks near 75 degrees, up to 6 weeks if it's near 60 degrees. The way to tell if it's done is to taste it. When the flavor is to your liking it's done. Store it in the refrigerator.

How To Make Sauerkraut

1 cabbage, shredded

2 T. non-iodized salt- use pure sea salt, kosher salt, or canning/pickling salt

spring or filtered water (non-chlorinated)

In a large bowl mix cabbage and salt, let it sit for an hour to let juices form. Place cabbage and juice into clean jar or crock, press down firmly. If there's not enough juice to cover cabbage, add water until cabbage is fully submerged. Place one ziploc bag inside the other and pour about a quart of water into the inner bag. Set on top of cabbage and add enough water to inner bag to expand it, weight it down and prevent any air from reaching the cabbage. Seal both bags. Set aside to ferment, checking it daily.

Hope you are all having a happy Monday. After fighting a horrendous two day migraine last week and then trying to get some Christmas shopping done, it's good to be back.

Coconut Thai Curry Recipe and a Review

2009-12-01T10:05:00.001-05:00

I recently became an affiliate of Mountain Rose Herbs . I am very impressed with their business practices; they sell healthy organic products through fair trade policies and donate a portion of their profits to charities including the Organic Farming Research Foundation, and Farm Sanctuary which provides care for rescued animals. They use recycled and chemical free office supplies, they do not allow chemical cleaning agents in their facility (they clean like I do with healthy natural cleaning supplies like lemon oil, baking soda and vinegar!), and they ship in recycled boxes.

They generously sent me these products to review:

Oohlong Tea, Oregon Chai Tea, Thai Curry, and Himalayan Pink Salt. Everything looked wonderful and it was a tough choice, but I decided to try the Thai Curry first. I love that it comes in a glass jar and not plastic, since I try to avoid plastic for all food storage. It smelled insanely good when I opened the jar, so I knew I would have to come up with a great recipe for it.

I love simple recipes that do not have a mile long ingredient list. This time of year I especially like recipes that don't take long to prepare, since the holiday season can get pretty hectic. So I created this easy delicious vegan recipe using the Mountain Rose Herbs Thai Curry seasoning. If you have leftover brown rice, it's even faster.

Coconut Thai Curry

1 onion, diced

1/2 " piece fresh ginger, grated

1 carrot, sliced into matchsticks

1 tsp. coconut oil

few drops sesame oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets

1/2 head broccoli, cut into florets

1 red pepper, cut into matchsticks

14 oz. can of light coconut milk

1 1/2 T. Mountain Rose Herbs Thai Curry seasoning

1/2 tsp. sea salt

small hand full fresh basil, chopped

cooked brown rice

Cook brown rice. When it's halfway done, begin veggies. In wok or large pot, cook ginger, onion and carrot in coconut and sesame oil till onion is nearly transparent. Add remaining veggies, stir fry for 3-4 min. Add coconut milk, Thai Curry seasoning, and sea salt and cook about 5 min. more till veggies are crisp-tender. Stir in basil, serve over brown rice.

This was a very satisfying meal and it made the kitchen smell wonderful!

I am very impressed with the quality of Mountain Rose Herbs products. As an affiliate of theirs, I receive a small commission from them if you order anything through a link on my blog page. That said, let me be perfectly frank. I will never recommend a product that I do not believe in and use myself.

During my 20 + years working as a hairdresser in a salon, I made almost no product commissions. Most hairdressers earn a fair amount from product sales, but I could not push products that I didn't believe in or use myself, and most salon products are both over-priced and full of unhealthy ingredients. So I did not sell or recommend most of them to my clients. It was more important to me to be able to sleep at night. It still is, so I will only recommend products that I believe in and use.

If you are looking for Christmas ideas, Mountain Rose Herbs also has some lovely tea pots and infusers.

Butternut Macaroni and Cheese

2009-11-30T08:26:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it's been nearly a week since I posted, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Ours was lovely, I really enjoyed having the kids home from school and spending the extra time with them.

Our black friday tradition isn't shopping, we spend that day putting up the Christmas tree and decorating. A quick casserole type dish is the perfect no-fuss meal for a busy day like that. And something simple is just what I needed after the massive amount of cooking I did for Thanksgiving. My kids love macaroni and cheese (who doesn't?), but I know it's not the healthiest meal. I found this recipe when surfing the web awhile back, and thought it was pure genius to add squash to mac and cheese. After all, it's creamy and the color matches perfectly.

I made a number of changes to the original recipe. I needed to increase it for my large family, the original recipe serves two. I did not have cottage cheese on hand and wasn't going shopping, and I wanted my squash haters to eat it and enjoy it. So I decided to increase the amount of cheese and it worked. I intend to gradually cut back on the cheese and healthy it up more, a little at a time.

Butternut Macaroni and Cheese

1/4 c. vegetable broth

2 c. butternut puree

16 oz. reduced-fat shredded cheddar

1 tsp. onion powder

20 oz. whole grain elbow pasta

freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Cook and drain the pasta. Meanwhile, in blender combine vegetable broth, butternut puree, cheese, and onion powder. Pour sauce over pasta, mix until combined, place in 9 x 13 casserole dish, sprinkle with pepper, and bake 15 min. till heated through. Makes 10 servings.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

2009-11-24T08:02:00.000-05:00

It isn't easy to find good pita bread, most contain a paragraph long list of ingredients. There is only one store near me that carries good pita and it contains just 3 ingredients: whole wheat flour, yeast and salt. But they don't always have it. Since we eat hummus, veggies and pita quite often, I learned to make my own. It's actually very simple.

This whole wheat pita bread recipe is based on one from an old Vegetarian Times cookbook that I've had for years. I use my bread machine to mix the dough, but you can do it by hand too. Since there are no preservatives in this bread, it needs to be used within a day or two or else frozen until needed. This recipe makes 6 pitas.

This week will have short posts. I have so much to do to get ready for Thanksgiving, as I'm sure you do. Even though it will just be the six of us this year, no guests, I want it to be special. Two of my kids have jobs in restaurants, and neither of them has to work on Thanksgiving. Both restaurants are open, so they lucked out! This may be the last year that happens, so I want to make the most of this day. (I really think all of the restaurants and stores should be closed on Thanksgiving so the employees could spend the day with their families.The greed of these businesses still astounds me. I refuse to go to a restaurant or shop on this day.)
Hope you enjoy the pita recipe, I'll be using it after Thanksgiving, stuffing it with hummus and leftover veggies.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

1 c. water

1 T. honey or agave

1 1/2 tsp. sea salt

3 c. white whole wheat flour

2 tsp. yeast

Place ingredients in bread machine and run through dough cycle. ( or combine by hand and let rise till doubled-about 1 hr.)

Divide dough into 6 portions, shape each into a smooth round ball. Let rest 15 min. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 475.

Roll out each ball into a circle about 1/2" thick. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake on lowest oven rack 8-10 min. till golden and puffy. Remove from baking sheet and place between 2 dish towels till cool, store in plastic bag to keep soft.

(I bake mine in batches- two at a time.)

Baked Pumpkin Seeds

2009-11-23T11:35:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I baked and pureed two pie pumpkins which I will use to make my Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. They were both loaded with seeds that are just too good to waste. Full of nutrition, they make a tasty snack. So I made baked pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin seeds are packed with minerals- magnesium, manganese, copper, and zinc, as well as vitamin k, and fiber.

You can do this with any squash seeds, such as butternut or acorn.

Some people just rinse and bake them. I've found that since I leave the hull on them, they would get very tough when I prepared them that way. By boiling them before baking, they turn out crisp, chewable and wonderful!

I like them just salty, but you can add various seasonings to make them more interesting if you like. You can sprinkle them with curry, garlic, onion and cayenne. Or you can go for a sweeter version and sprinkle with agave, cinnamon , ginger and nutmeg before baking. You can also skip the butter to make them vegan.

Baked Pumpkin Seeds

1 qt. water

pumpkin or squash seeds

2 T. salt ( you can cut this in half if you do not like them salty)

1 T. olive oil

1 T. organic butter

Preheat oven to 350. Wash seeds in colander to remove pulp. Bring water to a boil, then add salt and seeds. Boil for 10 min. Drain seeds, toss with butter and oil, place on heavy baking sheet. Bake 30 min. stirring once or twice. Store in sealed jar on counter.

Veggie Pasties

2009-11-20T09:13:00.001-05:00

I cook vast amounts of vegetables for my large family, so from time to time there are leftovers. No one really wants to eat boring leftover steamed veggies as is, but sandwiches are always a hit. So I came up with these veggie filled pasties in order to use those leftovers. The pasties were a hit, so now I will make sure to have plenty of leftover veggies the next time I make these.
I used leftover steamed carrots, broccoli and potatoes. They would be good with cabbage, turnips, rutabaga and squash cubes as well.

Veggie Pasties

pastry:

1 c. cooked pinto beans

2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. dried basil

6 T. organic butter-cut in pieces

6 T. milk

filling:

1 diced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

2 c. leftover cooked veggies

sea salt, pepper and paprika to taste

Puree beans in food processor. Add flour, salt, basil and butter. Process till mixed and crumbly. Add milk and process till it forms a ball. Remove to floured counter top and divide into 4 pieces. Roll each out into a 6" circle.

Preheat oven to 375.

Saute onion and garlic in 1 T. olive oil 10 min. till tender. Combine with rest of veggies and add seasonings to taste. Place 1/4 of veggies on each pastry circle, fold over and pinch edges to seal. Place on ungreased baking sheet and prick each with a fork to allow steam to escape. Bake 25 min., brush with milk, and bake 10 min. more. Makes 4 servings.

Broccoli and Noodles with Peanut Sauce

2009-11-19T08:47:00.000-05:00

Broccoli and peanut sauce are a perfect match, their flavors were just made for each other. Folks who don't particularly like broccoli will often eat it when it's combined with peanut sauce. The same holds true for those who claim to not like peanut butter. My son balks on the rare occasion that I make him a peanut butter sandwhich to take in his lunch, but if I make peanut sauce and broccoli- he's all over it. One of the nice things about this dish is that it comes together quickly when you are running short on time, and it tastes good cold if you have leftovers.

A sprinkle of sesame seeds on top is yummy too, but I was all out this time.

Broccoli and Noodles with Peanut Sauce

1 head broccoli, cut in pieces

12 oz. whole grain linguine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. peanut butter

2 T. soy sauce

2 T. rice vinegar

1 T. honey

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 T. freshly grated ginger

2/3 c. warm water

Lightly steam broccoli. At the same time cook noodles. In blender combine garlic, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, red pepper flakes, ginger, and water till you have a smooth sauce. If needed add a little more water. Pour sauce over cooked noodles, toss to coat, top with broccoli.

Cranberry Applesauce

2009-11-17T13:17:00.002-05:00

I make this cran-applesauce each year for Thanksgiving and we all enjoy it. Put the ingredients in your slow cooker and it takes care of itself while you cook the rest of the meal. My family prefers this to the traditional cranberry sauce, and I make it a number of times each fall because it disappears so quickly.

This is a really simple recipe, it only has 3 ingredients. It can be made on the stovetop if you prefer, and that takes less time. But you have to watch it more closely and stir it often.

This will be the first year that we will not have guests for Thanksgiving, it will just be the six of us. So I am still working on the menu and trying to decide what we will have.

I grew up with my grandmother's fabulous giblet sage turkey stuffing. The stuffing was always my favorite part of Thanksgiving, and it's the only thing I miss since becoming vegetarian. But I have not found or come up with a vegetarian sage stuffing recipe that satisfies me and I have tried many through the years. All of the store bought stuffing bread that I've ever seen contains transfats, so making stuffing means making my own bread cubes. It's a lot of work to do this over and over again when I am never happy with the end product. So I may just skip it this year. Unless one of you has a tried and true recipe that you are willing to share. In which case I just may have to kiss you!

In the meantime, here's my recipe for cranapple sauce. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Cranberry Applesauce

10 apples of mixed varieties ( try to use at least 3 kinds)

12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries

3/4 -1 c. agave (depending on how sweet you like it and how many tart apples you use)

Peel and chop apples. Place apples, cranberries and agave in slow cooker, cook 3-4 hrs. on high or 6-8 hrs. on low. Give it a quick mash with a potato masher to make sure all cranberries have broken open. We like ours chunky, but if you prefer it smooth then use a stick blender or run it through the food processor.

What's in Your Fridge?

2009-11-16T08:52:00.002-05:00

I have refrigerator envy. I found this great post when I was reading Raising Seven Vegans blog the other day showing what is inside her fridge. It then linked to Green and Crunchy blog, who started this game, and showed what's in her fridge. It is the fridge of my dreams, so neat and organized with everything labeled, and it comes equipped with the most adorable little label maker ever! I am easily amused and it's great fun for me to see in others' fridges. I can't resist browsing in others' carts when grocery shopping, and always thought I was the only cart voyeur. It's always fun to come across someone else who's cart is as full of produce as mine.

I only photographed the fridge in my kitchen, I have another in the basement which holds all the apples, oranges, grapefruit, another cabbage, and whatever else I can't fit in the main fridge, which includes meat for the carnivorous hubby, and some cheese. Nuts I store in the freezer, and leave a few small jars on the counter which I refill as needed.

On the top shelf there is wheat germ, feta cheese, sour cream, brown miso, white miso, organic veggie broth, homemade dill pickles, organic milk, homemade yogurt, a package of hubby's nitrate free turkey lunchmeat, and a stalk of brussels sprouts.

On the middle shelf there are leftover falafels, a carton of baby spinach, a bowl of cranberry applesauce which I will post the recipe for this week, large bowl of lentil sloppy joes, local free range organic eggs, and a dish of leftover mashed sweet potato. The lunchmeat drawer contains 3 pints of blueberries, a lemon, 3 pomeganites, and some whole grain tortillas.

The bottom shelf holds containers of homemade dogfood, (yes I cook for my dogs, I don't believe any living thing was meant to live on commercial processed food- but that's a post for another day), a box of clementines, organic baby romaine salad, and a dish of sliced green peppers.

The veggie drawer on the left contains celery, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, snow peas, a tomato, some ginger root, and lemons.

The drawer on the right contains 2 more cartons of baby greens, some leaf lettuces, a bag of cranberries and 3 lbs. of asparagus.

I'd love to see what's in your fridge too, leave a comment if you want to play along.

Spinach Mushroom Soup

2009-11-13T09:02:00.003-05:00

This is my least favorite time of year. I do not like getting up when it's dark and cold, and I really do not like scraping the frost off my car windows to take the kids to school. So I wanted to make something warm and soothing. This creamy soup made my taste buds happy.

This is a recipe I make once or twice a year. I adapted it from an old Pillsbury recipe that I've had forever, and it would be easy to veganize. If I had my grandmother's mushrooming skills, I would gather morels to use in spring. Since I don't want to poison my family, I use store-bought mushrooms. I know you can purchase morels, but they are prohibitively expensive.

Shitake mushrooms contain lentinan, which revs up the immune system. All mushrooms, including the common button mushrooms have been shown to have anti-cancer properties. And we all know what a powerhouse spinach is. The best part is they taste great together!

Spinach Mushroom Soup

4 c. sliced mushrooms of your choice ( I like to use a mix of portabello, shitake and button)

2 carrots, grated

1 small red onion, diced

2 c. vegetable broth

8 oz. baby spinach

1 c. skim milk

1/8 c. flour

4 oz. reduced fat swiss cheese

4 oz. fat-free cream cheese
sea salt and pepper to taste

Saute mushrooms, carrots and onions in 1 T. olive oil and 2 T.vegetable broth for 2 min., then lower heat, cover and sweat 10 min. till tender. Then add the remaining broth and the spinach. Simmer 5 min. Mix milk and flour till smooth, add to soup and cook and stir till thickened. Add cheeses, stir till melted. Serves 4.

Help St. Jude's Help Kids with Cancer

2009-11-11T13:49:00.000-05:00

The wonderful Amy at Simply Sugar & Gluten Free has put together a kid-friendly recipe e-book. For a donation of your choice you can download it and all proceeds will go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This is a wonderful cause, so donate if you can, spread the word, and show Amy some love by visiting her blog. She put a lot of work into this and did an amazing job. She really has a big heart! Thankyou Amy!!

Butternut Squash Pasta

2009-11-11T08:53:00.000-05:00

I love squash. I am of the opinion that one can never have too many squash recipes. So when I found this one at roxetta blogspot, I knew I had to try it. My daughter, who doesn't particularly like squash agreed with me that this smelled divine while cooking. It combines some of my favorite flavors- coconut milk, squash and sage.

The only changes I made to the original recipe were using dried sage since I didn't have fresh on hand, and I left out the breadcrumbs, I'm not fond of them. When I make this again I will make a few more changes- I will add a few cloves of minced garlic and substitute a red onion for the yellow one to give it more flavor. I may add a dash of red pepper flakes and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top also. The original dish was just a little too bland and sweet for me. This was also the rare occasion that I used white pasta. I like to use seashell pasta once in a while but haven't been able to find a good whole grain one, so next time I will go back to using whole grain elbows. Here is what I did, the original recipe is linked above.

Butternut Squash Pasta

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1'' cubes

1 yellow onion, diced

1 15 oz. can coconut milk

1 tsp. dried sage

1 tsp. sea salt

black pepper to taste

1 1b. pasta

1/2 c. toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350, oil or butter a casserole dish.

In 1 T. olive oil, saute onion, cover and sweat 10 min. till tender. Add coconut milk, squash, salt. pepper and sage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for about 20 min. till squash is tender.

Meanwhile cook and then drain pasta. Stir in squash mixture and walnuts, pour into casserole and bake till heated through, about 15 min.