Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

 Think Outside the Bun



Another quick and easy meal.  A high raw sandwich.  These are romaine leaves layered with guacamole, raw cheese, mustard, grape tomatoes, shredded carrots, and raw sunflower seeds.  Delicious!  These are really filling and easy to customize with your own favorite raw toppings.

Posted in: , , on Friday, April 2, 2010 at at 5:00 AM 0 comments  

 Happy Healthy Breakfast Recipe

Let me start by saying that I am very picky about my raw food recipes.  They must be easy to make and delicious or I am just not going to bother. (except for Juliano's raw carrot cake recipe, which is time consuming but soooo worth it!)

I finally have a raw breakfast cereal that fits my standards.  I love it!
So do the girls...

She took the whole mixing bowl and finished it off!

I call this easy breakfast Blueberry Cereal.  This is an adaptation of Marvelous Muesli from The Complete Book of Raw Food.  Here is how I make it.  Bear in mind, I don't typically measure anything - I eyeball it!

In mixing bowl, dice 1 apple and 1 banana.  Mix in about 1/4 - 1/3 cup fresh or frozen blueberries. (the frozen turn the cereal a nice purple color as they defrost, which the girls enjoy)  Add 1 or 2 handfuls of raisins.  In food processor or high power blender chop 1 handful almonds and 1 handful walnuts.  The almonds come out in small chunks and the walnuts come out finely chopped which makes a nice blend for the cereal.  Stir well.


This makes enough for me and the girls for breakfast.  For the whole family to enjoy for breakfast, I just add another 1/2 apple and banana and go a little heavier on the other ingredients.  You could easily substitute other nuts or berries.  Yummy and filling!  









Posted in: , on Thursday, April 1, 2010 at at 8:49 AM 2 comments  

 More Raw Cooking

Is that an oxymoron?  Or can cooking justifiably be applied to the creation of a meal or snack out of food regardless of whether heat is applied?  Just something I was wondering...

Anyway, in my quest to stay motivated to eat healthy, I have signed up for a slew of health emails to be delivered to my inbox.  This keeps me inundated with information to keep me on track.  I currently am receiving emails from the following:

Renegade Health
Dr. Mercola
World's Healthiest Foods
Natural News
Raw Family
Former Fat Guy
Raw Mom
Dr. Fuhrman  (author of Eat to Live)
Beautiful on Raw
Hallelujah Acres  (this one has been a link to a daily online video during the 60 day challenge, which is almost over!)

I love having the information waiting for me everyday in my email.  If anyone has other recommendations, I would love to know about them!

Sometimes if life is too busy, they just get deleted or put in a save folder to read later if it looks interesting or has a good recipe.  One of these that I saved was from The World's Healthiest Foods.  He sent out a recipe for 15-Minute Dark Chocolate Truffles.  Here is the recipe:
Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup pitted prunes
  • 1/4 cup pitted dates
  • 3 TBS almond butter
  • 1 TBS maple syrup
  • 3 TBS unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 cup finely grated unsweetened coconut
Directions:
  1. In a food processor, drop the prunes and dates through the feed hole one by one. Scrape the processor bowl and run until the prunes and dates are smooth.
  2. Add remaining ingredients except for the coconut. Run until smooth and scrape the processor bowl with a spatula as needed.
  3. Roll the mixture into 12 one-inch balls and roll in coconut to coat. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
Makes 12 pieces

Well, sounded yummy to me and I had just bought prunes so I had all the necessary ingredients.  We were on!


We just put the whole thing in the Blendtec and it whipped it up in no time at all.  The girls loved helping to coat the balls in coconut.  Our batch ended up making 24 little truffles.  Our whole family liked them except for Angelina.  That really surprised me because she is our little prune eater.



Funny side note: I found that out on a road trip back to Maryland a couple years ago.  I had brought a big bag of mixed dried fruit for snacking on.  Angelina was just a little one then, but boy, did she love them prunes!  Unfortunately, too many prunes for a kid still in diapers is NOT a good combination.  I could smell a diaper change was in order and pulled over at the next rest stop.  Boy, did I have NO idea what was in store for me.  It was a diaper explosion!  I had to strip her completely bare and used up the rest of my wet wipes in the diaper bag getting her clean.  Just an FYI for other moms out there. ;)  It is funny looking back on it now, but was decidedly NOT funny then!

So back to the truffles.  I did like the truffles, but I am not so sure that the long list of ingredients garnered that special of a taste or texture to go to that effort.  They tasted very much like any of the chocolate treats I have whipped up before.  Raw almond butter is very expensive to get unless you have a Trader Joe's nearby. (which I don't, boo-hoo!)  So if I could make something equally good without it, that would be my preference.  I probably won't make this particular recipe again.  I usually just mix dates, walnuts, and raw chocolate to make a "raw brownie" and they taste almost identical to the recipe.  I don't usually roll them in coconut, but that would definitely be an option.  I also have done the same thing with raisins, walnuts, and raw chocolate for a "chocolate covered raisin" flavor.

Actually, I think this recipe ended up tasting very much like the raw bar recipe I posted on here.

On to the second raw recipe attempt.

I have read a lot of rave reviews on Kale chips, even seeing them referred to as Raw crack.  Apparently, these are the addictive, can't stop eating them or even wait for them to finish dehydrating, raw version of potato chips.  Now that Kale is showing up in the stores at reasonable prices, I was ready to give it a go.
I cleaned my kale and massaged in the oil and spices.


It sure looks yummy.  There is a recipe for cheesy kale chips made with nutritional yeast, but I was too impatient to wait for my nutritional yeast order to arrive, so I plunged ahead without it.  These kale pieces went on a pan and into the convection oven at 100 degrees.

My verdict was...
Do have an incredible potato chip like crunch?  Yes!
Are they addictive? Not so much.

I did not like the flavor one bit.  No one in the house liked them and a whole bunch of kale was wasted.  A real shame.  I am hesitant to try this one again, but I may try just a small batch of a cheesy kale recipe and see if that improves the flavor, because the crunch was indeed lovely.

So there you have it... 2 new raw recipes tried, and 2 recipes that won't be made again.  I will continue searching to add to our repertoire of quick, easy, and delicious raw food.

Posted in: , , , on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at at 9:00 AM 4 comments  

 Raw Oatmeal

Today was day one of the 60 day challenge at Hallelujah Acres.  So I started my day with raw oatmeal. (for me this is a challenge to be on a high raw diet more than following the specific guidelines of HA)  I thought I would share this recipe because it is easy and delicious - two qualities that I love in a raw food dish. :)


I start with steel cut oats.  Before going to bed, I put 1/2 cup of the oats in my liquid measuring cup, put 8 dates in, then add water to more than cover it all.  With this amount, a single serving, I filled to 1 1/2 cup line and there was still plenty of water left in the morning.  Drain the excess water.  If you want warm oatmeal, just run hot water over the oats while in the strainer.  If you don't want to have to drain it, then just cover with water.  You shouldn't have much if any excess by morning with that amount.


Put the oats and dates into a food processor.  Add a few sprinkles of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.  Process...


Remove from the processor and stir in a handful of raisins and chopped raw pecans.  Eat it up.  Yummmmm!


To celebrate the beginning of my new era of health (always the optimist, I am) here is a video of the author of The China Study giving a talk in which he basically summarizes the book and info.  "Main Finding - The richer the diet is in the kind and amount of nutrients provided by plant-based foods, the lower is the risk for chronic degenerative diseases."



Posted in: , , , , on Thursday, January 7, 2010 at at 8:47 PM 0 comments  

 A Happy Discovery

Since we had found all those mangoes from last weeks dumpster diving adventure, I decided we should make a smoothie.  I peeled and chopped up all the mangoes - 2 went into the blender, and the rest into the freezer for future smoothies.


We also put about a banana and a half in the blender. (frozen from long ago when Aldi's had a big table of very ripe bananas on sale for like 10cents a pound)  Here Trinity is juicing some apples and a couple carrots for our liquid.  The girls love to help make smoothies.


The mango smoothies were delicious!  Got me wanting more fresh stuff.  So the next day we made carrot/apple juice with 1/2 lemon squeezed in.  We juiced the carrots first and as I watched the gorgeous carrot pulp coming out into our discard bowl, I had an idea.  I had just tried out a muffin recipe earlier this week using up some old bananas in the fridge to make banana nut muffins.  I thought, heck...why not use the carrot pulp and make carrot muffins?

So that is what I did.  I added the carrot pulp (from 7 carrots) raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and chopped walnuts to the basic muffin recipe from  The Vegetarian Family Cookbook.


Hubby says these are the best muffins I ever made.  Wow!  Guess I'll be making them again!
I also decided to use up some of the Rice Krispies that we have since the kids are not big fans of it as a cereal  to eat.  This is a vegan Krispies treat.  Here is the recipe:

1 cup pancake syrup (recipes generally call for corn syrup, but this was in my pantry from the food bank and is mostly corn syrup - worked just fine)
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
8 cups Rice Krispies type cereal

Heat the first 3 ingredients together in a large pot until combined.  Stir in chocolate powder.  Remove from heat and stir in cereal until thoroughly coated.  Spread in 9x13 pan and put in refrigerator to cool and set the treats.


Then, enjoy these delicious, chocolatey, peanut buttery, not good for you but oh, so delicious treats!


Follow up note:  Having had my awakening about the serious issue with our food supply here in America, I can not leave this recipe without adding my two cents.  First, I wouldn't ever make these again for my kids.  There isn't any way to make this healthy.  Yes, you could use real maple syrup, raw nut butter and organic cane sugar to make it healthier.  But you still are using Rice Krispies cereal and there is nothing healthy about those.  Better to just make some raw chocolate treats (click on raw chocolate in the topic cloud) and get your kids off the high sugar/processed foods.


Posted in: , , , on Saturday, December 19, 2009 at at 7:00 AM 3 comments  

 Craving Raw

There was a dessert that I always loved.  Used to show up at potlucks or picnics a lot.  It was made by mixing a package of pistachio pudding with whip cream, a can of crushed pineapple, nuts, and mini-marshmallows.

I made up a big bowl of fruit salad, and for some reason, probably the pineapple, this reminded me of that recipe.  Definitely as satisfying to eat and a whole lot more healthy for you!


Dessert Fruit Salad
1 lg. can crushed pineapple
2 apples, cut up into bite sized pieces
2 handfuls walnuts, chopped
1 handful raisins
Mix all together.  Sprinkle with some shredded coconut to serve.




Posted in: , , on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at at 8:00 AM 2 comments  

 No More Store Bought Veggie Burgers For Me

Here is a picture of my first batch of homemade veggie burgers.  (that is a small bun that it is on, just so you know I don't make monster size burgers!)  I took a recipe that I found and modified it.  I made a double batch so I would have extras to freeze.  This ended up making 12 burgers, and they are delicious!




Veggie Burger

2/3 cup oatmeal
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
4 Tbs soy sauce
1 cup ground flax seed
about 2 Tbs minced onion
1 large finely grated carrot
salt and pepper to taste

Put the oatmeal in a bowl and add 1 1/3 cup boiling water.  Set aside.
Mash the beans in a large bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.  Add the oatmeal and thoroughly mix in.  Use a 1/4 measuring cup to drop burger mixture onto a hot griddle or skillet, sprayed with cooking spray.   Cook a few minutes on each side.





Posted in: , , on Thursday, December 10, 2009 at at 9:00 AM 2 comments  

 More Pantry Cooking

Still cooking up loads of pantry goods.  My creative vegan juices are starting to flow when it comes to creating dinner.  Here is what I made the other day entirely of pantry food.

Green Pilaf


1 package Chicken flavor rice mix (think 'Rice a Roni')
1 can spinach, drained
1 can sweet peas, drained
1 can northern beans, drained and rinsed

Basically prepare the rice mix per instructions, but after pouring in the hot water, add the rest of the ingredients.  Yummmm.  A lovely, tasty, green pilaf

I actually drained the spinach and peas into my liquid measuring cup and then added enough hot water to it to reach the needed 2 cups for the rice.  I debated whether it was actually better or worse since there is salt added to all the canned stuff, but went for it since I am not a big salt eater typically, so I didn't think it was going to keel me over on the spot.

Also, if I had my druthers, I would use fresh spinach in the recipe as the canned spinach was a bit strong. (probably all that salt!)

Anyway, I have decided that northern beans are the next best thing to meat.
That didn't come out right.
I would actually prefer northern beans to a piece of chicken.
Delicious!

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Gotta go cook!  I'm working on a coconut-curry-with-garbanzo-and-cabbage-over-brown-rice dish.
Hey, I never claimed to be a foodie!  I'll call it what I want! *grin*


Posted in: , on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at at 10:00 AM 0 comments  

 Vegan Chili

I found another easy to make recipe while perusing frugal blogs.  Pantry cooking at its finest. :)


Vegan chili


1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, with liquid
1 Tbs chili powder


Mix all together in a saucepan and heat through.  


Does it get any easier?!


I will serve with cornbread and a green salad to round out the meal.  Cornbread is going to become one of this winters favorite sides.  We just got 25 boxes of cornbread mix off ReUseIt. (Des Moines version of Freecycle.org)  We also got 3 jars of peanut butter, 4 bags of rice, a box of fiber one pancake mix and a bag of pinto beans.  


What a haul!  God's provision... the other person that was supposed to be gifted the food didn't show up, so we get lots of vegan food for free. :)




Posted in: , on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at at 9:00 AM 4 comments  

 Good Pantry Eatin'!

Well, I said I would share when I came up with some stick to your ribs, good enough for a carnivore, vegan recipes.  Last night's dinner definitely qualifies.  Totally simple and we didn't talk over dinner because we were too busy shoveling the food in our mouths.

Even the girls, after a bit of coercion and arm twisting to try it, ate every last bite.  Angelina even kept asking for more bites (I had to feed her to get her to try it) in such rapid succession that I finally told her just eat what's in your mouth and then you can have more!  It rated two thumbs up from hubby and Trinity.  (Angelina was too busy eating to bother rating :)

After this lead in, you aren't going to believe this recipe.  Remember, that we are dealing with a lot of canned food as we had a bad month and got most of our groceries from the local food pantry.



Flexitarian Shepherd's Pie


5 or 6 medium potatoes, cut up and boiled til soft
1/2 stick of butter
salt
soy milk
1 can chili beans, 15 oz
1 can baked beans, 16 oz
1 can mixed vegetables, 15 oz (or similar size for all the canned products)
shredded cheddar cheese

1. Mash the potatoes with the butter and salt.  Add enough soy milk to make the potatoes nice and smooth.
2. In a large bowl combine the chili beans and baked beans.  Drain and rinse the vegetables and stir them into the beans.  Pour into large casserole dish.
3. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the veggie-bean mixture and spread evenly.  Sprinkle with a little cheese.
4. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

That's it!  Done.

I did opt to use the butter in the mashed potatoes and a sprinkling of cheese because it fits in with my rules.  Animal products shouldn't be the substance of a meal, but they can complement it.  I think their use is marginal compared to the amount of beans and veggies being eaten.  But you can easily use non-hydrogenated vegan margarine and either eliminate the cheese or use a vegan cheese instead to make this a totally vegan dish.

I'm already looking forward to the leftovers for lunch today.  Mmmmmmm!



Posted in: , on Saturday, November 28, 2009 at at 8:45 AM 0 comments  

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