Vegan Fruit smoothie (made with homemade almond milk)

Now that it's warmer, there's more fruit available at the grocery stores. The strawberries are amazing! And the mangoes, and blueberries....
I've been making these smoothies everyday for the past couple of weeks. I bought frozen strawberries, rasberries and blueberries (whole foods and trader joe's both sell them organic for like $3-4 dollars each!) But today I made it with all fresh ingredients. I am a cold person (all the time) so I didn't add ice, but if you don't have frozen fruits in there, most people prefer the cold temp---- so add ice.
 To make 1 glass: 1 banana, 2 strawberries, half a mango, one cup almond milk (refer to how to make almond milk post), 5-10 raw walnuts, 1 tbsp cinnamon (optional), 1 tbsp ground flaxseeds
Or add any fruits you have: handful of blueberries, rasberries, 1/2 apple, 1 kiwi etc.....
I added 2 bananas b/c I went for a long run and was really hungry. 

Luckily I was able to get all organic ingredients without breaking the bank. Even the nuts were organic.
1) So I made the almond milk first.... set that aside, and rinsed out the blender.

 2) Then put the banana, strawberry and mango in there.

 3) Threw in the walnuts...

 4) I took my cinnamon sticks (more nutritional value by using the whole stick instead of the pre-ground stuff) and ground them up in my coffee grinder.
*Cinnamon is a warming agent that my acupuncturist told me to add to my day for my Raynaud's disease. Watch out, it can make you really warm!

 5) 1 tbsp of flax seeds (I keep them in my fridge)
*Flax seeds cannot be broken by our bodies, so we have to help out by grinding them. It is best to grind them the day you eat them, to get the most nutritional value.

 5) Blend it all up!! And sit down, drink it slowly, and taste all the flavors!

*If you want it with less calories, go ahead and add water instead of almond milk. If you want it sweeter, add a date, honey, or agave.

Green Monster Dip (Vegan, Gluten Free)

I wanted a healthy dip for my vegie sticks, and something to put in my collard wraps for flavor. So I found this Green Monster Dip. I just wrote the ingredients on a piece a paper, but didn't write where I saw it. I know that's a no-no, but I still need to share it. Its very healthy and green!!!!


Ingredients:


1 15 oz Can Chickpeas (I made mine from dried peas - soak chickpeas overnight, they will almost double, cook until a little mushy, about 1 hour. Very simple and doesn't come from a can!)

2 Tablespoons Tahini
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Water
1 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic, minced
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
4 Cups packed Spinach


Put all ingredients in food processor, mix until all is well combined. My husband says, mix until you have babyfood! I love his analogies!  Serve with sliced carrots and celery. This is going to be my afternoon snack tomorrow. I will post the chard wrap tomorrow.

Bumble Bars!!!

This is another one of my.... I copied all the ingredients from the packaging from a Valley Natural Foods (co-op in Apple Valley, MN) deli area. I have been looking for a substantial "Bar" to make to satisfy those afternoon pangs that come along. I also have been trying to make a healthy snack for my husband to have so he doesn't reach for the usual candy bars or Triscuits. I'm trying to get him away from processed foods. He is doing so well, but I have to keep his interest in the health stuff!!! I also included Carob Chips that were not in the original ingredient list. So, here it is....


Ingredients List: Fills a 8" x 8" pan, so if you want smaller bars put in a bigger pan.

2 Cups White Sesame Seeds
1 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1 Cup Raw Cashews, chopped
1/2 Cup Coconut Flakes
1/2 Cup Honey
1 Cup Peanut Butter (I used the kind that I grind from the machine at the co-op, no sugar, no preservatives!)
Pinch of Salt
1 Cup Carob Chips (Carob chips are made out of carob powder. They are similar in appearance and texture to chocolate chips, although the taste is distinctly different from that of chocolate. Carob is a naturally sweet substance, so there is generally no sugar added to the chips during manufacture. Carob chips also lack the stimulants caffeine and theobromine found in chocolate.)

Mix together all dry ingredients. Add honey, peanut butter, salt to dry ingredients. Mix until thoroughly combined. Add carob chips. Oil the pan, I used a little coconut butter, so the bars will come out easily. Place mixture in pan, use wet fingers to mash down the mixture evenly. Place in refrigerator for about an hour, then you will be able to take out and cut into bars. I put mine in individual Ziploc bags so we can take them for our snacks while at work. 


I must confess, I only used 1/2 Cup of Peanut Butter, and the bars fell apart in the bags while trying to eat them. So, I increased the amount of peanut butter in the ingredient list hoping that it will hold together better. If you make them before I make another batch, please let me know how they turn out. Remember.... I'm in the experimenting with the recipes from ingredients lists!!!! But, I have to say, they definitely tasted like the ones from the co-op, I just need to figure out how to hold them together!!!


Enjoy!!! (from Mom)

Orange Chili Rice Noodles (Gluten Free)

I went to my local food co-op (Just Food Co-op, Northfield, MN) to look for something to eat for lunch because I didn't have time to make anything. So I found Orange Chili Rice Noodles, gluten-free, and raw except for the rice noodles. Oh my, I thought I died and gone to healthy food heaven!!! Well, this is my first experiment in just having the ingredients in front of me and no idea as to how much of each ingredient. I just dove right in and started with a little bit of everything and then tasted, then added ingredients that I thought the recipe was missing. I think I came pretty darn close to the recipe from the co-op. So here it is, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!

Ingredients for 2 dinners, 2 people.


1/2 box of Rice Noodles (I bought Thai Kitchen Rice Noodles)
1/2 Cup Bean Sprouts (I usually make my own sprouts, but I bought a bag of    mixed bean sprouts, the ones with the actual bean with a little sprout coming out of it. My husband said it looked like a little sperm!!!)
2 Carrots, shredded or little cubes
2 Green onions, white and green parts
1 Bunch Cilantro, chopped
1/2 Cup Peanuts (I used sunflower seeds instead)
Juice and zest from 3 oranges
1 Tablespoon Wheat Free Tamari
2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Honey
Pinch of Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Red Chili Flakes (I do not like mine too hot. This added just a little bite!)
1 Clove Garlic minced (put more garlic if you wish)
1 Tablespoon Peanut Oil
1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil

Put in large bowl: chopped or grated carrots, scallions, cilantro, and nuts. In another bowl whisk together orange juice and zest, tamari, rice vinegar, honey, salt, red chili flakes, garlic, peanut and sesame oil. Combine well the liquids to other ingredients. Bring a pot of water to a boil, throw in 1/2 box of noodles into boiling water. Take off of heat, let sit for 7 minutes. Drain water from rice noodles. Put noodles in with other ingredients. Mix well until all noodles are covered with mixture. You can serve right away to have a warm dish, or put in refrigerator to cool. I had them warm and the next day took for my lunch and ate cold. Both were very tasty!!!

polenta-quinoa

This has been one of my favorite meals that my boyfriend and I can share together. He is going to add lamb to his dish. The polenta is so tasty, but I needed some protein after a 9 mile run today. 

Usually we just chop up the polenta into circles, but I decided to make patties combing the quinoa and polenta. 

Ingredients: pick a green- broccoli, collard, kale, spinach (if you use spinach, cook it for less time)

one tube of polenta

vegetable broth (1 cup or so)

1/4 onion or challot

2 cloves of garlic

1 cup of quinoa 

1 cup of mushrooms (any kind, oyster is my favorite)

1 lemon

spices (maybe rosemary, pepper, thyme, oregano...) We didn't do any spices

or maybe Amino Bragg's (a low sodium alternative to Soy sauce)

Turn oven on to 375

First, sautee onions and garlic. Just a rule of thumb, you never want to cook garlic for more than 10 minutes because the antioxidants begin to convert to free radicals. 

Add the greens and vegetable broth, and lastly, the mushrooms (for only 4 minutes)

Put some vegetable broth in the pan and put the patties on top. I just used my hands to make the patties.  Put them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. 

I squeezed on the lemon (optional)

Put the vegetables on top of the polenta-quinoa cakes for another 4 minutes. 

There's a lot of freedom with this recipe, with spices and vegetables. So you can really use whatever you have. But I just love mushrooms. If you aren't eating vegan, shavings of parmesan cheese on top is a nice addition. Enjoy!

How to Eat Dandelions from your yard, by a 94 yr. young woman!

Clara Cannucciari, a 94 year old woman who, in a series of webcasts, describes and prepares the food her family at during the Great Depression. "The dandelion was a good meal to have during the depression because it was free and it's good for you," she says. Watch this video, and then tell me if you feel inspired to keep, not eliminate, the dandelions in your yard.

Original posting from http://www.agardenforthehouse.com.

 

Dandelion greens are loaded with health benefits and are good for things like arthritis, anemia, breast cancer, candida, cysts, urinary tract infections. And it is good for your kidneys, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, and spleen.

Dandelion greens also have a ton of vitamins and minerals in them…

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin B12 (So if you’re vegan and have been wondering how do you get your B12. This is the answer)
• Beta-carotene
• Phosphorous
• Magnesium
• Calcium

There are roughly 300 different types of dandelion and all of them are edible.

vegan burrito- sweet potato, black beans, arugula, cilantro rice

My boyfriend and I made vegan burritos tonight. There are multiple things going on at once, so it is nice to have another set of hands. And Wes is very picky, so if he makes it, he will eat it, since he knows what is going into it.

Ingredients: 1) sweet potato paste- 1 sweet potato, brown sugar or agave or honey, cinnamon. 

2) cilantro rice- 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 cup cilantro, shake of salt, lime, rice (we did brown rice)

3) black bean paste- 1 cup of beans (we did organic black beans from the can), cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes, honey (really you can play around with the spices)

4) arugula

5) whole wheat tortillas or non-gluten tortillas

The sweet potatoes and rice take about the same amount of time (40 min) so get them going immediately. We cut the sweet potatoes pretty small, and peeled them. Bring water and sweet potato to boil, then simmer until soft.

The rice is a 1:2 ratio of rice to water. Bring both water and rice to a boil, and then let simmer until water is gone. Avoid stirring. 

Here's the can of black beans in the $30 target food processor. I use it for smaller stuff instead of my vitamix. My boyfriend just came up with the spice concoction... but you can do whatever! We blended it until it was like a paste. 

The food processor does better when things start cold (since it heats up from the blade) so I cooled down the sweet potatoes first. 

Sweet potato after in the food processor and cinnamon and brown sugar added. 

He spread it on pretty thin so that it rolled better. 

Cilantro rice.... just mix the ingredients listed above in the food processor, or by hand... and mix in rice! It is soooo yummy. 

Random tip--- cilantro lasts longer if stored in water. Change water every couple of days. This does not work for basil (haha found out the hard way)

Final product before rolling it up! We put arugula on top. I really thought it could use something else.... maybe salsa on the side? Or a non-vegan item would be goat cheese. Maybe tomorrow night! We have tons of leftovers. 

wheat berry salad

Hi! It's my mom's birthday today, Happy Birthday mom!! Wish I could be with you.

I made a salad mix with wheat berries. I have never eaten wheat berries... and they are delicious! Before cooking them, rinse them in a strainer.
To cook: 1 cup wheat berries, 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for one hour. Easy peasy!

These are the cooked wheat berries. 

You can really put any veggies in your salad... but I put cabbage, red pepper, cucumber, carrot, garlic, and cilantro. I was going to put some salad dressing in there but it is flavorful enough without.

For added crunch and sweetness I added raw sunflower seeds and crystalized ginger. SOOO good. 

This will be a good salad to bring to school or even eat this evening. It will prob. stay good for 2 days. I will freeze the left over wheat berries.