Interesting information

My mother-in-law told me about a man she met in St. George. They started talking and she found out that he was a Vegan and had had a lot of success with helping people lose weight and gain health by sharing his knowledge with others. I have been looking at his website all morning and have found it very interesting...it's not anything really new to me after reading so much about plant based diets, but it does help solidify my views on things. I found this bit of information interesting and if anyone is interested in his website it is vegan-weight-loss.com


According to Dr T. Colin Campbell, nutritional researcher at Cornell University and director of the largest epidemiological study in history:

"The vast majority of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases and other forms of degenerative illness can be prevented simply by adopting a plant-based diet."

Heart disease, cancer, strokes, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity and other diseases have all been linked to meat and dairy consumption.

tofu yogurt

So, Olivia has been sick, and didn't eat anything for a few days. I started to get worried and decided that I needed a new approach.  I bought some silken tofu and blended it with fruit to make something like a yogurt, and it turned out pretty good.  She at 2 cups of it, and some scrambled eggs (organic, of course), and seems to be doing better this evening.  I'm not really a tofu/soy buff, but I'd recommend trying it if your struggling giving up dairy, or getting your children to give up yogurt.  It kept in the fridge a while, and tasted better after being chilled.

quick bean burgers

hi all.  i tried some pre-maid falafel mix last week.  it was pretty good and really easy to make at home.  here's some of the basic ingredients and proportions:

1 3/4 cup chickpea flour

1/4 cup ww flour

onion powder

garlic powder 

salt 

dried herbs like parsley

you mix all the ingredients in a bowl and add 1 1/2 cups water to 2 cups flour mix.  stir it together and let sit 10-20 minutes, until water is all absorbed.  you might try adding a little ground flaxseed to hold it together.  to cook you can deep fry them, or, i just oil a cookie sheet and place patties on that, then bake for 25 min at 375, flipping halfway through.

i'm still playing around with this, so i don't have an exact recipe.  adding a little uncooked millet before soaking lends a good texture, and bread crumbs help too. it's an easy way to use beans. i also use bean flour in breads, cakes and cookies to lighten them up, and sprouted beans in stir fry or coarsely ground and sprinkled on pizza's.  cooked beans make great spreads and dips and black beans are excellent on their own or mixed with salsa and guacamole.  

beans are my greatest culinary challenge, so if you have any ideas please post them.

All dried up!!

Last Thursday I woke up and felt like drying a bunch of food. The kids thought that it was a fun project for school and we all pitched in! We dried bananas and made fruit leather. We made some granola(that the kids promptly devoured) and we even tried making the raw potato chips that I found in a recipe book of Mom's. They turned out surprisingly 'chippy', but I really didn't like the apple cider vinegar taste on them. Next time I will try lime or some other flavoring to keep them from browning in the dehydrator.

Anyway, we had a good day and filled all of our dryer trays with good snacks. It's really a lot of fun to teach the kids about healthy eating. Seth even decide to try all raw this week...we'll see how he likes it!!

recipe book

Hi guys.  I'm working on publishing a book of all my recipes (not for sale, just for me and anyone who wants one. cost is about 10$) and would like to add some of your favorites as well.  This is kind of a culmination project to wrap up my 1 1/2 year obsession with health foods and allow me to move on to other things like my schooling and homeschool.  Please keep posting and add digital pictures, if you can, so that I can add them into the book.  Thanks. 

Candice

REAL BROWNIES

Hi.  This is the promised recipe for Real Brownies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1 cup WW flour (very finely ground)

1/2 cup soy or garbonzo bean flour (also very finely ground)

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4-1/2 cup non-alkali cocoa (depending on your chocolate preferance)

Mix ingredients in mixing bowl until well combined or, I put all the dry ingredients in my dry blade blender and blended on high until it was all ground very finely, almost like powdered sugar.

1/4 cup applesauce (I use 1 medium apple pealed and cored)

scant 1/4 cup raw coconut oil (looks like shortening but not as smooth)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cider vinegar

scant 1 cup water

scant 3/4 cup honey

I place all wet ingredients in my blender and blend until smooth then pour into the dry ingredients and use electric beaters on high until smooth and creamy. You can probably just use the electric beaters by mixing dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls; beat the oil until smooth, add apple sauce and honey.  Beat again.  Finish with wet ingredients and beat until smooth. Then add dry ingredients and beat until smooth.   Grease a smallish baking dish, pour in brownie mixture and bake about 20 minutes.  Check with a toothpick.  The brownies should not be runny, but make sure you don't over bake.  Cool completely before frosting. 

Frosting:

1/8 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup honey (or to taste)

1/8 cup cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)

3/4 cup date nut cream (1 cup walnuts or pecans, 1 cup pitted dates, scant 1 cup water blended until creamy)

Place oil in mixing bowl and beat on high until creamy.  Add honey and beat again.  Add cocoa and beat until a thick creamy fudge is formed.  Add vanilla and almond extract and beat until combined.  Add date nut cream and beat until smooth and creamy.  Place in the fridge to chill until the brownies are ready to be frosted.  Hope you enjoy these as much as we did!!

note:  The coconut oil in the frosting will firm up and curdle a little when chilled, but this makes it easier to spread.  Also, most of the sweetness of the brownie depends on the frosting, so make sure you use a tasty one. 

Vegan Mayonnaise without Oil! (from mom)

2 cups cashews, soaked for 4 hours or more
1 1/2 cups of water from soaking the cashews
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 - 1/2 cups spicy brown mustard
2 teaspoons sea salt
garlic (the real recipe calls for 5 cloves, but I do not use any garlic at all)

Place the water and all of the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until really smooth and creamy. This is good with sunflower pates and salads and potato salads and on sandwiches. Use it like real mayo. It is really, really good! This makes a ton, so you can reduce the recipe if you like.

I think I am going to try this recipe without the mustard and make it slightly sweet for Waldorf Salad and Carrot-Raisin-Coconut Salad. I bet it will be good!

From Mom

Leslie, that fudge sauce is great on banana ice cream, too. To make the ice cream, just push frozen bananas (remove peels before freezing) through a juicer with the homogenizing blank inserted or thaw the bananas a little and puree until smooth in a food processor. That is the only ingredient -- bananas! It is yummy plain or with other toppings, like the fudge sauce from Kristina's brownies.

I have two new recipes I like:

Mediterranean Collard Greens

4 collard leaves, washed and the center vein removed

Roll the leaves like a loose cigar and cut them in 1/4 inch slices. While they are still rolled, cut down the middle of each roll. Place the strips in a bowl and add

1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice ( I add 1 Tablespoon)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 chopped red pepper
1 Tablespoon chopped olives (I leave them out. I don't like how they taste)
Some raw pinenuts.
Some golden raisins (optional)

Pour the dressing over the other ingredients. Stir really well to coat all. Keep the dish of greens on the counter for several hours, stirring occasionally. The marinate will soften the greens and make them more like cooked greens. This dish is really yummy.

Carrots with Moroccan Spices

2 peeled carrots
1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash cinnamon
Dash cumin
Dash cayenne
Dash black pepper

Slice the carrots very thin on a mandoline slicer or with a very sharp knife. Pour on the marinate and stir really well. A dash is really all you need of the spices, so don't overdo it! Keep on the counter for several hours and stir occasionally.

These are fun recipes and I like them a lot. It is about the only way I can eat collards. I really enjoy them this way.

Chocolate Fruit Dip

Hey, I used the frosting from Kristina's raw brownie recipe as a fruit dip and it was yummo! I mad it a little thin and liked it better on the fruit. It's especially good on fresh oranges! Bananas and apples are great, too, though.

Les

Hi All you health nuts ,I am finally posting on here. I always read your recipes and posts and really enjoy them, so I guess I should post too. I have the biggest sweet tooth, so I really didn't think I could ever do anything like this, but It's amazing what a little discipline does for you. Here are a couple of my favorite recipes to curb the sweet tooth:

Blueberry cheesecake
pg 509 in LOLF book

crust:

2c. Almonds
1c. raisins

filling:
4c. cashews
1lg lemon, juiced
8 Tbl. honey
2 t. vanilla
2 c. blueberries
1 c. water

for crust:
1. place the almonds in a food processor and blend until fine
2. add raisins and blend until well blended
3. pat crust down into a pie plate

for filling:
1. Place the cashews, honey, vanilla, lemon and water in a blender or food proceesor and process until smooth and creamy
2. Remove this mixture from blender and stir in the fresh blueberries
3. pour filling into pie crust. chill.

note: The filling can be made in a food processor, but will be creamier if you use a vita mix or strong blender. Soaking the cashews for a few hours will make this creamier if you are using a food processor.

My whole family loved this, especially Nathan. It's still really high in calories, so be careful and try to limit yourself to one slice ( It's about 320 calories per slice) But atleast they are nutritious calories, right?

My other favorite recipe is of course a CHOCOLATE recipe. I crave chocolate everyday, so I really needed a rich chocolate dessert that was raw and sugar free. I found a few brownie recipes on line and I'm still experimenting with them so I can have the perfect raw brownie recipe.

Here's one that my family really liked:
Brownies with frosting:

15 Minutes to Prepare

Ingredients:
1 c walnuts
1 c dates
1/4 c cocoa pwd( you can also use raw cacao from whole foods. I don't like carob, so I used cocoa, but I am going to buy raw cacao for next time so they're 100% raw.)

Directions for brownie mixture:
Food process the brownie ingredients until blended and dry chunky.
Press into a small pan, put aside

Icing:
2 avocados
1/3-1/2 c agave nectar
1/4 c cocoa pwd
2 T coconut oil
1 T vanilla extract
dash salt
dash cinnamon

Directions for icing:
Put all icing ingredients into blender or food processor, and blend on high until smooth. Spread icing over brownies and pop in freezer to set for 1 hr. then cut into 12 pieces.

I also added a few drops of mint extract. I have made it with and without the avocados. We liked it better without them, but they were still really good. The key to making them delicious is freezing them. They taste really good after freezing them for 1 hour and even better overnight. It's amazing how much they taste like real brownies. Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

Flax Crackers

If you haven't tried flax crackers, you might like to. Here are two I tried:

Savory Flax Crakcers

In a large bowl, soak in 5 cups water for 4 hours:

1 1/2 cups dark flax seed
1 1/2 cups golden flax seed
1 cups sunflower seed, hulled

Stir well. In a blender or food processor, grind until smooth:

2 stalks celery
4 tomatoes
1/4 cup nama shoyu or 2 T. Braggs Amino Acids or soy sauce
1 teaspoon or more chili powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 garlic cloves, minced

Pour all of this into the seeds. Stir really well. Add:

2 carrots, finely shredded
1 red bell pepper, very finely diced

Stir everything really well. Place 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick on dehydrator sheets. Dehydrate for 16-18 hours. Flip and remove the solid sheet. Place on screen sheet and dehydrate for a total of 24 hours or until dry. Break apart and store in ziplock bags.

Sweeter Crackers

In a large bowl, soak in 4 cups water for 4 hours:

2 cups pumpkin seeds
1 cup dark flax seeds
1 cup golden flax seeds

Stir and add a little Agave Nectar (1/2 to 1 cup). Stir really well. Place on the solid dehydrator sheets. Keep it around 1/4 or more inches thick. Dehydrate for 18 or more hours and flip onto screen sheets. Remove the solid sheet. Return to the dehydrator for a total of 24 or more hours until dry. Mine were still a bit more flexible, but the ones I bought in the store were really hard, so you could continue to dry for many hours if you want them hard. They are good.

The little flax seeds in these crackers don't completely break down when you eat them, but they still give you great nutrition. The next time I make them, I am going to try and grind the seeds first and then soak them and dry them.

There are lots of flax seed cracker recipes out there, so have fun and try some.

Love, MOM

Finally, a Bean Burger

I've tried several Bean Burger recipes and they were all disasters, except this one. It's from the FatFreeVegan, and it was a huge hit last night; even Sabrina ate one and loved it. It seemed like a lot of onion, but it tasted great. Sorry, this is not raw, just all natural vegan.


1 yellow onion, quartered
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 cups cooked beans (any you like)
3 sundried tomatoes, soaked or 1 Tbs tomato paste
1/8 cup chopped red pepper, sweet
1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/8 tsp chilli powder (optional)
1/2 tsp salt (I'd like a little more)
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
1/8 cup ww flour

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Place the onion and garlic in a food process and pulse to chop coarsely. Add the tomatos and red pepper and chop again. Add the beans and process until coarsely chopped. Add everything else and process until well blended-slightly chunkier than refried beans. Oil non-stick cookie sheet. Use a spoon to drop dough on cookie sheet into 6 mounds. Us a wet rubber spatula to flatten and shape into round patties. Bake 15 minutes. When bottoms are lightly brown, and starting to crisp, turn burgers and cook for 10-15 minutes, until brown. Don't overcook or they'll be more like bean chips. Enjoy, they are great and pretty easy too. What I like is that I'm getting Sabrina and Liv to eat onions, garlic, beans and rice all in one tasty burger. Rice and beans eaten together provides all of your essential amino acids with a lot less cholesterol than eggs. Hurray for Bean Burgers!!

Juicing

I've noticed that Candice has basically been keeping this blog going all by herself, so I decided to add a recipe :) I haven't been eating very healthily (is that a word?) since I've been pregnant, but I recently got over my morning sickness and decided to try out the juicer that my mom gave me for Christmas. The kids love helping me put the veggies in, so it makes it really fun. I tried this one tonight mainly because I have a HUGE bag of spinach that needs to get used up this week. It turned out really good and the kids ate it better when I called it a soup rather than a juice :)

SPINACH SOUP

6-7 handfuls of spinach
1 handful of parsley
1 med. clove of garlic
1 lemon (I left the peel on)
4 large carrots
4-5 large celery stalks

Put all ingredients through a juicer. Add a bit of Real Salt to the mix, stir well and enjoy! I didn't have any tomatoes, but I think with 2 or 3 added it would taste a lot like V8 juice.

Sweet Roasted Vegetables with Creamy Polenta

Roasted Vegetables:

4 cups chopped vegetables (brussels sprouts, potatoes, carrots, cooked chickpeas, butternut squash) chopped into 

 1 1/2 inch pieces

3 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs cinnamon

2 Tbs raw, crystallized honey

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp sea salt

Creamy Polenta:

4 cups water

1 msg-free vegetable bouillon cube

1 cup finely ground cornmeal

1 1/4 cups sweet almond milk

Heat oven to 450.  Prepare vegetables, place in roasting pan and mix with olive oil.  Roast 20-30 minutes.  Prepare the polenta by placing 4 cups water and bouillon cube in a large saucepan over med-high heat. Bring to a boil and slowly stir in the cornmeal, whisking vigorously to prevent lumps.  Remove from heat, cover and let sit 15 minutes.  Remove vegetables from oven, sprinkle with cinnamon, garlic and salt.  Drop in the honey, scattering throughout the pan.  Let honey melt and carefully stir vegetables to coat.  Add almond milk to polenta and stir to incorporate.  Serve vegetables and polenta side by side on a deep plate or bowl.  Salt to taste.  

This is adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.  She uses stewed tomatoes and italian herbs in place of the honey and cinnamon.  I changed it because I don't use canned food, and tomatoes aren't in season.  Brian and I both really liked it this way.

The basic 5 recipes

I'm trying to make a collection of recipes that use the basic 5 ingredients of long term food storage, ie.  wheat, beans, salt, oil and water.  If you have any recipes that fit this criteria, please post them.  Thanks.

Cooking website

I found a fun cooking website that I thought you'd like:  www.everdaydish.tv    It has a lot of fun recipe ideas with video demos on how to make each recipe.  I'm going to try to adapt a few of them to make them all natural (it's a vegan website, not chemical free).  Have fun cooking. 

Candice

Baked Potato Soup

Soup Base:

3 cups warm water

1/2 cup cashew mayo or hummus

2 tsp dried dill weed

1 tsp salt, or to taste

plenty of black pepper

1 roasted garlic clove

1 small baked potato

In a high speed blender, add all ingredients for base and blend on high until steaming.  Reduce speed to chop, and add 4 more small baked potato's.  Pour into serving bowl and stir in corn and lightly steamed broccoli.  I also added crumbled toasted wheat tortilla's.  It was delicious!

My Favorite Breakfast Cereal

1/2 cup 1 day wheat sprouts

1/2 cup frozen organic blueberries, defrosted

1/2 cup almond milk

Put it in a bowl and enjoy!  I love it.  You could add 1/4 cup rolled oats if you want, just let it sit a few minutes so the oats soak up a little of the milk.

Note: Trader Joes has the best organic blueberries that I've found. 

Vanilla and Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream

1 cup almonds

1 cup pitted dates

5 cups water

Soak almonds and dates in water for 1 hour.  Place in a blender and blend on high for 2 to 3 minutes.  Strain through a cheese cloth and chill for 1 hour.  Return to blender and add:

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp Vanilla or 1 vanilla bean, ground

1/4 tsp almond extract

a pinch of sea salt

Blend a few seconds.  Pour into ice cream freezer and begin freezing.  Add to the blender:

1 cup frozen organic blueberries, unsweetened

1/4 cup honey

enough water to blend

Blend until smooth and creamy.  As the vanilla cream begins to thicken, slowly pour in the blueberry mixture to make lovely purple and white swirls.   This is a new family favorite and is particularly good with chocolate cake.

Creamy Rice and Broccoli Casserole

1 1/2 cups brown rice

3 3/4 cups water

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 Tbs Olive oil

1 tsp sea Salt

Heat oven to 375.  Place above ingredients in a large glass baking dish.  Bake for 1 hour.  In a high speed blender, place:

1/2 cup raw cashews

1 cup roasted butternut squash

2 roasted garlic cloves

1/2-3/4 cups water

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs Olive oil

Plenty of black pepper

Blend on high until steaming.  Remove rice from the oven, stir in the creamy sauce and serve.  I loved this.  The squash gave it a slightly sweet taste, and the cashew and oil made it rich and creamy.  Yum, Yum.

1 Year

It's official! I have agreed to join Leslie and Kristina in their "one year without refined sugar" adventure!! I joined a day late, but I figured it was better late than making up excuses for the next 364 days as to why I couldn't do it. Of course I can do it! I am trying to be more in control of my life by making healthy decisions that help me feel and live better. This was a pretty big one for me, the self proclaimed sweet tooth of the family, but I figured that the thought of losing the $100 that was required to join would be sufficient motivation (along with the desire to be healthy and prove that I can accomplish difficult tasks...not to mention that I now belong to a club! Yay!!) I am excited to start this new adventure, but I hope that you will all help us by contributing more sugar free recipes and lifestyle tips. Hopefully we can all be as good at this as Shylah has been. :)

Love you all!