8 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 tsps chili powder
16 ounces brown lentils (about 2 1/4 cups)
2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1. Bring 3/4 cup broth to a simmer in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook about 8 minutes or until onion and pepper are tender.
2. Stir in chili powder and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
3. Add lentils, tomatoes and remaining 7 1/4 cups broth.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes or until lentils are almost tender.
5. Uncover and cook 10 minutes longer.
6. Stir in cilantro and serve.
Notes:
You can add a piece of kombu to the pot while the beans are cooking to add iodine and speed up the cooking time a little.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Zippy Corn Chowder
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp. coconut oil*
14 1/2 oz vegetable broth or bouillon
2 large red potatoes, cubed
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 cups frozen corn
4 green onions, chopped**
3 cups milk of choice***
1/4 cup flour of choice****
1. In a large saucepan, saute onion & green pepper in the coconut oil until tender.
2. Add broth & potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover & simmer about 15 minutes.
3. Remove lid, stir in jalapeno, mustard, salt, paprika & red pepper flakes.
4. Add corn, green onions & 2 1/2 cups of the milk.
5. In a separate bowl or cup, combine flour & remaining milk until smooth. Gradually add this to the soup.
6. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir about 2 minutes or until thick.
Notes:
*I prefer coconut oil for sauteing because it will not oxidize at normal cooking temperatures.
**The green onion are optional
***I prefer unsweetened almond or coconut milk.
****I prefer spelt flour or you could substitute organic corn starch or potato starch for high sensitivities to gluten.
This is a versatile recipe that you can reduce or increase the heat to accommodate your personal taste. As always, with all of my soup recipes, this is great paired with the Fast Cuban Bread.
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp. coconut oil*
14 1/2 oz vegetable broth or bouillon
2 large red potatoes, cubed
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 cups frozen corn
4 green onions, chopped**
3 cups milk of choice***
1/4 cup flour of choice****
1. In a large saucepan, saute onion & green pepper in the coconut oil until tender.
2. Add broth & potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover & simmer about 15 minutes.
3. Remove lid, stir in jalapeno, mustard, salt, paprika & red pepper flakes.
4. Add corn, green onions & 2 1/2 cups of the milk.
5. In a separate bowl or cup, combine flour & remaining milk until smooth. Gradually add this to the soup.
6. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir about 2 minutes or until thick.
Notes:
*I prefer coconut oil for sauteing because it will not oxidize at normal cooking temperatures.
**The green onion are optional
***I prefer unsweetened almond or coconut milk.
****I prefer spelt flour or you could substitute organic corn starch or potato starch for high sensitivities to gluten.
This is a versatile recipe that you can reduce or increase the heat to accommodate your personal taste. As always, with all of my soup recipes, this is great paired with the Fast Cuban Bread.
Tropical Fruit Salsa
Here's another salsa recipe. It is mango season after all!
3 Tbsp red onion, minced
2 c. pineapple, diced
1 1/2 medium mango or 1 large, diced
2 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 medium jalapeno, seeded & minced
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1. Combine all ingredients
2. Can be stored in refrigerator for up to 4 days (if it lasts that long!)
3 Tbsp red onion, minced
2 c. pineapple, diced
1 1/2 medium mango or 1 large, diced
2 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 medium jalapeno, seeded & minced
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1. Combine all ingredients
2. Can be stored in refrigerator for up to 4 days (if it lasts that long!)
Corn Salsa
I love a good salsa and this recipe is one of my favorites.
1 cup corn (I've used canned or frozen in the past)
2 med. tomatillos (optional!)*
1 Tbsp. fine diced red onion
1 1/2 tsp. minced jalapeno
2 tsp. lime juice (preferably fresh)
2 tsp. coarsely chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. honey
Notes:
* I don't usually have tomatillos on hand. But I almost always have the other ingredients, so I rarely use the tomatillos and just use a little more corn.
The great thing about salsas are once you have the flavor combinations, the quantities don't really matter much. So just throw some corn, diced onion, jalapeno (I usually use a whole one chopped and don't measure!), lime juice, cilantro & a bit of honey together, taste it and adjust if needed. Enjoy!
1 cup corn (I've used canned or frozen in the past)
2 med. tomatillos (optional!)*
1 Tbsp. fine diced red onion
1 1/2 tsp. minced jalapeno
2 tsp. lime juice (preferably fresh)
2 tsp. coarsely chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. honey
Notes:
* I don't usually have tomatillos on hand. But I almost always have the other ingredients, so I rarely use the tomatillos and just use a little more corn.
The great thing about salsas are once you have the flavor combinations, the quantities don't really matter much. So just throw some corn, diced onion, jalapeno (I usually use a whole one chopped and don't measure!), lime juice, cilantro & a bit of honey together, taste it and adjust if needed. Enjoy!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix
Okay, I went for convenience this time. Pamela's may cost quite a bit, but just to be able to open a mix, add a few ingredients like milk (non-dairy of course!), egg (replacer of course!) and butter (coconut oil of course!) and pop some yummy muffins, scones, banana bread or waffles in the oven...it is so worth the price.
Regular price at my local Kroger is $15.99 for the 4 pound bag. But the first time I bought it was because it was on clearance for $7.49! Deal of the week!
Now, I've ordered from Amazon & get 3 bags for a little under $40. That's still cheaper than the cheapest store price and it qualifies for Super-Saver no shipping fees with Amazon.
Is it cheaper to buy all the different gluten-free flours and stir up everything for myself? Of course! But when I'm in a hurry, we have no bread in the house and the kids (or I!) want something yummy for breakfast, you can't beat Pamela's!
**Disclaimer- Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix does include buttermilk powder so it is not Vegan. I'm still having difficulty eliminating all dairy and egg. The only way I can do this affordably, is to make everything from scratch. That's difficult when you're working. So I keep plugging away!
Regular price at my local Kroger is $15.99 for the 4 pound bag. But the first time I bought it was because it was on clearance for $7.49! Deal of the week!
Now, I've ordered from Amazon & get 3 bags for a little under $40. That's still cheaper than the cheapest store price and it qualifies for Super-Saver no shipping fees with Amazon.
Is it cheaper to buy all the different gluten-free flours and stir up everything for myself? Of course! But when I'm in a hurry, we have no bread in the house and the kids (or I!) want something yummy for breakfast, you can't beat Pamela's!
**Disclaimer- Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix does include buttermilk powder so it is not Vegan. I'm still having difficulty eliminating all dairy and egg. The only way I can do this affordably, is to make everything from scratch. That's difficult when you're working. So I keep plugging away!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Bottom Line
The numbers are in!
While reviewing our grocery & dining out expenses for the month of December, I discovered something interesting, that actually debunks the strongly held opinion of most people I know. It actually costs less to eat healthy. This was the first full month of my vegan lifestyle, plus I incorporated many more organic, natural, live, raw, thus healthy, foods into our family's lifestyle.
Granted, we're not total organic and we do still eat some things that aren't good for us, but improvement is my goal each month...not perfection. And if you can quantify such a thing, I think a safe estimate would be a 50-60% improvement in how everyone in our family is eating.
When discussing this financial revelation with my husband, he admitted that he's getting less hungry while he's at work. And I know my kids are asking for food less often. But yes, when they ask, they tend to complain that there's nothing here to eat. While that's not true, they think if they can't grab something out of a box or from the fridge already made then we "don't have anything."
Now for the dollar figures. Even with travelling around Christmas, hosting two families during the month, preparation for our family Christmas & taking food for a small group dinner & New Year's Eve party, plus having to eat out here & there because of the extra busyness, we were down over $200 in groceries (Which includes personal products. I don't split them in the budget) and down about $150 in dining out (I know...ridiculously high amount to be down...but dining out has always been our weakness!)
Plus, I actually lost weight during the month of December. Eight pounds to be exact! I'm pretty sure that has never happened to me before. Usually, I'm just content to not gain weight from late November to January.
So who says you can't eat healthy, save money and survive the holidays without gaining weight?? Who knows?? But the more I learn about food and big business, it was probably someone that wanted me to buy his highly-processed, toxic food!
While reviewing our grocery & dining out expenses for the month of December, I discovered something interesting, that actually debunks the strongly held opinion of most people I know. It actually costs less to eat healthy. This was the first full month of my vegan lifestyle, plus I incorporated many more organic, natural, live, raw, thus healthy, foods into our family's lifestyle.
Granted, we're not total organic and we do still eat some things that aren't good for us, but improvement is my goal each month...not perfection. And if you can quantify such a thing, I think a safe estimate would be a 50-60% improvement in how everyone in our family is eating.
When discussing this financial revelation with my husband, he admitted that he's getting less hungry while he's at work. And I know my kids are asking for food less often. But yes, when they ask, they tend to complain that there's nothing here to eat. While that's not true, they think if they can't grab something out of a box or from the fridge already made then we "don't have anything."
Now for the dollar figures. Even with travelling around Christmas, hosting two families during the month, preparation for our family Christmas & taking food for a small group dinner & New Year's Eve party, plus having to eat out here & there because of the extra busyness, we were down over $200 in groceries (Which includes personal products. I don't split them in the budget) and down about $150 in dining out (I know...ridiculously high amount to be down...but dining out has always been our weakness!)
Plus, I actually lost weight during the month of December. Eight pounds to be exact! I'm pretty sure that has never happened to me before. Usually, I'm just content to not gain weight from late November to January.
So who says you can't eat healthy, save money and survive the holidays without gaining weight?? Who knows?? But the more I learn about food and big business, it was probably someone that wanted me to buy his highly-processed, toxic food!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Some Good Eats
You can read about my fasting failure on my other blog. Don't want to rehash it here. But I've recently had a few good, Vegan things that I wanted to share.
I purchased the Skinny Bitch Cookbook and last night tried the Curried Chickpea Fritters and Curried Roasted Cauliflower. Both where delicious! Can't wait to try a few more. The fritters did call for breadcrumbs and what I had on hand where Panko, but gluten-free crumbs could be substituted with no problem.
Also, I'd purchased Bragg's Liquid Aminos a few weeks ago and have hesitated to use it. You can look up the info on this item at their website (register & get FREE samples too!) but essentially, it's a soy sauce substitute (still made from soy, but guaranteed Non-GMO!) that is chock full of aminos every Vegetarian/Vegan needs. But the last 2 times I've used regular soy sauce, I've thought it tasted nasty...I mean nasty! Probably owing in part to it being in my fridge too long because our whole family prefers teriyaki sauce over soy.
Yet, last night I cooked up some veggie stir fry for the kids because I knew the fritters wouldn't go over well and guess what? It was delicious. I did cook in a little extra garlic with the veggies and added sesame seeds at the end to add some flavor, but the Braggs' Aminos was smooth, blended with the other flavors much better than regular soy sauce and was NOT obscenely salty! All to say, I highly recommend Braggs. (I like their nutritional yeast too.) And maybe next time I won't be such a pansy about trying something new.
I purchased the Skinny Bitch Cookbook and last night tried the Curried Chickpea Fritters and Curried Roasted Cauliflower. Both where delicious! Can't wait to try a few more. The fritters did call for breadcrumbs and what I had on hand where Panko, but gluten-free crumbs could be substituted with no problem.
Also, I'd purchased Bragg's Liquid Aminos a few weeks ago and have hesitated to use it. You can look up the info on this item at their website (register & get FREE samples too!) but essentially, it's a soy sauce substitute (still made from soy, but guaranteed Non-GMO!) that is chock full of aminos every Vegetarian/Vegan needs. But the last 2 times I've used regular soy sauce, I've thought it tasted nasty...I mean nasty! Probably owing in part to it being in my fridge too long because our whole family prefers teriyaki sauce over soy.
Yet, last night I cooked up some veggie stir fry for the kids because I knew the fritters wouldn't go over well and guess what? It was delicious. I did cook in a little extra garlic with the veggies and added sesame seeds at the end to add some flavor, but the Braggs' Aminos was smooth, blended with the other flavors much better than regular soy sauce and was NOT obscenely salty! All to say, I highly recommend Braggs. (I like their nutritional yeast too.) And maybe next time I won't be such a pansy about trying something new.
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