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Showing posts with the label recipes

Buckwheat Crispies (Dehydated Buckwheat Groats)

You have likely run across the benefits of a living and raw vegan diet for anyone who is gluten-sensitive or has celiac disease.   The major benefit is that raw fruits and veggies are chock-full of enzymes that help with the digestion of food, and generally, grains like wheat are totally missing from the diet because, well, they are highly acid-producing, have nasty-tasting 'inhibitors' in their bran, and just don't add anything to the deliciousness of the raw vegan experience.   As well, many writers of raw and living food recipes discovered their own sensitivity to gluten.  So, a good food dehydrator like the  Excalibur  is a great boon to broadening your gluten-free recipe repertoire. The amazing thing about raw recipes  is that many of them can be made up to similulate the flavor, texture, and other elements of "mouth appeal" that we look for in traditional heated recipes.  I'm just starting to use buckwheat crispies in various recipes.  You can too!  Belo

Plant-Based Cheesecake Snack Cookies

  Plant-based cheesecake cookie snack After making a nice tofu Mayo with no oil, no refined sugar, or salt, I began to think of the possibilty of making a similar spread with a cheesecake flavor.   And while I was at it, why not put together an SOS (no salt, oil or refined sugar) plant-based cookie to slather the cheesecake spread on. Ingredients Cheesecake Spread 500g /16 oz. firm tofu Juice of 1/2 lemon 2 tablespoons Simply Organic lemon flavoring 2 -3 tablespoons maple syrup (optional) 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional) Snack Cookies 2 cups quick oatmeal 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce 1 tablespoon maple syrup 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped 1/2 cup medjool dates, pitted and chopped    perfect PERSONALIZED PUZZLE......                  SHOPETSY  (CLICK ON HEART) Method Cheesecake Spread (9-12 tablespoons) 1.  Drain and press extra water from tofu.  Cut in cubes and put in bowl of food processor (or blender carafe) with other ingredients.   2. Pulse until smooth and creamy.  

Health Benefits and Other Uses for Lemon Balm, Melissa Officinalis

Lemon Balm,  melissa officianalis  ©Cynthia Zirkwitz 2019 Lemon Balm, or  melissa officinalis , is a perennial herb from the mint family.  It may have originated in Europe, the Middle East or Asia, but now it grows like a wild thing in my garden, and maybe yours?  But unlike other "invasive plants" (sometimes incorrectly labeled "weeds"), lemon balm has so many wonderful attributes-- lemon scent, lemon-y flavour, beautiful fresh vital green colour-- that you would never hack it out and dump it in the forest.  However, I do suggest that you grow it in a container or a bed that doesn't have access to other parts of your garden. But DO grow it. Order healthy Lemon Balm seeds from West Coast Seeds During the summer small white flowers show up, with bee-attracting nectar in them.  ( Melissa  is actually Greek for 'honey bee'.)  Melissa may well be the "honey leaf" referred to by Theophrastus, (c. 371-c.287BC) successor to Aristotle, and called "

Raw Sweetheart Chocolate Cheezcake

   Lots of hugs and kisses! INGREDIENTS: Crust: 2 cups  shredded Coconut 1 1/2 cups  Medjool Dates  (or other pitted dates) 1/4 - 1/2 tsp  Celtic Sea Salt The Cheeseless Cheez Cake Filling: 3 cups  Cashews , soaked (you can substitute other soaked nuts such as pine or macadamia nuts) 1 cup  Cacao butter , melted 1 cup  Water 1/2 cup  Maple Syrup, Raw Honey or other sweetener of choice 1/2 cup  Cacao powder  OR  Carob powder 1 tsp  Vanilla 1 Tbsp  Chia Gel pinch of  Celtic Sea Salt Ganache Topping: 1/2 cup raw organic  Cacao powder 1/2 cup  Cacao Butter , melted 1/4 cup  Maple Syrup, Raw Honey or other sweetener of choice pinch of  Celtic Sea Salt Place your cacao butter in a bowl over hot water to start melting. In food processor, process coconut, dates and salt until it clumps uniformly.  "Grease" a springform pan with some of the  melted cacao butter. Remove the crust mix from the food processor and press it evenly in pan. Place in freezer to set while you make the rest of

Lemon-Almond Cheezcake

In my continued search for the perfect tasting & textured raw vegan “cheesecake” I put this one together last night.  I drew on a couple of recipes, using some of my own fave ingredients (chia seed gel) and substituting a date-nectarine-coconut pudding I’d made a couple of nights before for the date paste that was called for in another recipe’s pie crust. It is unlikely that you will have all the ingredients for this raw vegan creation on hand, but it is really worth making as a project for a potluck or dinner with your mother-in-law.   It is very “wow” and healthy. INGREDIENTS 5 C. raw organic/natural  almonds,  soaked for 5-8 hours, husked so they look like “blanched almonds” 2-4 T.  Chia seed gel  (put 2-4 T. Chia seed in a jar with a cup or more of filtered water, stir, and let gel for about 15 minutes before using.  Store extra in fridge with lid on.) 5 T.  date paste  or something like it made from soft, ripe medjool dates (pitted) Pinch of  Celtic Sea Salt 1 C. organic  Lemo

3 Delicious Vegan/Vegetarian Chocolate Banana Bread Recipes

Fudgy Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread  Today when I went online to look at a Facebook page full of yummy vegan recipes for chocolate banana bread, I came across not one, but THREE terrific recipes. I chose the one with the most ingredients in the house to bake, but it is quite likely I will refer back here to try the other two at some point (a good reason to be a food blogger!). Hope you find one of these recipes meets all your criteria for deliciousness and whatever other factors are built in to your baking: budget? ingredients on-hand? allergies? gluten issues? NEW!!  Just added another version of chocolate banana cake (raspberry-carob or frozen grape-carob) at the bottom of this post!  So-- possibly 4 or 5 recipes to choose from!  Let me know about your variations! #1. The first  banana bread recipe , the one that I actually baked, is quite likely going to be the easiest one to choose if you have a gluten sensitivity and have oatmeal, almond flour, and cocoa hanging out

5 Vegan Chinese Dishes

These five delicious vegan -- plant-based, no-animal-products-involved, you-make-yourself-- recipes are probably strike a familiar chord for you and quite possibly their non-plant-based form had a place on your "comfort foods" list before you decided to "go vegan". Remember Dim Sum?  Well, you can get together with your vegan friends and enjoy that joyous experience again! 恭喜发财 / 恭喜發財 (Gōngxǐ fācái) Happiness and Prosperity!   1. SEA-VEGGIE ROLLS (or rolled salad)   Mmmm-- these veggie rolls might not fit into your "Chinese food" box/idea, but it is one wonderful way to capitalize on all the raw greens that could potentially go into the salad course of a vegan Chinese meal, and includes the sea vegetable (nori) that is pretty common in many traditional Chinese and other Asian meals.  Check out the instructions for putting this awesome wrap together at Raw Foods For Truth .  (Go for the recipe, stay to browse all their other salivatory images l

Two Dreamy Cashew Cream Cheese Recipes - Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free, Vegan, Soy-Free

I used to have a fairly low regard for cashews -- I didn't like getting them in the Christmas nut bowl, and I didn't like the 'after-taste' of some of the vegetarian recipes I had that contained them.  But eventually I discovered that they can be used to make extremely tasty dairy-substitutes without a pronounced cashew signature flavour. Lemon-Coconut Cheesecake Balls studded with cranberries & Walnuts These can be eaten any time of the year, of course, but since Christmas is coming up I thought that I would choose to make one item that was savoury and one that was sweeter.  I am particularly in love with the smoky cream cheese (that could be rolled up into a ball, no problem) and I am also nibbling a little much at the lemon cheesecake bliss balls (which I have also made into a larger cheese ball). REMEMBER: While cashew cream cheese may not be allergenic or gluten-laden, it is still a high fat little nut and don't go too wild, or you'll end up

Spiralizing: Oodles and Oodles of Zoodles and Noodles

Okay, who has a spiralizer sitting in the bottom of their cupboard?  Is that because you don't like eating yummy zucchini spaghetti? No?  Is it because there were no instructions with your spiralizer and you ended up frustrated and maybe even with a ripped open thumb?  Oy.  So much for all those wonderful intentions to increase your daily dose of veg! Let us rectify that situation by watching this very helpful video seminar on spiralizing zoodles: I recommend:   Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Vegetable Spiral Slicer Now, let's quickly review some of the pointers the demo made: Set the Spiralizer up on a clean, flat surface and position at large bowl behind the blade insert (to catch the noodles) Cut off the end of the zucchini (or other veg) and attach the cut end, center, to the little metal spool.   Slide the disk with the prickles right up against the other end of the veg (or zucchini) and make sure there is a nice firm fit, nothing is slipping

Baked Tofu and Spanish Rice- the PERFECT supper!

Fragrant, toothsome baked tofu and spanish rice!  This combination recipe might have been in Frances Moore Lappe's 1971 "Diet for a Small Planet" but if it was, it likely included some cheese and olive oil.  This particular recipe is LOW fat..... way low......... like, the only fat in this recipe is in the tofu and veggies!  But the flavour....... (oui oui... in Canada we use the tasty French way of spelling flavoUr)........ wow! And next to the taste is the fragrance of the marinade-covered tofu as it bakes!  Oh yum yum yum- But on with the recipes!! SPANISH RICE (6-8 servings) Ingredients: 2 cups cooked  Rice  1 red Onion , chopped 1 C. chopped Broccoli , fresh or frozen 3 Garlic cloves , crushed   1 C. Water  1 C. organic vegetarian Pasta Sauce (or 6 oz. Tomato Paste) Sal t, to taste Cook the rice according to directions, or as you normally do In a wok, or large pot, combine the onion, broccoli, garlic and water, and bring to a boil, then s

Bushels of Salads...

Every Girl Should Know How To Make A Salad I have had a lovely summer... and lots of great salads! Above is a picture of my 6-year old granddaughter making a salad -- what I want her to be skilled at in the kitchen, actually.  In my day it was an omelet.  But we vegans have different ideas about what is appropriate! If you want to see a pile of excellent salad recipes why not go to my Pinterest Salad Board and 'follow' it?  There are great recipes for salads on there right now, and a bunch more to come!  You could have a different salad every day of the year...wow! (Keep them organic of course!)