Organic Granny

  Warm up with this creamy Canadian Yellow Pea Soup, a family favorite for chilly days. Yellow Pea Soup or Split-Pea Soup--This is a soup recipe that my mother, bless her, used to cook up in the winter. Today would be her 97th birthday...  We cook with Extra Virgin Coconut Oil in our family but you can use your fat of choice. INGREDIENTS: * 2 1/4 C. Yellow Split Peas * 1 tsp. Baking Soda * 2 T. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil * 2 Leaks, washed well and sliced up * 2 Carrots, scraped and sliced up * 1 Turnip, sliced * 1 clove Garlic, mashed * 1 C. Water * 2 T. thick tomato Puree * 2 Bay Leaves * 3 Cloves, minced * 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg * 1/4 tsp. Marjoram * 1/4 tsp. Tarragon * Celtic Sea Salt, to taste * Pinch White Pepper, fresh ground preferable HOW TO PREPARE THE PEAS: *Place the peas in a large bowl and sprinkle with Baking Soda (the Baking Soda will make the peas very creamy). *Soak the peas overnight or from 8-10 hours-- no longer or flavour will be lost *Rinse well under cold water *...

Colcannon is a lovely Irish traditional mix of boiled cabbage or kale along with a root vegetable, usually mashed potatoes, but sometimes turnip, or carrots. Leaks and/or onions, and garlic, are pretty popular additions. Chopped green onions, chives and/or parsley are often used as a stirred-in garnish. You will also find 3 other Colcannon-type recipes-- take-offs of cultural classics with potatoes and greens from Mexico, Zambian and Ukrainian are sure to delight you as well when you want to try something a little different. These are all delicious, healthy comfort foods! I am vegan, so all of the recipes are vegan colcannon-- no dairy butter or milk involved. The following are ingredients in the colcannon I made (Missing from the picture are water, garlic, pepper, oil, and fine sea salt): Lovely Colcannon: potatoes, cabbage, leaks, green onions, and parsley INGREDIENTS (2-4 servings) 3 T.   (30 mg)  Olive Oil (or water, or coconut oil) 1/2 Cabbage , shredded ...

My husband grew up in a European home (he was born in Canada, the only child in his family to have accomplished that) and cheese was a big feature of everyday eating and entertaining. He love d  cheese.  Any kind.  Soft sweet Camembert or "hand-made" Cheeses that smell and taste somewhat like a sporty boy's laundry (not that I've tasted that, but you know...).  I honestly don't think there is a cheese that he did not love. Then.... we began to cross from ovo-lacto Vegetarian Land (a nice place to live if you adore dairy products and eggs) into Vegan territory.   We did it for health reasons, mainly (we ALL have dairy sensitivity and/or allergies), and for ethical reasons (our older son got physically ill when served an egg as a small child-- he was adamant that we were eating a baby chick-in-the-making.  And you know, he WAS right. The more we learned about the many benefits of eating vegan, the faster our face accelerated into the vegan arena...

Here is maybe the best Carrot Cake (read: virtuously low-fat, sweet, many-textured, moist and tasty to the max) that I have ever baked.  What a bonus that it is healthy!!  I found it so moist, sweeet and flavourful that I believed a frosting would have ruined it... but feel free to go for the traditional (vegan?) cream cheese frosting if you so desire. INGREDIENTS: 1 cup rolled or quick cooking oats 1 cup chopped walnuts 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1/2 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut 1 cups grated carrots 1 cup pure maple syrup 1 cup pitted, chopped dates (I used Medjool- you could use raisins, etc.) 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract --------------------------------------- Gratitude  makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.  If you are looking for a proje...

W ell, it is hot summer and my grandies are coming to stay for a while!!  Is there any better excuse to make ice cream?  I will make a lot of ice cream.  It will be vegan (no dairy, no eggs, no other animal products- ha) and gluten-free.  It will contain something out of our garden.  It will be sweet but low on common sugars, sugar-less if possible.  It will be relatively low-fat meaning that I won't be using nut purees as the primary base and will likely opt out of using full-fat coconut milk, yummy as it is.  Most of all, it must be creamy and absolutely delicious.... here is the first attempt at the above. INGREDIENTS 2 1/2 C. Almond or other non-Dairy Milk 2 1/2 C. Frozen Mango Chunks (I buy the organic brand at Costco) 1 T. Arrowroot Powder (or Tapioca Starch or Oat Starch) 1 T. Vanilla (in Alcohol) 2 T. Maple Syrup 1 very ripe avocado Berry syrup or Jam, your choice (I used blackberry jam made with stevia) METHOD Combine all ...

Recently a Facebook friend posted a picture of her supper: a spaghetti squash enchilada just oozing cheese from all angles... she apologized that it wasn't a fancy presentation. It looked so comfort-food yummy that I knew that it would be my next planned meal. I have made quite a few 'adaptations' to the ingredients, and you can too. Just know that it turns out absolutely delicious with very little effort!  I went shopping and found Amy's brand canned chili (vegan)(organic) on sale at my local wholefood store ( Edible Island in Courtenay, BC) You could make your own chili-- maybe you even have some in the fridge?  Amy's Medium Hot Chili made with tofu has all the spices and ingredients that I was looking for, so I liked the convenience of opening the can this one meal. Ingredients: Squash (I used an Acorn Squash) Red Bell Pepper 14 oz can Amy's brand Organic Medium Hot Chili with Tofu 1 C. Frozen Corn Niblets Daiya Cheese shreds (I used Mozzarella...

--> Okay, I'll admit straight off that today I was craving a big old cheese sandwich (maybe grilled havarti with a dill pickle on the side).  Cheese is currently off-limits for us.  We might get a snip of it when we eat out, but that's about it.  Ed is particularly allergic to dairy, etc.  Anyhow, never one to pout (or not for long) I came up with this flavourful (as in ZING-BING-ZING-BANG) sandwich that satisfied all my salt and fat hankerings (because apparently that is what is behind a cheese crave) and is, I think, pretty healthy.  Here is what is in the above sandwich (and don't judge it by its colour until you taste it!): BREAD: Your favourite bread.   In the sandwich above I used a chia bread that is no longer available. AVOCADO:  Ripe, organic.  Open it up and scoop flesh into a small bowl. Mash. RAW GARLIC: to your taste-- I skin & blend about 20 heads of garlic and then freeze in a jar so just use about a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ...