Organic Granny

A traditional Christmas craft that is the epitome of recycling is making decorative gifts and crafty items using last year's Christmas cards. YoyoMax shows how to do some beautiful bookmarks. I am definitely going to take some of my glut of old cards and fold some of these.   (Video is below the following image) These are particularly handy if you are giving books away as gifts-- putting a beautiful bookmark into the book makes the gift just that extra little bit special.  You can even use these lovely bookmarks as fancy gift tags!  YoyoMax also has other Christmas card crafts that she tells about at the end of the video. Everybody's fave: Gluten-Free Crispy Rice Treats!  To be a truly gluten-free treat at this time it is necessary to purchase 'brown rice treats' because, for some reason, the white crispy rice products must all contain malt, which is made from gluten-containing barley!  Perhaps this will change at some point (check the labels) but not in 20...

  Several years ago my husband went off to Honduras to help build a church school as a volunteer.  I missed him. I had been eating lots of dopamine-producing foods and honestly had not had any cravings for sweets. And suddenly... well, I invented the most delicious unbaked (not all the ingredients are "raw") brownies that smelled like oreo cookies when I took the top off the food processor.  I will try not to eat the whole pan myself, although that will be hard.  Here is the recipe, but I suggest that you jiggle around with the ingredients to get the exact taste that you want... it's not hard, just put You could, for example, try a little oatmeal for the dehydrated buckwheat crispies (although I think that would be a shame, really, because they give it the 'cookie crumb' texture-- maybe you could try rice crispies?) Melt about 1 T. of extra virgin coconut oil in a dish over hot water. Grind up about 1/2 C. of Buckwheat Crispies into a flour usin...

  Carrot-Spice Gluten-free Vegan Cookies Anyone fearful of missing out on Christmas baking because of gluten-sensitivity or CD is really in luck this year-- the internet is teeming with recipes for delicious gluten-free treats. As far as baked cookies go, this next recipe could be classified a "health cookie" (except maybe for the sugar?). Once your mouth gets over the fact that it is not your standard wheat molasses-type cookie, your taste buds say, "al-right!" It's a cookie of substance! 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) 1 cup shredded carrots 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries 1 egg substitute (mix 1 T. of ground  flaxseed with 3 T. of water until creamy) 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (an apple+ in the Vitamix and whirl) 2 tablespoons molasses 1 teaspoon alcohol-free vanilla 2 1/2 C. brown rice flour 1/2 teaspoon of each of the following: cinnamon, ginger, coriander (ground) 1/2 teaspoon baking powder Christmas cards from Etsy-- ...

  Are you looking for a way to use up all that carrot pulp (besides composting) that comes as a result of juicing? Here is a delightful recipe for a soft gliten-free cookie/muffin top that is sweet and piquant and pretty healthy (as cookies go).   BEWARE: You must do the Flax Seed Egg Replacer about an hour in advance of the rest of the recipe. Ingredients: 3 C. organic Carrot Pulp      3 C. organic Quick Oats/Oat Flour Mix (I just throw the Oatmeal in the Vitamix) (I have also used part Quinoa flour-- also whirred up in my Vitamix )  1 T. Arrowroot Powder 2 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt 1  1/2 C. organic Cane Sugar (or similar sweetener) 2 tsp. Baking Soda 1 T. Cinnamon and or Pumpkin Spice 1 C. organic Thompson Raisins 1/2 bag frozen Cranberries 3 C. Mashed Bananas AND oil to top up (such as Olive Oil) OR Aquafaba 6 T. Flaxseed Egg-Replacer (*See recipe below) The Recipe: Flaxseed Egg-Substitute 1/2 cup flaxseed 1 1/2 cup water Directions: Grind flaxsee...

 I finally tried soy curls!  They are not available to us locally-- and I do like to buy my groceries locally-- so I ended up ordering them .   I topped two pizzas and made 3 sandwiches for about $7.50 CAD using about $4.50 of Soy Curls product for the 2 pizzas and maybe $1 of soy curls for each sandwich.   They are a whole food and non-GMO.  I didn't count in the cost of other ingredients, but I don't see them as being too dear when considering they were a nutritious part of six meals.  They were easy to put together and delicious!  Pizza GARLIC SOY CURLS RECIPE Ingredients: (makes 2 cups) 4 ounces/ 1/2 8-oz. bag Soy Curls 1 1/2 cups hot/boiling water 1 tablespoon/15 ml soya sauce 1 teaspoon/ 3.28 g garlic powder Extra virgin coconut oil 2 tablespoons/11  g  nutritional yeast Fine sea salt ............... From Chris Wark of #ChrisBeatCancer, his latest best selling book:  Order Here BEAT CANCER KITCHEN: Deliciously Simple ...

  C ombine the following and  bring to a boil in a stainless steel 'less water' type pot, put on lid and turn down to Lowest setting for about 5 minutes.  Remove from burner and let it cool (lid still on): 1 C organic  quinoa 2 C water Preheat oven to 350 F Combine and blend together in a food  processor the following  (coarse vs. paste): 1/2 C. w ater 1 C  pecans  –  1 T. ground chia seed 1/2 C wheat-free  Tamari  1/3 C melted c oconut oil or olive oil 1/4 C n utritional yeast flakes 2 tsp dried organic  basil 2 tsp dried organic  oregano 2 tsp organic  onion powder 2 tsp organic  garlic powder 1 tsp organic  ground sage 1 tsp organic  ground fennel Pour into quinoa; mix well.   Let mix  sit  until extra water is absorbed.   A little  oatmeal can be added if the batter  seems too thin. On a parchment-covered pan mound  burgers.  Shape with fingers...

Tomorrow we have been invited out for lunch. I have been I have already eaten enough with R. to know that she rarely eats dessert.   What can I take that she will enjoy?  She told me that growing up in the '50s in Northern Europe her diet was mostly potatoes, rye bread and salty oatmeal,and that salty oatmeal is a particular comfort food.  She also told me she eschews most sweets, but  does  like bitter-sweet chocolate.  So, I went in search of a gluten-free chocolate chip salty oatmeal cookie recipe.  The internet is great that way. Here is an adaptation of another recipe (that is an adaptation of yet another)*. It is super! I've just adjusted it to use what I have available (and because I don't  ever  use canola oil). Hope you enjoy it too! 1 C. Coconut Flour 2/3 C. Steelcut Oats, ground in food processor 1 C. Palm Sugar (or other sweetener of choice) 1 tsp. Cinnamon 1 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt 1 tsp. Baking Soda 1 T. Chia Seed, ground in coffe...

Molasses-Maple-Banana Muffins This most recent muffin is inspired by the molasses cookie, specifically the molasses cookie my grandma used to bake.  It was fragrant, lightly spicy, soft but chewy, and generally had dates and walnuts in it. The muffins smelled so great when they came out of the oven, but for a few minutes I thought back to the sort of sugar-gritty and oily features of those delicious molasses cookies.  I am pretty sure my grandma used white sugar (and quite a lot of it, I would imagine) and some kind of oil.  These particular muffins are free of any poured oils, and instead of a sweet white or brown sugar I used a mix of molasses and maple syrup and banana to sweeten it. Would this muffin be a flop? Then I tasted it it... and IT WAS / IS DELICIOUS.  It is uncannily like the molasses cookies of my grandma... or my memory of them... except puffier and muffin-y.   I also use the oat flour and almond flour base of my last batch of muffins on her...

Changing Up the Recipe These lovely lemon-y gluten-free vegan muffins originate from a perfect blueberry-lemon recipe by my friend, Michelle Blackwood at Healthier Steps.  I had all the ingredients called for in the recipe except for blueberries (but I have a lot of bags of other berries in my freezer).   This is my second unique muffin recipe in the Covid19 baking season. You can see the recipe for Hemp seed Applesauce muffins here. The first batch I baked of this recipe were yummy, but because my muffin cups are large, and not the dainty, regular muffin size, instead of a dozen large muffins, I ended up with a dozen muffins that were more like puffy cookies, if you know what I mean.  Muffin tops? It so happens that my hubby and I like a fullsome muffin, one that comes close to popping over the sides, even.  And I know from past recipes, that expanding the recipe x2 usually gives me the muffin we love. As is often the case, I find a recipe for something that so...

Lovely lemon-y Carrot-Lemon Soup This recipe for Carrot-Lemon soup was inspired by a Greek soup recipe.  When I was a kid, almost every local upscale eatery-- what we labeled "fancy restaurant" --was operated by Greeks who had emigrated to my town or city from the Old Country.   We all learned what was in a 'Greek salad' and were quite fond of the way seemingly all the Greek dishes were enrobed in melted mozzarella.  I realize now that the restaurateurs probably quickly tumbled to the fact that Canadian prairie people were dazzled by melted cheese, and they accommodated us.  And we-- or at least, I-- really loved the lemon rice soup that generally preceded a hearty meal of mozza-covered whatever.   But try as I did, I could never quite achieve that tangy citrus flavour... until now. The original vegan recipe I was looking at for a similar soup used tofu .  Well, I like tofu well enough but we are in the midst of our 'take' on the COVID-19 "c...

Breakfast Oat-Carrot Cake with Lemon Curd I have had enough experiences with baked oatmeal to think that I could put together a really delicious carrot cake version-- and I believe I have nailed that with the following soft, pudding-y, yummy Breakfast oat-carrot cake.  Try it and see if you agree! Place in large mixing bowl: • 3 cups organic rolled oats In blender carafe add: • 2 apples cored and chopped • 1 cup shelled walnuts • 2 medium carrots, chopped • 6 pitted Medjool dates • 2-3 tablespoons chia seed gel • 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt *Blend well until smooth. *Pour over oats and mix well. Let sit for 2 hours or overnight. *Preheat oven to 350 F. *Pour batter into baking pan lined with parchment paper.  Cover with aluminum foil. (Remove foil to brown during last 5+ minutes) *Bake for 25-40 minutes. *Let cool and serve in squares topped with fruit like pineapple, berries and banana slices And here is a seco...

This chickpea-spinach patty or burger recipe grew from some consternation with a commercial brand of chickpea-spinach burger that had more than a few ingredients, a few of which I felt could be excluded from a recipe and still have the same flavourful and 'kind' appeal without those ingredients.  Plus, as an ethical vegan, I was not crazy about the idea that the particular brand is just a side line for a longtime "meat packing company."  While I think it is wonderful that there are an amazing number of vegan "meats" hitting the market, I don't think that I am reduced to buying a product that is likely just a way for this company to capture some of the 'new' revenue coming in with vegan foods, while they continue to support the factory-farming of animals, their "inhumane" slaughter  (is there a humane way to kill a sentient being to eat?) and the ongoing other ethical and morale concerns perpetrated by the meat industries. So, y...