Organic Granny

Our son gave us some kuri squash seeds-- the gift that keeps on giving--  and eventually, voila! a rich, creamy delightful kuri squash curry soup.   What is Kuri Squash?   Kuri is a smallish (5-10 pounds) hard-shelled, teardrop-shaped, bright red-orange 'winter' squash that takes about 100 days to mature after flowering. It originated in Japan. I find the flesh to be a sort of cross between a pumpkin and a yam, quite dense and starchy. It creams up beautifully in the Vitamix to a smooth, silken soup that doesn't require anything to 'thicken' it (so, yes, any soup you add it to can be creamy, gluten-free!) A radiantly beautiful Kuri Squash from our garden   Kuri Squash Curry Soup Recipe A Church friend was famous for his delicious curry pumpkin or carrot soups. I have attempted to replicate the flavour he achieves, but I suspect he might used some oil (which I have not) and perhaps even butter, maybe even chicken broth. This recipe is low-fat vegan , so, sorry, no bu...

This recipe for Brown Lentil and Beet Borscht is an adaptation of a delicious recipe called Beluga Lentil Borscht from The Great Vegan Bean Book: More than 100 Delicious Plant-Based Dishes Packed with the Kindest Protein in Town! - Includes Soy-Free and Gluten-Free Recipes !  The adaptations I've made are largely based on what ingredients I needed to substitute because they weren't in the house. The author, Kathy Hester, provides an option for using oil or not, and a recipe for "Cashew Cream" to serve as a garnish.  There is also an alternate Slow Cooker recipe. This recipe makes 8 servings, which means most of us can put it away to fully savour again on another day.  I freeze mine but it would be wonderful as a home-canned soup!  Now, on with the recipe: INGREDIENTS for BORSCHT: 1 big organic roasted potato, chopped 2 small organic carrots, roasted, chopped 3 medium beets, roasted, peeled, chopped 1 T. water or broth 1 small chopped onion 3 cloves minced garlic 1 t...

Here you have what our family has come to call the BEST Hummus. Why? Because to our tastebuds, it is just simply the best tasting hummus!   Where the recipe calls for 4+ Garlic cloves?  We really amp that up-- I think I used 7 today. There is no olive oil or other oils-- just the tahini-- to carry to oily mouth feel.  Please feel free to add a little olive oil if you desire. We enjoy the smoky taste of tahini, but if it tastes a little "off" to you, go ahead and use peanut butter or some other nut or seed butter (hemp seed would be tasty). We likely use about a 1/2 - a full teaspoon of sea salt, but really not much is required if you trust the garlic and tahini to carry the flavour. I also buy dry garbanzos and cook them up in my Instant Pot (electronic pressure cooker) until they are soft (today's batch of beans were kind of old and I had to cook them for a record-breaking 40 minutes on the bean/chili setting, but normally 20 minutes in the pressur...

Recently I was at a social function where I found myself hanging over the dessert table and "sampling" more than one delicious Lemon-Coconut Square.   In my opinion, these "dainties" (what sugar-y confections at "Teas" were called in my youth) are the creme-de-la-creme of the dessert table.   But.... as much as I enjoyed them, I felt like a huge fraud, since (1)I am working to lose inches and (2)I profess to be vegan.  The eggs, fat and sugar in these Lemon-Coconut Squares are not dangerous in moderation, but if you eat 3 squares/bars, you are taking in something like 30 g of fat (saturated and unsaturated), as well as 450 calories of energy.   So, I went searching for a recipe that would allow me to enjoy the essence of this lovely dessert, while being low in fat and calories, and higher in nutritional benefits. Voila!  The Lemon-Coconut Porridge Recipe was born-- or REBORN maybe, in a vegan form. Start by making a fabulous VEGAN LEMON CURD ...

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, an...

My friend Jill McKeever has a fantastic recipe for Tangy Chick Pea (Garbanzo Bean) Salad on her site at Simple Daily Recipes . My husband and I are eating Low Fat Vegan and trying to implement Dr. John McDougall's " Starch Solution " as well. I'm reading that book at present and am finding so many exciting facts that I didn't know-- such as you can eat tons of starches (potatoes, rice, corn, beans, quinoa, etc.) without gaining any weight IF you delete the fats and oils and too many processed foods from your recipe. Finding tasty recipes is key to keeping us "in" until we are over the period of fats withdrawal (whenever that happens!) A delicious tangy chick pea salad open sandwich, thanks to the salad recipe from Jill McKeever at Simple Daily Recipes Jill has made a great vid tutorial about the recipe that she gave me permission to use on here.  She will give you her recipe and I include my adapted recipe underneath it.  I have to say that this s...

Anyone out there who is over sixty (or maybe just over 50) knows how hard it is to take off weight and keep it off .  Weight loss is harder for older people than you might think... or that is, healthy weight loss.   So I was absolutely thrilled to read about how Low Fat Vegan Frederic Patenaude's mother, who is in the 55+  age group, lost 55 pounds in just 8 months (she still has another 15 to go to reach her ideal).    I'm excited because Frederic talks about what his mom now eats and what she avoids eating, and it really isn't too different from moi!  It actually fits in very closely with what most of us saw in the film "Forks Over Knives" or what you can get from Dr. Michael Greger at nutritionfacts.org So, do you wonder why it is so hard to lose weight when you are over 55? Speaking from experience, I think it is a combination of really jumbled up eating "habits" (yo-yo dieting, eating the wrong things, over-eating even the right things, rewardi...