Organic Granny

  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...

Porridge made with barley is not familiar to everyone. This sweet porridge recipe comes from the Sacred Cookbook- Forgotten Healing Recipes of the Ancients . You will find other delicious, little-known old "ethnic" recipes from all over the world in this collection. Barley Porridge Serves 2-4 INGREDIENTS: 1 1/4 cups organic barley flour 4 cups almond milk, or other milk of choice sea salt 6 large medjool dates , pitted and chopped 2/3 cups chopped walnuts 4 tablespoons raw honey (other sweetener, like maple syrup, for children under 1 year) METHOD: 1. Whisk the barley flour in the almond milk over medium heat in a medium size pot. Be sure to bring all the flour into play and stir until smooth and beginning to bubble. 2. Turn the heat down as boil begins and allow the porridge to simmer gently for about 5 minutes. (Watch to prevent burning, whisk if needed) 3. Remove from heat, salt to taste, and spoon porridge into bowls. Add the dates, walnuts and honey...

This is the perfect pesto for anyone who is short on the standard basil and has fresh oregano taking over the yard   But you could still use basil, or arugula, or your fave other green. Add the olive oil to your blender  And then all the other ingredients.  Salt and pepper to your preference  but I suggest you start with a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt.  Less is more  right? Spin up and store in a jar or other container with a lid in the fridge. Delicious on pasta, crackers, bread, celery sticks, quinoa, wraps. See these 3 high nutrition, gluten-free pasta suggestions HERE See 7 Things you Can Use Oregano Flowers for HERE

I checked to see what I had in the fridge.  Lots of greens (chard, etc.), a couple of zucchinis and 2 large carrots that seem to be coming to the end of their days (a little spongy shall we say?) I am all for NO FOOD WASTE-- use it or compost it, and we were hungry. So, I googled CARROT BURGERS and actually came across a delicious recipe that also uses 1/4 C. of walnuts (meaning you don't have to go and buy a large bag-- you can buy yourself a small quantity from the health store bulk bin) and 1/2 C. Panko-- something I have never bought, but I did have some finely grated soda crackers sitting in a container in the fridge that I used in lieu of panko in some other recipe-- they work well for us.  I didn't have fresh cilantro, but I did have some basil-- yes, I know they are not too similar-- not at all-- but it was a taste of herb we were after, right?  And I had everything else right here available. I stuck it all into the food processor, and presto, it was ...

I am cooking up and submitting this recipe because I have a library book that has this recipe in it and I want to remember it.  The book is One-Dish Vegan Revised and Expanded Edition: 175 Soul-Satisfying Recipes for Easy and Delicious One-Pan and One-Plate Dinners and I highly recommend it. I do a number of subs for things I don't have in the house/fridge (example, I don't have baby spinach, I would never buy pine nuts, and I don't really like red pepper all that much). I do find, however, that many recipe-makers tend to have a very tasty outcome and that is what I go for! INGREDIENTS: 8 - 12 oz of Penne pasta, uncooked (I am using brown rice penne- gluten-free) 1/4 C. water 5 Garlic cloves, minced 12 oz Baby Kale (or other greens on-hand, such as chard or spinach), chopped coarsely 1/4 tsp Chipotle Pepper powder ( or 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes) 1/2 C. Vegetable Broth (such as Golden Bouillon) 1 15-oz can of Chickpeas or 1 1/2 C. cooked Chickpeas 1/2 C...

This roast recipe is adapted from a recipe in the March 1998 issue of Veggie Life magazine when vegan cookery was really in its infancy in North America.  You might be able to find these 'classic' magazines in a local thrift shop like I did.  They are gold! INGREDIENTS:  T=Tablespoon  C=8 oz Cup  Pound=16 oz  g=Gram 1 medium organic Onion , finely chopped 1 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil ( or use water or broth) 3 cloves organic Garlic , minced 1/2 C. chopped Walnuts 1/4 C. organic  Rolled Oats (Gluten Free, if you eat that way) 1/4 pound (115 g) Shitake Mushrooms , sliced thin 2 C. organic  Vegetable Stock or Water (I use the vegan stock from Costco) 1 T. organic Soy Sauce 3 T. Dijon-style Mustard 3 T. organic Ketchup 2 T. Red Wine, Balsamic  or Apple Cider Vinegar (what you have) Salt and Pepper (to taste) 350 g organic  Firm Tofu , crumbled small (a regular size block of firm tofu) 3 T. organic Starch ( Arr...

THE SWEET BUTTER TART COMPONENT My husband and I both grew up in households where oatmeal was almost a daily occurrence on the breakfast menu.  Once we got over our rebellion against eating it (the it's-good-for-you), as adults we have begun to eat it pretty regularly again. We love it.  I also love sweet desserts-- cookies, cake, pie, tarts-- and have been experimenting to make healthier copy-cat recipes that can be incorporated into porridge-- for us, that's a win-win. For someone who likes desserts but is pretty "meh" about porridge, these dessert-ifications might just be the bump needed into the healthy habit of eating oatmeal.  Just how healthy is oatmeal? A 30-gram serving of well-cooked Steel Cuts oats gives your body a balance of 66% carbohydrates, 17% protein, 7% fat and 11% fiber. Oats are also an excellent source of manganese and molybdenum, a very good source of phosphorus and a good source of copper, biotin, vitamin B1, magnesium, dietary...

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...