Organic Granny

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 (i.e

These whole food, plant-based orange walnut brownies are yummy, and compared to other brownies, pretty healthy. Here are the list of Ingredients: 1 C.      Pitted Medjool Dates 3/4 C.  Hot Water 1 C.      Rolled Oats 1/2 C.    Walnut Pieces 1/2 C.   Cocoa Powder 1/2 tsp . Baking Powder 3 T.        Maple Syrup 2 tsp.     Orange Extract (or Vanilla if you wish) Pinch    Sea Salt METHOD: Preheat oven to 350F/175C Pour hot water over the dates and let them sit in a bowl for about 10 minutes Drain the water off and then blend up the dates in a food processor, scraping down as you go Add oatmeal, walnuts, cocoa, baking powder, maple syrup, and sea salt. Process until smooth, scraping down the bowl as you go. In an 8"x8" pan, cover bottom with parchment paper and press in brownies Bake 20 minutes Let cool, and then cut into 16 pieces You may store the brownies for up to 5 days in the fridge (in an airtight container) Using the information at FitnessP

So, this summer when our little Fil-Can granddaughters visited we went out and bought a ton of rice-- brown rice, brown Basmati, Jasmine rice, and plain old white rice.  While potatoes and beans are our starches of choice, our grandies prefer rice.  However, this year they didn't seem to want to eat it as quite as often, even though the Instant Pot delivers it in a lovely, highly digestible and delicious form. So, this is to say that we have a LOT of rice left in our pantry.  I have been using it up in stews, for burrito filler, etc., but today I ran across a recipe for Champorado, a Filippino sticky rice chocolate pudding, and I thought, hey, I've got these ingredients in spades! And I have an opportunity to see if I can make it fast and easy in the Instant Pot. So..... Measure out the following: INGREDIENTS: 2 C. Rice , clean and soak it   (I used plain white rice, but glutinous rice is what is traditionally used) 3 C. Water 1/2 C. Cocoa 1/2 C.- 1 C.  B

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 project to help you expr