Organic Granny

So, you said you would watch how you ate over the holiday, but, well, you know, it WAS the holiday!  And now you feel kind of punky. Icky. Not 100%. Not great. (and the 6,000 other ways Canadians have to say "unwell"-- we are such a stoic breed). Here is a flavour-full, very restorative and comforting soup that is maybe slightly reminiscent of the soup you ate as a child when your "Old Country" Auntie found you were malingering.  Maybe you didn't like the garlic so much then, but now that you are considering being a life-long healthy plant-strong soul, you kinda like the savoury tang and bite of cooked garlic. And if you got an  Instant Pot   for Christmas, here is the chance to see it do its pressure-cooking wizardry in a much shorter time than you would need if you were standing up over a stock pot.  However, if you don't have an Instant Pot, the stock pot-- or even a slow cooker-- will do the trick.  I will give you three versions to cook this: (1)St

We had a pretty simple vegan Christmas dinner, basically the veganized ideal: Turkeyless cutlets (by Gardein), mashed potatoes, a stovetop dressing made of chickpeas, onions, some crumbs, mushrooms and the usual poultry seasoning, a home-made cranberry sauce (frozen cranberries, frozen cubes of Meyer Lemon juice, a sprinkle of sugar, and about 6 chopped dried apricots), and Brussel's Sprouts. Boxing Day Veggie Stew: Today there weren't many leftovers (which suits me fine). I put the following into the Instant Pot on sauté: 1/2 C. Water 2 Onions , sliced 4 Garlic cloves, roughly minced 2 crowns of Broccoli and stems, chopped 2 C. (about one 16 oz can) of Red Beans 3 C. Leftover cubed Potatoes (cooked) 1/2 C. Frozen Corn Kernels (organic) 1 tsp. Hungarian Smoked Paprika 1 Best Golden Bouillion cube 2 T. Hickory Liquid Smoke 1/2 tsp. Chipotlé Ground Pepper After the sauté, I put on the lid, and pressed the Stew button, adjusting the time to about 20 m

I spend a lot of moolah on vegan soup bouillion... or have in the recent past.  I particularly got used to the little jar of dark brown bouillion from Costco that smelled very yeast-y and was quite salty and set me back $7 every time I bought it.  It was good for about a couple of weeks of soups and veggie stews. And then, when looking for some delicious bean recipes in the never-fail 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! (Great Vegan Book) I came across a couple of delicious-sounding (-reading?) bouillion recipes in the front of the book.  The one called Savory Golden Bouillon is actually from her first recipe book, the only recipe she transferred from that first book The Vegan Slow Cooker.   In there it was called "Chickeny Bouillion". Since I have become pretty much habituated to my Instant Pot, I bypassed the 'stove method' and the 'slo

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel My rating: 5 of 5 stars I motored through this well-written, tell-it-like-it-was memoirs ("true novel") of Jeannette Walls' maternal grandmother. I am not quite sure why I picked it up, except that I was in a compulsive reading state (allergies, fed up with FB), since my experience reading the memoir of Walls' own childhood, "Glass Castle" was the sort where I felt triggered and zoned-out after reading it. Then I remembered how Walls had held her maternal grandmother up as the one safe and nurturing adult in her childhood. This was that story. When you purchase this book and 3+ other books from Thrift Books, you can get credit for another book FREE-- It's part of the  #ShareBookLove program ! Click here to check this out -- the book deals are real!  Lily Casey grew up on a Texas ranch in the early 1900s-- she was her father's 'right hand' in many ways, and helped him with breaking horses

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.  Three of

We have two sweet, beautiful, loving granddaughters-- currently 11 and 13-- and it is my greatest desire to be the kind of grandmother who upholds her granddaughters in prayer daily. We live in different provinces and have varied, busy schedules that do not always allow for us to connect by phone or social media in that satisfying way that can occur when you live nearby your loved ones, and can gather on a fairly regular basis for meals, chats, concerts, movies, sleepovers, church, just for the sheer joy or as a support.  Prayer is really key to our having the relationship we want with our grandies.  Regardless of distance or other access issues, we can play a significant role in their lives by interceding through our prayers for their needs. Praying the Scriptures Sometimes when we pray we find ourselves repeating the same phrases, wondering if we have really conveyed what it is we are wanting God to provide.   The Bible is God's Word for us.  There are hundreds of

Best Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes Recipe- Yes, As Good As It Looks!  If you enjoy roasted brussels sprouts, this recipe is one of the best that I have come across.  It is pretty easy to put together in a short time, and makes for a lovely holiday dish or addition to a potluck. I love brussels sprouts-- or teeny cabbages!  And I also love the combination of the slightly bitter brassica with sweet potatoes, that you get in this recipe.  Because, of course, sweet potatoes have that ... um... sweetness that offsets the slight herby bitterness of the sprouts.  The recipe I was inspired by used finely grated lemon zest and thinly sliced scallions... I have substituted my health-promoting whole lemon and garlic puree, that you can learn about and use as well in this recipe-- Chris Wark from Chris Beat Cancer swears that this formulation destroys cancer cells, and really amps up your immunity in general.  Or just go with the lemon zest and thinly sliced scallions. So