Organic Granny

This year I am intent on using more herbs from my small herb garden in our meals.   Oregano-- also known as wild marjoram-- lives in a couple of spots in our yard. In my current favorite reference book-- Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte -- the author states that oregano "is used the world over the world over in Italian, Mexican and Spanish dishes."  Oregano contains thymol , "a powerful antiseptic when internally or externally... The pleasant aromatic scent... is very lasting. . In the garden [oregano has] a beneficial effect on nearby plants, improving both growth and flavor." (pg. 102) MONTESSORI BABY & TOT PLAY          To learn more about these and other finely crafted Montessori Baby and Child Items,  Click ABOVE on image !   OREGANO-LEMON BALM-WALNUT PESTO Put the following in a small blender and blend until smooth:   *1 cup fresh oregano leaves *1/4 cup walnut parm OR nutritional yeast *1/4 cu

Beautiful Kale-Chive Vegan Muffin This delightful muffin is made with wheat flour (organic all-purpose) in this recipe, but I think it could be made with a gluten-free flour, and also would work with half whole wheat or other half oat flour, half whole wheat.  I can also see it done up as a sort of cake (using spelt flour) and used to mop up olive oil and basalmic vinegar-- a kind of focaccia-soda bread. It's tasty!  Savory is often the way to go.  Especially as this pandemic plays out for those of us who seemingly can't stop baking muffins and banana bread and cakes.  Savory is a nice change-up to something that seems healthier. And it goes very nicely with a lunch soup.  Or as a breakfast muffin with some melty vegan cheese on top (or avocado or tomato and fako-bako-- you get the drift). It makes 10-12 muffins, depending on the size of your muffin cups.  INGREDIENTS: 1 1/4 cup (300 ml)         non-dairy milk 1/4 cup    (60 ml)           extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon (22

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 here (the lemon-fruity muffins)

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 sounds absolutely deliciou

Delicious, healthy hemp seed and apple sauce muffins!  These muffins are absolutely delicious.   And healthy.  Ingredients used include spelt flour, oat flour, hemp seeds (also known as hemp nuts), maple syrup, apple sauce, cinnamon, and other items you likely have in your kitchen for baking: baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Spelt is an ancient grain, and the flour produces a nice, cakey product.  I used spelt flour to make the chocolate banana cake/bread recipes (my "COVID-19 banana bread"), recipes here .  Spelt flour is a whole food but doesn't have the sort of acidic undertones that one gets when baking with whole wheat flour. I "made" two of the ingredients in my Vitamix high-speed blender.  You might want to do the same, both to save money and to provide ingredients with no added stuff in them (such as preservatives).  I ground up some regular oat flakes to make oat flour (just used the same amount of flakes as flour called for) and blended

Fudgy Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread  Today when I went online to look at a Facebook page full of yummy vegan recipes for chocolate banana bread, I came across not one, but THREE terrific recipes. I chose the one with the most ingredients in the house to bake, but it is quite likely I will refer back here to try the other two at some point (a good reason to be a food blogger!). Hope you find one of these recipes meets all your criteria for deliciousness and whatever other factors are built in to your baking: budget? ingredients on-hand? allergies? gluten issues? NEW!!  Just added another version of chocolate banana cake (raspberry-carob or frozen grape-carob) at the bottom of this post!  So-- possibly 4 or 5 recipes to choose from!  Let me know about your variations! #1. The first banana bread recipe , the one that I actually baked, is quite likely going to be the easiest one to choose if you have gluten sensitivity and have oatmeal, almond flour, and cocoa hanging out al

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 "crisis&qu

This delectable garlicky cauliflower sauce over organic rice spaghetti was a most delightful supper one evening at the beginning of the COVID-19 dilemma. It has a lovely creamy mouth appeal but because it has no actual cheese or dairy fat of any kind (only fat would be in the almond milk) it settles lightly on the digestion. Perfect for an evening meal. INGREDIENTS: Large head of cauliflower, broken into florettes with leaves and stem end removed 1 onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 1/2 cups almond milk (unsweetened) 2 tsp. lemon juice, fresh squeezed 1 tsp. fine sea salt black pepper, fresh ground, as desired 4 T. chopped parsley as garnish full box of rice spaghetti (28 oz) or quinoa, rice, etc. Steam the cauliflower over a pot of boiling water, covered, for about 5 - 10 minutes, or in Instant Pot. Set aside. In a skillet, cook onion until translucent. Add garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Combine the cauliflower, garlic, onion, lemon juice

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 over night. *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 SEE Lemon-Coconut Oatme

Colcannon is a lovely Irish traditional mix of boiled cabbage or kale along with a root vegetable, usually mashed potatoes, but sometimes turnip, or carrots. Leaks and/or onions, and garlic, are pretty popular additions. Chopped green onions, chives and/or parsley are often used as a stirred-in garnish. I am vegan, so this is a vegan colcannon-- no dairy butter or milk involved. The following are ingredients in the colcannon I made (Missing from the picture are water, garlic, pepper, oil, and fine sea salt): Lovely Colcannon: potatoes, cabbage, leaks, green onions, and parsley INGREDIENTS (2-4 servings) 2 T.  Olive Oil (or water, or coconut oil) 1/2 Cabbage , shredded 2    Leeks , finely sliced (or shredded) 4 cloves minced Garlic 4 C. peeled, diced  Potatoes  (I used yellow flesh Yukon Gold) 1/2 C. Water (if using Instant Pot-- enough to cover vegetables if using regular pot on stovetop). 1 tsp. Fine Sea Salt Black Paper Finely chopped Green Onions and Par

This perogy poutine is right out of my head, so please feel free to improve upon it, eliminate and add ingredients, do whatever you need to do to make it seem like a lazy perogy version of poutine for you. That said, my husband raved about this particular vegan perogy-poutine recipe and said it was his fave of the three variations (the other two being: Poutine with Cheesy Smoky White Sauce and Poutine with Fat-Free Cheesy Nacho Sauce , also both vegan, of course).  So maybe the ingredients are just right for you as well.  You will have to try it and see what you think.  Mildred Moon is now making Vegan Perogy Poutine for sale in her Food Truck at the Comox Valley Saturday Farmer's Market 9am-1pm  LAZY PEROGY VEGAN POUTINE with MUSHROOM and ONION SAUCE 650 g/ 1 1/2 pounds  frozen potato fries The Mushroom and Onion Sauce: 2 T.      cooking oil (I used olive oil) 1          organic mushroom bouillon cube ("Go Bio" brand) (optional) 1/2 lb.  crimini mushroom

The recipe for 'really cheesy fat-free vegan cheese' is based on a surprising recipe from a video by Jill McKeever, the guru over at Simple Daily Recipes. We love it in our family. The 'surprise ingredient' and the lack of any fats make it a real winner for our digestive systems, and I would imagine you will also find that... although, I am not a physician or a nutritionist, and would suggest you go by what those folks have advised you. This is how the Really Cheesy Fat-Free Vegan Nacho Cheese recipe goes with my additions to Jill's base: Makes about 3 cups 1/2 cup rolled oats 1/3 cup nutritional yeast 2 tablespoons cornstarch 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 cup roasted red bell pepper 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon Smoked Sweet Paprika 1/4 teaspoon Chipotle pepper powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups water Place all ingredients in a blender and process several minutes until very smooth and we

Here are the vegan mains, sides, soups, smoothies, desserts, pastries, and breakfasts as shown on Instagram. The following recipes appear on Instagram in 2020 ( /healthiacynthia ) SASKATOON BERRIES- SUPERFOOD- RECIPES Just go ahead and click on the link below to go directly to the recipe! They are arranged in their categories from the most current Instagram recipe to the oldest-- to see them as they come out, join me at https://www.instagram.com/healthiacynthia/ Delicious Tofu Spring Frittata Colcannon-- Irish Mashed Potatoes, Leek and Cabbage Rice Pasta with Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce Lazy Perogy Vegan Poutine  with Mushroom and Onion Sauce Vegan Poutine with Cheesy Nacho Sauce Vegan Poutine with Smoky WhiteCheesy Sauce Barley and Corn Casserole Moroccan Bowl (random veggies using Berber Spice Combination at the article site) VEGAN SIDES Low-Fat Vegan Garlic Mashed Potatoes SOUPS Beet Borscht with Lentils and Red Cabba