Organic Granny

In my front yard I have a thriving planting of  Oregano Vulgare .  Although the herb is best eaten before the plant flowers, there ARE some very practical things that you can do to utilize the flowers. Here are 7 suggestions: Don't pinch off all the flowers  (if you must pinch off at all!) because the pretty, fragrant flowers will attract pollinators like the honey bee.  Bee farmers may actually thank you for the mild oregano-flavoured honey that results. The flowers have a more delicate flavour than the leaves  and are a lovely cullinary addition to salads, sauces, and Mediterranean-type dishes. Essential Oil of Oregano has been valued for its curative health qualities for generations!   Even just 'smelling' the plant is said to be very health-giving.  Put a garden chair next to a clump of oregano so you can sit there to take the sun and breathe in the fragrance.  Make a tea by pouring hot water over 3 T. of flowers, steeping for about 10 minutes, sweetening with honey and

My husband and I are both over 70, and while we have the odd age-expected ache or pain or fallen hair or swollen ankles or whatever, we have avoided many of the BIG Diseases: Heart Disease, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis, Cancer-- but we have had family with these diseases and there is a good chance that we will have something like this hit at some time.  That is the way of the world these days, is it not? So, to be proactive and preventative, we believe that "Food is Our Medicine" and we adhere to a Whole Food/Plant-Based way of eating. We also watch a lot of those health seminars that mesh with our way of thinking that plants/herbs are the answer-- or at least our first rule of order when we feel ill.  We loved the Chris Beat Cancer series because, well, who wouldn't?  Chris is a charming young man with a friendly, compassionate mission to help others learn about how they too can beat cancer without (or only as a sideline) chemo or radiation.  In his Square

  If you are a fan of hermit cookies with their yummy touch of spice and delightful munchy-crunchiness, you will love this baked porridge for breakfast (or dressed up a little as a dessert).   Ingredients 2 ripe bananas  1/2 cup/115 g pumpkin puree 2 cups/489 ml oat milk or other plant-based milk 2 tablespoons/40 ml. maple syrup 2 cups rolled oats 2 tsp. Pumpkin pie spice 1/2 tsp. baking powder 4 Medjool dates , pitted and chopped Small handful walnuts, chopped Click for Pumpkin Hermit cookie recipe: Method to make  pumpkin hermit porridge: Preheat oven to 350° F/177 C. In a medium bowl mix rolled oats, pumpkin, spice, baking powder and nut and dates. Blend banana  pumpkin, milk, and maple syrup Pour blender mixture over dry ingredients and combine well. Divide evenly among 7 or 8 large muffin cups or ramekins. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until firm.

  I am such a Nervous Nelly when it comes to planting "exotic" plants like this little hardy(?) eggplant.  10 seeds cost me $7.   When/if it actually germinates indoors, then, the following instructions:  "Using a clear plastic cloche or floating row cover (hoop bed????) will help growth by increasing warmth.  Cool Temps increase leafy growth but no fruit will set. Plastic mulch(????) placed over the  prepared and fertilized soil for a week before transplanting will increase the temperature and increase better fruit set. Grow like peppers BUT keep in mind that eggplants need even more warmth before transplanting (mid to late June.) If the plant is below 21°C (70°F) the fruit may not set "ARGHHH *West Coast Seeds: Untreated seeds for organic growing, non-GMO

Organic Granny is a fan of Fair Trade, vegan chocolate, cacao, cocoa, and the products that are made from "the bean". What you find below are links to all the vegan chocolate recipes I have posted over the past several years. Most of the chocolate recipes here use "natural sweeteners" or suggest them as alternatives to the usual commercial sugars.  There are also many recipes listed that are made with gluten-free flour or ingredients.   VEGAN BANANA LOAF RECIPES: 3 Delicious vegan/vegetarian chocolate banana bread recipes VEGAN BROWNIE RECIPES: Black bean brownies Cookie crumb unbaked brownies Orange-walnut date-oatmeal brownies Quick omega3 fudgey raw carob brownies VEGAN CAKE RECIPES: Gluten-free Vegan Chocolate Cake  Raw Nanaimo Bar squares Raw royal chocolate chiazz cake Simple delicious vegan chocolate cake Sweetheart raw chocolate cheez cake VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES: Buckwheat-oat chocolate chip cookies Decadent chocolate bean cookies Garlicky maple walnut chocola

  Simple Delicious Vegan Chocolate Cake                    Image courtesy of Mr. Gojowy This is a truly simple cake recipe (under 10 ingredients) that produces a really delicious chocolate cake, similar-tasting to the ones made with egg and dairy. It is modeled on the  "Deep Chocolate Vegan Cake" recipe written up in Moosewood Restaurant Classics with a few adjustments to the ingredients. We love it (maybe a little too much).  I am also refining a duplicate gluten-free recipe.  Follow me here to get the notification of that recipe, and other vegan and gluten-free vegan recipes to come. INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2  cups unbleached white flour 2/3 cup of Fair Trade cacao powder (or standard unsweetened cocoa) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 cup organic cane sugar 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted 1 cup cold water (or cold brewed coffee or coffee substitute) 2 teaspoons orange or vanilla flavor 2 tablepoons apple cider vinegar METHOD : Preheat the oven to 375 F/190.56C.

This corn bread is so delicious with baked-in fresh or frozen thawed corn giblets and Thompson raisins.  It is vegan and I used psyllium husk powder as a binder (you could use flax or chia seed instead but psyllium husk is my latest discovery for light fluffiness). INGREDIENTS : 1 cup organic yellow cornmeal 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 2 tablespoons psyllium husk powder 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1/2 cup sugar (optional) 1/4 cup melted coconut oil 3 cups liquid (1 cup full-fat coconut milk and 2 cups water or aqua fava (fluid left over from cooking chickpeas) or (1 cup water and 1 cup aqua fava.) 1 cup corn niblets, patted dry 1/2 cup raisins METHOD :  1.Set oven to 400 degrees F. 2. Grease a pan or line with parchment or use a silicone pan 3. In medium large bowl, measure in corn meal. 4. Sift all-purpose flour and baking powder into the bowl. Add in psyllium husk powder and salt. Stir well. 5. Stir in sugar 6. Fold in oil and liquid just until flour is incorp

 Black-ish Forest Vegan Chocolate Pancakes My dear husband turned 71 today.  I am making him General Tso's tofu for dinner but also wanted to make him a delicious breakfast that would be something different from the usual smoothie and oatmeal.  It had to be vegan, low in processed sugar, and maybe kind of reflective of a favourite German food.   I know his favourite birthday cake used to be Black Forest Cake.  Way off his menu these days with his desire to be sugar-free and healthy as he trains to run another half-marathon in the Spring/Summer. So after reading over a few such chocolate pancake recipes, I made a few modifications and came up with a pancake mix that I can store as the combined dry ingredients in a jar in the fridge, and when we want these lovely pancakes again, I will just scoop out the dry mix and add in the wet mix (almond milk and apple cider vinegar), and cook them up-- easy-peasy!  So, here is the mix for 4 batches (about 16-24 pancakes): -1 1/2 cups oat flour

                                                                                         It seems to me that Kunio Yamagishi may have decided upon a particularly deep emotional challenge for himself as a writer of historical fiction. What if instead of writing about a lonely man who undergoes extreme emotional deprivation and finds true love and/or personal happiness in spite of that deprivation I write about a person who-- like many humans we hear about-- only experiences blurry glimpses of personal happiness through the course of his life. Would those dim hopes be enough to sustain him into natural death in old age? What are the choices in life when all your dreams evaporate?   Yes,  The Return of A Shadow  is possibly the saddest book I have read, or at least in a long time. But beautiful writing, and a likeable protagonist kept me interested and hopeful in the outcome. I believe that older adults, perhaps the age of the protagonist himself, would be most apt to read this book. W

A dear friend had a huge Bosc pear harvest from her tree this year-- 700 pounds!  I was one of the lucky beneficiaries.  This vegan pear butter recipe is the result of a rave on Facebook by one of my friends.  So, looking at several recipes, I have chosen what I think works to produce a silky, yummy, pretty healthy pear spread.  The word "butter" does not mean that real dairy butter is involved (in fact, no fats!) INGREDIENTS: 5 pounds of fresh Bosc pears, peeled, split, cored, roughly chopped 1 teaspoon dried ground ginger* 2 tablespoons dried ground cinnamon** 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup orange juice 1/4 cup coconut sugar pinch of salt (optional)                                                           These are common BOSC pears.                                                           You can use this recipe for other                                                              pears, such as Barlett, as well.                                                            EASY M

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 delicious recipe for an Oriental dish, fried Garlic-Ginger Eggplant, is provided by my delightful Facebook friend, Rita Hinds . Here we go with Rita's recipe for Garlic-Ginger Eggplant : INGREDIENTS: 1 Eggplant 3 T. fresh ginger 3 T. Fresh garlic Green chili (I used red pepper flakes) Scallion onions 3 T. Non GMO Cornstarch 1 tsp. Organic Cane Sugar Soy sauce or Braggs Aminos Water INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Cut up eggplant in bite size pieces(put in bowl) sprinkle with salt and lemon juice. Let it sit for 15 minutes(this formula will draw out excess water) Pour out water/ rinse and pat dry with towel or paper towel. 2. Coat eggplant with cornstarch. This will depend on how much eggplant you have. 3. Fry eggplant until crispy(the cornstarch makes it crispy). Set aside. 4. Sauté onions, garlic, ginger 5. Add soy-sauce and sugar to the pan and then a little water (this will depend how much eggplant you have to cover with the sauce) then add water and some

Okay I will get right to the recipe, since that is what I like when I want to bake something. But while the kuchen bakes, please read the story of 'the apricot delivery' below the recipe, okay? Thanks (oh yes, and your comments are gold! I love them-- as most bloggers do-- and ask any questions too!) VEGAN KUCHEN with FRESH FRUIT TOPPING 1. Sift all the following into a large mixing bowl.  Whisk to combine well: 2 cups, 250g All-Purpose flour 2 teaspoons, 8.87g baking powder 1 teaspoon, 3.4g baking soda 1/3 teaspoon, 1.95g fine sea salt 2/3 cups, 132.57g sugar 2. Mix together the following in a 2-cup measuring cup: 3/4 cup, 184g non-dairy milk 3 tablespoons, 47.02 non-dairy yogurt 1/3 cup, 72.16g coconut oil, melted 2 tablespoons, 30g apple cider vinegar 2 teaspoons, 9.86g vanilla extract 3. Add the wet ingredients (#2) to the dry ingredients (#1) and use only as many strokes as needed until batter is combined.  Over-stirring can result in a tougher te