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How To Make Quinoa and Sun-Roasted Soy Curl Chickn in a Solar Oven

Salad and Tzatziki with Quinoa + Sun-Roasted Soy Curls It is hot and humid again today. The temperature is 30 degrees C. in the morning. Way too hot for us. I am sorry for complaining about the blue skies and sunshine when some of you read my woes about our long Winter and Spring with low temps and lots of rain (even some snow that stayed around). Is there any pleasing me? Well, a real blessing for us is to have this nifty American Sun Oven that harnesses the power of the Sun (immense power on a sunny day) for FREE! (Well, after you've paid for the oven-- you'd have to do the Math for that). Keeps your kitchen cool. Keeps the rest of the house cooler. Good for the environment. Excellent when you are off the grid on a fishing trip or on a research assignment or just like using your backyard for something besides the garden and the selfies with the flowers. And the food cooks just right, there is NO burning-- you might experience a little food dryness when you are getting used to

Super Easy Yummy Fluffy Coconut Rice (in the Sun Oven)

For the last few days we have not used the oven or stove for cooking our meals. We aren't doing the "raw vegan" thing either, or only in a limited way. Instead, the delicious coconut rice in the photo above was cooked by the Sun outside in our backyard. Free Power. The recipe for the coconut rice and the cucumber-mayo sauce (like Tzatziki) above are below. You can find the recipe for the sun-roasted Moroccan Vegetables HERE. FLUFFY NO-FAIL COCONUT RICE SOLAR-COOKED If you have a Sun Oven, set it up, position it for the sun, and wait for it to hit 300 degrees Fahrenheit before putting in the rice. Using one of the black speckled (granite) pots that come with the Sun Oven (or that you can purchase pretty handily), put in the following ingredients: 2 cups of regular rice (I used Jasmine) 1 tablespoon turmeric powder 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup coconut shreds (I used unsweetened, fine shreds) 1/4 teaspoon sea salt zest from one small lemon (optional) 3 1/2 cups water (1 3/4 cup of wat

Overnight Blueberry-Chia Pudding Pie Oats

  This delicious chia seed pudding is made the night before (takes about 5 minutes after you assemble the ingredients) and popped in the fridge for breakfast. This particular pudding includes both non-dairy milk AND non-dairy yogurt (usually coconut, bought or home-made).  It is extra creamy! It really does taste like blueberry pie-- it even has a sprinkle of oats and maybe some almond crumbs or hempseeds as a 'crust'.  The chia seeds soak overnight, so there is no danger of coming across a hard one. Be sure to mix everything well before adding the oat topping and lid and popping in the fridge. This recipe makes 3 to 6 servings, depending on how big your servings are. This is a super high fibre pudding, so be sure to drink some water before and throughout the morning. INGREDIENTS 6 tablespoons Chia Seed 1 cup Non-dairy Milk (We like Silk Coconut Milk or Almond or Soy-- everyone has their favorites) 1 cup Non-dairy Yogurt 1 cup (or more) fresh Blueberries (or other favorite fres

Moroccan-Style Sun-Roasted Vegetables

When the July Sun bursts forth (finally) on Beautiful Vancouver Island, out comes my American Sun Oven and then we get creative-- no more HOT kitchen cooking. (If you purchase the oven through clicking in with my link (highlighted in yellow above), you qualify for a discount on the total cost of the oven  Thank you!) Today's recipe is for our favourite veggie recipe (and we are vega n, so you know that it's gotta be good to be Top of the Faves, eh? Pretty easy. Pretty flexible. VERY colorful. (or colourful as I usually write it, being a Canadian and all) I make a double recipe and put one in the fridge for the next day if it is also going to be sunny and nice. You could just make a half the recipe if you only want it for one day. Here are some of the vegetables  you might choose to add into the pot: *Aubergine, or eggplant, small-- sliced or chopped *Chickpeas (a can, because you are going to use the juice (aquafaba) as well *Mushrooms (1/2 a little container, any kind you li

Alexander Mackenzie, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada

  Alexander Mackenzie was the second Prime Minister of Canada, serving between the 1st term of John A. Macdonald, and the second term of John A. Macdonald (1873-1878). Mackenzie was born in Logierait, Perthshire, Scotland, the third son (1 of 10 sons, of which seven  survived their infancies) of Alexander Mackenzie Sr. and Mary Stewart (Fleming) Mackenzie.  He was born in the house that his father built and, amazingly, this house was on the real estate market for about $500,000+ CAD in 2015, but renovated with indoor washrooms and likely not heated with peat.   Mackenzie's birthplace, Logierait, Scotland, c.2015 Mackenzie's father had to roam about Britain looking for work as a carpenter and ship's joiner at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, a time of economic depression. He and Mary wed in 1817, two years after the Wars ended. Alexander Jr. was born during this economic slump (January 1822), but just on the cusp of a return to some general prosperity in Scotland for the ruli

25 Books About Religious Abuse

    This blog post contains links to 25 books-- mostly memoirs-- about religious abuse. And yes, I have read each of them (I am actually finishing one as I write this).  You will find the link to the books below and if you want to read my reviews, click here on my Shelf labeled Religious Abuse  in my Goodreads account. (I think you probably need to get into Goodreads first?).   TRIGGER WARNING: There is a whole load of horrible descriptions and information about various aspects of religious abuse that you may find disturbing and that may trigger you back to your own awful experiences of violence and/or manipulation. Please proceed at your own comfort and safety level. If you have undisclosed experiences that you might like to get help with, please speak to your family doctor or the contacts (for Canada) HERE  or for the USA HERE While each of these books have a major theme of religious abuse , the form of the abuse takes may present in different ways with different protagonists in diff

Easter Eggs for Vegans

Of course, Easter is a Christian holiday that purports to use the egg as a symbol of Jesus having risen from the dead. The egg was before Christianity, a symbol of Spring fecundity and the return of the sun. It seems rather obvious that the egg has pagan origins and was co-opted by Christians. But how ever this might be, the egg at Easter is a significant part of many traditions and meals.   Celebrating Ukrainian culture Ginger Kulas spoke to a full house at the Minden Community Centre on April 5. Kulas, who is married to Ukrainian-Canadian Bill Kulas, spoke on Ukrainian culture and gave a Ukrainian Easter egg demonstration. Find more at Pysanky for Easter The beautiful pysanky, or painted eggs that the Ukrainian diaspora brought into our lives, is an example of how the egg has made its way into Christian symbolism. Priests in the Eastern rites of the Orthodox Church have a service for blessing the pysanky after the regular Easter Church service. Blood red dyes were originally used on