Portobello Spaghetti Sauce

I just got my spirooli in the mail today and had to give it a test run. Something amazing about having the texture of spaghetti but the taste of zucchini.

Portobello Sauce

2 cups sliced mini(baby) portobello mushrooms
1 small carrot sliced thinly
1 (15oz) can of tomato sauce
1 can of tomato chunks (I used a can of Hunts chunky tomatoes with sweet onion)
1 medium vidalia onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp oregano
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp of tomato paste

Place a small stock pot on the stove and turn on the eye to medium heat. Pour in the olive oil and let the pan come up to temperature. Dice the onion into ¼ inch chunks and sauté until translucent.

Add portobello mushrooms and continue sauteing until they have reduced in size and most of the fluid has condensed into the pan. Add garlic and simmer for about 3 minutes to marry flavors.

Add sauce, tomatoes, carrots, oregano and paste. Simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.

Serve over your favorite noodles (or spiralized zucchini!)

Best Banana Nut Muffins!

I've been making this recipe for a while now and this morning I had to make a double batch. A single batch only makes about 18 muffins and with 4 kids and multiple friends, sometimes we need much more than that. I've done very little to it from the original that I found online, but prefer the raw cashews over walnuts :)

(one of my lovely daughters modeling the food for me!)

Hope you enjoy.


Banana muffins are a very easy muffin for vegans to make because the banana can act as a binder and provide moisture instead of eggs. So you don't needs eggs or even egg-replacer! Give this easy-peasy vegan banana nut muffin recipe a whirl and leave a comment to let us know what you think!

Ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas
1/4 cup oil or vegan margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup raw cashews (use whatever nut you like most here)

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 360 degrees.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork till soft. Add the oil or vegan margarine and sugar and cream together.

In a separate bowl, combine together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Combine with the banana mixture, stirring gently just to combine.

Grease or line a muffin pan, and fill each muffin about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Superb Green Smoothie

I'm a big fan of green smoothies, ever since I read the book Green For Life. This morning after spending over an hour sitting in the DMV waiting area, I needed something to boost my energy levels and fill my now grumbling tummy. (Probably should have eaten breakfast before going!)

So here is my own version of a green smoothie, hope you enjoy!

Green Smoothie

3 ripe bananas
2 leaves of kale, remove stems
1/2 cup of red tipped lettuce
1/2 cup of spinach, remove stems (can leave them in if you want but I like to remove them)
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1/4 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup chilled water
1/4 cup crushed ice

Put all ingredients in the blender and blend till smooth. Make sure if you have a high RPM blender not to let it get hot, add more ice if necessary.

Service in a chilled glass, and enjoy!

Beet Hummus

My friend posted this amazing recipe on Facebook the other day. Thank you Moonyen!

Beet Hummus


1/2 pound beets (about 4 medium sized beets), scrubbed clean, cooked, peeled, and cubed*
2 Tbsp tahini sesame seed paste
5 Tbsp lemon juice
1 small clove garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp lemon zest (zest from approx. 2 lemons)
Generous pinch of sea salt or Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste

*To cook the beets, cut off any tops, scrub the roots clean, put them in a covered dish with about 1/4-inch of water in a 375°F oven, and cook until easily penetrated with a knife or fork. Alternatively, cover with water in a saucepan and simmer until tender, about 1/2 hour. Peel once they have cooled.

Method

Place all ingredients in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings and ingredients as desired.

Chill and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for longer storage.

Eat with pita chips, or with sliced cucumber or celery, or on a crostini with goat cheese and shaved mint.

Makes 2 cups.

What did you do to my nanners?

My bananas have what on them?

I've been buying some bananas at Aldi's lately, simply for the ease of getting them while getting what pasta and rice we get at an affordable price. I must say they've been very good at selling them to me at amazing prices. Less than $1.00 a bunch, or 16.00 a case. And they taste good too. Really good, much better than some other ones I've gotten.

As I was looking at the case today to make sure I was eating the ripest ones, I found this on the side :

What are these things and why are they on my bananas? Let's look at thiabendazole first. It's an anti fungal treatment to keep the bananas from getting some kind of fungus or root rot. That makes sense. I don't want my bananas to start rotting or growing some kind of mushrooms in the case before I can eat them. But what else does this product do?

The substance appears to have a slight toxicity in higher doses, with effects such as liver and intestine disorder at high exposure in test animals. Some reproductive disorders and decreasing weanling weight have been observed, also at high exposure. Effects on humans from use as drug includes nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, dizziness, drowsiness, or headache; very rarely also ringing in the ears, vision changes, stomach pain, yellowing eyes and skin, dark urine, fever, fatigue, increased thirst and change in the amount of urine. No mutagenic or carcinogenic effects have been shown.

So first we have an antifungal that can cause all kinds of nasty side effects, even lower fertility and weaning weight in children/animals. That to me is disturbing. Next, there is imazalil. Imazalil is both a fungicide AND a pesticide. It's a linked carcinogen, causes infertility, acutely toxic, and did I mention carcinogen!

So here we have two chemicals put on my bananas to make sure their fresh. But according to current research they aren't just on the outside. Even in oranges and bananas with their thick outer skin, they are finding levels of this substance in the flesh of the fruit!

So look very carefully at your fruits and veggies. I for one don't want to be putting cancer causing agents in my body when I think I'm getting healthy food. I also don't want to lower my reproductive ability or get any of those nasty side effects above from eating something I love.

Raw Hummus

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups dry garbanzo beans
2 tablespoons tahini
1/2 a lemon, juiced
4 cloves garlic, crushed or to taste
1 cup filtered or spring water
1 pinch paprika

Directions

Soak the beans for 24 hours. Drain, and let sit for 2 to 3 days, until the bean's sprouts are about 1/2 inch long. Rinse the beans once or twice a day.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat, and let stand for 1 minute. Place the sprouted beans in the hot water, and let sit for 1 minute. Drain. If you do not do this step, the hummus will be awful.
Place the sprouted beans into the container of a large food processor. Add the tahini, sea salt, lemon juice, and garlic. Process until smooth, adding water if necessary. It will take 3 to 5 minutes to blend. Let sit in the food processor for 5 minutes to allow the beans to absorb as much of the water as possible. If too thick, add more water, and blend again. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Spoon into a serving dish, and garnish with paprika.

How to milk an almond!

Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk
Cookbook: Living Cuisine: The Art and Spirit of Raw Foods
Renee Loux Underkoffler
Makes 4 cups.

"A sweet and delicious fresh milk with the elegant essence of vanilla"

1 cup soaked raw almonds (soaked 4-8 hours)
4 cups filtered water
Pinch of sun-dried sea salt
1 T non-alcohol vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean (optional)
3 T agave or maple syrup (or 3 soft dates, pitted)

In a blender, at medium, then high speed, blend soaked almonds, water, and sea salt until smooth. Pour through a strainer (or use a nut bag) to separate pulp. Pour liquid back in the the blender and blend in vanilla extract and bean (if using) and sweetener until smooth.

Qunioa!

Most vegans have heard of quinoa, but many have never tried it. I also want to encourage those who are just curious about getting more fruits and veggies to try adding this grain into their diet as well. Quinoa is one of the few plants that have what many call 'high quality' protein or complete protein. As you can see from Nutrition Facts quinoa is very good for you and can be an amazing food to add to a whole foods, plant based diet.

Quinoa also provides sugars, starches, oils(*linoeolic acid!), fiber, vitamins and minerals too. Unlock other grains it's not very sticky, but rather fluffy. And it's very easy to digest, and it's low on the glycemic scale so it is a good option over white rice for a diabetic. It can be used in any recipe that you would normally use rice in and cooks in much the same way. The following is one of my favorite ways to prepare quinoa and I hope you enjoy it as well.

Ingredients:
1 medium sweet onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 TBSP olive oil
~2 cups vegetable broth
1 can chick peas
1 cup quinoa

Directions:
Place stock pot over medium to medium low heat, and add olive oil. Roughly chop the onion and begin sautéing it in the warm olive oil. When onions are just translucent, finely dice and add garlic. While garlic is sautéing rinse the quinoa well. (If you don't rinse the quinoa it has a powder naturally on the outside that can make it taste quite bitter.)

Add drained quinoa to the pot and begin to toast it for about 2 minutes. Then drain chick peas, saving reserve liquid in a measuring cup(if you want, you can only use vegetable stock as well.) Add enough vegetable stock to the measuring cup to bring total liquid to 2 cups. Add this to the mixture along with the chickpeas and bring the mix to a boil. After it comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, covered.

Turn heat off and fluff it with a fork. Then serve. (You can reduce liquid to as little as 1 and 1/4 cup for a different texture, so experiment to find the best texture for you :) You can also make this in a rice cooker if you have the 'Simmer then Sauté' setting.)

Remember to experiment and have fun. Add some celery and carrots to the onions to give it a French feel or throw in your favorite refried beans at the end and make it a more Latin American version.