Accessible Snacks

A Few friends came over Friday night and I made regular unhealthy chocolate chip cookies and veggies with ranch dressing!

Ranch Dressing

2 tbsp raw tahini

1 tsp dry parsley flakes

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp dried dill

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp almond milk

1/2 tsp sea salt

I mixed all the ingredients together in a small bowl, and served immediately. The next day, the leftovers had an even stronger flavor as the herbs had a chance to sit overnight. This was an impromptu creation but I want to give it try using only fresh herbs. Mmmmmm.....

Easy Cookies


These cookies were very simple, I had some of Trader Joe's baking mix on hand. I just replaced half the butter for canola oil, the other half for apple sauce, the eggs for apple sauce (3 tbsp apple sauce per egg) then followed the rest of the directions verbatim. Slightly more healthy than regular cookies...but not much.

I also made some healthy cookies! My room mates and I finished off the batch of Raw Chocolate Fudge Cookies in about 48 hours and I was left wanting more! I decided to mix it up a bit and make something similar.

Raw Banana Almond Butter Cookies

4 tbsp almond butter

4 tbsp almond meal

2 tbsp ground flax seeds

1 tbsp raw cacao powder

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tbsp spirulina powder

6 tbsp ground hemp seed or hemp protein powder

1 very ripe banana

cinnamon, cacao powder, and maca powder for coating

I mashed up the banana then mixed in the rest of the ingredients, the dough was very soft so I chilled it before rolling it into balls, coating them, and pressing them flat. It was still tricky and sticky! These are best frozen, especially if you're not going to eat them right away, you don't want the banana to get funky... I really loved these, they make a great breakfast as it's basically everything I'd put in a smoothie anyway.

My younger brother just moved into a new apartment! Here I am with my boyfriend, Jesse, and my brother's dog Stone

I love their place, everything white has been tie dyed. The have a view of the ocean from their back yard and it's full of art with dark wood and tribal patterned furniture. Very beach hippie!

And-one of my proudest achievements yet-a vegan kugel! The noodle kugels I've had have had an egg and cream cheese base. I was hoping to get the same consistency and a similar flavor.

Vegan Kugel

the 'egg' part

2 cups peeled and boiled yams/sweet potatoes

1 1/2 cups raw cashews

3/4 can coconut milk (I used lowfat)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 tbsp pumpkin spice

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

4 tbsp corn starch

Blend the cashews with the coconut milk until smooth then mix all other ingredients in a large bowl. The yams should be boiled until you can easily stir them.

the 'cheese' part

1 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp filtered water or milk of your choice

1/4 can coconut milk

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. If you don't have nutritional yeast handy, it's not necessary for the recipe. It does give the mixture a bit of a cheesy flavor and is very healthy but won't affect the overall outcome much if omitted.

1 lb. spaghetti (or a thinner noodle) cooked very very well. It should be soft, folks.

Pour the pasta over the sweet potato mixture then pour the 'cheese' mixture on top of the pasta. Stir as little as possible, just enough to integrate the pasta. You want some of the 'egg' and 'cheese' parts to remain separate. Pour into a greased baking sheet, 9 x 13 should be big enough, I used two smaller pans. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top then bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

I enjoyed this best cold or at room temperature. Next time I plan on using thinner noodles as I think it would feel more traditional. If I were making this for myself only I'd use whole wheat or brown rice noodles. I have a feeling that this recipe could be modified into a very nice pie as well, I look forward to the holidays for more opportunities for experimentation!

Work Work Work

I worked for 14 hours today... kind of pushing my personal limit, but it wasn't bad. I took the baby for several walks, we went to the park, and the time went by fairly quickly considering. My biggest problem with being at work is that I MUST plan ahead food wise. The only foods there that are vegan & natural are roasted almonds, plain pasta, and sometimes fresh veggies-I know, I've scoured the cupboards in a starved panic on my worst days. The best thing I've made for myself is brown rice spaghetti with diced tomatoes, minced garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. It's actually very good, but I can only eat it so many times. Oh, and there's usually potatoes, good boiled then mashed served with sesame oil, salt, and pepper.

Knowing that I'd be spending most of my day there I came prepared with 2 cups of baby carrots, 4 small slices of watermelon, 1 banana, 1/2 sprouted wheat bagel with raw almond butter, 1 large salad, a vegetable based multivitamin, trail mix made from raw cashews, carob covered almonds, chocolate covered goji berries & dried cranberries, AND leftover pasta from last night. I didn't eat it all, but I'm glad I had plenty of options! It's hard for me to sit down and eat a meal while I'm there so I usually graze through out the day. I try my best to separate carbs, proteins, and fruit, so I map out my snacking accordingly.

In my effort to up my vegetable intake I made a pasta last night which, before cooked had more veggie mass than pasta, but the veggies shrunk and the pasta grew. Still lots of veggies, next time I'll know to add more.

Veggie Pasta

3 cups (or less) pasta of your choice, I used Trader Joe's alphabet pasta

1 cup broccoli chopped into small florets

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, quartered or sliced

1/2 cup kale, chopped

4 tbsp garlic, minced

1/4 of a spaghetti squash, scraped out and cut into small pieces

2 cups marinara sauce

2-4 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup water

sea salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the pasta according to the directions listed. In a separate pot or pan add all the vegetables plus the water, steam for about 5 minutes or until the water has evaporated. I recommend putting the kale and broccoli on the bottom as they take the longest to cook. Next add the olive oil and saute the veggies until they're as soft as you like them, I prefer mine to have some crunch. Add the pasta and the marinara sauce, stir and serve!

I shredded some of the Daiya cheese over the top-really yummy. I've finally found Daiya's purpose in my diet! I think it's good in small doses, in dishes with other strong flavors.

Today while the baby was sleeping I found a recipe on http://eat2evolve.blogspot.com/ for Raw Chocolate Fudge Cookies, I had to make them as soon as I got home. They're addictive, I've already eaten four and am restraining myself from eating four more. I cut the recipe in half and altered mine a bit.

Altered Raw Chocolate Fudge Cookies

1/2 cup almond meal

1/4 cup raw cacao powder plus 2 tbsp for coating

4 tbsp spirulina powder

1/4 cup Artisana's Cacao Bliss, or 1/4 cup coconut butter or other nut butter

1/4 cup grade b maple syrup

2 tbsp maca powder

1 tbsp cinnamon

Mix the almond meal, 1/4 cup cacao, spirulina, Cacao Bliss, and maple syrup until well blended. In a separate bowl mix the 2 tbsp cacao, maca powder and cinnamon. Roll the dough into small balls using a teaspoon. Roll the balls in the cacao, maca, cinnamon mixture until covered then press to desired thickness. You know, cookie thick. Place cookies on waxed paper and either refrigerate or freeze to chill. I ate 2 immediately then another 2 from the freezer and put the rest in the fridge. The Cacao Bliss may be omitted, I felt my dough was too soft and opted not to add any more almond meal-but that would have worked. I think these would also be excellent with some raw almond butter. I'm thinking of taking two cookies, putting some almond butter, and a banana slice in between to make a cookie sandwich of sorts.

Here's another picture... just so you can see them again before you go make your own!

Hello Salad, it's me, Tess

I've had to make a point this week to eat more fresh veggies. I've been working a lot leaving me tired, drained, and quick to grab a back of chips and salsa for dinner. This week I'm trying to eat veggies with or as every meal.

This salad is made with organic romaine lettuce, tomatos, cucumber, wakame seaweed and an Asian sesame dressing. I wasn't able to eat all of it and finished the rest with cold soba noodles and soy sauce.

Today Kristen's Raw blog mentioned Daiya Vegan Cheese (www.daiyafoods.com). It's dairy free, soy free, rice free, wheat free, with no artificial ingredients or preservatives. I haven't been eating any cheese substitutes as most contain soy and all that I've seen contain artificial flavors. The Daiya website sold me, I had to find some. My search led me to a new convenience store in Hollywood called Locali (www.localiyours.com), an all natural convenience store! As well as the purchasing the Daiya cheese, I enjoyed a ginger tonic slushie. Most of the products they carry I can get at the store I work at, but I like the idea of a healthy convenience store, complete with soft pretzels and slushies.

I'm not used to using cheese in my cooking and couldn't think of anything to make with it. Finally I settled on pizza-I figured that would be fairly simple.

The cheese really did melt and stretch. I opted to slice instead of shred it-I have a feeling I'd have better luck with it shredded. The flavor was cheese like, kind of buttery. Reminiscent of American Cheese which I don't care for in the least. I think cheese has become a bit heavy for me. I might try it with rice and beans or in a quesadilla but otherwise, I don't think it's for me. It's not bad, just not for me.

A few days ago I bought some spirulina powder. It's loaded with protein, amino acids, minerals, iron etc. etc. I don't feel I can adequately describe how damn good the stuff is for you, please read about all the benefits here: http://www.spirulina.com/nutrition_tech_info.html. So far I've just mixed it into juices and smoothies but I've met a few people who've told me to put it in pesto and savory foods as well.

This smoothie is made from cranberry hibiscus juice, frozen blueberries, and spirulina powder.

I also made two pies last week, a strawberry pie, and a peach raspberry pie. Not healthy at all, but vegan. Whole Foods has pre-made pie crusts made with palm oil shortening instead of butter. Thank God, I don't think I was up for making my own. When it comes to baked goods I'm less picky about them being homemade, as long as they contain only whole ingredients. The strawberry pie was my favorite, especially with tempt hemp ice cream in vanilla bean on the side!

Irony!

The same day I post about eating too many frozen pre-made foods the freezer at work broke and I was offered to take anything for free. 

I took too much.

I took a bunch of Amy's frozen vegan meals, they're easy to bring to work and super pricey...I couldn't resist! I also couldn't resist the bags of frozen berries/fruit. They're all organic and I buy them all the time for smoothies and desserts. I stuffed my freezer with what I could and still regretfully tossed half a bag full. Now lies the problem of freezer space, I need to use a lot of this up pretty quick. I might make a pie. Or five. Maybe some jam, and lots of smoothies.

This one is made with frozen peaches, frozen raspberries, agave, some orange juice, spring water...and some vodka...

Ch Ch Ch Chia!

This month has been crazy busy and unfortunately I've been eating tons of frozen/pre-made foods as well as chips and cookies! So I'm trying to get back on track. My newest obsession thanks to Kristen's Raw blog (http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/2009/09/kristens-raw-14th-awesome-giveaway-free.html) are chia seeds! I've been getting home from work too late to eat a meal but hungry nonetheless so I've been making ginger lemonade with a scoop of chia.

Ginger Lemonade

2-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

approx. 1 tsp fresh ginger

8 oz filtered water

2-4 tbsp agave nectar

1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar (optional)

1 scoop or 15 grams chia seeds

Using the Magic Bullet or a blender, I blend the water, lemon juice, ginger, agave, and apple cider vinegar until the ginger has been liquefied. I add the chia seeds after I pour my lemonade into a glass and am about to drink it. After a few minutes in the liquid each seed becomes surrounded in a gelatinous substance-sounds gross but you feel like you're drinking boba tea. It's very satisfying!

Chia seeds are full of omega 3 & 6, and are high in fiber, antioxidants and minerals. Raw apple cider vinegar is also full of minerals, beta-carotene, and helps to eliminate toxins from the body. I've been trying to drink at least 2 tbsp a day in water. Putting it in the lemonade is an easy way to get it down! For extra nutrients, pure maple syrup can be substituted for the agave nectar.

Because I've been eating so poorly, I've been craving vegetables. Today I made roasted cauliflower with garlic breadcrumbs and kale sauteed with garlic.

Breaded Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp nutritional yeast

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (I made mine from pita bread)

4-5 tbsp olive oil

I mixed the cauliflower, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and olive oil together until the cauliflower was evenly coated then I added the bread crumbs and nutritional yeast and mixed it again. I poured the mixture onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper (for easy clean up), dumping any extra bread crumbs over the cauliflower. I baked it at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes and voila! This ended up being really tasty, I would never usually bread anything but man...this was good. Definitely a new favorite.

So much of what eat/use comes from coconut that I finally decided to purchase an actual coconut.

I don't know if this is something I'll be doing again in the near future. It took me about 15 minutes to hack a hole big enough to drink out of. This part was worth it as fresh coconut water made a perfect breakfast. However, it took me another half an hour to get most of the coconut meat out. I made a mess and sliced my thumb pretty good. I'm all for fresh foods...but this will be only for special occasions.

Organic Food Store Cashier!

After a leisurely summer of four day work weeks I finally began my search for another part time job, and as fate would have it I ended up at an organic food store! I'm like a kid in a candy shop, so excited by everything I get to sample and take home, all the different foods and swapping recipe ideas with customers. I couldn't be happier. I've already enjoyed vegan tacos, kombucha, various juices, the Mookie, buckwheat, lots of coconut water, raw cacao chocolates, and others I can't think of now... Like most health food stores, the specialty products are rather pricey but my discount takes the edge off-I just have to be careful to maintain control of my consumer self. Needless to say, I'm thrilled.

Buckwheat Blueberry Pancakes

Pancakes are one of my favorite things to make, they are quick, simple, and the ingredients can easily be altered. You just need to know the baking powder to flour ratio and what the consistency of the batter should be. I would describe it as a runny pudding, and if you're making crepes a thick egg nog. Both of these sound disgusting, but you get my point. When I was eating dairy I always made my pancakes thin and eggy. For these I used buckwheat, baking powder, vanilla, apple sauce, and almond milk with a dash of agave. I added the almond milk slowly until I had reached the desired consistency then cooked them on a nonstick pan at medium heat adding blueberries to each after pouring. They were not at all sweet, most pancakes need a tablespoon or so of sugar to get to the right flavor. The apple sauce could also be replaced by a mashed banana, they would turn out more moist. Experiment with your favorite flour, fruit, sweetener etc. Pancakes are difficult to mess up and easy to put together so you don't feel so bad when you do.

I've been feeling a bit under the weather the past few days and have been craving something hearty. Tonight for dinner I made a simple sushi bowl.

Sushi Bowl
Brown Rice

Sushi seaweed crunched up

Broccoli and kale sauteed in sesame oil

Sliced cucumber

Sliced avocado

Soy sauce

The broccoli and kale could be replaced with any vegetable of your choice, instead of rice, soba noodles could be used. If you eat fish, crab meat would be an excellent addition. I wish I had whole sesame seeds handy as they'd make the perfect topping. Next time I make this I may also stop at a sushi restaurant for a side of ginger and wasabi...Mmmm!

I'll end with a new invention, I call it The Craving Bowl. Frozen blueberries, sliced banana, chunks of dark chocolate and tons of raw almond butter. The picture does not do it justice for it is wonderful.