Wheat Tortillas

When my brother suggested making homemade wheat tortillas, I was skeptical. I am now a HUGE fan and I don't think I'll buy them again. I can do without the "monocalcium phosphate and/or sodium acid pyrophosphate". Plus, they're vegan!

Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached white (or all-purpose) flour
• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• flour for rolling, if needed.

Directions

1. *In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup white flour, the whole wheat flour, and salt. Rub in the coconut oil by hand until the mixture is the texture of oatmeal. Make a well in the center, and pour in the boiling water. Mix with a fork until all of the water is evenly incorporated. Sprinkle with a bit of additional flour, and knead until the dough does not stick to your fingers. The dough should be smooth.
2. Make balls the size of golf balls, about 2 ounces each. Place them on a tray, and cover with a cloth. Let stand for at least 1 hour, or up to 8 hours. (Since we used Coconut Oil instead of lard, it helps to wet your hands a little when rolling the balls, they stick together better that way)
3. Heat a griddle or large frying pan over high heat. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a tortilla to your preferred thinness. Fry one at a time. (medium high heat) ** Place on the griddle for 10 seconds, as soon as you see a bubble on the top, flip the tortilla over. Let it cook for about 30 seconds, then flip and cook the other side for another 30 seconds. Roll out the next tortilla while you wait for that one to cook. Repeat until all of the balls have been cooked. Tortillas can be refrigerated or frozen.

*We followed this pretty closely, but 1/2ed it and didn't need any extra flour. In fact, our dough balls came out dry and we needed to wet our hands to roll them. That worked out great.
** If you don't have a cast iron pan, lightly oiling the pan with olive oil on a paper towel will help the texture. They'll be more pliable.

These would be great for the quinoa salad I posted, as that makes great taco filler.
These also make great chips if you cut them up and stick them under the broiler for a bit.

If You Like Pina Coladas...

Oh man, this will be a new family tradition for us. The picture is a bit misleading because the coconut we made this with was a young Thai coconut (they are green coconuts with a good part of the husk left on in a cylindrical shape, and coned at the top). The young coconuts are filled with coconut water and the "meat" is really soft. They make for great smoothies. You can have the smoothie plain coconut by emptying the water into your blender and scraping the meat in there as well. Then lend with some ice, and voila! It's a very healthful, mildly sweet drink. We added some pineapple and pineapple juice to ours and it was really good. You could add sweetener, but I think the natural taste is lovely.

I did some research on coconuts and found out some AMAZING things. For instance, coconut water can be used in place of plasma in transfusions! Coconut water saved lives in WW2. You can read more here:

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/coconutwater.html

There's more on this site as far as recipes go, too. Enjoy your coconuts!

I'm Thankful for Sweet Potato Smoothie

I kind of just threw this all in a blender to see what happened. Turned out like a sweet potato pie shake. Much better than I anticipated. And all natural sugars. Creamy and healthy. The best of both worlds. I think this just may be my new favorite holiday drink.

1 Cup of Soymilk

1 1/2 Cups of boiled Sweet Potato wedges

5-7 pitted dates (depends on how sweet you like it)

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground Cloves

1 1/2 Cups of Ice

Blend together until nice and creamy. Serve right away. Almost like pumpkin pie in a shake. Gets that sweet tooth satisfied.

Sweet and Spicy Vegan Curry

This is the dish without potatoes, and more beans and peas added, served over millet. (If you come up with a better one, please update this!)
*4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp. curry powder
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 to 1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 tsp salt
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 package frozen petite peas
1 can coconut milk (or cream of coconut)
Rice of your choice

Boil potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and allow to air dry.
Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add rest of seasonings, incorporate, and cook for about 2 minutes.
Add remainder of ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Serve over hot rice.
Enjoy!

*I adapted this recipe from "Spicy Vegan Potato Curry" on allrecipes.com. Because I suggest putting this over rice, the potatoes may be redundant. Judge for yourself.

Note: if you don't do the potatoes, feel free to add additional beans or peas--or whatever you imagine up might be good! If you like it more spicy, by all means add more spice. Just be warned that it gets a little more spicy the more you eat.

Feel-Good Granola

This granola, if prepared right, is actually a raw food. It definitely takes thought and preparation ahead of time, but I love the smell of it when it's drying, and it makes a nice breakfast "cereal" or just a snack.
The recipe calls for kefir, which is not vegan, but it notes that you can also use vinegar or lemon juice in it's place.
I got the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Taste is Trump. I'll copy it here:

I have had a hard time finding the right granola. The bars of course have all the icky vegetable oils and high fructose corn syrup, tasty, conveniently packaged, deceptive health food. There are tons of “natural granolas” that use less refined oils and sweeteners, but still contain lower quality ingredients for a sky high price. Besides, I always feel yucky after eating any more than a handful. Come to find out, oats are SUPER high in this new common term “phytic acid.” Along with nuts that are heavy in enzyme inhibitors—this stuff is just plain hard to digest.

Granola is great to have on hand for a filling, shelf stable snack and a quick breakfast cereal. Commercial boxed breakfast cereals are dangerously toxic. It is so sad that so many people are eating these every day, sometimes twice a day, most of the time doubling or tripling the serving size. The media and FDA have pushed these boxes as health food. Sadly, even the low sugar, color-free, natural and organic brands are making us sick. The problem is with the way that the grain is processed; high temperature, high pressure. This process of extrusion destroys nutrients and fatty acids and renders the amino acids toxic.

This has been such a wonderful replacement for us. Same great sweetness, crunch and shelf life of the boxed variety with none of the awful effects. When I have this for breakfast I am so satisfied, for a long time. The food is easy to digest and the nutrients are easily absorbed because proper care is taken in the preparation. I love that I can keep this raw by dehydrating instead of baking. Do yourself a big favor and master the art of nourishing granola making.

THE MUSH

4 cups rolled grains (I use oats, barley and rye)

1/2 cup whole flax seeds
1/2 cup whole millet
1/2 cup kefir (vinegar or lemon juice)
5 cups water
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup sucanat
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
1 cup raisins
1 cup previously soaked and dehydrated walnuts
1/2 cup sprouted kamut flour

In a large bowl, place rolled grains, flax seed and millet. Add kefir and water, mix, cover and let soak on counter for 12 to 24 hours. The mixture will become a bowl of mush. Place mixture in a mesh strainer and rinse well. In a large bowl combine oil, sugar, syrup, cinnamon and salt. Fold in rinsed mush, coconut, raisins, nuts and flour. Spread out in a thin layer on 3 lined baking sheets. Bake on lowest oven setting until dry, turning as needed. I used my oven’s dehydrating setting which is 140 degrees and turned about every 6 -8 hours for 24 hours. The higher the heat, the more you turn and the less time it takes to dry.

Raw Carob Coconut Truffles

1 Cup of Walnuts
1/2 Cup of dried Dates
1/2 tsp. of Carob Powder
1-3 Tbsp. fresh Coconut Milk

Put the first three ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender and mix all together. Then add a Tbsp. at a time of the coconut milk to the mixture till a soft dough forms. You may not need a lot. Roll into little balls. Keep refrigerated. This is my new favorite dessert. You can also make these into cookies just flatten the balls. It's a pretty generic recipe for raw brownies also. I've also added different fruit into the mix. So yummy and you don't even need chocolate.

Garden Vegetable Salad

We didn't grow a garden this year, but because of friends and family members who have been so generous with their gardens, I've been trying to figure out how to use all of the produce we have(especially zucchini and yellow crook neck squash). So I combined a whole bunch of raw vegetables, some sprouts, and garlic dressing, and it made a super yummy salad. You could also eat this with tortilla chips like a salsa or on top of rice or quinoa. I didn't put down amounts because you can make as much as you want, but I pretty much used equal parts of zucchini, squash, tomato, corn and black beans, and added in half a part green pepper and cucumber, and a couple of green onions. I liked it better when I added more sprouts. Toss it with enough salad dressing to coat. Mix it up by adding whatever vegetables you have on hand. Hope you enjoy it too!

Tomato, diced
Zucchini, fine diced
Crook neck squash, fine diced
Cucumber, fine diced
Green Pepper, fine diced
Green Onions, fine diced
Black Beans
Corn
Alfalfa Sprouts
Pro-Vita Mix Sprouts
Garlic Dressing

Garlic Dressing

1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sunflower oil
7-10 cloves garlic (or more to taste)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 Tbs. spike seasoning
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 smaller onion

This is a delicious and versatile dressing that adds flavor to any dish. Tonight I had it on brown rice and pinto beans. My family has also used it for potatoes, fish, and of course salad. You can add more or less garlic to taste. Garlic is so good for you and this is a delicious way to eat lots of it raw.

Rice Lentil Patties

These are one of my family's favorite recipe.

2 c. brown rice (cooked)
2 c. lentils (cooked)
1 med. onion chopped
1/2 red pepper
1 carrot shreded (optional)
2 green onions
1 garlic clove
Italian seasoning or your favorite mexican spice
salt and pepper to taste
2 egg whites (for dipping)

Combine rice and lentils, if you have a food processor put all your veiggies in it and chop, it does a great job, the smaller the veggies the better. Once chopped add them to your rice and lentils. Spice the mix to taste. Don't be shy with the spices. Make patties measure about 1/4 to 1/3 cup

roll them in your hand like a ball , dip into egg whites. Put them on a greased pan. You can flaten them to look like a burger if you like. Bake 350 degree oven for 20 min. turning once. You can bake them a little longer for a golden crispier look. Serve with tomatoe sauce, or with a salad, Yum.

Quinoa Salad Wraps

This is adapted from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa (red works nicely, but I'm sure any color would do.)
• 2 cups water
• pinch salt (best if not regular iodized salt)
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 8 green onions, chopped
• *1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• salt and pepper to taste
• Romaine lettuce hearts
• cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts, be creative!

Directions

1. Bring quinoa, water and salt to a boil in a 2 quart or larger sauce pan. Cover and turn heat to med-low. Let simmer for 15 minutes or until water is gone. Remove from heat (not doing this can have disastrous consequences. I know.).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, vinegar and cumin. Add green aonions, red pepper, cilantro, corn and beans and toss to coat.
3. Add quinoa and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve at once or refrigerate until ready to serve.

For wraps, spoon some of this into romaine hearts and add some cucumbers, tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts. This is flexible. If you have vegan cheese, sour cream, and tortillas, they make great tacos. They're messy and delish. Hot sauce is good if you like that as well.

* I actually used three different kinds of peppers. Use whatever fresh veggies you have on hand.

Quick and Easy Black Beans

I found this recipe on http://www.ourbestbites.com/. I've always loved black beans, but putting lime in was a whole new idea for me. I made these for dinner last week but almost ate all of the beans before my husband got home. I just couldn't stop eating them, they are that good.

Quick and Easy Black Beans

2 Cans Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 T olive oil
2/3 C diced onion
2-3 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
1 C vegetable broth
1/4 t cumin
1/4 t coriander
1/4 t oregano
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 lime

In a saucepan on the stove, heat the olive oil to med-high heat. Saute onions for about 3 minutes or until they just start to become translucent. Add garlic and saute abut 30 seconds more. Add beans, broth, and remaining seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. When they are done cooking, remove from heat and add in a few squeezes of fresh lime juice. Then mash some of the beans. Just smash enough to thicken the sauce. They will thicken more upon standing. If you want a more soupy consistency, just add a little more broth. Serve as a side dish, or on top or rice.

Couscous Salad

1 Cup of Water
1 Cup of Couscous
3 Tbsp Olive oil (I sometimes use flaxseed oil or half of both)
3 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp Braggs Amino Acids (Soy Sauce substitute - this is optional)
Juice and Zest of one Lime
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 Can of Corn
1 Beefstake Tomato diced
1 Red Bell Pepper diced
1 small Cucumber diced
1/2 a small Yellow Squash diced
1 small Onion diced
2 Cups of Spinach somewhat shredded or torn
A small handful of cilantro

Bring water to a boil. Take water off heat and pour couscous in. Fluff with a fork and then transfer to a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, take next five ingredients and mix together well, then pour over couscous to keep it from sticking together and getting too dry. Pour can of corn in and the remaining ingredients. Toss until well blended. This salad is a filling meal by itself. Super healthy for you. Enjoy.

Banana Shake

This is what I make when i have a sugar craving. We make these several times a week, usually late at night to enjoy while watching a good movie or an episode of star trek. :) Before you can make this you need to freeze ripe bananas. Because we use so much of these I try to buy over-ripe bananas in bulk from the produce manager. They will often give them to me at half off or some other deal. I peel and break the bananas in half (if your blender isn't very tough you'll need to break the bananas in bite size pieces) and stuff them in big zip-loc bags to freeze. The frozen bananas are what makes the shake so creamy. Don't substitute unfrozen bananas! In a few hours they'll be ready for your banana ice cream.

3 Frozen Bananas
1 cup vanilla Soy or Rice Milk
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

This isn't a science. I hardly ever measure anymore, I just grab a few frozen bananas, add enough milk to blend it and make the the consistency you like and add spices to taste. Blend until it's all smooth and enjoy.

Raw Tortilla Soup

So I feel a little hypocritical posting on this blog because I'm not vegan. But I do try to cook healthier meals and certainly like to throw in a vegan meal here and there. This recipe is adapted from the vita-mix cook book. It is so fast and easy to make, and is a yummy way for me to eat lots of raw vegetables. It's also adaptable, I've thrown in zuchinni, red and green peppers and some salsa before too.

Ingredients:

1 carrot

1 celery stalk
1 roma tomato
1 gr. onion
1 garlic clove
1/2 yellow squash
1/3 serrano chili OR 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cups hot vegetable broth
1 tsp. taco seasoning
1/2 cup cooked black beans
1/2 cup corn
handful of tortilla chips

Blend first nine ingredients at high speed in Vita-mix (or any good blender) for two minutes or until liquified. Add black beans, corn, and tortilla chips and mix for 10 seconds or less on lowest setting. Serve right away with more tortilla chips.

Lentil Tortilla Soup

1 Cup Brown Rice
1 Cup Lentils
1 Cup Pace Salsa (I like Medium)
1 Onion (diced)
1 Red Bell Pepper (diced)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 16 oz. Can of Corn
1 16 oz. Can of Tomato Sauce
1 4.5 oz. Can of Green Chiles
3 Tbsp Vegan Broth Powder
1-2 Tbsp Cumin (I use 2 because I love a lot of this flavor. 1 is usually good though)
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. pepper
3 1/2 Quarts of water

1 Avocado
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Salt to taste

A handful of tortilla or brown rice chips (you can get either of these at costco) The brown rice chips are lighter and probably healthier.

In a large kettle, you pretty much throw all the first list of ingredients in and bring to a boil. Then turn heat to low and let simmer anywhere between 45 to 90 minutes. The longer it simmers, the more flavorful and thick it becomes. In a little bowl, scoop out avocado and mash with a fork. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lime and mash in. Salt to taste. Serve soup hot with a dollop of quacamole and a handful of chips. This makes a huge amount that you can then store as leftovers. It's the kind of soup that tastes better the next day, so you'll really enjoy the leftovers.

Mango Peach Green Smoothie

- 1 Handful of Kale
-1 Handful of Spinach
-1 Handful of Parsley
-1/2 a Medium Cucumber
-1 Handful Green Grapes
-1 Kiwi
-1 Peach (skin and all)
-1 Mango
-1 small Banana
-1 Scoop of Soy Ice Cream (optional)
-4-6 large ice cubes

-Water (This is just to blend easier. You could also use soy or rice milk or V-Fusion Vegetable Fruit Juice; I like the Mango Peach one)

-A parsley or mint leaf, lemon or lime slice for garnish (optional - this is so it looks pretty)

Toss into blender and blend well. If it doesn't all fit into your blender at first, just start blending some of it to make space and then toss the rest of the stuff in. My son thinks it's yogurt. I don't care what he calls it so long as he drinks it. He loves it. It tastes just like a Jamba Juice smoothie. Makes for a yummy breakfast. Yields about 4 very filling drinks.