ABOUT THIS PAGE

On this page I will be sharing some yummy plant based dishes I have had success with.

Now I want to start out by letting you know that I am an ovo-lacto pescatarian Vegetarian. That is a vegetarian who eats fish just no other animal flesh and who eats eggs and dairy. It’s taken sometime to know what my body craves, needs and how it performs on certain diets. I have noticed how my body reacts to certain foods, that I experience certain complications when I ingest the flesh of another animals except fish.

Some of the things I have noticed include; irritable bowel syndrome, instant diarrhea or loose bowels, constipation, pimples (on face, chest & back), indigestion, heart burn, bloating, fatigue and a general nausea feeling…

Therefore I have adopted this vegetarian lifestyle and would love to share some of these recipes with you kind folks…

So please stay tuned & check out the wonderful possibilities to these substitutes!

Nut & Bean Veggie Burger

Last night my friend & I wanted to make a really yummy dinner. I had already put a bunch of black bean & garbanzo beans to soak in the crock pot… So I thought Veggie burgers would be really yummy. The last time I tried to make veggie burgers I tried a recipe using quinoa & black beans but it turned out really dry & crumbly, I was not please at all! So I started my search on Pinterest for a yummy, juicy veggie burger. I could not decide on a specific recipe so I used the base of these recipes to make my own creation…

Stupid Simple Bean Burgers With Paprika Garlic Burger Sauce [Vegan, Gluten-Free]

Black Bean Hemp Burgers [Vegan, Gluten-Free]

I really liked the idea of using more nuts in the recipe & am glad because after making this recipe I think the nuts make the patties more “meat like” and the patties seem to hold together better.

Organic Ingredient:

• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• ½ red onion, diced
• ½ c. Walnuts nuts
• ¼ c. pumpkin seeds
• ¼ c. hemp seeds
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp ancho chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp. Turmeric
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 c cooked & drained beans; I used black & garbanzo
• 1 cup cilantro, chopped
• ½-1 c. rolled oats
• Coconut oil

Toppings

• 1 c. Homemade medicinal kimchi; click here for recipe
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1 Tomato, sliced

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place all ingredients into a bowl, mix with a handheld blender. The consistency should be thick, not runny if it is not add more oats until you reach the desired consistency.

Place dough onto wax paper and fork out. I used a large canning jar lid to cut the patties; making sure each patty fills the lid. Then place onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, bake for 20 minutes, pull out, flip and place back in for about 10-15 more minutes. Serve & enjoy.

Spicy Cheese Sauce

• 1/2 c. Raw Cashew
• 1/2 c. Nutritional yeast
• Part of the red bell pepper, diced
• Part of the tomato, diced
• 2 Cloves garlic
• 2 tbs Lemon Juice
• 1 Tbs. Rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. Curry
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• Himalayan Salt
• Cracked Pepper

Method:

While the patties are cooking place all ingredients (except the diced tomatoes) into a blender or Nutribullet, blend until smooth & creamy. After the sauce pleases you add in the tomatoes, stir & slather on your veggie burger along with the other toppings.

Crispy Kale Chips

• 1 bunch kale, diced into 1 inch squares
• Several Tbs. Coconut oil
• 1/4 c. Crushed nut mixture; I have been using a mixture of walnuts, cashew, pumpkin & hemp seeds in replace of bread crumbs, I used this.
• Himalayan Salt
• Cracked Pepper

Method:

Dice up kale, place all ingredients into a large ziplock bag, seal & rub all ingredients into one another. Let sit in bag until you flip the burgers. Once you do Place the kale mixture onto a cookie sheet & place into the oven to cook for remainder of cooking time. About 20 minutes seems to be perfect.

I served this dish with the toppings & Kale chips. We were very pleased with the entire meal. The patties were thick, juicy & easy to eat they was savory, tasty, filling & satisfying. There is no reason why vegetarian cooking should be boring, bland & tasteless. It can be fun, delicious and juicy!

 

Sweet Potato Coconut Curry “Vegan”

Posted on October 1, 2015

Vegan Lentil Taco Soup

This past weekend I picked up some Ancho Chili spice from Native Seed Search in Tucson AZ. I wanted to make something delicious with this new spice & found a good recipe for lentil taco soup on Pinterest. However I did not have all the ingredients so I bought a few fresh veggies form the store & threw together what I had in the pantry. My version of Vegan Lentil Taco Soup came out so delicious, my taste buds were salivating the entire time eating it that I felt the need to share it on my blog so you all can try the recipe out yourself! If you end up making it please post a comment below to give me your feedback!

Ingredients:

Method:

Avocado Lime Crema

Asian Style Honey Mango Veggies & Quinoa

This simple recipe was created out of what was in the fridge, a little Inspiration & Sheer Luck and all with a dear friend)! Okay what’s for lunch I asked myself… hmmm okay I throw some Quinoa in the rice cooker & come back later to decide…

Okay Quinoa is done now what should I add to it… great I’ve got some fresh veggies in the fridge:

Great… what seasonings should I add:

Hmmm… What else should I add… Oh I know some:

Hmmm… something is missing… oh I know I will use this Organic mango & see how that turns out…

And for the Taste Test… Hallelujah This is AMAZING…

So there ya have it… Super simple Healthy Asian Style Honey Mango Veggies & Quinoa…

Method:

 

Super Foods Protein packed Garden Fresh Salad

After a nice hard workout of practicing my new dance skills out in the Arizona summer heat I felt the need to load up on Proteins & Greens… I looked in the fridge & saw that I needed to use up my freshly made mung bean sprouts & Probiotic packed Sauerkraut. But what else could I add… oh year I have a garden that still has fresh greens that I can use! So I decided to create a Super Foods Protein packed Garden Fresh Salad. 

As I went out into the garden I decided to choose the following ingredients picked them & chopped them up to add to my soon to be delicious Super Foods Salad:

Okay well now that I’ve got the base of the “Greens” to my salad, now I have to add other Super Foods & create a yummy salad dressing (since I am in the mood for something then than they regular olive oil & balsamic dressing). So I went to the pantry I pulled out the following ingredients:

Some Ingredient benefits:

Cashews: Protein, copper, phosphorus, manganese, magnesium & zinc

Mung Bean Sprouts: Folates, Iron, Vitamin B, k & C.

Purslane: Vitamin C, and some B-complex vitamins like riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine and carotenoids, as well as dietary minerals, such as iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and manganese, Vitamin A, betalain alkaloids, anti-oxidants, anti-mutagenic & omega-3 fatty acids.

Amaranth Leaves: antioxidants, protein, vitamins, calcium, carbohydrates, iron and minerals,

Coconut Oil: Lauric acid, Saturated fatty acids, triglycerides, capric acid, caprylic acid, myristic acid and palmitic, Polyunsaturated fatty acids, Linoleic acid, monounsaturated fatty acids, Oleic acid, Poly-phenols, gallic acid, betaines, ethanolamide, ethoxylates, fatty esters, fatty polysorbates, monoglycerides, polyol esters, fatty chlorides, Vitamin E, vitamin K & Iron.

Nutritional yeast: Is a complete protein (meaning that among the 18 amino acids), B vitamins, Vitamin B-12, thiamine, folate, B-6 & niacin.

Pumpkin seeds: Anti-Diabetic Effects, zinc, anti-parasitic qualities, Plant-Based Omega-3 Fats, healthy fats, antioxidants and fibers, Tryptophan for Restful Sleep, Anti-Inflammatory Benefits

Cranberries: Phenolic Acids, Proanthocyanidins, Anthocyanins, Flavonoids, Triterpenoids

Probiotic packed sauerkraut: lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus!

 

What’s for Dinner & Toddler Approved!

After the weekend of my son being gone with his dad & a long day of research, dance class, conference calls & errands I decided to be completely lazy for dinner! Hmmm… what can be yummy, quick, painless & good enough for my toddler to eat?

Quinoa with Steamed Broccoli, Corn, Peas and Chia Seeds…

Sometimes you have to go back to the basics to make a night time meal tasty enough to be“Toddler Approved”, and come on how many of us out there have made meal after meal & the little ones just wouldn’t eat it? If not you then be thankful but in my house hold it’s common, when I make an extravagant meal, that I’m completely proud of & excite to eat, my toddler takes a few bites & say’s:

“I’m not Hungry”

Seriously kiddo I know you are hungry you were just asking, “What’s for Dinner?”, please just eat… well tonight I made a delicious & simple meal out of the few ingredients I have in stock & by total surprise it was Toddler Approved:

Dump the following ingredients into the Rice Cooker, turn on & walk away:

Ingredients: All Organic NO GMO’s or Pesticides!

1 c. Tri-colored quinoa

2 c. Water

1/4 c. Nutritional yeast

1/4 c. Coconut oil

Fresh Garlic

Kosher salt & Pepper to taste

Ten minutes before rice cooker is done place a small amount of water in a saucepan, just enough to cover the bottom, place a steamer in it & fill with the following ingredients:

Fresh baby broccolis (whole)

Frozen corn

Frozen Peas

3 Tbs. Avocado oil

Himalayan salt to taste 

Bring to a boil for 3 minutes, cover with lid, turn burner off, set timer for 7 minutes, walk away… When timer goes off, rice cooker should be about done. Spoon Quinoa in bowl, top with steamed veggies, drizzle with avocado oil & chia seeds & serve…

Why choose chia seeds? Why NOT! They are packed with omega3’s, protein, healthy fat, calcium, magnesium, Magnesium, phosphorous, Zinc, Vitamin B3 (Niacin), Potassium, Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) and Vitamin B2.

There you have it 10 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking & delicious enough for your toddler to enjoy… Try it at home or share similar Toddler Approved meals down below in the commentsI’d Love to hear what you can get the Little One’s to enjoy & eat…

 

Recipe-Organic Peanut stir fry with Garden Fresh Veggies

Posted on April 15, 2015

It’s only fair to share…

“Let Food be thy medicine and Medicine be thy food.”

=Hippocrates=

As a single mother of a toddler I have to come up with quick vegetarian meals on the fly for the starving little ones. This recipe turned out pretty well for tossing a few ingredients together from the fridge & garden not to mention utilizing left overs My son is a picky eater & it worries me that he is not getting enough nutrition at home but he had no problems scarfing this meal down. Maybe it was the creamy, sweet peanut butter sauce, the fresh green tomatoes from his garden or the Love that was put into it… either way whatever it was that got him to eat every bite was definitely a home run for Mom!

Organic Peanut stir fry with Garden Fresh Veggies:

Ingredients: All Organic NO GMO’s or Pesticides!

Stir fry:

Organic rice- Left-overs

Green tomatoes sliced (Garden fresh about 2 handfuls)

¼ Red cabbage sliced-left-overs

½ medium onion

3 Garlic cloves

Corn-2 handfuls

1 ½ c. chopped mixed Kale-Garden fresh winter & Tuscan

Toasted Chic Peas:

16oz Chic peas-marinated & baked at 400degrees for 40 minutes

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp turmeric

Season with salt & pepper

Sauce:

2 tbsp peanut butter

Splash Coconut aminos

Dash red pepper

2-3tbsp coconut oil

Splash lemon vinegar

1tbsp coconut sugar

1-1½ c. almond milk-If you have coconut milk use it, but this is what I hand on hand

Method:

Mix chi pea marinate together, bake in over for 40 minutes at 375-400degrees. Warm rice on stove. Add salt to taste during cooking process. Cook cabbage & onion for 3-4 minutes over medium heat. Add rest of veggies. Add sauce ingredients and stir gently until thickens. Top w/toasted chic peas (that melt in your mouth), serve & enjoy!

Super simple recipe, you could use whatever veggies you have on hand, substitute with coconut milk and add more spices if desired. Whole cooking time 40 minutes; actual prep/cooking time 15 minutes!

 

12 Cool Hacks to Get the Most from Your Veggies

We’ve bred plants to taste better, be more productive, and be easier to harvest, store, and ship, but not to be more nutritious. Here’s are some ways you can fix that.

Since man first figured out how to domesticate plants we’ve been trying to make them more palatable. Most edible wild plants are too bitter, sour, astringent, tough, full of seeds, or dry to be enjoyable.

Over the course of the last 12,000 years we’ve bred plants to taste better, be more productive, and easy to harvest, store, and transport. But the real reason we eat –  for nutrition – has not been a consideration. So the food we now eat may be tastier and we can get it all year round, but its nutritional value has been left in the dust.

Native plants contain more protein, fiber, than crop plants and a lot less sugar. The original ancestor of corn, teosinte, contains a mere 2% sugar while sweet corn contains 40% sugar!

Wild plants also contain a lot more antioxidants, which neutralize free radical damage, and phytonutrients – chemicals we need for health like beta carotene and lycopene

Wild tomatoes, for example, contain 15 times more lycopene than supermarket tomatoes. Wild apples in Nepal contains 100 times more phytonutrients than apple varieties we normally eat. Of course, these wild versions would not receive any rave reviews from a modern palate, either.

We can’t go back to foraging, but there are tips and tricks you can use to get the most nutrition of out the vegetables you do eat.

By properly using, storing, and preparing vegetables, you can up their nutritional content and enhance bioavailability tremendously! Here are 12 of my favorite “veggie hacks”.

1. Eat broccoli first.

Broccoli is one of the most perishable vegetables yet the average time from harvest to plate is a long 7 weeks. By the time you get it home it’s lost 80% of its nutrition. For this reason try to buy broccoli at a farmer’s market and buy whole heads not cut up florets. Store in a perforated plastic bag in the fridge and eat within a day or two of purchase. Eat raw or cook minimally – steam for 4 minutes or sauté lightly.

2. Tear up lettuce before you store it.

Most lettuce eaten in the US is iceburg. This is the least nutritious kind. The more colorful and the looser the leaf, the more nutritious it will be. One of the weirdest tips is to tear your lettuce into bite size pieces before storing. This activates it to produce more phytonutrients to protect itself from predators!

Better yet, skip lettuce and make salads with spinach, wild arugula, or radicchio, which generally more nutrition rich than lettuce.

3. Scallions trump onions.

Sweet onions the least nutritious type of onion and scallions by far are the most nutrition dense. They contain an unbelievable 140 times more phytonutrients than white onions!

4. Buy new potatoes, organic if possible.

Potato skins contain half of a potato’s antioxidants, but it also contain most of the pesticides. For this reason, you should consider getting organic.

New potatoes cause a lower rise in blood sugar and colored potatoes that are blue, purple or almost black are the most like wild potatoes and contain the most nutrition.

5. Cook your beets.

In the US we eat very few beets, and that’s too bad! Beets are extremely nutritious and have a low glycemic index in spite of their sweetness. This is one of several vegetables that is actually healthier when eaten steamed (not boiled) or roasted instead of raw.

6. Say bye-bye to baby carrots.

Carrots are hard to breakdown so cooked carrots provide more beta carotene than raw! Buying carrots with the tops left on assures they are reasonably fresh. Carrots that come in a bag can be months old.

If you rely on baby carrots for a healthy snack, you’ll be disheartened to learn that they are only misshapen big carrots that have been whittled down to baby carrot shape and are nothing special. I felt very ripped off when I learned of this, how about you?

7. Tomatoes – when bigger is not better.

Most people look forward to a big juicy tomato, but when choosing tomatoes, the smaller and the darker red, the better.

Tomatoes on the vine are more expensive but unless you find they taste better, you can give them a pass. Nutritionally they are not a big improvement.

Tomatoes are more nutritious when cooked. Cooking slightly changes the lycopene to a more bioavailable form.

Counterintuitively, processed tomatoes of any kind – paste, sauce, or diced – are often the most nutritious form! These tomatoes are usually cooked and processed within a few hours of harvest, retaining all their phytonutrients.

Look for tomato products that come in glass jars, BPA-free cans, or tetra packs or make your own.

(For the purists out there, tomato is actually a fruit.)

8. Choose cabbage and cauliflower’s colorful cousins.

These two veggies are the pale members of the cruciferous family and are not the most nutrient dense. Try their colorful antioxidant rich cousins instead. Red cabbage costs more than green but contains 6 times more antioxidants.

Cauliflower comes in bright green, purple and even orange. You might think these are some weird mutants, but actually it’s the other way around. The colorful versions are closer to wild forms. The white cauliflower we’re used to is a mutant albino.

9. Cook your kale.

Kale and collards come close to being as healthy as wild greens. But it’s best not to add raw greens to smoothies or salads.

Raw kale is high in oxalic acid which can lead to muscle weakness, kidney stones, gout and low thyroid function. Lightly steaming first destroys oxalic acid.

10. Eat asparagus – it’ a walk on the wild side.

The asparagus we eat today has barely changed from its wild ancestors and thus is one of the most nutritious vegetables. There was no need to improve on perfection! It is one more veggie best to eat steamed rather than raw. Steaming increases antioxidant availability by 30%.

11. Use an onion to keep avocados fresh.

Wild avocados (another fruit) are ½ the size of an egg and mostly pit with little flesh. It doesn’t seem possible that something so smooth and creamy could be fibrous but an avocado contains as much fiber as 2 bowls of oatmeal!

If you are left with ½ an avocado, keeping the pit in place then applying lemon juice is the old standby to keep it from turning brown. But what I find works even better is to put a thin slice of onion on top. Remove the center rings to leave room for the pit.

12. Grow your own and shop local.

Using these tips can give your more nutrition and more value for your dollar. But of course the best “veggie hack” of all is to grow your own or shop from your local farmer’s market! Source