Green Smoothies are Not All Green in Color

I have found it harder to find things for breakfast that feel satisfying, healthy and are delicious until now. I noticed some of my Instagram friends were doing a 30 day green smoothie challenge by Simple Green Smoothies. In the past I have been frustrated that so many smoothies contain bananas and  afraid of the fruits in them spiking my blood sugar. So I spoke with a couple of nutritionists, and decided to test it out safely by testing my blood sugar before and after various types of smoothies (not all in the same day obviously)

In order to try it out and be safe, I decided to have one green smoothy every day for a week. I looked up various recipes, and tweaked them so that I did not have any allergens or too much sugar in them by my estimation, then set to it. I took my blood sugar before and 2 hours after each smoothie. Sometimes I also took my blood sugar 1/2 an hour after to see if there was any immediate spike and drop effect going on, because I was surprised at having 94's at the 2 hour mark, but I never did catch my blood sugar any higher in the middle then it was at the end. This is a good thing! Over all, my blood sugar has dropped since I started green smoothies. And my body seems to be able to tolerate sugar better, so that occasionally I can have a sweet dessert that someone serves. In part that is because I make sure to eat protein before I go out where they may be serving sweet desserts, and in part that is because of the increased greens in my diet, I'm sure. I do not recommend you do this without consulting a registered dietician and nutritionist if you have any health problems, because every one's body is different. But I am very happy with my results, and it has inspired me to get more creative! Most Americans do not eat enough fruits and vegetables in a day, so one added green smoothie a day would help most people regardless. But you do have to count the calories and carbs and make sure you get protein like you would with anything else. Again, consult a registered dietician. (I found some who were willing to barter or trade, which worked out great)

My previous blender is toast. It did not last. It was a nice gift, but the darn thing broke. So a neighbor gave me her old blender when she got a blend tec (some day...over the rainbow) and anyway, I have pushed this little old blender to it's limits, but it is still cranking along! But my next blender will be a Blend Tec because not only do I want to continue eating my green smoothies every day, but I also want to make my own flour, nut butter, and the like.

Tip:
- You can bag and freeze your ingredients before hand. I do this when my fruits and veggies are on their last les and if I don't freeze them they'll go bad. That way they do not go bad, but I do have quick and easy smoothy ingredients on hand.
- Blend your greens in your liquid until it is juice like and there are no more chunks (about 30 seconds to a minute depending if you've pre frozen your greens
- If using the rind or skin of something like sweet potato, add it after the lettuce and before frozen fruit, till mixture shows no lumps.
- Sweet potato needs to be cooked and cooled before adding to smoothies

Here are some of my favorite green smoothies, and no, not all of them will be green:

Simple Green Smoothie (vibrant green, not shown)
1 Cup Baby Arugula
1 Cup Dark Leafy Romaine
1 cup water (or almond milk)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (in the smoothie)
1/2 apple
1/2 cup honeydew (frozen)
1 cup of ice

Green Pumpkin Pie Smoothie (shown at left of page)
1 cup dark leafy romaine
.5 cup steamed and cooled spinach
2 cup coconut milk (or flax milk, or whatever dairy substitute you desire)
1 cup of pumpkin puree (this is why it's great to cook up those jack o lanterns before they go bad and can them for later)
1 cup frozen honeydew (for sweetness)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon)
cinnamon on top

Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothies:
This can be any nut or seed butter of course and any type of "jelly" fruits. So this is a great one to explore with and get creative!
1.5 cup red leaf kale (remove stems and clean well)
2 cup unsweetened almond milk (substitute as necessary for allergies)
2 Tablespoons nut butter
1 cup frozen berries (actually I only used 1/2 a cup of berries and it was fine but most people use more)
imagination for the next time so you can create your own PB & J Smoothie sensation
(makes 2 servings)
1 tablespoon chia seeds (if you're using blackberries you don't even notice chia seeds because they have a similar consistancy when blended)

Some fun protein sources to put on top: chopped nuts, hemp hearts, and the like. Get creative and let me know what you come up with!

Beets - expanding our food preferences

Red and Golden Beets being prepped to make chips

As a child and even as a young adult, I just did not like beets. I had only ever tried red beets that were boiled to death and had used them to dye clothing for a science project, but had never found a way in which I liked to eat them. Granted, I didn't try very much. I just ate what people gave me and didn't like it.

But these days, I've been trying to expand the boundaries of what I know I like, and find a variety of ways to prepare things. I want to get more nutrients in my food, and eat more whole foods, so I've been coming from that perspective. Here is some good information on the nutritional properties of beets: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HealthyRecipeSharing/?fref=ts
http://approachablenutrition.com/beet-juice-can-it-temporarily-paralyze-vocal-cords/

An early morning look at a golden sunrise beet

Recently we visited Sprouts, a grocery store with some great produce, and saw some golden sunrise beets. I'd never seen anything but red beets, so we picked one up to try it out. I tried a piece raw, and loved it! Finally something with a sweetness and crunch to rival carrots! I am always looking for something to replace carrots as I am allergic to them. Plus it added a gorgeous yellow color to anything I put it on!

Sprouts had cut off the tops of the golden sunrise beets, but the thing was so delicious it emboldened me to try red beets, and the tops were so gorgeous so I started looking up ways to use the tops as well. I found quite a few. And also noticed that whatever beet tops are not used the same day you bring them home from the store tend to wilt quickly. Unfortunately this meant that a lot of them went straight into the compost instead of getting eaten. Next time I will cook them up the same day. Here are some of the recipes I found: http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/radish-salad-beet-salad-carrot-top-salad/
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/beet-and-apple-salad-recipe/index.html

The beet and apple salad above inspired me to try my own version which was delicious and non allergenic, the original version had lemon juice and something else I can't do, so here's mine:

Tips:
Leaving this salad in the fridge only improves the flavor.
I also found putting it on top of a baked tortilla and cheese as a personal pizza was delicious

Ingredients:

Orange, the juice and zest of 1 medium orange

Apples, fresh, 1 small (2-1/2" dia) (approx 4 per lb)
*Yambean (jicama), 1.5 cup matchstick sized slices
Red Beet, fresh, 1 beet (2" dia)
Watercress, 10 sprigs
Baby Spring Greens 1 cup

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 3 teaspoons

Green Onions, raw, 5 slice thin
Salt, 1 dash
Pepper, black, 1 dash
Red Pepper Flakes, 1 dash

Walnuts, chopped, 3 Tablespoons

Directions:

slice one small apple into matchstick sized pieces and set aside in a medium salad bowl
peel and slice enough jicama to make 1.5 cups of matchstick sized slices and add to salad bowl
peel and slice 1 beet into matchstick sized pieces and add to bowl

In a small water tight container, mix 3 tablespoons olive oil, the juice from one medium orange, and 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid. cover and shake till well mixed, then pour over the apples, jicama and beets and mix well. Grate half of the orange's rind over the salad, add salt and pepper to taste, then toss well and set aside in fridge to marinate (if you can eat lemon and limes, you can substitute a teaspoon of that juice for the 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid of course, but it will alter the flavor of this salad of course)

Mince the head of one green onion and slice 2 green stalks into thin, even slices. I cut mine to the length and width of the other pieces. Set aside

Lay 1 cup of mixed baby spring salad leafs and 10 watercress on each plate, then remove the salad bowl from the fridge and layer 1/4 over the top of each. Sprinkle green onion pieces over the top. Grate the other 1/2 of the orange rind over the salads and enjoy.

Serving Size:
Makes 4 servings at 1/2 a plate of salad for each person

Here are a few other ways we enjoyed beets and all their parts:
Golden beets in various salads, Beet Greens cooked with other vegetables and mixed into a cheese sauce then put over whole wheat spaghetti, Beet Greens mixed in with the Sweet and Spicy Beet Salad which I may make again but with golden beets added for it's bright yellow flavor and slightly sweeter essence, and red and golden beets sliced up, coated in olive oil, sprinkled with salt and herbs and dehydrated into chips, on pizza, in soup, roasted, juiced, in smoothies, and there are so many more. Plus, we only used red and golden beets because that's what was in our local stores, but there are other versions I look forward to trying some day as well. Next fun and new to us vegetable we'll be exploring is rainbow chard!

Edit:
A friend warned that juicing and drinking large quantities beet greens can lead to temporary vocal paralysis in some people. I did look into this, and posted a link above with information. I would say, all things in moderation. Many people eat beet greens mixed in with other things and have no problems. But eating them raw and juiced in large quantities means you're exposing yourself to more of the quantity in them that can be harsh on the throat. We ate them in small quantities mixed in with various other veggies and had sometimes meat like the bacon, sun dried tomatoes and zucchini mixed in with beet greens to the left here, and had no problems.  Also, I found juicing beets and adding to smoothies was wonderful except for right after my having my tonsils out, at which point it was too harsh for me. Try various combinations till you find what you like. Personally, I don't like boiled beets which is the way I had them as a child. Primarily because I do not like the texture. But there are so many other wonderful ways to eat them, that I no longer avoid them in the grocery aisle or farmer's market. Now back to rainbow chard adventures!

Open Faced Sandwiches

Heritage Tomato Yumness

One of my favorite things to do in cutting down carbs is to simply have an open faced sandwich, and previously where I would have had just meat, cheese and bread, instead having a healthier lower fat cheese, veggies, maybe some meat, and a healthier higher protein lower carb bread or just a REALLY delicious bread. Both of which often go together for me, because I like some of the heartier breads with nuts, seeds, etc.

Yesterday I wasn't sure what to have for lunch but knew I wanted to use up some of the heritage tomato that was left. We go the last 2 organic, heritage tomatoes in our local grocery store, and they were delicious. In fact, this sandwich was SO good that I'm having it again today. Here's the basics:

Take a thinly sliced, hearty bread, I chose flax and sunflower seed bread from Sprouts. Spread 2 Tablespoons of a light cream cheese or neufchatel cheese which I may be spelling wrong, but it 1/3 the saturated fat of cream cheese and still less than light cream cheese as well, and has a slightly cheesier flavor than cream cheese, which I like. Lay 10 leaves of fresh basil on top. I get mine from a neighbor whose basil garden is amazing. Heck most of her gardening efforts come out great!  Add two thin slices (sharpen that knife) of gorgeous, locally farmed, organic heritage tomato. 6 slices of bell pepper on the side to nosh on. Oh, and by the way, the bread was accidentally gluten free. We did not go looking for gluten free, I just thought flax and sunflower seed bread sounded delicious and like it would have some oomph to the texture. It does, it's not a fluffy white slice of bread, but I really am enjoying it.

Fresh Local Basil and Dehydrated Bell Pepper - POW!

Obviously the locally farmed and organic are my personal choices, but I recommend you try them if you can get them because OH MY GOSH talk about a difference in texture and flavor. I think tomatoes are one of the things I try never to skimp on these days. I was never a fan of the fruit as a child. I still do not like the seeds and the slimy pouch they are surrounded by, but I've found heritage tomatoes usually have less of that goop, and non pesticide tomatoes just taste so much better to me. Plus they no longer give me a stomach ache or headache. I used to think I was allergic to tomatoes, but turned out I was allergic to the chemicals people were spraying on them.

Finished off with a side of home made sweet potato chips

Just writing this has made me hungry and although I had planned to make a pizza with the last of my sweet beet salad, I think I'm going to go make one of these sandwiches today too! Only difference is today I will be putting bell pepper that I dehydrated on top, and I'm going to try toasting the bread first to see what that's like. So have fun with your food, get creative and please let me know what you come up with! You never know what gourmet moment your kitchen may already have waiting for you to whip up.

Stay tuned, I have a lot of delicious food adventures to blog about, just have to catch up! Next up, exploring the flavors, textures, colors and general variety I never knew existed around beets!

Pizza Yumness!!!!

Today I got a message that a friend had left basil on my front door... yesterday. Being that this is a hot part of the country, we suspected it had wilted. However we were pleasantly surprised to discover it had not. She also sent me some dehydrated and ground sweet peppers which are a sweet and delicious spice I have now added to my pantry and will be making more of in the future once we get our dehydrator. These combined with a recent conversation with a dietitian inspired today's Pizza Yumness! BEST home made PIZZA EVER! No seriously, it was the best home made pizza I have ever had.

We have been using pitas to make pizza in the past, but the dietitian recommended we try out a tortilla instead. So today I did, and it was SO GOOD! I have been making a lot of mandalas lately, and so that may have affected my pizza making a bit.

Small Ancient Grain Tortilla, 1 tablespoon pizza sauce, 8 leaves spinach, 1/6 cup mozzarella cheese, 5 leaves torn basil, 1/2 small red bell pepper, and then after taking a photo, I sprinkled another 1/6 cup mozzarella cheese on top.

To go with it, I had a salad with some of the sweet pepper on it, and some Jicama. And it was so good I practically licked the plate clean: http://web.stagram.com/p/299471837680307655_220092754

I will definitely be making my home made pizzas with tortillas in the future. Made a perfect portion. Only down side to this was the relatively low protein for a meal. Any suggestions for having a vegetarian meal like this with more protein? I thought of having a bit of hummus with the jicama.

A light dinner

http://instagr.am/p/Qi3NEmqw2v/

I notices a couple of the sweet peppers were going bad and we had a bunch left so decided on a hummus plate and salad for dinner. After this i will dehydrate the rest.

Veggie Tuesday

Cinnamon Apple Casserole

Yesterday was supposed to be Meatless Monday in our house, but we're on vacation and forgot it was Monday. So while shopping at Sprouts in Ahwatukee, we remembered, and decided to make today Veggie Tuesday instead.

For this morning's Vegetarian Breakfast I mixed some Macadamia nuts and mixed bean sprouts in with Zen's Cinnamon Apple and Cactus Casserole. It is delicious, I will definitely be asking her for the recipe!

We will be going out for lunch. I'm not sure where, possibly here: http://www.pomegranatecafe.com/lunch.html as it would be fun to try a vegetarian restaurant we haven't tried yet. It's the last day of Staycation for Patch, so it would be a fun adventure.

And for dinner we bought all sorts of interesting veggies to put in a stir fry. I will take a photo of it when it's done and post the recipe if it's as delicious as we suspect.

Also while at Sprouts we discovered they had Golden Beats which are GORGEOUS and I decided I wanted to try them. Plus I bought a starfruit and a couple of persimmons which should be interesting fruit to mix it up a bit since I've been eating primarily apples and strawberries with the occasional orange. Getting in food ruts has always proven a bad idea in my life. Time to switch it up a bit!

Quick breakfast

Overnight oats and sprouted quinoa in cinnamon apple flavor, with an apple pear aka Asian Pear and some string cheese. Quick n easy! Only down side, this had more carbs than I usually eat. Still within the range I was told I can have, but more than I shoot for. Still, super quick and easy. Gotta love overnight muesl!

Tomorrow I'm going to try some with sprouted wheat berries and raw protein added. I haven't decided on tomorrow's flavor yet, but I'm thinking strawberry sounds good.

What do you do for a quick and healthy breakfast when you have to run out the door or don't have the energy to make something when you first get up? Do you have any favorite meals you make the night before and eat for breakfast?

Black Bean Italian Flavored Burgers

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HealthyRecipeSharing/

Did not end up eating the pasta, the rest was plenty

Marjorie from the Healthy Recipe Sharing group on Facebook shared her Black Bean Burger recipe with me. It sounds really good, but you know me, I had to tinker with it a little bit. I happen to have some extra ricotta cheese laying around and was looking for recipes to include it in, so here's the tweaked version that I came up with:

Tips:
Since there is no meat in this burger, it is safe to taste the ingredients before pressing into patties and cooking. I would suggest doing just that to get the flavors the way you like them.
This might be a good recipe to try out with sprouted black beans, but since I couldn't wait to try it, will have to do that next time.

Black Bean Meatles Burger Mix looks a lot like Meat

Ingredients:
1 can black beans or 1 1/2 cups rinsed and drained
3 cloves garlic, minced/pressed
1 red bell pepper finely choppped
10 leaves fresh basil finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3 Tablespoons already prepared marinara sauce
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup rolled oats
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Rinse and drain 1 can black beans (or 1 1/2 cup)
mash about 1/2 of the black beans with a fork, leaving the rest for texture
mince or press 2 cloves garlic
finely chop 1 red bell pepper
finely mince 4 leaves fresh basil
grind flax seed and measure out 2 tablespoons
Mix all ingredients, taste and add salt and pepper in whatever amounts you prefer
Form into patties and fry up in a tablespoon of olive oil  or bake in an oven at 400 degrees F for about 10 to 15 minutes (tho baking may make them dryer than you'd like, it will reduce the fat content)

Tested Various Patty Sizes, Liked the smaller ones

If you like hamburger buns go for it, or serve in 1/2 a pita or thin wrap bread to lower the carb count, or open faced with no bun to lower even further. Next time I might try this out with 1/2 the beans and replace them with some grated eggplant instead. I think this would be delicious with caramelized red onion on top.

I made these to go on the side with an egg replacer instead of the eggs: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/spinach-and-ricotta-dumplings-recipe/index.html#

Sweet Potato Quinoa Casserole

We were out of all vegetables and almost all fruit so we made a trip to the closest store. First I did a search for recipes with Quinoa, because a friend had mentioned it, and we hadn't made any lately, but I have a LOT of the stuff in my pantry.

This recipe  http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1905451  sounded different, so I bought all the ingredients for this, some things that were on sale, some organic leafy greens and such that looked delicious, and some cherry tomatoes that were on sale. It was a good shopping trip, not too much money for a lot of food. Ironically, Patch also decided to stop by the same store about an hour later on her way home from work.

We'll just have to make sure to eat LOTS of vegetarian meals and salads in the next couple of days. She also did much better at getting a lot of food for a little money, since she only bought things that were on sale in the 50% off section, whereas Carlie and I had some things we knew we needed for the week. It's all good, the house feels bountiful again, and the options for making healthy meals has greatly improved!

Sweet Potato Quinoa Casserole with Cantelope & Wilted Spinach

I actually modified the recipe since the original had a pretty high carb count:  http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=2227285 this one has about 1/2 the carbs, a bit less fat, and higher protein. It is vegetarian, not vegan like the original, so if you're vegan, use the original recipe :) Or at least use the things which I replaced with cheese. My recipe has more whole, unprocessed vegetables. Be sure to grate the sweet potato, and enjoy!

Meatless Mondays

Today is our first ever official Meatless Monday as a family. I'm a flexitarian, as in I eat some vegetarian and some carnivorous meals. Most days, I get at least one vegetarian meal. Recently at work, Patch asked their dietitian how she could lose weight and be at her healthiest, and told the dietitian about my current method of eating. The lady said "Do what he's doing" so Patch has started heading down the same path towards health I'm on. Now I'm no dietitian, so I plan to meet with a dietitian myself to make sure that we're getting all the necessary nutrients, but in the mean time we're basically following the DTOUR plan with some vegan or vegetarian meals mixed in, and a few of our standard favorites, or some new twists on old comfort food.

While on vacation, Patch and I agreed that we will start having vegetarian and vegan meals all day every Monday starting today. Carlie wasn't there and I can't remember if we shared this little gem with her, but the two of us are a go, and Carlie will either join in or not. Often if we prepare delicious food, everyone else eats it too, so maybe she'll start having some accidentally vegetarian days. I'll ask her tonight if she wants to try it out with us.

So here's what today's food adventures look like:

Breakfast: (serves 1)
Shredded Wheat spoon sized cereal, 1 cup
Almond Milk, unsweetened, original, 1.5 cups
Raw cashews, 1 oz
(Shredded wheat really soaks up the milk and I would have liked to put some berries on there too, but we were out)

Shopping trip! I looked up a couple of vegetarian meals, made a list of the ingredients plus a few salad fixins, and we went to Fresh and Easy where found everything on our list, most of it in the organic section. Put Vegetarian Chili on to cook after shopping for Dinner, it takes 3 to 6 hours to cook down to the correct consistency depending on method of cooking.

Snack: (serves 2)
1 head of Romaine Lettuce
1 cup arugula
2 oz pistachio nuts
1 stalk celery
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white balsamic

 Lunch: (serves 4)
Vegetarian Stir Fry
1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 cups water
1 head bok choy
1 can baby corn
1 can water chestnuts
1/2 cup raw cashews
3 baby sweet peppers (1 red, 1 orange, 1 yellow)
1/2 onion (chopped)
1 stalk celery
2 cups bean sprouts
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons seasoning sauce of choice

 Snack: (serves 2)
1 apple
1 whole grain bagel
4 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

Dinner: (serves 8)
Vegan Chili (This smells amazing!)
2 cans sliced pear tomatoes, 28 oz each
1 can diced roasted red tomatoes, 15 oz (in basil sauce)
1 can tomato paste, 4 oz
1 can black beans, 15 oz (remove liquid)
1 can butter beans, 15 oz (remove liquid) 2 cans pinto beans,
15 oz (remove liquid)
1 medium sweet potato
2 cups diced celery
1 medium red onion
3 baby sweet peppers
1 tablespoon garlic
3 tablespoons chili powder
top with cheese if you're vegetarian, cheese substitute if you're vegan

Dessert: (serves 3)
6 whole grain fig cookies
12 large strawberries, sliced
6 tablespoons spray whipped cream (fat free)

Movie snack:
Kale Chips from 1 head of Kale, flavored to request (see previous entries for various recipes)

Obviously these are just lists of ingredients and not full recipes. If you would like to see the full recipes for lunch and dinner, please let me know and I'll write them out.

Vegetable Tortellini Soup

Patch made this soup today. She doesn't cook from a recipe, but wrote this down for me and I translated. If you're vegan, obviously you won't want to use cheese tortellini but we really enjoyed it and so far today has been a vegetarian day for both of us. :) http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=2198591&ff=1

Flax seeds

Flax seeds, when ground, are a wonderful thing to put in bread.  They add omega three oil, and if i'? Not mistaken, fiber. But... I have a difficult time putting them in smoothies because of the texture. Today i am trying them on my togurt. I am not really sure that will eork fir me either. Maybe if i bake them into a healthy granola i could put that on things.

What do you put flax seeds in? How else do you get omega 3's in your diet?

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Latte

Tips:
This is delicious and can be made completely vegan or not if you prefer. I made mine with coconut milk and highly recommend it.
Baker's chocolate may be bitter when eaten alone, but when shaved over a sweet drink or sweet whip cream, it is super delicious and really balances the drink well


Ingredients:
Two bags peppermint tea
4 oz hot water
Large glass full of ice
8 oz lowfat coconut milk
1 teaspoon agave
1 teaspoon Dark chocolate, shaved on microplane
Whip cream if desired (can be made vegan with coconut milk and powdered sugar)

Directions:
Brew tea in 4 oz water
Add 1 teaspoon agave
Shave a bit of dark bakers chocolate over it
Pour hot sweetened tea over ice
Add 8 oz coconut milk
Add whip cream if desired (vegan if you're so inclined)
Shave a bit more of dark chocolate over whip cream


How to make Vegan Whip Cream: http://www.organicauthority.com/eco-chic-table/how-to-make-the-easiest-delicious-recipe-vegan-whipped-cream.html

Zucchini Bread Update

I've tried several zucchini bread recipes recently. Some are gluten free, some are not. Some are lower carb than others. Just felt the need to test out a variety of recipes and see what we like best. All of them had their good points.

A few things I learned. Zucchini bread freezes well. We defrosted it and then heated it a bit in the oven.  Came out really great. Blueberries and dark chocolate actually go well with zucchini bread. So do walnuts, almonds, or peanuts and thus not surprisingly, peanut butter or almond butter work well also. All were vegetarian and egg free. Some recipes are vegan and all could easily be altered to be vegan. This is not because I'm vegan, if anything I'm a flexitarian and avoid eggs due to allergies. Baking eggless is simpler if starting from a vegan recipe as I mentioned in a previous post. I eat a little bit of all the food groups. But I mention it since many of my friends are either vegan or vegetarian.

So far my 2 favorites were the peanut butter zucchini blondies and blueberry walnut zucchini bread. The blondies happen to be gluten free, and everyone who ate them loved them. Good times!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Zucchini Bread

A friend of mine and I are going on a road trip today. In exchange for her driving services, I am chipping in gas money and gluten free snacks. Today I made Kale Chips (See previous post) and tried this new recipe for Gluten Free Peanut Butter Zucchini Bread. So far it smells delicious (and the batter was yummy too) Pics to come!

Tips:
Hold out oil to see if it is needed, as you may not need any oil at all in this recipe. If the bread dough seems wet enough, do not bother adding it, the peanut butter is oily enough without additional oil. If the bread dough seems a bit too thick you can add the oil or extra coconut milk
Preheat oven to 350
Use a toothpick to test for readiness when you think it's done
Walnuts or peanuts would be delicious in this if you wish to add them remember to adjust your calories
After grating zucchini, press with paper towels to reduce water then fluff with a fork before adding to mix
Coconut oil can also be used to replace EVOO
If you don't have an egg allergy like me, feel free to use 1 egg in place of the apple sauce

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Grated Zucchini
1 cup Almond Flour
1/2 cup Polenta (Ground Corn Meal)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt (fine, not the coarse sea salt kind)
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/8 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup peanut butter chips (organic, no sugar added)
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 and prepare bread pan (I used a silicon bread pan that doesn't require greasing since this is already a pretty oily recipe)
Mix 1 cup Almond Flour, 1/2 cup Polenta, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, then add 1 cup brown sugar and mix till smooth
Add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter (I use organic, no sugar added) 1/4 cup organic unsweetened apple sauce.
If the mix seems wet enough, don't bother adding oil, otherwise add 1/4 cup EVOO (or coconut oil or coconut milk) Mix till smooth
Add 1 1/2 cups strained and fluffed zucchini

Pour dough into bread pan and place on center rack of the oven at 350 for 35 minutes
At 35 minutes add  peanut butter chips on top. I like to press it into the top in swirls
Place bread back in oven for 25-30 minutes (check with toothpick to see when done)

Zucchini Bread 2 Ways

Patch recently made a request for zucchini bread, and some neighbors who own Amadio Ranch had offered a free HUGE zucchini to each of our garden club members, so I decided to ride "Sunny" my electric power assist recumbent trike over there. I mentioned this a couple posts ago and a picture of the delicious organic apricots I purchased while there. We will be returning to the ranch tomorrow for eggs, blueberries, apricots if we're lucky and hopefully some MORE Zucchini, because we so enjoyed the last one.

I have been rather ill so this post is actually a bit late, but hopefully you all will enjoy the recipe anyway. Our friend Jen aka LoveJen came over (we know many people named Jennifer so most have nick names) has been our friend and extended family member for some time now. She once lived in our spare room for a much too brief time, and if we could pick anyone to start a sustainable living community with, it would be her. So we are always happy when she visits. And usually Jen and I make use of our visits to bake, because we are both lovers of baked goods who have foods we try to avoid. Jen knew about the zucchini which we did not want to spoil, and came prepared to bake bread. I however was just starting to get over the flu, so spent most of the time laying on the lazy boy chair in the video game space next to the kitchen.

We made two loaves of bread based on a Vegan Zucchini Bread recipe, and added dark chocolate chips to one, making it eggless, but not vegan. None of us are vegan, but I mention this here for my vegan friends, please feel free to add your own favorite dark chocolate replacement. These breads are also lower in sugar, and higher in fiber. And if you like black walnuts, would be delicious with some of those in there as well.  I have some specific food issues. I avoid sugar so reduced that and have allergies: egg and vanilla, so replaced those. I like it better and it didn't make me sick, so best of both worlds! But if I hadn't mentioned it you would not know this bread is eggless, or that the sugar is reduced. Give it a try and let me know what you think, Patch loved it so much we're going to have to make more. If you like dark chocolate, (Jen insists it is health food)  then you will LOVE this bread so you may want to freeze a loaf to make it harder to over indulge.

The yum-ness which resulted from Jen's efforts are worthy of food porn, but due to my feeling sick, I did not get out the good camera and have only a cell phone photo to offer. I actually forgot to take a photo of the Dark Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread till the next day, when it was almost gone since we sent 1/2 home with Jen in gratitude for her efforts, and ate most of the rest that night, because it's that good. So here's the lone picture of the Dark Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread. I had this for breakfast with some red jiggly gelatin dessert from Fresh and Easy.

Here is the recipe, which includes the walnuts and chocolate chips. If you wish, you can add steel cut oats and you can use use raisins (or a vegan chocolate subsitute) instead of dark chocolate chips for a slightly sweeter and vegan recipe. As is, this recipe is vegetarian, not vegan.

Ingredients:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose white flour

2 cups wheat flour

1/2 cup steel cut oats

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons almond extract (can use vanilla which is slightly sweeter and less nutty)

2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini

1 bag dark chocolate chips (optional)

1/2 cup chopped black walnuts (optional)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350
Mix 3 tablespoons flax  seeds with 6 tablespoons water and set aside (becomes gooey like eggs)

Grate 2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini and set aside

Mix dry ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour with 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup steal cut oats, 1/3 cup packed brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.

Mix wet ingredients:
2 tablespoons agave nectar, 1 cup apple sauce, flax seed mixture, and 3/4 cup vegetable oil

Combine zucchini with wet ingredients, then mix with dry ingredients, pour into 2 bread pans  
Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick can be removed dry. 
Let bread cool on cooling rack. 
Add 1 bag dark chocolate chips and 1/2 cup chopped black walnuts if desired. 


Tips: 
If you lay the bread across the rack so that the bars of the rack lay vertically across the width of the bread, it marks it easily into nicely portioned servings 
When adding walnuts and dark chocolate chips only do so in one loaf if you want the other one vegan. If doing so, cut the chocolate chips in 1/2, it really is plenty for one loaf.
When it comes to nuts and chocolate, you really have to eyeball it based on your personal preference, but we added 1/2 a bag choc chips per loaf, and about a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.
Using dark chocolate chips does cut down on the sweetness compared to semi sweet chocolate chips or 


This was truly delicious bread the first time we made it. The second time we forgot the almond extract and I must say, it was not at all the same. It was especially delicious with the dark chocolate chips. Thanks for the idea Jen! 


If you don't tell people, they won't even realize it's vegan. We do not use eggs or vanilla in our recipes because of my allergies, and I find I actually like the almond extract flavor better, and if cooked properly, you don't even notice the lack of eggs. Since I am diabetic and do not want to be on tons of diabetes medication, we cut the sugar down as well. We used the 2 tablespoons of agave and 1 cup of apple sauce to add sweetness. In this case, the flax seed and apple sauce replace the eggs. The 3 also add liquid, but the steel cut oats balance that out. 


Patch is not a fan of vegan food but loves this so much she requested more, so tomorrow she'll be taking me to Amadio Ranch and we'll see if we can get some more of that delicious zucchini. Although the recipe only used 1/3 of the huge zucchini, we preserved the rest in small chunks which we blanched and froze. I will be using it in baked zucchini and eggplant. So I thought a fresh zucchini was in order since it seems so plentiful this time of year anyway, and the frozen zucchini will last for quite some time.


Edit on June 7, 2012: Patch loved this so much she wants still more. So we got more zucchini, and are making 4 more loaves. this way we can freeze some. this bread does freeze pretty well in my experience. We are hoping to have some left later in the year when zucchini is out of season, and that way we will not need to shop for zucchini that is carted in from long distances. In the past this bread was divided between 4 adults and went too fast to bother freezing either loaf.  I suspect the bread in the freezer will not last that long because people will probably defrost it before it's time and eat it all up, but we will see.

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Super Easy Kale Chips

I have always thought Kale chips sounded interesting and a fun way to get kale (which is not my favorite veggie) into my diet. Kale has multiple reasons to eat it. High fiber content (a dark leafy green) and vitamins that my body craves. Here are some interesting nutritional facts about raw Kale:
 http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2461/2

Personally, Kale always makes me think of working in a noisy, smelly, disgusting kids restaurant as a teen. We stuffed it between bowls at the salad bar, and would be required to pull the dirty leaves and replace them with clean ones if and when something from a bowl spilled. I did mention it was a restaurant that catered to kids right? There were many spills. It was a disgusting job, but someone had to do it. And for this reason alone, I never wanted to eat Kale.

Now that I'm an adult dealing with diabetes and multiple allergies, it seems to make sense to try vegetables which I am NOT allergic to, and which are good for me. So when we saw Kale on sale at the store the other day, I grabbed it up and announced we would be making "Kale chips" which sounded good to Patch, and she promised to make a delicious Kale salad which she learned from Roger, her friend at work who is a wonderful chef. So far, no salad has materialized, but my friend Jenn came over and we braved the chip making process.

Guess what?!?! It is not disgusting or difficult. In fact, it was so easy, I made more TONIGHT! I just couldn't even wait till someone was around to enjoy them with me and made a single serving size from a single Kale leaf. Below is the super easy recipe I used tonight, which makes one bowl of Kale chips. I ate them with almonds to add some healthy fat and protein. I recommend only making enough for one serving so that they are perfectly crisp and delicious. If you want more the next night, they are so easy to whip up that you can do it again like I did. Easy peasy!  Now ON to the recipe.

Super Easy Kale Chip Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 Kale leaf per person
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Super Easy Kale Chip Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350
Tear popcorn sized pieces off the spine of the Kale Leaf/s
Wash the Kale and DRY WELL (it helps them be crispy for the chip like consistency)
Cover non insulated baking tray (cookie sheet) with parchment paper
Toss Kale in EVOO
Sprinkle with seasoned salt and mix
Cook at 350 for 8 minutes, then turn over and cook for 2-4 more minutes or until edges are brown

HINT: Make sure to take out of the oven when edges are brown and do not cook too long or I was told they will become bitter. I found if torn into popcorn sized bits they cooked up perfectly in about 10 minutes, turned once in the middle

At the turning point you can sprinkle on some Parmesan Cheese if you wish, but it's not necessary. We turned them with wooden tongs, which turned out to be perfect, but you could also simply flip them with your fingers if you're more daring (EVOO on the leaves will be hot)

Super Cheesy Kale Chips:
1 tablespoon EVOO (or 1/2 a tablespoon per leaf)
1 Kale Leaf per person
1 teaspoon dried garlic
1 teaspoon of basil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of Parmesan Cheese per leaf (or Vegan Parm if you are one of my Vegan friends)

Follow the instructions above!

You can change these recipes to your preference. You only need enough EVOO to coat the leaves and you don't want them to be overly coated, so I would recommend about 1/2 a tablespoon per leaf.

I used sea salt seasoned with garlic and rosemary and forgot to cut the amount down since I cut the recipe in half. Actually, I didn't measure just shaked it over the leaves, turned them and shook again. OOPS one shake too much They are VERY salty and I tend to avoid salt. But they are still delicious!

A Veggie Meal Adventure with Milo

My best bud and "bro" came over today. We haven't hung out in a LONG time. We both didn't really realize how long until we started talking about our lives and realized there were things we didn't know had happened. Really major things.

But one thing hasn't changed. I still love cooking and being creative in the kitchen with my bro. It's always interesting, because we both have very different food issues.  You can check out his awesome blog , Vegan Meal Adventures at  http://keepingvegan.wordpress.com

Today's Veggie Meal Adventure Recipe:

Garden Veggie Adventure:
4 small white eggplants roughly chopped about 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 white onion chopped
1 small banana pepper minced
1 clove garlic minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon basil
1 dash of salt
1 dash of pepper

Mix all together, and bake at 425 for 15 minutes (If I could change anything about this I might add another pepper those are delicious! And another clove of garlic plus a can of tomatoe sauce could be a fun way to cook this up as well.

Quinoa Porridge:
1/2 cup quinoa
4 tablespoons flax seeds
1.5 cups water
boil then bring down to a medium low heat and cook while chopping and cooking vegetables (approximately 25 minutes until it reaches the porridge consistency you prefer

We spooned 1/2 on a plate for each of us, and about a ladeled the vegetable mixture on top. It was delicious and it is also great over polenta porridge or fried polenta coated in parmesan (or vegan parm) with almonds for a bit of added crunch.

It can be a completely vegan meal if you don't use cheese or substitute your own vegan cheeses

Accidentally Veggie - Fried Zuchinni

I have been slacking on my job of planning meals this week. In part, from a lack of energy which I had been thinking was weird, but since rereading my blog, I realize is pretty normal considering my week so far. Day after a migraine usually is a fatigue filled day, and although I didn't have bad migraines yesterday and managed to be productive and rode my trike, I also ended the day with a migraine which was probably due to packaged food I ate. When will I learn and stop eating packaged foods you ask? I don't know. Sometimes ease outweighs caution. I was quite active yesterday so between that and the headaches last night, I think it makes perfect sense that I was sluggish today. HOWEVER ...

We had delicious fried zucchini with mixed grain rice and quinoa for dinner. DELICIOUS!  So much so that we ate it before we thought to take pictures. SORRY! The mixed grain rice and quinoa was prepackaged, but has nothing I'm allergic to. The fried zucchini was made from scratch by Carlie.

The zucchini was from the Market on the Move, so was plentiful and low cost, but we are having a hard time eating all we got there. Market on the move is great because it's $10 for 60 pounds or so of produce, I didn't get to attend the class on how to properly preserve produce bought in large quantities, so I will have to explore that at a future date instead. I was thinking of perhaps asking Zenjen if she will come teach the class in my kitchen, and I can invite neighbors over to join in the fun and learning.

So our dinner was accidentally vegetarian, but it was delicious, nutritious, and I felt energized afterwards. I think perhaps tomorrow I'll try to stop by a store which sells local foods and pick some things up to go with the zucchini. Maybe I'll try my hand at some zucchini parmesan or something. And eventually I'll get around to making zucchini bread, which I loved as a child, but tweak the recipe so it's eggless.

Accidentally Veggie

Vegetarian meals for the day:

Breakfast: pear, strawberries and blood orange salad with toast.

Lunch: mango date shake at the fruit and bread barn plus some of carlie's chili fritos. We were going to share the shake and sandwich, but it turned out the store put mayo and mustard on the bread without asking. They also gave us packets of mustard. I can't eat mayo and have always hated mustard, so missed out on the meatloaf sandwich. Interestingly enough, that meant a meatless day. Who knew? Didn't try for it, which is clear when you look over what I ate. Not enough protein, and not enough at all.

And best yet, a dinner of tomato, red bell pepper, dark lettuce, and jack cheese on french white bread, toasted. We bought the bread and veggies 2 days ago at the Fruit and Bread Barn and the cheese Patch got from her work. It was Deeeeelicious. You have got to try this sandwich, preferably with home made bread or freshly made bread from your favorite local bakery. Gotta tell ya, these tomatoes are incredibly flavorful and juicy. I can only imagine how much better they are straight off the vine. If my sister reads this she'll probably flip cuz I hated tomatoes as a kid. I still get a little squeamish when I think of it, but I know they are good for me, and I know that I like the taste if not always into the texture. This one however was amazing.

Snack: apples, crackers and cheddar cheese with unsweetened tea

Dessert: strawberries