My New Recipe blog

I added another recipe blog to my sidebar list because I still cannot find my password to the old one. This one has one that I should remember fine so hopefully I won't be doing this again. I find it very valuable to keep up on what I make for dinner especially when it is good so that I remember to make it again and keep it in the rotation of meals I serve.

Recipes link

I'm taking some salads and dressings to share and taste for a Relief Society cooking class and just posted some of the salads and dressings I make a lot on my new recipe blog because I can't find my password to the really nice one and the template I used on that one is no longer available. Oh well! Here's the new link:

www.ambersfamilykitchen.blogspot.com

My Recipe Blog

I remembered my password so I updated my food blog. I have a new page on menu planning and a couple new recipes up. Enjoy!

The Best Kimchee Recipe

This is a link to an awesome kimchee recipe. I've made it several times and we love it!! Just thought I'd share!!

http://drbenkim.com/recipes-kim-chi.htm

Menu Planning and This Week's Menu -- mostly vegan

Not that anybody cares what I plan to make for dinner-- but this should help me remember!!

1- Hummus and pita bread
2- Mexican-- probably lentil tacos
3- Baked potatoes or potato wedges
4- Veggie pot pie
5- white bean soup with bread
6- some kind of stir fry or peanut butter rice
7- vegan lasagne

Plenty of green salads and cut veggies to go with each meal.

This is a pretty easy menu. I find it's easier to plan meals by dividing the days into types of meals. Each week we have 1 or 2 nights of Mexican such as tacos, fajitas, burritos, tostadas, or enchiladas. One night we have some sort of potato main dish usually baked potato wedges. One night we will have something that involves fresh bread like soup or sandwiches. These are the main meals that most everybody likes. That only leaves 3- 4 nights of other kind of food. I usually make one of them a stir- fry or rice dish, one an Italian or pasta dish, one something with beans like chili, and one ethnic meal such as Indian, Korean, or Chinese. This keeps it interesting. I'm also learning to make huge batches so we can eat leftovers for lunch. I also make extra beans for meals later in the week and extra bread whenever I make it. Same with rice and quinoa. It has been working out pretty well lately.

I've also been making some good cookie and raw treat recipes. The kids also like pancakes- those are easy too. Oh and I have learned to make Kimchee and we are loving it!!

When I find my little phone book with my password to my recipe blog- I'll post some of these.

Yummy Green Smoothie Recipe

Merry Christmas! Here's a yummy green smoothie recipe amounts are approx.:

1 cup of almonds (soaked at least 6 hrs is preferable, but not necessary)
10 dates
2 1/2 Tablespoons of carob
4 ripe bananas
5 frozen strawberries
4-8 large green leaves such as kale, collards or chard or other green leaves you have
10 ice cubes
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
a capful of vanilla (homemade is best)
about 6 cups of water or to fill the blender

Blend it all in your high powered blender if you are lucky enough to have one til it is smooth, creamy, yummy and healthy. You can also leave out the cinnamon for just chocolate banana flavor or leave it out and add peanut butter for peanut butter chocolate. Endless possibilities here!!

I often also add high calcium dried herbs such as nettles, oatstraw, horsetail, comfrey and others without a strong flavor. It makes it a super green smoothie!!

Easy Vegan Soaked Wheat Blender Pancakes

I have made these several times-- they are super easy and nutritious:

3 cups of soft white and hard red wheat mixed soaked about 24 hrs. and drained-- if you don't make them in that time, still drain the wheat and let it start to sprout-- too much of a sprout doesn't make good pancakes, but it's perfect for manna bread or soaked crackers which is what I do with the sprouts I don't use for batter

1/2 T each of baking soda and baking powder ( AL free)
1/2 of a ripe banana
1 1/2 cups of water

Pre-heat your pan or griddle at a medium low heat-- between 4 and 5 works great for me. Too hot-- they'll stick and be very frustrating. Then combine all the ingredients in a heavy duty blender like the vita-mix and blend until nice and smooth about a full minute. If you don't have a heavy duty blender then halve the recipe so it doesn't take forever mixing, but most blenders should be able to handle pancake batter. Grease your pan with cococut oil or palm oil as they don't break down under high heat. Pour the batter on the pans in the desired pancake shapes. Once they bubble-- turn 'em over and pile them on a plate.

We eat ours with 100% maple syrup, fruit if we have it and some organic margarine from the health food store. It takes about 3-4 batches to feed my growing family of 9 (including 2 babies who don't eat them yet). The hardest part is remembering to soak the wheat!

YUMMY!

Simple, Healthy, Tasty blog

I have been visiting this blog regularly and have tried a few of her recipes and ideas. They have all been great. Her philosophy on food seems to match mine pretty well. Basically we stay away from all the food additives which means anything prepackaged except for a few things at the health food store, we stay away from meat and dairy and refined sugars also. I serve green almond smoothies for breakfast a lot, and we eat a lot of fruit and a lot of dark green leafy salads in addition to the regular vegan type meals like oatmeal for breakfast, rice dishes, Mexican rice and beans, hummus,Italian, potatoes etc. This blog is full of great practical recipes for a family which I have very much appreciated-- plus they're good!!!

We especially like the honey peanut butter popcorn, the sunflower seed sour cream, the ginger snaps, snickerdoodles and the inspiration to remind me of the many yummy Mexican type meals there are as well as pizza and cinnamon rolls and such. I go there often for inspiratiion on what to make for dinner!! I even added a button and a link on my sidebar.

www.simplehealthytasty.blogspot.com

How to make Manna Bread

For those of you not familiar with Manna bread, you can buy it at your local health food store in the freezer section. It is about $3 per loaf and it is not a big loaf, but it is yummy. The only ingredients are sprouted grains and whatever fruit, nut or veggie type flavor you choose. Our favorite is by far carrot raisin. Anyway, it is a gooey sticky kind of bread and rather sweet. All my kids like it except for the one picky eater who now suddenly likes lentils-- anyway, my husband doesn't really like it either, but I love it!! It is so healthy I hate to refuse any to my kids and after my last purchase I determined that I needed to figure out how to make the stuff consistently--not being pregnant helps!! And you need the right tools.

So here it is for plain manna bread since I keep forgetting to buy raisins I haven't attempted the carrot raisin loaf yet:

Soak red wheat and white wheat berries overnight to sprout
Drain them in the morning and let them start to grow
They are ready to use as soon as you see the little sprouts grow
Remember to rinse them preferably twice a day-- I use a colander and leave them in it a lot of times
Don't wait too long to use them, try to use them before they get real big 1 1/2-2 days of growing after soaking overnight is ideal

Here is the secret: Run the sprouts through a champion type juicer with the blank plate, my brand is something green I bought at Good Earth, this makes a dough. Then with wet hands shape the dough into small loaves about the size and shape of the kind you can buy, put them on a cookie sheet and let them bake at 250 F for 2-3 hours. I have been doing it at 3 hours but the crust is rather dry and tastes like Grape-nuts so 2 hours may be long enough. That's it!! Healthy and Cheap!!

Simple Baked Lentils -- and Gardening

In an oven safe pot or casserole dish that you can cover well combine:

2 1/2 c. lentils
4-5 1/2 cups of water
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
3 chopped carrots
2 onions
5 cloves of garlic
1 t. Real salt
1/2 t. black pepper
2 bay leaves
about a half cups worth of fresh sage, oregano and thyme mixed and chopped

Cover the dish and put it in the oven at 375 F for about 1 1/2 hours or until the lentils are soft and cooked through. Take out the bay leaves before serving. That's it!! Even my picky eaters ate it. It had such a good flavor, it's kind of like a stew.

I got the fresh herbs from my garden and believe me, if I can grow herbs, you can too, it's totally worth it. Herbs are so incredibly forgiving and easy to grow. I have killed everything else imaginable and grown really sad tomato plants that produce like one tomato and I have even ruined zucchini, but my herbs are wonderful, so that tells you how easy herbs must be to grow. They don't need much room or sun or even water. Of course, if you actually take care of them they'll grow better, but you don't need that much of them to make a big difference in your cooking. So I just thought I send that tip.

By the way, I'm hoping for a decent garden this year, I'm being more proactive than I've ever been with it and I am being a conscientious waterer which I think will help. The sad thing is that I love plants and nature and I even have a degree in horticulture, but I have had the worst time growing vegetables, but I will not give up. I love vegetables, and I will learn how to grow them well. My garden is looking O.K. now, and now that the sun is finally coming out, we'll see!! Any advice is appreciated!! I hope to have a good report at the end of the summer!!

Easy Vegan Tofu Lasagne

This is a family favorite. It is pretty rich and filling. It is a good transitional recipe for those trying to cut down on meat and dairy. Be sure to eat lots of salad along with it!!

Spaghetti sauce:

2 28 oz cans of diced tomatoes
1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
garlic powder, onion powder and italian seasoning to taste

Mix all ingredients together with a whisk, warm if desired. This is the first layer.

Tofu Ricotta:

1 1/2 cartons of organic tofu
2 t. dried basil
2 t. dried oregano
1 T. mixed Italian seasoning
1/2 t. Real salt or to taste
1 t. freshly ground black pepper

Mix and smash all together or process in the food processor. This is the 2nd layer.

Whole Wheat Tortillas:

5 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 t. Real salt
garlic powder, onion powder and herbs to taste
1 1/2 C water
2 t. olive oil

Mix all ingredients together by hand or in the food processor ( which is very easy) until it forms a ball of dough. Flour a smooth surface and roll them out with a rolling pin whichever size you want. Then cook on ungreased griddle or pan at around heat #6 on the stovetop. Flip over when they start to bubble, then cook on the other side 'til done. This is layer # 3. I can roll out a whole batch in about 15 min. and then I cook them while I chop my salad and get other things for the lasagna ready.

If you do everything from scratch, start with tortillas. Make your spaghetti sauce next, then the tofu ricotta. To make it even more convenient, use premade sauce and tortillas, then all you have to make is the tofu Ricotta. Layer your favorite spaghetti sauce first, then whole wheat tortillas to cover the bottom of the pan and spread the tofu ricotta cheese over that and repeat the layers as many times as you like, ending with sauce on the top. Bake at 375 F for 20- 40 min. It just needs to heat up since the ingredients are all thoroughly cooked. I will sometimes sneak extra veggies in too, but my family prefers it plain. I usually double the recipe because my family eats a lot and I always hope for leftovers. Serve with corn and salad. Enjoy!!