Monthly Archives: October 2010

October 29, 2010 · 7:20 pm

Zucchini and New Potato Salad

lovelovelovelovelove…it’s all about love. LOVE what you eat!!! Trust me. It makes a difference. Enjoy each morsel, the preparation, the slide it takes down your throat. If you don’t love what you eat, you are sure there is something to change. This is short and sweet, and only my advice to you. But don’t just let your mind love what you eat, but spend sometime with your body and find out if it loves it too. This is actually the most important. Everything else will follow. Our minds will follow our bodies if we learn how to listen.

Tasty lunch, this was delicious and I loved every minute of it.
1 green squash ( you could use delicata, or yellow if you love it!)
1 red potato
1/2 yellow onion
nutritional yeast to flavor
spring mix
1/2 cup of quinoa(cooked the night previously, see quinoa blog for reference,

Boil water for potatoes and start preparation of slicing onion and zucchini.
In cast iron pan stir fry onions, zucchini, and with oil of choice, or I have been LOVING, Ghee, which is clarified butter.

You can find Ghee at your local health store, it won’t be refrigerated, make sure you don’t refrigerate it, because it can destroy the natural qualities of it. If you can’t find it at the store, it is pretty simple to make your own, (with organic butter only) I found this web site that has simple instructions for making it.

Stir-fry and let simmer for 10-15 minutes or until tendor, adding salt and pepper as loved. Let potatoes boil for 10-15 minutes or until tendor and add to the zucchini and onion. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast, for added protein and serve over cold quinoa and salad. Top with sliced avocado, and of course LOVE IT!!!!

Enojoy and Bon apetit.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Dinner, gluten-free, IMMUNITY CLEANSE, Lunch Foods, Salads, Snacks, vegan, vegetarian

October 22, 2010 · 8:10 pm

Things Fall Apart


Throw back circa 1993 to The Roots song, Things Fall Apart. And yes this is true, but “baby don’t worry you know that I got you.” Okay now that I got that out of my system…

In all seriousness, sh**t falls apart sometimes. In life. And in the kitchen.

Have no fear, even the biggest “mistakes” can be looked at as creations and lessons. That is why they are there. If you just ignore and move on, you wont learn anything and you will end up doing the same thing over again. Oops.

Then on the other hand, if you take the time to listen and observe your actions, and hear what the lesson was, you are then able to move forward, not repeating mistakes, and changing, evolving, and growing and you are a success. George Bernard Shaw has become a favorite of mine, among many of his wise quotes, this Irishman, has won me. His outlook on mistakes is a small token to embracing the oops in our lives and leading them into success.

Go out and conquer, defeat your mistakes, and become a master of the kitchen.
Allow your cakes fall, your egg yolks break, and your knife to slip. Just know that there is something to learn from with every kitchen “disaster” and if you learn than the next time your cake won’t fall. It’s okay if it happens a couple times, don’t worry, you will get it eventually.

“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.”
George Bernard Shaw

Leave a Comment

Filed under gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian

October 20, 2010 · 9:06 pm

Acorn Squash Coconut Soup

(image compliments of diaryofacountrywife.com)

It is that time of year, that we start to nestle in and gear up for the inevitable tides of winter. This to me means spice, squash, and warm soups. In a nut shell. It also means to me building your immune for the weather and cold that is ahead. We all have to take the time to gear our body up. Eating yummy healthy foods, and nurturing our immune systems the best we can.

With a change of season comes a change of the veggies that begin present themselves in our meals. We take in these foods because they are accustomed to the client therefore they will indeed help us become accustomed as well. Thank Gaia for these bounties. When I begin to think of fall I begin to think squash, dark bitter greens, and for our fruits, pears, and figs.

In honor of this particular swing in seasons, I would like to share with you all some different varieties of squash and their accompanying flavors along with a delicious simple recipe for curried acorn squash soup.

Acorn: Green squash that has a more savory taste with a “nutty” aftertaste and a bit of a rougher consistency. The shape closely resembles an acorn (hence the name:-))
Butternut: Long yellow squash with a sweeter taste and a smooth consistency
Delicata: A moist yellow squash with green stripes and edible skin. This squash is super delicate and delicious.

Acorn Squash Soup:

3 cups vegetable stock
1 fresh thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into thin coins
1 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons agave nectar
1 acorn squash prepared instructions below
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon thai yellow curry paste

¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon cinnamon

prepare acorn squash by peeling and then slicing into cubes. Fill 1 1/2 inch deep baking pan 1/4 of the way with water. Top with agave nectar and Bake in oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.

While the squash bakes, on the stove top prepare garlic and peeled ginger in olive oil and saute for 2-3 minutes adding coconut milk, curry paste, and lime juice. Simmer for 10-15 minutes and add cilantro and cinnamon. After squash in tender add the “meat” to the stock and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring slowly and adding salt as needed and desired.

This soup is definitely up for interpreting, try adding mushrooms, or some carrots for a change in flavor and consistency.

Serve with warm bread or topped with sour cream.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Dinner, gluten-free, IMMUNITY CLEANSE, Lunch Foods, Snacks, Soups, vegan, vegetarian

October 16, 2010 · 10:02 pm

Vegetarian Pizza

Homemade pizza, I snagged the recipe for this crust from the blog, , a really awesome, one that I just adore. It is super simple, and rather tasty, just enough crisp with just enough dough. It is a good option for the times that you are craving something relatively healthy, but with a simple, easy process to follow. I doctored it up a little, and added rice flour to the whole wheat flour I used. I also opted out of fresh rosemary and corn meal, I instead substituted rice flour in place of the cornmeal.
The crust:

1 packet of yeast
1 cup of warm water
1 cup of rice flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoon olive oil
(2 T fresh rosemary, chopped (optional)
cornmeal )
Combine packet of yeast and warm water, and mix till dissolved.

Add honey, olive oil, and salt to mixture, stirring and then add the rice flour, and whole wheat flour.
Let sit for about 10 minutes and knead for 5 minutes. Spread out on preferably a pizza stone, however a cookie sheet works, coated with a handful of rice flour.
Add…

The sauce: (compliments of my roommate)
1 clove of garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Add olive oil to a saucepan, add garlic and sauté. Add the rest of the spices and cook for a couple minutes to release the flavors. Then add tomatoes, and sauté for 10 minutes. If you can make this prior a day earlier or an hour or two, tomato sauce is always better the longer you cook and even when you can eat it the next day.

Add…

The toppings:
finely sliced organic zucchini, organic brussels sprouts, and organic mushrooms, organic feta cheese.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Dinner, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian

October 15, 2010 · 11:49 pm

Searching for Brownies


Today on the web I came across a blogger that shops at flea markets, estate sales etc. Finding recipes from the crypt, so to speak, collecting lost archive recipes from community cookbooks, personal collections, and home cooks. I think this is awesome. And it happens to go right along with the challenges I am facing at work. I say challenges however, it is just a situation neither good nor bad. My vegan baked goods are just not selling, as much as one would like. In defense of myself, and for reasons other than a bad economy or they don’t taste good, because they do, my hypothesis was formed.
Is the market for gluten free and vegan baked foods a market so fine and thin that it has to be focused in one market,honed in on so specifically that there isn’t anything else to steal attention from it. It also makes me question, is the fresh foods, back to simplicity; slightly replacing the fad and desire for a vegan diet.
The vegan diet could possibly be loosing popularity to the age old, simple diet of fresh foods, unprocessed, low meat(that is organic and grass fed) intake and lots of veggies. I don’t want to offend anyone, and this is simply like I mentioned a mere hypothesis. If we are evolving into the era of simplicity, home cooked meals, back to the earth, and back to our ancestors mentality, books like In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. would be a great go to source.

This broach of subject, and slight plight at work, does lead me for the specific search for a brownie recipe that is authentic, “like your grandmother made”. So my seek begins with vintage. I tried my grandmother, I love her, and fondly remember the amounts of baked goods that occupied her house during the holidays, ( she could of fed a church ((which she did)) with the amount of baked goods she supplied.), and her reply, surprising and rather detrimental to my grandiose thoughts about my grandmothers baking ability, was… “you can go the store to get a box, that is what I did, they have those in Denver don’t they?”. Okay bubble bursted, not everything my grandmother made growing up was from scratch. Like I said, I love my grandmother, however this just won’t do. I need authentic chocolate, soft and rich brownies from scratch. This rich recipe is completely foreign to me, I’ve been making brownies with flax seeds and applesauce lately. Also new to me is the fact that there is “a great brownie debate” I was certainly unaware of this, I mean I am travelled and all, but really these things exist? According to google, they do. All of a sudden the world feels small again and I find comfort in knowing that there is help for a girl like me in my position.
Recipe for brownies, soon to come.
For now,
Enjoy and Bon apetit.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Breads and Cakes, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian

October 11, 2010 · 4:43 pm

Did you know there are classes about how to blog!!!??? This to me was utterly surprising, yet intriguing, since as you all know I am a bit of an amateur at these things. Blogging that is. I mean, I had no idea that there were such a thing. When I started this blog it was an expression for me to let out all of the things I had inside and to share my knowledge with others. I don’t honestly know where I even got the idea. 2 years later I am discovering the inner workings of the blog world.
There is so much!!!

My dream, to someday to be able to write full-time about what I love. In a world filled with blogs, I have to ask myself, what sets me apart, what makes me different? I know there is something, what, I am yet to discover.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain.

Mark Twain was of course before the time of the inter-web, and yes I am sure he would approve…I hope. However, I feel as if there is something to be said about the idea behind blogging, and its ability to share information, giving us the capability to dream big, explore basically everything, and discover new things that are eye opening, and interesting.

Through the world of blogging?

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Leave a Comment

Filed under gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian

October 8, 2010 · 11:23 pm

Snitpit on Ayurveda

This blog is going to be a short introduction to the upcoming blog that will be coming soon. It will be about Ayurvedic cooking. Tomorrow I am attending a 5 hour course on the Science of Ayurvedic cooking. I am excited to say the least, so this blog, is here to get myself prepped and ready to to go to class tomorrow and gather information to share with you all. More information! And oh yes a delicious Ayurvedic cooking recipe to share. Here is a very very very brief explanation to this ancient art, and like I said, there will be more to come I promise.

This ancient healing system dates back nearly 5,000 years ago in India. It is a story that was passed down by Rishi’s (ancient seers) through the ages in order to provide guidelines to people for eating, sleeping, basically a guideline for your whole life cycle. However it is special, for it is based off of your natural disposition. Your hair, your body type, your sleeping pattern, etc. Its whole purpose is to balance these “Doshas” Pitta, Vata, Kapha, and by doing so you are aligning your “inner” body to then be able reach your highest potential healthy self. Brilliant. I can’t wait to expand upon my knowledge, and in turn share it with you all.

A couple of resources I have found if you are interested:


Deepak Chopra has a lot of knowledge on this science, and this link is to his center, below is a book written by him. Check it out, its a neat place to find inspiration



this site is AWESOME!!! A great site for resources on the subject.

I can’t wait to share some of the knowledge I will gained, however I encourage you all to at least take a look, for it is fascinating, even if to just get to know yourself better.
Stay tuned for more!!!
Enjoy and Bon apetit!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Dinner, gluten-free, IMMUNITY CLEANSE, Lunch Foods, Snacks, vegan, vegetarian

October 6, 2010 · 8:52 pm

My new job

Sometimes opportunities present themselves in strange ways. At the time they may seem to you to be strange, odd, good, exciting interesting, frightening…etc. Although these emotions arise, you can trust that there is always most certainly a lesson to be learned from them in the end. This is why sometimes whether or not we hesitate taking them or in not taking them. These opportunities present themselves to us with lessons to be learned, along with the ability to turn inside and learn something new about ourselves.

Learning something new in any respect is like partaking on a great adventure. An adventure that could otherwise seem boring or mundane can then turn into a great life lesson. My advice is to take these lessons, and use them to learn, and grow. Start your great adventure regardless of the fear that subsides or the time taken to learn it. The hard part is staying grounded through it all, and being able to balance adventure and reality. If you can conquer this balance than life almost always takes care of itself.

This leads me somehow precariously to an introduction to my new job, as the baker at Café Europa in Denver Colorado.


This opportunity presented itself to me at the same time the opportunity to partake in yoga teacher training came to me. They tie in quite nicely, as this adventure has begun. The yoga teacher training being the big adventure, and the baking job being my balance into reality. Who knows it could, in the end, turn out to be the opposite. We shall see! I will keep you all posted.

This café is full of surprises. When you first walk in you think to yourself. oh just another city café to rest and sip my beverage and hang out with friends. However, low and behold there is so much more that this place has to offer. They serve a full breakfast and lunch menu that offers many vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options, along with many normal options as well. The food is homemade from scratch, and nicely presented and affordable. Their drink menu offers many vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options, as well. Their hot and cold beverages support local companies like Bhakti Chai, a gingery delicious blend of chai based out of Boulder. You can find them at . And Pablo’s coffee whose coffee is fair trade, locally roasted, and really delicious, check out their website

There is art on the exposed brick walls that adds to the homey yet hip atmosphere, and the furniture, looks as if you could of picked it up from your neighbors yard sale, (this is a good thing). There are plenty of sofas and overstuffed chairs to set your seats in and get comfy. So come and check it out, and while your at it have a slice of delicious vegan coconut cake made by yours truly.

Now onto the baked goods, I have started baking many delicious things to add to the repertoire at the café. Starting this week there is home baked organic chocolate chip cashew cookies, vegan coconut cake, and vegan cayenne chocolate nut bars. So come and check it out, have a coffee, chai, and try one of my fresh baked delights!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Dinner, gluten-free, Lunch Foods, Snacks, vegan, vegetarian

October 4, 2010 · 11:00 pm

Thai Basil Lime Curry

Okay, I don’t have a whole lot of Dharma to bring to this dish so…for the first time ever here is just a delicious recipe for dinner

Thought I might mention this as well. The blog about cookies…The photos in that are compliments of Alisa Geiser. I would also like to mention that her light meter was broken so I photo-shopped as best I could to get the light value given, however check out that composition!

I am honoring her in this blog as world traveler, dear friend, part-time editor in chief, and as soon as I know her blog address I will have a link. Her partner and her are currently partaking on an adventure around the world in 80 days. This is also a book that is the inspiration and guidance for these two as they partake!!!! Bon Voyage mon ami!!!
This book can be purchased through Amazon at. http://www.amazon.com/Around-World-80-Days-Value-Priced/dp/1609980018.

This meal was cooked for both Ben and Ali as a farewell dinner in their nest like abode in Eldorado Springs Colorado.

Enjoy and Bon Apetit!

Recipe for Thai-basil Lime Green Curry:

4 cloves garlic
¼ small red cabbage
2 carrots chopped and coined
¼ broccoli
4 small African peppers

4 teaspoons thai kitchen green curry paste
1 can of coconut milk

2 tablespoons fresh ginger
juice of one lime
one small handful of thai basil chopped

Start cooking brown rice, (see archive brown rice blog)

While rice is cooking, start with Onions and garlic in olive oil, and simmer until slightly tender. Add African peppers, carrots, and ginger, lime juice, and slowly add coconut milk stirring as you go along. Add green curry paste to the coconut milk to taste (depending on how curryie you like).

Cook until veggies are tender and then add broccoli, red cabbage, and thai basil. Stir occasionally brining mixture to a slight boil, then serve atop brown rice.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Dinner, gluten-free, IMMUNITY CLEANSE, Lunch Foods, Snacks, vegan, vegetarian

October 1, 2010 · 8:51 pm

Curried Sweet Potato Sticks

Simple Curry Sweet Potato Spears:

This simple recipe is a great way to prepare your sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes, I find to be a difficult item to prepare properly.
Without them becoming startchy. If anyone has any ideas on alternative
preparation to sweet potatoes, lets hear em’.
However this recipe keeps these nutritious starches flavor authentic and tasty!

1-3 large sweet potatoes
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Curry Spice
Cayenne Pepper

Slice Sweet Potatoes into thin ¼ inch slices, vertically. The thinness
is important so that they cook evenly and don’t take too long.

Set oven to Broil.

In a 9×11 Pyrex cooking sheet, line pan with olive oil, and set
potatoes in the pan side by side, tucked nicely next to each other,
side by side. Add your spices, depending on your taste, I love mine
spicy and heavy on the curry. You can flip them a couple times to get both sides spiced and oiled.

Delicious!

Cook these on a rack that is not super close to the broiler, but maybe
2 settings below.
Watch them!!! These don’t take long, they cook really quickly
so keep your eye on them, checking every 2-3 minutes. They take about
5-10 minutes, tops!

These make a great snack, or try them on top of your favorite salad.

Enjoy, and Bon apetit!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Dinner, gluten-free, IMMUNITY CLEANSE, Lunch Foods, Snacks, vegan, vegetarian