Tamari Cashews

YUM!  These are so simple and so delicious!  All you need is some organic (make sure it's organic to avoid GMOs) wheat free tamari and some cashews.  I use organic, raw cashews to get the maximum nutrition from the nuts.
Simply place some tamari in a pan and heat it on low if it's cold from the refrigerator.  If not, just put some in a bowl.  Add the amount of cashews you desire and mix them around to cover with the tamari sauce.  Just use enough to coat them.  Then, place into a dehydrator for a few hours until dried.  Or you can heat in the oven on a low setting.  Keep an eye on them in the oven, though.
These are a salty, savory, delicious snack!  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Casein Free Oat Pancakes

These taste just like regular wheat pancakes, or so my husband and son tell me.  They are so easy to make and the pay-off for me is my happy, happy son!  I found this recipe online here:  http://completelynourished.com/2012/02/04/oat-pancakes-gluten-freedairy-free/  

I bought the organic, gluten free oats online here: http://www.glutenfreeoats.com/

GF Harvest sells organic gluten free oats and organic, GF oat flour!  It's easy to make oat flour in a blender, though, with just plain oats.

From the recipe, the only changes I made were to use only baking soda, not baking powder.  It's really not necessary and adds only more unwhole ingredients.  Also, I used agave for the sweetener, and organic safflower oil.  I hope that you and your kids enjoy these great pancakes!

Raw Chocolate Fudge

YUM! The credit for this delicious, nutritious fudge goes to Whole Foods. My son and husband loved this!

Ingredients:
 2 cups raw walnuts
2 cups packed pitted and roughly chopped dates
10 tablespoon cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder, but then it's not raw)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt (I used only a small pinch of sea salt)

Directions: Soak walnuts in cold water for 4-6 hours. Drain and place in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until chopped. Add dates and pulse to chop, stopping frequently to scrape down sides as needed. Add cacao powder, vanilla, and salt. Process until mixture is almost smooth, scraping down sides as needed to keep mixture moving. It will eventually form a ball similar to dough with some tiny pieces of walnuts remaining. Don't get discouraged, even if it seems like it's not going to work, just keep pushing it down and pulsing the food processor; it will work. Transfer to an 8-inch square baking dish (or whatever you have that is similar) and press down evenly with wet fingers. Freeze for 4-6 hours until well chilled. Cut into squares. Store in freezer until ready to serve. I think it tastes better when it's sat out a little while from being frozen. 

ENJOY! And thank you, Whole Foods for the free recipe!

Raw Cashew Dressing

This is so great and versatile! It is so simple and easy to make, too. You can use it as mayonnaise, sour cream, or mix it with olive oil and make a salad dressing.
Here's the simple recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup of raw cashews
2 1/2 tsp of apple cider vinegar (or 2 tsp of a.c. vinegar, and 1 tsp of lemon juice)
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup of water.

Directions:
Blend ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth. That's it! If you don't have a high speed blender, you may want to soak the cashews for 1/2 and hour first so that they will be softer for blending.

I used this as mayo on a veggie burger and it was yum! Then, I made it into a dressing for this pasta salad by mixing in these ingredients (sorry, I didn't measure): olive oil, sea salt, dijon mustard. I mixed into some quinoa pasta and added some fresh spinach and it was delicious!!

Grain Free, Vegan Pizza

I have posted an almond flour crust here before. Now that I make my own almond milk, I save the pulp and dehydrate it to make my own organic almond flour. It has a darker color than the blanched almond flour I used to buy, but still tastes great. If you do make your own, all you have to do is save it in the freezer until you are ready to use it, and then put it in the blender to break it up into a flour consistency. It's ok if it's not perfectly smooth feeling, it will still work great.
So, I used these simple ingredients for the crust:
Almond flour
Sea Salt
Ground chia seeds mixed with some water (as an egg replacer and binder)
Water
Garlic Powder
Oregano
Basil

Directions:
Mix together adding just enough water so that you get a doughy consistency. Spread out on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 until the crust feels firm. You could do this in a dehydrator, but I was so hungry and wanted it that day. Add your toppings.
I used Daiya cheese, (but it would have been good without any cheese), sauce, portabella mushroom, and yellow onion, and bake for a few minutes until veggies are cooked and cheese is melted. I added some spinach leaves in the last two minutes and drizzled them with coconut oil. This was sublime!

Quinoa and Peas

Simple can be so good. This is a dish I made with just quinoa, peas, garlic, sea salt, and a little olive oil. Cook some quinoa (I soaked mine first). Saute organic frozen peas and a clove or two of chopped garlic in a little water. Once the peas are cooked, add the quinoa, some sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil, or coconut oil if you like the flavor. This dish has plenty of protein and flavor. Enjoy!

Maple Cinnamon Nuts

Yum! Spiced nuts, vegan style! My family went crazy for these. The walnuts were so good, but they got eaten up before I could take a picture. These are so easy to make: 

Ingredients:
Maple Syrup
Cinnamon
Raw Nuts of your choice
That's it!

Directions:
Place some maple syrup and cinnamon in a skillet over low heat. Mix together. Add some nuts and coat them well with the maple mixture. You can either place them into a dehydrator or the oven to set the coating. I used the dehydrator because then I could preserve all of the nutrients. It takes a couple of hours in the dehydrator, and if you use an oven on a higher setting, it will be faster, so keep and eye on them so they don't burn.

Note: To make the nuts more easily digestible, you can soak them for several hours in filtered or spring water and then dehydrate them until they are crispy again. Then, follow the instructions above. I did this for the almonds and walnuts, but not the cashews. Enjoy!

Vegan Chana Masala

I love Indian food! I don't eat at the restaurants anymore because I avoid GMOs, dairy, and pesticides, and I'm not great at being able to mimic those delicious flavors. Here is a recipe I found last night that turned out great! The only changes I made were that I added a tiny bit of coconut sugar because I like sweet flavors and it was pretty tangy. I used only 1/2 a lemon and did not add the pepper or the cumin seeds. I don't like spicy foods. But, if you do, I'm sure the recipe is great the way it stands. I did cook my own garbanzo beans for this, which turned out delicious! You can eat this with rice or another grain, but I ate it plain and it was wonderful. http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/02/chana-masala/

Gluten Free Asian Noodles

Sometimes I just get a craving for some Asian style noodles! This is one of my new favorite dishes to make. I don't have the exact measurements down yet, but I wanted to share it to show that you can make what you want that also tastes good with very little ingredients, usually what you already have at home. I used all organic ingredients. Ingredients: Package of brown rice noodles, spaghetti style or thinner Broccoli, either frozen or fresh Fresh ginger root - minced Garlic - chopped 1/2 - one (your taste how much you want) Onion - chopped Organic, wheat free tamari (organic is really important here to avoid GMOs in soy) Agave nectar (because I have a sweet tooth) Water Peanuts or peanut butter (I use the crunchy kind with nothing added) Sesame Oil (Do not cook with this, add it at the end) Directions, cook the noodles by boiling and then drain them in a colander. I have made the sauce for this two ways. First, sauté the onions, garlic, and ginger in some water in a pan. Then, add the broccoli to it with some more water, and add the tamari and a little bit of agave once the broccoli has cooked a bit. Add cooked noodles and then some peanuts and sauté another minute or two. Add sesame oil on top when ready to serve. I have also made this by placing the garlic, ginger, peanut butter, water, agave (just a little bit), and tamari into a blender to make a smooth sauce. Then, cook the broccoli and onions in some water in the pan and add the sauce to it, followed by the noodles once the broccoli is finished cooking. The peanuts and sesame oil add proteins and fats to balance out the rice and veggies. It's delicious and so easy to make. Enjoy!

Hummus

 

I don't know about you, but I get frustrated that almost all of the hummus in any of the stores I go to, including natural health food stores and Whole Foods, is not organic. The good news about this is that it is really easy to make your own hummus.
You can use canned garbanzo beans, which are already cooked, or you can make your own. It's fun to do this because then you can have some left over to eat later on salad or however you like them.
Hummus is made with a set of ingredients, but tastes differently based upon the amounts of each that you use. Basically, you have to taste it as you go to get the taste that you like.

Ingredients:
Garbanzo Beans, cooked (boil in water for about 1 1/2 hours after soaking for a few hours), or canned - around a cup or two
Sesame Tahini - usually around 1 - 2 tablespoons
Fresh lemon juice - start with half a lemon and then adjust to taste
olive oil
sea salt
use some of the garbanzo bean water to make sure there's enough liquid for blending

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smoothe. You may have to stop and wipe the sides a few times. Make sure to use just enough liquid to blend, but not too much to make it watery.
Hummus is great as a dip for veggies or chips or on a sandwich or wrap.

Asparagus "Pasta"

 

I had this beautiful, fresh organic asparagus and I wasn't sure what to do with it. I saw a nice recipe online for asparagus with pasta, but I didn't want to eat the grains, so I decided to turn all of my asparagus into green pasta! It was absolutely delicious! Just steam the asparagus until it's soft, then add ingredients like you would for pasta:

olive oil
fresh garlic, minced, or chopped up into small pieces
nutritional yeast
basil
sea salt
and I added some mozzarella Daiya, too

Soooo good!

Veggie Coconut Milk Curry

 

I've been on a kick lately of making dishes with coconut milk and then adding yummy spices. I used to love eating at Indian restaurants, but now that I eat almost strictly organic and I don't eat any dairy, I have had to figure out how to bring those yummy flavors into my own kitchen. I don't have a specific recipe, but here are the ingredients I use:

1 can of organic coconut milk
organic broccoli and/or green beans - as much as you want
1 can of organic kidney beans
2 cloves of fresh garlic
yellow onion

a few sprinkles of coconut sugar
Put some sprinkles of these spices in to your liking:
turmeric
sea salt
coriander
cumin
cardamon
ginger

Pour the coconut milk into a pan and then add other ingredients, simmering until veggies are cooked and spices are blended. Trust your nose to tell you when the ingredients are just right. One of these days I'll get some measurements of how I like it.

Quinoa Veggie Burgers

 

These were soooo good! I couldn't wait to make them when I saw this recipe posted by Wendy Polisi on her site Cooking Quinoa: http://www.cookingquinoa.net/baked-veggie-quinoa-patties
I did discover that sprouted quinoa tastes a lot better and feels easier to digest than unsprouted, too.
These patties were great with ketchup!