Whole Foodies

Peanut Butter Been Better

2010-04-07T13:10:00.004-04:00

I pilfered this awful nearly non-food product from my guest that stays with me a few days a week. I irk slightly every time I see as it is an unusual sight for my otherwise whole foods kitchen. What especially ruffles me is the label on the product, as it is extremely misleading for shoppers trying to find their ol' staple jar of peanut butter like they used to eat in the good old days. Not that peanut butter was any better back then, but some how this grocery item has weaselled its way to 'health food' status, probably because its made from nuts, and has protein.

It seems as though most of our educated, average-grocery-store shoppers receive their food/health education from product labels, manufactures' promotional materials, or magazine articles, which never really clearly define the subtleties of what to look for and avoid when selecting a particular food item that's deemed healthy. You see - not all foods, or ingredients are created equally. Eating fresh, recently harvested, properly stored, good quality peanuts would be one thing, but this... this terrible food that has crept onto grocery store shelves is another thing. The average shopper doesn't know the difference between one nut product from another. Allow me to educate!!!

First of all - notice the front of the label. I blanked out the brand name to protect the culprit, but notice the 'health' symbols and connotations that exist, immediately giving the impression of good health. A light blue label is reminiscent of President Choice's (Canadian brand) "Blue Label" line of health foods, and they've informed the customer that one serving (how much?) is 80 calories, and 5g of fat. Totally irrelevant to the bigger picture of health when you consider the deeper aspects that underlie good health. The peanut butter is illustrated with some green apples, not the white bread that most people consume it with, then they've also placed a picture of a butterfly (indicating no added preservatives - but then what is corn maltodextrin?), and a giant exclamation mark on it, meaning, this food must be special, somehow. Otherwise they wouldn't have cared to let us know about it. They should have put a skull and crossbones on it instead.

Flipping the jar over and reading its ingredients label gives the product a completely different, contradictory message. Written DIRECTLY on it: HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL, comprising three poor quality oils that some how got blended together, or selected at the time of manufacture, likely which ever was the lowest priced at the time. Often manufacturers will label two or three oils so that they can choose the cheapest at the time of production and not have to change the label. So they chose the cheapest oil, and then HYDROGENATED IT!! Wasn't this issue exposed about a decade ago when products started getting away from hydrogenation and trans-fats? Nah. They just put it right in, thinking that people will overlook it considering it appears as a health food. Or worse yet, they don't even look or notice, all you have to look at is the label to clearly see it is a 'health food'. Aside from that, corn maltodextrin, an indigestible (therefore zero carbohydrate sugar) corn by-product used to sweeten food is second on the list. This is useful to the manufacturer because the sweetener doesn't get included in the nutritional facts label because it CANNOT be digested by our body, so it is not counted on the label for either caloric intake OR sugar content. But they also added sugar and molasses anyway. Because maltodextrin is indigestible, the flora in our gut have the job of breaking it down after all other nutrients are absorbed. For most people, this means it exasperates candida and parasitic infections, typically resulting in a worsened condition, but acutely resulting in gas and bloating - with no understanding of why or where it came from. Sugar does this too however. It is the food to feed unwanted infections, or growths in the body, including cancer, cysts, warts, arterial plaque, viruses and fungi. Not only that, but the rancid, rotting nuts and nut oil from the peanuts, which when are poor quality contain aflotoxins - a carcinogenic by-product from rotting plant proteins, but these rancid oils, in conjunction with the sugars and hydrogenated fat inserted into the food, create an incredibly supportive 'house' for the infections to thrive and grow, further worsening most health conditions in the body. These oils also create dangerous lesions in the body, especially in the arteries, damaging the tissues, requiring cholesterol to come in and create a layer of plaque to protect the damaged tissue. Hydrogenated and rancid oils also stagnate the liver creating irritability, stress, inflammation, allergies and a host of other ailments. Refined, and rancid oils, typically found in most commercially available foods, are one of the greatest contributors to aging and the destruction of precious internal tissues such as the liver, heart, arteries, and so on. Sugar contributes to this issue as well, including the added sweeteners of maltodextrin and molasses. Salt is the last ingredient, which also contributes to bodily 'Dampness' as known in Chinese Medicine, referring to the unwanted growths in the body, which include the list above, but also excess weight, and masses in the body. So really, there is NO one good ingredient in this food. They are all refined and/or rancid by-products from foods that are hardly deemed healthy in the first place, and all contribute to increased poor health and do not facilitate in good health in any way. I took a picture of the inside of the jar to illustrate what your arteries might look like with continued use of this product.

One last thing to note: this product has been "Health Checked" by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. YIKES!

Scott's Dish

2010-01-17T20:19:00.002-05:00

So every once and a while I'll get an email from a friend or client telling me about their meal they made, or some fantastic recipe they found out about. I sense the enthusiasm from them as much as I feel it when I get emails like that. It satiates my Whole Foodies self, and inspires me to keep doing what it is I do! I just got one from Scott Galloway tonight, a fellow musician and friend, and this was the only text in his message:

--------------------------------

Short grain brown rice
Onion
Black beans
Coconut milk
Cumin
Allspice
Avocado
Grape tomatoes

---------------------------

I laughed, because the recipe is exactly as I would write it, and I could tell he cooked with foods he happened to have in his fridge, using his intuition to guide him through the cooking process. Combinations become easier to put together with a little cooking experience and experimentation, and I believe Scott has matured this aspect of his cooking self. It's a way of expressing yourself. Where I would cook things one way, another person would use the same ingredients differently, or add an ingredient that I would have never thought of, or bought in the first place. This is the beauty of cooking from intuition. You express yourself, and your food resonates that energy. Recipes are a great place to work from, and learn from, but really, when it comes time to making a recipe, the final product will always have the personal touch of the cook in it! Don't be afraid to improvise - do things your way, or take an idea from a recipe and experiment with it for your own gain. At the end of the day, it's your food to eat - so cook what makes you happy! ... and then send your photos and recipes to Whole Foodies! :)

Green things that grow round

2010-01-02T20:00:00.004-05:00

WELL.. it is a new year. Allow me to crack the freshness of the blog air with a story about my garden. By now, my frozen-over, barely visible back yard dirt patch has totally glaciated my remaining Brussels sprout plants, but amazingly they are still edible and in good shape! With a shovel and frozen fingers, I hacked it out of the snow bank and brought it indoors for thawing. Beauties. I can't believe what a yield one plant can produce, and I have two more sprout statues encased in ice in the back yard ready for harvesting.

In the mood for green (typically a spring colour, but New Year's has that energy to it anyway; rejuvenation and newness), I decided to make a green meal, or at least a tasty side dish that was hearty, gentle - and green.

Brussels sprouts and peas are BOTH high in protein, as most sprouts are. About 30% of their calories are from protein. Amazing! Since they're both green; we know they contain chlorophyll, and I'm a big fan of chlorophyll.

So. My green dish. Bring water to a boil and add the cut Brussels sprouts and peas. Add whatever herbs/spices you like; I chose fennel and cumin - my favourite! You can also add a little garlic. I wouldn't argue that garlic goes well in everything.

Cook at medium heat until soft. Remove the veggies and put them in a bowl.

Add raw apple cider vinegar (about 1 tsp), a little tamari/shoyu (soy sauce, but not the MSG kind please), and drizzle with good quality unrefined oil - ideally flax or hemp. UNREFINED!

THAT'S IT FOLKS! Piece of cake. Actually, peas and sprouts, but so simple to make!

Here's a tip! I left my cook water out over night, and then in the morning I cooked my brown rice in the water in the same pot! That way I was able to use what nutrients were left behind in the cook water, and fortified my rice! Yes... I'm so thrifty.

Here's to a green new year, and hopefully more frequent blogging!

Breakfast for Two

2009-09-25T13:46:00.004-04:00

Breakfast is one of the best meals, it can really make your day - or break it! Maybe it should be called 'makefest' instead of breakfast, anyways, hopefully this inspires you, as breakfast doesn't need to be the typical greasefest of bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns, toast with butter, which would make me feel like yuck all day!

- Crock pot full of barley, black eyed peas, potatoes, onion, fennel seed, black pepper and bay leaves

- Steamed beets with onion and kale, with a mint, parsley, lime, and hemp oil dressing

- Sweetless granola made with toasted almonds, oat flakes, orange juice, cardamom, green stevia, flax oil (pour on after) and blueberries

- Sharla's bloobie pancakes made with whole rye flour, goat milk and oat bran

- Homemade almond milk, sauerkraut, goat kefir, oatgurt, mint/catnip tea

- Blueberries, orange slices and sliced tomatoes from my garden!

YUM!

Sourdough pancakes for champions

2009-09-10T13:39:00.000-04:00

What to do with your excess sourdough starter? It is really important to keep your sourdough starter going, if you like that kinda thing, but what do you do when you get too much!? Pancakes!!! Requiring a REALLY healthy, super bubbly starter (and thick like a pancake batter, not watery), sourdough starter will cook up a beautiful pancake if your starter is just right. Make sure your starter actually RISES in the container you're keeping it - which means it's thick enough, and bubbly enough.

Grease a pan up with a little butter or your preferred fat, and when hot (but not too hot, just hot enough that a drop of water from your finger hisses nicely, not angrily) pour out a little cake of batter and swirl the pan so it gets as thin as possible. Cook it well on both sides, and that's it!! If it's a little rare on the inside, don't worry, the grain is already fermented, which means that is nearly pre-digested anyways!! These pancakes do require a bit more time to cook though, so it is better to cook on medium-low heat, and have each one sit for about 5 minutes.

Serve up with granola, or your preferred toppings.

Probably the healthiest granola recipe ever..

2009-09-05T13:27:00.000-04:00

Granola is so yummy, and a nice transitional food for the accustomed morning cereal eater, as it is a food that can be prepared simply and eaten with milk. However, the downside of granola, is that it is often made with refined oils, concentrated sweeteners, rancid nuts and seeds, hot spices, and generally just kinda heavy, greasy and overly sweet. What is the solution? Make your OWN with good ingredients! Here's how I do mine:

- DRY pan toast some almonds and pumpkin seeds until aromatic (do NOT burn!)

- Add some oat flakes and stir quickly - not too much toasting time for these guys. If they are over-heated, it will not be good for your liver or heat condition, and generally not recommended.

- Chop in some fruit, like apple slices, or stir in some blueberries. The fruit may sweat and add moisture to the dish, but if it doesn't, add a TINY bit of water, or better yet, a little bit of orange juice (fresh squeezed is best).

- I usually stop cooking at this point, even before the fruit usually, and put it into a bowl, however you can add spices and continue baking it for a little time to make it more warming.

- Add spices like cardamom, green stevia, nutmeg, etc, but cinnamon tends to be too hot, and if eaten before bed can cause things like night sweats, or worsen inflammation, etc.

- I put the warm granola into my bowl, (this is where I add the OJ, fruit and spices actually), and then pour over a little flax or hemp oil to give it some richness and greasiness.

- I was a little extra hungry, so I broke up some brown rice cake into as well and stirred it.

- I was also gifted a little dark chocolate, so I chopped that up and stirred it in as well too!

- Since I make my own goat kefir, which is really my only animal product, I topped it off with that, or I might add a little homemade almond milk with it as well.

NO sweeteners, refined or cooked oils, no salt, no flours, no junky nuts, and all fresh! YUM!

Cooking for one... pot!

2009-09-03T13:16:00.000-04:00

I LOVE one-pot meals. Really, there's nothing more satisfying then the coming together of flavours in one dish, which really, makes digesting quite easy. Consider the pot acting as your stomach, working out all the chemical differences, so that by the time you eat it, it is chemically like 'one food'! Oh yes - the finest of food combining - cook it all together!

I cook things in order from slowest to fastest, obviously. So this is how I might cook myself a one-potter:

- Put a little water in the bottom of the pot and bring to boil, or at least hot

- Add spices to infuse like a tea... such as cumin, fennel, mustard, bl. pepper (my favs)

- Add pungent vegetables like onions, leeks, garlic, etc. I think I used ginger and leek here

- Add hearty root veggies, like potato, carrot or beet. I think I only used carrot in this dish

- When roots are soft, add other veg like zucchini, which is what I did here

- I tossed in some nuts and seeds as well - which soaks and cooks them a little, which is good

- From here, you can add more water and add some grain, as I did with quinoa! Cover and cook until grains are soft, for quinoa - about 15 minutes. I threw in some brown rice pasta because I was having a party for myself that night, and pasta is pretty fun.

- Add herbs at the end, like thyme or whatever else. I added my fresh ones at the very end though

- Serve a dishfull, and that stir in some leafy greens like kale, and they'll cook in just the heat of the food.

- Prepare a small dressing/sauce, or simply just pour over a little flax/hemp oil, apple cider vinegar, or whatever inspires you.

- Add fresh chopped herbs, like basil, parsley, chives, or whatever ya got!

This is pretty elaborate, but my entire meal came from one dish! It made enough for two servings, and I had just ONE POT to clean up! Isn't it amazing.. ONE POT!! :)

Spicy Summer Salad

2009-09-01T13:06:00.000-04:00

This was a preferred breakfast, lunch or dinner for me when I felt the urge to eat something crunchy, cool, and raw in the heat of summer. However, I don't really like the watery, overly moistening and cooling effects of just regular leafy greens, especially ice berg lettuce, but I found these amazing 'spicy greens' from the Organic Oasis near my home that contains a mix of mustard greens, and other little pungent-bitters that appeal to me much more than the watery-crisp block of ice that normal grocery lettuce is.

To add some substance and richness to my salads, I always add pumpkin seeds (usually hand pan-toasted), or almonds, and then added some cut apple, and then a few fresh things from my garden such as tomato, basil, parsley, shiso, and then add a dressing made up of flax oil, garlic, apple cider vinegar and a little miso. I sprinkle on a little dulse too, if I'm in the mood for it. I usually have something heartier with this as well, like a cooked veg or grain, but sometimes just the freshness of a simple salad, especially with the rising sun, is all that I need to make me grin and feel centered.

Easy Pickles!

2009-08-20T12:58:00.000-04:00

These were a real hit at Paul Pitchford's Healing with Whole Foods intensive in New York. Probably because they were so garlicky and pungent with apple cider vinegar!

Since garlic fosters desire, perhaps the appeal for these grew deeper the more you ate them?

In an attempt to rid some cucumbers, Sharla quickly sliced them on a mandolin along with some spices and garlic, and then topped up the jar with half water and half apple cider vinegar.

That's it!! Use raw/unpasteurized apple cider vineger, and it will ferment the vegetable so that it will keep for quite a while. Healthy, crunchy, tasty and desire-y!

Food for yer yin-yang

2009-08-20T12:49:00.000-04:00

Aduki beans and well cooked rice. Need I say more?

Shooting peas with flying ninja stars

2009-08-19T11:28:00.000-04:00

Food can be so simple. It really should be. This post will be a reflection of this concept:

Cook peas in a little water, and add something fun to dress them up, like carrots shaped like ninja stars. Add a little space if need be, like black pepper, and enjoy!

Tatters

2009-08-18T10:45:00.000-04:00

Stove-top Sharla, and oven-Mike. Did you know that sauteeing and stirring your food gives an invigorating effect to the food, and thus the person, where as long, patient cooking in the oven gives a patient quiet quality to the food, and thus person? Perhaps Sharla's cooking is a source for her upbeat energy, and Mike's oven dishes are a source of his... what, am I just going to flatter myself in a blog because I cook in the oven? Whatever, yes, it is a source of my good looks and robust figure. Just kidding... it just makes me really really smart.

I LOVE potatoes, perhaps because this was the staple food growing up for me, and for my parents too, coming from a German background (might be pronounced 'Cherman' at my grandma's house, and washed down with a bratwurst and pint of beer) anyways, I do potatoes, that is my thing. Especially in the colder weather because of the warmth they bring to the body when out of the oven, yet they are one of the best yin-builders known to the Asian (the West still deems this food as unnecessary because of the high starch content, which is ridiculous, just stop eating sugar and crap, and you'll realize potatoes are so nourishing and a far better 'sweet' than any granola bar or any other sweet garbage on the grocery shelf). Yin-building = immune boosting and hormone supporting by the way. Did you know two German lads survived during the war for THREE years on just potatoes alone? JUST potatoes, no health concerns. Or was it three guys for two years? Whatever, that's a long time for just potatoes. I digress...

If cooked for a long period of time, potatoes require almost no seasoning - the time will bring them to life. I cooked these with onion and cumin I believe, and then slipped into the oven for an hour at 350F. Grease is not necessary, just use water.

Crawckers

2009-08-17T10:33:00.001-04:00

Rawesome. Just rawesome. I mispelt crackers as 'crawckers', cause well, they were raw, but can be done in the over too. Leftover kamut sprouts, soaked flax seed, soaked buckwheat, and variations on all of the above, made some incredible crackers that we enjoyed with nut milks, or with cheese, or just plain. The students made these in our cracker workshop, and of course, they sweet-starved students made ALL sweet crackers and almost no savoury!! haha... carob, cardamom, orange juice, stevia, yacon, vanilla, and anything else non-Dampening yet sweet they could find! They were good, I'll admit, and were gone pretty fast!!

To learn how to make these, you pretty much need to attend one of our workshops or retreats. Bo! Really, they're easy, but so much easier to teach in person than blogging about it. Maybe we should make a video about it. Yeah, that's what we'll do... stay tuned.

The Kefir Queen

2009-08-16T10:23:00.001-04:00

Clouds from the gods? A gift from Allah? A miracle food made in heaven? Yes to all of the above. Kefir is a culture made up of yeasts and bacteria, and the cloud looking picture is my baby kefir when I first got it, and because they grow, it is now the size of my fist! Time to give some away, and sharing with your friends (and students) is what you're supposed to do!

We made 1L of kefired goat milk with it daily, which resembles yogurt, but so much more sour and bacteria rich, and of course Sharla - the Kefir Queen made aged cheese from kefir laban, and I'm sure we'll more about this in posts to come, as I hear she's working on making a bridge for the city of Chicago using kefir and some cheesecloth. She can make anything. Not only did she kefir goat milk at the intensive, she kefired coconut milk, almond milk, ginger water, and pretty much any other fluid sitting unused in an open vessel. Yum! Luckily, we had enough to give to most of our hungry students to take home and spread to their loved ones too.

Raw, Fermented, Sprouted bread

2009-08-14T10:19:00.000-04:00

Because our guests at the intensive ate almost a full 1L of oatgurt everyday, it was necessary for us to make enough rejuvelac (used in oatgurt) to do so, and as a result, we had ample sprouted and fermented kamut grains leftover to do whatever fun things we wanted to!! Here Sharla is making sprouted bread dough using a juicer (only use the masticating kind!), and then season (if you wish) and form into loaves and either bake on low for a long period of time (2+ hours) or dehydrate over night, however you wish. That is it! Very simple! We have a video on how to make this sprouted bread if you click our videos link in the main menu or from our homepages. Sprout grain, blend/mash it, form it, dry/bake it. Easy peasy.

Crocky Breakfast

2009-08-13T10:15:00.000-04:00

How to make breakfast delicious and fast - prepare the night before!

Pictured here, is an oatmeal dish with blueberries and vanilla bean. All things in time are better than all things rushed, so why not spend all night making your breakfast! The flavours deepen with time, so a lot of seasoning is not required, which is usually required with instant foods. Just add the vanilla, or maybe some cardamom and fruit, and let it cook all night for you!

We ate a full pot of this every morning at the intensive - and rightfully so, it was delish!

Sideways Recycled Bean Burgers

2009-08-11T10:08:00.000-04:00

What do you do with leftover beans? Burg them!! Keep any leftover beans aside, even if they have veg and grain in them, and mash them up to make beans.

At the retreat, we continuously made bean burgers by adding chopped onion and carrot to the leftover beans, added bread crumbs, oat flakes, or even best - flour (we used fresh ground whole kamut). Play with the quantity of grain to get them tough enough to form balls in your hands - if they do, place them on a baking sheet (with parchment paper is best), and bake them at about 375F for 20 minutes or so, as per your desired firmness of burger. Pictured here, is a baking sheet for a giant oven, forced into our little home-sized oven - it worked just fine, but there were a few wonky burgers from it. Also - you can add seasonings to bring them to life, like ground cumin and black pepper - or curry powder etc. Easy as pie!.. actually, easy as bean burgers!

Sourdough, Recycled Brown Rice bread!

2009-08-10T09:53:00.000-04:00

Throughout the retreat, we started to get a little burdened with leftovers. We weren't sure how to use 2 servings of rice, or a tiny bit of left over vegetables, so we started finding creative ways to use them in our cooking. Here's an application for left over grains, especially non-glutinous! Since we had a celiac person in our retreat, I felt a little bothered that all of our bread had gluten in it (kamut) and so began making brown rice sourdough bread. However, as grains ferment in the process, it doesn't really matter what grain it is, and if it's cooked or not. So I began putting grain leftovers in a large bowl to ferment, and would make them into bread. The first morning I made it, I didn't think it was really anything special, as was kinda weird... however, that same morning I happened to drop an entire scalding hot crock pot full of cooked brown rice congee on the ground while carrying it to the dining hall, and it smashed all over the place (including my bare feet, which gave coincidentally gave me a lovely little liver moxibustion treatment), anyways - I felt so bad that I thought I'd better serve this strange congee bread, and low and behold, they ate all of it - 2 full loaves. They loved it, and I continued making it throughout the retreat from then on.

As it really is a tactile thing to make, and working with leftovers really offers no quantifiable, measurable methodology to making it, I just simply add brown rice sourdough starter to the leftover grains (about 1 cup) and then add fluids to bring it to a batter like consistency, maybe a little wetter. For fluids, I would use leftover, starting to ferment homemade brown rice milk, or some left over vegetable cooking water - as it was a little starchier to help the bacteria nosh on the soon-to-be dough. After a day of sitting, or when I see it rise, I add fresh ground brown rice to bring it to batter consistency, and again, add a little fluid if need be. I think some dry ground grain is necessary to make it tough enough to bake, as the cooked grains were too wet and soft to make a loaf unto themselves. As a batter consistency (maybe slightly firmer than batter) pour into loaf pans and let them rise (you can rise as many times as you like, but it MUST rise in the bread pan before baking), and then when risen (usually in the morning) bake it at 450F for at least an hour. It will be extremely wet and doughy when you take it out, so it MUST cool and set IN the pan for at least 1/2 hour or so, and even still, it might pull apart a little, so be sure to grease your pans and get them out carefully. You can check to see if their done without taking them out of the pan simply by inserting a chop stick and checking to see if any doughy residues remain on the stick. You'll know, and it does take practice to get it right. It took me a whole year to get this down, but then again I didn't know what I was doing when I started! Good luck, and email Whole Foodies for questions if you have them!

Masters of Breakfast.. and the Universe

2009-08-08T09:45:00.001-04:00

Twenty-two breakfasts and a whole lot of snacks. Whole Foodies Michael and Sharla answered their calling by attending Paul Pitchford's three-week intensive entitled "Healing with Whole Foods" in New York for the month of August, and had the honour of teaching 11 hours of workshop classes, but also preparing all breakfasts and snacks, plus special foods for the entire duration. YAY! We'll try to capture some of the meals on the blog here, but as we were producing almost 10 dishes per morning, and flying by the seat of our pants most of the time, we rarely had time to document what is was we made. Pictured here is Paul Pitchford spooning up some goodness, and a picture of what might have been a typical breakfast (and our lovely faces).

Tempeh-tation!

2009-05-26T17:19:00.003-04:00

Tempeh is one of those magical foods that is very healthy but also satisfying. A little bit goes a long way in satiating the appetite. Tempeh is like the cheese of Indonesia, cooked soybeans are inoculated with a bacteria starter and it is left to get "funky" as in moldy and fermented. The end result is a dense cake that has a nutty taste and 'shroomy aroma. Vitamin B12 forms as result of fermentation and is one of the only vegetable sources of natural B12. Fermentation breaks down the proteins and natural sugars in the soybean, eliminating digestive issues with other soyfood products. Tempeh is relatively inexpensive and can be found at most health food stores, try different grain varieties to see which is the most tempeh-ting!

Miso Mustard Tempeh

8 oz tempeh

1 Tbsp oil

1 cup hot water

3 Tbsp sweet white miso

1/4 cup Whole grain dijon mustard

2 cups thinly sliced leeks or or a combination of leeks and shallots

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 a zucchini, sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin

1/2 lb cremini mushrooms or shiitake

1/2 cup dry white wine or stock

3-4 leaves of kale, collards or cabbage

salt and pepper to taste

Cut tempeh into 1/2 inch strips, lightly coat each side with oil. place them in a skillet and brown on all sides. Remove to cool and then cut them into blocks..

Make the sauce by combining the mustard, miso and water.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, saute garlic and leeks and or shallots until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes, add the reserved tempeh, zuchhini, mushrooms, carrots, and mustard/miso sauce. Bring to a boil, cover and then lower the heat to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are crisp tender.

Add the white wine or broth, stir in the greens and cover and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Voila, fini! Serve this with fresh chopped chives or tarragon. Place atop cooked quinoa for a complete meal.

*experiment with different in season produce and adjust the flavors for maximum intensity.

Random Veggie Burger

2009-04-24T11:56:00.000-04:00

The picture doesn't do the burger justice - it was out of batteries, and I got in just one shot before the camera cakked out on me. So I have a picture of a tomato with a blurry burger in the foreground.

So it's time to go grocery shopping, very badly, the fridge is almost empty, but surely there's lots to eat in the house! So I took the following ingredients (without measuring! I'm very sorry! I just put things together and see what happens.. but food's food, so you really can't go wrong eating something that doesn't "work out"!)

First I ground up into a coarse flour:

-buckwheat groats (I'd say 1/2 cup?)
-lentils - about 1/4 cup

.. and added some salt, spelt flour (1/4 cup), thyme, black pepper

Then I diced up and then pureed in my grinder:

-remains of an eggplant

-zucchini

-carrot

-onion

Add the two together, wet your hands, and plop balls of this batter onto a buttery cookie sheet. I baked them at 350F for about 35 minutes, and they turned out delish!

We ate them with an Ezekiel brand hamburger bun, slice of tomato, slices of naturally fermented picks, and Grandma's homemade mustard!.. and Anna got to take some with her to lunch the next day! I bet these burgers cost a whopping $.50 cents to make, which is astonishing considering you pay almost $7 for good real-food (and whole food!) veg burgers in the health food store. I smell as business plan... and another batch of veg. burgers in my oven.

Creamy Quinoa Porridge

2009-04-22T11:52:00.000-04:00

This was my breakfast, along with miso soup. It felt so good I had to blog about it!

Grind quinoa in a grinder to a course flour (you can toast it first to remove the bitter saponins, but I couldn't be bothered this morning as I was multi-tasking)
Add to water (as it's warming up to a boil) and stir in!

You can add sweet - but I chose:

finely diced carrot
fennel and dill seed

Bring to a boil, stirring, and then simmer. It's ready then, but letting it sit does some good to it!

It's really that simple.... 5 minutes, tops!

As-close-to-normal-but-healthy Pancakes

2009-04-20T11:27:00.000-04:00

I made these everyday this week. Firstly, to see if I could perfect them, and secondly, because they were so good and there was something about them that made me hum like a.. I have no cliche for that. I just hummed when I ate them. (I mean felt harmonious and wonderful).

They can be made without soaking the flour - but soaking it gave it the hum factor I was looking for. Soak for an hour or so:

2 cups whole grain spelt flour, with a little salt
1 cup goat milk (I didn't try water, but I'm sure that would work too

Then stir in:

1 egg beaten, and a bit more milk if the batter got too sticky from soaking
1 Tbsp baking powder (please get aluminum free!)
any seasonings you wish - I used almond extract and pomegranate syrup, it was great!

Brush a pan with butter/ghee on LOW heat! Once hot, laddle in the sticky batter and spread out the cakes with a wet utensil or your hands dipped in cold water (batter doesn't stick that way)

Let them cook slowly, on low-medium heat (like 4 on an electric stove) and then flip once the first bubble on top becomes solid.

Cook on the other side for about half the time of the first, and then transfer to a warmed toaster oven or directly to your mouth.

I topped these with flax oil and stevia, but you can use your imagination on how to top! They make nice little lunch snacks too, like muffins, because they are good on their own!

Indian Lentil Curry

2009-04-18T10:22:00.000-04:00

Goodness me, I've really got to start writing down recipes for my entries! The reason is because, well, recipes ruin my appetite. I'd rather smell and taste my food to gauge what needs to go into the pot, rather than consulting a check list of ingredients! This way, you can just make stuff from what you've got, and not have to go into town to buy a list of ingredients to make an exquisite meal.

So here is what got put into this curry:

oil
cumin, coriander, mustard seeds
cardamom pods, garam masala, ground cumin
onions, garlic and ginger
veggies (leftover chunks of veggies got put in, like eggplant, zucchini, etc)
cooked lentils, and some left over tofu
diced tomatoes and a splash of yogurt or something creamy (but sour is best)

When making curry - always carefully bring the oil in your pan to heat (not too hot, please don't let your oil smoke!) and then briefly sautee your seeds and spices (not herbs) for just a moment. Put in your chopped or pureed garlic, onion and ginger (to taste) and cook until aromatic, brown, or how you like it. Next, cook your veg until soft, add meat or beans, and cook in. Then this Korma-ish dish had diced tomatoes (or tomato paste) and a bit of yogurt put into it. The longer you let is simmer, the more delicious it becomes! Serve with rice (we made Indian rice to go with it, using turmeric and some other fun things, but won't blog about that right now).

Pear and Tofu Pudding

2009-04-16T10:17:00.000-04:00

I made this when I lost my voice last year. I ate so much of it that I did get my voice back, but I also got the scoots, as this lovely treat is super moistening for the body, which often results in moist bowels as well.

In a blender, add pear, soft tofu (not firm!) - and really, that could be all, but I also added almond extract, fresh and dried ginger, and a little green stevia.

It was really refreshing and can quench an insatiable thirst

(*Note - if you have an unsatiable thirst, it is better to eat fruits and moistening foods (like tofu) and even sea vegetables as oppose to continuously guzzling water, which can actually exasperate thirst when water is over drunk!)

Snacks for Your Stool

2009-04-14T10:11:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah.. these are good. Try to get the imagery of gigantic stools out of your head first tho, because it makes these less appetizing.

The reason I called them Snacks for Your Stool is because it's mostly ground flax. I put flax in a grinder, and then added tahini, flax oil and molasses. That's it - spread it on something snacky, e voila! A Snack for Your Stool

(I used at least 1/4 cup of flax seeds for this, plus I added some sesame seeds too, and I think pumpkin seeds got in there sometime too.. I like experimenting with something over and over to see what comes of it, and so I tried different seeds, and I'm sure nuts would work well too - but they're a little too rich for me right now, so I'm eating few of them).

KILL YOUR YEASTS!

2009-04-13T10:32:00.000-04:00

Yeast, or more specifically Candida Albicans, is a bacteria that should normally be 15% of your intestinal flora, however, with antibiotics, poor dietary habits, poor chewing habits, and excessive sweets or alcohol, candida tends to thrive and be the "man in charge" in your gut - which isn't good because candida is also a malicious fungus that can bore holes through you intestinal lining and make its way through your body tissues, plaguing your other nearby body parts with infection and fungus (such as a yeast infection) but also can be localized in the ears, mouth, liver, etc.. AND can sometimes be systemic, which means your entire body is filled with it, greatly taxing your immune system as it's ALWAYS cleaning up this culprit.

The candida bacteria have the job of cleaning up your waste foods, typically unchewed food, undigestible foods (such as maltodextrin and other zero-carb sugars), but otherwise eats leftover carbs in the body.

The resulting effects of a yeast (candida) overgrowth is

itchiness (ANYWHERE, nose, anus, feet, face, hands)
foggy headedness (as the metabolic byproduct of yeasts is ALCOHOL.. which means, you actually have alcohol in your blood stream, leaving you feel drunk and stupid!)
sluggish digestion and weird bowels
insatiable appetite, easily feel like you are overeating
edginess and inflammation (which go hand in hand)
moodiness
decreased energy
decreased immunity, and a host of other symptoms.

Basically, this fungus is like a parasite, constantly taxing your body, and as long as you've got it, you've got an infection festering inside of you - leaving your body sick and at war for as long as you've got it. Antibiotics are given to kill this baddie off, but it also kills the bacteria that check and balance the candida, giving you NO immune defense, which means the candida have an even easier time coming back. I really don't think there is a remedy that a doctor can give that will totally get rid of it that will last. Really, I believe that most people have this to some degree (more so the younger you are, because of the worsening of our diet and increase in antibiotic use) but remember that we should have some of it - but our healthy bacteria should be the majority party ruling our intestines, which keeps the bad boys in check. We're obsessed with sterility and anti-bacteria. But really, our ancestors have grown up with bacteria all their lives, its all around us, heck - we actually have more bacterial cells in our body than human tissue cells.. isn't that amazing? A forest floor has bacteria to help decay and breakdown to renew life, and so do we! I've always got something fermenting in the kitchen, whether on purpose (sourdough, sauerkraut, rejuvelac, etc) or unintentionally (leftover rice, beans, veg... these can sit out for quite a while, as long at the food is still 'sweet' and not foul, you're game for good bacteria!). We've got this same lovely fermenting bacteria in our gut (the good ones) but when you have candida, everything just molds and turns to fungus. But really, must we sterilize EVERYTHING!? Our food is so sterile, not even bacteria can survive from it - but it is this good bacteria that we thrive from!! Did you know that US almonds are ALL sterilized with a toxic chemical, so that NO bacteria can thrive from them? Gees, we've got pasteurized nuts now too!!

What do we suggest to get rid of this enemy inside us?

Don't overeat!.. and for heaven's sake - chew your food!! Especially carbs
Raw foods easily rot in the body, making it easier for the candida. "Rot" (breakdown) the food by cooking it first (therefore, eat mostly cooked foods)
Exercise, as fungus can't survive in an oxygen rich environment (picture hanging a mildewy cloth out on the line to get sun and air, and the mold disappears!)
Eat little salt, and ABSOLUTELY NO SWEETS, of any kind. Natural or refined (and definitely not artificial!! Stevia is tolerated however)
Avoid preservatives and other non-foods
Eat fermented foods, as they contain lots of GOOD bacteria (like acidophillus)
Don't eat cold foods or drinks, but drink tea and room temperature water moderately
Don't worry - worry worsens any damp condition, and don't force it, because you'll worry
Eat chlorophyll rich foods (green!) as it neutralizes toxins in your body and heals our tissues
AVOID bad oils, packaged foods, anything refined, overly floury foods (please, just eat a whole foods diet for goodness sake!!)

As I felt the onset of yeast last week (starting with an itchy nose), I started delving into sweets and ignoring it. It really started to bother me when my food didn't satiate me, which DRIVES ME NUTS!... So I did this therapeutic plan for three days and seriously kicked its ass.

(From Left to Right in the photo)

Dandelion tea/coffee - which cleanses the blood (especially effective if systemic)
Lavender essential oil - please be cautious, use 100% botanical and only do ONE drop every three days to start.. if you get a headache, you're using too much (cleansing reaction)
Oxygen - which just destroys yeasts on contact. Good for systemic as well, please don't overdo this as well (remedies 1-3 are HIGHLY cleansing and should be moderated) 20 drops a day to start (I did 100 drops a day, but I also had no cleansing reactions)
Sauerkraut (in back) - a bacterial supplement for the body, which helps check and balance the yeasts, takes their place when they die, and is rejuvenating for the tissues (HIGH in vitamin C!). An acidophillus supplement is advised as well, but I had already spent too much money on the remedies and needed low cost bacterial support. This sauerkraut is locally made, is raw (unpasteurized), and NO SALT - which is preferred for killing candida or any infection
Garlic - nature's antibiotic!! This KILLS any pathogenic microbobes BUT leaves the good ones standing, giving them a favourable place to proliferate!! Seriously, antibiotics kill life, good and bad, but garlic just kills the bad..... One clove eaten raw before a meal, sometimes best eaten with an apple slice, yogurt (another fermented food!) to soothe the digestive lining if the garlic burns too much. I ate a head in under 3 days! Too much!! Garlic is known in the East by sages to create emotional desire. This actually happened to me!! Desire arose, and I became very emotional. I stopped the garlic, and the desire went away - interesting lesson. (Sweets create desire as well... which just leaves us perpetually shackled to the things we desire!! Not good!)
Flax oil - healing for the digestive lining (to reduce inflammation), and rebuilding. Also satiates when you are in an "unsatiable mode"! Repairs the tissues that were aggravated by infection, and cleanses the liver (the body's filter) of junk while healing. Good stuff!
Aloe juice from inner fillet (not GEL - and NOT the WHOLE LEAF!!!). This stuff is magic. The sour flavour of the juice just gives away its healing and restorative properties (the sour flavour is healing to the liver as it is like soap, or a solvent to toxins, fatty residues, and all the other crap that is stored in the liver). It is also BUILDING!! Isn't this amazing!! It cleanses and builds at the same time!? It's an antimicrobial, like garlic, but builds the immunity, heals tissue and reduces inflammation, while keeping us cool and refreshed. This is a great pair for when using lavender oil or oxygen, as it "protects" us from the harsh reducing nature of the aforementioned remedies. Oxygen alone can create a feeling of light headedness and poor stability, but when combined with oxygen, keeps us centred, but clear as a bell. Drink 2-3 oz. a day to start (with 20 drops of oxygen) but up it if you can handle it and want to specifically heal short term. I drank the whole bottle of juice in 3 days, accompanied with larger doses of oxygen - but treated it acutely.

Typically, if the "infection" is acute, an short term and aggressive remedy is effective, however, if you suspect that you've had it for a while, and is chronic, it is best to do long term (.5 - 2 years?) and start with the dietary changes, while doing some remedies at a very low level for a longer period of time.

* NOTE: These are NOT to be taken as a daily preventative medicine, and we are not trying to replace the efforts of the medical system, and this is NOT a prescription. We are simply offering information, and what you do with it is up to you, and we will not be held liable for any healing effects or symptoms that may arise from it. Understood!? Any questions can be directed to Whole Foodies Michael and Sharla at foodies@wholefoodies.org

Oishii miso shiru (Delicious miso soup)

2009-04-12T09:33:00.000-04:00

If you've never tried cooking with miso before, I advise to go to your local natural foods (or Asian foods store) and pick some up RIGHT now..... go on.... I'll wait.

Miso is one of the best things period. How it tastes, what you can do with it, and what it represents.

I included a few pictures of when I was in Japan. One picture was inside a miso shop, and the other was the line up to the store because everyone wanted to buy miso. You could buy handmade miso locally, and this particular shop sold a lot. This lovely couple had prepacked bags available (shouldn't really be sold in plastic, because it does absorb), but you could also buy it out of the barrel (shown in front.. the man is looking at it). It was amazing!

Soy beans are fermented in these barrels along with koji - which is a bacteria created from rice used for soya sauce, sake, and amasake (literally sweet sake, which is the goop at the end of the sake barrel). The older it is (ie. more than a year) the saltier, darker and dankier it will be. Sweet, light coloured miso is sometimes only fermented for a few months or less.

Miso is 13 - 20% protein, has a profile similar to meat, contains plant sources of B12, (making it excellent for new vegetarians) is teeming with lactobacillus (same as yogurt), is alkalizing despite its building and high protein profile, neutralizes poisons in the body and effective at preventing radiation. This would be helpful for food poisoning as well! Awesome food? I think so.

It can be used for soups, sauces, seasonings, and you can find many recipes using miso in our blog. Here is a basic soup, often eaten for breakfast daily by the Japanese.

NEVER BOIL MISO - this kind of behaviour is punished in Japan (just kidding.. but not really)

Boil water and add veggies to soften them. Add seaweed, like wakame. Once veggies are soft, add tofu. At the very end, even when the soup is off of the burner, you can add miso. About 1 Tbsp per person or cup of water suits well. Stir and serve!

For plain miso, just add miso to boiled then slightly cooled water. That's it!! Easy!

Miso. It's what's for breakfast.. in Japan.

By the way, although the lineup picture was taken in front of the miso shop, those kids weren't really in line to buy miso, I just thought it was a beautiful picture of the street and store front of where we bought it from.

Vegetable & Sprout Scrambly Wambly

2009-04-10T08:58:00.004-04:00

Really.. sprouting is supposed to maximize the benefits of raw foods, thus it would make sense to eat them raw - as they are wee living organisms full of potential and life, just eager to bust out in the world and make a difference - well they do, definitely,.. on your liver, blood, heart and so on. But what if you feel like eating warm and cooked food, but also feel like the refreshing, energizing effects of sprouts. Cook 'em!!

By now I think I've probably insulted or offended the raw food advocate by cooking precious young greens as sprouts. I feel like I bastardized the food, like teaching a 2 year old swear words or something. Sure cooking destroys some of the benefits of their cleansing, reducing nature, but the sprouts contain so many more benefits than just they're reducing abilities - in fact, I'm not interested in reducing or cleansing right now, my focus is to build myself. Build my immunity, tissues, strength, liver, gusto.. you get it, and so I went with my instinct to cook these wiggly hair like green fellows. It was the first time I've ever done it.

I ended up eating about 3-4 large clamshells of sprouts that week, as greens always shrink when heated, and are much less rough getting down. They make my stomach happy. (Going back to clamshells.. I REALLY don't like those plastic tubs that greens and sprouts come in!! We've got to think of something better to transport those fellows in!... actually, solution: grow them yourself!) I usually don't buy the cramshell lettuces, greens and sprouts through the winter because it's not really what I crave (or need) in the winter, and it's so readily and locally available in the summer that you don't get them in those nasty plastic things, but it's spring now, and these dandy sprouts were hollering at me from across the store for me to put them in my basket, and consequently in my stomach (but first the pan). I digressed...

SO.. what is this beauty of a feast on my plate? Sauteed veg, then scramble eggs, then at the last moment (just after the eggs go in) toss in some sprouts and mix 'em around. In just a moment, when the eggs start solidifying - you're finished! I garnished with a half avocado and some spice.

Home-made Veggie Pate!

2009-04-03T21:15:00.000-04:00

As a treat, I occasionally like to get veggie pate from the natural food store and eat in on a sandwich or as a side to something fun, but I'd really like to be able to make it on my own so I can make it as a treat, instead of buy it, even though I like to support folks who make this kind of stuff and make it available in stores - because it is a nice treat!

So it's my first batch, and far from perfection, but this is what I did:

Blend the following in a food processor:

1-1/2 cups soaked buckwheat (from 3/4 cup dry)
1 cup oat flakes
1 cup diced eggplant
1/2 cup sesame seeds, ground
1/2 cup whole spelt flour, or other
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup each diced potato, onion, carrot
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Some salt

Oil a casserole dish, and put the blended paste into the dish. .. and I just realize that I didn't write down how long I cooked it for!! But I'm willing to bet it was at 350F for at least 45 minutes.. you could try that - but watch for the browness at the top, that might be an indication of how done it is.

As a side note, I actually bought some veggie pate from the store to compare mine to the "real" thing, and after having one bite of it before making it, I walked away to answer the phone or something, and when I came back, the dog had eaten the WHOLE thing with not a crumb left over. Yes folks.. it's just that good... mine was also very good... but maybe a little drier (I don't like using a lot of oil in my cooking, and I didn't get it so perfectly pureed as I could have.. but it was AWESOME.)

Stuffed Acorn Squash

2009-04-02T21:10:00.000-04:00

This was served on our Whole Foods Cooking Retreat, and it was a complete hit! Cooked with love for all the guests by Whole Foodies Sharla and Anna.. what a treat!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Bake squash face down in halves for 1/2 hr. at
350F. Cook rice in stock or water. Heat oil in a
skillet, and sautee onions and garlic, then add
remaining ingredients, as well as cooked rice.
Stir all ingredients like a stir fry, add to cooked
squash and top with feta.

1 acorn squash, split in 2
2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 cup black rice
1 onion
1 clove garlic
sun dried tomatoes
capers
parsley
herbs
bell peppers
feta

Awesomest Dinner Ever!

2009-04-01T21:02:00.000-04:00

This was an exceptional treat! Hand crafted by Whole Foodie Anna, this was a perfect winter meal that brought about bliss that lasted all evening.

Unfortunately, like me (Mike), Anna doesn't really use recipes or measure anything, which is awesome - measuring things kills my appetite, and using the right side of your brain to cook only fosters more love in the food!

So - squash soup, gently sauteed veggies with almonds and a subtle sauce, and then a crunchy millet salad, that Anna did agree to write out for me:

Crunchy Millet Salad

Sautee in water, cubed zucchini, onion, potato
Cook millet
Add these two things together along with:
Pumpkin seeds
Miso paste
Basil
Oil
Parsley
Spices - black pepper, dr. basil, curry, etc.

(I have a feeling there was garlic in there too, but she didn't write it down!)

Eat slowly and enjoy the poof of qi from this very digestive-fire stimulating dish!

Foods to get better by...

2009-03-31T20:53:00.000-04:00

OK - so I came down with a bug this month. I did alright, recovering in a few days, but what did I eat? I thought I'd take a picture for you!

From bottom left, clockwise:

Oven cooked oatmeal with apples and cinnamon and a bit of goat milk
Tea decoction including echinacea, ginger, lemon, fenugreek, thyme, fennel, flax, and a little licorice root (that was made for my condition on the day that I had it.. this isn't a catch-all solution)
Sprouted bread, slightly toasted
Pureed leftover soup stock ingredients
Water with oxygen and a little apple cider vinegar
Mochi (white,.. it was a gift) with nori paper

This was on the day that I noticed I was starting to heal, otherwise in the acute stages I'd suggest eating very little or only teas or foods cooked in lots of water (thus the soup stock!).. once the body starts to feel like it's winning, food is better suited if not overeaten, especially grains and cooked veggies. I picked at this tray all day... it was nice to have handy as I sat on my big pillow and let the healing juices flow.

Shabu shabu!

2009-03-30T20:44:00.000-04:00

Wow.. we're really on a Japanese theme here aren't we? Well, we just had a Japanese couple living with us, and of course we love the food of Japan, it's silliness, cartoons, and all it's Zen-ness.

So this is a traditional winter meal, not only eaten in Japan (although the name "shabu shabu" which is an onomatopoeia mimicking the sound of splashing your food in hot water) but eaten all over Asia in the hot pot style that indulged upon.

Using a portable burner on the table you eat at, bring a pot of water with seaweed to a boil, and then dunk cut vegetables and other foods into the boiling pot for a moment, and then retrieve them slightly cooked and delicious, and then dip into a sauce or shoyu before eating. This way, the meal is drawn out so incredibly long, that you can literally eat all night long.

Tofu can be used, meat, cabbage, leek, zucchini, carrot, mushrooms, daikon, etc.. anything that cooks in water! Serve with brown rice and edamame for some nice sides! And sake too of course!

OISHII!

(Pictured are Whole Foodies Sharla and Anna)

Okayu - soup for the sick Japanese soul

2009-03-29T20:37:00.000-04:00

North Americans reach for instant, MSG laden, refined and boxed chicken noodle soup when feeling ill - Japanese however reach for okayu. This is such an incredible healing tonic, I recommend it for anyone feeling 'off', or having poor energy or immunity and need to heal. This will do it!

The base, and power of this fantastic "soup" is the really well cooked rice in ample water. You can try grinding the rice first if you wish, to have it cook a little quicker, but otherwise cook 1 part brown rice to 4 parts water or more. The more time, the more water, the more healing magic.

In this thickish rice soup, add seaweed (kombu or wakame), chopped leeks or green onion, black pepper, cayenne, and/or ginger. And then finally, when at a boil, pour in a beaten egg or two, stir, and then reduce to a simmer and let it cook for as long as you can allow. If it gets too thick, just add water. AHH!!!...... healing, and surprisingly delicious despite the appearance from the photo - it really is good and nurturing!

Nabe = Japanese pot

2009-03-28T20:31:00.000-04:00

This is a winter food in Japan. Cooked in a pot (or known as 'nabe', the Japanese word for pot in Japanese) this dish is called "nabe" for obvious reasons.

Bring some water to a boil, and add seaweed like kombu or wakame, and then chop in lots of veggies - and some tofu, if you really want to embrace the spirit of Japan. We went all out and got all Japanese veggies, including hakusai (nappa cabbage), daikon (literally "giant root"), enoki (weird clustery mushrooms), and ninjin (carrot.. just showing off my Japanese).

Let's this infusion cook up until the veggies are soft, and then serve in soup bowls!

We added a dash of togarashi (7 pepper spice) on the top to give it some heat to the otherwise gently refreshing dish (despite it being served warm, the seaweed, water and veggie are nice and refreshing).

ITADAKIMASU!

Chocolate Pudding of my Gods

2009-03-27T20:22:00.001-04:00

Chocolate pudding like I've never tasted before.

Add these fine things into a blender or mixer, or something that whizzes things about:

cocoa powder (I used a "ruddy red" that was super dark.. so good)
maple syrup
soft tofu for a pudding, (or soft avocados if you want it thicker like mousse)
vanilla
whiskey or rum

That's it! Heaven in a bowl!

Sorry for no quantities.. that's just not how I cook. Try making it yourself and then adding more or less of something if you think it needs it!

Awesomest Lunch Ever!

2009-03-26T20:16:00.000-04:00

Wow. No recipe for this guy - so simple, which is almost the best recipe for whole foods cooking - simple.

Pictured clockwise from bottom to top:

Cooked grains

Gently sauteed veggies

Miso sauce (miso, tahini, shoyu, apple cider vinegar, honey, cumin, etc)

Roasted potato fingers with sesame oil, salt and pepper

Poached egg (we're really into eggs lately... they make our Kidneys happy)

Restore, Renew, Rejuvenate!

2009-03-26T18:28:00.004-04:00

I always think of the colon as party central, there are billions of bacteria living in the colon that support proper elimination and absorption of nutrients. They also boost our immune system by fending off certain pathogens and germs. These bacteria strains are known as probiotics and are the key to ultimate health and longevity. Sometimes a good party can turn bad, layering on greasy fried foods, processed and sugary foods, overeating and bad food combinations crashes the good vibe feeling and the once fun filled party is turned into a demolition bonanza that sadly leads to severe colon hangover. Your post party colon is left to deal with flatulence, sporadic movements, and smelly logs. How do you keep the good party going you ask?...well, start with inoculating your bowels with rejuvelac! Rejuvelac is a fermented drink that literally rejuvenates and supports your gut. It is one of the easiest and healthiest beverages to make. You can make rejuvelac with most any grain, it is most commonly made with wheat berries, but I have made it with kamut, rye, and barley.

Here is how to make your own rejuvenating party drink:

Soak about 1-1 1/2 cups of wheat berries or other hearty grain in enough cold water to cover by 1 inch in a sprouting jar with a mesh screen or any large jar

soak 8 hours or overnight

drain and rinse the grain, make sure all excess liquid is removed, you do not want your grains to be sitting in water

rinse your grain once or twice a day, to ensure proper moisture

your grain will start to sprout, once the sprout is a little longer than the seed itself, fill the jar back up with filtered water

set the jar on your counter or on a shelf away from direct sunlight

check the jar daily, once it is bubbly and smells sweet and fermented it is ready!

strain and pour into a clean jar or pitcher, keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Reserve the sprouted grain for crackers, cookies (see banana kamut cookie recipe below)

or for a yummy Mana loaf (sprouted bread)

Enjoy your Rejuvelac and party on!

Sprouted Banana Kamut Cookies!

2009-03-25T19:46:00.004-04:00

So what to do with 10 day leftover grain sprouts sitting in the fridge? They got really slimy, sticky, but were incredible fragrant with that delicious aromatic punch created from fermentation. The sprouts were used for sprouted bread, and so were only grown to about 1/2" long or shorter, which retains the grains starchy, meatiness that is required for bread making. If the sprouts were any longer, it would've become more like a veggie sprout and would've been more green and better for a sandwich, for instance.

So I've got quasi-fermented, half sprouted kamut, neglected and needing some love.

Step one: Dry them out - I laid them out on a baking sheet (I woefully used a non-stick although I usually avoid them.. but as they were so sticky and I didn't want to ruin the experiment, I really didn't want them to stick!)

Distribute them evenly on a the sheet, and leave them to dry in the oven at about 310 or so... not to cook them, just to dry up the sticky fermented film and give them a gentle pan toasting. I think I had them in there for 15 minutes, flipped them about, and then gave them another 10 or so...

Step two: Grind the dried, toasty grains in a grinder or something that will bring them to a paste.. like a wet flour. This is similar to making sprouted bread, but I toasted them first.

Step three: Add in a bowl and mix:

ground, sprouted, toasted grains (about 1-1/2 cups.. give or take)
1/3 cup oat flakes
1/2 cup spelt flour
1 mashed banana
1 tsp dried ginger and cinnamon each
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp ghee or butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Step four: Grease up your baking sheet with some of the ghee/butter, set the oven to 375F, wet your hands with cold water, and then form little balls with the mixture. Press them down into cookies on the cookie sheet.. I made 3 large and 2 small with my batch, but I'm sure far more can be made with more ingredients or improvising.

Step five: Bake for 30 minutes (I did 35 minutes, but the bottoms got to browned, and the still set nicely). Take them out and let them cool in a place where air can get underneath... like a wire rack. Wait until the set a little.. and enjoy!

These cookies had such a neat taste and aroma - something I've never tasted before. So earthy, hearty, almost with a beer-like dank to them... rich and sweet tasting, but not heavy or powerful. Just a wallop of that centred-sweet flavour you can only get from grains - especially fermented! Yum!

Note: As with anything fermented, please use your nose to determine the 'quality' of the food! I have never had a failed fermentation project (more like accident!), but I always throw things away if the smell is putrid and foul. Good luck!

Baked Tempeh, Eh!

2009-03-03T13:19:00.000-05:00

Baked tempeh is so hearty, it's almost as rich as meat! Almost the only source of vegetable based B12, tempeh is a fermented soy food that has oodles of protein. Baked tempeh is so hearty, it's almost as rich as meat, in fact my dog Jack liked it so much he ended up eating most of the tray to my surprise. I'm not sure if I should scold him or reward him eating such an eloquent food.

Make a marinade of:

-chopped green onions

2 Tbsp miso paste

1/3 cup tahini

3 tablespoons of water

1 crushed clove of garlic

(and a little honey if your tahini is bitter)n

Slice and spread out the tempeh as shown in a casserole dish, and then pour the marinade over the tempeh and let it sit. Bake it at 375 for 20 minutes. The liquid should evaporate so you have a nice coating of yumminess on the tempeh once its done. YUM!

Oat Bran Muffins

2009-03-03T12:39:00.003-05:00

These fellas are flourless and full of fiber and bowel stimulating goodness! They're pretty hearty and sweet for the amount of sweetener that goes into it - I'm guessing you use less sweetener and they would still come out tasty and delicious.

1 cup chopped apple (about 1 apple)

1 cup chopped pitted prunes

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup yogurt

1/4 oil

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp grated orange peel (use only organic)

2 cups oat bran

2 tsp baking powder (alum free please!)

Preheat the oven to 400F

Line a muffin tin with paper cups. Prepare the apples and prunes and set them aside, so that they'll be ready to stir into the batter later on.

Whisk together the maple syrup, yogurt, oil and egg. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Fold the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients until just wet. Stir in the chopped apples and prunes.

Divide the batter into the cups, filling almost to the top because they don't rise much.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean if inserted.

Burn-Your-Mouth-Off Salad

2009-02-23T17:58:00.000-05:00

This was made by my sister-in-law but is very blog worthy. For a wintery winter, I haven't been making a lot of green salads. So this was refreshing, but also face melting due to it's extremely high proportion of raw garlic present in the salad!!

Garlic is just amazing!! It's an antibiotic, antimicrobial, antifungus, antiparasitic, .. need I go on? It just drives stuff out of the body, typical of all pungent foods. Ever notice that when you eat a pungent food (like garlic, or horseradish) that the energy in our body seems to ascend and go outwards? This is the nature of pungent food - so if you have something that you want to drive out of you, use pungent foods!! A cold is a good example too.. a little bug is trying to hide out in our body, and raw garlic just drives it right out of the body... at first, but if you continuously do it, it can have a reversed effect. So, pungent foods in moderation are excellent. A refreshing salad with greens and chick peas are a perfect thing to accompany some hell-inspired raw garlic to drive out the baddies in your digestive tract, and depending on how well you digest the fiery fall root, it might clean out your colon too.

It has such potency for eliminating garbage from the body, that it is often too strong for people with hard-working livers. Signs of a hard-working liver might include flatulence and digestive discomfort after eating raw onions or garlic. The best solution?: don't eat them!! You can cook them, and it will help, but until your liver has done it's work and is able to relax, avoiding pungent white vegetables might be helpful. If it doesn't bother your digestion, then the white "spicy" root veggies like the aforementioned onion and garlic are nicely stimulating for the liver - creating a "get up and go" feeling, stimulating the body, blood, mind and qi.

So there you go - a whole blurb about garlic, and that's all I've got, as I have no clue how this salad was made. There were chick peas and greens and a magnificent dressing that only sister Krista can make, and so I'll leave it at that. Oh yes, carrots and cashews I can see in there as well... AWESOME SALAD!

Home-style Brown Rice Bake

2009-02-22T17:48:00.000-05:00

Ooh! This tasted better than it looked, simply because it was in the oven for a LONG time, and little veggies and grains tend to get a little extra brown around the outside making it look not so fresh, but the cooking time in the dish made it a yummy ray of digestive qi emanating from that delightful cooking pot (all ceramic, which means stove and oven proof).

Cook some brown rice on the stove top with 2:1 water (so 2 cups water for 1 cup rice)

Sautee in veggies with some oil:

onions

garlic

carrots

mushrooms

Once soft add the cooked rice and stir.

Crack in 2 eggs and stir those in until mixed and scrambly.

Add black pepper, nuts, beans, whatever, and a little tamari to richen it.

Pop it into the oven and let it bake for a while!! If company is coming over in an hour, set the oven low and check on it, but if dinner is waiting, you don't need to bake it, or pop it in the oven for a very short time at moderate heat (375F?)

Garnish with fresh herbs like parsley if you wish!! It might make it look "fresher" looking if it's been in the oven for a while!

Sautee in the pan the veggies. Add

Goose Poop Sandwich

2009-02-21T17:32:00.000-05:00

Doesn't this look like s#!+?

Well, it's home-made, and I know what you're thinking. I don't own any geese, or wild animals for that matter. This treat does looks weird... but I guess, yeah, it was weird - but pretty good!!

So I was in the mood for bitter and building. Why bitter? It reduces things, or at least gives it a descending nature, and I wanted something to bring me down a notch and solidify my base. So this I did.

What did I do to create this messy snack food that I need not worry about running to the patent office with due to its gastly appearance?

First I ground up some almonds (let's pretend they were soaked and then drained/dried, as I usually do, but I actually forgot in this case), along with.. well heck, I'll just write down the recipe for you:

Grind in a magic bullet/mini-mill thingy

-almonds

-black sesame seeds

-raw cacao nibs

-flax seeds (brown ones)

-spirulina

-goat colostrum... yep, threw that in there to make it a "SUPER FOOD".. colostrum is my new superfood, I don't think science has got a whiff of it yet, and so I'm glad so it's not abused and on every product in the health section of the grocery store.. like acai... that word makes me gag due to it's over-popularity.. it's a berry for crying out loud!! It's not gold.. anyways, I digress..

Blend that super fibery weird mess in the mill until it's pasty. Add:

-flax oil

-molasses (all I had on hand, not by choice, otherwise I would've used yacon)

-drop of goat milk to make it a little liquidy

Blend again (put this time it will be buttery and mushy)

Dollop the goop out onto a rice cake or something not-bitter (that would just overload the bitter senses of your tongue) and prepare for some building and grounding. It would actually make a lovely Yin tonic for women just after, or during their menses. The black colour in food magically replenishes blood and gives us some support during this time.

Also, don't forget that I made this whole thing up (like alot of things), so if you want to play with it, try anything. Just grind up stuff, add some oil, .. and spices go nicely too, like cinnamon,.. eh voila!! Goose poop.

Potato and Carrot Gratin

2009-02-20T17:19:00.000-05:00

This was too easy and a little too comforting as well. Comfort food to the bone!

Slice potatoes and root veggies (in this case onion and carrot, but Jerusalem artichoke works too) and put them in a mixing bowl. Using a mandoline makes slicing these guys easy, but you can use a knife too - just be careful!

Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine the veggies with olive oil, garlic, rosemary and salt and pepper. Lay this mixture in a casserole dish (as shown). Then pour the soup stock over the mixture and bake for 1 hour or soft.

Take the dish out of the oven and cover it with cheese. Bring the oven up to 400F and bake for 10 minutes more!

We ate it with brown rice.. yum yum!

Easy to follow recipe:

Slice 'em up:

---------------

Some potatoes

Some onions

Some carrots or other roots

Some garlic

Mix in:

---------

3 Tbsp olive oil, or more

2 tsp. rosemary (less if it's dried)

salt & pepper

Pour over:

-------------

1-1/4 cup soup stock or white wine (you might need more)

Add when cooked to finish:

-------------------------------

1/2 cup grated cheese.. like parmesan or something bold and pungent!

Herbs to dress it up later? I'll leave that up to you!! Garnish as you wish!

Poo Balls

2009-02-13T14:59:00.002-05:00

Eat these and then poo them out.

1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup honey or yacon
2 Tbsp raw sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp tahini or almond butter
1/2 cup ground flax
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, plus more for garnish
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 Tbsp carob or cocoa powder

Pulse sunflower seeds in a blender or food processor into a rough powder. Combine all ingredients into a stiff and slightly crumbly dough. Press into balls and roll in the extra shredded coconut. Eat em and poop em out!

Gut Feelings

2009-02-13T14:56:00.002-05:00

The colon is one of the hardest working organs in the human body. It absorbs water and nutrients and eliminates waste that our body no longer needs. From the moment we take our first bite of food, our body starts the digestion process in our mouth, then down to the stomach, small intestines and finalizing the process in our colon. Not a lot of thought is given to this amazing activity, but when you think about turning food into energy that supports and nourishes our body, and the fact that this happens without our effort, it deserves to be praised. Our colon wants us to talk about it, it wants to be nourished, and it wants to stay healthy and moving. There are several ways of doing this, first, talk about your colon to your friends and family and see if they are feeling connected with their colons. This is the first step of colon awareness. Next, think about what your colon does for you everyday, it absorbs and eliminates. Notice what kind of message it is trying to send to you, if it is a nice long lengthy letter with lots of content, then it is happy, if it is sending you a brief memo that is slim on details and is lacking in interest, then maybe it needs some attention, if you are getting morse code, sputtering, lots of breaks, one word stuttering, more than likely your bowels are in need of some serious maintenance. Sometimes, the colon does some whispering or shouting, sometimes this happens in the most inopportune times, such as a movie theater or while giving a speech in front of hundreds of people. This could indicate an upcoming bowel movement or it could indicate some putrefaction of poorly digested foods. Usually if the paint is coming of the wall or you want to run away from yourself, this indicates poor absorption of vital nutrients and that food is actually rotting in your gut. Poor food combining, overeating and eating too many processed foods can be the result of Armageddon-like gas. To improve the output of your colon and eliminate destructive vapors, eat things that your whole body benefits from especially your colon. Fiber rich foods such as whole grains, beans, vegetables and fruits provide the colon with what it needs. Fiber is like nature’s toothbrush, it scrubs away built up plaque in the intestines and keeps things moving along. Fiber also absorbs water and provides moisture to the colon which helps in absorption of nutrients and formation of waste matter. Our gut holds the key in our overall health and well being, the large intestines holds trillions of bacteria known as probiotics (life sustaining), and comprises 60-70% of our immune defense. Disease, illness, fatigue, allergies (including food), brain fog to name a few are directly related to the health of the colon. If you find you are suffering from one or many of these maladies, it is a good indication that your colon is in distress and in need of support. There are many ways to help your colon perform at it’s ultimate potential, see the next page for our handy guide to having healthy bowels!! SC

Let’s Talk About You... and Your Poo

2009-02-13T14:52:00.001-05:00

Everyone always gets the giggles when I start talking about poo. Stool, as it is more formally known, is rarely talked about and usually disregarded, but is an important aspect when considering our health. Why? Because it is the solid waste that comes out of us.

We are so focused on what we put into our bodies, we forget to consider what comes out, or rather, what stays in - which is most important. It’s crucial that our wastes are properly eliminated, because what we don’t eliminate hangs around in our bowels and putrefies, creating poisonous gasses, parasites, and destroying our delicate intestinal tissues. Not only is our colon affected, but the permeable bowel is a site of absorption (a healthy colon produces some vitamins!), which means an unhealthy colon also leeches out poisons into our blood. This poisonous blood is a tax on our immune system as well as our liver, and when the poisons are collected and sent for excretion, they end up back in our colon, where we can potentially reabsorb them. It’s like holding in a fart - the gas actually goes into our body, making us a little sick, and then gets recollected and brought back down to the colon. This continuous loop of poison hangs around in people for years and years, aging them dramatically and just making them sicker and sicker. Now you see why it’s important to have good bowel movements, we have to get stuff out so we don’t poison ourselves!! (Which is called autointoxication).

How do we know if we are fully evacuating our bowels every time we go number two? Whenever we have a bowel movement that requires excessive wiping, in other words, if your stool is sticky and requires a lot of clean up, then assume that your colon got lined with that same sticky residue as it passed through your bowels. Multiply that by the number of times you go to the bathroom, and suddenly you start to build up a thick coating of hardened residual feces in your colon that is very difficult to move. As this rubbery coated tube of impacted feces accumulates, your body tries harder and harder to get rid of it, resulting in an irritable bowel, diarrhea or cramping. So what might seem like chronic diarrhea, is actually a very deep form of constipation, as the real problem is the impacted feces that cannot be eliminated! Like I said before, this hardened, caked-on feces is a primary site for infection, parasites, gasses, but can lead to cancer, diverticulitis, polyps, and leaky gut syndrome. The only real, and likely solution to these problems then is to get rid of the hardened feces.

The result of colon cleansing, and the graphic images resulting from it are so dramatic, people cannot believe their eyes. Literally, yards of rope-like, fecal mass come out of the body, weighing in pounds - that’s right, even up to 15 pounds of feces could be impacted without our knowing, and contributing to that extra weight around your midsection. Where this level of colon cleansing needs to be done with a professional, you can start today with very gentle cleansing by improving your diet that can be done over time, or at least will start preventing the accumulation of these residues and slowly break them down.

Meat is probably the number one problem for sticky stools, in all my vegetarian days, and especially vegan - I have never experienced a “sticky” or mucky stool. Animal flesh simply has no fiber and is very gummy. However, that’s not to say that meat should be avoided - it’s just best avoided if the aforementioned problems are a concern, usually if the eater isn’t eating enough plant based foods which contain a lot of fiber. Fiber, and water, are the keys to healthy bowels. Fiber is the part of the plant that cannot be broken down, and so is passed through the colon, acting like a gentle brush that sweeps the intestinal lining and preventing the build up of residues. Fiber is found in ALL unrefined plant based foods - and I say unrefined because when grains are refined, it is always the straw-like fiber that is first milled away, making refined grains the second biggest problem in sluggish bowels. Just like white flour can easily make paper-mache, so can it gum up our bowels, making them sticky, gluey and leaving slimy residues all the way along your insides. As there are two kinds of fiber, we’ll call them hard and soft, all sorts of plant based foods should be eaten, not just bran, which is a very “hard” fiber that can actually scratch and hurt an inflamed colon if not eaten with enough “soft” fiber, predominately found in vegetables, such as a potato. So some high fiber foods to make perfect stools include:
beans and legumes
nuts and seeds
grains (always whole)
all fruits and vegetables (although fruit can sometimes provoke infections if present)

Interestingly, this list contains all of the plant-based foods, like I said, they all have them, just eating enough of them is the trick. I suppose seaweeds should be included in the list as well, but their fiber is negligible, but is very moistening for the bowels and assists in the physiological functions. A standard North American diet is at least half animal based, and I’m willing to bet the other half entirely refined with very little vegetables in the diet. This leaves very little fiber to take out the trash. A minimum 25-35 g of daily, dietary fiber is recommended, but most north americans consume only 50% to as little as 20% of these numbers. What does a whole food nutritionist eat? About 50 g of fiber in a day, simply because all of my food is rich in fiber. Fiber has countless benefits besides just healthy stools, making a plant-based, fiber rich diet exceptionally healthy.

How much stool should we be producing? Here’s a brief guide to help you:
2 fingers width
forearm length
banana like consistency, but easily broken apart upon agitation
natural curve to it (not straight and rigid)
2 to 3 times a day (or after each meal)
not painful to pass, nor urgent, nor straining - it should be passed easily

Considering the majority of people have one bowel movement per day, and a huge percentage have one less than every 3 days, I’d say we have a constipation problem in our country! And we do, laxatives are a $350 million dollar business and sales are going up!! Especially with the increase of a carb-less diet, and the increase of meats and cheeses in the diet, making the bowels even worse. Source here.

Another cause of constipation is stress, which tenses up our muscles and keeps things in. Relaxation is key to eliminating, which is why eating when relaxed, and digesting in a relaxed manner helps the bowels along wonderfully. Interestingly, in times of economic down turn, laxative sales go up from the stress (and poor diet?), and when the economy is booming, deodorant sales go up, I suppose from all the partying! Source here.

One last aspect to healthy bowels is movement. The body forms good consistent stools when the body is in motion. Whether you’re on your feet at work, or going for a stroll at night, activity greatly helps the bowels along, and I can attest to that as I’ve attended a 10 day retreat where I remained seated for the entire duration, making my bowel movements very irregular and scarce despite the high fiber diet I was eating. Lemons are what saved the day for me, the sour flavour has a contracting nature that aided the bowels when I needed it. For some, licking a little salt helps the impetus, or bitter, as in a coffee or bitter herb tonic. Japanese finish off their meals with a salty, sour ferment, and in some European countries, a bitter bite or beverage finishes off a meal nicely. But above all, as always, do NOT overeat, as this greatly stagnates the system and the bowels. Good luck and happy pooping!

Breakfast of Champions

2009-02-10T02:17:00.005-05:00

Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. I see many people in the morning make the mad dash out of their front door to their car with a large mug of coffee and a bagel clenched between their teeth. Coffee and simplified carbs wont be able to sustain you for very long and eating on the run can give you the runs or stop traffic in your end. Making yourself a nourishing breakfast is a great way to start your day and to support great digestive fire throughout the whole day. Here is a breakfast of Champions, filled with protein, vitamins and nutrients.

Start by heating a small dollop of ghee in a heavy skillet (you can also use unrefined sesame oi)

saute a handful of thinly sliced onions until just cooked through

add a handful of chopped collard green or swiss chard

add diced shiitake or crimini mushrooms

add 1/4 cup of tomato, either fresh or canned organic diced tomatoes, with a bit of juice

put in some dried oregano, fennel, or thyme to your taste

salt and pepper to taste

add 2 whisked eggs with a pinch of salt to skillet when vegetables are cooked through

mix everything together and stir until eggs are done

Serve with saurkraut, and half of an avocado, with dulse, lemon and hemp oil

put a pinch of cayenne on your eggs or use your favorite hot sauce. Enjoy!

Ethiopian Excitement

2009-02-01T15:05:00.000-05:00

My first time sampling Ethiopian food! Shazam!

Sharla treated us to this delectable dish and my taste buds were thoroughly impressed!

Served on "injera" a flat, spongey bread made of teff flour, we had our nosh in little piles ready to be eaten with our hands, using the injera. So neat!

Whole foods to a 'T', we ate beans, veggies, and grain sides that I still haven't wrapped my mind around yet (but my injera had no problems wrapping around it... neither did my mouth), I think I have to do some research into traditional Ethiopian cooking as this was just too good to be real.. but it was,. I assure you!! These pictures are real!! I hope we go back next time I'm in Chicago, I'll take some more pictures and blog again.

Canadian Root Veggies

2009-01-31T14:58:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the gruesome photography in this post, but I am excited to share this recipe!!

Sautee some root veggies (I used parsnips and carrots, but beets work too) in a whack of butter, then when soft add some walnuts and this sauce:

1/3 part soya sauce

1/3 part maple syrup

1/3 part whiskey (or rye, as they call it in Canada)

Be generous with the quantities and really let them cook and caramelize.

This can also be done in the oven, or on a BBQ wrapped in foil.

Yummy! You can also be a real Canadian and try this recipe with salmon!

The picture shows the veggies as a side to Sharla's exquisite red cabbage and tempeh sensation.

How Do You Like Your Potatoes?... Crrrrisp!

2009-01-30T14:53:00.000-05:00

Why would you eat potato chips when you can just eat these instead?

Finely slice your potatoes using your articulate knife skills, or using a mandolin (not the instrument, but the kitchen gadget) and lay the slices out on an oiled pan (use olive or sesame as it holds up better to heat) and coat the slices with oil as well. Sprinkle ample savoury seasonings onto the slices, such as oregano, thyme, sage, black pepper, and use a little sea salt too.

Slide 'em into the oven at 350F and cook them until your desired crispiness! Don't cook them too long otherwise the oil with burn and turn bitter and bad for you!

Tip: Try cutting the thickness of the potatoes uniformly so that they cook evenly, otherwise some will burn, and some will be undercooked!

Lung Boosting with White Foods

2009-01-29T14:46:00.000-05:00

White foods influence the Lungs and Large Intestine according to Chinese Medicine. Why? Because they moderate and balance moisture in these elimination organs. Some white foods are drying, some moistening, but they do aid these organ systems. In this dish, I've used drying white root vegetables; parsnips, onion and white carrot. Using warming ginger and garlic just gives it that extra drying capability, and the tofu doesn't dry us right off the planet as it gently moistens the lungs so we can breathe deep and exchange more air.

This was a simple side, and served on a bed of grains, probably quinoa, I've been eating this grain a little more often than usual - I don't know why... it feels good.

This whole thing was sauteed in a bit of sesame oil, shoyu, spices and a touch of rice vinegar. Yum yum!

The Whole Root n' Capoodle

2009-01-28T14:43:00.000-05:00

Feeling lazy? Do this: wash some roots, toss em in a dish, rub em down with oil, sprinkle them with herbs and spices, and bake them until soft, I'd say 350F for an hour. If pieces are larger then others, cut them so they are similarly sized, otherwise just put them in whole, unpeeled and unchopped.

They reheat nicely too - just keep cooking them and they just keep getting softer!!

You might have to add a little water to the bottom of the pan if they get beyond dry.

Sweet Milly Bake

2009-01-27T14:36:00.000-05:00

Toast some millet in a dry oven proof pot. I added some spices like cinnamon, cardamom as well as some raisins and other fun things (seeds maybe?)

Once sufficiently toasted, add some water to it and bring it to a boil. You can use apple juice as well too, to make it sweeter and more desserty. Once boiling, put on the lid and pop it into a preheated oven!

Once cooked, after 30 - 60 minutes, you can reduce the heat and just keep it warm in the oven. With more liquid, you can cook it for longer and get it softer and sweeter. Less water will take less time to cook, but it will be more granular, dry and tough (but still good!)

This reheats nicely in the oven as well, and you can add to it later too, turning it into a quasi apple crisp or something fun.

Quinoa Ragout

2009-01-26T14:30:00.000-05:00

A variation on a ragout pasta, but with quinoa instead!

Cook grains in a pot:

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Start the sauce in a large pan:
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp ea. thyme, oregano, fennel
1 cup cabbage, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
2 carrots, chopped

1-1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 fistfulls of greens

Start by adding quinoa and water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes covered, and then let sit until ready.

In a large pan, heat oil, then seed spices, then onion until onion is clear or golden coloured. Add the chopped vegetables and remaining spices, and cook covered until desired texture, adding water occasionally if necessary. Once the veggies are cooked, add the sauce, greens and quinoa together in the pot or serving dish and enjoy!

Quinoa Greens Salad

2009-01-25T17:32:00.005-05:00

Instead of pasta salad, why not have grains salad! Whole grains are less refined, more nutritious and awesome.

1-1/2 cups quinoa

3 cups water

bit of salt

1/4 to 1/3 cup oil, to taste

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 fist of herbs

1 fist of greens

1 chopped red onion

1 chopped tomato

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup feta (or more)

Cook up the quinoa while making a "salad" made up of the veggies and dressing. Mix together the salad with the grains and cheese, et voila!

Put sides of sauerkraut, greens, beans, whatever, to go with it!

(In this posting, I made my own goat cheese - as shown - please see our videos to learn how to make your own cheese!)

Yaki soba (grilled buckwheat noodles)

2009-01-21T20:13:00.000-05:00

Start by sauteeing onions, garlic, leeks, whatever your fancy with some warm spices, such as mustard seed, black pepper, cayenne, or togarashi, which is Japanese 7 pepper spice.

Add cabbage, you can add lots because it really reduces as it cooks and then set aside (or if you don't make a lot, you can do the next step right in the same pot). Add some tamari/shoyu and a dash of orange juice to give it some body.

Put some strained boiled buckwheat noodles (which take about 4 minutes from start to finish) into the pan (with oil.. unrefined please) and stir, with more spices if you like.

Crack some eggs right into the noodles and give 'em a stir-stir. They'll sorta scramble right in as you mix the noodles, you can add a little more heat with some cayenne, or coolness with shoyu in this step too if your dish is a little weak. The yang of the spices and yin of the tamari really bring out the subtle flavour of the veggies and soba noodles.

Once cooked, add (if not already added) it all together and eat!! Use chopsticks, it's more fun that way.

This is a very popular Japanese dish, except in Japan they use ramen type noodles (but still called soba), TONS of salt, pork and less cabbage - and far more soya and spice. It's good too, and very cultural, but I prefer the healthier option of which I am presenting to you!

Pizza delish

2009-01-20T20:22:00.000-05:00

Once you have your sourdough crust recipe mastered, you can start making world famous fantasy pizzas!!.. or you can just buy a premade crust, which is ok too.. I guess. :)

Making a pizza is simple. Add ingredients that are fun, and bake.

This one had spinach, garlic, leek, goat mozzarella (quick tip, actually pronounced "monzerella".. my aunts in-laws are Italian) zucchini, tomatoes, dill, and of course sauce. There may have been cumin and fennel seeds and parsley, but I don't remember. Maybe basil, again, don't remember here -- making pizzas are so exciting I barely remember a thing afterwards.

Pop 'em in the oven until they look done, and.. you're done!! Easily as that... (crust is a different story, see previous blog!)

Enjoy!

The Patient Pizza (sourdough crust)

2009-01-20T19:42:00.001-05:00

Above: sponge after rising

Above: sponge before rising

Above: starter when bubbly

The sour flavor enters the Liver - according to Chinese health philosophies, but so does patience, which this recipe calls for quite a bit of - making it very healing for those with swollen stagnant Livers (easily angered, irritable or impatient). Patience is the key to this delicious, important component to any fantasy pizza, as well as a healthy flowing Liver.

The beauty with souring your own food in your house is that you draw on the natural bacteria in your own home, creating a culture that you naturally live with. As healthy bacteria are key to a healthy gut and immune system, this recipe, in essence turns the bacteria in your living environment into your immune system! Making your every breath in your home strengthening for your gut and immunity, rather than fighting the natural bacteria in your house - you turn it into you!! Be one with your home!!

Start by adding 1/4 cup of whole grain flour (I used spelt) in a CLEAN jar (remember, you will spawn whatever bacteria are growing in there) with 1/4 cup water and dropped in a raisin. Choose organic, cause harsh chemicals on the surface of the raisin (sprays) can potentially kill your bacteria - and the naturally occurring bacteria on the surface will be healthier (the bacteria are the white film normally seen on grapes, raisins, cabbage, etc). I also stirred in one capsule of a digestive enzyme to start the fermenting - but you can spit in it to get it started too. Haha.. just kidding... but really it works. I haven't tried it. Gross.

Put a lid on the jar LOOSELY so you can draw bacteria from the air. Sealing it tight will do nothing.. maybe it will mold before it bubbles up and sours. Stir the starter daily and check on it. After a day or two, or three - depending on the warmth of the jar, it will begin to be bubbly, fragrant and sour! Fermentation!!

Quick! Feed it by doubling it, add another 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water and stir.

Let it bubble away again, this time it will be faster. Again, once soured, double the batch by adding 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water. Once that is bubbled up, you are ready for some crust action.

Dump the total of 1 cup flour starter into a large mixing bowl and add 3 cups of water and 4 cups of flour (the same as the starter, but others can work - actually, you can put anything in there, leftover rice, oatmeal, etc - it will get "eaten" up by the fermentation and look uniform once soured.) This sticky mush is called a "sponge" and acts as an in between for your final dough and the starter. Let this rise, covered (preferably with a damp cloth... and don't have it open because if a fly falls in there, you will be culturing more than bacteria!) for 2 hours and up to a day or so.. just let is rise and get sour too.

Stir in another 3 - 4 cups of flour just until it's soft and doughy and able to be kneaded. If it's too sticky and sticks to your hands, add more flour. You'll also want to flour your wooden board/surface you're kneading on so that doesn't stick too. Knead for about 5 minutes to work the gluten and get the air out.

Roll it out into crusts (or at this stage, roll it into loaves if you're making bread) with a floured rolling pin, and set it on a floured baking sheet/stone.

Put it into a cold oven and let it rise again for about an hour, or more. You speed it up you can add a shallow pan of hot water in the oven to make it warm and moist for the lovely bacteria to spawn even faster. Bacteria seem to reproduce when the conditions are hot and sweaty.

After about an hour, but up to a day!!.. (although this can make the crust/bread tougher) turn on the oven to 350F without disrupting the crust (so it stays risen) and bake it for about 30 - 45 minutes (a loaf would be 375F for 60 minutes). Once it looks cooked through, take it out - dress it up and make a pizza, cooking for another 15 minutes or until your cheese is cooked or however you like it.

It's alot of work, and I'm sure you'd be a little 'crusty' if your pizza is a flop after all that effort, but chances are it will turn out great (souring is pretty fool proof) and will taste like no other crust you've ever tried!! Delish!!

*As a note, after you've dumped your starter into the mixing bowl, leave just a little bit in the bottom of the jar, and you can add 1/4 cup of flour and water each to remake the starter, which will be quick.. you only have to start your starter once. Once it's going, it just keeps on going and going and going and.....

Huevos Rancheros

2009-01-19T19:38:00.002-05:00

Another dish from our ceremonial breakfast out to commemorate the painting of our kitchen. Huevos Rancheros with a whole wheat wrap, roasted vegetables, poached eggs, and a hollandaise sauce. It just couldn't be finished... it was too good to overeat.

California Benedict

2009-01-19T19:33:00.003-05:00

Ooo!! Two poached eggs, grilled tomato & avocado on a marinated portobello mushroom with a hollandaise sauce!

This a special breakfast that I went out to eat with my parents-in-law to celebrate the painting of our kitchen, ...and to avoid making a mess in our ready to paint, primed kitchen!

It was a treat!

Sprouted Loaf of Love

2009-01-17T12:47:00.004-05:00

Feeling down? Try hugging a sprouted loaf!...or making one. Making sprouted bread couldn't be easier, it just needs a bit of loving attention, it is kind of like having a pet, except that it won't shred your favorite chair or knock all of your plants off the window. Place 1 cup of whole millet and 1 cup of whole kamut in separate bowls. Add enough water to cover by 1 inch, and soak over night or if you prefer early morning and soak all day. Drain after 10-12 hours. Place a kitchen towel over each bowl and set them in a cool dark area, rinse every 6-8 hours, or if you notice the grains are becoming too dry. You do not want your grains totally wet all the time, but you want enough moisture to keep them alive. After a few days of rinsing and draining, you will see the grains growing tails or sprouts, after they have grown to about the same size or a bit longer than the grain, it is ready for loaf action! Place both the millet and kamut in a blender, put on low speed to start, and use a tamper to help incorporate the grains. Pulse the mixture so the blender doesn't overheat. You can also do this step in a juicer with a blank screen. If your blender is having a hard time, add a tiny bit of water. Take out your dough and work it into a loaf shape of your choice, a ball, a disc, a discoball, then place in an oven preheated to 250 degrees F. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until slightly golden. Take out of the oven, hug it, slice it, and eat it!

Buckwild Sesame Soba Noodles

2009-01-17T01:22:00.008-05:00

I am on a buckwheat soba noodle kick right now! Buckwheat is a wonderful way to obtain your Bs; B1 and B2. Some of the nutrients go into the water when cooking soba, so add some of the cooking liquid to your sauce. This noodle dish is made with black sesame paste (tahini), if you can find it, it is wonderful and more nutritious than its paler counterpart. I like the darkness of this dish, almost black in color, I want to put it on my head and wear it like hair! Well, it is probably better to eat it than wear it.

Cook the buckwheat soba noodles in boiling water until al dente (tender firm), strain, run under cold water until noodles are hot but still warm. Set aside.

For the sauce:

3 Tbsp black sesame tahini or light tahini

1 Tbsp almond or cashew butter

1 tsp agave nectar or honey

2 Tbsp brown rice vinegar

2 Tbsp shoyu soy sauce or tamari

1 tsp unrefined toasted sesame oil

1 1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 Tbsp water (cooking liquid)

Combine all ingredients for sauce until it is a smooth paste, adjust flavors to your liking.

Stir sauce into the noodles, top with shredded carrots, scallions, sesame seeds and shredded nori.

Spicy for your noodle!

2009-01-16T15:13:00.012-05:00

This soup is so yummy and has a bit of a kick, so adjust this to your heat level. I went to a Thai restaurant recently to have some soup and there was a note at the bottom of the menu that said, 'all dishes spiced to your testes'. Okay, I am assuming that is a typo, but then I looked around and found that there were only men eating in the restaurant... coincidence? hmm, strange.

for the broth:

put 2 cups of vegetable broth, 1 dried shiitake mushroom, 1 piece of kombu seaweed, 2 slices of fresh ginger and a splash of tamari in a soup pot. Simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

cook soba noodles until al dente in rapid boiling water, about 5 minutes, check often. Drain and rinse under cold water until noodles feel like they are room temperature

for omelette:

dissolve 1 tsp mello miso with a little broth to form a paste, stir in one egg and one egg white and chopped scallions.

heat 2 tsp of ghee or butter in a skillet and pour egg mix, tilt pan to cover bottom of pan and cook until just done, fold eggs over until it looks like a roll. Remove from heat and cut into thin slices on a cutting board

Just before broth is done simmering, place 1 tsp of gojuchang (korean hot pepper paste) in the pot and dissolve, stir in chopped greens; such as spinach, watercress, bok choy, sliced snow peas or snow pea shoots until just wilted.

Spoon broth into bowls add cooked buckwheat soba noodles, top with sliced omelet, chopped cilantro and a few drops of unrefined toasted sesame oil!

This soup can stand a lot of improv, you can go without the spicy paste and just have a nice gingery broth, substitute any green of your choice, put in some shredded daikon (japanese radish), try some mushrooms like enoki or shiitake, use diced tofu, or any meat of your choice. It is really limitless, guide your soup with your taste buds!

Sweat and enjoy!

Beany bean and miso dip!

2009-01-15T16:10:00.000-05:00

Yummy!! Here's how these were blended:

The green one: flax oil, miso paste, honey, apple cider vinegar, shoyu, cumin, black pepper, garlic, cayenne, parsley, ... and ground sesame seeds.

The red one: aduki beans, miso paste, chili powder, cumin, lemon, cilantro, black pepper, cayenne, ginger, and a bit of cilantro. The aduki beans I used were leftovers and had some orange juice in them... but it was kind of weird, I don't think I'd do that again.

Oven baked french fries!

2009-01-14T16:03:00.000-05:00

Potatoes are the best food ever. Cut into pieces, rub 'em down with some unrefined monounsaturated oils, sprinkle with spices, or not... and a little salt, or not, bake them on a baking sheet at 350F for 45-60 minutes until they are your desired softness/crispiness and devour! Make a yogurt based dip/sauce for them, because ketchup is terrible for you and not food at all... especially the no-name stuff - it's just liquid sugar. There it is!! Make them tonight and think of the Whole Foodies!! (PS. leave the skins on, unless they're green, then peel 'em)

How to Feel Amazing

2009-01-13T16:16:00.003-05:00

I really don't feel any better than when I eat grains, beans and vegetables with a sauce. To me... this it. This is why we feel good.. this is what makes your day good no matter what. What keeps us centred, motivated, in love, on top, on the ground.. all the good things you want in life you can access from within - when you eat this!!!! Am I right? huh?.. huh?.. remarks?

So what is it? If it looks disgusting to you, then your salty sweet taste buds have not yet acclimatized to whole foods and that's fine. There comes a point when you no longer desire the super yang foods like sugar and flour, nor the ultra yin foods found in heavily salted foods. What's left is that oh so harmonizing centre where the present moment comes to life, your senses heighten, and that once bland food suddenly has incredible taste - and leaves you feeling ON the centre. This is a feeling not familiar to most eaters these days, I know so because a standard American (Canadian in my case) diet just makes me feel off centre, up and then down, and nowhere - and you want more - because you are never quite satiated and fulfilled. And you want more of not only food, but things in life, because what you ate and have is seemingly not enough.. but it is!! You just have to come to the centre to appreciate, see and be gracious for it. This is where this meal comes in... man, totally centering, which like I said, makes life sparkle.

Am I crazy? Possibly... but it all makes sense to me, and if it resonates with you too, leave a comment or tell someone you love to eat grains and veggies for dinner... with love.

How to make:

-Steam grains

-Cook beans

-Sautee/steam greens (see 'greens' for ideas on this)

-Make sauce (see previous post)

Drizzle with flax oil, sesame seeds, whatever makes you happy.

How to eat:

-Sit upright, cross legged on a soft surface, which is nice because you can cradle the warm bowl in your other hand to feel its warmth.... OR eat with feet flat on the floor in a chair at a table

-Smell your food, 'what are you eating?'

-Take a bite sized amount on your fork or other eating utensil

-Chew it until its disappeared in your mouth (usually takes 30+ chews)

-Take a breath before going for more,... set your eating utensil down now and then

-Remain seated after eating and wait for the "Qi puff" to ascend into your body, which is quite energizing AND relaxing.

Food divides into two parts from our digestion, the "clear" ascends and energizes us, and the "turbid" descends and exits along our waste portals.

If the food sat like a rock and is "stuck" in your centre, you ate too quickly or weren't focused, and the two parts didn't quite separate, making your liver and centre sticky and stuck.. and usually tired. This doesn't allow for the full nutrition to be assimilated... it's like a poor burning fire that produces a lot of toxic black smoke, as oppose to a clean burning fire which produces two parts similar to our digestion - clear smoke, and turbid ash - with no incomplete burnt wood or charring toxic smoke.

Strive to feel the Qi puff with everything you eat, and you'll start to realize how much of your food burns dirty and incomplete.. which again, is toxic and tiring for the body.

Start by eating slow... and try eating vegetal foods such as grains and veggies!

Chakra Bars!!!

2009-01-13T15:14:00.005-05:00

The recipe hasn't been finalized yet - and we are still in the testing stage, but I thought I'd share about these delicious treats!

Warm some brown rice syrup with almond butter and add:

-Chlorella/spirulina

-Puffed millet

-Oat flakes

-Pumpkin seeds

-Flax seeds

-Raisins

Mix it up like rice crispy squares, cool it (well, dry it actually), and form it into pieces!

Yummy!!

Mochi: the pounded rice cake you can cook!

2009-01-13T15:07:00.003-05:00

What do you get when you overcook rice, slam it with a hammer, form it, mold it and let it dry. Mochi!! Yummy.. warming, building, harmonizing - and a festive food for those celebrating the New Year in Japan. Served with a little butter (goat's), black pepper, shoyu and wrapped in nori paper. Comfort food that came home with us from Japan.

Orangy beets and red hot yolks

2009-01-13T14:59:00.004-05:00

Oooo... doesn't this look like a lovely breakfast!? Sauteed beets with some orange juice and yacon and stirred greens, accompanied by an egg dusted with cayenne and ginger.

Egg Scramble Wrap!

2009-01-13T14:45:00.002-05:00

Not entirely whole (the wrap), foodie Anna whipped these up for our guests one morning which contained spicy scrambled eggs, goat cheese and veggies. Fun and easy! What more to say?!

quinoa tempeh bowl

2009-01-07T22:59:00.007-05:00

This is one of my comfort meals, something to satisfy me in every way and it's quick too!

Cook 1 cup of quinoa, with enough water to cover it by 1/2 an inch.

Marinade for tempeh:

fresh squeezed orange juice

dulse flakes

nama shoyu soy sauce

few drops of unrefined toasted sesame oil

Soak tempeh in the marinade for 15 minutes, then sear on all sides in a skillet set to medium.

Dressing for greens:

hemp or flax oil

apple cider vinegar

agave or honey to taste

Steam the greens (kale, bokchoy, chard, spinach,etc), add dressing to the wilted greens, toss to coat.

Add cooked quinoa in a bowl and place greens and tempeh on top, drizzle left over marinade and dressing. Top with toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds! MMM hearty!

Chili Beans

2008-12-20T10:35:00.003-05:00

Hearty, spicy and GOOD! A simple recipe for a crockpot or stove top:

Pinto beans

Oil

2 whole garlic cloves (cooked in with the beans and then mashed)

1 onion (sliced, diced, chopped or whatever)

Cumin, chili powder, black pepper and sea salt

Uhn! Ride 'em cowboy!

I bet these would even taste better if they finished in the oven for a good baking!

Anna's Layered Veggie-Rice Bake

2008-12-20T10:30:00.004-05:00

Layer in a casserole:

1. Sliced carrots

2. Tomato sauce

3. Thinly sliced potatoes

4. White sauce consisting of sauteed leeks, with butter, whole flour, milk and seasonings

5. Cooked Brown rice mixed with tomato sauce and pepper and sea salt

Bake for 45-60 minutes at 375. It was heavenly! Hearty, gooey and centering.

Ginger Almond Chocolate Granny

2008-12-20T10:19:00.004-05:00

A Christmas present for the fam, granola appeals to all tastes and looks beautiful presented in glass jars.

This recipe was improvised (like always) but here was the basis of it:

6 cups oat flakes

1 cup almonds

3/4 cup sweetener (various is OK)

1/2 cup unrefined oil (I'd go with sesame)

1 tsp each cinnamon, cardamom, dried ginger

1/8 cup sesame seeds

choco chips or nibs as you like 'em!

a bit of sea salt

Combine the flakes, nuts and seeds. Heat in a saucepan the oils, sweeteners and spices until smooth and even. Fold the wet into the dry and spread out onto baking sheets. Bake for 30 minutes at 325F and stir every 10 or so. Cool and jar! Yum!

A Yaconic Soliloquy

2008-12-19T17:09:00.005-05:00

So I've been NOT using concentrated sweeteners for the most part over the past 5 months, and have been experiencing a lot of new heights. Paul Pitchford's words of wisdom: concentrated sweeteners create a desire for sweet things in life, has been completely understood and experienced. Wow! Truly, most of North America consumes sweets daily, most in the form of white sugar, but then even those who have managed to escape the shackles of white sugar are usually bound to natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, agave or some other. I was given some yacon as a gift a couple of weeks ago, and as a note, yacon is one of the yummiest sweeteners available that does NOT alter blood sugar levels or contribute to digestive dampness such as candida or dysbiosis, and so is regarded as safe - but I have been reminded of one thing this week - it's still sweet!

And so as I had been using it, I noticed a shift in my personality. Where I had no problems sitting down daily for a period of quiet or meditation, I found it unimportant or uninteresting. I started feeling like more sweeteners, and so honey and other things started appearing in our cupboards, but then I started desiring things again. Money became important, too important, and I started feeling aggressive and impatient, and wanting instantaneous results. Instead of sitting down with some quiet to centre myself and bring myself to balance, I just simply starting craving more... more of what? Money, results, sweets, things and unimportant minutiae. It all came to a realization when it started involving other people and they let me know that I was being too forceful, unreceptive and quite impatient. Aha! The fog started to clear.

So the next morning I realized that whatever I wanted can wait, whatever I needed I already had enough of - there simply was nothing in my exterior world that could bring me happiness but what was inside. So I sat down... and sat some more... hours really, until I came home, and then realized my lesson - and what a glad lesson. "Falling off of the wagon" is always such a great thing because you realized what wagon you were sitting on! So now I am writing with my centre centred, patience recharged, and a desire to do nothing but sit here and type - and wouldn't you know it, I'm actually getting more work done by being this way - centred and present... and happy!

The yacon is great, I highly recommend it, but unfortunately I'm setting it aside for special occasions!

Stirred Greens with Goat Cheese

2008-12-18T16:55:00.001-05:00

Sautee onions and garlic with some spices like black pepper, cumin seeds and/or mustard seeds until the onion is clear or starting to brown. Toss in a fistful or two of spinach or another green leafy and continue stirring just until wilted - it shrinks a lot, so you may decide to eat more!! Eat a lot, why not? Greens are so healing and satiating, especially with the warmth of onion and garlic. Once wilted, perhaps after a minute or two, I divided it into bowls and topped it with some toasted sesame seeds and homemade goat cheese that was seasoned with a bit of salt, thyme, sage, cumin and something else. This was for breakfast and I made the exact same thing again for lunch because... well why not!? It was so good!

Apple Crisp!

2008-12-17T16:48:00.001-05:00

Our favourite dessert! Sliced apples lined the bottom of the tray, and then a mixture of oat flakes, seeds, nuts, sweetener (honey or something, we used yacon), spices such as cinnamon, dried fruit, and a little or oil or butter, then spread out over top of the apples. Baked in the oven at 350F until fragrant and golden!

Shiny, Happy Cupboards!

2008-12-16T16:45:00.001-05:00

A Good For You Coaching client of Michael's, Bonnie-Lou Martin dazzles her newly organized, whole foodie cupboards. She even went so far as to stage her jars so all the labels on the lower shelf are legible! Beautiful job!

Oats n Goats

2008-12-15T16:42:00.001-05:00

Steel cut oats cooked in a slow cooker overnight with cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Dates were added in the morning, and then a little bit of goat's milk was dribbled over it to freshen up the densely warming dish. Yacon may have ended up in the bowl too...

Sprouted Spicy Asian Mung

2008-12-14T16:34:00.002-05:00

I used leftover soup for this which was made of seaweed, shiitake mushrooms and Korean gochujang (spicy red paste). I simply cooked up some sprouted mung beans in the soup, which reduced a little bit making a bit of a stew!

I added some dried ginger as well to bring the otherwise cooling dish some heat that would go to my centre (dried ginger warms your inside whereas fresh ginger warms the periphery, but the seaweed/mung combination is very cooling for the centre of the body and so a little dried ginger helps balance that if you're eating this in mid-winter!... too much information? I think it's cool!....)

Quick Korma and Turmeric Rice

2008-12-13T16:22:00.005-05:00

Quick Korma

6 Tbsp. oil

3 bay leaves
2” stick cinnamon
8 cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
1/4 tsp. cumin seeds
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne
3/4 tsp. sea salt

1-1/2” piece fresh ginger
5-6 cloves garlic
1 smalll onion

Chopped potatoes or other veggies
1 cup beans or chicken (optional)
3 Tbsp. tomato sauce or paste
3 Tbsp. yogurt or cream

Heat frying pan with oil. Add spices and wait until aromatic. Add chopped/blended garlic, onion and ginger into the pan and stir. Sautee for about 3 minutes or until onion turns brownish. Add veggies, beans or meat and cook until soft (may need a little water). Add tomato sauce and yogurt and simmer until sauce has thickened. Add dill or wilt some spinach in it to finish with some greens if you like!

Indian Rice

3 Tbsp. oil

3 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
4 cardamom pods
1” stick cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp. turmeric

2 cups basmati rice
4 cups water
2 Tbsp. raisins
1 tsp. sea salt

Put oil in a pot and heat to med-high. When oil is hot, add spices and wait until aromatic. Add rice and quickly pan toast. Add water, raisins and salt, bring to a boil and simmer covered until fully cooked, about 45 minutes. Serve with Quick Korma recipe.

Morning Eggs

2008-12-12T16:14:00.003-05:00

Sautee leeks with optional celery, pumpkin seeds and almonds in some butter with spices, such as black pepper, mustard seed or cumin. Add beaten eggs and a little cayenne to make them less sticky and more digestible.... easy!

Magic Millet

2008-12-11T16:18:00.001-05:00

I can't quite remember how this was put together - but it involved sauteeing cooked millet with some veggies, seeds, spices and raisins. I think there was cinnamon and turmeric in it.... but I do remember it was good!

Beet stew

2008-12-10T16:11:00.002-05:00

Saute onions in a heavy pan until brown. Add chopped beets with water and cook 'em up!

When almost finished, add some dill, lime, sea salt and pepper. Yum!

Michael's barnwood-shelf pantry

2008-12-09T17:29:00.004-05:00

Grains and beans, I love being able to see them through glass and sitting on wood. Not that there's a magic chemistry that makes them more nutritious, but it lifts my soul and empowers me to eat them. It gives them the respect and love that I feels truthful for mw and it dresses up this old barnwood shelfy thing so beautifully!! Not only that, but I have some favourite cooking resources tucked in the bottom and ready to use. Jack, our pooch dines beside it from some of Anna's (Michael's wife) handmade pottery. I don't have many kinds of varieties at all times, I like to have a few different beans on hand, and when they run out I refill with a different kind. I simply don't need them all at once, but I do see the advantages of that as well.

Sharlie's Bloobie Pancakes

2008-12-08T17:37:00.001-05:00

1 1/2 cups whole-grain spelt flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup wheat bran
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups plain full-fat soy milk or almond milk
Vegetable oil for cooking
1 cup (1/2 pint) fresh blueberries or frozen, unthawed, plus 1/2 cup fresh blueberries or raspberries for serving
Maple syrup for serving, or apple butter

In medium bowl, stir together spelt flour, oat bran, wheat bran, baking soda, and salt. Add soy milk and stir until thoroughly combined.

Brush large nonstick or cast-iron griddle or skillet with oil and heat over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Working in 3 to 4 batches, pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto griddle and press 12 to 15 blueberries into each pancake. Cook until bubbles appear and pop on surface and undersides are golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip pancakes, let pancakes continue to cook in pan until undersides are firm and light golden brown, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to plate, berry side up, and keep warm.

Repeat to cook remaining pancakes, oiling griddle between each batch. Serve pancakes warm with additional berries and maple syrup.

I also added 1/4 cup of flax seed meal, and dried coconut flakes. I used coconut oil to cook them, seeing how there was some coconut in the cakes to help the body assimilate the oil better. Add whatever fruit you want and or ingredients, cinnamon, or cardamom, whatever you would like!

Eggs with greens and sauerkraut

2008-12-07T17:34:00.002-05:00

Poached eggs, steamed greens, sesame seeds, apple cider vinegar and sauerkraut! Breakfast of champions!... well at least for the Whole Foodies

Pan toasted Apple Granola with Bananas and Bloobie Goat Kefir

2008-12-06T10:12:00.001-05:00

Just like the title says!: Pan-toasted granola with apples laid on a bed of sliced bananas, and then drenched with blueberry goat kefir. A feast!

Granola: Dry-pan toast flakes, seeds and nuts until aromatic. Add fresh cut fruit and stir to release some moisture. Add spices, oil (or butter/ghee), sweetener, and any other fun things that you can think of.

Whole Foods Cooking Retreat!

2008-12-05T23:00:00.004-05:00

Whole Foods Cooking Retreat!
A weekend of hands-on, take-home, whole foods cooking!

Learn to make:

Beans and whole grains
Nut milks and nut butter
Sourdough bread
Healthy desserts and snacks
Home-made Goat Cheese

..and many more!

Early Registration before Feb. 1, 2009: $275
Regular Cost: $350

Friday March 13th 7:00 pm to Sunday March 15 2:00pm

Crieff Hills Retreat Centre, Puslinch, Ontario - Dove House

More details here

Basic Vegetable Soup Stock

2008-12-04T01:12:00.005-05:00

Making soup stock is a quick and easy way to add flavor to any soup and is a helpful ingredient to have on hand for adding flavor to rice, steamed vegetables or stir fries. Root vegetables hold up well and release their flavor readily into the stock. Stocks lend themselves to creative self expression and can hold up to many different flavor variations.

For an asian inspired stock use a square of dried kombu seaweed, dried shiitake mushrooms, a splash of tamari or nama shoyu soy sauce and mung bean sprouts.

- for a rich red stock, use beets and their tops, tomatoes, and dried lentils