Enjoy~
ingredients:
2 cups chopped peeled seeded papaya
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup soy or almond milk
1 banana sliced banana
4 ice cubes
1 tablespoon agave
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
throw it all in the blender and blend away.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
*~~~~~Papaya Smoothie~~~~~*
J absolutely LOVES papaya (no wonder it's reputably called "fruit of the angels")! also might have something to do with the fact I CRAVED these smoothies when preg, along with olives and grapefruit juice and he loves those as well; kids got a weird palate;)......................It's rich in vit A & C (both essential vits for boosting that immune system; esp. during flu season), has more vit C than oranges! Also rich in folate, vit E, and helps with digestion (maybe another reason I craved when growing fetus was rearranging my insides). See, this is what happens when you're a stay at home mom: You get really excited about papaya (and Elmo).
Enjoy~
ingredients:
2 cups chopped peeled seeded papaya
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup soy or almond milk
1 banana sliced banana
4 ice cubes
1 tablespoon agave
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
throw it all in the blender and blend away.
Enjoy~
ingredients:
2 cups chopped peeled seeded papaya
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup soy or almond milk
1 banana sliced banana
4 ice cubes
1 tablespoon agave
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
throw it all in the blender and blend away.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Another Vegan Thanksgiving in Austin
I was talking to my sweet hubby the other night about the upcoming gluttonous holiday (we've been unenthusiastic about it for years). It's difficult to be part of a celebration meal that butchers approximately 50 million innocent, sweet turkey's every year and then half that amount for Christmas just a few weeks later....... So.....aside from keeping the meal, just eating normal portions and no animals, my creativity fails me and we'll just do what I did last year, veganize the hell out of it and pray for compassion to be born, maybe next year.
little one sampling the Tofurky below...
I cannot give credit to where credit is due, but this man blogged this a few years ago and I saved it because it was so simply brilliant.
"On Thanksgiving:
All holidays are a bit bizarre in their own special way, and Thanksgiving is no exception. I'm not sure what you were taught about this holiday, but I was taught it was a celebration of all the happiness, abundance and friendship that existed between the American Indians and the European colonials who settled North America. Of course, that whole mythology turned out to be yet another piece of fictitious history invented by textbook authors who were probably too ashamed to admit that explorers like Columbus treated the American Indians like slaves, killing them for sport and stealing their food, women and land.
And then the next wave of colonial imperialists took it upon themselves to virtually wipe out American Indians altogether,
regarding them as wild animals who lacked "civilized" behavior (the "civilized" imperialists were the ones doing most of the killing, of course). The White Man came to the Americas and exterminated native peoples all the way from modern-day Canada to the tip of South America, and much of it was done in the name of religious conquest. "We're bringing God to these natives by killing them all!" If you don't believe me, read, "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn for a dose of historical reality.
These days, I'm not sure what Thanksgiving is really supposed to be celebrating. Most Americans, of course, remain woefully ignorant when it comes to history, and thus the whole concept of any holiday having some historical significance doesn't even enter their over-medicated minds. To the average American consumer, Thanksgiving is simply another day to stuff themselves full of manufactured food products thereby adding on another couple of pounds to their ever-expanding waistlines. (And heck,
there's still Christmas and New Year's to go!) Thanksgiving is a day to buy a mutant turkey that's engineered with such an artificially-large breast that it can barely walk without tipping over. Does anyone really think these artificially-raised mutant
turkeys are real birds like our ancestors ate?
Thanksgiving is apparently a day to be thankful for the fact that the average American family WASTES more food on this holiday than most families in third-world countries would hope to even EAT during some celebration. Yes, it's all about "more." More turkey, more stuffing, more food, more land and more oil. For America, there's no such thing as enough. We have turned abundance into excess. We have made overindulgence a virtue worth celebrating with a day off from the nine-to-five grind.
Look around this Thanksgiving. Do you see anybody honoring the miracle of food from nature? Do you see people thanking Mother Nature, with humility, for providing the nourishment that we require to exist in physical form on this planet? With few exceptions, I don't see that. What I mostly observe is a nation of mouth-stuffing idiots engaged in a mindless tradition of overindulgence accompanied by meaningless gab. Call me a cynic, if you want, but don't do it with your mouth full of decomposing turkey.
If anything, we should all be fasting on Thanksgiving to remind us how much food we're all so lucky to have all the other days of the year. We should be humbled on Thanksgiving. And hopefully, we will take this precious time to reflect upon ourselves and our place in the universe, to examine our actions, our beliefs and our distortions with the intention of emerging from
this holiday with a little more awareness of our true nature and how we impact the world in which we live.
If more of us could manage to do that, Thanksgiving would indeed be a day worth celebrating and not just an empty shell of yet another commercial holiday designed to sell food and trinkets to a population so easily entertained by bread and circuses.
If you are one of the few who spends some time on Thanksgiving in meditation, or prayer, or silent self-reflection, then good for you. You truly honor this holiday in a way that almost everyone else has forgotten".
~some lovely man (wish I remembered your name and website :( but i love you nonetheless.
our future daughter (we hope!)....
This lady's website is awesome. Full of DELICIOUS recipes and info:
http://kissmyvegan.blogspot.com/
little one sampling the Tofurky below...
I cannot give credit to where credit is due, but this man blogged this a few years ago and I saved it because it was so simply brilliant.
"On Thanksgiving:
All holidays are a bit bizarre in their own special way, and Thanksgiving is no exception. I'm not sure what you were taught about this holiday, but I was taught it was a celebration of all the happiness, abundance and friendship that existed between the American Indians and the European colonials who settled North America. Of course, that whole mythology turned out to be yet another piece of fictitious history invented by textbook authors who were probably too ashamed to admit that explorers like Columbus treated the American Indians like slaves, killing them for sport and stealing their food, women and land.
And then the next wave of colonial imperialists took it upon themselves to virtually wipe out American Indians altogether,
regarding them as wild animals who lacked "civilized" behavior (the "civilized" imperialists were the ones doing most of the killing, of course). The White Man came to the Americas and exterminated native peoples all the way from modern-day Canada to the tip of South America, and much of it was done in the name of religious conquest. "We're bringing God to these natives by killing them all!" If you don't believe me, read, "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn for a dose of historical reality.
These days, I'm not sure what Thanksgiving is really supposed to be celebrating. Most Americans, of course, remain woefully ignorant when it comes to history, and thus the whole concept of any holiday having some historical significance doesn't even enter their over-medicated minds. To the average American consumer, Thanksgiving is simply another day to stuff themselves full of manufactured food products thereby adding on another couple of pounds to their ever-expanding waistlines. (And heck,
there's still Christmas and New Year's to go!) Thanksgiving is a day to buy a mutant turkey that's engineered with such an artificially-large breast that it can barely walk without tipping over. Does anyone really think these artificially-raised mutant
turkeys are real birds like our ancestors ate?
Thanksgiving is apparently a day to be thankful for the fact that the average American family WASTES more food on this holiday than most families in third-world countries would hope to even EAT during some celebration. Yes, it's all about "more." More turkey, more stuffing, more food, more land and more oil. For America, there's no such thing as enough. We have turned abundance into excess. We have made overindulgence a virtue worth celebrating with a day off from the nine-to-five grind.
Look around this Thanksgiving. Do you see anybody honoring the miracle of food from nature? Do you see people thanking Mother Nature, with humility, for providing the nourishment that we require to exist in physical form on this planet? With few exceptions, I don't see that. What I mostly observe is a nation of mouth-stuffing idiots engaged in a mindless tradition of overindulgence accompanied by meaningless gab. Call me a cynic, if you want, but don't do it with your mouth full of decomposing turkey.
If anything, we should all be fasting on Thanksgiving to remind us how much food we're all so lucky to have all the other days of the year. We should be humbled on Thanksgiving. And hopefully, we will take this precious time to reflect upon ourselves and our place in the universe, to examine our actions, our beliefs and our distortions with the intention of emerging from
this holiday with a little more awareness of our true nature and how we impact the world in which we live.
If more of us could manage to do that, Thanksgiving would indeed be a day worth celebrating and not just an empty shell of yet another commercial holiday designed to sell food and trinkets to a population so easily entertained by bread and circuses.
If you are one of the few who spends some time on Thanksgiving in meditation, or prayer, or silent self-reflection, then good for you. You truly honor this holiday in a way that almost everyone else has forgotten".
~some lovely man (wish I remembered your name and website :( but i love you nonetheless.
our future daughter (we hope!)....
This lady's website is awesome. Full of DELICIOUS recipes and info:
http://kissmyvegan.blogspot.com/
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The Deal with Wool
I know this has little to do with food but everything to do with animal rights. I've rejected wool for years because of the cruelty involved in the obtainment. Especially now with a family (it's a little more challenging) I steer towards the more comfortable alternatives (humane fabrics like: cotton, flannel, acrylic, polyester fleece, gore-tex, polarguard, polartec, and thinsulate). I honestly can't imagine putting scratchy wool on my little boy.
http://www.peta.org/living/fashion/cruelty-free-clothing-guide-vegan-companies.aspx
Awesome post from Alicia Silverstone:
"Where does wool come from? How do we get it? We just shave the sheep gently, right? And make them feel better in the heat? Uh no!!! Animals are cut and hurt in the process of collecting wool - there is nothing gentle about it. Then at the end, there isn't a retirement farm for these sheep. They are sent to slaughter.
According to PETA, a gruesome practice called “mulesing” is still inflicted on sheep in Australia, where millions of Merino sheep are raised. These sheep are bred to have wrinkly skin because that produces more wool. In the Australian heat, however, the excess wool causes sheep to die from heat exhaustion – but worse, for their wool to get infested with maggots, which literally eat them alive. Farmers’ solutions to this is to cut off chunks of skin from lambs (without anesthesia) so that the scarred flesh will deter maggots. However, the lambs’ wounds often become infected before they heal.
The good news is there are many alternatives to wool. Now, I know wool seems more environmentally friendly than say, vinyl. But consider how bad it is for the environment to raise these animals, and use all the resources and land it takes to feed them. Unless you rescued a bunch of sheep from a slaughter house, and live somewhere where in the summer they beg you to free them of the wool, and you gently take it off, and always treat the sheep with kindness and respect, I am not a fan. In order to collect wool in a kind way, you would not be able to run a business – it would have to be a sort of hippie side fun project. I’m not sure how many situations there are like that, but I can assure you that 100% of the wool you purchase in the store is not produced like that.
In winter, I do just fine – you can read about some awesome vegan winter clothes here. If you have wool already, use it and love it until it’s time to give it away or say goodbye to it. Just try not to support cruel practices by buying new wool. If you feel comfy in wool, get used wool – although I have to say it always made me itch! But if you are going to buy it, it’s better to get a used product.
Now I’m sure that there are some exceptions to all of this... I recently read about The North Circular, a company started by models Lily Cole and Katherine Poulton. The North Circular rescues sheep and works with grandmothers (literally!) to knit chic apparel and accessories. It sounds pretty decent, but again, this is not the wool that you purchase in any mainstream store. So if you find a story or situation that sounds really compassionate, then that might work for you. I’m usually pretty suspicious when I’m told that certain wool came from a good, cruelty free place... I always wonder, well what exactly happens to those sheep? How are they sheared? Is this a business? I would need to fully research each situation that I hear about to make sure it seems kosher to me. " ~Alicia
Her awesome website: http://www.thekindlife.com/
http://www.peta.org/living/fashion/cruelty-free-clothing-guide-vegan-companies.aspx
Awesome post from Alicia Silverstone:
"Where does wool come from? How do we get it? We just shave the sheep gently, right? And make them feel better in the heat? Uh no!!! Animals are cut and hurt in the process of collecting wool - there is nothing gentle about it. Then at the end, there isn't a retirement farm for these sheep. They are sent to slaughter.
According to PETA, a gruesome practice called “mulesing” is still inflicted on sheep in Australia, where millions of Merino sheep are raised. These sheep are bred to have wrinkly skin because that produces more wool. In the Australian heat, however, the excess wool causes sheep to die from heat exhaustion – but worse, for their wool to get infested with maggots, which literally eat them alive. Farmers’ solutions to this is to cut off chunks of skin from lambs (without anesthesia) so that the scarred flesh will deter maggots. However, the lambs’ wounds often become infected before they heal.
The good news is there are many alternatives to wool. Now, I know wool seems more environmentally friendly than say, vinyl. But consider how bad it is for the environment to raise these animals, and use all the resources and land it takes to feed them. Unless you rescued a bunch of sheep from a slaughter house, and live somewhere where in the summer they beg you to free them of the wool, and you gently take it off, and always treat the sheep with kindness and respect, I am not a fan. In order to collect wool in a kind way, you would not be able to run a business – it would have to be a sort of hippie side fun project. I’m not sure how many situations there are like that, but I can assure you that 100% of the wool you purchase in the store is not produced like that.
In winter, I do just fine – you can read about some awesome vegan winter clothes here. If you have wool already, use it and love it until it’s time to give it away or say goodbye to it. Just try not to support cruel practices by buying new wool. If you feel comfy in wool, get used wool – although I have to say it always made me itch! But if you are going to buy it, it’s better to get a used product.
Now I’m sure that there are some exceptions to all of this... I recently read about The North Circular, a company started by models Lily Cole and Katherine Poulton. The North Circular rescues sheep and works with grandmothers (literally!) to knit chic apparel and accessories. It sounds pretty decent, but again, this is not the wool that you purchase in any mainstream store. So if you find a story or situation that sounds really compassionate, then that might work for you. I’m usually pretty suspicious when I’m told that certain wool came from a good, cruelty free place... I always wonder, well what exactly happens to those sheep? How are they sheared? Is this a business? I would need to fully research each situation that I hear about to make sure it seems kosher to me. " ~Alicia
Her awesome website: http://www.thekindlife.com/
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
INGREDIENTS
1 double pie shell
4 cups fresh rhubarb, sliced into 3/4-inch pieces
3/4-1 cup agave or maple syrup
6 tablespoons arrowroot
2 cups thickly sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons unbleached white flour
1. Fit bottom crust into a 10-inch pie plate. Refrigerate the dough and rolled-out crust.
2. Put sliced rhubarb into a colander with a bowl underneath. Pour agave over rhubarb and allow to drain 1 hour. In a saucepan, mix arrowroot with half of the drained agave. Heat until thickened over low heat, then add the rest of the agave.
3. Preheat oven to 350F.
4. Mix rhubarb and strawberries together in bowl. Add agave mixture along with cinnamon and flour. Gently toss to mix.
5. Pour into prepared pie shell. Roll out top crust and place on top. Join crusts, fluting edges. Slash top (so steam can escape).
6. Bake one hour in preheated oven. Allow to cool, then refrigerate a few hours to set.
Serves 8 to 10.
Tofu....
...got a problem with it. Can't really eat it unless it has a good, firm consistency. Now, mind you, I've been eating tofu since I became a vegetarian at twenty but when I'd cook it at home I'd never be completely happy with the outcome so I'd end up using it in desserts and sauces mainly or having it at restaurants, whose cooks could pull it off better that I could. 
Well, a few months ago, looking for unsweetened soy yogurt for J (they make a brand that I'm still trying to hunt down), I stumbled upon this brand and IT IS THE BEST! Finally a tofu that I can cook with. J absolutely loves it and calls it "toe foooot".
http://www.pulmuonewildwood.com/
Well, a few months ago, looking for unsweetened soy yogurt for J (they make a brand that I'm still trying to hunt down), I stumbled upon this brand and IT IS THE BEST! Finally a tofu that I can cook with. J absolutely loves it and calls it "toe foooot".http://www.pulmuonewildwood.com/
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Mock Chicken & Dinosaur Kale Salad
Chickenless Salad (Sandwich)
serves 4-6 sandwiches depending on how thick you make them
2 cups vegan chicken shredded (pulse in food processor or shred with a fork). I used Yves brand.
1/4 cup red onion, diced small
2 celery stalks, diced small
1/4-1/3 cup veganase mayo
1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon dill relish (I didn't have)
salt and pepper to taste
bread
Optional:
1/4 cup sliced almonds or sunflower seeds
Cook your vegan chicken according to the package instructions. Pulse 1 c. at a time in your food processor to get a nice shred or just shred w/ a fork by hand and then chop a bit more. Throw in a large mixing bowl and add all the rest of the ingredients except the bread and mix well. Spread a little more vegan mayo and/or mustard on the bread then scoop onto bread and serve.
Raw Dinosaur Kale Salad
Serves about two.
I think most dark, leafy green (raw) salads are kinda gross but I promise this one isn't!
1 bunch dinosaur kale
Apple cider vinegar (splash or two; to taste)
Olive oil (splash or two; to taste)
Nutritional yeast (a good amount; maybe two heaping Tbsp.)
Garlic powder
Coriander
Cumin
Sea salt
Throw everything in a large bowl and mix. Add vinegar and olive oil to taste and then spices and nutritional yeast; all to taste.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
places to eat in l.a.
native foods veggie burger!!!
never post when hungy (these pictures are making me feel sorry for myself that i'm in austin... ;) for all you lucky l.a. peeps............
http://www.quarrygirl.com/2010/09/28/the-la-vegan-bucket-list-2010-ten-things-every-vegan-needs-to-eat-in-los-angeles/
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Easy Fast Food= Tahini Salad with Corn Tortillas
My old buds (and by buds, I mean the dudes in the back who do all the cooking) at "The Spot" in Hermosa used to whip this bad-boy up for me. They knew how to make it best for some reason but I won't give up trying to replicate it. We make this a few times a month when we really don't want to labor over dinner. O.k., it does take a few more minutes than fast food but you won't keel over afterwards. I really need to be eating more raw foods and this has so much good stuff and is so light but you're not hungry afterwards, so... it works.
Quick Salad w/ Tahini Dressing & Corn Tortillas
Lettuce ( I like romaine best)
Shredded beets
Shredded carrots
Sliced Cucumbers
Sliced Avocados
Garbanzo or black beans (drained and rinsed). Handful or two.
Nutritional yeast sprinkled on top (or in my case- loaded; love the stuff)
Organic Corn Tortillas (steamed)
Tahini Dressing
A few tablespoons of raw tahini (this stuff has a nice amount calcium and good fats for babies/toddlers)
Squeeze (or two or three) of lemon
Splash of tamari (healthier version of soy sauce; look for non-gmo)
Shake of garlic powder
Shake of sea salt
Shake (be careful kids!) of cayenne pepper
Add water (a tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency you want)
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and stir really well. You kindof have to play with the amount of water you want. It should be the consistency of salad dressing (although I think it's best a wee bit thicker) and it stirs up weird so be patient and just add more water, if needed.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Walnut Pate'
This is kinda like a mock-tuna. J digs it and it's much healthier than mercury-laden fish. I usually triple this recipe and it lasts all week. J loves it with Veganase on toast. I also throw in the food processor some carrots and celery to taste and for extra vegetables because the kid won't eat anything lately but good'ol kale and he needs variety! :)
Enjoy~
Walnut Pate'
1 cup raw walnuts (soaked in water for at least 1 hour before hand)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp cold pressed olive oil
1 tsp tamari
1/4 tsp garlic pwd
dash of high mineral unprocessed salt
1 tsp minced fresh parsley
1 tsp minced onion
Drain water from nuts. Combine w/ remaining ingredients into a food processor. I add a little water just to get to the consistency of a pate'. Make sure to stop the processor a couple of times throughout this process to scrap sides of food processor. Keep processing until the mixture is a nice thick pasty consistency.
Enjoy~
Walnut Pate'
1 cup raw walnuts (soaked in water for at least 1 hour before hand)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp cold pressed olive oil
1 tsp tamari
1/4 tsp garlic pwd
dash of high mineral unprocessed salt
1 tsp minced fresh parsley
1 tsp minced onion
Drain water from nuts. Combine w/ remaining ingredients into a food processor. I add a little water just to get to the consistency of a pate'. Make sure to stop the processor a couple of times throughout this process to scrap sides of food processor. Keep processing until the mixture is a nice thick pasty consistency.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
OuR CrAzY VeGaN DOgS....+ Dog Treat Recipe
Our little puppies have both been vegan since the day we brought them home from the shelter (at one). They are now five! Super healthy, no issues what-so-ever that I wish I had veganized my dog Viva, who died at nine from lymphoma. She had chronic skin and ear infections her whole little life. Commercial dog food brands are known for using rendered dogs (euthanized dogs from shelters) in their 'so called' food. In Los Angeles alone, two hundred tons of euthanized animals (including canines) are delivered to rendering plants on a monthly basis. Google and research this (don't just take my word for it), as well as what Howard Lyman, (former cattle rancher and author of "Mad Cowboy") has to say. He saw all this first hand. Just one of the many reasons our dogs are veg.
They love all vegetables and most fruits......They eat most of what J drops on the floor from his highchair and other scraps throughout the day. Then at night they have their big meal: Natures Recipe Vegetarian Formula and we add blended lentils (with other stuff mixed in, here's the wet dog food recipe: http://veganaustin.org/recipe.php?recipeid=82
We also add in L'Carnitine and Taurine 5x a week (an essential amino acid and nutritional supplement for heart health) commonly found in animal flesh.
Serpico mid chomp on a kale stick!
I made these dog treats the other night and they looooved them! They have parsley and carrots (which they both go koo-koo for). I doubled the recipe and it makes a nice sized jar full. Be sure to refrigerate so they don't go moldy (which they will :(
Breath-Freshing Biscuits for Dogs
3/4 c. minced parsley leaves
1/4 grated carrot
1 Tbsp. safflower oil
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. corn flour or finely grated corn meal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 c. water
1. Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl mix together parsley, carrot and oil
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours and baking powder. Add parsley mixture and work until flour mixture looks like course crumbs. Add water, mix and knead with hands until dough comes together in a smooth ball.
3. On a lightly floured surface roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Using a bone shaped cookie cutter, cut out biscuits, re-rolling, scraping as necessary. Place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and bake 20 min (for softer); 30 min for harder biscuits. Keep refrigerated!!!
Easy, Super-Quick Raw Pesto
I tried this the other night (from "Urban Vegan") and it's a good one!
Winter Pesto
3 C. fresh Spinach or Arugula or Basil (packed)
1/2 C. plus 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
5-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 C. pine nuts or walnuts (or both together)
1/4 tsp. salt and pepper to taste
Place all ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping sides as needed.
Serve on top of any pasta.
Yields: 1 1/2 C. (really only covers pasta for 2)
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Circus Protestor, Birthday Boy and Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe
So, this is what we were up to last weekend! And guess who got really into it? He must've known we were sticking up for animals, as he was actually pacing back and forth saying in his cute, little toddler way, "no circus!" (and we were the first people there, so this wasn't monkey see-monkey do). This was the last night of leafletting, not the big, opening-night protest with all the other kids, (unfortunately he was in bed; he would've loved the energy-a truly beautiful thing).....
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=75846&id=1369857032
.......And this weekend, was the party weekend. The big rager was yesterday! He's been acting like a real two year old all day, struttin around the house, showing off his new toys, talking about his girlfriends. He loved visiting with his friends, eating cake and playing with them! His adorable french friends sang "happy Birthday" in french to him (the cutest thing ever and I'll try to get the video up, it just takes forever to load). Three times today he sayed, "cake, yes?" His way of demanding for what he wants politely (I'm going to try that w/ other adults and see if it works).
I present to you....the big two year old (well, not really he still has a few more days being my little one year old :( ;)
And the cake (for you ladies who asked, here's the recipe)...........
Total Chocolate Eclipse Cake
The rich flavor of chocolate eclipses the fact that no eggs, butter or refined sugars are used to make this dense, fudgy confection.
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbs. flaxseed meal
1/2 cup pitted dates, soaked in 1 cup hot water for 30 minutes
6 oz. extra-firm silken tofu
1 cup pure maple syrup or other natural liquid sweetener
1 Tbs. corn/canola or safflower oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Frosting:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (check the back for dairy)
1/2 cup raw cashews
6 oz. extra-firm silken tofu
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and coat with flour, tapping out excess flour.
In large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda.
In food processor or blender, grind flaxseeds to fine powder. Add 1/2 cup water and process until thick and frothy, about 30 seconds. Add dates and their soaking liquid, tofu, maple syrup, oil and vanilla, and process until smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl.
Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients, blending until smooth, Divide the batter evenly between prepared pans.
Bake until cakes spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack 10 minutes; then invert onto wire racks, remove pans, and cool completely.
Make frosting:
In top of double-boiler set over simmering (not boiling) water, melt chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from water and set aside.
In food processor or blender, finely grind cashews. Add 1/3 cup water and blend until smooth. Add tofu, maple syrup and vanilla, and process until smooth. Add melted chocolate and process until smooth. Transfer to medium bowl and refrigerate until chilled.
Refrigerate frosting for at last 20-25 min. To frost cake (make sure cake is cool completely), spread about 2/3 cup frosting over top of one layer. Cover with second layer and spread top and sides with remaining frosting.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=75846&id=1369857032
.......And this weekend, was the party weekend. The big rager was yesterday! He's been acting like a real two year old all day, struttin around the house, showing off his new toys, talking about his girlfriends. He loved visiting with his friends, eating cake and playing with them! His adorable french friends sang "happy Birthday" in french to him (the cutest thing ever and I'll try to get the video up, it just takes forever to load). Three times today he sayed, "cake, yes?" His way of demanding for what he wants politely (I'm going to try that w/ other adults and see if it works).
I present to you....the big two year old (well, not really he still has a few more days being my little one year old :( ;)
And the cake (for you ladies who asked, here's the recipe)...........
Total Chocolate Eclipse Cake
The rich flavor of chocolate eclipses the fact that no eggs, butter or refined sugars are used to make this dense, fudgy confection.
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbs. flaxseed meal
1/2 cup pitted dates, soaked in 1 cup hot water for 30 minutes
6 oz. extra-firm silken tofu
1 cup pure maple syrup or other natural liquid sweetener
1 Tbs. corn/canola or safflower oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Frosting:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (check the back for dairy)
1/2 cup raw cashews
6 oz. extra-firm silken tofu
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and coat with flour, tapping out excess flour.
In large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda.
In food processor or blender, grind flaxseeds to fine powder. Add 1/2 cup water and process until thick and frothy, about 30 seconds. Add dates and their soaking liquid, tofu, maple syrup, oil and vanilla, and process until smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl.
Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients, blending until smooth, Divide the batter evenly between prepared pans.
Bake until cakes spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack 10 minutes; then invert onto wire racks, remove pans, and cool completely.
Make frosting:
In top of double-boiler set over simmering (not boiling) water, melt chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from water and set aside.
In food processor or blender, finely grind cashews. Add 1/3 cup water and blend until smooth. Add tofu, maple syrup and vanilla, and process until smooth. Add melted chocolate and process until smooth. Transfer to medium bowl and refrigerate until chilled.
Refrigerate frosting for at last 20-25 min. To frost cake (make sure cake is cool completely), spread about 2/3 cup frosting over top of one layer. Cover with second layer and spread top and sides with remaining frosting.
Monday, August 9, 2010
ONE OF THE BEST ARTICLES on eating animals!
Read on kids.......
Resolved: Eating Animals Is Indefensible By Bruce Fredrich
For the past few years, I've been spending a lot of time on college campuses, discussing the ethics of eating animals with college debate teams; I argue that vegetarianism is an ethical imperative for all members of the student body, and my adversaries (two members of the school's debate team) argue that it's not.
Last year, I visited Harvard, Yale, BYU, the Universities of Texas, Georgia, and Florida -- and dozens of other schools, coast to coast. This fall, I'm slated to visit Cornell, Princeton, Boston College, the University of Minnesota, and half a dozen additional schools.
The topic is a hot one on college campuses, and the teams that have accepted have been rewarded by what they have consistently told us to be their largest event audiences ever. You can watch many of the debates online, if you're so inclined, but here is the crux of my argument:
First, eating meat wastes and pollutes our land, water and air--as I discuss more thoroughly here. Second, eating meat drives up the price of cereals, which leads to starvation and food riots -- as I discuss here. Finally, eating meat supports cruelty to animals so severe that it would warrant felony cruelty charges were dogs or cats so horribly abused -- and that's true even of so-called "humane" farms (video).
Cruelty to animals is where I focus in these debates, because it's the issue that is most obvious: We are a nation of animal lovers -- according to a Gallup Poll last May, fully 97 percent of us support laws to protect animals from abuse -- and yet the animals with whom we come into contact most frequently are the animals we pay other people to abuse and kill for us.
The arguments that seem to resonate with students most deeply are:
First, other animals are made of flesh, blood, and bone -- just like humans. They have the same five physiological senses (i.e., they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch) that we do. And they feel pain -- again, just like we do. At most colleges and universities, students are unanimously opposed to eating dogs or cats; the idea revolts them. Yet there is no ethical difference between eating a dog, cat, chicken, pig or fish. If anything, eating your dogs or cats would be morally preferable, since they would have led a good life until you killed them.
In fact, both pigs and chickens do better on cognition tests than dogs or cats. Chickens can navigate mazes, learn from television and have both a capacity for forethought and meta-cognition. Pigs dream, recognize their names, play video games far more effectively than even some primates, and lead social lives of a complexity previously observed exclusively among primates.
Dr. Richard Dawkins, the foremost living evolutionary biologist, calls other species our evolutionary "cousins" and denounces what he calls "speciesist arrogance" -- the idea that we are better than, and can do whatever we want to other species. Darwin taught us that other species are more like us than they're unlike us. Eating meat entails eating "someone," not "something." Eating meat entails eating bits from an animal's corpse. That's not hyperbole; it's reality. That's not sentimental; it's a fact. Don't want to eat corpses? Don't eat meat.
Second, if we're eating meat, we are paying people to abuse animals in myriad ways that would violate anti-cruelty laws if these were dogs or cats rather than chickens and pigs. Animals are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them; they never breathe fresh air, raise their young, develop normal relationships with other animals, explore their surroundings, or do anything else they would do in nature. Artificial breeding practices are used so that animals will grow far more quickly than they would naturally, and their organs and limbs simply can't keep up. For example, chickens' upper bodies grow seven times as quickly as they did just 30 years ago, so these factory-farmed animals who live for fewer than two months (they're still chirping like infants when they're sent to slaughter) suffer from lung collapse, heart failure, and crippling leg deformities.
Michael Specter, a longtime staff writer for the New Yorker , visited a chicken farm and wrote, "I was almost knocked to the ground by the overpowering smell of feces and ammonia. My eyes burned and so did my lungs, and I could neither see nor breathe... There must have been 30,000 chickens sitting silently on the floor in front of me. They didn't move, didn't cluck. They were almost like statues of chickens, living in nearly total darkness, and they would spend every minute of their six-week lives that way."
Similarly hideous conditions exist for all animals raised for food; rather than further detailing the horrid details, I will ask that you if you eat meat, you watch "Meet Your Meat," which is narrated by Alec Baldwin, and "Glass Walls," which is narrated by Sir Paul McCartney -- I generally show the opening two minutes of Meet Your Meat as a part of my 10 minute opening statement in college debates. Both videos offer a gruesome window into what we're supporting if we choose to eat chickens, pigs and other farmed animals. If we eat meat, we should at least ensure that we know what we're paying for.
If you would not personally slice a chicken's beak off, or castrate a pig without pain relief or slice open an animal's throat, why pay someone else to do it for you? Where is the basic integrity in entering into this mercenary relationship? Is the person who hires someone to do something less culpable than the one who carries out the action? Of course not. Eating meat involves paying people to do things for us that most of us would not do ourselves. Where's the basic integrity -- the consistency -- in such a relationship?
Or, put in a more affirmative way: Vegetarianism allows me to live my values -- to "pray ceaselessly," as St. Paul puts it: Every time I sit down to eat, I cast my lot: for mercy, against misery; for the oppressed, against the oppressor; and for compassion, against cruelty. There is a lot of suffering in the world, but how much suffering can be addressed with literally no time or effort on our part? We can just stop supporting it, by making different choices.
So what's the trade-off: Why do people eat meat? And are the reasons we eat meat -- the benefits -- worth the costs?
Well, we get a few moments of pleasure -- most of us like the taste. We have more options at the grocery store and at restaurants. We can eat over at a friend's house without having to bring a dish. We never have to explain our dietary choices...
Is that really it? That it's convenient? That it's easier?
Although I don't discuss this on university campuses, where everyone knows plenty of healthy vegans and thus knows they don't need meat to survive, I should take a moment to point out that meat is absolutely not good for us. The American Dietetic Association -- the largest body of nutrition professionals on the planet -- conducted a meta-analysis of all the studies that have ever been done on diet and disease, and found that vegetarians have lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and obesity than meat-eaters (they believe that the studies indicate causality, not just correlation). Their position paper on vegetarian and vegan diets concludes that vegetarian and vegan diets are appropriate for all people and during all stages of life, including infancy and pregnancy.
So add it all up: Eating meat wastes and pollutes our natural resources -- requiring many times the water, land and energy of eating plants (a moral imperative on its own). Eating meat requires about 1 billion metric tons of grain, corn, and soy -- fed to the animals, who burn most of that energy off, which drives up the price of food for people who are starving (another moral imperative, on its own). And eating meat involves paying other people to do a wide variety of things to animals in ways that most of us would never do ourselves.
Put another way: If we believe that people should try to protect the environment, OR we believe that we should try not to cause people to starve OR we oppose cruelty to animals, the only ethical diet is a vegetarian one.
Find recipes, shopping tips, and a lot more information at www.GoVeg.com.
Resolved: Eating Animals Is Indefensible By Bruce Fredrich
For the past few years, I've been spending a lot of time on college campuses, discussing the ethics of eating animals with college debate teams; I argue that vegetarianism is an ethical imperative for all members of the student body, and my adversaries (two members of the school's debate team) argue that it's not.
Last year, I visited Harvard, Yale, BYU, the Universities of Texas, Georgia, and Florida -- and dozens of other schools, coast to coast. This fall, I'm slated to visit Cornell, Princeton, Boston College, the University of Minnesota, and half a dozen additional schools.
The topic is a hot one on college campuses, and the teams that have accepted have been rewarded by what they have consistently told us to be their largest event audiences ever. You can watch many of the debates online, if you're so inclined, but here is the crux of my argument:
First, eating meat wastes and pollutes our land, water and air--as I discuss more thoroughly here. Second, eating meat drives up the price of cereals, which leads to starvation and food riots -- as I discuss here. Finally, eating meat supports cruelty to animals so severe that it would warrant felony cruelty charges were dogs or cats so horribly abused -- and that's true even of so-called "humane" farms (video).
Cruelty to animals is where I focus in these debates, because it's the issue that is most obvious: We are a nation of animal lovers -- according to a Gallup Poll last May, fully 97 percent of us support laws to protect animals from abuse -- and yet the animals with whom we come into contact most frequently are the animals we pay other people to abuse and kill for us.
The arguments that seem to resonate with students most deeply are:
First, other animals are made of flesh, blood, and bone -- just like humans. They have the same five physiological senses (i.e., they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch) that we do. And they feel pain -- again, just like we do. At most colleges and universities, students are unanimously opposed to eating dogs or cats; the idea revolts them. Yet there is no ethical difference between eating a dog, cat, chicken, pig or fish. If anything, eating your dogs or cats would be morally preferable, since they would have led a good life until you killed them.
In fact, both pigs and chickens do better on cognition tests than dogs or cats. Chickens can navigate mazes, learn from television and have both a capacity for forethought and meta-cognition. Pigs dream, recognize their names, play video games far more effectively than even some primates, and lead social lives of a complexity previously observed exclusively among primates.
Dr. Richard Dawkins, the foremost living evolutionary biologist, calls other species our evolutionary "cousins" and denounces what he calls "speciesist arrogance" -- the idea that we are better than, and can do whatever we want to other species. Darwin taught us that other species are more like us than they're unlike us. Eating meat entails eating "someone," not "something." Eating meat entails eating bits from an animal's corpse. That's not hyperbole; it's reality. That's not sentimental; it's a fact. Don't want to eat corpses? Don't eat meat.
Second, if we're eating meat, we are paying people to abuse animals in myriad ways that would violate anti-cruelty laws if these were dogs or cats rather than chickens and pigs. Animals are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them; they never breathe fresh air, raise their young, develop normal relationships with other animals, explore their surroundings, or do anything else they would do in nature. Artificial breeding practices are used so that animals will grow far more quickly than they would naturally, and their organs and limbs simply can't keep up. For example, chickens' upper bodies grow seven times as quickly as they did just 30 years ago, so these factory-farmed animals who live for fewer than two months (they're still chirping like infants when they're sent to slaughter) suffer from lung collapse, heart failure, and crippling leg deformities.
Michael Specter, a longtime staff writer for the New Yorker , visited a chicken farm and wrote, "I was almost knocked to the ground by the overpowering smell of feces and ammonia. My eyes burned and so did my lungs, and I could neither see nor breathe... There must have been 30,000 chickens sitting silently on the floor in front of me. They didn't move, didn't cluck. They were almost like statues of chickens, living in nearly total darkness, and they would spend every minute of their six-week lives that way."
Similarly hideous conditions exist for all animals raised for food; rather than further detailing the horrid details, I will ask that you if you eat meat, you watch "Meet Your Meat," which is narrated by Alec Baldwin, and "Glass Walls," which is narrated by Sir Paul McCartney -- I generally show the opening two minutes of Meet Your Meat as a part of my 10 minute opening statement in college debates. Both videos offer a gruesome window into what we're supporting if we choose to eat chickens, pigs and other farmed animals. If we eat meat, we should at least ensure that we know what we're paying for.
If you would not personally slice a chicken's beak off, or castrate a pig without pain relief or slice open an animal's throat, why pay someone else to do it for you? Where is the basic integrity in entering into this mercenary relationship? Is the person who hires someone to do something less culpable than the one who carries out the action? Of course not. Eating meat involves paying people to do things for us that most of us would not do ourselves. Where's the basic integrity -- the consistency -- in such a relationship?
Or, put in a more affirmative way: Vegetarianism allows me to live my values -- to "pray ceaselessly," as St. Paul puts it: Every time I sit down to eat, I cast my lot: for mercy, against misery; for the oppressed, against the oppressor; and for compassion, against cruelty. There is a lot of suffering in the world, but how much suffering can be addressed with literally no time or effort on our part? We can just stop supporting it, by making different choices.
So what's the trade-off: Why do people eat meat? And are the reasons we eat meat -- the benefits -- worth the costs?
Well, we get a few moments of pleasure -- most of us like the taste. We have more options at the grocery store and at restaurants. We can eat over at a friend's house without having to bring a dish. We never have to explain our dietary choices...
Is that really it? That it's convenient? That it's easier?
Although I don't discuss this on university campuses, where everyone knows plenty of healthy vegans and thus knows they don't need meat to survive, I should take a moment to point out that meat is absolutely not good for us. The American Dietetic Association -- the largest body of nutrition professionals on the planet -- conducted a meta-analysis of all the studies that have ever been done on diet and disease, and found that vegetarians have lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and obesity than meat-eaters (they believe that the studies indicate causality, not just correlation). Their position paper on vegetarian and vegan diets concludes that vegetarian and vegan diets are appropriate for all people and during all stages of life, including infancy and pregnancy.
So add it all up: Eating meat wastes and pollutes our natural resources -- requiring many times the water, land and energy of eating plants (a moral imperative on its own). Eating meat requires about 1 billion metric tons of grain, corn, and soy -- fed to the animals, who burn most of that energy off, which drives up the price of food for people who are starving (another moral imperative, on its own). And eating meat involves paying other people to do a wide variety of things to animals in ways that most of us would never do ourselves.
Put another way: If we believe that people should try to protect the environment, OR we believe that we should try not to cause people to starve OR we oppose cruelty to animals, the only ethical diet is a vegetarian one.
Find recipes, shopping tips, and a lot more information at www.GoVeg.com.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
~Vegan Enchilada's~
I have yet to make these enchiladas yet but heard they're really good....Maybe I can convince hubby to make since it's his night to cook (I like saving the really complicated meals for him ;)...
Enjoy beauties~
Enchiladas
INGREDIENTS:
1 package of tempeh
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can of beans of your choice (vegetarian refried beans are good)
Flour tortillas
Nutritional yeast to garnish (optional)
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
STEPS:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large sauté pan, sauté the onion and garlic with a little olive oil until translucent.
Add the can of tomatoes and crumble in the tempeh.
Mix in the taco seasoning and let it all incorporate for about 5-10 minutes.
In a separate sauce pan, let your beans heat up.
Once the beans are hot and the tempeh mixture is settled, start assembling your tortillas.
Spread out the beans first on the tortilla, and then add the tempeh mixture on top.
Roll it up, and place in a casserole dish.
Repeat.
Pour the tomato sauce over the enchiladas (you don’t need the whole jar, just enough to cover them evenly) .
Put the dish in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.
Top w/ vegan cheese ("daiya" or "follow your heart") and/or sour cream ("tofutti") on top.
Enjoy beauties~
Enchiladas
INGREDIENTS:
1 package of tempeh
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can of beans of your choice (vegetarian refried beans are good)
Flour tortillas
Nutritional yeast to garnish (optional)
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
STEPS:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large sauté pan, sauté the onion and garlic with a little olive oil until translucent.
Add the can of tomatoes and crumble in the tempeh.
Mix in the taco seasoning and let it all incorporate for about 5-10 minutes.
In a separate sauce pan, let your beans heat up.
Once the beans are hot and the tempeh mixture is settled, start assembling your tortillas.
Spread out the beans first on the tortilla, and then add the tempeh mixture on top.
Roll it up, and place in a casserole dish.
Repeat.
Pour the tomato sauce over the enchiladas (you don’t need the whole jar, just enough to cover them evenly) .
Put the dish in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.
Top w/ vegan cheese ("daiya" or "follow your heart") and/or sour cream ("tofutti") on top.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
In the Spirit of Independence....
"Never counted in the "costs" of war are the dead birds, the charred animals, the murdered fish, incinerated insects, poisoned water sources, destroyed vegetation. Rarely mentioned is the arrogance of the human race towards other living things with which it shares this planet. All these are forgotten in the fight for markets and ideologies. This arrogance will probably be the ultimate undoing of the human species".
~T.D. Allman, quoted in War Talk, by Arundhati Roy
This incredibly cool lady has done it for me, so I'm steering you to her :) She's got a little bit of ereything for a feast that won't rot in your colon. Happy day!
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/07/keeping-it-light-and-cool-on-fourth-of.html
~T.D. Allman, quoted in War Talk, by Arundhati Roy
This incredibly cool lady has done it for me, so I'm steering you to her :) She's got a little bit of ereything for a feast that won't rot in your colon. Happy day!
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/07/keeping-it-light-and-cool-on-fourth-of.html
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Just because he's so damn cute.....
One of many stories I was sent from "Animal Acres", (an INCREDIBLE animal sanctuary in So. Cal., specifically for abused and neglected farm animals).
http://www.animalacres.org/
I just thought it was apropos since I keep posting these dairy free recipes:
"Meet the newest boy in our lives: Cowboy. We received a call that this little guy was in a tiny alley in West Hollywood, kept from running about by tipped over shopping carts making an impromptu fence. We believe he is about two weeks old, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that his health remains strong as he is such a little love!".
http://www.animalacres.org/
I just thought it was apropos since I keep posting these dairy free recipes:
"Meet the newest boy in our lives: Cowboy. We received a call that this little guy was in a tiny alley in West Hollywood, kept from running about by tipped over shopping carts making an impromptu fence. We believe he is about two weeks old, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that his health remains strong as he is such a little love!".
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Vegan Pizza w/ Daiya Cheese!
Yeah, it's as good as it looks. I have yet to master this incredible pizza but thank goodness for Promise Pizza in Austin where we order this from. J goes crazy when I tell him Daddy's bringing home pizza! The "cheese" is made from: tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, non-GMO expeller pressed canola oil, non-GMO expeller pressed safflower oil, coconut oil, pea protein, salt, inactive yeast, vegan natural flavours, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, citric acid (for flavor). No stolen milk = Good stuff (click on cow with her baby at top left of page for more info on the nastiness and cruelty of cows milk).
Let me know what fab recipes you may come up with ;)
Peppers and Herbs
Look what popped up in the garden and J is fascinated with them! Serrano peppers; my FAV!
And this fennel bares mentioning since it's such an incredible herb, (plus I just love how feathery and delicate looking it is). I only planted it b/c a few of Tal Ronnen's recipes called for fennel, which I never ended up using. I had no idea how good for you it really was.
Internal use:
-has antispasmodic, diuretic, pain-and fever-reducer effects and antimicrobial properties.
- has a mild estrogenic effect and also exhibits a calming effect on the bronchial tubes.
-helps digestion and relieves indigestion, gas, dyspepsia, colic, as well as reducing intestinal spasms.
-is used to increase milk flow in breastfeeding mothers.
-also used for menstrual problems.
-(the root) is used for urinary disorders.
-(the leaves and leaf bases) are added to salads.
Aromatherapy and essential oil use:
-when you are feeling timid and in need of courage and strength, fennel essential oil may do the trick.
- detoxifies the body and is useful when suffering from a hangover.
-it act as tonic for the liver, kidneys and spleen, but also helps to reduce cellulite.
-has a cleansing and tonic action on the skin and also helps keep wrinkles at bay.
-it has antiseptic, anti-spasmodic, aperitif, carminative, detoxicant, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, insecticide, laxative, stimulant, stomachic and tonic properties.
And this fennel bares mentioning since it's such an incredible herb, (plus I just love how feathery and delicate looking it is). I only planted it b/c a few of Tal Ronnen's recipes called for fennel, which I never ended up using. I had no idea how good for you it really was.
Internal use:
-has antispasmodic, diuretic, pain-and fever-reducer effects and antimicrobial properties.
- has a mild estrogenic effect and also exhibits a calming effect on the bronchial tubes.
-helps digestion and relieves indigestion, gas, dyspepsia, colic, as well as reducing intestinal spasms.
-is used to increase milk flow in breastfeeding mothers.
-also used for menstrual problems.
-(the root) is used for urinary disorders.
-(the leaves and leaf bases) are added to salads.
Aromatherapy and essential oil use:
-when you are feeling timid and in need of courage and strength, fennel essential oil may do the trick.
- detoxifies the body and is useful when suffering from a hangover.
-it act as tonic for the liver, kidneys and spleen, but also helps to reduce cellulite.
-has a cleansing and tonic action on the skin and also helps keep wrinkles at bay.
-it has antiseptic, anti-spasmodic, aperitif, carminative, detoxicant, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, insecticide, laxative, stimulant, stomachic and tonic properties.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Mint Limeade
As hot as it gets in this godforsaken town, you must drink. A lot. And after a while water just doesn't cut it..... sooo to use up some of the mint I started growing and the limes that were going bad I whipped up a batch of this goodness. Enjoy~
Ingredients:
6 cups water, divided
1 3/4 cups sugar (I used agave)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
1 cup fresh lime juice (about 12 limes: before you cut, roll them on the counter top to get more juice out of them)
10 mint sprigs (optional)
10 lime slices (optional)
Preparation:
Combine 2 cups water, sweetener of choice, and chopped mint in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids.
Combine the remaining 4 cups water, and lime juice in a large pitcher, stirring well. Serve over ice; garnish with mint sprigs and lime slices, if desired (or trying to show off ;)
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