Beet Chips (raw vegan)

Picked up some golden beets at the farm stand for cheap.  I'm still trying to love beets. I can now tolerate them, and I'm using the French phrase "I just haven't had them enough times" to explain why I don't-yet-love beets.

Sliced thin on a mandolin these are quite beautiful with concentric rings.

After dehydrating the slices at 105 F for several hours, they aren't quite as pretty. But the sweetness intensified and there's just a hint of earthiness.

I figure I can snack on these here and there and see if I can develop more liking for beets!

Eco Idea: DIY Organic Cotton Handkerchiefs

Normally don't write about non-food things here, but just couldn't resist after finishing this project! 

I've been working on  breaking my tissue habit- I have tissue boxes everywhere (4 around the house and one more in the car).  It creates so much waste in the tissue and the landfill-ness that it finally came to the top of my eco-ROI-list (yes the informal ongoing list in my head of tasks, sorted by their "eco-ROI", which is how much better for the environment they are divided by how much extra work it entails).


Method:
Buy 2 yards organic cotton knit fabric (should be $5-8 per yard or less- try to use coupons!). 

Cut fabric into 9.5" squares (a rotary cutter and cutting mat helps!)

Serge the edges, rounding corners so you have just one end of serger thread hanging out.  

I used matching white thread, but you could go fancy and use blue or metallic thread or whatever- just don't pick colors that look like snot or that are rough on skin.

Make enough to keep a stack of 5+ at each place you normally keep a tissue box.

Optional: make boxes to hold the folded handkercheifs, or make boxes with another compartment for the used/dirty tissues. This is next up on my list.

Wash: throw in the wash with like colors. I don't worry about doing these in a separate load or on hot unless someone had a really nasty cold :)

Bread Pudding Master Recipe

Bread pudding is so simple to make and economical because it uses up old/stale bread.  You can prep it ahead of time- it does well after sitting (unlike cakes or muffins that need to be baked right away in order to take advantage of the whipped eggs or baking powder/soda).

Ratio to remember: 2 eggs per 1 cup milk/non dairy milk

Bread Pudding Master Recipe: 

Combine liquids:
2 eggs
1 C milk/cream/buttermilk, non dairy milk (rice milk, almond milk, hemp milk etc.)
1/4 C (or more) sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave, sugar etc.) 
1/8 tea salt
1 tea vanilla extract

Pour over 3-4 C cubed bread (stale is fine, try whole wheat bread, challah, sourdough, baguette, bagels etc.) in a pan that holds the bread.

Optional: add your favorite add-ins. Examples: raisins, chocolate chips or chunks of chocolate, finely chopped nuts, cinnamon, berries, diced apples, etc.

Let the bread soak up the liquid and stir every couple minutes.

Bake at 350 for approx 25-35 minutes or until set- you want custardy at the bottom and slightly crispy/browned on top.

Serve as is, or with whipped cream, drizzle of honey/maple syrup, scoop of ice cream or fresh berries.

Variations:

• Cinnamon Raisin bagels+ extra raisins + extra cinnamon
• Chocolate milk + chocolate chips + almond extract
• Diced apples + cinnamon + walnut chunks

Simple Roasted Sweet Potato

Saw it on a blog somewhere and then had to look it up! This is a simple meal and very filling- lots of nutrient dense carbohydrates :)

Method:

Prick one large sweet potato with fork tines (to help release steam later).

Place in oven on a roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 400 with potato inside, let it cook for total of 45 minutes or until soft throughout.

Once soft, split open, dab with butter or coconut oil and salt, optional roasted garlic.


Nutritional facts: my sweet potato was quite large, about 350-400 grams.  Half of that is about 200 calories, plus any butter you added!

Fried Egg Tortilla Wrap

This was a quick and filling breakfast. 

Method:
Fry 2-3 eggs (farmer's market is best!) in olive oil or butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Put lettuce on 1 ezekiel sprouted grain tortilla. 

Place fried eggs on lettuce bed, dab salsa (tomatillo salsa pictured here) and wrap!

Honeydew Melon & Bok Choy Smoothie

The name pretty much says it all. 

Blend 1 baby bok choy with 1 cup of honeydew melon and a little water.

Thrifty tip: when cutting up melon, you don't have to discard the seedy goo in the middle. It's actually quite sweet, and with a high powered blender most of the seeds break down and make your smoothie creamy.  I use the inner seeds and membrane as part of my 1 cup of melon.

Chia Oats Breakfast

This is a new breakfast favorite- I'm surprised I haven't blogged it sooner! Got the idea from my friend for overnight oats (simply soaking rolled oats in nut mylk for a while), then added the chia seeds.

1 tablespoon of chia seeds proves 2.4 grams of omega-3 fatty acids (the good kind!) which is enough for most diets (of course you can always eat more- chia seeds are delicious!) Omega-3s protect the brain and are essential for many functions in the body.  Most Americans don't get enough omega-3s, hence this is a great way to start the day.

If your oats are raw or home-pressed, and you make your own nut mylk, then this is also a raw breakfast.


Combine in a bowl:
1/2 C rolled oats
1 TB chia seeds
1/2 C rice milk or other non-dairy milk

Let sit for 5 minutes or more for the oats to fluff up and soak in the liquid.

Top with fruit (plums, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, banana etc.)

Approximate nutritional info (before adding fruit): 275 calories; 7.5 grams protein, 33.2 grams carbohydrate, 7.65 grams fat; 2.4 grams omega-3 fatty acids.

Blender OJ (orange juice)

After reading about the disgusting process for producing orange juice in those cartons at the grocery store (i.e. stored in tanks for over a year and spiced up with orange flavor packs that aren't disclosed on labels), I've switched to making my own-- in the blender.

Method:
Simply peel a few oranges, toss into high speed blender with a little water and let it whirl.

The blender method is easy to clean up and provides more fiber than juicing.

Raspberries!

I scored 7+ pints of raspberries for less than $8! Of course I had to go in the hot sun and pick them myself-- but totally worth it!  On the west side of Portland, West Union Gardens is the best berry (raspberry, blackberry, currant etc.) u-pick farm. Seriously, berries are one of the highlights of living in the northwest.

Aren't they pretty in my new japanese bowl from Daiso? Thanks Lorisan!

These were eaten by the handful (pint-ful?), and on quinoa breakfast porridge. Yum!

Olive Buckwheat Flatbread (raw, vegan, grain & gluten free)

These are really good with your favorite dip, like hummus.  Haven't tried it yet but assume these flatbreads would be awesome with baba ganoush (roasted eggplant dip) or guacamole.  This is a nice recipe because you can enjoy "chips and dip" party-style while maintaining high-nutrient-density eating.

Blend until combined:
1/2 C pitted kalamata olives
1 C chopped celery
1.5 C water

Now add to blender and blend until combined:
1 C flax meal
1/2 C raw buckwheat groats

Pour onto one (or two) 14"x14" teflex lined dehydrator sheets. Dehydrate at 104 F, for 4 hours on each side or until done (how thick you poured/spread will affect the drying time). 

Leave as one big sheet and tear into rustic pieces, or score when you flip the breads to get squares or triangles.