yumminess...

ribbon zucchini pasta tossed in mushrooms, red peppers, and goat cheese...

i don't do eggs, so i opted for zucchini ribbon noodles.....so easy and sooooooo good! just use a veggie peeler and slice long noodley strips until you hit seeds then turn the zucchini and do it again! put the "noodles" in a colander and salt heavily. the salt pulls the moisture out of the zucchini. the longer you let it sit, the more noodle like the strips become...i let mine sit for about thirty minutes. no need to cook. 

saute one or two cloves of garlic and add some chopped mushrooms and red bell peppers. once the veggies are nice and tender, toss in a bit of goat cheese (this is where i threw in the zucchini noodles)  and a splash of white wine. i didn't have any white wine in the house so i splashed a bit of white wine vinegar. i have no idea if it brings a similar taste, but it was fantastic! next time i will remember the wine! 

anyhoo.....try this! first time i have been glad to be the only one who likes goat cheese and mushrooms in my house......it's all mine! ha!

vegan creamy potato soup

this soup is yummy.... not to mention healthy.

very easy...

first add olive oil to a nice big soup pot

chop:

 5 or 6 celery stalks

1 medium sized cauliflower

6 medium to small sized potatoes

throw all that in and saute

add salt to taste...it's a big pot so at least 2 or 3 teaspoons

add a tablespoon or so of dried ground rosemary (fresh would be even better)

just stir every so often and let the veggies do their thing

after a few minutes:

fill the pot with cold water, just enough to cover all the veggies

let simmer for a while...

until everything starts to break down

maybe add a little extra virgin olive oil at this phase, but only if you want to

next.....blend!

maybe top with some fresh chives or dill and maybe a small dollop of sour cream

enjoy!

sauteed veggie & black bean sloppy joe's

.....and kale chips


***

olive oil

saute chopped green bell pepper

add chopped zucchini & yellow squash

add thyme

pinch of hing

pretty sure i threw some oregano in there

add a bunch of lovely red tomatoes chopped

let simmer...cause it's summer

add a couple cups of cooked black beans

(i smashed 'em up a bit with my hands)

a pinch of dill weed

maybe a tablespoon of paprika

an arm full of fresh chopped spinach

cover to let wilt

stir it up

I wanted ciabatta buns, but the damn bakery was out

so, wheat pita bread it is

now...

decide to make homemade kale chips

(thanks sandra franks for this gem of a recipe)

just washed and dried flat kale

get rid of the fat stems

rip into pieces 

drizzle a couple table spoons olive oil

toss to cover completely

sprinkle some salt...i used big chunky sea salt

put in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 11 minutes

seriously.....seriously tasty

um....yeah

dinnahhhhhh......

i don't even really have a recipe for this one.

let's try.

olive oil in a pan...don't skimp.

a little hing

a little pepper

a giant red bell pepper chopped

lift the heat a bit

 half a brick of tofu crumbled

a generous squirt of braggs

a vegetable bouillion cube...smashed

thinly sliced carrots

thyme

oregano

sea salt

a can of organic tomatoes (garden not quite ready)

some water

....simmer

add cooked angel hair pasta and toss

let the pasta soak up all that goodness

throw on good amount of chopped fresh spinach

plate the pasta

top with freshly grated asiago cheese

eat

saturday morning mash...

joe's gone to yoga and the girls are still sleeping. time to make saturday morning mash! i like to sit in the morning on my couch in the kitchen (yeah, that's right, i broke the social norm rules of where furniture is placed in a people house) and think about my day and try to wrap my brain around being awake. 

first step is to fry up the fake sausage. 1/2 pack sausage and 1/2 bell pepper chopped

 i like the gimme lean's sausage. i put a little olive oil in a pan and let it get pretty hot. then just fry up and chop it up....pretty easy...now that it is all nice and brown, place it on a cookie sheet in the oven (on warm)

half of a 32 oz. bag of frozen southern style cubes hash browns.

same deal. nice hot olive oil. maybe throw in a little hing and fresh ground pepper, then toss the tatters in. when they get nice and brown, move them to that cookie sheet with the sausage and chopped peppers.

now for the tofu :)

once again, small amount of olive oil heated up.

1 teaspoon-ish black mustard seeds

let sit in the oil until they start to pop! then quickly add...

1/2 teaspoon hing

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 packs of tofu

stir and break up tofu. if you want the tofu a bit more yellow, just add a bit more turmeric.

add 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

splash of braggs liquid amino

cover and simmer....the tofu will get quite watery as it cooks. this is good..because next after it has cooked for several minutes you will add....

4 to 6 table spoons nutritional yeast 

this mixes with the watery stuff and makes a freaking killer sauce!

now just simmer for a few minutes then add all the stuff you have sitting in the oven!

get yourself a lovely cup o coffee and maybe a slice of toast....scrumptious!!!

falafel

falafel....

i am at a loss for words so.....just. here is the recipe.

4 cups chickpeas 

(from my freezer) canned is ok too....but on all the recipes i researched, they said for some reason, that starting with dried beans and cooking them makes a difference.....i did that the other day then put them in my freezer, so that's what i used.....pulse a few times in the processor, then add...

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 or 4 tablespoons flour or bread crumbs

1 teaspoon-ish ground cumin

1 teaspoon-ish ground coriander 

1/2 teaspoon hing (or onion or garlic of some sort)

maybe a half a bunch fresh flat parsley leaves

small hand full fresh cilantro

sprinkle in some red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

mix up in food processor until it's all good and mixed. kinda pasty.

so here is where things can....and did go terribly wrong! i filled my frying pan with an inch or so of oil. i placed little flat balls of my mixture in the oil and within a few minutes they melted into nothing.....so i added a bit more flour...my friend christie thinks the oil wasn't hot enough. could be. but, anyhooo.....it all worked out amazingly!

place in pita with hummus, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, lettuce, avocado :) and a simple yogurt sauce! (below)

one part tahini

2 parts plain yogurt

fresh lemon juice

salt

enjoy!!!

morning rituals...

Seed toast and a couple cups of coffee

Taking my time to wake up in the morning is my ritual, along with coffee and seed toast! and just let me be honest for a sec here...I am totally confused when I wake up, so taking my time to get to a coherent place in my brain is kind of a requirement. last summer I decided that, for whatever reason, I needed flax seed oil in my life. so I came up with this kick ass morning food!.....well, I think it's kick ass anyway :) 

in a small bowl....

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons flax seeds  (grind them in a coffee grinder. I grind until they are somewhere between coarse and fine. jess, however, likes hers fine. experiment)
1 tablespoon organic flax seed oil
1 teaspoon bragg's liquid amino
1 small dab of your favorite mustard (spicy brown mustard is my favorite, but the yellow stuff is good too)

now just mix up (it will look kind of dry....keep mixing it up. it will be kinda crumbly) and plop it all on a piece of yummy bread....personally i choose the butt end of a loaf of dave's killer bread. it's all seedy and organic and goes really well with my concoction.

you can get really good prices on nutritional yeast and flax seeds in the bulk section at Winco


happy morning :)

Chickpeas!

mmmm....today it's all about beans. because i love them. my friend briton freezes beans in glass mason jars. a freezer full of beans....nice. this is my plan for today. chickpeas. then i'm making this amazingly yummy sandwich spread using the chickpeas, veggies, herbs and spices...

speaking of the freezer, i had to defrost the beast that lives out with my car......holy puddle in my garage! but, at least it is now ready to hold all my beans :)

.....soaked a bunch of dried chickpeas over night that i had in the pantry.

* slowly cook all day in the slow cooker...

* add salt for the last little bit of cooking

* once all soft, drain and rinse the chickpeas and let cool completely.

* fill jars to 1 inch below the top

* put lids on and freeze! 

a happy freezer is a freezer full of beans!

So this delicious sandwich spread i mentioned is supposed to be a fake or vegan version of tunafish....but tunafish is so gross. i once ate a tunafish sandwich in the 6th grade that had been in my backpack for 2 days. i won't go into the details, but i'm pretty sure i almost died. so, i must think up another name for it. 

anyhooo.....

this is my twist on my friend sandra's recipe....and yes it is amazing :)

in a food processor put roughly 2 cups chickpeas and maybe some chopped celery and green or red bell peppers...pulse 3 or 4 times

next add:

a wooden spoon full of veganaise

a squirt of your favorite mustard

splash in some rice vinegar

splash of braggs liquid amino

shake in some celery salt or seeds

a sprinkle of hing (asafoetida powder) or just dice up some onions (sandra likes this the best!)

a teaspoon or so of dill weed

salt and peper to taste

pinch of cayenne or a sprinkle of red pepper flakes

i like to throw in a couple slices of pickle as well, but that's up to you.

now.....make your sandwich! i like to top with tomato, sprouts, lettuce and avocado (because avocado is good on anything and everything :)

summer time means I get to obsess about food :)

lentil soup....with sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado and lime....

summer time. now is the time i get to wake up...NOT GO TO SCHOOOL :) and say to my self over a nice cup o' joe (made by joe...with love) what am i going to make for dinnah? hmmmmmm? today there wasn't much laying around so i opted for good ol' lentil soup.

.....but i jazzed it up a bit. made it fancy. yeah. it's summer.

here's the spiel (sheesh. jess. why can you spell so good? hmmm?)

this is a sloooow cooker recipe...i am very fond of these things.

10 cups of water
1 16 oz bag of dried lentils
2 tablespoons of ground coriander
maybe a titch of thyme and oregano...ok not "maybe", just do it.

veggies! today i added sweet potato, celery, carrots and chopped spinach...you can do any veggies you have around the house. sometimes i don't have any, so i go strait lentils and maybe, if you wanted, a couple cubes of veggie bullion...but totally not necessary.

put all that stuff mentioned above in the slow cooker on low for like 6 or 7 hours
or high for 4-ish hours 

ok. now that the lentils are all soft like butter...

get a little pan, add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and heat it up.

add to oil:
1/2 teaspoon hing.....("asofoetida powder" indian spice found at indian or world markets.....or just onion or garlic...but seriously... the hing has a unique flavor that is delicious and keeps people guessing :)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

fry up the spices and dump into the soup!

add:
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 table spoon fresh lemon juice
1 small can of tomato paste

let simmer for a bit...

time to eat!

top with avocado, cilantro, lime, salt and pepper....maybe serve over rice...maybe a scoop of sour cream....or nothing. your choice.

alone in my head. hmm.....make food for the week. make food for the day. stay alive. not think too much. comfortable in my skin. finally. now that it's a little bit wrinkly and soft. happy to redeem or reawaken the little girl who loves textiles wrapped around her to feel pretty. happily watering the weeds to just have them yanked out of their dirt so the tomatoes can be put in. the summer has come and the gears are still in high. just siting in the skin i'm in. noticing my place in the universe. my universe. i love it. my son is a star on my wrist. my jess will be there as a bird. hazel is the moon and leila a tiger....all things in the sky except the tiger. hmmm....aaauuuuuummmmmmmmm the moon is the universe and so is the star... they light the path of the tiger and the bird sits in the sky. amen to my scrambled mind. amen to my scrambled mind.