Gluten Free Vegan Enchalidas and Loss

 Before I start anything tonight, I need to give a huge acknowledgement to a beautiful woman. Sarah Geer revamped my blog page... JUST LOOK HOW TALENTED SHE IS!! I am eternally grateful for the fresh, vibrant life that her talent has breathed on this site. She is available to do yours, I think her work speaks for itself, but since I am a huge fan of her work, I will speak for her, as well! Thank you, Sarah.

Grandpa's kids and grand kids singing hymns at his memorial

 I am not sure that death is ever really going to be understood with the dimmed vision that we have.  My husband's grandfather, and really one of the only men I have ever called "grandpa." passed away on February 10th. He was 89, and in these last few years of his life, we all watched as life left his eyes, before his body. It was painful. He left behind a rich legacy, and it will live on. He was imperfect but he was a kind man, and those are rare. Grandpa farmed. I believe our love of growing food trickled down from him, to mom, to us. It pretty much runs through the whole family, this ability to grow food. In fact all of Grandpa's kids do it, and most of us, grand kids. We spent over a week gathered together, as a family, having dinner together. It was a comforting thing, to be surrounded by family after a loss.

I am not a fan of loss, in fact, it is pretty overwhelming to me. My grandmother, whom has lived next to us since we both built our homes, around 7 years ago, is going to sell that home. that my kids continue to sneak over to. That loss is heartbreaking to me. But life changes and so it is until we will no longer have to deal with death of any sort, ever again! Until then, I simply honor the tears that flow, as I think that there will come a time when my kids will no longer stray over to the gigantic yellow house, next door.

In the next couple of days, I will start seedlings!!! I am very excited! Last year I started them around this time, and it worked out pretty well. I want pumpkins, kale, collards, carrots, onions, broccoli, beets, cabbages, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, lettuce, peas, spinach, chard, and radishes!! Food!!! yet again!! FOOD!!! I'll post some pictures of my indoor set up. We are also going to have chicks and a few turkeys. They come in on march 8th. The house will be up and busy with kids wanting to bother the chicks...it will also prove to be a learning experience for our dog, Lexi. Lexi loves birds, this is not so good. She will have to learn that she cannot bite them.

This leads me to discuss my home's diet more candidly. In the past I have eaten exclusively vegan and even ate raw for a few months, last year. The way my family eats in not any one way, now, though. So though this blog is going to be exclusively vegan and gluten free, that doesn't reflect how we eat all the time. My whole house does not eat dairy (there are extremely rare instances when this is compromised on) and besides my oldest son and I, the rest of the house eats gluten. We make healthier choices about our food, but that does not mean you cannot find an example of an exception. Toby dip net fishes at Chitna for salmon, in the summer. We have chickens that we get eggs from. I will raise turkeys and prepare them for thanksgiving. I eat pretty much gluten free, and vegan, but that is not always the case.

I am pretty confident that you will not ever find us in line at a fast food restaurant, or grabbing some ready made meal from the grocery store (or even bread products). In the summer, you won't really see me at any grocery store. I am in my garden or at the farmers market. I buy my bulk from azurestandard and my favorite local health food store, both are amazing.

Back to my reason for this post, Enchiladas! I have tried making this dish with quinoa instead of rice, and I have added and taken away ingredients from the sauce. but I loved the way this came out!!! The secret is in the rice and most importantly, the homemade sauce!!! YUMMO!

here is what you will need to impress anyone who likes enchiladas!

Gluten Free Vegan Enchiladas

1/2 medium onion diced
2c of chopped spinach (optional)
1-2 diced zuchinni (optional)
2c of cooked bhutan red rice (I believe this was my secret pizazz ingredient)
2 cans of black beans (I use my pressure cooker to make my beans, it is awesome)
how ever generous you want to be with daiya cheese
and one package of these tortillas

this is what you will need to make the amazing enchilada sauce that will make, or break your tasty dish

5c of broth or water
2c of tomato sauce
1/2c of chili powder
2T of cumin powder
1T of garlic powder
1T of salt
1/2t of cinnamon powder
1/4 and 2T of buckwheat flour
1/3c of coconut oil
----in a pan put oil over medium heat, whisk flour and oil, constantly add flour and rest of dry ingredients....followed by the broth/water..... bring to a boil, stirring constantly (about 3-5 minutes)....add tomato sauce and let sit... the sauce will thicken, I have found that if the sauce is too thick, it won't soak through the enchilada layers properly....and nobody wants dry enchiladas!! so you can add more water, if needed.

in a 9x13 oiled casserole dish begin to layer....tortillas layed down, followed by rice, onions, beans, zucchini , chopped spinach, and daiya cheese (organic corn would be good too). Pour a generous amount of sauce...make sure it's saturated.  Repeat the layers again...making sure that there's enough sauce to almost bubble over....top with tortillas and some daiya sprinkled....

baking in 350 oven for 1 hour.... Enjoy!!



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Change and Vegan Hungarian Mushroom Soup!!

I have a few moments! The house is quiet, I have errands to run, but not quite now. I have this hour all to myself. It's morning, the sun is finally coming back to the north! That is a cause to celebrate, no matter what!!! Sickness made a rude appearance in our home, but is finally begrudgingly leaving. So there is much much hope in the air. Regardless of what circumstances may look like in your life, if you live in the north, when the hint of spring comes your way, hope comes with the sun. You may just have to live here to truly understand.

I was reading over the past several entries....Wow! A whole lot of change has occurred in my life since November. I am not sure where to begin. First, our Xmas was a refreshing time with God and family. My relationship with the Lord has simply grown, and continues to change everything about me...what I thought was important, who He is, my utter dependency on Him...for...everything!, and so as a chasm forms between what I believed and was is true...change takes place all around my life, beginning with the inside.

We came home from our vacation and had the opportunity to take in a teenager with her then 4 month old. We jumped at the chance, and prayed through the whole experience (and continue to). It has been a choice that has brought about much more noise, patience, laughter, and joy in our home. The transition is still happening, but it has been smoother than I could have ever imagined. Our family of 5 jumped up to  7. And technically I have become a "nana". I feel very cool! Parenting a teenager is a whole different ball game. I know I am in over my head, so I pray, a lot.

I am officially a Romanian citizen. I was elated to get the paperwork. Unfortunately, it seems when one door opens, all that is on the other side is 7 more bolted doors, and all I have is a feather to try to open them with. In order to get my Romanian passport I must make an appointment and fly out, in person, to the embassy in Washington DC, but I cannot got there without a current greencard. So what should be extremely simple...getting my green-card renewed, apparently is not.  I won't bother you with my rants, but it should be as simple as turning it the paperwork, them sending me to a place to get fingerprinted and have a new photo taken....then voila. The max time that they said they take is 90 days.  I applied on Oct. 1st of 2012, I still have not heard back. Until then, I cannot go to the Romanian embassy. After I get the Romanian paperwork settled and done, I will have to get the American paperwork done, as well.  I am not discouraged, but it is daunting and seems impossible. I must have a current Romanian AND American passport before I can start the actual adoption paperwork. sigh. So I pray, and wait.

One of the biggest changes about having a teenager and infant in my life is the unending hours of driving them around. I have a new route for dropping and picking up kids from school (none of my kids ride the bus) and top it off with doctor's appointments, glasses appointments, and everything else, and you have a mom, very motivated to teach her teen how to drive!

So when I have a moment to finally be in the kitchen, I feel grateful! I came up with this recipe out of a need. Thursday mornings are my favorite mornings. I have a bible study that I go to, and afterwards, I go to a local bookstore and get a salad. The problem is I want their Hungarian mushroom soup!! They have the soup in containers to buy. I stare at them, trying not to hear their taunts "Eat me, Eat me" it calls. Alas, with all the diary, there is no way I ever eat it. Surely there must be a better way. So I set out to make one of my favorite soups, and I was not dissapointed!

Here's what you need:

a medium onion chopped
2T of soy free earth balance (you can use olive oil, but for the buttery taste, I really recommend this!)
2 12 ozs of mushrooms (if you can do a variety of kinds, it's better, more textures)
2T of paprika (the fresher, the better)
1T of dried dill
3T of flour (I used buckwheat)
1 can of coconut milk (I prefer native forrests brand)
3-4 c of broth or water
salt and pepper to taste

super simple....set pot on medium heat, put diced up onions and earth balance, still till onions are translucent....add paprika, dill, flour, and stir......add broth and mushroom.....let heat on high till a slight boil comes on, then let simmer....gently pour the coconut milk, stir...and enjoy!!!

My teenager, who doesn't like mushrooms, gobbled it up, which equals great success in my world!



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