AHHH!!!! It has taken me days, nay! Weeks to finally be able to acsess this account and resume my blogging!!! oh, I am thrilled, but still feeling the unending frustration to simply log on! *big sigh of relief*

My computer decided to not work on me, then there was paying for it to be fixed......so it has finally returned back to me, and now that I am able to do this. I will post some of the recipes for what I have been up to in the kitchen. Not long now... Pin It Now!

Raw Chocolate and Banana Mousse

I am trying to have a more correct blog. By correct I mean that there are complete sentences and appropriate capitalization, spelling, and grammar. This is not easy for me. I think I could have been a great writer in some life. A life without all the things I just mentioned in the previous sentences. I hate the boundaries and constraints that are placed on writing! I am perfectly happy to add ...... in between every new thought. I would be happy in a world without capitalization, paragraphs, correct sentences, and all the rest of it. I do like commas, like, a lot. So feel free to help me move to a more correctly written blog.

I am almost through the holiday season. Eating well, and making healthier choices during this time of year can get tricky. I think the support, or lack of, makes a difference. I bring dishes and desserts to family gatherings, which makes it easier for me, and for my kids, to eat what is more suitable for our eating habits. It can still get a little tricky explaining to my children why they cannot have the processed sweets/foods that the other kids are eating, but overall my kids get over it, and eat the sweets and foods that they CAN have. Such is the way of parenting, trying to guide them make the healthier choices. My greatest challenge with my kids is trying to show them that real food is more important for them (how food makes them feel) than what "tastes" (aka chemically tricking their brains) good. It gets confusing to little ones. How can it be not good for me, if it "tastes" good? My son's are better about eating well. My daughter sees it as the "forbidden fruit". Sigh. It is a journey for our household, I'll let you know how the different steps come along.

My house continues to go through an obnoxious amount of banana's. I made raw banana creme pie last night for dinner. It came out soooo amazing, that i can't seem to stop myself from eating it. I'll have to share the recipe sometime. Speaking of raw desserts. I have been eating them for dinner a couple of times in the past week. I don't even feel guilty.

I made this dessert weeks ago for dinner (it's taken me a long time to post, i will get better about this). It filled Toby and I up! I was satisfied and it left a smile on my face. Confession: I am not a fan of chocolate. Anyone who knows me, knows this oddity about me. Since cutting out processed food, I occasionally enjoy a little here or there. In fact, if my chocolate doesn't come with a berry or fruit, I will pass on the treat. So this came with Alaskan blueberries....and bananas!

I used my vita-mix to blend the following ingredients....but since bananas and avocados are pretty mushy, I bet a regular blender would work just fine


Raw Chocolate/Banana Mousse

1 large avocado
1 large banana
1/4 raw cocoa powder
pinch of himalayan salt
1/2 c of agave syrup

Blend....and enjoy!

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Vegan Coconut Curry Delight

It has become habit for me to oversleep on the weekends. I am trying to remedy this by getting out of bed after 8 hours of sleep. Ever since i cut out alcohol and coffee from my diet, i can sleep within 5-10 minutes of laying my head down. Having struggled with insomnia most of my life, I am very surprised and elated that i no longer have to (it's been a year now). Who knew, that is all my body needed? But weekends i don't have to get up early to send the kids off, so i have been oversleeping. Let me tell you, I wake up feeling terrible and cranky when I've slept too long. It will take me an hour, at least, to get focused.

I got up today and cleaned! Talk about being a hero. i have 3 floors in my home, it makes cleaning my whole house in a day, not ideal. So i take out a floor at a time. Truth be told, i do not enjoy cleaning, at all!!! I always feel like it's taking from time I'd rather be in the kitchen. I did it, though. I cleaned the basement/first floor, tomorrow is the 3rd floor.  Then i will be ready for the holidays. I can spend it in the kitchen and not feel guilty, lol.

Whenever i want to whip up something quick and that tastes amazing, I think curry! Ethnic food is pretty creative, full of flavor, and typically will not have animal ingredients. On the extremely rare occasions that we go out to eat, and they are pretty rare, we go to Thai restaurants. Since i live in the coldest place (recently, i read an article that gave Fairbanks the #1 ranking) it has honestly been very difficult to find good restaurants.  The food is rarely fresh and the prices never match the quality.
So this recipe is a great way to have a Thai restaurant experience. Get your rice cooking and prepared. You can use whatever Thai curry paste you want, I used this tonight.  You can also use whatever vegetables you want to flavor with. It is very versatile to your preference. Here's what you need:

Vegan Coconut Curry

1/2 a large onion cubed
2T of olive oil
1 bunch of fresh thyme
1bay leaf
1-2 garlic cloves
a few small pieces of fresh ginger (i store mine in the freezer, and grate it whenever i need it)
1/4c of tamari
1/4c of curry paste
2 cans of coconut milk
whatever veggies you have in your fridge...for this I used
1 carrots
1 zucchini
1 red bell pepper
1 head of broccoli

(I have used potatoes, blanched kale, and even fresh spinach....I bet frozen peas are perfect, as well)
In a pan heat your onions in the olive oil. Put fresh thyme, and bay leaves in the pan. Once the onions are cooking, add the curry paste and tamari. Blend well, add the rest of the veggies you have prepared. Add your coconut milk and let the ingredients simmer for 15 minutes...

You can put the curry on top of the rice (my favorite with this recipe is brown basamati, YUM!)

I would've had a much prettier picture for you to see, but i ate it before i took the picture :)
Enjoy!



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Quinoa patties, please! vegan style!

When I decided to cut out meat (hello china study information), it was a gradual process. I can't quite remember the day or time that that i made that decision...it just kinda became something I didn't eat because I didn't feel good eating it....but when I did, I went to garden burgers, from their I went to vegan burgers (amy's)...but as I cut out gluten from my diet...all the processed vegan "meat" substitutes that had been very helpful in my transition, now were not so "healthy" to me....the ingredients always had gluten and then some other unknowns.....so, I have started making my own veggie patties....they are very easy to make. All you really need is patience when working with the batter, since it doesn't hold the same as animal flesh :) i have used rolled oats, any assortment of veggies cut up small.....and the seasoning is whatever you prefer.  Remember to add a binder like ground flax or chia seeds....

I take these type of patties with me when we go to family barbecues.  I keep them in the freezer for whenever I'm feeling like biting into some flavor. Here's what i did with this patty...first set the pan on medium heat. I prefer cast iron pans, but any will work. Also, set up some parchment paper because that is what you will want to transfer your patties onto.

Vegan Quinoa Veggie Patty

1 1/2c of cooked quinoa (cook like rice 1part quinoa to 2 part water/broth)
1/4c of ground flax
1/4c of chia seeds (or you can just double the flax, if you don't have chia)
1t salt
1t pepper
1/2-1c of blanched kale (you can use fresh spinach, whatever type of frozen or fresh greens available)
1/4c of filtered water

make sure your green veggies are cut up into small pieces...then mix all the rest of ingredients in a bowl. Put a tablespoon of preferred oil (i use olive).  You will need to form your patties.  I will usually set down a nice handful of the batter in a ball shape on the pan, and gently push it down to mimic a hamburger patty, with my spatula. About 3 minutes each side is all you will need. Transfer to your parchment paper, let cool down, then stick in freezer.  Once patties are frozen, you  can transfer the patties into individual baggies, ready for whenever you crave some.

i prepared this for Toby on fermented spelt buns that i make....but for me i put it on my raw cracker, spread some hummus and topped off with cucumber and tomatoes. Needless to say, it was a flavor party, and my taste buds danced!

Enjoy! Pin It Now!