Quinoa Patties

2 cups Quinoa prepared in 4 cups water (boiled)
1 1/2 cup carrot grated
1 1/2 cup summer squash/zucchini grated
1 cup prepared lentils (optional)
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup rice milk/soy milk/etc
2 TBS lemon juice
1 tsp dill weed
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup flour (any that you prefer)

Combine ingredients up to the almond butter.  Mix other ingredients in a 2 cup measuring cup and add to the solid mixture.  If it seems too dry you can add a little liquid 1 TBS at a time. 

I used an ice cream scoop to make the same size patties and shaped into rounds on the griddle.  You could use some oil to kind of fry them, but I just had them on low heat on the griddle (Like 220?) and waited for them to be cooked on one side and then of course flipped them over. 

Use these like you would any sandwich middle.  These freeze great, be sure to put wax paper between them.  This is a large batch, because we like to freeze the leftovers.

Lovely Lentil Taco Filling!

I love this recipe for taco filling, a layer in 7 layer dip and all kinds of other taco-ish foods :) 

3/4 cups dry lentils
3/4 cups brown rice (I have used white as well--but use less water)
4 cups water
4 tsp-TBS (to taste) veggie bouillon (I use either my own or Better Than Bouillon)
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder

Bring the water to a boil.  Add the lentils and let cook 10 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Wait until it is all at a boil and reduce heat to low.  Place lid on and simmer for 45-50 minutes more. 

You can also do this in a crockpot on low for 6-8 hours.  I can't wait to try this in my Saratoga Jack's thermal cooker!

Garlic Oil

This is something we use for ear aches, viruses, coughs and all kinds of other ailments in our family.  We try to always have some on hand!  You can add mullein for an extra punch as well. 

 ½ cup crushed garlic

 ½ cup olive oil

Mix thoroughly.

Add another ¼ cup olive oil

Let stand 10 days on sunny windowsill.

Strain on day 10.

You can use the garlic that as in the oil as a condiment if you like. 

You can decanter after that to get the last little bits out.   2 tsp garlic oil equals about 1 fresh clove.

Onion Cough Syrup

1 cup chopped raw onion. 

Cover with honey (about ½ cup)

Simmer on low heat (so your honey stays raw) until onions have dissolved into bits…this can take up to 20 minutes.  Cover the pot to lesson evaporation of nutrients.  This can be diluted.  You can strain it, but I usually don’t, because I am always for whatever is fastest.  They sink to the bottom and I don’t mind them when they come up.  You can take this as needed or up to once every half an hour in 1 tsp doses for children and 1 TBS for children 10 years and older.

 

You can easily add:

1 tsp clove (whole or powdered) for pain relief

1-2 TBS comfrey root or slippery elm (powdered or chopped) for additional lung support

1-2 TBS chopped fresh ginger root OR 1 tsp dried ginger root powder for better circulation, warmth and effectiveness of the syrup…as we go through the rest of the herbs you will be able to decipher what will be best for your own situation.  You can always add more than one herb, but you will want to make sure that you don’t use more than 2 TBS total of any combination.  This syrup is also a great tonic and can be taken daily

Frozen Juice/Drink Concentrate Slushy

Frozen Juice/Drink Concentrate Slushy :)

12 oz can of frozen concentrate

1 cup water

4 cups ice

Place in blender until desired consistency.  We love this for orange juice slushies, lemonade (so refreshing!) slushies and for just about any juice combination!  Enjoy!

Favorite press in dessert crust recipe

I do not love rolling out crusts, so I always use this press in one for desserts :)

2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter/coconut oil/olive oil melted
1/2 cup oats

Combine, set aside 1 cup for topping your pie and press in the remaining mixture into an ungreased 9 inch pie plate. We use this for fruit pies and for my chocolate pie recipe. :) I'll try to post the apple pie part of this recipe soon.

Drive-Thru comparable milk shake

We make these all summer long.

2 cups ice water + 1 1/2 cups powdered milk OR 3 1/2 cups milk of choice (almond/soy/rice/coconut+water/cow/cashew etc)
1/2-2/3 cup honey/sugar/agave
1/4-1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1-2 tsp vanilla (or I often throw in a vanilla bean)
Fill rest of blender full of ice
2 TBS olive oil or other pourable oil
1 tsp emulsifier-liquid lecithin OR 5 second spray of non-stick spray (I learned this trick from another recipe and it makes all the difference in the world)

Place ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. I have both a Vitamix and Blendtec. If you find that your motor on your blender is struggling, you'll need to add more water and have a less thick shake. I often add a bananaor peanut butter. You can also leave out the chocolate and add more vanilla. ENJOY! We *LOVE* this recipe and use it all summer long!

Veggie Stir Fry with a twist :)

Veggie stir fry is super easy and fast! It's also a great way to get veggies into your kids. Well, at my house it is :) There can be great variety in the sauces and the "starches" that you use as well.

Being tired lately, I typically buy the bag of mixed vegetables at the grocery store. We use at least an entire bag. It has cauliflower florets, broccoli florets and baby carrots in it. Then I chop them into smaller pieces. I often add other veggies that I have on hand. Here are some vegetable ideas:

Carrots
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Bell pepper
Celery
Bok choy
Green onions
Green beans
Chinese cucumbers
Sugar or snow peas (whole)
Onions
Bamboo shoots (canned are okay, but only needs warmed, not cooked)
Water chestnuts (canned are okay, but only needs warmed, not cooked)
Baby ears of corn (only needs warmed)
Summer squash
Mushrooms
Cabbage

Be sure to put the firmer things in first and add the ones that need less cooking later. For example, if you are doing carrots and broccoli, they could be together, but summer squash would cook MUCH faster. I use coconut oil and you can use peanut oil, which is traditionally used. Many oils have a lower combustion temperature, so be sure to check them. I know that coconut oil and peanut oil are both safe.

Starches you can use under or in your veggies:
Brown rice
White rice
Noodles
Quinoa (one of my favorites)
Potatoes (you can add them to the stirfry or use like a mashed potato)

Sauces:

Orange sauce
2 TBS olive oil
1-2 TBS garlic (our family loves garlic, but I use less to bring out the orange flavor here)
1 cup water
3 TBS orange juice concentrate
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS rice vinegar
4 TBS Braggs Liquid Aminos/Nama Shoyu/Soy Sauce
1/2 cup honey (or to taste)
1/2 tsp red pepperp flakes
1 1/2 TBS arrowroot powder + 2 TBS water to mix before adding to sauce(though you COULD try cornstarch)
6-8 drops essential oil

Using a small saucepan you can saute the garlic and olive oil. Add the rest of the ingredients except arrowroot powder/water mixture and heat to a boil. Whisk in arroroot/water mixture. Lower temperature and stir constantly until it thickens.

Peanut-miso Sauce
3 TBS peanut butter
2 TBS lemon or lime juice
1 TBS yellow miso
1 TBS grated fresh ginger (or you can use the pre-minced ginger from the fridge)
1 tsp minced garlic (about 1 clove)
1/3 cup cup water

Whisk all ingredients together and set aside while you cook your veggies. After your veggies are done, place them on starch of choice and drizzle sauce over the top.

Honey Orange Rolls

Any roll recipe, though I used my pizza crust recipe (doubled) and it was awesome and FAST!

Here is the sauce:
3/4 cup honey (or 1 cup sucanat, raw cane sugar etc)
1/2 cup butter/coconut oil
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup water
2 TBS grated orange peel (either fresh or dehydrated)
8-10 drops orange essential oil (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a bundt cake or fluted 10 inch tube pan. Melt together in a sauce pan on low heat. If you have used my pizza dough, that was about the same time to have it resting. Oil your hands and shape into balls, make one layer and pour some of the sauce over it. Add another layer and pour sauce over it until you have used the dough and sauce all up. Pour the extra sauce over the top.

My oven wasn't hot yet, so I let it rise over one of the warm burners for probably 10 minutes. Then I put it in.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Serving warm is best. My 8 year old said it's the best breakfast ever. It was our special General Conference breakfast this morning.

Chocolate pudding recipes!

These are chocolate pudding, but are not your typical recipes! So, please, don't turn your nose up, try it out, it's DELICIOUS!

Chocolate pudding #1
2 cups baby Thai meat or 2 small avacados
3/4 cup coconut water or just water (more if it needs to be thinned)
1/2 Cup maple syrup
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup cocoa powder or carob powder
2 TBS vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt

Blend and enjoy!

Chocolate pudding #2 (less ingredients)
2 small avacados or 1 large
1-2 TBS cocoa
1 TBS honey (or to taste)

Use blender or food processor to mix. Use coconut milk or water to thin.

I usually make the second recipe because I really do have those ingredients on hand. I also sometimes decrease the amount of honey or sweetener and will use berry flavored stevia extract. SO YUMMY!

Vegan Chocolate Shake

I love chocolate shakes but I don’t love sugar and dairy. This reminds me of the shakes you get at a fast food restaurant but guilt free.

1 cup cashews

3 cups ice

3 Tbs unsweetened cocoa

2 dates, pits removed and chopped finely or try you luck in the blender

¼ cup water

¼ cup agave or pure maple syrup

¼ tsp sea salt

Add ingredients to a strong blender in the order listed and blend until smooth. Freezes great for a snack tomorrow.

Gogi Berry Balls (superfood cookies)

This is truly one of favorite recipes. It will give you energy and it high in nutrients. I made a batch of these when I ran Ragnar and it kept me going. I also eat these when I am pregnant because they taste so good and keep me going throughout the day.

2/3 cup agave nectar

1/4 soaked goji berried

1/2 cup cacao nibs (I use chocolate chips)

1/4 cup walnuts or pecans

1/2 cup raisins

10 pitted dates

5 dried black mission figs

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup cocoa or carob powder

1 cup unsweetened coconut

Add all ingredients, except coconut, in a food processor and process until it is as creamy as you can get it. You can add a little water if necessary but don't add too much or it won't roll into balls. Next roll in coconut and chill in fridge or freezer for 30 min before serving.

Vegan Homemade Noodles

I have worked on tweaking this recipe to truly taste and feel like the homemade noodle I grew up with. This recipe has no eggs and uses Spelt or whole-wheat flour. I add it in a "Non-chicken" noodle soup base which I will post someday soon.

2 cups spelt or wholewheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbs gluten (for binding)

2 Tbs Flax soaked in 2 Tbs water (egg substitute)

1/3 cup water

1 tsp olive oil

Mix the flour, salt and gluten in a bowl. Add the flax, water and olive oil. Knead until smooth and elastic. Let sit for 20 min. Now either roll out onto a floured surface and cut in thin noodle strips or use a pasta machine on 1/16 th inch thinness. Add these noodles to your soup and let them bowl for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. I have also air dried these on the side of a bowl and used them later. They never last long in our house.

Vegan Miso soup (not traditional :) )

I made this raw, because I was nursing a sick child back to health. I used my awesome blender. This could be done in a normal blender or in a pan and then blended or not blended at all. It's pretty flexible, but oh so easy! If you don't have a blender that you can use to heat your soup to just warm and not cook the garlic, then you can press the garlic in last (if this is important to you) and then let it sit for a few minutes to warm it.

I added the following to my blender:

5 1/2-6 cups of water

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

6-8 baby carrots

4 cloves of garlic (though less if it's your first time and you don't need it for healing :)

1 small onion

1/2-1 inch ginger or 2 TBS minced ginger like "Ginger People" minced ginger

3 heaping TBS of yellow miso (you could use any miso though)

2 heaping TBS bouillion (I used the homemade raw veggie boullion I made)

2 TBS Nama Shoyu/Braggs Liquid Aminos/Soy Sauce

Turn on the blender until it is warm and not hot. Unless of course your blender doesn't work that way. Then do the garlic like I suggested and smear the miso at the bottom of the bowl (1/2 TBS) and then pour the soup into the bowl.

Enjoy! We surely did!

Yerra Moolee (Yellow Coconut Rice)

My family loves Indian food which was introduced to us by a friend from India. Here is a family favorite.

2 cups finely chopped onions

2-3 Tbs oil (enough to saute your onions in)

2 tsp minced garlic

1 1/2 Tbs ground or crushed fresh ginger root

2 green chilies (anaheim or jalepeno, if you're brave)

1/4 tsp turmeric

2 Tbs ground coriander

3 cups coconut milk (2 cans will do)

1 1/2 tsp Salt

2 Tbs minced fresh coriander leaves or 1 Tbs dry(optional but wow what a flavor!)

2 cups potatoes

1 cup cauliflower

1/2 cup peas

Serve over:

4 cups cooked rice (Basmati is the best)

This can be a fast recipe if you do the following:

Cut up cauliflower & potatoes and have them steaming or boiling?(not my favorite method) while you are working on the sauce.

Also, start cooking the rice.

Now, heat oil and saute the onions until soft, reduce heat and add garlic, ginger & the chilies for another 2 minutes. Add turmeric and coriander, stir rapidly for another 15 seconds and add coconut milk and salt. Turn off the heat and let the ingredients sit to allow time for flavors to blend. Do not cook the coconut milk or it will turn sticky and slimy (not good). Add the steamed veggies and the peas (you can add them frozen and they will turn that pretty green and be the perfect texture).

Your rice should now be done. You are ready to serve!

Salsa Verde

I am part of produce buying co-op. Sometimes I get a Mexican pack full of peppers, cilantro and tomatillos. This is the recipe that I make with the above ingredients.

1 lb fresh tomatillos, husked, softened in a pan of water, then chopped

1-2 fresh green chilies (jalepeno or serrano), deseeded and finely chopped

1 green bell pepper or large mild pepper like Anaheim or pablano, deseeded and chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Salt to taste

I put the ingredients in a blender until smooth. This makes a large batch so I freeze what I cannot eat now. This is good with chips or in taco and tortillas.

Energy Bar (Yummy Snack)!

A friend of mine, who is also my visiting teaching partner, shared this recipe with me. She competes in bike rides and use this bar instead of Goo or power bars from the store. We like it for a snack and after a good run. My husband said it was addicting because of the rice puff crunch!

Energy Bar

Slightly warm these ingredients in a pan until they become mixed and more liquid:

1 cup of peanut butter, almond butter or cashew butter

3/4 cup of honey or agave

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)

Mix in blender or food processor and add to above:

1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds, almonds, or walnuts

1 cup dried fruit (apples, apricots, dates, raisins, craisins, or strawberries for example)

4 cups brown puffed rice

Mix all ingredients together and press into a 13 x 9 inch pan. I put plastic wrap over it and use a a cup to make it really smooth and compact. Refrigerate until firm.

You can cut into squares and wrap it individually if you want energy bars on the go. My family eats it out of the pan but I plan on taking it to snack on during the Ragnar.

Basic Fruit Smoothie

I taught a nutrition class and have had a lot of requests for a smoothie recipe. This is my favorite smoothie which makes 5 cups. One non-vegetable or fruit eater told his wife he would have this for breakfast every morning! It is so energizing and refreshing!

Fruit Smoothie

1 cup water

1 cup of greens (spinach or kale)

2 cups of fruit (I use a frozen blend of strawberries, pineapple, melon, peaches and blueberries)

1 ripe banana

Add the ingredients in the order listed. I recommend defrosting your fruit before mixing in the blender if you do not own a high power blender (BlendTec or VitaMix). The banana is the sweetener and adds a smooth texture. It is a must. Most grocery stores sell nice fruit blends. In the summer I use all of the fresh fruits growing in my yard. Go ahead and experiment. You can make the exact same mixes you see in the Smoothie stores if you pay attention to their ingredients.

Some fruits that are great to use:

Apricots

Peaches

Strawberries

Raspberries

Blueberries

Pineapple

Kiwi

Mango

Nectarines

Tomato and lentil stew

Hi there everyone!

We have really enjoyed this meal. It is inspired by another recipe, but the way I made it was so different that I thought I would post how I did it.

3 cups of vegetable broth (or chicken broth/beef broth)
1 cup dry lentils

Boil the vegetable broth and add lentils. Simmer for around 20-30 minutes. While these are simmering add in this order:

3 TBS oil
1 onion chopped(or large if you like onions)
1 medium green bell pepper diced(I have used all color of bell peppers)
2 cloves of garlic minced or diced

Saute the onions, peppers and garlic until the onions are tender. Then add:

2 cans of diced tomatoes juice and all
spices to taste. I used:
1/2 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 white ground pepper

Continue to simmer for awhile until your lentils have simmered and are almost out of liquid. Add the veggies to the lentils and simmer until lentils are completely tender. It took mine probably another 20 minutes.

Serve as is, over rice (I think I want to try the sauce on quinoa sometime) and you can top with cheese if desired. Some children did, some didn't, I liked it both ways!

Best Ever Pumpkin Cookies

Cream together:

1 ½ cups oil

2 cups honey (or sugar)

3 Tbs applesauce or (3 eggs)

Add:

1 Tbs vanilla

1 Tbs baking soda

1 Tbs baking powder

1 ½ tsp salt

1 Tbs cloves

1 Tbs cinnamon

1 30 oz can pumpkin

7 ½ cups flour (I use whole wheat flour)

12 oz chocolate chips

Mix all together and bake at 400 degrees. Makes about 6 dozen cookies! But I freeze some if we don’t eat them first. You can always ½ the recipe and freeze the leftover canned pumpkin.