How Close Can I Get ~ chicken salad

The drought this summer wore me down to the point where I abandoned the garden...so I have been spending a great deal of time in the kitchen coming up with some interesting veganized dishes.  Last night I made a 'cheezy' broccoli and brown rice soup.  The kiddos said 'this is the best soup EVER' and were quite surprised when I told them there wasn't actually any cheese in it.  Next time I make it, I'll take a picture and post the recipe.  But now on to the reason I'm writing.  I have a new love and it is the jackfruit...young jackfruit, to be more specific.  This tropical fruit has a texture of shredded chicken when cooked and absorbs the flavor of whatever it is cooked with.  AND it is really good for you. 99% of the recipes I've seen online have been sloppy joes or Mexican inspired: carnitas, enchiladas, taco casserole.  I wondered, since the unripe fruit has no real flavor, why limit its potential?  Last weekend we made 'pulled pork' chili and we were AMAZED  how well the jackfruit stood in.  It had the exact same texture - even the 'fatty feel'.

This week I decided to start off with chicken salad...can I successfully veganize this?  Why yes, yes I can.  I came home from the asian market with 10 cans of jackfruit and immediately satrted simmering 3 cans in just enough water to cover the fruit for about 45 minutes (even though they said 2 hours ~ it was getting too soft for my comfort).

After I drained the water, I pressed the excess water out with the bottom of a jar, put it in a bowl and shredded it with 2 forks.  So this is how to prepare the jackfruit.  It's best to do a big batch and refrigerate the rest.  I'll freeze a bit to see if it thaws properly.  After all that, here's my recipe:
2. cups of prepared jackfruit - refrigerated
1 teaspoon of Better Than Bullion veggie broth paste
1 teaspoon of celery salt
1 teaspoon of seasoned salt

1/2 teaspoon back pepper
2 ribs of finely chopped celery
3 tablespoons of Vegenaise
2 T. sweet relish
1 t. spicy mustard
2 t. prepared minced garlic (and a bit of juice)

Stir together and make a sammich. Now, this is basically the recipe I've done for years. If you have a favorite chicken or tuna salad recipe, use that, replacing the meat for an equivalent amount of prepared jackfruit. It has the EXACT same texture as chicken!

This is REALLY going to fool some tastebuds!

How close can I get?

So, I decided a month or so ago to cut out processed sugar from my diet, which was less difficult to do than I expected.  I use raw honey in my morning cup of coffee and created a date puree to sweeten oatmeal, yogurt and chai tea...among other things.  Although I cannot claim to be a raw foodist, vegan, gluten free or even vegetarian,  I am incorporating all of these practices into my diet to the point where my meat intake has dropped by 90% and my dairy has dropped by 75%.  I find that I can't be too strict about anything or I end up eating a whole plate of bacon and a cheesecake.  The main goal is to eat as much 'whole foods' as I possibly can (in a meat and potatoes family).  Thankfully my family is curious enough to have a go at my 'concoctions' and over half the time, they really like it, if only for the novelty.  NOW, onto the actual post.

My husband LOVES apple butter...as do I but when the second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup, not so much.  How could I create something that was raw, free of processed sugars, really healthy AND tasted like apple butter?  Date puree.  I don't have real measurements yet - feel free to try it and let me know - but the test batch measurements were:

• 1 tablespoon of date puree (1 cup of chopped dates. 1 cup of water. Soak. Puree.)
• 1 cap full of apple cider vinegar
• 1 dash of cinnamon
• 1 TINY pinch of clove

I stirred it all up, brought it into Jason and asked him what it was.  "Apple butter?".

WIN.  I bet I can do a 'pumpkin' butter style too.

So why should you add dates into your diet?  Here are some of the many benefits of consuming dates:

• rich source of vitamin A, B vitamins and vitamin C
• High in fiber and amino acids
• Improves digestive health
• Aids in weight loss
• Aids in relieving constipation
• Invigorates a weak nervous system
• Reverses anemia due to high iron content
• Reportedly aids in preventing and healing abdominal cancer
• Increases sexual stamina
• Aids in lowering LDL cholestorol

SO there you have it.  Tonight, while Jason is at the OU game, I'm gonna make this tangy raw goat cheeze (miso and sauerkraut = interesting)

More on turmeric

Since my last post, I've been experimenting with fresh turmeric root because I've learned that I MUST have this in my diet.  But first, here are some of the health benefits of this amazing root:
A safe anti-inflammatory
Improves digestion
Lowers cholesterol
Helps prevent gas or bloating
Improves skin conditions (i.e. eczema)
Blood purifier
Liver tonic
Natural antiseptic
...and 2 heavy hitters:
Prevents progression of Alzheimer’s
Helps prevent and reverse cancer (i.e. breast, prostate, skin, lymphoma)

The list is long and impressive.  So HOW do you add this pungent herb into your diet?  Here are three recipes that I came up with.

1. Sweet and creamy turmeric chai 

Steep the following ingredients in 6 cups of water for 20 minutes (a rice cooker works GREAT)

• 2 'fingers' of fresh turmeric root, grated
• 3 inch piece of ginger root, peeled and grated
• dash of clove powder (or 2 whole cloves)
• 3 heaping tablespoons of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• a teaspoon of vanilla

After 20 minutes, strain and store in a glass jar.  You can sweeten your chai with anything and add almond milk or cream if you want, but I wanted this beverage to be healing, so I made a date puree to sweeten mine:
blended up equal amounts - 1 cup each - of dates (or date sugar) and boiling water and puree.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

I like a super creamy 1/2 & 1/2 type creamer in my beverages so I made a cashew cream:
Soak 1 cup of raw cashews in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain and add 1 cup of filtered water and puree.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

The purees yield enough for 8-10 chai teas, using about 2 tablespoons of each per drink.  It's a bit of work upfront, but easy breezy after that.  This combo makes a great cold beverage too.  This morning, I didn't fel like having coffee (which is ODD), so I added green tea to my chai...and YUMMO.

2. Savory turmeric broth

Steep the following ingredients in 6 cups of water for 20 minutes

• 2 'fingers' of fresh turmeric root, grated
• 3 inch piece of ginger root, peeled and grated
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup of fresh oregano or 2 tablespoons of dried herb
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/4 cup of miso (I use brown barley aged miso)

Miso is alive, so be sure to let the brew cool off to the point where you can hold a finger in it for at least three seconds without burning before adding it in.  This condiment has some pretty amazing benefits as well!  This broth (sans turmeric) has been my standard cold/flu prevention tonic over the winter months.  My whole family came down with the flu a couple of winters back and I made a giant pot of this broth.  I was the only one to not get sick and the others got over it faster than usual.  BTW, strain the broth, if you'd like

3. Turmeric smoothie

• 1/2 banana
• 1 inch finger of fresh turmeric root
• 2 tablespoons of date puree
• 1 cup of coconut milk...or your favorite
• 1/2 a cup of orange juice (or a spoon of concentrate and 1/3 cup of water)

Puree and enjoy.  I don't like this one frozen but if you do, slice and freeze a banana.  The o.j. is really important to the overall flavor of this recipe, so don't skimp on it or the turmeric will overpower the drink.

So there you go!  Feel free to share your thoughts and recipes :)

Never Done.

Thanksgiving was fast approaching and we were hosting the family meal as well as having friends stay with us - who are AMAZING cooks. Our kitchen is not the best room in the house. The bright turquoise color I chose was a serious lapse in decorating judgement and our spices were in complete disorder. Last Sunday night, Jason and I filled all the pretty chrome storage jars we bought that afternoon up with the random bags of beans, rice and dehydrated veggies that were piled up on the bottom rack. This opened up Pandora's box. After weeding out old spices we re-jarred and labeled everything and added an awesome floating shelf above the stove to hold our 'top shelf' spices, oils and condiments. It was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L...except that it made the wall color even more out of place.

I woke up at 7:30 the next morning and went straight to the hardware store to pick up paint. By the time our out-of-town friends showed up that night, we had a warm and inviting kitchen...and we cooked up some delicious feasts!

Food Fun

After picking up some yum yums from the farm market yesterday and raiding our basil (the only successful crop in the garden this year) we decided to make some pizza dough and have a build-your-own-pizza fun night...



yum.

How close can I get? - Goddess Dressing

My name is Amanda and I am an Annie's Goddess Dressing addict. Jason will wake up and find me drinking it straight from the bottle in the middle of the night...which would be fine except it's REALLY expensive and REALLY REALLY high in fat. I enjoy preparing food...especially if I add the challenge of also making it gluten free, lighter, healthier or vegan. Since this dressing is already vegan, my goals were to make it lighter and, thereby, healthier.

I found some recipes where people used tofu to replace the weight that the fats had, but they would always preface: "It's not quite like the real thing, but...". I'm aiming for 'as close as possible". So, instead of using tofu, I opted to use chia seed gel in place of the oil and a some of the tahini. Chia is an AMAZING salad dressing base that is incredibly nutritious. Here is the recipe:

• 1/3 cup tahini

• 2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 cup water

• 1 tablespoon of chia seeds

• 1/4 cup of unsweetend almond/soy/coconut milk (OR 2 tablespoons of low-fat Veganaise & 2 tablespoons of water - added 3/8/12)
  

• 5 small green onions, chopped (white and green parts)

• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos

• 2-3 fresh garlic cloves (I used 3 because I like the extra bite)

• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds (not critical)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  
  

I use a Magic Bullet for this recipe – it's the perfect size for small batches of dressing and I can keep the dressing in the container I blended it in. That being said, a blender or food processor will also do the job.

1. Start off by putting the water and chia seed in the receptacle. Put a lid on and shake the seeds up to prevent clumps. Let sit for 20 minutes. (the longer you let it sit before blending the seeds, the thicker the liquid will become)
2. after the chia seeds and water sets up into a gel, blend for about 30 seconds
3. Add the remaining ingredients and blend for another 30 seconds...do not over blend.

It will initially be runny, but after an hour in the fridge, the chia gel will thicken back up.

How Close Can I Get?

Jason and I recently went up to Vermont to visit my father and family. We ate A LOT of cheese while we were there...if you are a cheese lover, Vermont is the cheese Mecca  you should travel to at least once in your life. My sister, Haley, had recently become an ethical vegan...so she just looked at the cheese longingly. She might love cheese as much as I do, but I thought 'If she can do it, I can try' and when I got home I bought a pack of Daiya cheese. I ate it like Charlie ate his chocolate bar...man, that cheese is expensive. So I decided to search online for a vegan cheddar cheese recipe. I found one that had a long string of "YUMEEEEE" comments, so I decided to give it a try. The flavor, when melted, is AMAZING and the texture is indistinguishable from real melted cheese, except for the tiny chunks of cashews that the food processor couldn't blend. (post note: if you soak the cashews in boiling water for 20 minutes - not offsetting the water called for in the recipe - it will cream amazingly)

I don't think I will ever become a total vegan...I prefer to apply the 80/20 ratio. This will keep me from going on a cheese binge that will require a colonic when I'm done. Enough of that...here's the recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-sharp-cheddar-cheese-130826

I'm in Trouble

I think Jason is going to hide the dehydrator at some point... I've been dehydrating EVERYTHING I can get my hands on. We may need to remodel the kitchen to accommodate all the jars of dried pretties.

Lunch with a friend

I had lunch with my friend Whitney yesterday. I brought over all that I could harvest from my own garden and put it together with yummies from her garden...

We had an exceptional lunch and goodie swap... on the menu: veggie packed tuna salad sanwiches and blueberry kombucha tea.

She shared what she knew about Kombucha and I shared what I knew about chia (the sauce on top of the sandwiches was a veganaise/chunky mustard/chia seed spread {yum}.


I will be posting more about Kombucha and chia in upcoming posts...so stay tuned. I'll post more after Memorial weekend.

The Cleveland County Farm Market opened today...Jason and I went NUTS. We mostly bought plants for the gardens and picked up a few goodies for the pantry.

Thanksgiving

Normally {meaning: every year except this one} my family has a potluck Thanksgiving at my Granny's house. This year, we offered to host the holiday at the Wellstead. So we did. Everyone was so happy with the arrangement that this may become the new tradition...and it will bring the two families together.

Jason and I were excited to put up the famous "kids table". So far, Jesse and Tillie are the only two that are old enough...but next year the kid crowd will be growing.

Jason shot WAY UP in Poppie's 'book' when he saw the workshop that Jason has put much love into...he even hung jelly jars from the underside of a shelf to store screws in. Poppie noticed.

Little Victories

Now we are down to the nitpicky stuff that is hard to find spaces for. Our kitchen's storage is strange but there was a 5 ft. wide empty space to the right of the stove and underneath some really high overhead cabinets that had great potential. I found the table at the Habitat for Humanity Restore for $10 that fit the space PERFECTLY and there was just enough room overhead for pot and pan storage.
Jason bought a closet rod, some metal rings and "S" hooks and VOILA! Efficiency is AWESOME.