It's November...already!

A few excuse and then the truth.

~ I had a baby and I'm an attachment parenting mom, it means I get on the computer in 5 minute spurts...not much time for actual writing.

~ Our computer broke and I can't upload pictures which I am trying to overcome tonight by hooking up my laptop to the monitor etc. etc. etc.

~ My husband went on an anti-fungal diet which had me deeply immersed in research and recipes for him involving that, nothing I would dream of subjecting you to!

but the truth is, I'm a perfectionist. And with gorgeous witty and delicious blogs out there like, Smitten Kitchen, Pioneer Woman, The Vegan Dad, Go Dairy Free and many many more.
I feel unmotivated to write. If I can't be the best, which is obvious than I won't do it at all. That's the truth! But I am desperately trying to overcome that and a few of you have encouraged me and for that I am immensely grateful and I will try to post...more...often.

Let me share with you though an amazing recipe. It's from Vegetarian Times and you can do just the filling in tortillas or do the empanadas or whatever! I usually use my whole wheat pie crust (from back in that pot pie recipe) but I did make this crust as a sort of indulgence (lots of oil and fat in it) and it was superb! The filling is black beans and bananas which is just so very good!
I'm going to copy and paste but change what I changed or you can
Find the original recipe here

Black Bean and Banana Empanadas

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (I've been experimenting with lots of flours lately so I will spare you the actual flours I used)
  
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 4 Tbs. cold butter
  
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (I think I actually split half coconut oil half canola, I can't remember sorry!)
  
• 1 Tbs. white wine vinegar

Filling

• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 1 cup cooked black beans, as always this does not need to be exact, none of it does really
  
• Red (orange or yellow) bell pepper, chopped
  
• several cloves garlic, minced
  
• 2 bananas, peeled and diced
  
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. red pepper sauce
• grated cheese
  

1. To make Crust: Mix flour, salt, and chili powder in bowl. Mix in butter with fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk together oil, vinegar, and 1/3 cup cold water in separate bowl. Stir wetmixture into flour mixture until textured dough forms, adding up to 1/4 cup more water, if necessary. Knead on lightly floured surface until dough comes together. Form into ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for a while

2. To make Filling, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté veggies. Add beans and garlic, reduce heat to medium, and cook 3 minutes. Stir in bananas, cumin, cayenne, and coriander, and cook 2 minutes, or until bananas begin to break down and spices are fragrant. Remove from heat, and stir in cilantro and red pepper sauce.

3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Divide dough into 12 balls. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll out each ball to whatever size the roll to without getting to thin to lift off the counter. Use more flour if you need to. Fill with some filling. Fold dough circle in half, press to close. I dip my fingers in a bit of water and sort of glue it shut my pressing on it.

Transfer to prepared baking sheet, and repeat with remaining dough balls and Filling. Bake empanadas 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crusty.

No picture...sorry I told you the computer...

My hiatus

This long delay can now be brought to a close! 6 weeks ago my sweet daughter was born, what fun it's been. Hopefully, and I know I have said this repeatedly, but hopefully I can post some recipes more often, I sure am finding good ones!
For now though I need to share this guiltless dessert with you. Desserts and me are having a grand time together lately, but this one I can actually boast as healthy (depending on one factor though!)
When I stopped drinking milk pudding left my life and what a very sad thing for me.
Guess what? It's back!

Chocolate Pudding
12 ounce package of silken tofu
1 banana
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips (we buy the good stuff from the health food store, did you know that chocolate paired with the proper sweetener IS actually good for you!)

Alright, drain the tofu (carefully that stuff is soft) blend it up with a pinch of salt. Add the banana and the vanilla and blend some more. Melt the chocolate chips and add to the blender. Pour all of it into a bowl, lick the spoon but not the blender blades and put the bowl into the fridge for an hour.

Bean Patties

Making patties is a great way to use up beans. Even if they don't turn out just right you can smash them into a pita pocket and load up with avocado, sauteed veggies and some cheese.
This is a combo of two recipes I had, that I made tonight

Black Eyed Pea Patties

*approx. 2 cups black eyed peas (that measurement is after they are cooked. Tonight I used a couple handfuls and threw in the rest of the package of black beans)
*1 large carrot, grated (use any veggie you want, its just a filler - same goes for the mushrooms)
*4 or 5 mushrooms, finely chopped
*2 garlic cloves, minced
*1 tsp oregano
*1/2 tsp cumin
*1/4 cup rolled oats
*1/4 cup flour
*2 TBL tahini (or peanut butter or leave it out)
*1 tsp mustard

Mash the beans, saute the veggies and smash everything together! Form the patties and cook on a skillet with a bit of oil for a minute or so on each side.

Tortillas again

Tortilla experimentation finally paid off! I'm happy to report a more healthy version, I was okay with the other version so flour substitution success REALLY makes me happy.
Here is the original post

I'm over using dry milk powder. Lately I've been mixing a bit of yogurt with water to be milk like or using almond milk.
So anyway the flour. Tonight I used 1 cup flour and then 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup rice flour. They were still so good and perfectly pliable, bubbly and whatever else they should be. I have had trouble with garbanzo flour changing their flavor drastically and wheat flour changing their texture so this combo is going in the books until I feel like experimenting again.

Raw foods

Wow, raw foods are so amazing. A glimpse into the raw food world will really turn your thoughts about food upside down! Personally I don't believe that a complete raw food diet is naturally healthy but many many people do and those people pump out amazing recipes!
Incorporating raw food into your diet though is a MUST. Especially fruits and vegetables. We don't have a problem with raw fruits around here so I am always on the lookout for great raw food vegetable recipes (and dessert ones too but that is another story!)
Anyway, I stumbled upon this recipe that is the best raw food veggie recipe I have yet to find. I'll type out the recipe for you (since I have made a few changes) and attach the link (which sometimes works and sometimes not for some reason) to the original recipe. It's from Russell James' Raw Food Blog. He includes a cucumber raita (blah not a cucumber fan in this house!) and the wrappers which call for a dehydrator which we don't have, so I just made the filling and put it into pita bread.

1 cup chopped zucchini
3 Tbls water
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 tsp nama shoyu (naturally fermented soy sauce)
1 Tbls lemon juice
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ginger
2 Tbls garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp agave nectar
8 sun-dried tomato halves
1/2 tsp salt

• Grind all ingredients in a food processor

Add these next ingredients. My food processor couldn't handle this so I will just chop it all and stir it in next time.

1/2 cup tightly-packed spinach, chopped small
2 sliced spring onions (green onions) <--I used a bit of regular yellow onion)
1/4 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup cilantro
1/2 cup peas

His picture... not mine!

Balsamic Vinegar

I have a new sister in law in love with the stuff. Guess what, you should be too! Balsamic vinegars (well vinegars in general actually) are good for your health. Balsamic vinegar has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties, tons of antioxidants, promotes a healthy digestive system, reduces headaches, controlls blood sugar levels, is a natural appetite suppressant, and a whole bunch more things related to anti-aging, fatigue and your bones.
Some more reading: Click HERE and HERE and HERE

Here is a dressing or a dipping sauce. We used it tonight for our steamed broccoli. (some of us poured some right onto our lentil patties!)

5 cloves of roasted garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard

Puree everything and start dipping!

Sweet Potato Fries

Lots of people I know have their favorite recipe for sweet potato fries. Here is mine.

Chop up your sweet potato - 1 large one
Place in a bowl with a mixture of:
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons cumin
3 teaspoons coriander
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, flip each of those little guys over and bake 15 minutes more
Just know, they aren't going to be crispy, try to get them crispy and they will burn... promise!
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