Eat Ya' (Dandelion) Greens

YOu know what's crazy about dandelions? They sell these in the grocery & online as a gourmet green, and powdered forms of the root mushed into pills for liver support... yet it's probably growing in just about everyone's backyard, or at least a few steps away. And since no one seems to covet this fantabulous flowering plant, no one will care if you pick it! Steam it, dry it, use it for medicine, or even a roasted alternative coffee ingredient.

It's only drawback is a man-made one, and that is some people spray their lawns with chemicals and fertilizers that will make ya sick if you eat from their plentiful weeds... so if you dont know the area/source lean towards caution and don't eat it.
The smaller younger leaves are the least bitter, so depending on your taste size does matter. Speaking of which, the scientific name for dandelion, Taraxacum would make the most awesome porn star name when broken down...... in case this career is in my future I am going to claim a grassroots copyright on this ---> Tara X Acum.

So, aside from that digression - I put my dandelion greens on top some salmon to steam with veggies and rice noodles! MmmmMmMmm.
Xoxoxo

Macrobiotic & Gluten Free Carrot Spaghetti Sauce

Holy Carrots! These are some organic carrots that grew in the garden here, aren't they girthy? I decided to make one of my favorite macrobiotic recipes with these big boys, a delicious carrot spaghetti sauce that uses NO tomatoes and gives this traditional (american-ized) Italian dish a sweet yummy twist! This carrot sauce can be used on anything you would use regular spaghetti sauce on- like noodles, lasagna, or gluten free pizza crust!

You will need:

• a bunch of carrots
• one small beet (to turn the sauce red!)
  
• red onion
• herbs (basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, bay leaf, sage etc..)
• celery
• shittake mushrooms (optional!)
• olive oil
• sea salt or ume paste
  

When I made this dish yesterday I didn't have all the ingredients on hand to get a picture of (no beets to turn it red and no mushrooms for extra flav'ah) , but it still came out delicious as always! Here is what you do:::

• Chop up the carrots, celery, and beet to simmer down till soft (30 mins or so)
• Put in a blender or smash up the carrots with a fork
• Add in herbs, salt and mushrooms to the carrrot sauce and cook in a pot another 10 mins
• In a separate pan saute the chopped onion (with some herbs) till soft (7 mins)
  
• Add onions to the blended carrot sauce and serve over noodles!

Voila! A tomato free spaghetti sauce that tastes better then the 'real' thing eva' did!
XoXOooo

DIY: Organic Apple Butter

Another apple recipe! Why? Cause I have so many f-en apples here I don't know what to do!!! If apples were dollars I'd be riding my donkey by now and feeding all the hungry people the world over. Feeding them apples. Anyone nearby hungry?
Making Apple Butter is fairly easy , just like apple sauce - except it takes many more hours to reach the goal of butter then sauce.
First: Get all your organic apples together and rinse them off. Use however many you have, but starting with five big ones or more would be ideal since it takes a while to make.

Second: Peel them all, unless you like it chunky chewy. Wild apples have much harder skins then store bought, so if you want to strain the skins out later, you can use a cheese cloth to squeeze it through. Peeling is time consuming but it's a toss up which is easiest. :)
Third: Core them. Take out the apple core in the middle and feed it to the birds, the compost, the pig or horses - you don't want those seeds in your apple butter, they aren't for human consumption.
Fourth: Throw all the (no core) wedges in a pot with a little pure water in the bottom. You don't have to cut them small since they boil down into a sauce very easy on their own. Bring this to a boil and then settle it down to medium/low heat (so it stills simmers & bubbles). Over time the apple sauce will continue to brown. Add a pinch of sea salt to bring out the sweet flavor if you like.

Fifth: Stir and check, stir and check, stir and check for like 5 plus (meaning it can go into 7, maybe 10) hours! Make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom, otherwise it can be left alone for long stretches at a time to brown and thicken.Ohhhh look how brown that sauce got! Woo!...smooth and yummy like apple butta' should be!!! Vegan, gluten free, organic, and macrobiotic PLUS mmmmm tart and good :)
What do you eat your apple butter on?XoXo

DIY: Organic Apple Sauce (I swear it's easy!)

Oh My Gawd, apples are already falling from the trees here - more then I can possibly feed to the pig and chickens, more then the deer can eat, and more then I can hardly gather! It's a little early for apple season, but going with the flow of nature and positive thinking, when life hands you alot of apples make some apple sauce!
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Here's what you will need: organic apples (however many ya want or have around), pure water, and a tiny pinch of sea salt. Oh and a pot to cook in. :)
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First make sure to wash all your apples really well , whether hand picked or store bought. Then bring them over to the chopping block where the real action starts!

Second: It's up to you whether to leave the skins on or not - with store bought apples their skins usually turn into something so yummy & soft it borderlines candy, so I leave them on. These wild crafted apples have alot tougher skins and even though I left them on, I kinda wish I had left them off. However, apple skins = more nutrtion!
You want to make sure to core every apple - taking out the center rectangle that holds the seeds - and then throwing the fleshy outside part in the pot for cooking. (Ya don't want the cores in there because apple seeds are not good for you!)
Third: As you can see in the pic below it's not even important to chop the pieces up small, the apples will boil down into a sauce with no problem on their own. Throw in a pinch of salt and watch it melt into yummy-ness. It's all too easy! The only thing it takes is time... first you bring it to a boil, then you lower it to a medium/low setting on the stove and let it cook for about 2 hours. Stir is occassionally so it doesn't stick at the bottom.

NOTE: The longer you let it cook the darker brown the sauce will become - you can control the flavor like this. If you let it cook for 5 hours or more you will end up with the oh so yums APPLE BUTTER, which is very dark brown.
MMmMmMMmMmm! Oh yeah, I let mine cook for a few hours making it a medium light brown apple sauce with a strong tart flavor.
It made about a half gallon jar worth of apple sauce from all those tiny apples! YAY!
XoXo

Recipe: Vegan, Gluten Free, Macrobiotic 'Minestrone' Soup

The following recipe is an easy to put together faux minestrone soup that caters to eliminating many food allergens. I came up with this one using my slow cooking cajun skills and memory of how the taste of minestrone soup satisfies hunger on a chilly day.

• Organic Groceries You'll Need: Collards, Yellow Squash, Broccoli, Red Onion, Red Beans, Brown Rice Noodles (elbows or shells).

• Organic Seasoning : Herbs (Rosemary, Thyme, Bay Leaf and/or Sage), Ume Plums or Sea Salt, Kombu Seaweed, Olive OilStep One: Chop up all the veggies and put them in the pot with water & your seasonings of choice. Bring to a boil and then simmer on medium.Step Two: Cook your Red Beans in a separate pan with bay leaf, rosemary, and pitted ume plum or sea salt. When they are cooked enough to be flavored you can add them to the pot of veggies to cook together.Step Three: Add your Brown Rice Elbows or Shells to the pot and keep simmering on medium till they are cooked through. Make sure to add another half ume plum or some extra salt for the noodles, which makes them easier to digest!

When you are done (I slow cook this for hours) and ready to serve add a little fresh olive oil & a shot of ume vinegar on top your bowl of organic yummy unreal minestrone soup... mmmmmm. This soup turned out so good I already ate 4 bowls today!

PS- If you have allergies to rice try noodles made of corn or beans instead. Another alternative is to add potatoes for a starchy flavor instead of noodles.

Recipe: Dairy Free, Macrobiotic, Gluten Free Cream Of Broccoli Soup

The winter season is the perfect time to snuggle up to your space heater and a warm bowl of thick creamy soup. Alas with all my food allergies a traditional "creamy" meal can be hard to come by - but here is a fabulous basic recipe for Vegan Cream Of Broccoli Soup (slightly modified from "The Self Healing Cookbook" by Kristina Turner.) - BTW, this is so easy to make you'll freak out! You'll need 3 main (organic) ingredients and some seasoning: Cooked Brown Rice, Broccoli, Red Onion, and then Sea Salt or Ume Plum (plus Rosemary if you happen to like it's taste!)

You will want to skin three broccoli stalks then chop them up into smaller pieces (to make it easier for your blender to handle). Depending on how much red onion you can tolerate you can use anywhere from the whole chopped onion to 1/4 of it, and add all your diced goodies to some boiling water. Simmer for about 10 mins, or until tender. (At this time you can add whatever salt source you like to use also).

Once the simmered broccoli and onion have cooled some you will add approx. 2-3 cups of cooked brown rice to your blender, then pour in the simmered liquid and veggies. (If you want it less thick, use less rice.)

Then blend the ba-jeezus out of it, till it is as creamy as it can possibly get and makes your mouth water!

Chop up the broccoli heads and add them into the pot with the blended cream. Then simmer until the new pieces have gotten soft. If you would like to add an herb for flavor this is the time to throw in the rosemary branch.

MMMMmmmMmMmMm. Ok, this is not only really yummy but also filling, delicious and the smell brings back memories. It's totally 100% dairy free, macrobiotic, gluten free, organic and vegan!!!

Some tempting variations to add to this soup would be after making the cream, adding not only broccoli but also cauliflower, flavorful mushrooms, or using leeks instead of red onions. The rice can be used to make a creamy base in many other recipes too... get wild and experiment a little. :)

xoxo

DIY: Apple Sauce from Scratch is Easy!

Apple sauce is surprisingly one of the easiest recipes to make from scratch- it takes only 2 ingredients, hardly any effort or thought, and very little attention. Yet is so delicious & smooth you'll never be able to turn back to the store bought apple sauce... that cold, lumpy, almost goodness but not quite enough.
I learned to make yummy organic apple sauce from reading macrobiotic cookbooks, so this recipe is also very healthy!

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 3-5 Apples - I use organic "pink lady" apples, look for one with a robust or strong flavor.
• 1/2 Ume Plum (pitted) OR pinch of Sea Salt

That's it! Simply cut up the apples into a few slices each (taking out the core/seeds), you can choose whether to leave the peelings on or not. I cook the peeling because it adds to the flavor and they taste really good simmered down- but if the texture might weird you out don't include the skins. Add the ume plum (or pinch of salt) in the pot with the cut up apples, then add filtered/spring water that covers 3/4 the way up the apple mountain. Bring to a boil, and then let it cook on medium low for 1-3 hours.

If you keep on cooking longer on a higher temperature you can make apple butter, which is a very dark brown apple treat.

YAY! yum yum yum. Macrobiotic, gluten free, vegan and organic!

Macrobiotic, Gluten Free & Vegan Thanksgiving Meal For One

Thanksgiving (and all meals) are a little tricky for me - I am on a strict gluten free medical diet plus have multiple other food allergies... I have no idea how I got this way except maybe it was all that coffee and Tabasco sauce in my baby bottle. ;) For today's holiday I decided to make a simple stuffed butternut squash & some cranberry apple sauce on the side.
After cutting the squash in half and scooping out the seeds, I pre-baked the squash till it was soft. During that time I put some veggies (carrots, broccoli and leek) & fresh herbs (rosemary, sage and dill) in my blender to get it finely chopped. I mixed that yummy stuff with some cooked brown rice.

While the rice stuffing was marinating I cooked some chickpeas to make a thick sauce with for a good topping on the stuffed squash.

Without cleaning the fresh veggie mix residue from the blender I added the chickpeas in with extra fresh dill and rosemary and blended till ultra creamy. Afterwards I added olive oil to the chickpea sauce... just cause I love olive oil on everything. :)

I then stuffed the squash as much as I could with the "dirty rice" mix baked it on 350 in the toaster oven, until the rice was brown and crispy on the outside.

Topped with the chickpea cream and MmmmmmMmMmmmm. YAY!

While eating all that up I cooked down cranberries & an apple with an ume plum for about 3 hours. I would suggest adding maple syrup or rice syrup to this mix & to place in the blender after because the skins of the cranberries are not easy to chew. (You can also peel them, but blending would be much easier.) Apples don't need to be peeled and if you cook them alone they don't require any blending.

Hope you enjoyed your holiday - mine tasted super good and was 100% organic, vegan, gluten free and macrobiotic!

Recipe: Gluten Free, Macrobiotic & Organic Wraps

Being diagnosed with Celiac Sprue (and various food allergies) was a pretty huge blow to my cooking skills- which were heavily cajun and super de duper delicious. To say I went into a food funk for the last 7 years is an understatement... and I seek outside inspiration, but rarely click with most recipes. My dream is to have a personal chef who comes up with cool new ways for me to work with a limited diet, keeping me out of the food allergy duldrums. Then along came my friend Evan, the master of food manipulation! With a list of the foods I could actually eat he tinkered away to come up with 3 solid recipes and totally succeeded- I feel like I've lost my food allergy virginity now because this first recipe I am sharing with ya'll is soooo yum yum I could have died. Thank gawd for Evan being a sauce genuis, here's the recipe in his words (in bold print)!
Basics : vinegar > salt > rice syrup > olive oil > pot of boiling water
Ingredients : whole lettuce or steamed/cooled cabbage leaves > radish (daikon if possible) > carrot > scallion > red onion > parsley > bean sprouts > rice noodles > protein (fish/tofu/tempeh) > whole lemon or lime ...

1.Pick whole leaves from lettuce or cabbage and wash. If cabbage, lightly steam to soften and then cool.
2.Shred to finger length pieces and place in ice water bath for 2 minutes. Then keep cold till using.
Carrot > Red Onion > Radish
Any crunchy veg can be used for this part.
Salad
Puree ¼ whole red onion + small handful of parsley + 1 radish + teaspoon vinegar + juice from ½ lemon or lime + pinch of salt + pinch of rice syrup
Dress shredded veg + bean sprouts and marinate for 5-15 minutes before serving (leave at room temp)
Protein
Fish

i. The end result is finger sized pieces of fish. You can do any variety of cooking like broiling/pan cooking/frying
ii. If you have a large piece of fish, steam and then cut into fingers.
Tofu
i. Cut into 1” wide and 2” long pieces.
ii. Cook by frying/pan cooking/baking/broiling
Tempeh
i. However you like it, so long as it’s in large enough pieces.
Noodles
Cook rice noodles according to package and immediately immerse in ice water for 5-10 seconds to stop cooking.
Remove from ice water and lay on a damp paper towel.

As you can see there are alot of variations, which is great when catering to food allergies - Evan gives choices of proteins and veggies and doesn't put exact measurements because it is something each person will have to make to taste.

These goodies in the pic above are the ingredients for the marinating sauce which was so yummy, that when I first smelled it in the blender my nose tingled and I felt like I couldn't stop grinning. Mmmmmm.

Assembly:
1. Lay out lettuce/cabbage leaf and place ingredients in lower 1/3, just below the halfway point.
2.Wrap bottom over filling and roll halfway up.
3.Fold in sides, tuck and wrap to the top
4.EAT
When I got to the end, I couldn't figure out whether I was supposed to put the wraps on top the noodles or put noodles in the wraps... I ended up with them on top (maybe cause I got lazy though!) Plus, I think I don't actually know the official way to wrap- I was tucking corners into an abyss of cabbage...then they'd slowly poke back out. Could this be related to the same affliction my mom told me I had with folding clothes? :)

How rockin' does this organic dish look though!?! Thanks Evan (of the Nerditry blog) for coming up with something so awesome, and where DO the noodles go?

DIY: Sweet Rice Dumplings (from scratch!)

Making sweet rice dumplings from scratch is easier then you might think and only takes 2 ingredients! ( I love anything that takes less the 3 ingredients and comes out right). All you need is sweet brown rice and water, and then a pot to cook in and a place to knead the dough.
I made my own sweet rice flour from actual sweet rice grains using a special VITAMIX blender my parents were nice enough to give me a few years ago, but you can buy your organic sweet rice flour instead.
Put the flour in a mixing bowl while you are boiling the water.
Once the water is boiling pour it slowly over the sweet rice flour, and then once it cools some go ahead and start kneading. Keep adding flour or water as needed (or kneaded) ;) . Work that dough for about 5 minutes or until you think you are done being amazed by the sticky textured rice dough that won't come off your fingers.
Form any shape dumpling you like, as long as it stays 1/2 inch thick and no larger.Throw into a pot of boiling water and like magic when they are finished they rise to the top! Yay, that makes it so easy... no timer necessary.You can put the yummy yum yum dumplings in clear soup, eat as is, dowse in soy sauce, dip in rice syrup, roll in chopped nuts or eat with savory rice dish like I did. I have no idea whether they store well, but I put some in a mason jar in the fridge and will update ya'll on how it works.