Eco Art: Glob Paints -Gluten Free, Chemical Free, Vegan!

Ya'll.... I am having a freak out! I have found gluten free, chemical free, vegan, food grade, 100% natural PAINTS!!! This is an idea I have been working on diligently for the last 2 years, compiling lists of pigments, experimenting with colors...... only to find someone has already figured out six of the best colors there are and they call them GLOB! Glob made their paint product so safe, you can use it on your body and flush it down the toilet with no environmental or health disasters.
I am so excited about these paint pigments being available that I have been running back and forth across the house announcing to anyone who will listen (cats and one terrified human) that I am going to be a painting diva-tron artist once again!
For my own plans to make pigments like this, I had planned on buying a dehydrator this spring for drying only paint pigments, then would grind them.... most my ideas are also food grade, but some are poisonous plants (like poke berries) we would not want to eat. The Glob Paints in the pic above are totally 100% food grade safe and affordable at 12$ for all six colors.... check out this diddy from their website:::

"You may have noticed that arts and crafts products do not list ingredients. Consumers rely upon "non toxic" certification, believing that their art materials have undergone sufficient testing to ensure the products they use are safe. Don't let these labels fool you.

Art pigments (colors) are commonly made from petrochemicals, and the actual hazards of these materials are not always known. In the US, chemicals that have never been tested for toxicity can be labeled "non-toxic." The rationale? There is no data to prove otherwise.*

Arts and crafts paints are exempt from consumer paint lead laws, and often contain lead, cadmium, and host of toxic ingredients* like formaldehyde (a carcinogen), one of the most common paint preservatives.

New environmental regulations and consumer demand has contributed to the numerous low to no VOC (volatile organic compounds) and environmentally friendly house paints now available.

Unfortunately, the artist market is far behind.

Paints may not only be hazardous to the consumer, but also the environment. Certified "non-toxic" pigments can still be toxic to fish and other wildlife.

GLOB™ products are sustainable and biodegradable, making them safe to wash down the sink and into our water supply.

Go ahead, Glob it on™!"

You best believe, I am going to glob it on... I am going to glob it on everything!

XoXo

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

Gluten Free & Organic Chickpea Burgers

Here is a recipe I made up a few years ago using chickpeas to make a nice yummy bean burger patty free of gluten, dairy, meat, and most any common food allergen! Each time I make it they come out a little bit different so I will share the basic recipe and you can make it your own with your favorite herbs, beans or spices. :)

What You'll Need:

• Eden Organic Canned Chickpeas (or other gluten free brand) - 2 cans
• Lundberg Organic Brown Rice -1/2 a cup
• Organic Herbs- rosemary, parsley, oregano or basil (whichever you like best, in amounts you like)
• Organic Red Onion - 1/3 chopped up
• Organic Olive Oil - couple teaspoons
• Ume Vinegar or Sea Salt- shake to personal salt preference

STEP 1: Cook the chickpeas and rice. I cooked mine with bay leaf, rosemary and ume plum for salt.

STEP 2: Smash the rice and chickpeas with a fork till textured. I made more rice then normal for this batch - a helpful hint is not too much rice and make sure all water is drained out, the burger will stick together better this way. Wet burgers will taste good but will fall apart.
STEP 3: Add chopped onion and herbs to the smooshed up chickpeas.

STEP 4: For pazzazz I added some grated carrot, then threw in the ume vinegar (salt source) & 3 teaspoons of olive oil.
STEP 5: Mix it all up and then form patties in your pan. You can cook them without oil, fry them with oil, or bake them to get an outside crunchy layer!!! I topped mine with baked shittake mushrooms and ate it straight out the pan with a fork. :) Mmmmmm. Goooood.
XoXOoo

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

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!