Thursday, January 12, 2012

Green Tea Chicken Rice Soup

This soup is supposed to help with mental focus and eases anxiety.

Bring 5 cups water to boil and turn off heat.
Steep 3 Green Tea bags and one slices lemon grass stalk for 10 minutes.
Remove tea bags and lemon grass solids from broth.
Bring broth to a simmer again and add salt to taste (2+ tsp) and pepper.
Add 1 cup frozen shelled Edamame and 1 Cup slices Shiitake mushrooms.
Cook 5 minutes.
Add 1 Cup shredded chicken, 1 cup cooked brown rice, 1 Tbsp sesame oil, 2 sliced green onions.
Cook 2 minutes.
Serve garnished with coarsely chopped fresh cilantro.

I have substituted the chicken for vegetarian Fry Chick and I always add a few shakes of soy sauce to broth but not enough to darken broth much.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Sesame Bok Choy

1/2 chopped onion
1-2 bok choy cabbages
1-2 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1-2 tsp soy sauce. You can add more to taste after if needed
1/4- 1/2 tsp of toasted sesame oil
Optional: sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds after it is cooked.

Saute the onion with the oil until it starts to turn translucent.
Add the bok Choy and saute 1-2 minutes then add the soy sauce and continue to saute about 2 more minutes until the leafy part of the bok coy is wilted and the white stalks are starting to cook but are still slightly crisp.

Turn off and add a few drizzles of toasted sesame oil

Serve over rice or as a side.

Crock Pot Black Bean Chili


Well I made some chili in the crock pot the other night from scratch without calling Mom to find out any of her chili secrets and it turned out quite good. I did doctor it up after it was done and made it a little more tasty so here is what I did.

2 Tbsp olive oil
6 garlic cloves (for Quentin of course)
1 medium onion
1 bell pepper (I used green but you can choose your color)

Saute until onion starts to turn translucent then add spices below:

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp chili powder
2-3 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano (dried)
2 bay leafs

Add the above ingredients into the crock pot once they are sauteed then add in the below ingredients:

1 carton of crushed stewed tomatoes (26 oz. I think)
1 carton of tomato puree (26 oz)
1 carrot chopped fine
1 C water
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp of red wine vinegar
1 Lb of black beans
1/2 Lb of red beans
beans were soaked overnight with 1 Tbsp of baking soda then drained before I put them in crock pot.

Cook on high for 4 hours then on low for 4 more hours

Then add
1/4 C of maple syrup
Juice of 1-2 limes
and more salt if desired
Chop and stir in cilantro if desired. Make it wonderful!!!

I spoke to Mom about what she does with dried beans to make chili and she said she quick soaks the beans instead of overnight soaking. To quick soak bring beans and water to boil and turn off and let sit for 30 minutes then drain them and add them. She also said she likes some veggies in her chili so she cooks corn, carrots and green beans separate and adds then after the chili is done so they don't overcook in the chili.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Best Banana Bread Ever!


3 bananas mashed (should be a cup or more)
1/2 cup of oil (or butter)
1/2 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 C. of old fashioned oat meal
1 C. flour
1/4 to 3/4 cup of chocolate chips

Bake at 350 in a loaf pan for 1 hr.

Oat Burgers



So my Mom made us some delicious Oat Burgers last time she was here and we have made them 3 more times. Here is the recipe.

1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. sage
1/4 C. nutritional yeast
1/2 C. Oil
1 C. Tamari ( can use braggs or soy sauce as well)
8 C. H2O
4 C. Quick oats
4 C. Old fashioned oats



Bring water to boil with all seasonings in it. Stir in old fashioned oats and boil for 1-2 minutes until they just start to cook. then stir in quick oats and turn off heat. Let sit until cool enough to handle. Mom spreads the mixture out on her roll pat and uses a biscuit cutter to cut them into patties but you can form them with your hands. Once burgers are formed place them on cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Flip them over and bake another 15 minutes. Voila they are done.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Dehydrated Flax Seed Crackers

This is a Raw or living food recipe that is addictive as well. I had some crackers similar to this at a restaurant and have found a few recipes that I have tried and this is how I have modified them for myself.

3/4 C. golden flax seeds
3/4 C. brown flax seeds
  • Soak flax seeds in 2 1/2 C H2O for 4 hrs until thick and gooey

1/2 C raw sunflower seeds
  • Soak sunflower seeds for 4-12 hrs in 1/2 C H2O

2 Tomatos
2 stalks of celery
1 Tbsp soy sauce (even try only a tsp of this for less salty version
1/4 C. chopped fresh herbs like parsley, thyme, basil, chives, oregano
3-4 leaves of chopped fresh mint (makes everything taste better in small quantities)
1 tsp of fresh lemon juice
1/2 C. sprouts of your choice
  • Process all these in a food processor until smooth
1-2 finely grated carrots that you stir into the batter at the end (optional)
  • mix the smooth batter with the seeds and carrots and stir well
  • spread thinly on Teflex dehydrator sheet (or on a piece of wax paper or parchment paper if you don't have the dehydrator sheet)
there are two dehydrating options.
  1. dehydrate at 115 degrees for 6 hours then gently peel it of the Teflex sheet and flip it over onto dying screen for the remaining 6 hours. Dehydrate longer if not quite dry.
  2. dehydrate at 105 degrees for 18 hours then slowly peel it of the dehydrator sheet flip it and finish dehydrating it on the drying screen for another 6 hrs. Once again dry it longer if not quite finished.
Why the difference in the drying temp? Well avid "living foodies" feel that anything above 116 degrees kills the nutrients in food so you try to stay below that level and 115 degrees gets too close to 116. I f you don't care about that and you just like the flavor of these crackers then dry them at 115 degrees to save time.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Bliss Balls


Hey Melissa,

I made these and they are addictive. Of course I deviated from the recipe to make them work for me but you will have to try them.

1 C. dates (pitted)
3/4 C. Raw almonds (soaked 8 hrs and drained)
1/4 C raisins (soaked in water until plump then drain). You can leave them whole and mix them in by hand with the other ingredients but I prefer to blend them in the dough.

Mix above items in food processor until smooth. Then mix the below ingredients in by hand.

1/4 C. Sunflower seeds (soaked 8-12 hrs and drained) or you can try pumpkin seeds as well
1/4 C. Almond butter or Macadamia nut butter or raw Tahini. ( I used almond because I had some) I will have to try it with Tahini.
1 and 1/2 Tbl Flax seeds soaked in 1 Tbl of water until water is absorbed ( it took about 30 mins or so)
1 and 1/2 tsp of carob powder
1 and 1/2 tsp of spirulina powder (I did not have any so I omitted it)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cardamom powder

Roll into balls and refrigerate while they last. You can roll them in shredded coconut as well. I didn't have any so I did not do it and they are still amazing. Of course Q doesn't think he likes dried fruit like raisins and dates so he has not tried them but he assures me he will try them in his own time. We will see.