Portobello Burgers

Sometimes you just want a big ole fat juicy burger... and then your conscience kicks in and reminds you that your choice to eat healthy or save the planet have confounded you to fight the urge.  Solution?  Portobello Burgers!  Now some have said to me that eating a giant mushroom grosses them out.  As a matter of fact my dear sweet husband said this to me a few years ago when the subject came up.  I have but one suggestion to overcome this nasty fear of fungi...DON'T THINK ABOUT IT.  Seriously, do you think about where that burger you wanted comes from or what all that piece of meat has endured since the slaughter house?  I think not.  Some things are just better forgotten, right?  Besides, the health benefits of eating mushrooms have proven for centuries something to be desired.  Here's a quick link for a few of those benefits.  Also, there was a recent study (<---click to see study) done on obese patients that resulted in major weight loss, just by replacing the meat in their meals with mushrooms.  I have really taken to this idea lately.  I've decided to cut back on the processed foods, which includes vegan meat alternatives that contain high levels of sodium, soy, and gluten.  This is quick and easy, and it tastes awesome!

When shopping for Portobellos:
You can find portobellos in most grocery stores, in the produce section.  You want to make sure your bellas are fresh, by avoiding ones that have dark, deep indentions in the caps.  Also, take a whiff.  If they smell like feet, or have mold growing on them, walk away!  Lol...  portobellos don't stay fresh for long, so you'll want to keep them refrigerated, and use them within a few days of the purchase.  Also, when washing your bella caps, if they are super slimy, and not easily rinsed, that's a sign that they are going bad.  Again, note the smell.  Each portobello cap represents a burger patty, so make sure you get plenty for each person you plan to serve. Oh and don't purchase the baby portobellos, these are unmistakably large.

(GF) To make these burgers gluten free, use a gluten free bun, or simply eat without the bread.

Washed and ready for seasoning.

Ingredients:

~Large Portobello Mushroom caps (enough for everyone)

~1/4 Cup Bragg's  Liquid Aminos or Soy sauce (make sure it's gluten/wheat free if going for the GF option

~1 Tbs. of your favorite burger seasoning (I prefer Mccormick's salt free all purpose seasoning, because your Bragg's or soy sauce will be salty enough)

~Burger fixins (bun, tomato, onion, ketchup mustard, avocado, etc.)

My Portobellos fully seasoned and ready for the oven.

Directions:

~Gently rinse your portobellos caps, and remove the little button stems on bottom (you can cut them off, or just pull them off... but be gentle) (if your caps tear it won't ruin the taste, they're just not as pretty)

~Don't worry about removing the gills from the bottom of the caps, they actually help hold in the seasonings, and they're perfectly eatable

~Place portobello caps belly up (top down) in a casserole dish like pictured above; they don't have to be perfectly flat

~Brush, or dowse with your Bragg's or soy sauce, then sprinkle with your seasonings

You don't have to fill the dish with Bragg's or soy sauce, because the portobellos quickly absorb the liquid and retain it well.  You also don't want to marinate them overnight, because the salt taste is too overpowering.  These are much more absorbent than meat.

~Cover with plastic wrap or foil, and put into the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes, but no longer than 2 hours before cooking (I usually marinate mine while making breakfast and then cook them for lunch when it's time)

45 min- 2 hrs later....

~Remove covering and bake for 45 minutes on 350 for 4 portobello caps (if you have an oven full, then you want to add about 5 minutes per cap) Or grill about 5 minutes on each side (according to thickness)

The idea is to cook them thoroughly, without leaving them dry and crispy or drenching wet (just for good texture purposes)  

~While baking or grilling, have your buns ready!  Get all of your onions, tomatoes, and avocados cut and in place, so that all you have to do is put the portobellos on and eat.

~Once finished cooking, just carefully with a spatula place on your bun with all of your favorite fixins'.

Placed on the bun, just like a regular burger.

Hope you enjoy this non-processed alternative to a meaty burger.  Comes with guilt-free pleasure and weight-loss!

Served with oven baked potato wedges and sauteed asparagus sprouts with lemon-garlic sauce :D.

Steamed Veggies and Brown Rice

Yep, that's right... pretty basic.  Today I woke up sore from the gym, without an ounce of creativity in my blood stream.  All I could think of was "healthy... must eat healthy".  Vegan food is sort of known for being healthy, yet, one could eat nothing but potato chips and still be considered vegan.  So without further or due, a vegan meal that is unmistakably healthy, and pretty good too!

(GF)This meal is naturally gluten free, if you opt. not to use a faux meat.

Under all of that luscious gravy, there's a vegetable or two!

Ingredients:

4 Cups of cooked brown rice (I chose organic)

1 head of broccoli

4 or 5 medium sized potatoes

4 carrots

1 cup loosely packed baby spinach

Gravy Ingredients:
1 Cup of cashews (roasted or raw)
2 tsp. onion powder
1/5 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt (I like to use pink Himalayan salt, just because it's healthier than regular, but that's optional)
2 Tbs. Cornstarch
2 tsp. chicken-like seasoning
2 cups of water

Directions:
~First, start cooking your rice according to the package directions (don't forget to keep an eye on it, while you're cooking the other stuff)
~Second, cut your vegetables into bite size pieces (you don't want them to big, or it'll take a while to steam) Leave the spinach out, til you're making your plate, it's raw in this recipe.
~Blend your gravy ingredients until no graininess can be felt between the fingers (smooth), it's easier if you blend with 1 cup of water until smooth, and then add the second cup and blend for a few more seconds.
~Pour your gravy into a small pot and heat on medium low to thicken.  It should be runny after blending, but the cornstarch and the heat thicken it quickly, so watch and give it a stir once per minute or so.
~Throw your veggies into a steamer (except spinach).  You can steam them all together, but I like to first steam the carrots and potatoes, and add the broccoli in the last 10 minutes, so that it retains it's bright green color.
~Steam for about 30 minutes, and check with a fork to make sure they're soft.  If not, steam 10 more minutes.
~Once your rice is cooked, your gravy is as thick as you'd like, and your veggies are soft, layer them as follows:

Brown rice on bottom, then sprinkle with raw spinach, then veggies, then gravy.... Enjoy!

**Feel free to add a faux meat like Morning star "chicken strips", if you don't mind the gluten

Quick Homemade Biscuits

Sometimes you just don't have time to get out the rolling pin, the cookie cutter, and let dough rise twice, re-knead, re-rise....etc... Let's face it, most of us never have time for that.  Solution?  Quick rise biscuits with baking powder!  I use Rumford's because it's aluminum free.  Did you know that lots of foods and cosmetic products contain aluminum?  Like most deodorants.  Aluminum builds up in our bodies over time and can cause metal poisoning, which is a huge contributor to Alzheimer's and depression.  Any who... no aluminum for me! Thank the Lord they sell Rumford's at Walmart.  These quick biscuits can be used for "bacon, egg, and cheese" biscuits (Tempeh, tofu, daiya), jelly biscuits, or biscuits and gravy, and they only take about 20 minutes total to make, including cooking time.  I high jacked this little gem from a cookbook called "Vegan Homestyle".  This is not a gluten free biscuit! Sorry my precious GF babies!

Ingredients:

1 cup of whole wheat flour

1 cup of unbleached white flour

1 Tbs. baking powder (Aluminum free please)

1 tsp. salt (I love sea salt)

1/3 Cup oil (I use coconut or olive)

3/4 Cup almond milk (or soy, hemp, rice, flax... any alternative will work)

Directions:

~preheat oven to 475°

~mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl first

~add wet ingredients

~mix until all dry ingredients are wet

~take portions whatever size you like ( I like bigger biscuits, so I use about 2 heaping Tbs. of dough) and roll into balls.  Give them a little pat to flatten them into biscuit like shape

~place on an oiled cookie sheet

~bake for 12 minutes (10 for smaller biscuits)

Serve hot with raw organic honey and cinnamon (like pictured), or use anyway you would use a regular biscuit;  biscuits and gravy, jelly biscuit, etc.  Enjoy!

Scrambled "tegg" and Avocado Breakfast Wraps

I don't know what grilling tortilla dough does chemically to a wrap, but it changes the taste.  It makes something magnificent, memorable, and pretty.  Who wants to eat something ugly, right?  Bare with me, I'm a little off this morning.  Perhaps it's the recent move, or maybe it's that I haven't slept an entire night in four years... who knows? Okay, now what was I saying?  Oh, yeah! Wraps!  As with most recipes, this can be changed to your liking.  But I think it's smashing the way that we had it this morning.  This is a breakfast wrap, filled with avocado mostly, but complimented with a protein, like scrambled tofu, or eggs if you're so inclined.  You add a few more sandwich type fillings, and then make it wet.  Yes, make it wet.  "I just LOVE dry wraps and sandwiches" said no one ever.  Sooo, you've gotta lather this baby up with some creamy stuff.  Then, you close up the wrap, and sear it on both sides.  MAMA MIA!  You could eat these without pan searing them, but I've tried it, and they just don't have that BOOM of flavor.

(GF) To make these gluten free, I have often used rice wraps instead of tortilla, but you can't pan sear rice wraps :(  No worries though, they are pretty darn good.

I always pair these with fruit... mmgood.

Ingredients:

5 large tortilla wraps

2 ripe Avocados (I like organic)

1/2 ripe tomato (optional)

pinch of alf alfa sprouts (optional)

1 (12oz) box of Mori Nu silken tofu scrambled (Scrambled Teggs recipe here)

About 20 leaves of baby spinach (1 cup?)

1/2 Cup of vegan mayo (I use Vegenaise)

1/4 Cup of Cashew Cheese (optional, but so good!)

1/2 Cup of shredded Daiya Mozzerella 

3 strips of cooked Fakin Bakon, or a Tablespoon of artificial bacon bits

Directions:

~lay out your 5 tortilla wraps, and slather with vegan mayo and cashew cheese. (Keep in the middle, because the outer edges will be folded, see picture of open wrap)

~scramble your tofu according to the directions in my other recipe HERE.

~put about 4 leaves of baby spinach on each wrap

~spread a pinch of alf alfa sprouts longways on each wrap

~slice your avocados and make a little train of slices down the center of each wrap

~do the same with tomatoes

~sprinkle daiya mozzerella (as much as you like)over that

~pull your "bakon" strips into little pieces and add sparingly, you don't want to use a whole strip probably, because it's over powering in my opinion.  Or sprinkle on your artificial bacon bits

~top with your scrambled tofu (it may not seem like a lot, but distribute evenly... your other ingredients are the bulk of the wrap.  (or you could always double the scrambled tofu, for hefty wraps.

Sorry it's so sloppy, I'm off my game today!  But you get the idea.

~now that you've got all of your ingredients in the middle of your tortilla, it's time to wrap it up

~fold the sides in first (which would be the top of this picture, where the ingredients are closest to the edges)

~then, holding the sides in, wrap the big sides in

~take a medium sized frying pan, and spray it with oil, and turn it to medium high heat

~as the pan is getting hot, wet the flap of the wrap with a little water, and put it open side down.  The water will seal the wrap shut as it heats, so that it doesn't open while your eating it. (scroll back up to the top picture and see how the wrap looks sealed by the heat)  I just run the open flap under a thin stream of tap water, and close it as I'm taking it to the pan.  This is optional, it just helps seal the wrap.

~sear wrap for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.  Don't leave it long, they'll burn!

~if you accidentally burn the wrap, you can scrape off the burnt part with a butter knife

~cut wraps in half, and serve hot

Non-vegans love these wraps! Enjoy.  Oh, and feel free to add mushrooms, onions, or whatever you like!

Garden stuffed macaroni

Today's dish was a big healthy success! If I haven't mentioned it before, I LOVE italian food.  As I gazed into the pantry two giant boxes of oversized macaroni stared back at me.  It only took a few seconds to realize that that macaroni needed to be done away with; what better way to de-clutter than to create something fantastic.  There are three different versions of this listed.  My favorite is the simple garden veggie version.  But, if you're feeling indulgent, you add a few ingredients to make it creamy and cheesy.  You can also change it up by topping it with Pesto instead of Marinara.  I love stuffing stuff!! And we just stuffed our faces! This vegan meal can easily be created without fancy ingredients or a blender... just some good ole' fresh produce and seasonings!  Oh, and pasta, don't forget that!

(GF) To make this dish Gluten Free, simply use the gluten free pasta of your choice, and make sure your marinara has no added wheat or gluten.

Ingredients:

0.5 Tbs. oil ( I used olive oil)

1 tsp. Lemon juice

1 tsp. Salt (I use Sea Salt)

2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 box of giant macaroni shells or manicotti

1 jar of marinara ( I use Barilla tomato basil)

2 Cups chopped portobello mushrooms 

2 Cups of gently packed baby spinach

1 Cup chopped purple onion

1 Cup chopped zucchini (1 medium sized zucchini)

1.5 Cups chopped sun ripened tomatoes

Add these for a creamy option:

1 package of firm Mori Nu tofu crumbled

3/4 Cups Vegenaise (or home made vegan mayo)

1 Cup Daiya Mozzarella 

This is the Creamy option, before marinara is added.

Directions:
~Pre-chop all of your veggies very small.  You're going to be stuffing pasta, so they'll need to fit easily.
~Cook 1/2 the box of macaroni shells according to the directions on the box (if you plan to add the ingredients listed above for the creamier option, you'll need to boil the entire box.
~While that is boiling, put your oil in a medium sized sauce pan and saute all of your vegetables with the spices and lemon juice on medium heat.  It will look like a lot of veggies, but they will all shrink down small after sauteing.
~Don't add water or oil, after they saute for a minute, the juices from the veggies will be enough to cook everything thoroughly.  If it is dry and sticking to your pan, turn the heat down some, and add maybe just a teaspoon of water.
~Give your veggies a stir every couple of minutes to make sure that they're all well coated with the spices and juices.

~After your veggies are cooked down and the onion is clear, either remove from heat, or add your creamy option ingredients.  The creamy ingredients will take about 5 or 6 minutes to melt and mix in.  Stir every couple of minutes.

~Heat your marinara on low, in a small pot, just enough to warm up.
~Strain your pasta, and run cold water over them.  You have to pick them up when stuffing, and you don't want to get burned.
~Take the giant pasta one by one and fill with your sauteed vegetable mix (usually a heaping table spoon, but fill to your heart's desire).
~After you have several filled on one plate, top with warm marinara (as much or as little as you like, but I used very little, because I only want to compliment the stuffing, and not over power it).          
~Serve immediately with a crisp green salad and garlic bread.

**You could also top with a creamy pesto instead of marinara.  That gives it a totally different taste and look, but is equally as delectable!  Enjoy!

Natural Anti-biotic "Russian Penicillin"

I've been studying natural remedies for several years now, and this one seems to take the cake for multi-purpose treatment.  I've seen it prepared so many ways, I could write a book on just that.  This way is the fastest, which suits my busy life perfectly.  Some use blenders, some boil the concoction, etc... and while it's rumored that that can unlock some of the potency, I'm a firm believer in the benefits of full blown enzymatic action, which is lost when heating foods higher than 118°F.  There are books written about the medicinal power of garlic, and some cultures have sworn by it for centuries.  Grapefruit juice has compounds called furanocoumarins that inhibit digestive enzymes from breaking down medications, leaving more to be fully absorbed into the body.  That's why a good nurse will tell you not to eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice with various drugs, like statins and pain meds.  In short Grapefruit juice potentiates or makes medications stronger!  Garlic is a strong anti-biotic, and that has been scientifically proven.  When you take grapefruit juice with garlic, it potentiates its effects, therefore, making it a more powerful anti-biotic.  I have yet to hear of anyone over dosing on garlic, so I think that this anti-biotic is a much safer choice to keep in the house with children.  There are no side effects, except maybe a little garlic breath and gas (if you take a ton of it).  Hey, at least the vampires will stay back if nothing else :)
This is the only anti-biotic I've ever used on my children to date, and along with Goldenseal, the only one I have personally used in over 5 years.  I am amazed at how well it works for my family, and I hope that it works for yours too.

Ingredients: 

1 Ripe grapefruit

1 clove of garlic (one section of a garlic head)

Directions:

Cut your grapefruit in half and squeeze juice into a glass (both halves)

Peel the skin from your garlic clove and discard

Chop garlic into tiny pieces (that you can swallow whole, like a pill)

Put the garlic pieces into your mouth, and swallow down with the grapefruit juice

DON'T CHEW IT UP! It'll burn your tongue.

Do this 3 times a day for 10 days

You can increase your dosage amount to 2 grapefruits juice, and 2 cloves if you really want to get a powerful dose in.

**I suggest buying a large bag of grapefruits and 2 heads of garlic, so you'll have plenty on hand.  ONLY USE FRESH PRODUCE.  The stuff in cans and jars have lost a lot of the properties that heal.

Lentil Chili

I woke up at 5 o'clock this morning with a hankering for chili....  and because my husband wasn't here for breakfast, I can do whatever I want.  I can really get wild and crazy...which means chili, before 9a.m.! Wooooowhooo!  This recipe is pretty simple, and can be modified to your liking easily.

(GF) To make this gluten free, leave out the veggie crumbles.

Sorry for the ugly camera phone picture, my husband took the camera with him!

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Lentils
1 Small-Medium onion diced
1 Large potato cubed (I used an organic yellow)
1 Cup of veggie crumbles (optional) (ex: boca burger, worthington, or make your own)
1 Can of Pinto beans
1 Can of black beans
1 Can of diced tomatoes (drained)
1 Can of tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 Tbs sea salt
2 heaping Tbs chili powder
1 dash of cayenne
1 Tbs beef style seasoning (optional)
1 Tbs miso (optional)

Directions:

Boil lentils, onion, and potato until soft

Drain off excess water

Add remaining ingredients and heat on medium heat until hot

Add or reduce salt to your needs :)

Enjoy