week of meals

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at the start of the week, i like to jot down meal ideas and carry them with me in my little binder. the list changes with produce availability and what i'm in the mood for, but it's always there for reference. here is my list for this week:

dinner

• vegan minestrone soup with salad
• vegetable stir-fry with white rice
• lentil and potato soup
• raw pizza with salad
• persian tah dig

it's freezing cold out (snowing as i type this), so soup is on the menu twice this week. when i make soup, i try to double or even triple the recipe so i can freeze the rest in jars for those days when i just don't feel like cooking. they also make great quick lunches for when i'm babysitting.
edit: when freezing in glass jars, leave at least an inch headspace to prevent cracking.

white rice is easy to digest and when i cook it, i make extra for another meal. this saves time and energy. that is why i'm trying persian tah dig this week - to use up the leftover rice, and also to use up the big bag of organic potatoes i bought. (persian tah dig, i just learned, is an iranian dish with rice and potatoes.) i'm going to add turmeric since i'm always looking for ways to get it in.

i bought a big bag of russet potatoes with the vow to use every last spud. (too many times they spoil before i get to use them all). chopped potatoes made their way into the minestrone soup and next week i'm thinking of making baked potatoes loaded with veggies.

back to the rice - cooking rice used to intimidate me until i found this perfect white rice recipe.

perfect white rice (pressure-cooked)

2 cups long grain white rice
3 cups water
2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil

rinse rice well. in a pressure cooker with the lid locked, bring all ingredients to pressure and cook for 7 minutes, turning the heat down to medium. then turn the heat off and let the pot sit for 15 minutes. do not open the lid. the rice will continue to cook in the pot. open lid carefully after 15 minutes and fluff with a fork.

with my stir-fries, i just saute an assortment of vegetables with soy sauce and oil, then add the cooked rice to heat it. stir-fries are so simple and they make my favorite kind of leftovers. some veggies i've used in my stir-fries are: broccoli, bok choy, bell peppers, carrots, cauliflower, peas, green beans, cabbage and zucchini or yellow squash. 

over the weekend i began to sprout mung beans. they'll make a nice raw element for our stir-fry. i may also sprinkle some on our raw pizza, soup and salads. sprouting beans and seeds is so easy and a great way to grow some of our own food during the winter months. see my tutorial here.


lunch: 

• leftover soup
• nori wraps with avocado
• mashed avocado and toast
• smoothies with green powder
• red lentils with nutritional yeast 

my favorite quick lunch right now is simply sliced avocado wrapped up in a nori sheet. so easy, yummy, and nutritious to boot! i just got the idea to add the mung bean sprouts to them, too!

red lentils are also great when you're short on time because they cook up so quickly. i just place about a quarter cup red lentils in a pot with about a half cup water and boil a few minutes until they're tender. with a little olive oil or butter, nutritional yeast flakes and salt, they're divine!

snacks:

• carrot curry flax crackers with hummus
• dehydrated mangoes
• coconut yogurt
• steamed non-gmo edamame
• fresh fruit (bananas, apples, oranges, pinapple)

as i mentioned last night, i made a sweet and savory flax cracker with carrot, curry and raisins. flax crackers are my go-to because they're easy for me to make and i like that they're high in omega-3's. i just happened to come across an article today that said eating the flax seeds provides much more nutrition than the flaxseed oil supplements. i also enjoy their crunchiness, though the seeds sticking to my teeth are still very annoying. they're worth it though.

carrot curry flax crackers with raisins

1 cup raw flax seeds
3/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 raw shelled hemp seeds
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup shredded carrot (about 2 carrots)
1 1/2 tsp curry powder (more or less to taste)
1/4 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar (optional)
1/2 tsp bragg's liquid aminos (optional)

place seeds and raisins in a large bowl with enough water to cover and let them soak for about an hour. add carrot and seasonings and stir. if the batter seems too stiff, mix in a little bit more water.

spread batter over two teflex sheets and dehydrate at 115 degrees until dry, flipping halfway onto mesh screens. if you don't have a dehydrator, these could probably be baked in the oven on the lowest temperature with the oven door cracked, but keep an eye on them so they don't burn.

so there you have it - a week full of animal-friendly meals. (i left out breakfast because i usually just eat a banana.) this post was fun to put together and i got even more ideas as i was writing, so i will definitely try to do this again! what are you excited about making this week?

golden flax crackers

finally, a flavorful flax cracker that i'm proud to share! but i can't take even half the credit for these. thank you carmella and doctor in the kitchen for your delicious cracker inspiration!

the ingredients on doctor in the kitchen's flax cracker box told me to add bragg's liquid aminos and raw apple cider vinegar to my cracker batter. carmi's blog inspired me to add vegetables to make the crackers colorful and even more nutritious. good thing i had enough sense to measure and write the recipe down, because this one is definitely a keeper.

golden flax crackers

2 C golden flax seeds
2 C water
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
3-4 leaves purple cabbage  
1 carrot or 1/2 orange bell pepper
2 celery stalks
2-3 garlic cloves 
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T bragg's liquid amino acid
3/4 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp salt
few sprigs rosemary and thyme

in a large mixing bowl, combine flax seeds and water. allow the mixture to sit for about an hour or so. the batter will be nice and gooey when it's ready.

in the meantime, chop vegetables or pulse them in the food processor, making sure not to puree them. you can really use any kind of vegetable, or none at all if you want to make these quick. if you want to add veggies, three cups of chopped vegetables makes a nice ratio to the flax seeds.

mix all ingredients until well combined. spread onto two and a half teflex sheets and dehydrate at 110 degrees for a few hours. when the top layer is dry and cracker batter corners start to pull away from the sheets, flip onto trays and dehydrate until fully dry. if you want your crackers chewier, take them out sooner. to make sure they're extra crispy, i leave mine in the dehydrator overnight.

break them into pieces and you've got yourself a yummy gluten-free cracker. oh, i almost forgot to warn you - have a toothpick ready - the flax seeds will cling to your chompers for dear life! i hope you have a very happy monday and a wonderful week! xoxoxo

weekend recap

friday, my four year old niece alaina came over to spend the night and the next day with us. what an imagination she has! the best was when she turned my crochet hooks into dental instruments. it was so cute watching john the dentist work patiently on alaina's teeth with two yarn needles.=)

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we broke up our saturday with trips to the pop shop, the collingswood famers' market, and the local library. the weather was rainy and the last time i took alaina to the community garden, she wanted to go home shortly after. and i had to carry her back. so i didn't mention it this time. however, alaina surprised me by asking, "can we go that garden place again?" we sure can!=)

 community garden 9/18/11

this time she ate tomatoes and lettuce straight off the plants. she admired each and every flower and wanted to know what the plants were called. she asked if she could pick things for me to take home. it was so sweet!

at the library, i read her some stories then let her choose some movies to watch later. she picked ramona and beezus and one of those teenie bopper's concerts whose name i can't remember. (do i sound old or what?) i chose mary poppins.=)

thankfully we didn't get to the concert, but we did watch about 15 minutes of ramona and beezus, which i enjoyed more than she did! as a child i loved beverly cleary books, and this was a surprisingly good adaptation. like many booknerds, i'm hesitant to watch movie versions, but ramona and beezus was pretty cute.

before alaina left, she told me i was her best friend, then sang a song about me being her best friend. there's nothing sweeter than her little voice. really there's nothing sweeter than just spending time with a child. i'm already planning her next visit!

we finally got some sun and i was able to photograph the results of my kitchen marathon.

first we have apple-banana fruit roll-ups. making fruit roll-ups is great because 1) they're a perfect way to use up ripe fruit 2) they're easy and inexpensive to make 3) they're a nice candy-like snack for when i'm craving something sweet and chewy.

i don't have a recipe for my fruit roll-ups, though my friend heidi has some good ones on her blog. what i do is throw about 2-3 ripe bananas and 1-2 apples in the food processor with juice from half a lemon per excalibur dehydrator tray. i've used all kinds of fruit with banana, like watermelon, pear, peach and berries.

when using ripe banana, there's so need for added sweetener. after processing the fruit until smooth, i spread the batter onto teflex dehydrator sheets thin, but not so thin that the teflex shows through, and dehydrate until dry and pliable anywhere from 110-135°. then with kitchen scissors, i cut each tray of fruit leather in sixths, roll them up, and store them in ziploc bags or glass jars.

rosemary and sage are growing gorgeously this time of year. i paired the two herbs to create savory flax crackers and raw pizza crusts.

a sweet version of flax crackers was made with apples, dates and maple syrup. they were lovely with a little peanut butter. i'd like to do some tweaking before i share the cracker recipes, as the batter was a little too thick and took a long time to dry.

my mom and i also had a nice two-and-a-half hour gabfest on the phone. we love to gush over alaina, and we're talking about doing a detox challenge together.

i hope your weekend was full of love, laughter, and yummy treats!

::floral divider source

dehydrated yummies

clockwise from top:

Rainbow Flax Crackers, Herb Pizza Crusts, Raw Cheez-Its, Cumin Flatbread, and "The Best Granola in the Universe Plus One"

Rainbow Flax Crackers

by diana stoevelaar of www.awesomerawsome.com

here is the recipe halved to make 2 trays. i also needed to make a few minor changes to avoid running out to the store for ingredients. i'm sure the original recipe is great, but everyone (including myself) loved these!

makes 2 dehydrator trays

2 1/2 C. water

2 C. golden flax seed

1 1/2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1/3 C. purple cabbage

1 red pepper, coarsely chopped

1 orange pepper, coarsely chopped

1/3 C. parsley

1/3 C. spinach

1/3 C. cilantro

2 T. white onion

1 clove garlic

2 T. lemon juice

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning*

1 tsp. salt

* i did not have poultry seasoning so i used a 1/2 tsp. equal parts sage, margoram, rosemary, black pepper and celery seed. i would have added thyme if i had it.)

1. presoak flax seeds in 2 1/2 cups of water for at least 1 hour or overnight. place in a large mixing bowl.

2. puree fresh tomatoes, lemon juice, garlic and seasonings in the food processor. add to the flax mixture.

3. process all the vegetables individually in the food processor until finely chopped but not pureed. add to the flax mixture.

4. stir the flax mixture until well combined.

5. using an offset spatula, spread the mixture about ¼” thick onto Teflex sheets on the dehydrating trays. score into squares or triangles with a plastic utensil so as not to damage the Teflex sheet.

6. dehydrate for at least 12 hours. the crackers easily separate from the teflex sheets without stickiness, usually after 12 hours. remove the dehydrator tray. flip the crackers by placing a mesh and another tray on top of the crackers. hold both sides of the sandwiched trays and flip them towards you so the top tray is now at the bottom. remove the new top tray and the mesh. now peel off the teflex sheet from the crackers, which are now facing downward. return the crackers to the dehydrator for approximately an additional 4 hours until completely dry.

7. let cool before storing by leaving them on the dehydrator trays outside of the dehydrator or inside of the dehydrator with the door open.

8. store crackers in an airtight container in a cool dark cupboard, fridge or freezer.

~*~

Herb Pizza Crusts
this is my variation of the recipe to fit one dehydrator tray

(9 pizza crusts)

1 1/4 C. buckwheat, soaked overnight

2/3 C. sunflower seeds, soaked overnight

5 T. ground flax seed

1 C. zucchini, chopped

1/4 C. water

1 T. olive oil

1 tsp. herbs

1 tsp. garlic

1 tsp. sea salt

1. blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

2. spread batter about 1/4 " thick on dehydrator tray covered with teflex sheet. score into 9 squares.

3. dehydrate at 125 for 2-3 hours, then flip onto mesh and turn the temperature down to 110.

4. dehydrate until dry.

~*~

 

Raw Cheez-Its

(batter covers 3 teflex sheets)

1 C. sunflower seeds (soaked overnight)

1 C. almonds (soaked overnight)

1 C. brazil nuts

1 big tomato, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1/4 C. sun-dried tomatoes, soaked overnight

1/4 C. ground flax

1 garlic clove

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. taco seasoning

2 tsp. nutritional yeast

1 tsp. onion powder

blend all ingredients in food processor, then spread batter fairly thin onto teflex sheets. score into squares. dehydrate at 110° until dry, flipping cheez-its onto mesh screens after a few hours.

~*~

Cumin Flatbread
from Matthew Kenney's
Entertaining in the Raw

~*~

The Best Granola in the Universe Plus One

2/3 C. sprouted buckwheat
1/2 C. sprouted sunflower seeds
1/2 C. sprouted oats
1 C. chopped soaked almonds

1/4 C. melted coconut oil

1/4 C. maple syrup

1 T. vanilla
cinnamon to liking
sea salt to liking

 

mix everything together with hands. spread on teflex sheet and dehydrate at 115 for 8-12 hours.

(you can put this in the oven at a low temperature if you don’t have a dehydrator… it may not still be “raw” but it will still taste awesome and is still a pretty healthy alternative to Twinkies and Mountain Dew…=)

serve with a nut milk and dried or fresh fruit!! enjoy!

kelli's notes: i added  1/4 C. dried coconut flakes and only soaked the buckwheat overnight. the granola was pretty tasty, but i'm not sure it's the best in the universe. my granola did not stick together too well but it did make for a yummy, crunchy cereal (topped with dried cranberries or raisins and almond milk...yummity yum!=)