Thursday, April 29, 2010

Winner Again!

Yes, it does pay off to enter every single giveaway you come across. I have been seriously enjoying my free cookbook, 1,000 Vegan Recipes. And now, I have won another prize. This time, I won some Organic Raw Coconut Oil from Nutiva, as well as some Raw Cacao Butter from Artisana. Actually, that link shows raw coconut butter, so I am not sure exactly what I will get. But who cares? I am going to do some awesome kinda-healthy baking when they come. Or make some really healthy raw treats. Yummy! That shit's not cheap, either.

My plan is to head to Minneapolis this weekend to visit one of my daddies and my younger sister and my daddy's super-sweet girlfriend. I don't know what we will do, but I am definitely heading to Whole Foods (for the first time ever) to purchase myself some Daiya vegan cheese. I have no idea what it will cost, but whatever. I can't wait to make a homemade veggie pizza with mushrooms, black olives, maybe artichokes, pineapple, and gooey cheese all over it. Cruelty-free cheese, soy-free, allergen-free, lovely cheese. I will post the results here, I promise.

Don't know what to make for supper tonight...but probably something with the delicious bunch of kale in the refrigerator. If it's interesting, I will share it with you. If not, too bad.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sprouts and Dehydrating


I am bravely moving on toward a food adventure I have never tried before: sprouting. I bought myself a sprouting jar and a whole bunch of sprouting seeds. I have a bunch of alfalfa, a big bag of protein seeds, and a salad mixture containing broccoli, among other things. Why am I doing this? I love sprouts! They are delicious on salads and sandwiches. They are tiny little things packed with flavor and nutrition. And two of my kids love them as well. They can also be used in a lot of raw recipes and in my dehydrator.

Speaking of my dehydrator, I made my first ever batch of fruit rolls the other day. The only ingredients are strawberries and unsweetened applesauce. That's it. I pureed them together, spread it on the dehydrator trays and let it fill my home with the strawberry aroma all day long. I didn't actually time it, but later that day they were done. I peeled them off, cut them and rolled them in plastic wrap. But not after trying some and sharing it with the kids. HEAVENLY! So SO sweet and packed with flavor! Garrett begged me to put some in his lunch for school. He shared it with all of his friends, who also loved it. I tried to get Drew to eat some. He likes the heavily processed sugary store-bought kind. I thought he would eat them, and it would be a good way to get him to eat fruit. No luck yet.

I can't wait to try different kinds of fruits and add things like coconut to them. YUM!

As for the sprouting, it will have to wait until I am on summer vacation. It looks like they need some attention with rinsing twice a day and all that. It makes me nervous to try it out, but I know I can do it. After all, I have been making my own kefir for almost four months. In fact, my tiny little kitchen is being taken over by jars of soy milk kefir and my new water kefir grains growing. Next there will be little green sprouts growing in my own little factory of good food.