The Happy Veganarian!

Ginger curry

2011-12-07T11:26:00.000-08:00

This has become one of my favourite recipes. The curry is a great recipe to eat in the winter. I used the usual winter veggies like winter carrots. This meal will give you good energy, the fresh ginger being warming and curcuma must be one of the healthiest spices, full of anti-oxidants! I love to eat the curry with quinoa. The quinoa is yellow as you can see in the picture. I cooked the quinoa with curcuma to give it a yellow colour. Steamed cabbage is eaten with this dish and I also like to add something sweet like cooked pears. I cook the pears water with a little sucanat and cinnamon. I also love cooked dried plums with this dish.

25 g fresh ginger root, peeled
2 big cloves of garlic
1 onion
2 or 3 winter carrots (about 300 g)
1 red ball pepper
1 can of tomato pieces
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp curcuma
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tbl sucanat
1/3 cup coconut milk

Make a paste with the ginger, garlic and onion. I use my food processor. Place the ginger and garlic in the food processor. Turn the machine on shortly. Add the onion and turn the machine on a second time. Stop when the onion is cut in small pieces:

Cut the carrots in thin slices. Cut the red ball pepper in pieces (not too small).

Heat coconut oil in a heavy pan and fry the paste on high heat. Add the red ball pepper, the carrots and mix all the ingredients together.

Pour 1 cup of water in the pan and let the vegetables cook in the water, placing a lid on the pan the first 5 minutes and removing the lid the next 5 minutes. The water should almost be evaporated by now.

Now add the canned tomatoes, coconut milk, spices, salt and sucanat. Mix together and leave to cook for a while on low heat.

Serve the curry sauce with cooked rice or quinoa.

Speculaas muffins

2011-12-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

Baking for St. Nicolaas fills the house with an aroma of speculaas spices. These muffins are filled with figs and spices. They are rich in minerals since figs and molasses are a good source of calcium and iron.

1 1/3 cup white spelt flour
1/2 cup + 2 tbl whole spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp speculaas spices
1 tsp grounded anise
1 tsp gingerbread spice
2 tbl currants
5 dryed figs (about 90 gram)
1 tbl molasses
1/4 cup organic canola oil
1 tsp applecider vinegar
1/2 cup soymilk, or other vegan milk
1/3 cup brown rice syrup

Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 356 F

Cut the dryed figs in small pieces. Place them together with the currants in a bowl. Pour the soymilk in the bowl and set aside so that the fruit softens.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Pour all the remaining wet ingredients in the bowl of softened fruit and mix together the ingredients. Incorporate the wet ingredients plus the fruit into the bowl of dry ingredients. Use a spatula to mix all the ingredients together.

Spoon the batter into a muffin form. The cups should be greased beforehand with canola oil.

Bake the muffins for 25 minutes.

Here in Holland we just celebrated St. Nicolaas. You can compare it to celebrating Christmas, so it's a big feast in Holland. We spend the day doing a lot of baking and playing with the children. I also like to spend the day doing handicraft with the children. This year I made these paper planes for Luka:

My daughter has her own project, she's making a curtain from crochet flowers:

Apple cake (sugar-free)

2011-12-06T01:22:00.000-08:00

When making a new recipe I never focus my energy on what I cannot use and try to replace it. I focus on what I do have and in this case it's the wonderful taste of rice syrup. I don't look at a recipe which does use sugar and think it's enough to leave it out. You have to look at what you are using and try to find other ingredients which inhance the taste of the syrup. Here I did this by combining rice syrup with apples and december spices.

I'd love to share with you this simple apple cake which was inspired by a mail I got from someone who cannot eat any sugar products due to health reasons. For me, when I'm baking I usually grab for the sucanat jar. But now it was a challenge to bake without sugar and I decided to do this more often. I like to do something new and make a change now and again. So instead of grabbing the usual jar, now I have to think of making a new step. And isn't it wonderful to make some changes once in a while? I'm not planning to bake sugar-free all the time, but I will incorporate these recipes on my blog as well. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

1 cup whole spelt flour
1 cup white spelt flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp gingerbread spices
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/4 cup organic canola oil
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
2 tsp applecider vinegar
1/4 cup soymilk or any other vegan milk

3 big apples
2 tbl brown rice syrup
1 tsp gingerbread spices
juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180 C/356 F

Peel and slice the apples. You need enough apples to cover the top of the cake. Place the sliced apples in a bowl and mix together with 2 tbl rice syrup, 1 tsp gingerbread spices and juice of 1/2 a lemon. Set aside.

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix.

Blend all the wet ingredients together in another bowl. Incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix well with a spatula. The batter should feel firm. If it's too difficult to mix the ingredients together then you can add a tablespoon of milk to the batter.

Pour the batter into a springform of 24 cm. The bottom of the springform should be covered with parchment paper and grease the sides with oil.

Now carefully place the apple pieces onto the cake batter. A small amount of fluid left in the bowl of apples can be sprinkled onto to the apples.

Place the springform into the oven and bake for about one hour until the cake is done. Check this by pricking a toothpick into the cake and if it comes out clean the cake is ready. Also check that the apples don't turn brown and cover the springform with foil during half the baking time.

When the cake is ready let it cool and using a small sieve, dust cinnamon on the cake.

Spelt cinnamon pancakes

2011-10-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

I really love the old fashioned grain spelt and these pancakes are wonderful. Spelt gives the pancakes more flavour and has more nutrients than wheat. It's a recipe I created after my children were often asking for pancakes after school or on a Sunday morning. I wanted a recipe that was quick to whip up and no fuss. A pancake batter that always works. The result was perfect. The pancakes turned out small which is ideal. I have two 'Green Pan' pans and I can make three or four pancakes at a time. Then I layer the pancakes on top of each other, pour agave syrup over, and the children are satisfied. So here is the recipe. Make a first small pancake to test, and I usually do that without syrup to see if the pancake is any good. Maybe I add a little more salt or you might need to pour a little extra milk- not more then a spoonful at a time because these pancakes should be on the thick side. Too much milk can ruin them. Bake the pancakes in a neutral organic coconut oil.

1 cup spelt white flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbl organic canola oil
1 cup + 1/4 cup soy milk

Place the flours, salt, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl.

Mix the oil into the flour mixture with a spoon.

Whisk the milk into the flour mixture with the spoon. You'll probably have to use the mixer now to get rid of the clumps and to end up with a really smooth batter. I use the hand mixer which is quick and easy.

Heat the oil in a pan. Pour the batter in the pan. I use a soup spoon to pour the batter into the pan. Make the pancakes small and start off with a really hot pan so that the pancakes rise. Then lower the heat and wait until they are golden brown on one side. Turn the pancakes carefully over.

Apple lemon cake with Provencal herbs

2011-10-07T00:55:00.000-07:00

After harvesting the apples I made this cake. I never tried herbs in an apple cake and combined with olive oil and lemon the cake was superb! Not the usual apple cake but really worth trying this out!

1 1/2 cup spelt flour
1 cup almond flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sucanat
1 1/2 tsp Provencal dry herb mix
3 tsp grated lemon
1/4 tsp salt

380 g apples (3 apples)
juice 1 lemon

2 tbl organic corn barley syrup
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp apple vinegar
1/2 cup vegan milk

Preheat the oven to 356 F/180 C

Cut the apples in pieces and sprinkle the pieces with the lemon juice.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Blend all the wet ingredients together in another bowl.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix together and fold in the apple pieces into the batter.

Pour the batter into a springform of 24 cm. The springform should be lined at the bottom with parchment paper and grease the sides with olive oil.

Bake the cake golden brown for about 1 hour. The apples should be soft when the cake is ready. You'll probably have to cover the cake during baking if it gets too dark.

School cookies

2011-10-07T00:20:00.000-07:00

Just looking at the ingredients of this cookie makes me want to make another batch! You'll notice that these cookies are without flour, without oil and without a sweetener. I love these sort of cookies. Fruit is used to sweeten the cookies and spices make them wonderful for this time of year. These are the sort of cookies you like to give your kids to school.

1/2 cup grated coconut
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup dates
50 g rolled oats
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger powder
pinch of salt

1 apple, cooked in 4 tbl water
3 tbl mashed banana
1 tbl tahin

Preheat the oven to 356 F/180 C.

Cut the dates into small pieces. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Peel and cut the apple in pieces. Cook the apple pieces in the water on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes until soft. Turn off the fire and with a fork, mash the apples.

Mix the apple, banana and tahin together in a bowl.

Pour this mixture into the bowl with dry ingredients and mix together.

Spoon the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Press the cookies flat and round.

Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes until they are firm. Remove the baking sheet out of the oven and wait a few minutes before lifting the cookies onto a wire rack to furthur cool.

Cinnamon chocolate chip cookies

2011-10-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

The weather is finally becoming what it should be here- fall! Today it rained, yay! The garden was drying out and I was starting to worry about the new strawberry plants we planted, but now they are getting enough rain for sure. In the meantime posts are developing for fall on my Dutch blog and now I have some time over to work here! Gees, is anybody still looking? I have been up to something in the kitchen- good vegan food that makes me so grateful for all the joy it brings! The smells of spices are now often hanging in the air in this house. I often use ginger and cinnamon in the fall, probably because it's warming and strengthens the immune system.

1 cup spelt flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sucanat
70 g chocolate, cut in small pieces

3 tbl virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup soy milk

Preheat the oven to 356 F/ 180 C

Sieve the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Melt the coconut oil on low heat. Turn the heat off. Add the milk to the oil and stir.

Pour the oil and milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together. Then using your hands, knead and form a dough. Knead the chocolate pieces into the dough.

Roll small balls from the dough and place them on a baking sheet which is lined with baking paper. Flaten the balls into neat round cookies.

Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake the cookies for about 15 minutes until the cookies are golden brown underneath. Take them out of the oven and let them cool slightly on the baking sheet. Lift them off the baking sheet and leave to furthur cool on a wire rack.

Chia seed pudding with coconut and mango

2011-05-08T04:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I didn't try chia seeds before, but I can't try out everything in one go! Anyways, now it was time to see what the chia seeds were like. I was sceptical at first and the rest of the family looked at the pudding and said, 'No way am I going to put that stuff in my mouth!' My daughter called it frogspawn. Well, look at them all now- I can give my children and husband a bowl of the pudding and they'll eat it with pleasure. So looks don't always count. But I have to add that they'll only eat it mixed with fruit. Well, atleast they are eating it. I made the pudding with coconut and mango which is lovely. It's a fresh pudding nice to eat in the morning. Amazing health benefits as well! If you still don't know what is in chia seeds then you really should check it out. What I find amazing about these seeds is that the chia seed oil contains a concentration of omega-3 fatty acid of approximately 60%! This is amazing stuff! Forget the poor fish! Just eat chia seeds and you needn't worry about your omega's. Then add to that that the chia seeds contain many vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. So it's worth giving the seeds a go!

To make a bowl of pudding put about 2 or 3 tablespoons chia seeds and 2 tablespoons grated (dried) coconut in a bowl with rice milk. I usually leave this in the fridge overnight. You need to add about half a cup of milk. The next day the milk will be soaked up by the seeds and I don't like the pudding so thick so I add more milk and mix well. Then to sweeten the pudding I use agave syrup. Put the pudding aside and peel and slice a mango. Add the mango to the pudding and enjoy this amazing healthy breakfast!

Amaranth granola

2011-04-07T05:17:00.000-07:00

I am so in love with this granola! What turned out wonderful was the combination of carob powder with maple syrup, cinnamon and then adding crunchy, healthy and tasty popped amaranth. I'm not a fan of carob and prefer chocolate, but in baking, wow, carob usually doesn't let me down. I thought I'd try it out in this granola. I knew it could turn out to be a failure recipe but was really pleased with the result! Happy smile for today:)

1 cup (100 g) oatmeal
1 cup (100 g) oat flakes
1/3 cup (50 g) sunflower seeds
1/4 cup (30 g) pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup (50 g) amaranth
1/3 cup (25 g) grated coconut
2 cups (80 g) cornflakes
handful salty toasted almonds
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons carob powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon organic canola oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup (grade C)
2 or 3 handfuls raisins
3 tablespoons Linwoods mix (see picture below)

Place the amaranth in a dry pan and turn on the heat. Watch the amaranth carefully while the pan heats up. As soon as the amaranth starts to change colour and pop, throw the amaranth in a bowl. You have to work fast here because the amaranth can burn quickly and important is that they only need to be lightly toasted. This doesn't take more than four minutes.

Chop the almonds. Place the almonds, salt, cinnamon, carob, amaranth, cornflakes, coconut, oats and seeds in a bowl. Mix in the oil and maple syrup with two (salad) spoons. You may have to sieve the carob powder if it is in clumps.

Now place the granola on a baking tray which is lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Bake the granola in an oven of 180 C/356 F for 15 minutes. Take the granola out of the oven half way through baking to give the granola a good turn with the spoons. Make sure nothing burns while baking. Remove out of the oven as soon as the granola is ready and place the granola back into the bowl and let it cool. Add and mix in the raisins and Linwoods mix. Enjoy the granola with a vegan milk like soy, rice or other milk.

Italian breadsticks

2011-01-11T06:31:00.011-08:00

These are delish- crispy and tasty. I like them brushed with a good olive oil before they go in the oven. Nice to eat these with a steaming bowl of soup or pasta. I made this recipe out of the cook book, "Secrets of a Jewish Baker". These breadsticks are best when eaten fresh out of the oven. You can always warm them up again if you want to eat them later.

1 cup warm water
1 heaping teaspoon dry yeast
1 tablespoon sucanat
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and allow a few minutes to soften. Add the sucanat, oil, 2 1/2 cups of the flour, and the salt. Stir until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl, adding more flour 1/4 cup at a time if necessary.
Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface.
Knead with a turn, fold, push motion, adding more flour in small amounts if the dough is sticky. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic (8 to 10 minutes).
Transfer to an oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in volume.

Punch down the dough, form into a rectangular shape, cover, and let rest for about 10minutes.
Using a dough cutter or a pizza knife, cut strips out of the dough. Roll these strips of dough out on a lightly floured surface into nicely shaped long sticks.
Place the sticks on a baking tray which is lined with parchment paper. Keep some space between the sticks because they puff up and double in size in the oven. Brush the sticks with olive oil.
Bake the sticks immediately without allowing to rise.

Bake the sticks in a hot oven of 200 C/400F. Turn the sticks over during baking so that they get an even colour on both sides. They are ready when they are golden brown. Depending on how thick you made the sticks this will take around 20 minutes. Keep watching the sticks so that they don't burn.

Scones with dried tomatoes and pumpkin seeds

2011-01-11T06:31:00.009-08:00

Whenever I eat scones it reminds me of England. I ate scones in a small organic bakery in England. The scones I loved were garlicy and filled with herbs. They were always served warm. I craved for them every day! Inspired by those scones I made these. Frank came home with a small jar (about 6 ounces) of organic dried tomatoes in oil. A great combination with the toasted pumpkin seeds, garlic and herbs. `

180 g dried tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup (50 g) pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 cup (100 g)spelt flour
1 cup (100 g) whole wheat spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Italian herbs
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup (60 ml) soy yoghurt
1/2 cup (125 ml) soy milk
1 teaspoon appelcider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 190 C / 374 F.

Toast the pumpkin seeds shortly in a pan.

In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients together.

Whisk the wet ingredients together with the dried tomatoes in another small bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a spatula. Do not overwork the batter.

Using an ice cream scoop, place little balls of dough on a baking tray which is lined with parchment paper. Have a bowl of water on the side to moisten the ice cream scoop if necessary. The dough should fall out of the scoop on to the baking tray.

Brush the scones with olive oil before placing them in the oven. Bake the scones for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Spiced date granola

2011-01-11T06:31:00.007-08:00

Like baking my own bread, making my own granola's has become a part of my life in the kitchen. Everyone here in the house loves the granola's so why buy ready-made granola's at the store? Our favourite granola is with chocolate. Once in a while I want something else, so I came up with this recipe. If you never tried making your own granola's then you really should have a go! It's so easy peasy to make and very tasty! Not at all like the boring dry granola's which put me off making it in the past. This is different and I think the trick is the baking of the oats and nuts with a little oil, syrup and spices. I usually find adding cinnamon enough to give the granola a good taste, but in this recipe I made an exciting mixture of different spices.

200 g (2 cups) 4-grain flakes
40 g (1 cup) cornflakes
70 g (1/2 cup) pumpkin seeds
80 g (1/2 cup) dates
120 g (1 cup) mixed nuts
1/8 teaspoon (Himalaya)salt
1/8 teaspoon ground anise seeds
1/8 teaspoon cardamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract (Nielsen-Massey), optional
3 teaspoon organic canola oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup (grade C)
3 tablespoons Linwoods mix with flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower and sesame seeds, gojiberries

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 356 F
2. Roughly cut the nuts and dates.
3. Place the oats, nuts, pumpkin seeds, cornflakes, salt and spices in a large bowl.
4. Add the maple syrup, vanilla extract and oil into the oat mixture and mix well with two large wooden spoons (or salad spoons).
5. Place the oat mixture on a baking sheet which is lined with baking paper. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the oat mixture for 15 minutes. Mix the oats occasionally during baking. The granola is ready when the pumpkin seeds swell and the granola is fragrant. Don't forget to turn the granola while baking and keep watching the oven to make sure none of the ingredients burn.
6. Remove the baking sheet out of the oven and return the granola into the large bowl. Mix in the Linwoods mix (or make your own hemp/flax mix) and the dates.

Banana chocolate cake

2011-01-11T06:31:00.005-08:00

My blogs have become a kind of a personal diary where I can look back and see how my body changes throughout the years and also how my children grow up and change. So now it's spring. I usually don't know what to eat around this time of the year. I go through a dip. In the winter we enthousiastically eat all sorts of vegetables and even if the meals are heavy it feels good. Now my body resists and I can hardly even look at vegetables anymore! Well, today we ate bok choy stir-fry and it was so perfectly light and just what I want at the moment. Together with my daughter I came up with a diet for this time of the year and it's working really well! We are eating simple and light pasta meals (not so much whole wheat for now) and adding the few organic vegetables of this time of the year. Next to that we are eating fruit, drinking superfood smoothies and raw chocolate milk every day. I also like to bake cakes lately. I made this wonderful banana cake with a few very ripe bananas. Filled with lots of walnuts and big chunks of chocolate it's a winner. Give the kids chocolate and they are happy. Give me chocolate and I am happy! Using spelt makes this cake light and wholesome and the rice syrup turned out wonderful in the cake. Wait until the cake is completely cooled down before eating it. The cake needs time to set and best of all is to wait until the next day before eating it. Ideal is to bake before going to bed and enjoy the cake the next day. Enjoy!

1 cup (100 g) whole wheat spelt flour
1 1/3 cup + 1 tbl (150 g) white spelt flour
1/3 cup (50 g) sucanat
1 cup (80 g) walnuts
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 bar (100 g) pure chocolate 70% (Vivani)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp gingerbread spice

3 tbl rice syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract (Nielsen-Massey)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup (80 ml) organic canola oil

Preheat the oven to 180 C / 356 F.

In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients together. Chop the walnuts and chocolate in large pieces and add this to the dry ingredients.

Mix the mashed bananas, syrup, oil and vanilla in another small bowl.

Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a spatula. Do not overwork the batter.

Pour the batter into a prepared pan. Top the cake with walnut halves.

Bake the cake for 50 to 60 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Enjoy!

Pistachio, chocolate and cardamom cake

2011-01-11T06:31:00.003-08:00

2 1/4 cups (250 g) white spelt flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon grounded anise seeds
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 bar (100 g) pure chocolate 70 % (Vivani), cut in big pieces
2/3 cup (100 g) pistachio's
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (70 g) sucanat
1/3 cup (80 ml) organic canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Nielsen-Massey)
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 cup soy milk (or other vegan milk)

Heat the oven to 180 C/356 F. Mix the oil, milk, vinegar and vanilla in a small bowl. Place the sucanat, pistachio's, chocolate, lemon, anise, cardamom, cinnamon, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate, larger bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Pour the batter into a cake pan which is lined with baking paper. Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes and remove from the pan. Lift the cake by holding the baking paper with both hands and lifting the cake out of the pan. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool. Continue to let the cake cool and set in the fridge. To make the chocolate ganache, melt bitter chocolate in a small pan over low heat. Add a little soy milk to the pan with the chocolate and stir with a whisk. While the chocolate melts you may need to add more milk if the ganache gets too thick. You can add a little maple syrup if you want to sweeten the ganache.

Crunchy granola with puffed kamut and cranberries

2011-01-11T06:31:00.001-08:00

I put into this granola all of the ingredients I like to have in a granola. There are a few good granola's in the store but nothing beats the wonderful smell of baking granola in the oven. The taste of freshly baked almonds, pumpkin seeds and oats baked in maple syrup and cinnamon is yum!

I used a Linwoods mixture in the recipe, which maybe you cannot find in your country. Then replace the Linwoods mixture with grounded flaxseeds and other seeds like hemp seeds for the extra nutrition!

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup puffed kamut
1/2 cup toasted salted almonds
1/3 cup banana chips
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup raisins
2 tbl dark maple syrup
2 tbl Linwoods mix (pumpkin seed, sesame seed, sunflower seed, goji berry)
1 tsp organic canola oil
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (Nielsen-Massey)

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 356 F
2. Roughly cut the almonds and banana chips.
3. Place the oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, puffed kamut and cinnamon in a large bowl.
4. Add the maple syrup, vanilla extract and oil into the oat mixture and mix well with two large wooden spoons (or salad spoons).
5. Place the oat mixture on a baking sheet which is lined with baking paper. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the oat mixture for 15 to 20 minutes. Mix the oats occasionally during baking. The granola is ready when the pumpkin seeds swell and the granola is fragrant. Don't forget to turn the granola while baking and keep watching the oven to make sure none of the ingredients burn.
6. Remove the baking sheet out of the oven and return the granola into the large bowl. Mix in the banana chips, Linwoods mix (or your own hemp/flax mix), cranberries, and raisins.

Grounded in nutrition- welcome to my blog

2011-01-10T01:27:00.000-08:00

I haven't been around for a long time on this blog! So welcome again to The Happy Veganarian! You are welcome to take a look at my Dutch blog - Natuurlijk Veganistisch! - to see what I've been up to. I also finished my first e-book. I'm happy with the result and if I have time in the future I'd like to translate it. For now I don't have as much time to work on all my projects since I have two children. My work carries on at a slow pace but I love every minute of what I do- whether it's working on the blog or taking care of the children. My husband and I try to keep things simple and live without stress. In life that is of course not always possible but we do our best in keeping harmony.

I also try to find harmony and balance in the food I cook. My recipes should be simple and quick to cook. I don't like to use long lists of ingredients which I usually don't have in the house and in general we eat with the seasons. I'm not overly strict with this but it comes to me naturally to eat with the energy of the seasons. We also only eat pure organic food which means for us quality is more important than quantity. Our simple lifestyle is reflected in the food we eat.

The way I eat now comes to me naturally. It didn't at first. When I became a vegetarian I had cravings for about a year. I remember that once in a restaurant I decided to eat a little meat and that it would be the last time I'd ever touch the stuff again. It was a choice I made and from then on the cravings were over. I was too young to really know what was going on. I understand now looking back that the body was in stress because of the change and it's okay to free yourself from the stress because it's part of the process. If you stand 100% behind the choice you make then you will be determined to make it work. What followed in the years ahead was that the change became a normal part of my life. The stress is gone and the body thrives!

My diet consists of many different grains, vegetables, fruit, seeds, oils and in lesser amounts nuts, legumes, and soy products. I also eat a lot of sauerkraut in the winter. Next to that and equally important are the superfoods such as hemp seeds, algies, berries, sprouts, seaweed and raw cacao. In the spring I'll also add some wild plants like nettles and dandelion. I try to get all my nutrients out of food and prefer not to use pills, the only exception being that I occasionally take a B12 supplement.

I have been a vegetarian and vegan since age 20 and I'm now 42 years old. After all these years and at this age I think it's important to watch my diet. Not in such a way that I will focus on diet with a microscope so to speak, but just to make sure I don't miss out on important nutrients. So to do that I eat a variety of different foods and just listen to what my body wants. If you are already eating healthy then your body will give you the signals of what your body needs.

I hope you will enjoy my simple, tasty and healthy recipes. Also I like to share with you our lifestyle and within that what is for us most important and that is spirituality. Our focus is once again in simplicity and grounding in spirituality. If there is balance within there is balance without. If reflects in everything we do. This doesn't mean that there is no room for occasional stress. We have all our emotions, dips and frustrations. We wouldn't be REAL if this wasn't so! But we are sensitive to the stress and quickly try to ground ourselves. We do this by talking things out, going into nature, cleaning up the space around us and starting all over again, with lessons which we have learnt along the way.

'It is only when we find peace within that we will be able to live in peace with our environment.'

Dalai Lama

Miso shiitake mushrooms and sugar snaps

2011-01-09T00:33:00.000-08:00

Here in Holland we are having a bitter cold winter! A wonderful break from winter vegetables is this light dish which is so full of health! I used miso genmai for this dish. It's simple, quick to make and sooo delish! You can use different vegetables and generally you can't go wrong. But I really like to use the shiitake and if you can't find sugar snaps then just slice carrots in thin sticks, broccoli, bok choy, green beans and other vegetables can be used. Keep tasting as you go along. I first sauteed a leek with chopped garlic and fresh ginger. Then add to the pan the sugar snaps and sliced white cabbage. Pour enough water to let the vegetables cook until they are almost soft. Mix into the water the miso paste (I used about two tablespoons) with sucanat (about one tablespoon) to slightly sweeten the sauce. You don't want the miso to boil and lose the nutrients. Let the sauce simmer once you add the miso. Add the shiitake mushrooms and when the vegetables are almost done also add the beansprouts. Some shoyu or tamari sauce can be added to the dish. When the vegetables are cooked it's nice to end up with some sauce to pour over the dish. Serve the vegetables with noodles and drizzle some toasted sesame seed oil over the dish.

Climbing Solo Mountain

2010-09-06T01:06:00.000-07:00

First principle-
We can climb nobody's
Mountain but out own.

Second principle-
We must climb our own
Mountain in life.

Third principle-
Do not climb other people's mountains.
Even if they want you to.

Forth principle-
Instruct people how to climb
Their own mountain by you
Climbing your own mountain.

Fifth principle-
You climb your mountain now.
Not before, not later.

Sixth principle-
Focus on the climb, not the pinnacle.
There is not top until you get there.
Once you arrive, there is only top.

Seventh principle-
There is no mountain.
You are climbing yourself.
And you not-self.

I found a book of poems which a dear friend once wrote. A chance to share some beautiful poems written by Strephon Kaplan Williams. This was his nature, to write and to teach the meaning of life....

Everything which exists
Must live its own nature.

And I live for my purpose
Coming directly from Source.

-after Mechthild Of Magdeburg

End of summer....

We had a beautiful and special summer, with so much love in the air and a spiritual bond between my man and I made....

No bond can be stronger than those which are spiritual.

Once married for always married.

Italian bread

2010-08-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed making this bread and especially eating it! The taste is superb and delicious to eat even when plain with soups and stews. Love the sesame seeds on top. If you can't get bread flour then just use all-purpose as I do. Also I changed the recipe a bit and added some whole wheat flour.

Sponge
2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tbl dry yeast
3 cups bread flour

Dough
3 tbl sucanat
3 tbl olive oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp salt
Cornmeal, for dusting baking sheet
1/4 cup sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Sponge In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and allow to stand for a few minutes to soften. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Cover and set aside in a warm place until doubled in volume (30 to 45 minutes).

Dough Stir down the sponge and add the sucanat, oil, 2 cups flour, and the salt. Mix until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead, adding more all-purpose flour if necessary, until the dough feels soft and silky (8 to 10 minutes). Here the dough felt quite sticky so it was necessary to add flour. Do this while kneading but watch out that you don't add more flour than necessary or else the dough will become too 'heavy'. It should push back when pressed and your hand should come away clean.
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in volume (35 to 45 minutes). Punch down, cut in half, shape into rounds, and cover. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Shaping Form into Italian-shaped loaves. Here you need to fold the bread as I show in pictures on my Dutch blog. Then once folded roll the dough into shape. Place the loaves on a baking sheet dusted with cornmeal. I place the bread on baking paper and then don't need to use the cornmeal. Brush with water and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled in size (45 to 60 minutes).

Baking Preheat the oven to 400F/200 C. Bake with steam until golden brown (25 to 30 minutes). The bread is done when it emits a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom with your fingertips and the sides feel hard and crisp.

Makes 2 loaves.

Taken from the book 'Secrets of a Jewish Baker'.

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

2010-08-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Here is the recipe I promised of the Irish Soda Bread. The bread is fun to make and the kids love to watch it 'grow' in the oven. The caraway seeds are delicious and I love the bread with white almond nut butter and strawberry jam. The original recipe is made with buttermilk and an egg. I simply leave out the egg and replace the buttermilk with vegan milk and sometimes also add soy yoghurt when I happen to have that in the house. It's a quick bread to make when there is no time to bake the usual loaves of bread. You may have to check the baking time. It took me longer than the 45 minutes to bake the bread. I use a meat thermometer to check if my breads are ready- it should be around 85 to 95 C.

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbl sucanat
4 tbl coconut oil
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegan milk
1/3 cup soy yoghurt
3/4 cup dried currants or raisins
1 tbl caraway seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 F/ 190 C. In a large bowl, combine the flours and sucanat. Cut or rub in the coconut oil until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the baking soda and salt, stir gently, then add the milk/yoghurt, currants, and caraway seeds and stir until smooth. Turn out onto a floured work surface.

Shape the dough into a ball, smooth side up, and gently press the top down. Sift or dust all-purpose flour over the top and place on an un-greased baking sheet or an cast-iron skillet. Cut two 1/4-inch-deep slashes from end to end in the form of a cross. The cuts will expand in the oven and give the bread its traditional shape.

Bake until the crust feels firm when lightly touched in the center with your fingertips (about 45 minutes). Be careful not to penetrate the crust with your finger. If the center is still soft, continue baking for 5 to 10 minutes more.

Bran Bread

2010-08-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

We just came back from a camping trip on one of the islands here in Holland. The first thing I do when we get back is bake bread again. I started with an quick loaf of Irish Soda Bread. That will be my next post since it's a bread which I'm grateful for. It's a savior when stomachs are hungry and there is no time to lose with bread recipes which take hours to make. Once the stomachs are filled with the soda bread there is time to make the usual loaves of bread. While the bread is rising I have time to do the wash which is a lot after coming back from a camping trip!

I've been making these bread posts on my Dutch blog. The bread recipes come from a book I ordered called 'Secrets of a Jewish Baker'.

I bake my own bread for many years now and decided to finally buy a book about baking bread. We love the recipes. This bran bread is one of my favourites....

There are some differences in technique when making a perfect artisan bread instead of the mediocre bread. Steaming and folding are some of the techniques used. I have pictures on my Dutch blog where you can see step by step how to fold the bread in shape. Take a look - here is the link. This folding of the bread is an important step which works better than just punching down and shaping the dough.

I veganized the recipes in the book by omitting the eggs and replacing dairy milk with vegan milks and butter with coconut oil. Works perfect. Also sugar is replaced with sucanat.

This bran bread is a good daily bread recipe. It's a bread with a good crust, a soft inside and still tastes well the next day. It's also a healthy bread with bran and whole wheat flour. I usually use two loaf pans when I bake bread. Sometimes when using two pans the breads come out too small. I don't change the recipe and just make one loaf instead. The pans used in the book are quite small and I can't get a hold of these small pans. My pans are 28 cm.

2 cups warm water
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast
2 tbl coconut oil
2 tbl honey or sucanat
1 cup unprocessed bran
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 to 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
water, for brushing loaves

In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and allow to stand for a few minutes to soften. Add the coconut oil, honey, bran, whole wheat flour, 2 cups of the all-purpose flour, and the salt: mix until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn out onto a floured work surface. Knead, adding more all-purpose flour 1/4 cup at a time if necessary. Knead until the dough feels smooth and silky (8 to 10 minutes).
Transfer to a clean, oil-coated bowl and turn to coat. Cover and set aside until doubled in volume (40 to 60 minutes). Punch down the dough and cut in half. Shape into rounds, cover, and let rest for 15 minutes.

Form into 2 pan loaves (See link above to blog post on folding the dough). Place the loaves, seam down, in 2 greased 8- or 9-inch loaf pans. Proof, covered, in a warm, draft-free area until the loaves form nicely rounded tops and rise above the tops of the pans. Brush the tops with water.

Preheat the oven to 375 F/ 190 C. Bake with steam* until the bread is browned and emits a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom with your fingertips (35 to 45 minutes). The loaves can be removed from the pans for the last 5 minutes of baking to improve the crust. Let cool on a wire rack.

*Steam creates a good crust and it also increases the volume of the bread. To bake with steam I simply place a metal pan at the bottom of the oven and leave it there while the oven is heated. The pan will be burning hot when you are ready to place the bread in the oven. Place the bread in the oven and before closing the door pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan. Be very careful and do this using long oven mittens! The water in the pan will create a lot of steam so also keep your face away from the oven. Quickly close the oven door and leave it closed for ten minutes. After ten minutes open the oven door shortly to let the steam out. I usually cover the bread at this stage with a silicone sheet so that the bread crust doesn't become too dark. Sometimes it also helps to place the bread lower in the oven.

Comfort food pasta dish

2010-06-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

It's probably the most simple meal we make! A delicious vegan pasta is made tasty by using summer vegetables like aubergine, paprika and zucchini. Yum! Bake the vegetables in oil with a pressed large garlic clove and Italian herbs. Toss in the black olives at the end. Cook the pasta and mix when ready with the vegetables. Bring the pasta to taste with a rich olive oil and a walnut parmesan. Walnut parmesan is made by simply mixing walnuts and nutritional yeast flakes with a little salt in the food processor. Try out different pasta's. I like pasta's which combine wheat with millet or quinoa. Also I like whole wheat or kamut pasta.

Strawberry harvest and smoothies

2010-06-19T06:58:00.000-07:00

It's strawberry time! Our favourite way to eat the strawberries is as above. Then I've been making jam and trying to freeze whatever I can. Still, I never seem to have enough in the garden for everything I want to do with them!

I mainly choose one sort of fruit and usually add a banana or an orange or two in my smoothies. Right now we're often drinking strawberry smoothies. Here is a smoothie to make you beautiful! Strawberries, soaked goji berries, lemon, msm powder and camu camu or Pure Radiance C. These camu camu products contain an extraordinarily high vitamin C content to strengthen the immune system. I combine the camu camu here with a tsp of msm. Msm is an essential sulphur compound which is only available in raw foods. So a supplement if you're eating cooked foods may be necessary and also it's a great way to make skin and hair naturally beautiful from within. To thin the smoothie I like to add cranberry juice.

Another favourite smoothie of mine is the mango smoothie. Lately the mango's at the health food store are huge and when they are ripe they are out of this world! I only need to add a banana and there's enough smoothie for the four of us. To thin the smoothie I'll add a tropical coconut juice. I always have an algae in the house and the moment we're using marine phytoplankton. A small dosage is enough each day, so the bag of capsules which I store in the fridge goes a long way. I open one capsule and add the powder to the smoothies.

Finally I'd like to mention that my craving for nuts each day is now pretty much gone. For about two years I felt a great need to eat nuts each day. I really thought I couldn't live without the nuts! I feel now that my body has had enough nuts and although I still eat them, like in nut butters on bread or using nuts in baking, it's much less than before. I was crazy about cashew nuts and ate them every day. Suddenly there is a jar on the shelf which has some cashew nuts which I can't seem to eat anymore. So listening to my body is important. Now I'll eat a piece of fruit like an apple or a salad instead of a handful of nuts.

The question is now whether I'm losing weight when eating less nuts. The answer is no! My weight is pretty much stable and I'm not too thin. From my own experience with a vegan diet, nuts don't do much for changing my weight. What DOES influence my bodyweight is whether I'm eating raw or cooked foods! The fact is that if I eat only raw food I lose weight. I spent one week eating a 100% raw diet to see what it would do to my body. I lost weight for sure! So for me I was getting too thin at a fast pace and needed to combine raw food with bread and cooked foods to keep my weight stable. This little experiment made me think that a raw food diet would be ideal if you need to lose weight and want a diet which is really healthy, where you can eat what you like, as long as it's raw. Of course you need to check what is good for you, listen to your bodies needs and not force things. I believe that it's better to focus on eating healthy than to focus on not eating to lose weight. Treat your body with LOVE.

Summer purslane and winter rocket salad

2010-06-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

This is a special salad with a combination of two wild salad plants, the summer purslane and winter rocket or barbarea vulgaris. I don't know if winter rocket is a popular salad green in other countries but its taste is similar to watercress. Here it's not a popular plant so I bought the seeds and planted them in my vegetable garden. I'm so pleased with this vegetable that I'm planning to use it each year now! Winter rocket can be sown in Spring and in Autumn for winter harvest.

Here is a picture of my vegetable garden. I have a small garden with a tree in the middle. Here in the partial shade and tiny space it's still possible to grow some vegetables and herbs- enough to lower the costs of the weekly shopping!

We also have a fruit garden somewhere in the village where we live and there I can also grow larger plants like pumpkin and zucchini. In the past I grew my vegetables there but now I love this little vegetable patch in the back of the house. It's easier to keep pests in control and feed the earth when the patch is small, and of course it's just great to walk into your garden to get food for dinner.

So these wild salad greens which are hard to find at stores can be simply sown in your own garden. They are easy to grow as well! Often they also contain more nutrients than the usual salad greens we all already know. In a corner of my garden I planted nettles in pots placed in the ground (so that they don't spread out in the garden). I use the tips of the nettles for the smoothies. Nettles are also useful for the garden to make your own liquid fertilizer.

For the salad I made a dressing by crushing fresh garlic together with Himalaya salt. Fresh garlic is perfect for making salads. The taste is mild and these cloves crush nicely into a juicy mixture together with the salt. Sometimes I'll also crush some fennel seeds with the garlic and salt.

Add a rich olive oil and apple vinegar to taste. You can also add a small amount of mustard and agave syrup to the dressing. Lately I have this thing for apple vinegar! I'll even drink it diluted in water early in the morning before I jump on the bike and it's too early for me to digest breakfast. It gives me energy and my digestive system feels clean and ready to take on the breakfast when I get home.

I used black tomatoes for the salad. Very tasty! They aren't really black, but a greenish dark red.

Maybe you know purslane already. It is one of my favourite wild salad greens. Winter purslane is easier to find at the health food stores, but sometimes summer purslane is available and equally delicious! Purslane contains omega-3! Here you have it from wiki:

Purslane contains more Omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid in particular) than any other leafy vegetable plant. Simopoulos states that Purslane has .01 mg/g of Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This is an extraordinary amount of EPA for land based vegetable sources. EPA is an Omega-3 fatty acid normally found mostly in fish, some algae and flax seeds. It also contains vitamins (mainly vitamin A, vitamin C, and some vitamin B and carotenoids), as well as dietary minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium and iron. Also present are two types of betalain alkaloid pigments, the reddish betacyanins (visible in the coloration of the stems) and the yellow betaxanthins (noticeable in the flowers and in the slight yellowish cast of the leaves). Both of these pigment types are potent antioxidants and have been found to have antimutagenic properties in laboratory studies.

100 grams of fresh purslane leaves (about 1 cup) contain 300 to 400 mg of alpha-linolenic acid. One cup of cooked leaves contains 90 mg of calcium, 561 mg of potassium, and more than 2,000 IUs of vitamin A. One half cup of purslane leaves contains as much as 910 mg of oxalate, a compound implicated in the formation of kidney stones.

Add fresh herbs to the salad. Here I used dill and chives (also the flowers) from the garden. Garnish the salad with toasted pumpkin seeds or hemp seeds.

Shiitake and green asparagus soup

2010-06-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Shiitake mushrooms have some sort of feminine aura over them and nature has given them healing properties which are so powerful as they are full of beneficial nutrients. Shiitake mushrooms are medicinal mushrooms which bring positive effects to your health, whether they are eaten raw or cooked. They strengthen the body and are popular in Chinese medicine. They boost the body's immune system and are good at lowering cholesterol levels.

This quick and simple soup is similar to the European/American mushroom cream soup but now adding shiitake mushrooms, which makes the soup taste even better. I also added the tips of delicious green asparagus. The asparagus was steamed beforehand to preserve as much as the nutrients as possible. The mushrooms were marinated in soy sauce before I tossed them shortly in a hot pan with coconut oil. I made the creamy base of the soup the usual way, making a white bechamel base with coconut oil and rice flour. Pour in enough water and Oatly (which is a vegan oat cream) to make a soup. To taste add some vegetable stock powder, garlic, herbs and a soy sauce. Add the mushrooms and asparagus to the soup at the end of making the base so that you don't over cook the vegetables. Garnish with herbs or like I did with hemp seeds.

Here something about asparagus found at wikipedia:

The second century physician Galen described asparagus as "cleansing and healing."

Nutrition studies have shown that asparagus is a low-calorie source of folate and potassium. Its stalks are high in antioxidants. "Asparagus provides essential nutrients: six spears contain some 135 micrograms (μg) of folate, almost half the adult RDI (recommended daily intake), 20 milligrams of potassium," notes an article in Reader's Digest. Research suggests folate is key in taming homocysteine, a substance implicated in heart disease. Folate is also critical for pregnant mothers, since it protects against neural tube defects in babies. Several studies indicate that getting plenty of potassium may reduce the loss of calcium from the body.

Particularly green asparagus is a good source of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the body produce and maintain collagen, the major structural protein component of the body's connective tissues.

"Asparagus has long been recognized for its medicinal properties," wrote D. Onstad, author of Whole Foods Companion: A Guide for Adventurous Cooks, Curious Shoppers and Lovers of Natural Foods. "Asparagus contains substances that act as a diuretic, neutralize ammonia that makes us tired, and protect small blood vessels from rupturing. Its fiber content makes it a laxative too." It should be noted, however, that ammonia only "makes us tired" if we are in end stage liver failure.

Aloe vera gel

2010-05-13T09:18:00.002-07:00

Here I made a smoothie with pineapple, orange, banana and aloe vera gel. What a charming plant aloe is! Apart from eating it, I've been using it on my skin. To cut the aloe I first slice off the sides of the leaf. Then I cut the skin off the top and bottom. You end up with the inside layer of aloe vera gel which you can add into smoothies or chop up in little pieces to add in with other (uncooked) dishes. Aloe is an amazing plant for the body- especially when it's eaten fresh. It's good for many organs of the body, is rich in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, it's full of anti-oxidants and is known in history as a superfood to keep you healthy and young. Just don't eat it if you're pregnant or give it to small children.

For my skin, this is what I do. Inside of the aloe vera skin is gel which I rub on my face. It's wet and cool and when it dries up you won't see it anymore. Try it out and I'm curious if it works for you. For me it makes my skin feel smooth and healthy- like wearing a facial mask which is invisible. I've been using a natural facial clay mask, but this is a nice alternative. In general I don't use cosmetics. To moisturize my skin each day I have been using organic wheatgerm oil for years now. To wash my body and hair I use a Syrian olive oil soap which is called Aleppo soap. It's a soap which you either love or hate. I really love it!!

Hemp chocolate milk

2010-04-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

We are drinking powerful smoothies and milkshakes which provide us with all the nutrients we need for a day. Even more than that, they give us energy and we've never looked and felt this healthy before. They are an important part of our diet now. I think that having reached the age of forty-one, it's important to provide my body with all the minerals and vitamins the body needs and especially the omega fatty-acids which are so important for top health. I do feel the difference now and one example I can give is that my skin is glowing which wasn't the case a few years a go. I'm convinced that it's because of the changes I've made in the diet. Excercise is also important and a good way to keep fit is to not use the car and bike a lot. Of course I feel very positive about the vegan diet as something amazingly healthy. Not because of the soy burgers and that sort of thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against having a 'junk food' vegan meal now and again! I just think that if you don't bother to get all the nutrients the body needs then your body won't function as well as it can.

So to me getting all the essential nutrients is easy and lots of fun by drinking smoothies and nut/seed shakes each day. You don't need to become a raw foodie and you can still benefit from raw food and superfoods. It provides us with enzymes and nutrients which keep us young. I do believe that I could have done better in the past, even if I was eating a pretty good vegan diet. Imagine what a 'normal' Western diet is missing out on!

Here I show you how I make a hemp milk. The hemp seeds I use are not expensive since these are the hard unshelled seeds. For 3 cups of water I add 2 tablespoons of seeds. I mix this in the Vita-mix blender and then pour the mixture in a nut bag to strain the milk:

Place the hemp milk back in the blender and add whatever you like to make a drink which gives you amazing nutrients for a day. Here I've added about 2 to 3 tbl of raw cacao powder which is a rich source of minerals and of all foods the richest source of antioxidants. I add one tbl of maca powder which is the ginseng of Peru. It stabilizes the glandular-hormonal system and is known since ancient times for giving energy and strength. Hemp is a rich source of protein, vitamins, minerals and omega fatty-acids. To sweeten the chocolate milk I add honey.

Superfood chocolate milk

2010-04-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

To think you can offer your kids a chocolate milk which is full of minerals and anti-oxidants. This is a power drink- enjoy!

I used almonds (soaked this time), coconut water and water, raw cacao powder, maca, hemp seeds, and to sweeten yacon syrup and raw organic honey.

Tempeh bacon and raw beet salad

2010-04-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

We really enjoyed this simple salad. First I made the tempeh bacon with an onion. Here below I explain how I make tempeh bacon.

Then I grated a raw biet. I did this with my food processor which goes quick. Mix the raw biet with the tempeh bacon and the salad is finished. I first thought I'd have to make a dressing for the salad, but it wasn't necessary and I loved it just as it is. The beet is so fresh and tasty when it's raw! Still, if you want to use an oil I'd go for a little walnut oil.

I make the tempeh in a way that you'll love, even if you DON'T like tempeh. You should atleast give this a try! This is the only method I use to make tempeh. My children who usually aren't such tempeh fans will like it when I prepare it this way.

First of all I have to say that when I buy tempeh the first thing I do with it is put it in the freezer. You need frozen tempeh before you start to cook it this way.

So with the frozen tempeh take a large sharp knife and place the tempeh on a cutting board. Let the tempeh lean against your body on one side so that it doesn't slip away while cutting it. Then on the other side of the tempeh, using the knife, cut the tempeh as thinly as possible. Because it's frozen it will fall apart while you are cutting it. So you end up with pieces that are really small and thin. To cut the tempeh I press down with my knife. I have an oven-glove on on my left hand so that it doesn't hurt as I press the knife down with both hands (as thinly as possible) into the tempeh.

Heat a pan with a neutral coconut oil. When you've cut the tempeh throw the pieces into the pan with a chopped onion. Stir fry the tempeh, adding more coconut oil so that the tempeh doesn't stick to the pan and burn. Then add a soy sauce (like shoyu sauce) and drizzle a little maple syrup over the tempeh. Use a dark grade C maple syrup. Keep stirring the tempeh on medium heat until the tempeh is golden brown. If you fry it longer the tempeh will become crunchy.

Raw pesto hummus

2010-04-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

This hummus is bean-free and can also be made nut-free. My daughter doesn't like the normal chickpea hummus so much (probably because I made it too often) and so I'm thrilled that I can now offer her this. If you like pesto then this is a great hummus to make. It's also so full of nutrition like rich in iron. If you are allergic to nuts then you can make a pesto with only sunflower seeds instead of also the walnuts. Sunflower seeds are a good source of vitamin E.

First make a pesto with walnuts, sunflower seeds, olives, a bunch of herbs (parsley and basil), and some olive oil. You may also need to add a little water to get the food processor blade turning. You should end up with one full cup (250 ml) of pesto:

Cut one zucchini into big pieces. You need 2 cups (300 g) of zucchini. Place this in the blender with 1/4 cup (60 ml) water and blend. Add the pesto and lemon juice of 1/2 a lemon. Also sprinkle some Himalaya salt to taste. Blend again but not too long.

The hummus would also be nice as a dressing in which case you would blend longer adding a little more water to it.

Garnish the hummus with some olive oil, paprika powder and herbs or sprouts like garden cress.

Creamy curry dressing

2010-03-31T07:30:00.001-07:00

We ate this curry dressing with raw cauliflower, chopped finely. Please be careful when eating raw food if your body isn't used to it already. Take it slow! Eat small amounts and gradually eat more as your body gets used to it. Raw living food gives energy and is the best and healthiest way to nourish your body. Raw food has an amazing taste and you lose that adventurous spirit by heating up, once again, your food. We all just don't chew enough! Also the food is quickly ready with easy washing afterwards. If you cannot eat raw then lighly steaming the vegetables is best. Also you can bake the veggies on a very low temperature in the oven. Garnish this salad with chives or spring onions. If you really want it hot then add cayenne pepper, which is a great anti-oxidant by the way.

1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 tsp mild curry powder
2 tbl tahini
2 tbl lemon juice
1 tbl hemp oil
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp paprika powder
Himalaya salt to taste
cayenne pepper (optional)

Blend all the ingredients in the blender. Add the water gradually- you may need more or less water depending on the type of blender you use.

We ate this salad with some quinoa on the side. Delish!

Thousand Island dressing

2010-03-31T07:29:00.001-07:00

This creamy dressing has become my favourite dressing ever! I made two different versions of it. The other is a curry dressing in my next post. This is a healthy rich dressing made by simply combining equal amounts of cashew nuts and sunflower seeds. No need to soak these and with a powerful blender like the Vita Mix, the dressing becomes creamy smooth.

1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp apple vinegar cider
2 tbl tahini
2 tbl nutritional yeast flakes
2 tbl lemon juice
garlic
Himalaya salt
1 small red paprika or
1/2 large red paprika

Mix all the ingredients in the blender. Just add a little garlic- I just use a small piece in the Vita Mix blender. You'll also need water to get the machine going. Pour just a little water at first and keep pouring until the dressing is the right consistency.

Acai and blueberry raw ice cream

2010-03-31T06:08:00.000-07:00

Also I've started to make some little ice cream desserts for the children. Sorry that I didn't write down exactly how I made this but I'll be making more ice cream soon. Anyways, I just blend about one or two cups of cashews with acai juice and blueberries in the Vita Mix. Add water so that the mixture turns in the blender but try not to add too much water. The less water you use the creamier the ice cream will be. To sweeten just add agave syrup. Taste as you go along with this recipe- it's so easy! Then mix in some whole berries when the mixture is already blended and pour the cream into forms. I used my silicone muffin forms for these. Freeze them and then take them out of the forms. You can store them in a box or bag in the freezer. My son loves these little ice cream desserts and they are really healthy treats!

Moving on...

2010-03-31T04:19:00.000-07:00

I'm taking my smoothies to a higher level with super foods like raw chocolate, maca, lucuma and sweeteners like yacon syrup. I want to cut down on the dates and use other sweeteners which will lower the level of sugar and higher the anti-oxidants and other health benefits thanks to these ancient super foods. I'm waiting for my order so for now I'm still using dates for the nut shakes. Here a nut shake with almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, banana, carob, water and ice. It sounds like a heavy nut shake but I need it once in a while. I eat nuts every day which is probably because my body needs this (healthy) fat. I also like to make small truffels with nuts and dried fruit during the day when I feel I need some nuts. Or if I'm on the road I'll just eat a handful of raw cashews instead. I just made a small batch of truffels with equal amounts (1/2 cup) of walnuts and dates and 1 tbl of carob powder. Just mix in the food processor and add just a little water so that the mixture stays together. Form small balls with the mixture.

By the way, if you are looking for more information about super foods then David Wolfe is the expert. He has some great talks about nutrition on You Tube. Here a short video about raw chocolate:

Here a mango smoothie with Spirulina (that's why it's green). One mango, one banana, lemon, agave syrup, water and ice.

Watercress salad and soup

2010-03-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

To continue my every day meal posts I made some quick shots of our watercress dinner. The raw part was this salad, and the stems of the watercress were used to make a delicate tasting soup.

Watercress is one of those wonderful vegetables with a special taste. It combines so well with other raw vegetables to make a special salad. Not only do I love to eat it raw in salads, but also it makes the greatest Asian style soups.

The great thing about making the salad and the soup at the same time is that you need only one bag of watercress to make both. I separate some of the watercress leaves from the stems by holding the stem and sliding my fingers down the stem pulling the leaves off. It all doesn't have to be so precise if you are in a hurry but the stems go in the soup and the leaves are for a salad.

If I use a fennel bulb, which is nice in this soup and salad, I'll throw in the stems of the bulb (chopped up) in the soup and use the bulb itself for the salad. To cut raw fennel for the salad, slice the bulb into thin strips. I try to always use all parts of my vegetables so that I don't have any waste.

The vegetables I used in the salad this time were kohlrabi, raw broccoli (chopped finely), carrot and celery. To finish off the salad I made a tahin dressing (you can also add a little ginger in it), garnished with toasted sesame seeds. To make the tahin dressing mix tahin with equal amounts of water or add a little oil if you like. Mix the water into the tahin with a spoon or use the blender. You can add a piece of ginger, about two teaspoons of cider vinegar or lemon juice of half a lemon and Himalaya salt to taste.

Nice in the soup are celery, spring onions, carrot, mushrooms, fennel, broccoli, and ginger. Maybe you like to add some sea weed. Bring the soup to taste with miso or tamari sauce.

Raw banana maple cereal

2010-03-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

This is a nice cereal to eat if you're looking for a way to use more flaxseeds in your diet. Just grind the seeds in an electric coffee mill. I like to add toasted nuts to the flaxseeds for the taste and to add crunch to the cereal I add buckwheat groats. Bind the cereal with maple syrup and add a sliced banana.

Blueberry raw pancakes

2010-03-29T02:19:00.001-07:00

These little raw pancakes are quick and easy to make. I used the same recipe as my cereal in the next post, changing it a bit and formed them into pancakes, adding blueberries to the mixture. To make these you need equal amounts of freshly grounded flaxseeds and toasted chopped almonds or hazelnuts. I grind the nuts in the food processor and toast them either in a pan or in the oven. Then add blueberries, hemp seeds and bind the mixture with a dark maple syrup. You may need to add a spoon of water if the mixture is not sticky enough to form into pancakes.

Eat the pancakes with a syrup. To make a blueberry syrup just blend frozen blueberries with a few dates and just enough water to let the blade of the blender turn. I also like to eat these pancakes with the blood-orange syrup which is made in the same way. Blend a blood-orange with a few dates.

Kohlrabi salad

2010-03-10T11:43:00.002-08:00

Kohlrabi is an amazing vegetable that tastes similar to mild tasting radishes. It's one of my favourite winter vegetables for in salads. Peel and slice the kohlrabi. Here I cut kohlrabi, carrots and celery into matchstick slices. I placed these vegetables on a bed of winter purslane.

A simple yoghurt dressing is enough here. Make a blend of soya yoghurt, lemon juice, a rich tasting olive oil and Himalaya salt.

Garnish the salad with fresh cut chives. Enjoy!

Gado gado

2010-03-10T11:43:00.001-08:00

Gado gado is one of my favourite meals. I was brought up with Indonesian food, so this dish is something I ate often as a child. Gado gado is a cold salad eaten with a warm peanut sauce, but in this version I cooked the vegetables in a coconut and peanut sauce and served them warm. I used zucchini, mushrooms, carrot, cabbage, onion, green beans (out of the freezer) and beansprouts.

Cut the zucchini and carrots in matchstick slices. In a pan fry the onion and garlic in coconut oil. Also fry the mushrooms, carrots, cabbage and zucchini. Then when the vegetables are nearly done add the beans and bean sprouts.

Now add a small can of coconut milk (150 ml) and also add some water. The vegetables should now cook soft in the sauce. Add a spoonful of peanut butter, some lemon juice (or lemon grass), shoyu sauce and a small spoonful of sucanat.

Fry the tofu in a pan with coconut oil. Add a little shoyu sauce and maple syrup to taste.

To make the peanut sauce melt about 3 or 4 tablespoons of peanut butter and coconut paste in a pan with water. Stir while heating the sauce carefully, adding more water so that the sauce becomes creamy smooth. Add to taste cumin, maple syrup or sucanat, shoyu sauce and maybe a little lemon juice.

Fry an onion which is thinly sliced in a pan with coconut oil. Let the onion turn golden brown and sweet. Garnish the dish with these onions.

We eat the gado gado with whole wheat tagliatelle pasta. It is not the official way to eat this dish but we like it this way.

Black bean stew

2010-03-06T02:14:00.000-08:00

Here is a recipe of one of our everyday meals. This stew is made with black beans, aubergine and spiced with cumin. Black beans are a great source of vitamins, minerals and high levels of anti-oxidants. Use any kind of vegetables you like for this stew.

Soak the beans in a bowl of water in the fridge. I usually do that overnight and cook them the next day until they are soft which takes about 1 hour. They also get to cook a while longer in the stew.

First I sauteed a large onion, garlic and an large aubergine cut in small pieces. At this point you can also add cumin seeds or cumin powder. I buy cumin seeds and grind them myself into a powder with my electric coffee mill. This for better flavor and shelf life.

Once you've sauteed the vegetables add the celery, a can of chopped tomatoes and a little water so that the stew can furthur cook in the juices. Add salt, pepper, vegetable stock powder and chili con carne spices if you like.

Eat the stew with crunchy pan fried potatoes. Cut the already cooked potatoes in small pieces and fry them in coconut oil with sprinkled salt over them.

Coriander patties with maple syrup

2010-02-28T05:47:00.000-08:00

It was Frank's idea to add the syrup and I thought at first that it was an unusual combination, but when I tryed it out I knew I had to make it into a post. Although I had already made rice as a side dish, we ended up eating the patties like pancakes with maple syrup poured over them and toasted pumpkin seeds to top it off. It was a great meal!

3 slices of whole (wheat) bread
about 300 g (1 1/2 block) tofu
4 tbl coconut oil
3 small onions, chopped
1/2 medium sized zucchini
1 carrot
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 cup (180 g) corn out of a jar
1/3 cup (40 g) walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup (50 g) sunflower seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 cup (140 g) chickpea flour
salt and pepper to taste

First make a spicy oil by heating the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Fry shortly until the spices are aromatic and then add the onions and garlic. Continue to fry the onions in the coconut oil until the onions are soft and turn the heat off.

In the food processor grate the courgette and carrot. Place this in a bowl. Also mix the bread slices in the food processor into crumbs. Add the tofu and mix again until the tofu turns into crumbs. Place the tofu and breadcrumbs into the bowl.

Now add all the other ingredients including the onions and the spicy coconut oil. Mix all ingredients together.

Make patties with your hands and pan-fry them in coconut oil.

Vegan patties

2010-02-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

Patties are one of the most important recipes in a vegan diet and making them is a lot of fun! There are many different patties and you can experiment endlessly with them. You can choose from adding tofu, beans, legumes, oats, nuts, seeds, or bread crumbs to the mixture. I love to use up my stale bread for patties and use the food processor to turn the bread into crumbs. Here I did just so, and then added the tofu to the food processor and mixed the two together.

To add taste to the patties you can use spices, garlic, ginger, herbs, soya sauce, nutritional yeast flakes, miso paste, tomato paste or stock powder.

If the patty mixture is too wet, the patties will fall apart when you fry them. So you need to bind it together with flour. I suggest using chickpea flour. Here are some idea's for vegetables you could use. The list is of course endless:

*mushrooms or portobello's
*onions or spring onions
*leek
*peas
*zucchini
*carrot
*sweet potato
*corn
*aubergine
*olives
*paprika
*bean sprouts
*cabbage
*bok choy

Either chop the vegetables in small pieces or grate them. If you use the food processor to grate your vegetables it'll take only a few seconds.

I prefer to pan-fry my patties in a neutral tasting coconut oil but you can also bake them in the oven. I always first make just one pattie to check if I need to add anything to the mixture before making the whole batch.

I usually make a large batch enough for two days. I store the mixture in the fridge and make them the next day for in a bun with some sprouts or you can eat them just on their own for lunch with a little salad.

Granola bars

2010-02-27T03:24:00.000-08:00

This wonderful granola bar recipe was given to me by M. who took the recipe from the Chopra Cookbook. They are so yummy, I just had to share these with you. What makes them so special is the combination of dried fruit with coconut, ginger and nutmeg.
M. changed the recipe a bit like adding apricots, bananas, apple and fresh ginger instead of the ginger powder in the original recipe. The bars turned out so amazingly good that I just know I'll be making them often! They're also easy and quick to make and best of all, you can just give them to your kids as often as they like because these are really healthy. I tryed them out with the oat flour since I try not to use wheat anymore in my baking. I liked them better with the oat flour, so it's worth trying it out.

1 1/2 cups (150 g) oatmeal or oatflakes
1 cup (125 g) whole wheat flour or oat flour
1 tbl flaxseeds
1 tbl sesame seeds
2 ts baking powder
1 ts salt
1 cup (150g) raisins
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/4 cup (100 g) grated coconut
2 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts nutmeg
2 ts fresh ginger, chopped finely
one handful dried apricots, cut in pieces
2 bananas
1 apple, cut in pieces and cooked until soft
about 1 cup (250 ml) water or vegan milk
3 tbl sucanat
4 tbl dark maple syrup
4 tbl organic canola oil or coconut oil

Het the oven to 175C/347F. Grease a springform or baking pan (about 22-32 cm) with oil. Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Mash the bananas with a fork. Place all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk the ingredients together. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into the form and press the batter into the pan with a spatula. Place in the oven for 30 minutes. Check with a toothpick if the bars are ready. Take them out of the oven and let the bars cool before cutting them with a sharp knife.

Eating & living organic with children

2010-02-22T04:35:00.000-08:00

My two children are growing up with an vegan organic diet and lifestyle and I do all our shopping at health food stores. Instead of passing rows of your average products at a supermarket, I choose to buy organic food.

Maybe I go shopping about twice a week. So add that up and it's a lot of learning a child does each year when he goes shopping. He learns when he sees, touches and smells everything in his surroundings. He will grab vegetables and place them in bags for me. He learns that some vegetables grow in the earth, simply because the vegetables still have earth on them! He also learns that vegetables and fruit are healthy. Eating organic we of course never peel an apple. What strange message would I be teaching him if I have to peel my apple first to make it edible? In the summer we often bring home with us a caterpillar, snail or other interesting insect which made it's home in a broccoli or lettuce crop. That's a fun and learning experience for my son Luka. He gets to feel the creature with his little finger and watches how it moves. He talks to the creatures and then together we will bring them carefully into the garden. Yes, we actually make time for these sort of simple but highly important moments in life.

We also have a small vegetable garden so we live pretty much in the rhythm of the seasons. Even without the garden, just buying seasonal organic vegetables teaches children already a lot about the cycles of nature. So why do I think this is important? Well, I have noticed that my children feel a deep joy and pleasure in life when they live this way. It's a big difference when you buy a box of strawberries at the supermarket all year round than if you harvest your own strawberries in the garden. That is the best time of the year and the kids scream with joy when they find their own strawberries. For children the seasons give them something to hold on to. The earth gives them their grounding. I believe that when children are young, the grounding is really important. We live in a world where there is cement, buildings, stores, cars, airplanes, television, computers, and in general just a lot of noise. This all is not grounding like taking a walk in the forest is.

It wasn't like I changed to living this lifestyle overnight. I myself have not been brought up the same way, so it's special to see what this sort of lifestyle does for children. As the years went by I started to feel uncomfortable in supermarkets. I didn't like what they stand for. One example was that I didn't like the fact that they were offering sweets to children at the counter. Point is, what are they selling? Are even their vegetables healthy and who is picking the vegetables and fruit for us? What is all this food that we are eating doing to our planet? So it's never really good, is it? That's the difference with organic food. You are putting money in a good place. It's good for the planet, for the animals and for the people. That is what living your values is about.

We also bake our own bread which is another grounding thing to do with children. I've been doing this for about ten years now. Both my children love to help out and I let them make the buns. It's bringing us back to the basics of life. It may sound all romantic but if you bake your own bread year after year you just do it because you need bread in the house! Sometimes Frank takes over the baking when he comes home from work. We let our bread rise only once which takes only two hours in a warm oven. Baking bread really doesn't have to take many hours. In general if you want to live this way you make up your own rules as you go along.

Something I'm trying out now is letting my son learn how to separate the garbage! Actually it's fun. He has to decide in which garbage can something goes. Is it plastic, glass, paper, metal, organic matter, or the rest of the garbage which can't be separated? He's getting pretty good at it! Today he tried separating the chocolate bar wrapper. The paper was easy but then the foil was a tricky one. He looked at me with big eyes as we went through our list. And then he walked to the right bin! We also separate some of the food rests for our rabbit in the garden. Our rabbit gets to eat left-over grains, bread, and of course all the left-over vegetables and some fruit.

I always try to have as little garbage as possible. Plastic bags are reused and even dirty bags are useful for my daughters horseriding boots. In general I don't have much plastic in the house anyways (the more self-sufficient you become, the less garbage you have). Shopping is always done in organic cotton bags. Before I throw something away I ask myself if I can still make use of it in some way. For example, my kids have never had much bought toys for in the bath. I've always given them empty plastic bottles instead. My son will put all the bottles in a row and fill them with water. If you wonder if he doesn't get bored then I can tell you that he doesn't like it when I tell him bath time is over. Children can fantasize and build endless stories with a few empty bottles!

As a family you can build up your own food culture. You do have a choice in these things! If you start feeding your kids baby food jars even before they know what an broccoli tastes like, then you don't have control anymore about what they are eating.

In general my kids will eat almost every vegetable and fruit there is, maybe with a few exceptions. My son doesn't like fresh tomatoes or vegetable juice. My daughter doesn't like sauerkraut or onions. As for the soya, up to now I've only given my son tofu and tempeh. I don't want him to get used to rashers and processed soya food at this young age. With my daughter I make an exception now. This because she's coming to that age where she wants rashers and this sort of food for her lunch. It's still organic and not bad for her health, but it just misses the necessary nutrition. So I add sprouts like alfalfa and garden cress to keep it healthy. The kids are also pretty good at drinking pure juices. They like acai which I give them to drink every day. Together with hemp this offers them good nutrition with vitamins, minerals, protein and essential fatty acids.

If you start giving all sorts of organic food at a young age, their taste-buds get used to eating healthy food. It's hard to change the diet when children are already used to something else. So I think it's important to make that choice as soon as possible. Frank and I simply say no when Luka is offered something with sugar or dairy in it. People may think what they like about it, but we know that our children don't feel deprived and that they love the food they eat at home.

So what do you do if you want to make the change when the children are already used to an average diet? I think that you need to gradually make the changes by offering alternative foods. So when you know that your children want sweets when they come home from school, make sure that you've baked muffins or cookies instead. Vegan muffins and cookies are quick and easy to make. My baked treats are dairy-free, sugar-free and even wheat-free.

My daughter told me yesterday that she thinks milk chocolate has a strange taste, whereas she loves to eat bitter chocolate. Taste-buds become accustomed to the diet that a person eats. In Nepal children eat Dal bhat two or three times a day. If you would ask them if they don't get bored with their diet, they would probably not even know what you are talking about! Freedom is limitation.

Children who are allowed to live in respect with nature also naturally know how to find their strength and support there. My daughter loves animals and has a passion for horses. She has drawn out a whole ranch, complete with every detail you can imagine, and has also a list of over two hundred horse names. She says that she has a spriritual guide which is our rabbit who died years ago. He gives her courage, strength, perserverance and hope. Those are really her own words! Isn't that beautiful?

Harira

2010-02-10T11:44:00.001-08:00

Harira is a delicious and healthy North-African soup. There are different versions of harira, usually added are chick peas. Give me any recipe with chick peas and I'm sold.

In my version I used celeriac, onion, garlic, red paprika, passata, a can of chickpeas, brown rice, vegetable stock powder and spices.

The vegetables like onion, paprika and garlic are sauteed with cumin seeds.

Then add the other ingredients and cook the soup until the celeriac (cut in small pieces) is soft. I cooked the rice in another pan and then added it when ready to the soup.

Spices used were a chili con carne mix and paprika powder. Use a hand mixer or food processor to mix the soup. Make sure that the soup is not blended too smooth. To garnish I sprinkled chili flakes.

Baba ganoush

2010-02-10T11:42:00.002-08:00

Baba ganoush tastes best when the eggplants are smoky. To do this I char the outside of the eggplants by placing them directly on the flame of a gas burner. Turn them until the eggplants are charred on all sides.

Meanwhile heat the oven to a high temperature. Place the eggplants in the oven and bake until they are soft. This takes about 30 minutes. If you can easily prick the insides of the eggplants with a knife or fork, they are ready.

Remove the eggplants from the oven and let cool.

Split the eggplant and scrape out the pulp with a fork. In a pestle and mortar crush garlic with Himalaya salt. Add about two or three tablespoons hemp oil or a good olive oil. Add this to the baba ganoush.

Puree the pulp in a blender or food processor with a good two or three full tablespoons tahin and some lemon juice until smooth.

Baba ganoush is delicious with crackers or grilled pita bread.

Winter lasagna

2010-02-10T11:42:00.001-08:00

I love vegan lasagna's! This lasagna was made with winter vegetables like sweet winter carrots. These winter lasagna's warm me up on cold days.

First make a bechamel sauce. Make a lot since the lasagna should be covered in the sauce before it hits the oven:

3 tbl coconut oil
6 tbl rice flour
20 g nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp salt
2 tbl shoyu sauce
1/4 ts nutmeg
1 1/2 ts Italian herbs
1 garlic clove
500 ml water
1 box Oatly (vegan oat cooking cream)

Cut about 500 g winter carrots in thin slices. I steamed them before adding them to the lasagna.

Add other vegetables to the lasagna. I used sauteed mushrooms, onions and fresh green organic olives.

Pour some tomato sauce on the bottom of an oven dish. Then place a layer of lasagna pasta in the dish.

Continue to layer the lasagna with vegetables, bechamel sauce and another layer of pasta, vegetables and sauce until you have used up all the vegetables. End with a layer of pasta. Press the layers down with your hands.

Now add the tomato sauce and the rest of the bechamel sauce over the lasagna and make sure that all the pasta layers are covered. Let the lasagna cook in a hot oven (200 C) until all the layers are soft which should take about half an hour.

Bami my way

2010-02-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

This is an Indonesian dish which I changed into a healthier and organic version of the dish. For the pasta I used whole wheat tagliatelle pasta. I could have used chinese noodles, but this was something different and tasted great!

I usually use vegetables like Chinese cabbage or bok choy but you can use any vegetables you like. Always add onion and garlic. Instead of bean sprouts I like to use a mix of different sprouts. Really worth trying out.

The tofu I fry in coconut oil, with shoyu, ginger and a little maple syrup to sweeten.

To make the sauce heat organic peanut butter in water. Keep stirring until the peanut butter is creamy. You may need to add more water while cooking. Also add (firm) coconut milk, shoyu, cumin, ginger and maple syrup to the sauce.

Avocado salad with hemp oil dressing

2010-02-10T11:39:00.000-08:00

Time for a little salad in the cold of the winter. Full of power this little salad is! Lettuce, avocado, celery, steamed green beans, and fresh organic olives. The dressing is made by crushing garlic and Himalaya salt in a pestle and mortar. Add hemp oil and mix the oil with the garlic and salt. Hemp oil has amazing health-promoting properties and I use it often in my kitchen. If you don't like the taste of hemp oil on its own then also add a rich olive oil to the dressing. I sometimes also mix different oils together. You can try out walnut oil, pumpkin seed oil, flax seed oil or any other oils which have positive health promoting properties.

Raspberry thumbprint cookies (wheat-free)

2010-01-10T04:22:00.000-08:00

1 cup (150 g) cashews
1 cup (120 g) oat flour
1 cup (100 g) oat flakes
1/4 cup (40 g) grounded flaxseeds
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp pure ground vanilla
1/4 cup + 1 tbl (40 g + 1 tbl) sucanat
4 tbl coconut oil, firm
1/4 cup (60 ml) vegan milk

preheat the oven to 180C/356F

Place the cashews in the food processor and grind them into a fine meal. Place this into a large bowl. Also grind the oat flakes into a meal. Add all the other dry ingredients to the bowl. The flaxseeds I grind in an electric coffee mill.

Cut the coconut oil into pieces with a knife. If the coconut is not firm you can place it in the refridgerator. Toss the coconut oil pieces into the the dry ingredients. Rub and break the oil with your hands into the flour, breaking any large sized clumps of oil with your fingers.

Add the milk a little at a time until the dough holds together so that you can shape the cookies. Do this with wet hands. Make little balls and flatten them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Do not flatten them too much. With your thumbs press indentations in the center of each cookie. Fill the indentations with raspberry jam.

Bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until the edges turn golden. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack so that they become firm. The recipe makes about 22 cookies.

Apple ginger chutney

2010-01-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

Today I made apple ginger chutney. The house smelled wonderful. It's ice cold outside and all the apple left-overs go to the birds and our rabbit in the garden. Most of the ingredients you'll already have in the house. All you need to make this chutney are apples, onions, dried fruit like dates and raisins, and fresh ginger. For the rest you add spices, vinegar and maple syrup. You can also use agave syrup or sucanat.

This is a basic simple chutney which is easy to make. The vinegar keeps the chutney good to store for a long period of time. Sautee the onion, garlic, ginger and cumin seeds in coconut oil. Then add all the ingredients and cook the chutney on low heat with a lid on the pan until the apples are soft.

I have one pan I cook in every day and that is this Le Crueset pan. It must be about 60 years old! This Christmas I bought a new frying pan. I ended up buying a pan called Green Pan. I'm really satisfied with the new pan and hope I can use it for many years. Together with a small sized pan, the set cost me 85 euro's. Quite expensive but better than having to buy new Ikea pans every one or two years.

If you want to store the chutney for weeks then make sure the jars are clean by washing them in a dish washer. If you don't have a dish washer you can sterilize the jars by cooking them clean in boiling water.

6 apples (peeled and cut in pieces)
1 tbl ginger (chopped)
3 onions (chopped)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 large garlic clove (pressed)
2 tbl maple syrup
1/3 cup (50 g) raisins
10 dates (sliced)
1 cup (250 ml) white vinegar
1/2 cup (125 ml) apple cider vinegar

Happy New Year!

2010-01-08T05:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new blog! The old blog was like a book that was finished and I didn't feel inspired to continue with it. Letting go of the old blog makes space for a new start. So here I am now in the year 2010. I thought I'd start this blog with a personal word about my work.

What is it like to be a vegan? To a certain extent you know what I eat and don't eat when I call myself a vegan. The spiritual side of veganism is more than just choosing a life-style. I think that next to all the practical reasons of becoming a vegan like saving our planet and our health there is a deeper meaning for all this which brings us all together in some way. Being a vegan we are saying that to change the world we first have to change ourselves. This is the essence of spiritual veganism. Our purpose in life is to live in harmony with life and for life. We can achieve freedom and harmony when we live a life of values. I want to live a life of values and purpose and one of the things I need to do is eat a vegan diet.

Frank and I feel that modern society trains people to substitute objects and things for choices and values. I try to find balance here. I'm grateful that I can buy what I need and not more than that. We try to live consciously and we eat organic food. A lot of my money goes to buying food but it's something I believe in. I cherish little special objects in the house and in my garden. I collect shells, stones, branches and consider these little gifts I recieve from nature every time we go for a walk. My clothes are expensive outdoor clothes which I can wear for years without having to constantly buy new ones. We are active, use the bikes whenever we can and go for walks- I'm forty years old and feel good about my lean body. We like to live simply so that we don't have to spend all our time maintaining middle class values- having it all is really just wasting the earth's resources. This way we also make time to live a life of purpose. We need all our energy to work on the reality of the moment. There is always enough work to do.

Freedom is limitation.

We can choose for ego, our personal wants and desires, our avoidance of pain and our going for pleasure, our need to control life rather than flow with it.

Or we can choose for a greater purpose than ego, responding to the moment, recognizing consciously what the whole wants, how integration of all the parts can occur, and follow that direction, that value, as we can know it, live it in our lives.

We do not give up ego, as Eastern thought would have us believe. We still use ego to be conscious and make choices. But we use these ego functions to serve a greater, more meaningful process than our personal selves. We give up pleasure for purpose, control for consciousness, defensiveness for daring, laziness for love of a purposeful life.

Strephon Kaplan Williams