Kefir Water Smoothie

If you are into healthy food, then you should seriously consider making some of your own kefir water. If you're not into healthy food, you really should get into the habit of eating some of that healthy stuff.

I'm not a big fan of the taste of kefir water. Just like I'm not a big fan of the taste of kombucha or coconut water or most herbal teas. As much as I'm not keen on the taste, I am keen on the health benefits that these various drinks provide. So for that reason I brew our own kefir water. I took a long hiatus from it this winter, and we were sick most of the winter. Recently I began brewing new batches. We drink a kefir water smoothie every day now, and, oh, we're on the upswing of health now. Coincidence? I think not.

 To Make the kefir water you first need to acquire some water kefir grains. Ask someone you know who has some to give you some of theirs (because these things multiple each time you make a new batch of water) or you can buy them here. I bought mine here.

With acquired grains:

1. dissolve 4 Tablespoons of sugar into 4 cups of water.
2. Add 4 Tablespoons of kefir grains.
3. Cover with a cloth and let sit on your counter for 2-3 days to ferment.
4. Next strain the liquid into a new jar (saving the grains to make a new batch)

To make the smoothie:

1. place 1 frozen banana (cut up), 1 handful of frozen blueberries, yogurt (if desired) and as much kefir water as needed to mix to desired consistency. *I usually use about 1 cup of the kefir water with frozen items, a little less with fresh fruit*.
2. Blend all the items until smooth.
3. Pour into cups and ENJOY!

Veggie Pasta

The other day I made a light veggie pasta dish. It was delicious and filling and healthy and delicious. It was a compilation of random things I had in the house, but you never would have guessed that it was thrown together as a last minute meal.

Veggie Pasta
1 box brown rice pasta (or whatever pasta you use)
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 zucchini, quartered and sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes quartered (or halved if you prefer)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tablespoons organic canola oil (or olive oil if you have that)
salt

1. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the pasta box.
2. When the pasta is almost done, heat the oil (over medium-high heat) in a pan and saute the zucchini until tender (2-4 minutes depending on how soft you prefer the vegetable). ***IF YOU PREFER YOUR PEPPERS COOKED AND NOT RAW, SAUTE THEM WITH THE ZUCCHINI***
3. Drain the pasta.
4. Toss the cherry tomatoes in with the zucchini, stir to coat with oil.
5. Place the pasta, peppers and cilantro in a deep bowl.
6. Add the zucchini and tomatoes (be sure to get as much oil from the pan into the bowl as possible). Add more oil if needed to evenly coat the food.
7. Sprinkle with salt, stir it all together.
8. Serve and enjoy!

Homemade Dinner Rolls

Since I am moving to eating less processed foods (read not bought in a box with a long ingredients list) I have begun to make a lot of my own things. Today I made dinner rolls from scratch. I must say that they were so soft and warm and delicious! They would have been awesome with a sugar glaze on top, or some cinnamon butter to spread on them...next time:)

Fresh from the oven

I didn't realize that the recipe made 36 rolls, but we went through half of them just at dinner. I guess you can half the recipe, or make them and then freeze half.

Homemade Dinner Rolls
3 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/8 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water (105-115 F)
2 large eggs
1 cup lukewarm milk (90 F)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1 tsp salt
5 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1. Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast and 1/8 tsp sugar over the water. Allow to sit until foamy (10 minutes or so).
2. In a large mixing bowl lightly beat the eggs. Add in the milk, 1/4 cup sugar, butter, salt and 1 cup flour. Beat until creamy.
3. Add in the yeast mixture and another 1 cup of flour. Continue to beat.
4. Add in flour 1/2 cup at a time until it forms a ball.
5. Take the dough and knead it on a floured surface, sprinkling with more flour as needed, until it is soft and doesn't stick to your hands.
6. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours).
7. Divide the dough in half and roll each half into an 18 inch rope.
8. Cut each into 18 1-inch pieces, roll each piece into a ball and place in an oiled baking dish barely toughing.
9. Cover and let rise again for 45 minutes.
10. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
11. Bake the rolls for 18-23 minutes, until golden on top.

Homemade Cheez-It Crackers

Has it really been over a month since I last posted on here? March has been chaos. Not necessarily all bad chaos, but a whirlwind of go go go nonetheless.

During this crazy month, the girls and I made homemade cheezits. I only had whole wheat flour, so they were a little different in taste.

First you shred some cheese:

 Measure out 1 cup (8 ounces):

Measure 1 cup of flour:

 Cut up 4 tablespoons of butter into small pieces:

 Measure out 3/4 teaspoon of salt:

 Measure out 1/2 teaspoon of ground mustard:

 Place all of the above ingredients into a food processor and process until combined and crumbly looking, slowly add in 2-3 tablespoons of water to form a dough. *If after 2 Tbsp it's still dry add in 1 Tbsp more of water*

 Shape into a ball and cover with plastic for 20 minutes:

 Roll out into a thin dough:

 Cut into desired shapes:

 Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness) and enjoy:

Homemade Cheez-It Crackers
1 cup cheese
1 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground mustard
4 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
2-3 Tbsp water

1. In a food processor, combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the water. Pulse until it combines and looks like crumbs.
2. Slowly add in 2 tablespoons of water. If the dough is still dry, add in 1 more tablespoon of water.
3. Remove the dough and shape into a ball.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
5. Preheat the over to 350 degrees F.
6. Roll out the dough to the desired thickness (the thinner the flakier/the thicker the more cookie-like it is) and cut into the desired shape.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness, until crispy. (The thinner the dough, the less time required to bake).
8. Cool, store in an airtight container and enjoy!

Homemade pizza

This is what we made for dinner the other day. I will come back and post the recipe for the dough and the sauce later (like tomorrow or Saturday). It's really simple though. Basically roast some cherry tomatoes to be used as the sauce. So yeah, the recipe is to follow.

The delicious alfalfa sandwich

Have you ever had a sandwich from a local restaurant/cafe that you just absolutely feel in love with?

I did with the sliced turkey sandwich from Trotter's Cafe back when I was a youngster. The owners lived across the alley from us, and they made (well still make) delicious good-for-you food. I was kind of craving a veggie version of that sandwich this afternoon. Since I do not live in Minnesota anymore, nor anywhere near there, I had to go and make my own. It was good, but lacking mayo because we didn't have any. I spiced it up a little and made the Amanda version.

Veggie Sandwich
2 slices homemade bread
2 slices organic tomato
1 Tbsp spicy mustard
1 generous Tbsp mayo (if you have it)
a heaping handful of alfalfa sprouts
a heaping spoonful of homemade pickles
2 slices provolone cheese (if you have it)

1. Spread the mayo and mustard on the bread slices (don't be shy with them, they add mmm-mmm-goodness).
2. Place cheese slices (if using) on the bottom slice of bread.
3. Top with loads of alfalfa, then the tomatoes and finally the pickles.
4. Top with the other slice of bread, cut in half and savor every. last. bite.

Better than Chipotle

Tonight we had burritos. Delicious. Yummy. Plate licking good. Burritos.

These burritos were so much better than Chipotle, though they were much smaller in size.

Burritos

tortillas

2 cups cooked rice (follow my rice cooking recipe here or here)

2 cups cooked beans

1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped

1 organic tomato, diced

1 organic pepper, sliced

1 organic onion, sliced

2 ripe avocados

juice from 1 lemon

salt & pepper

cumin

plain greek yogurt

1. In a pan heat the tortillas, set aside in a cloth to keep warm.
2. In another pan, on medium-high heat saute the onion and pepper until soft (3-5 minutes).
3. Add the chopped cilantro to the cooked rice. Season with salt and a little bit of the lemon juice.
4. Half the avocados, remove the seeds and remove the skin. Cut into cubes and toss with the remaining lemon juice.
5. Add the tomato to the avocado.
6. Season with salt, pepper and cumin. Mix, mashing the avocado some.

• Assemble the burritos:

1. Place a heaping spoonful of rice on the tortilla.
2. Top with a heaping spoonful of beans
3. Then add some sauteed veggies.
4. Top that with a spoonful of avocado mixture
5. Next comes some greek yogurt.
6. Roll up and enjoy!

A rice and bean salad

What do you do when you have a lot of kale and leftover rice and beans?

You make a salad of course!

Kale Salad w/rice & beans
1 bunch kale, sliced or torn
1 organic tomato, chopped
1 organic red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup leftover rice
1 cup leftover beans
juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper

1. Slice or tear your kale and place into a bowl
2. Add the chopped tomato and pepper.
3. Heat the rice and beans, if needed, and then add to the salad.
4. Squeeze half of a lemon over the food and toss to coat.
5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired, and enjoy!

Rosemary Cherry Tomatoes w/rice

Last night we had a delicious vegetarian meal of cherry tomatoes tossed with fresh rosemary. Add in some sauteed onion and do a little happy dance because it's so mmm mmm good!

Rosemary Cherry Tomatoes
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small onion, chopped
1 green onion, sliced
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
olive oil

2 cups organic white rice
3 cups water
1 Tbsp coconut oil (or which ever oil you prefer)

1. Rinse the 2 cups of rice in cold water.
2. Heat the oil in a sauce pan.
3. Saute the rice in the oil for about a minute then add the 3 cups water.
4. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer for about 10-20 minutes (until soft and tender).

To make the tomato mixture:

1. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan. Saute the chopped onions until soft and fragrant (3 minutes or so)
2. Add the cherry tomatoes and rosemary, stirring to coat. Heat through for 2 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add the green onion, stir for 30 seconds then place the mixture on top of the cooked rice.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Roasted chicken with rice and sauteed onions

Last night we had roasted chicken with rice and sauteed onions.

I just love to eat sauteed onions. Yum!

I really need to work on my picture quality, but even though it looks like an alien, it was delicious nonetheless.

Roast Chicken

1 whole chicken (insides removed)

salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. Rinse the chicken then season with salt and pepper.
3. Place the chicken on its side in an oven safe dish. Bake for 30 minutes.
4. Rotate the chicken onto its other side and bake for another 30 minutes.
5. Rotate the chicken onto its belly and bake for 25-45 minutes (depending on the size...bigger=longer). When a thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 170 F the chicken is cooked.
6. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes.

Sauteed Onions

1 onion, chopped

organic canola oil

salt

1. In a skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until golden and soft.
3. Season with salt and serve.

Rice

2 cups white rice (not instant rice)

3 cups water

1 Tbsp oil

salt

1. Rinse the rice in cool water.
2. Heat the oil in a sauce pan over high heat.
3. Add the rice and saute for 1 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Add a hefty pinch (or 2) of salt. Stir into the rice.
5. Add the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
6. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until soft and fluffy. Check the rice every so often to keep from burning it.
7. Fluff with a fork, season with more salt if desired, serve and enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie

My friend brought me over some fresh chopped pumpkin and so I went and made a pumpkin pie, naturally! The neat thing about this pie is that it is raw, as in not cooked. It is also wheat free and refined sugar free.

Go ahead and dive right in

There are a total of 6 ingredients in the entire pie (crust and all).

The pecan pie crust 

Ready to eat
(though i really need to work on my lighting for photos)

 I got the idea from Kristina over at Fully Raw. I didn't have a persimmon, so I threw in a tangerine instead.

Raw Pie Crust
2 cups pecans
16 oz pitted dates
dash of cinnamon

1. Place the pecans and dates in a food processor and pulse for a bit
2. Add a dash of cinnamon if desired and a splash of water if the ingredients are dry (not sticking together). Process for a minute until they pull together
3. Spread the mixture out in a pie dish and then make the filling

Raw Pumpkin Pie Filling
3 cups raw pumpkin chopped
16 oz pitted dates
1 tangerine
cinnamon to taste
a pinch of ginger

1. In a blender (if you have one, otherwise a food processor like I did) puree the pumpkin, dates, tangerine cinnamon and ginger.
2. Spread into prepared raw pie crust.
3. Freeze for an hour to make it more firm.
4. Cut, serve and enjoy!