Archive | January, 2010

Sweet or Savoury No Cream, Cream Sauce

31 Jan

I absolutely love cream sauce but not the cream. The dairy industry is so cruel and unsustainable. In search of alternate methods of cream sauce I came across these recipes. All animal-based foods are acid-forming and dairy is no exception.

After looking at 34 published studies in 16 countries, researchers at Yale University found that the countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis – including the United States, Sweden, New Zealand – were those in which people consumed the most dairy and other animal products. How could that be?! That’s because animal protein foods such as cow’s milk are acid-forming which causes the body to borrow calcium from the bones and teeth to counteract the acidity. Over time, the bone structure weakens, making us more susceptible to fractures. To read more about this, go to www.milksucks.com.

To neutralize one cup of milk we need to take 20 cups of something alkaline such as green vegetable juice for instance. Since it takes 10 pounds of milk to produce a pound of cheese and 12 pounds of milk for a pound of ice cream, that ratio can get out of control! The more acid-forming foods we consume the weaker our immune system becomes, making it easier for bacteria, fungi and viruses to cause havoc in our body.

If you are still skeptical about the health dangers of consuming dairy, I encourage you to begin your own research into the matter.

 

Nut Cream Sauce

(Serves 2)

1/2 Cup Raw Cashews
1/4 Cup Water

Any blender or food processor will do, place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth, add more water if sauce gets too thick, keep adding water for desired consistency. Add anything you want to this sauce, truffle oil, herbs, pesto, tomato paste, morel mushrooms, curry, garlic, anything you would a reg cream sauce. Place in stove top pot and heat. Or make it sweet!

 

Sweet Nut Cream Topping

Cashew Cream, Tal Ronnen (serves 2-4)

2 cups of cashews or walnuts

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Put nuts into a  blender and cover them with enough water to cover them by 1 inch, add vanilla and agave nectar, blend on high for several minutes until smooth. You will see this transform into a creamy whipped cream like mixture. Serve over your favorite dessert. I like it over fresh papaya.


Homemade Tomato Soup With Salad

31 Jan

It’s so easy to eat well and eat healthy. We just need to think outside the box. I used to be hungry all the time and since I have been cooking my own meals at home I’ve realized the constant hunger was actually lack of fiber. I always try and make all of my food at home with the freshest ingredients.  Here is my recipe for homemade tomato soup with Arugula Salad and Crostini.

Tomato Soup

10 large vine tomatoes

5 stalks of celery

2 shallots

1 whole garlic

6 fresh basil leaves

2 tbl spoons paprika

Chop celery, shallotts and garlic into pieces, and saute in an olive oiled pan until El Dante, add fresh basil. Bring a large pot of water to boil, dip your tomatoes into the water until the skin cracks and remove from the water, you will notice the skins of the tomatoes come right off, remove all skins, place the skins in a separate bowl and cut your tomatoes in quarters, I always core mine first with an apple core, add to the garlic, celery, basil and shallots.

After all your ingredients have mingled, take all the ingredients from the pan and puree in a food processor or blender,  if your using a blend be sure to not fill to much or it will spill up under the lid. Doing a little at a time is best. Blended ingredients go into a soup pot. Your almost done, at this stage I add the paprika and sometimes if you have some add a little brags seasoning. Let simmer on low for 15 min.

Mushroom Arugula Tomato Skin Salad:

You have the left over skins, no point in letting them go to waste, I take mine and put them in my food processor blend them with seal salt. I leave those sit and I saute mushrooms in a pan, I place my arugula leaves in my bowls, top with the mushrooms a spoon full of my tomato skin puree and grate a little vegan or Asiago cheese on top. I dress with a little olive oil and balsamic.

Crostini:

I cut a fresh baguette into slices, place on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with sea salt and balsamic and broil for 8 minutes or until crisp. Great For dipping in your soup.

Polenta With Mushrooma

29 Jan

15 mushrooms of any type, I used brown

3 handfuls of spinach (reduces into nothing)

polenta

3 garlic  cloves

Vegan or Asiago Cheese

Balsamic

Directions:

Saute mushrooms with a little olive oil , add a pinch of sea salt, remove from pan. Slice polenta,  brown on both sides. In a food processor place about 7-9 mushrooms with a pinch of sea salt and a splash of olive oil to  puree,  heat and  plate, remove polenta from the pan and place on top of the pureed mushrooms. Now that your pan is empty take 2 heaping handfuls of spinach and saute in pan with a table spoon of balsamic don’t over cook, takes about a minute, place spinach on top of polenta add your sauteed mushrooms to top and sprinkle with fresh asiago or vegan cheese.  Enjoy! Recipe is for 2

Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta

23 Jan

Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta

(Serves 2)

1 Large, ripe tomato (2 cups roughly chopped, 1 1/2 cups blended)
1/2 Cup Raw Cashews
1 Tbs Tomato Paste
1/4 Cup Water

2 Tbs Olive Oil
2-4 Cloves Garlic, minced, optional
6 Ounces (ish) Whole Wheat Spaghetti
1 tsp Salt (edit: upped from 3/4!)
2-3 Tbs Wine or Water, optional
1-2 tsp Freshly Cracked, Coarse Black Pepper
1 Large Handful Fresh Basil Leaves, chopped

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.

Core the tomato, then roughly chop it. Add it to your blender, seeds, skin and all. Add cashews, tomato paste, and water. Blend until very smooth.

Add olive oil to a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute until golden, being careful not to burn. Once water is boiling, add pasta. Pour sauce from the blender into the saute pan and bring to a simmer. Add salt and let cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If desired add wine/water to thin out the sauce. Taste and season more if necessary. Let simmer until pasta is finished cooking. Once pasta is cooked, drain. Add pasta to the saute pan with black pepper and freshly chopped basil leaves. Toss to coat. Serve immediately, garnishing with more pepper and basil.

Animal Issues

19 Jan



Animals Used for Food

Factory Farming
Old MacDonald’s Farm may not be as pleasant as you’d thought.
Dairy and Veal
Dairy cows suffer greatly. Like all mammals, they must have babies to give milk. The veal industry is a result of the calves that are born.
Eggs
Egg-laying chickens are some of the most abused farm animals on the planet.
Organic and Free-Range Meat
Organic, free-range, free-run—what does it all mean, and how “humane” is it?
Foie Gras
24 million ducks and geese die every year for the foie gras industry, which is illegal in Holland, Sweden, Israel, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, among others.
Environment
What does more damage to the planet than all the cars in the world put together? That’s right—it’s animal agriculture.

Animals Used for Clothing

Canadian Seal Hunt
Canada’s annual commercial seal hunt is the largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet. 275,000 will be killed this spring.
Fur
50 million animals die every year for fur. Many of them will be skinned alive.

Animals in Science

Vivisection
A cruel relic of earlier centuries, animal experimentation is no longer necessary and may actually be impeding our scientific progress.

Animals in Entertainment

Rodeo
Despite being marketed as the sport of wild, rank beasts versus brave men and women, rodeo is in actuality just another form of brutal animal abuse.

Olsen Haus : : Pure Vegan Shoes

18 Jan

I have spent countless hours looking for cruelty free clothing and shoes either locally or online. It was to my dissapointment to find lines that only cater to something my grandmother might wear. I did however recently discovered Olsen Haus. I purchased a pair of these shoes and I am loving them. In addition to offering cruelty-free shoes, Olsen Haus strive’s to provide you with the best service, and peace-of-mind concerning animal advocacy, sustainability, and human rights. Olsenhaus actively participates with animal advocacy organizations through financial and product support.

E C O   G R E E N :

Olsenhaus believes in accountability. The livestock/leather industry is the largest contributor to global warming, land devastation, environmental pollution, usage of valuable natural resources and water supply contamination. The leather industry is more harmful to the environment than the textiles, medicine, fertilizer, and paper industries. It is a 1.5 billion dollar industry that directly relates to abuse and death of 100 million animals from factory farms and slaughter houses.

From start to finish, the amount of energy required to create a leather hide is 20 times greater than the production of a synthetic material. The production of leather requires the transportation of feed to animals, removal of waste, electricity in housing facilities, electricity for operations and killing, pesticide use, vaccine and antibiotic use, transportation to remove carcasses and transportation of pelts.

I know how difficult it can be to find eco friendly and animal free clothing lines. As I find them I promise to post them. If you know of any please let me know. In the mean time do your best. I know I am.


Vegan Spaghetti Quattro

15 Jan

I thought Id share this recipe with you, it’s one of my favorites. The recipe is originally taken from Quattro’s menu. Here is my version of “Spaghettie Quattro” Enjoy!

This spaghetti dish features a sauce made with Yves chicken and black beans. It’s savoury and spicy. A little twist on your everyday spaghetti.

I haven’t heard a single person say that they didn’t love this dish. Everyone ask’s me for the recipe. It’s a cold night in Whistler favorite. We make it all the time, it’s even better the next day!

 

Ingredients: (Serves 4-6)

1.5 lb spaghetti noodles ( I use whole wheat)

1 cup olive oil

1 package of flakey Yves chicken

2 large garlic cloves

2 tsp chili flakes or more for spice

1 tbsp Italian parsley

4oz black turtle beans (cooked)

1 cup of pureed tomatoes (canned is fine I use Hunts)

1 small canned  or 1/2 cup of fresh black olives (fresh is best)

pinch of sea salt

Method:

Heat oil in a fry pan, add mock chicken, salt and parsley then sauté for about 1-2 minutes. Add beans and garlic, chili pepper, tomato sauce and stir well until cooked. (About 5 more minutes.)

Add cooked pasta to the pan then swirl around to coat the noodles with the sauce.


Quote Of The Day~ Change

14 Jan

“Human conversation is the most ancient and easiest way to cultivate the conditions for change – personal change, community and organizational change, planetary change.”  ~ Margaret Wheatley

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