Positive Thoughts

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words, keep your words positive because your words become your actions, keep your actions positive because your actions become your values, keep your values positive because your values become your destiny” ~ Gandhi

Jan 31

Sweet or Savoury No Cream, Cream Sauce

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.

Jan 31

Homemade Tomato Soup With Salad

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.

Dec 12

Sustainable Agriculture Wine By Cono Sur – Vineyards & Winery

I love this wine, its high on my recommendation list. First of all it’s organic, it tastes like a really pricey bottle of wine and it’s cheap at 15.00 a bottle you can not give it a try. The trick is (DECANT FIRST)

About:

The wines from our Sustainable Agricultural range are made with grapes in conversion to organic agriculture, certified by BCS Öeko Garantie GmbH. This means they are grown through organic practices, but are within the three years period required in order to be certified organic.

The farming of these wines was devised specially to make an efficient use of renewable resources, protect the environment and cause minimum impact to the surrounding ecological system. The growing and elaboration of these wines is in line with best sustainable agriculture.

Sustainable Agriculture Wines | Cono Sur – Vineyards & Winery.