New Year's Treat

For this delicious drink use equal parts:

Coconut milk
Orange juice
Vodka
Sugar or honey*

Put all of the ingredients in a blender at a medium speed for a few seconds. Pour into a glass and garnish with orange or lime rinds. This drink is also delicious over ice.


* You can cut the sweetener in half and it will still be sweet enough for most people.


Too much virtue is just as worrisome as wickedness...
Sue Grafton                                                                       

 

Chocolate Candy

Whole Food Chocolate Candy

12 ounces dark chocolate – 60 – 80% cocoa

1 ½ cups finely chopped dates

½ cup cashew butter*

½ cup almond meal

Outer Coating:

Shredded, toasted coconut

(I used an unsweetened brand and toasted it in a frying pan with a tablespoon of coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.)

1. Put the chocolate and dates into a slow cooker on low. The chocolate melts fairly quickly. When it is melted enough to stir easily, add the cashew butter and the almond meal and stir. The mixture should be slightly thick.

2. Drop rounded teaspoons full of the chocolate mixture on a wax paper and let them cool. The mix should make about 4 dozen candies.

3. When they are cool, but still soft, roll them in the toasted coconut and place them in a paper liner. These are sold along with the cupcake liners.

*You can use another kind of nut butter. Macadamia butter is a little harder to find (and even harder to finance), but it would be good, too.

World Beat Stroganoff

With a little heat from Mexico,  the main idea from old Russia, the coconut suggested by our current love of all things Thai, and quinoa from South America, this is truly a fusion recipe. It’s also made without dairy or wheat. The name is a shout out to a music and cultural center in Balboa Park.

Saute:

Anaheim or Poblano pepper

Onion

Garlic

Tomato

Bell pepper

Coat slices of sirloin, chuck, or London Broil in flour*, salt, pepper. You will need about 1 ½ to 2 pounds of meat cut in thin slices. Size is not critical, since the meat will fall apart in cooking.

Brown these in coconut oil or lard.

Put everything in crock pot with 3 cups of broth for 2 - 3 hours on high. This is best when the meat is falling apart. Allow plenty of time; it won’t need your attention, so you can do other stuff while it’s simmering.

About 15 minutes before you’re ready to eat, cook the quinoa/pasta.

While the quinoa is cooking, add coconut milk to the meat sauce and turn to warm. Let this sit for about 5 minutes.

Serve over quinoa or quinoa pasta.

*If you’re going wheat free, use a rice or coconut flour. One of the legume flours would work, too.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

Viktor Frankel

Vegetable Medley

Potatoes
Carrots
Green beans
Red bell peppers
Asparagus
Olive oil
Butter*
Salt
Tarragon
Curry
Dill

This dish has three layers and three roasting times, but is is easy to prepare and an instant favorite.

First Layer: Peel and chop potatoes and carrots into chunks that are about 1 inch cubes.
Put these in the bottom of a glass dish; drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and very lightly with tarragon.
Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Second Layer: Wash and snip the stems from green beans, chop a large red bell pepper, and layer these over the partially cooked potato/carrot layer. Add a few dots of butter, sprinkle with salt, and just a tiny bit of curry. Return to oven for 15 minutes.

Third Layer: Add asparagus with woody ends removed, a tad more salt and butter and a light sprinkling of dill.
Return to oven for 10 minutes.

The potatoes and carrots will be cooked through, the beans and peppers will be slightly crisp, and the asparagus will be tender.  The seasonings blend perfectly, thanks to the addition of olive oil and butter. Who could ask for more?
*For a dairy free option, use olive oil in place of butter.

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.
Walter Winchell

White Bean Chili

There isn't any particular reason to use white beans for this chili except that it has a good look. The contrast makes for an appetizing, almost festive looking chili.

1 medium minced onion

4 cloves minced garlic

1 chopped Poblano pepper

1 cup white beans

1 ½ cups cooked chopped chicken

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2 chopped tomatoes

2 cups mild enchilada sauce

½ cup wild rice or barley

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Soak beans and drain water. You can soak them overnight or for a couple of hours in a warm slow cooker.

2. Put the soaked, drained beans and two cups water in the slow cooker on high.

3. Sauté the onion, garlic, and Poblano pepper on low in either olive or coconut oil.

4. When the beans begin to soften, (about 1 1/2 - 2 hours) add all of the remaining ingredients and let simmer for another hour or more.

5. If the chili becomes too thick, add some water.

Serve with sliced avocado on top.

You only live once; but if you do it right, once is enough.      Mae West

White Sauce

A white sauce is a simple thing to make, but after decades of recipes which read, “Use a can of mushroom soup,” or “Use a jar of Alfredo sauce,” this may have become a lost art. But look how simple it is to make a quality white sauce!

The great thing about making your own is that you can decide what goes into it and you can alter the flavors to suit your particular dish.

½ cup butter

4 tablespoons flour*

2 cups milk**

Seasonings

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour as soon as it is melted. Stir continuously and bring the butter flour mix to a boil. Add the milk and continue to stir and cook until it gets to the thickness you need.

2. For the standard white sauce, salt, pepper and a spoonful of vegetable or chicken bouillon powder will give it a good flavor. You can also add any herbs or spices that fit with your use for the sauce. A few good ones are: parsley, basil, caraway powder, curry powder, thyme, and coriander.

3. To make a cheese sauce, add grated Parmesan and/or Romano cheese.

4. If you want a garlic flavored sauce, add a couple of cloves of mashed, roasted garlic.

*You can use nearly any kind of alternate flour if you don’t want the wheat flour. A tiny bit of cornstarch mixed with water, chick pea flour, or rice flour will work as thickening agents.

**Almond milk, coconut milk or any combination of the two will work as well.

White sauce is simple and has only a few ingredients. Now, go look on the label of the mushroom soup!

Nothing is worth more than this day.  Goethe

Tomato Sauce with Vodka

 VODKA SAUCE FOR LASAGNA OR SPAGHETTI

This is a slow cooker version of an old favorite that is easy to make 

and has a dairy free option, as well. This takes some time, but very little attention, but you may never want to buy sauce in a jar again!

Mince and sauté:

1 medium onion and 3 or 4 garlic cloves

Boil a large kettle of water and immerse 8 large or 12 medium tomatoes. Let them cook for about 2 minutes; then remove them with a slotted spoon. Let the tomatoes cool slightly and slip the skins. Take out some of the seeds as you cut the tomatoes and put them into the crock pot. But don’t worry about getting all of the seeds out.

Peel and chop two good sized carrots. Add them to the crock pot.

Add:  Oregano, thyme, chopped rosemary, and basil. Fresh is always best, but use what you have.

Put all of the above ingredients into the cooker on high for 3 hours.

Cool, stir with hand blender; add salt and pepper to taste.

Add ½ cup vodka and simmer for another 30 minutes.

Just before serving, add 8 oz mascarpone cheese (or a cup of full fat coconut milk for a non-dairy option) and meat such as cooked sausage or ground beef.

You can obviously leave the vodka out of this recipe.  The vodka reportedly acts as a flavor enhancer, so there’s your iron clad reason for using it! The alcohol cooks away so it is safe to serve to anyone.

He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the world.      Marcus Aurelius