Crispy Baked Tofu Taco with cilantro Lime slaw

Serve 4

Ingredients:

1 16-ounce extra firm tofu

2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoons cumin

1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil

1 10 ounce bag shredded cabbage (4 cups)

3 green onions, sliced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 lime, juiced

1 tablespoon EVOO

4 corn tortillas

Hot sauce, for serving

Directions:

Drain tofu. Wrap with a kitchen towel and weight down with a heavy skillet or refrigerated overnight.

Chop tofu into 1/2 inch cubes.

In a large bowl, whisk bragg liquid aminos, nutritional yeast, cumin and ghee or coconut oil, black pepper. Add tofu cubes, toss to coat, and marinate at least 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Place tofu evenly on a large baking sheet,  Bake 35-40 minutes, flipping halfway.

While tofu baking, make slaw. Mix cabbage, green onions and cilantro in a large bowl, in a small bowl, whisk together lime juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add to slaw and toss to combine.

When tofu is baked, remove from oven.  Make corn tortillas warm in oven or stove.

Serve tortillas filled with a scoop of slaw and baked tofu, topped with hot sauce of choice.

Garbanzo Tuna Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
2 ribs celery, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise or soaked raw cashew
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt &pepper to taste
pickles (optional)
agave nectar (optional)
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional)
1-2 teaspoons kelp powder (optional)

Drections:
Garbanzo beans and cashews (or other nut) soaked in enough water overnight.
Rinse and drain well before use.

Cook garbanzo beans until soft.
Place the drained garbanzo beans in to processor and pulse briefly, just beans are broken up and sticking together slightly (around 6 pulses).
or you can use fork to mash the beans if you don't have food processor.

Scrape the beans into large bowl and toss with the celery, onion. set a side.

place the soaked nuts in the blander and add the 1/2 cup water, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, garlic powder, and other options if you are using in a high speed blender until smooth. Add this to the bowl of beans and vegetables, and mix thoroughly.

Serve in corn tortillas, sandwich, lettuce wrap
You can add avocado, sprouts, tomatoes and hot sauce on the top!

Cucumber Avocado Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

2 lb Roma tomatoes

2 English cucumber

1 medium red onion, sliced

4 avocados, diced

4 Tbsp. EVOO

2 medium lemon juice (about 2 Tbsp.)

1/2 cup cilantro (1 bunch), chopped

2tsp. or less Sea salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper

Fresh dill is a good substitute for cilantro

Directions:

Place chopped tomatoes, sliced cucumber, sliced red onion, diced avocado, chopped cilantro (or dill) into a large salad bowl.

Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Toss gently to combine.

Add sea salt and pepper just before serving, toss it.

Healthy Life Retreat 2016 Menu

We made our first attempt at running a health retreat this summer and this is the menu I came up with and used during the retreat. 

We made homemade almond milk, bread, dressings and sauces for all our meals even our own homemade mayonnaise.  I also soaked all the nuts, grains, seeds and legumes including steal cut oats and oatmeal we used at the retreat for our health benefits.  I sprouted mung beans and mixed alfalfa seeds for our sandwiches and salads.  We enjoyed soaked almonds for a snack as well.  Thanks for all the people who came to the retreat and helped make all these delicious meals.  

I will try to update and post all the recipes included in this menu.    

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Breakfast		*Soaked Steal Cut Oats  *Fruits and homemade *almond milk	*Avocado Egg w/ Toasted sprout whole grain bread  *Mung bean sprout *Mixed seeds sprout	*Sprout whole grain pancake *Fruit (apple, strawberries…)	*Oat meal *soaked almond *Fruit  *Coleslaw Strata
Lunch		*Tofu Tacos   *5 minute magic green sauce * Chips w/ Fresh Salsa	*Black Bean Burgers * Corn on the Cobb *Hummus/ Celery Sticks	* Quinoa Green Salad *Melons	*Garbanzo tuna sandwich *Sprout bread
Dinner	*Veggie Stir Fry *Brown rice and Yam	*Millet Patties *Green Salad *Roasted Cabbage w/ onion Dijon sauce	*Fresh Spring Roll * Pot-Sticker	*Penne Pasta w/ Pesto and Cashew Sauce  *Cucumber avocado tomato Salad

Spiced Soy Sauce Cucumber Pickles
Makes 2 quarts

For my friend Stacie who loves my pickles so much.  Stacie now you can make your own! It is so easy to make and you can eat in 2 days!  So hopefully you can make it soon and let me know how it turns out.  

You will need 2 quarts jars.
Ingredients:

10 to 12 pickle cucumbers (it depends on the size of cucumber)
1 big or 2 small onions
1 to 2 jalapenos (depends on the spicyness you want)
optional: 2 bay leaves, whole black peppers

For the pickle sauce
1 cup water
3/4 cup Braggs Aminos (soy sauce) or 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup Braggs Aminos
1/2 cup Sucanat Sweetener (sugar)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Sanitize jars in boiling water and set a side.
Wash cucumbers with coarse salt.
Slice cucumbers no thinner than 1/4 inch, cut onions into 1 inch squares (or as you desire size)

put a layer of cucumber, onion and pepper in the jar. Add a bay leave and whole peppers into the jar.

For the sauce:
In the medium pot, add water, sweetener of choice, and salt (if you are using). When it starts to boil, add Braggs Aminos and add vinegar last then turn off the heat. Be careful of the vinegar because it will evaporate if you boil with vinegar.

Pour hot pickle sauce in the jar until you fill 2/3rd of the jar. A couple hours later the juice from the cucumber makes it up to the top.

Leave it at room temperature for one day. On the next day, keep it in the refrigerator. Two days later, it will be fresh and crunchy pickles that are ready to eat.
BUT YOU CAN TASTE IT AND IF YOU WANT TO HAVE MORE STRONGER FLAVOR, YOU CAN ADD MORE BRAGGS AMINOS OR SALT (for salty) AND VINEGAR (for sour), at this point.

ENJOY IT!

Becky's peanut butter cookies that are gluten free with only 3-ish ingredients
(Inspired by a pinterest recipe) 
Makes about 2 dozen

Ingredients: 

1 cup Peanut Butter or Almond Butter
1 cup of Coconut Sugar or Sucanat Sweetener
1 egg or egg replacement
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Mix all ingredients together.  Once dough has reached a good consistency roll into small balls about the size of a walnut.

 Then roll in an extra bowl of coconut sugar or sucanat.

  Place on a cookie sheet and indent the cookie with a fork like you normally would a PB cookie. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees while you prepare cookies on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes then place on a cooling rack.  Once cooled enjoy a wonderful experience of taste bud partying with the cookies!  

Sprout whole grain pancake
Makes 12

Ingredients:

2 cups sprout whole grain (hard white wheat)
1 or 2 eggs
1/2 cup none dairy milk (homemade nut milk or soy, rice milk)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons agave nectar
2 tablespoons ghee
optional: up to 1/2 soaked oat meal or cooked millet

Directions:

Grind sprout wheat (soaked 12-24 hour, rinsed well and drained)
in the food processor with 1/4 cup of milk. Make sure to scrape the edges a couple times so that all the wheat is ground.

In a large bowl combine, grinned wheat, rest of milk, egg, baking powder, salt, agave nectar, and ghee; mix well.

The consistency will be more thicker than regular pancake batter.

I add soaked oatmeal in this picture.









Just cook as you would any other pancake and enjoy.

I eat it with fresh seasonal fruit such as (apples, peaches, bananas, strawberries, blueberries....) and drizzled agave nectar or 100% pure maple syrup. Yummy!!!!

Sprout whole grain bread
Makes two loaves

Ingredients:

6 cups wheat berries ( hard spring or winter wheat berries)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup honey
4 teaspoons salt

Directions:

Be very careful to only sprout the berries until the tiny sprout is just  beginning to show and the grain itself is tender. This can take anywhere from 12 -24 hours, rinse and change to clean water 3-4 times during that period. (depending on the temperature in your kitchen.) If the grain is not tender, your grinder will heat up, making the dough too hot. I use a food processor. It works really well.

Let the grains soak for about 24 hours while keep changing fresh cold water. Until it shows the tiny sprout just beginning to appear. At this point, rinse and drain the sprouted grains until water is clear. If don't have time to make bread right away, put them in the refrigerator to rest until ready to make the bread. 

When I am ready to make bread, take the grains out of the refrigerator and rinse and drain them again.
Then remove the excess moisture from the grains by patting them with a paper towel.

Then grind the grains with the food processor. Grind about 1/4 of the grain at a time. Kneaded each batch a little bit in the food processor. 
Do the same thing to rest of the grains when it is all together in the big bowl.  
Then continue the process of making the bread. First, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Then, add the honey, salt, and yeast to the ground sprouts and mix it together really well with wet hands.
It is a little bit gooey but it really isn't that bad doing it by hand.
After mix it really well, form a round ball like a normal yeast dough, cover it with plastic or a cloth and let it rise for 2 hours.
After two hours, divide the dough in half and shape each half. Then flatten and spread each half  into a rectangle and roll each rectangle up jelly roll style.

To form a loaf. Pinch the seam together, then rolled it around until the seam is on the bottom. Then place the loaves in two greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch glass pans.

Let the loaves rise in the pan until the dough rises the top of the pans.

Bake the loaves at 350 degrees for about an hour. 
After the loaves finish baking, allow the bread to cool for a few minutes then remove from pans and place on the cooling rack. Then If you want you can brush the loaves with melted butter (it works very well without any butter too) and let them finish cooling.

Edible wild greens 

(mixed with Amaranth, dandelion, Mallow, Lambs quarter, prickly lettuce, Pennycress)

Amaranth

Dandelion

Lamb's Quarters

Mallow

Ingredients:

 1 baseball size of blenched and soaked greens
1/2 Tbs Braggs aminos (soy sauce)
1 Tbs or less Korean hot pepper paste (gochujang)
1-2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 tsp roasted and crushed sesame seed
1/4 tsp sucanat sweetener (100% evaporated cane juice) or any healthy sweetener
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Optional: 1 tsp any nut meal  (almond,pecan, grounded flaxseed...) and 1-2 chopped green onion.

Directions:

Gather Wild greens from a safe place such as your own garden, avoid public places such as parks or the side of the street. Wash greens and clean off dirt.
Blench greens into boiling water 2-3 minutes or until greens are soft. Then place the greens into cold water and leave overnight. 
Soaking them is important to pour the bitterness from greens.
Than Rinse greens well, until water is clear and squeeze out excess water.
Place Greens into a bowl and add all other ingredients. Mix well by hand (I use gloves).  

Serve with rice, or as a side dish.

Almond (Nut) Milk
Makes 1 quart

Ingredients:

1/2 cup organic raw almonds (or any other seed or nut)
2 1/2 cups purified water
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 pitted dates
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparations:

Place the 1/2 cup almonds in a medium size bowl and soak them in water overnight.
(it won't hurt if you soak them longer than 12 hours) While they are soaking rinse a couple times and discard old brown water and replace it with fresh water. After it has soaked over night you can keep almonds with water in the jar 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

The next day, discard the old water, rinse well and peel brown almond skin if you desire. Place the almonds and fresh water into the high speed blender and blend for 30 seconds.
Add the lemon juice, dates, vanilla, and sea salt and process again.
Place into a quart glass jar to preserve the taste and freshness.
Can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days.

* If you don't have high speed blander you can strain the liquid through cheesecloth to remove the large pieces.

Soaking nuts, grains, seeds, and legumes

Soaking makes seeds, nuts and legumes easier to digest and the nutrients more easily absorbed.  I've heard for many years that there are benefits to soaking.  So I soak most grains and legumes but haven't done nuts and seeds much unless I'm making milk.  Lately I have heard that so many people that have stomach issues including my own family.  This has motivated me to research what benefits there are to soaking.  Thankfully through Google and Pinterest I was able to find some information explaining the pros of soaking.

Here's what I've learned:  Why I should soak nuts.

"Unlike grains, nuts contain smaller amounts of phytic acid. Their real issue for us is having high amounts of enzyme inhibitors. There enzymes are useful to seeds and nuts because it prevents them from sprouting prematurely. But they can really strain your digestive system.  Soaking your nuts in warm water will neutralize these enzyme inhibitors, and also help encourage the production of beneficial enzymes. These enzymes, in turn, increase many vitamins, especially B vitamins. It also makes these nuts much easier to digest and the nutrients more easily absorbed.  Also the salt helps activate enzymes that deactivate the enzyme inhibitors. For grains, we soak in an acidic solution to get rid of phytic acid. Nuts do not contain much phytic acid but do contain high levels of enzyme inhibitors. The method imitates the way the native people in Central America treated their nuts and seeds by soaking them in seawater and then dehydrating them.
For more information refer to the book "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon.

In order for soaking to be effective these items must be soaked for 12-24 hrs so I usually soak mine throughout the night.

"As little as seven hours of soaking in warm acidulated water will neutralize a large portion of phytic acid in grains.  The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their nutritional benefits.  Flour products should be soaked at room temperature for at least twelve hours but better results may be obtained with a twenty-four hour soaking.

"I have enjoyed almonds wet.  If you choose to try consuming anything in the soaked state, make little batches and store them in the refrigerator.  usually everything that is soaked is dried in a dehydrator or oven on the lowest possible setting for 24-48 hours to remove all moisture.

Wheat berries can be soaked whole for 8 to 22 hours, then drained and rinsed. Some recipes use the whole berries while they are wet, such as cracker dough ground right in the food processor.  You can also dry sprouted what berries in a low-temperature oven or dehydrator, and then grind them in your grain mill and use the flour in a variety of recipes  Nuts, grains, seeds and legumes can be ground up to use as flour in many recipes after they have been dried.

Maureen Diaz recommends soaking any beans or legumes in water and vinegar for at least twelve hours before cooling.  Soaked and dried beans may be ground up and used as flour for thickening and baking.  This is helpful for those on a gluten free diet.

Our recommendation includes placing soaked kombu or kelp seaweed in the bottom of the pot when soaking legumes.  Add one part seaweed to six or more parts legumes.  This is for improved flavor and digestion, more nutrients, and faster cooking.  "Soak legumes for twelve hours or overnight in four part water to one part legume. For best results, change the water once or twice,  lentils and whole dried peas require shorter soaking, while soybeans and garbanzos need to soak longer.  Soaking softens skins and begins the sprouting process, which eliminates phytic acid, thereby making more minerals available.  Soaking also promotes faster cooking and improved digestibility, because the gas-causing enzymes and trisaccharides in legumes are released into the soak water.  Be sure to discard the soak water.  After bringing legumes to a boil, scoop off and discard foam. Continue to boil for twenty minutes without lid at beginning of cooling to let steam rise (breaks up and disperses indigestible enzyme)"

I quoted from Delicia Beaty and Sharon Foutch wss.nourishingconnections.org    

Jumbo stuffed shell (vegan dish)

Ingredients:
1 package jumbo shell pasta
1 package firm tofu
5 tablespoon pesto
1/2 cup nut sauce (walnut, cashew)
1/2 minced mushroom
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups marinara sauce

Soaked nuts in warm water an hour or cold water overnight (click on link for full nut sauce recipe). Place nut sauce aside.

Cook pasta according to the package. Pat tofu dry with paper towel.

In a big mixing bowl place tofu, pesto, nut sauce and/or mushrooms, and salt mix well.




Put the mixture in shells



















 9"x13" pan, spread 1 cup  marinara sauce on the bottom of the pan and lay stuffed shells on top, and spread rest of marinara sauce on top of the shells.

















Bake 425* 30 minute.
Serve with salad, baked vegetables, garlic bread.

Basic Cashew Cream Sauce

Ingredients:
2 cup cashews
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt 
1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Two options to soak cashews: 1. Place cashews in a bowl and cover with warm water for 1 hour, drain and rinse well. 2. Place cashews in a bowl and cover with cold water and soak overnight. Drain and rinse well.



Place soaked cashews in a food processor and/or blender with water, garlic, salt, and lemon juice and puree until smooth. You can add more or less water for desired consistency.



Optional: You can also omit the garlic and/or add herbs such as basil or thyme and olive oil for different flavors and consistency.

Basic Cashew Sauce can be used as a substitute for heavy cream in soup or pasta sauce recipes, used as a flavorful thickener in curries, or it can just be used as an Alfredo alternative on pastas, pizza, etc.

You can use right away or store it in the fridge up to 3 or 4 days. You may also freeze for later use.

Boo's Fresh Salsa
Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:
5 roma tomatoes
1/4 onion
1/2 to 1 jalapeno
1 lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (less or more to taste)
1/2 cup corn (optional)
1/4 teaspoon cumin (optional)
Diced red and green pepper (optional)


Chopped tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro

In a bowl, combine all together, add lime juice, salt, and any other options you desire. Mix well!
Enjoy it with any Mexican dishes, omelet, scrambled eggs, hash brown.
we enjoy it with fried rice as well!

California Roll (Kimbap)

            

Ingredients:

• Nori, one sheet makes one roll
• 1/2 cup cooked white rice or for a healthier option -short grain brown rice and sweet brown rice cooked together 3:1 ratio
• 2 leafs of lettuce (optional)
• 4 pieces imitation crabmeat cut into strips
• 2 Eggs, beaten, fried, and cut into strips ½ inch wide use only 1 strip
• 1 shredded or julienned carrot sautéed with ghee or avocado oil
• 1/4 of an English cucumber, julienned
• Shiitake mushrooms, soaked, dried, and sliced into strips (optional)
• 3 slices Avocado sliced into 1/2 " strips
• cooked spinach lay into strips, Daikon radish (optional)
• 1/8 tsp. Sesame oil
• 1/8 tsp. or less Sea salt
• Roasted sesame seeds

Tip: The secret to good Kim-Bob is to keep the ingredients as dry as possible. The shiitake mushrooms need to be squeezed or pressed dry with a towel. Cucumber also must be pressed dry.

Ling Ling Sauce:

• 1/3 cup of soy sauce
• 1 t. vinegar or fresh lemon juice
• ½ t. sugar

• For California roll: mix in small bowl 1 t. vinegar, 1/3 t. salt 1 ½ t. sugar then add to the rice. After that follow instructions for sushi.

Wasabi Sauce: 

• 1 T. hot water to mix with 1 T. wasabi powder
• 2 T. vinegar 
• 1/3 cup of soy sauce
• Or simply Put the horseradish powder in a small bowl. Mix in the water to make a thick spreadable paste and serve with soy sauce, separately 

Tip: To help keep your bamboo mat clean, you can use a gallon size ziplock bag or cover in saran wrap.

Instructions: 

Mix sesame oil and salt into the rice

Place nori on a bamboo sushi mat

Spread evenly about 1/8 to ¼ inch thick while being very careful not to mash the rice on the nori paper.  Save .the last inch, which is left to overlap for the close of the roll

Make sure to leave 1" of nori paper to close roll at the end.

Put ingredients on rice in parallel rows covering about three inches across the roll with the empty part away from you

Roll the mat being careful to see that the roll starts wells and keep it right as you roll to the end. 

Be sure control your vegetables.

While you are controlling the vegetables with 4 fingers and thumb behind to support the mat. Tuck in all the vegetables and roll forward.

This Part can be tricky. You need to be sure all the vegetables are inside of the roll not showing at all 

while continuing to roll with the mat on the outside still supporting the roll from behind.

Hold firmly to set the roll, wrapping the empty part of the nori sheet tight on the roll

Then remove roll from the mat.

Slice in ½ to ¾ inch slices. 

To serve, dip into Ling Ling sauce or Wasabi sauce, you may put a piece of pickled ginger on top.

Look forward to another post soon. I will show how to make a sushi roll with rice on the outside