Green Options

Our family includes food allergies, Celiac disease, environmentalists and animal lovers.  As a result, we have a diverse diet which includes, organic, natural, gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, vegetarian and sometimes vegan meals.  I’m always on alert for new foods and recipes which will fit into our diverse and different diet.

I think we’ve finally found just about the perfect bread.  I got the recipe from Karen over at Only Sometimes Clever and then I modified it to fit our families dietary needs and what I currently had in the pantry.  The end result?  Yum-O.

Of the adjectives used to describe gluten-free baked goods, the word “fluffy” rarely makes the cut.   Heavy,  solid, crumbly, dry — yes, any and all of those. Those of us living sans gluten have gotten used to the slice-and-toast routine when it comes to wheatless breads.  Fresh-out-of-the-oven-fluffy has all but vanished from our vocabulary. These fruit-sweetened beauties, though, change all of that.

For starters, the batter actually rose above and beyond the baking tin’s edge.  When’s the last time you remember anything gluten-free doing that? These muffins even manage to disguise shredded fruits and vegetables without coming anywhere near the dreaded dense description.

Goodbye flat, vaguely muffin-shaped globules.  It’s time to move on.

If you’ve ever seen an episode of the canceled Nickelodeon show Invader Zim, you’ll undoubtedly know that Zim’s robotic pet, GIR, loves waffles.  He always seems to be cooking up a batch of them at the most inopportune moments.  As my fridge never seems to be without a ready-to-go bowl of waffle batter, I can definitely relate to GIR’s waffle obsession.

But unlike GIR, who has only a vague idea of what he’s put in the batter (What’s in ‘em?” Zim asks in one episode.  “There’s waffle in ‘em,” GIR responds), I can vouch for every single corn-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, wheat-free ingredient.  Plus, the recipe is so versatile, you can practically customize the waffle to your morning mood.

My girls love themselves some pancakes, but there is something that I just cannot handle about standing at the stove for half an hour flipping pancakes first thing in the morning. It’s like I can feel my life passing me by while I stand there, flipping and flipping and flipping.

Instead of flipping and flipping and flipping these days, now I bake my girls these pancake muffin cuties–they’re pancakes, baked in the oven instead of on the griddle, and they’re delicious, portable, and amenable to the same yummy variety of toppings that makes pancakes so awesome.

Here’s how I make them:

When researchers at Tufts University analyzed 60 fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capacity, blueberries came out on top.

This wonderful little superfood is not only delicious, but also packed with phytonutrients that help neutralize free radical damage in the body.

Here is a simple and delicious recipe to help include more blueberries in your diet:

(This recipe is easily made vegan by substituting vegan margarine for the butter, soymilk for the milk, and making sure to use vegan sugar.)

My girls and I love to celebrate Valentine’s Day–I consider it a holiday centered around honoring our loved ones. I love making and sending special cards to special people, helping my girls make small gifts for their small friends, and planning something thoughtful for my own life partner. What I don’t love, however, is the mass media’s take on Valentine’s Day–all expensive greeting cards and cheap chocolates, in my opinion.

Every winter, my girls and I make cinnamon cut-outs as gifts and decorations for both Christmas and Valentine’s Day–the heavy, decadent, sweet scent seems appropriate for winter holidays, and combined with a dough that you roll out and cut with cookie cutters, it’s a suitable replacement for the tactile pleasure and fun of family togetherness that we might otherwise get from baking two holidays’ worth of sugar cookies.

No, you don’t get to eat these cookies, but you do get to have them, and they’ll smell delicious forever. Here’s our recipe and tutorial:

If you know me, you know that I heart myself some holiday crafting. I made a bunch of crafts for autumn, I made a bunch of crafts for Christmas, and now I am your fairy 30-something godmother of Valentine crafting. Don’t believe me? Then let me tell you this: Y’all, I received SEVEN handmade Valentines in the mail yesterday. And yesterday, I myself mailed out TWENTY-FOUR handmade Valentines. To people I have never actually met in person. I’m not quite finished with the super-special ones going out to people I have actually met in person.

Uh-huh. You can feel safe with me.

With that being said, here are some of my favorite online Valentine projects, tutes, and crafty downloads from some of my favorite online people:

What if you could promote peace, foster a multicultural world, support local artists, help underdeveloped countries thrive and save the planet just by eating deliciously rich and organic chocolate candies? 

Well, thanks to Sarah Endline, the creative genius and cacao bean extraordinaire behind sweetriot, you can.  Oh, and did I mention that the chocolate candies are actually good for you, and rich in health benefits?  I know it seems to good to be true, but Behind the Burner gave me the amazing chance to speak with Sarah who shows us how a sweet tooth and a passion for change can make anything possible.

The roots of the “Life is just a bowl of cherries” proverb go back to a song from the 1930’s of the same name with the opening lyric: ” Life is just a bowl of cherries; Don’t make it serious; Life’s too mysterious.” A good reminder for me during peak cherry season — to remember to stop, savor and enjoy the cherries– especially when they are transformed into pie form.

Cherries, especially during this peak summer season, remind us to step back and relish the moment — something I definitely need reminding of as I continually journey toward eating more consciously and sustainably. Fresh sour cherries are here — then they’re gone till next year. Relax, eat and enjoy. This recipe blends sour cream with the tart bite of sour cherries, resulting in a creamy juxtaposition of flavors. Best eaten cold and within a day of baking.

We’re delighted to share some very good news with you: our own Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s first book has been released. The Joy of Vegan Baking: Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets, according to the publisher, "puts to rest the myth that vegan baking is an inferior alternative to non-vegan baking, putting it in its rightful place as a legitimate contender in the baking arena." As

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In Part I, we took a pretty close look at the process of turning healthful soy beans into delicious tofu. Now let’s talk about the different texture varieties: silken/soft, firm/extra firm, etc.

Soft/Silken

Soft/silken tofu is undrained tofu, and it contains the highest moisture content of all fresh tofus. Its texture can be described as similar to that of very fine custard. In Korea and Japan, traditional soft tofu is made with [...]