Day Four ~ Christmas Party Food!!

If you are like me, you will have to go to a Christmas party or 2 this holiday season, and you might be wondering what you are going to eat. It is funny how people quite often don't think about the possibility that there are people out there that don't eat meat. I was at a party this summer where they were having cold cut sandwiches, chips, and not much else. My daughter & I looked at each other, a bit baffled, and decided to make sandwiches for ourselves out of the condiments and some lettuce & cheese. If you prefer to not have that issue at Christmas parties, here is a great dish you can bring....and the best part is, non-veggies will love it too!! I have made this a few times and my 12 year old daughter LOVES it. Amazing how kids love healthy food when they have it every day. Trust me, kids will survive without crap food like Twinkies and Pop Tarts. Not only will they survive, they will cultivate a life long habit of good eating that they will pass on to their families. What a great thing!!

Black Bean Nachos

8 oz canned black beans
1 1/2 C grated cheese; cheddar, fontina, romano, asiago, or a combination of any of these
1/4 tsp ground cumin
4 TB sour cream
1 TB fresh cilantro (or about half that amount dried)
handful of shredded lettuce
torilla chips

Spread the beans in a shallow ovenproof dish, sprinkle cheese over the top. Sprinkle with cumin. Bake in preheated oven, 375* for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and melted. Remove from the oven and spoon sour cream on top. Sprinkle the cilantro and lettuce on top. Arrange the tortilla chips around the beans. Serve at once.

Great little dish to throw together with items that you might already have on hand. Canned beans are a great thing to have around just incase you need them for a soup or dip. Chickpeas are great on salads too. Enjoy!!

Day Three.....Granola Bars

Ok, so is it not true that vegetarians are often seen as granola bar toting hippies?? Well, I for one fit that description and I am proud of it! However, most of the granola bars in the stores are anything but healthy. Some are made with corn syrup (which is one of the evil ingredients that I avoid like the plague) and some even have hydrogenated oils....another evil ingredient that I believe came from Satan himself. Not really, but it is nasty stuff. Hydrogenated oils are oils that have been chemically altered so that they have a longer shelf life. Funny, they will have a longer shelf life while making your life shorter! Seriously, they will kill you. And, this might shock you, they are everywhere. They can be found in foods like crackers, cookies, cereals, chips, cool whip, creamers, pre-made pie crusts, hot chocolate mixes. Oh yes, friends....an ingredient that is known to harm the human body is in our food! If you are surprised, you shouldn't be. In truth, the FDA does not care one iota about you or your health. Neither does the food industry. It is all about the almighty dollar and nothing else. Do you know why high fructose corn syrup is used SO much?? Because it is something like 100 times sweeter than sugar and therefore, cheaper for the manufacturer to use. Nevermind that obesity in America is at epic proportions....let's keep adding chemically altered substances to our food. The rule of thumb that I adhere to very strongly is that if it comes in a box, be very wary of it. It is most likely not healthy (unless you are at a health food store or in the healthy food section of your grocery store) and most likely contains some ingredients that you can't even pronounce. That's another good rule...if you can't pronounce the ingredient, it is a pretty safe bet that it is bad for you. So, after all that gloom and doom you might be wondering where the good news is! Well, here it is. I make my own granola bars, and it is SO easy. My son told me the other day that if he were stranded on a desert island and he could only have one food, he would want it to be the granola bars I make. Now how's that for a stamp of approval?? So, here is the recipe. Enjoy!!

Good Karma Granola Bars

1/2 C honey
1/3 C peanut butter
1/4 C grapeseed oil
3 C granola

Place honey, peanut butter and oil in a small pot and bring to a gentle boil. Do not boil over a high temp or you will burn it. Place granola in a large bowl. Pour the ingredients from the pot into the large bowl and mix well until granola is well coated. Press into 8" square pan. Make sure you press really well to flatten the mixture out. Refrigerate for a few hours. Cut into bars. These can be pre-wrapped for convenience as well.


Now for my personal notes on the recipe....I use organic everything, from honey to the granola. The grapeseed oil is very nice and it has lots of good things in it. It has good for you fats....the polyunsaturated kind, as well as Omega 6 and Vitamin E. The granola I use is Cascadian Farms organic dark chocolate. You can add chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts....the possibilities are endless. These are WAY better than the crappy bars you buy in the store. They only take about 10 minutes to put together and it is a fun way to get your kids involved in healthy cooking and eating. I wonder how many of you have ever watched the show "You Are What You Eat"?? It is a British show, and therefore brilliant....but the focus, of course, is on healthy eating. I have only seen a few episodes, but it is very intense. It really makes you think about what you eat, and how much you eat. Funny thing that I remember from one show was that the teen age boys who were involved in the show had their 'spots' disappear after changing their diet....yet there are TONS and scads of zit zapping products out there. Typical....treat the symptom instead of trying to find the cause. Oh, I feel another blog subject brewing for tomorrow!! Stay tuned and thanks for reading!!

Health tip of the day.....Day 2

Today I would like to address the issue of time. There are lots of people out there who say that they don't have time to cook healthy food for themselves or their families and I understand this. I have 2 growing kids and 2 jobs, so time is of the essence to me as well. I made a commitment last January (which was immediately challenged by the love of my life) to cook breakfast every day for my kids before school. It was a huge undertaking for me since I was not a morning person. The me of the past was rushing out of bed at the last minute, while the kids were stuffing some cold cereal down their necks before running out the door (sometimes eating in the truck on the way to school). So, last January I made a resolution to change that horrid habit. I am happy to report that I have indeed made them breakfast every single day...much to their delight. Not only that, but they also get a home made lunch every day to take to school. Yes, my 18 year old takes a lunch box to school. LOL! I think his friends are secretly jealous, but that is just me. Making their lunches is something that I have done for years, and since making the switch to veggie land, it has become somewhat of a challenge. But one that I embraced with high hopes of endless creativity. So far it has gone well. I shall share some of my lunch ideas at another time....get ready as they are fantastic! So, back to the time issue. My breakfast casserole (the recipe is posted on the blog from Dec. 16) is a good one since it can be baked the night before and warmed up in the morning. I have also started to make them hot cereal in the form of Oat Bran. I serve it with REAL organic maple syrup and some organic butter. Sooooo good. Nice and warm in their bellies before sending them out into the cold Michigan winter morning. I also make whole grain pancakes and waffles (vaffles if you are German :) ) and some melt in your mouth eggs with fresh chives and lots of butter. All it takes to make a great breakfast is just a little pre-planning and a few extra moments. The rewards will be huge...for you and your family. You will feel good knowing that they are getting healthy good for them food, and they will love you for it. I know my kids love it that I cook for them, even if they don't tell me every day. So, stay tuned for more breakfast recipes and ideas. I plan to post something every day, time permitting. That is my goal for this coming year!! Thanks for reading!

Greek Egg Casserole With Dill Sauce

So, yesterday I decided to try my hand at creating my own recipe. With much fear and trepidation, I set out on my journey. What happened was astounding!! My taste buds danced with joy and even better than that, my kids LOVED it!! That is a big deal to me since they are 18 and 12, and can sometimes be rather picky. Try it out and let me know what you think. Since this is a new recipe, the measurements are approximate. Add more or take some away...for the most part it can be adjusted to suit your taste. Here you go!!

Greek Egg Casserole with Dill Sauce

4-5 eggs (I always use free range, hormone free)
1 C ricotta cheese
1/2 C green pepper choopped
1/2 C yellow pepper chopped
1/2 C zucchini chopped
3 tsp dried dill (more or less depending on your taste for dill)
1 lg TB Benedicta aioli sauce (this is not vital if you can't find it)
salt & pepper to taste

Beat eggs and ricotta together in a large bowl. Add chopped veg and seasonings, stir. Bake in a square or round 8 or 9" baking dish. Temp is 350 and time is around 30 minutes. You will know when it is done...the eggs will be set. I broiled mine for a bit at the end just to brown the top.

Dill Sauce

1 C sour cream
lemon juice to taste
2 tsp dill
tad of milk or soy milk to taste

Whip all iingredients together and add the milk just to thin it out a little. Add the lemon juice to taste. I serve my casserole cut up into wedges on a toasted english muffin with the dill sauce. As a side note, I buy my english muffins, wheat, at the natural food store. That is the only place I have found them without hydrogenated oils....which is a subject for another day!! Enjoy!

Day One

Well, hello out there, who ever is reading this. I have been inspired, as maybe others have, to start a blog about cooking after watching Julie & Julia this past weekend. Great movie if you have not seen it. I can relate to Julie as she sat on her kitchen floor crying over a failed meal. If you can relate to that, then we will get on famously! I have also had many triumphs in the kitchen...which sometimes is astounding! My kids and I made the leap into vegetarianism about a year and a half ago, and it has been an amazing journey. (more on that later). I was wishing for a place like this back at the beginning of our vegetarianism....a place to help and inspire me, a fledgeling veggie at the beginning of my lifestyle change. Because it is just that....a lifestyle change. It is so much more than just eating differently. I hope to post recipes, daily bits of health information, as well as any humorous mishaps I might have in the kitchen. I hope you will stick with me and offer any comments you might have. See you soon!