Easy One Pot Microwave Curry Potato-Rice

The secret is in the awesome covered microwave crockpot.
1/2 cup uncooked white rice (I used jasmine)
1 medium russet potato peeled and cubed
3 kale leaves, de-stemmed and chopped
1.25 cup of vegetable broth (or use 1 teaspoon of a vegetable broth powder mixed with 1.25 cup of water)
1 tsp of curry powder

Combine the broth, curry powder and rice in the pot. Add the kale. Stir. Add the cubed potatoes on top. No need to stir the potatoes (the broth will not cover the potatoes). You want the rice to be submerged in the broth. Potatoes can sit on top and cook from the steam.

Cover (the lid has a vent)
Microwave high (100%) for 5 minutes (800 watts). Then lower to 50% for 16 minutes.
Leave in microwave for at least 15 minutes afterwards to allow the liquid to be absorbed, the rice and potatoes to finish cooking. I left mine in for 30 minutes when possible.

Stir or fluff gently to mix the potatoes with the rice mixture. Yummy!

Spicy Almond Pulp Pate

I don't know why I never tried experimenting with almond pulp.  Wish I did this sooner.  I've followed recipes on blogs and Youtube.  Most used the whole amount of pulp from the 1 cup of almonds used to make almond milk.  So if you don't like the final product, you're out of luck until the next batch of almond milk.  It was discouraging (and expensive) to see things not coming out well.
Then I noticed that many of the recipes state "as needed" or "to taste" etc.  Well, why don't I just try a smaller portion.  Plus that means I may have 4 different almond pulp dishes from one batch of pulp!
This one started with about 1/3 cup of almond pulp.  I added nutritional yeast (about 3 tbsp) for the cheesy flavor (but may leave it out next time), olive oil to keep the mixture moist (about 2 tbsp by the end of the mixing), oregano (I liberally sprinkled it on, maybe 2-3 tsp), 1/2 clove garlic crushed, 1 green onion minced, and 1/2 tsp cayene pepper. By then, the mix was kind of dry, not very spreadable. I added 1/2 small avocado (mashed) --- just for kicks and since the riped avocado needs to be used.  Once that's all mixed, I added sea salt to taste (about 1/8 tsp).
The avocado gave a delicious creamy texture and seems to tie all the flavors together.  It's quite savory (garlicky so use less if you're not a garlic fan or in a work environment!).
It was so good, my folks are keeping the remainder for their meatless Wednesday tomorrow.
Can't wait to try an Italian-inspired one with the basil next and one with cumin.  And the last batch will be a sweet one --- maybe a modified version of a cookie dough for dessert.
This spicy almond pulp pate will be perfect in a collard wrap and some crackers for lunch.

Apple Banana Bars from Juice Pulp

As far as my juice pulp experiments go, this one is a wild success. I hope I can duplicate it next month.

There are many cracker recipes online.  The simplest one that did not intimidate me and got me to make crackers from vegetable pulp was from Raw Radiant Health. The chia cracker recipe was simple: soaked chia seed, pulp from green juice, Italian herbs, paprika, salt; mix and dehydrate.

I may try other more elaborate recipes later. I use the crackers with dips, spreads, and soups so they do not really need to be any fancier.  Since I am just looking for ways to use the pulp from my juices, that simpler recipe appealed to me. Did not make sense for me to spend more time and effort to "recycle" my pulp --- sort of a false economy.

I found the apple or fruit pulp diluted my vegetable crackers. It's fine if it's only an apple or less in the pulp mix, but any more than that just does not have the same crunch and flavor for me. I use a couple apples in the green juice I make for my niece. What to do with the apple pulp?

I separated the apple pulp and mixed in the soaked chia seeds. Mashed in a ripe banana to sweeten it and to give it the pliable texture. I had a couple leftover apple slices; chopped that up and added to the mix. Shaped it into a bar about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick and dehydrated it at 105F for 5 hours, flipped it over and dehydrated another 12 hours. Mmmm, it turned out quite well.  The banana made a big difference in taste, smell and texture. I may try adding some cinnamon next time.

I also spread a thinner version on the sheet. Those were ok --- more like a chunky fruit leather. I like the thicker bars better, chewy but more substantial.

Ready for the Day

Kale, romaine lettuce, celery, apples, and lemons.  All washed and prepared for the juicer.

Green Applesauce aka When Life Gives You Pulpy Apples...

Green Juice and Applesauce

A new twist on an old saying. When life gives you pulpy apples for your juice, make apple sauce.  Edit: A better description would be mealy apples.  Mealiness mostly happens to old apples that have been kept in storage for too long -- and these apples were definitely stored too long.

I cleaned out my fridge this morning by making today's green juice. Had a bag of fancy apples that were a little too past their prime to be eaten as is. I added the apples to my Omega juicer and out came this thick pulpy juice.

I prefer to strain my green juice so the apples soon clogged up the strainer.  What's left in the strainer was this thick applesauce.  I dumped that into a container and continued making my juice. By the time I got my 2 jars of green juice, I had a nice container of green applesauce.  The bits from kale, romain lettuce, celery, and lemon added a nice flavor to the green applesauce.

This made the smoothest applesauce; perfect for my afternoon snack.

Now, I hope I don't get pulpy mealy apples for my juice again (slow down the juice making) but nice to know I can make the most of it.

I am not going to have time to make crackers from the pulp today. Otherwise, I would have been able to prepare today's meals using the "by products" of this morning green juice :)

No-Bake Oat Bars

No-Bake Oat Bars

These turn out so delicious, I'm not just eating them for breakfast!
My inspiration for these bars was the breakfast cookie from Fitnessista.  Eating the cookie off the plate with a fork was not working for me.  The convenience of grabbing a bar from the fridge on the way to work motivated me to try wrapping the "dough" in plastic wrap before letting it "set" overnight in the fridge.  Works like a charm.

I need to measure the ingredients next time.  I've been eyeballing it until it gets to the right consistency --- not too thin, not too dry, just right so it can be shaped into bars.

Steel cut oats (oatmeal will probably works)
Cinnamon (or for this season, pumpkin spice!)
Salt (I leave this out if I use salted nuts in the mix)
Protein powder (I have some leftover hemp protein powder that worked well)
Nut butter (almond, cashew, even regular peanut)
Really riped bananas (I call this the not-so-secret ingredient)
Almond milk (guess regular milk would work but I haven't tried it)
Mix-ins (dried fruits, trail mix, etc...)

Instead of spreading them on a plate or bowl, I spread them onto clear plastic wrap and shape them into individual bars. Refrigerate overnight and, voila, delicious single servings of oat bars.

Papaya for Mid-Morning Snack

Yummy and refreshing after cleaning up & feeding everyone.

Red itchy puffy eye

.. after eating something I guess I wasn't supposed to!

Had Forgotten the Colors!

I don't think I ever noticed how colorful food is in its natural, uncooked state. Yes, we added food colorings when we cook and we made stirfry colorful with the different veggies. But that can't compare to the innate color of food.

I was prepping tomorrow's midday snack - honeydew melons (I picked a winner!) - when it hit me. I had cantaloupe today, a nice rich orange and tomorrow, I'll be eating light green honeydews. My salad and avocado salsa side is like a color wheel, especially when there's a tinge of purple from the red cabbage.

Colors that would have looked out of place in a traditional cooked meal seem very at home and natural with my new fresh food meals.

This honeydew camera-phone picture in the dark kitchen doesn't do the color justice. I just have to look at the pictures from the previous post to see the food rainbow!

Fresh Food

Never thought I would enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables so much. It's been 2 weeks since I switched to a raw vegan diet. I figured it would be a good food trial to see what I may be reacting to. I suspected it was to flavorings and seasonings, not necessarily the meat or nuts themselves. And since cooked food without seasonings can be bland to me, I tried the raw vegan diet and things have been going very well. I'll probably write more later but just want to add some stuff here to capture the "beginning."

Stocking up with fresh fruits every 2-3 days.









Mom's stockpile of bananas. We froze some to use in fruit smoothies. We finished the box in 2 weeks.








Learning how to pick melons was a challenge. I got the cantaloupe down (tan or not-green veins and some give on the end) but still hit-and-miss with the honeydews and watermelons.

Waited too long to eat this cantaloupe :)





Dinner from last night. Loving my salads right now. A mix of red romaine lettuce, saladson or what I call bitter lettuce (I get them at the local Asian Farm Market), chopped cabbage, tomatoes, red bell peppers, onions, Thai chili (for the spicy kick!), cucumbers, and a variety of fresh herbs (basil, mint, rau ram). Dressing was lemon, apple cider, olive oil, salt & pepper, and more Thai chili :)

I experimented with a salsa-like side dish and absolutely loved it. It was supposed to be a thick salad dressing but I went overboard with the tomatoes and onions and it became a side dish. Chopped one tomato, one medium onion, half an avocado, juice of half a lemon, half a Thai chili (yes, I like my food spicy!), and salt & pepper if needed (I didn't need it). Mix them all together and yummy!
I chop and prepare extras when I make the salads in the evening and save a large portion for the next day's lunch. The dressing marinates the salad and it tastes even better the next day. I did one with mostly cabbage and it turned out like a healthy coleslaw -- without the creamy mayonnaise. Elias call them "veggie ceviche" --- I can get really heavy handed with the lemon vinaigrette; the onions and tomatoes swim in the dressing.

Added blueberries to this morning green smoothie (bananas, spinach, blueberries, water).

The reusable Copco tumbler from Bed Bath & Beyond is one of my favorite recent purchase. Makes smoothies taste even better and helps me keep up with the water intake during the day.






Cantaloupe for mid-morning snack. If you told me 2 weeks ago that I would eat a whole cantaloupe by myself in a day, never mind as a snack, I would think you're crazy.

Now, I buy these cantaloupes, honeydews and mini-watermelons and eat the whole melon as a snack.




The problem I had was eating enough calories to keep me going during the day. Ha! Can't even believe that I am having problems eating enough calories :)

These smoothies come in handy. Bananas, mangoes, strawberries, apples, and water. Got the fruits in me that would probably have taken me the whole afternoon to eat (assuming I would be able to eat all of them).

Oh, another new find for me ---- all these different nuts. Eating almonds and cashews for now -- unsalted and unroasted; they actually taste great. Throw them on top of the salads or eat as a snack.

Anyway, more later. Things have been busy so I have not blogged much but hope to catch up soon. It's been great though, not having to fight through the mental fog either from the food I was reacting to or the Benadryl I took to counteract it.

Looking forward to sprouting chickpeas to make hummus and trying some tomato soup recipes in the blender!

Adventures in fresh food. Who knew?!! :)

It's the Little Things

Forgot to buy more peanut butter for my PB & sliced banana sandwich for breakfast. Banana slices on dry toasts just don't look right so I mashed the banana with a fork and spread it on toasts.

Yummy!
Just the right amount of sweetness.

Why did it take me this long to discover mashed bananas!?!

Holiday Twizzlers

Yummy. My snack du jour. Found these at Michael's last night when I went shopping for the clinic holiday decoration. Watermelon and strawberry flavor. Love the watermelon ones.

Christmas stuff all over the place at Michael's, complete with carols. Weird but did get me into the holiday feeling.

Topped the evening off with the sighting of the first happy-couple-walking-hand-in-hand-wearing-knitted-caps-looking-Christmasy of the season. Always nice seeing happy people walking around. Seems more special around this time of the year for some reasons.