Guilt-free dessert!

I admit, I have a sweet tooth. And, for health reasons,  I have chosen to avoid eating anything with sugar in it. What is one to do? Well, I think I have found the answer. This summer berry cobbler is an amazing option! Modified slightly from the original recipe from the book, Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo, it is delicious AND good for you!

 

Here is the recipe:

 

Crust:

• 1 3/4 cups dry almonds
• 1/4 cup raw cacao nibs
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I have also used grape seed oil)
• 1/2 cup pitted dates

Syrup:

• 1 cup blueberries (in the picture you will notice I also put blackberries, but I didn’t love it as they were very “seedy”
• 1/2 pitted dates
• 1/4 cup water, as needed

Topping:

• 1 1/2 cup blueberries

To make the crust, pulse the crust ingredients in a food processor until it has a dough-like consistency. Press this into the bottom of a small pie dish. If you find it too dry, add some more pitted dates.

For the syrup, blend together 1 cup of the blueberries and the 1/2 cup of dates in a blender, and add enough water to make into a thick syrup mixture.

Pour the syrup on top of the crust, then top with the remaining berries. I like to put it into the fridge for at least half an hour before eating it, if I can wait that long! Should last up to 2 days in the fridge (who are we kidding here though, what sweet pie like this can last that long!).

Enjoy!

Easy, breezy gardening!

How many of us would like to have a garden but just don’t know where to start? Or don’t have the time? Or don’t have a green thumb? ( I’ve raised my hand!) Well, fret no more! Fresh, home-grown vegetables from your own garden are just a click away. I’ve come across a fantabulous company that will help you get started. I haven’t used them myself, in fact, I’ve just discovered them, but it looks like such a great idea. Read for yourself!

Do you dream of eating vitamin-packed, fresher-than-fresh, organic vegetables grown right outside your window?

Now you can with Urban Seedling – Montreal’s first Organic veggie gardeners for hire. Even if don’t have the time or know-how to plant an organic vegetable garden we can help you get fresh, yummy organic vegetables on your table this summer.

Because we know all about organic vegetable gardening. We love it! And so do our growing list of organic vegetable gardening clients.

 

Here is a link to their website:

http://www.urbanseedling.com/

Juice baby, juice!

I haven’t posted since May and tonight felt like a good time to write. If you’ve read any previous posts you’ll know that I have been struggling with a Crohn’s flare since January. Nothing seemed to be helping, however, this past week I feel like I’ve had a bit of a breakthrough. I have a book called The Juice Lady’s Guide to Juicing for Health (by Cherie Calbom), and off and on I’ve been making myself some juices from her recipes, but not with any consistency. Recently I saw a movie called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (I’m not fat or nearly dead but definitely sick) and it’s the story of a guy who went on a juice fast for 60 (!) days and lost all excess weight as well as healed himself from illnesses he had. It’s a really great documentary. Now, I’m not interested in just living on juice for 60 days, or even a week (I  lost a bit of weight with the Crohn’s flare and don’t want to lose anymore). However, I thought, why don’t I just incorporate juice into my diet at least 3 times a day. So far I’ve been doing it 2 times a day, and I think it’s really helping!!!!!! My stomach/intestines feel much better than they have in a long time. I think the difference is that after I saw the movie I began juicing more and on a regular basis. Also, I began to add leafy greens to every juice. Juicing is the perfect way to get a massive amount of fresh nutrients into your system.  What I put into my juice: 1 cucumber (peeled of not organic) 1 green apple, half a lemon or lime, small piece of ginger, 3-4 leaves of kale, and 3-4  carrots. I like the taste of it, the carrots and apple add some sweetness, and I feel really fresh after drinking it!  Here are some photos. Oh, and I totally recommend the Juice Lady’s book. Very informative. We can heal through juicing!

 

For all you cookie monsters out there…

This past week my husband had been begging me to make my chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and they’ve been turning out so well that I’ve made them now two nights in a row. I have to agree with him that they are quite the tasty treat, and you definitely cannot eat just one. Or two. Or even three for that matter. And if you have no control like me, then you might even have four (or more….shhhhhhh:)

Without further ado, here is the recipe. I actually found it on the Internet in my pre-vegan days, and modified it.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance), softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• Ener-G egg replacer , enough to replace 2 eggs (the instructions are on the box)
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2-2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use the Camino kind)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F (165 C)
2. In a large bowl, cream together Earth Balance and brown sugar until smooth. Prepare the Ener-G egg replacer as directed, then add it in.
3. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; stir it in to the Earth Balance mixture until blended.
4. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips.
5. Drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If you can even wait that long. (If you don’t have a wire rack, just put them on a plate).

Happy cookie-ing! I’d love to hear how they turned out. Let me know! Send me a picture of you and your cookies!!!!

Peace and cookies, everyone!

Addicted to…….plastic?

Speaking for myself, at some level I was aware that my family uses a lot of plastic. But I always felt somewhat good about the fact that I make a huge effort to recycle as much as I can. Our recycling bin is at times overflowing. So I felt I was doing my part to help the environment. But are we addicted to plastic, as individuals, as a society? What can we do? As it turns out, I believe I can do more and what prompted this for me was watching the documentary Addicted to Plastic. I truly had no idea of the amount of plastic that the world uses, and an even lesser idea of what happens to it after I send it off (feeling all proud that I’ve recycled) with the recycling truck. You might be surprised as to where it ends up. In the ocean. In the bellies of fish and birds. In developing countries as landfills and garbage dumps where people live (!) Watch the movie and see what you think. I, for one, am now going to try to avoid buying things with obscene amounts of packaging, will not buy plastic items if I can avoid them, and will find ways of reusing what I have until it absolutely cannot be reused any longer.

What will you do?

Here’s the link to info. about the movie:

http://www.crypticmoth.com/plastic.php

Diet and Disease Prevention

Yesterday (April 27th, 2011) Dr. Oz had an episode on a whole foods, plant-based diet. He had a few guests on that have been pivotal in their studies and programs in treating and preventing diseases such as heart disease and cancer using a plant-based diet. If you missed the show, here is a link to it. Bravo to Dr. Oz for putting on this show.

http://shows.ctv.ca/DrOz.aspx#clip457135

Another good Montreal vegan restaurant

This past weekend we tried another vegan restaurant (Chinese food); it’s called Yuan and it’s on the corner of St. Denis and Sherbrooke. There are only a couple of dishes like the Pad Thai that have egg in it, but you can request the vegan option. Apart from that, everything is vegan and the dishes come with faux meat or tofu alternatives. The Pad Thai even comes with faux shrimp, which are molded in the shape of shrimp, and really look like the real thing. I had a lemongrass soup (delish), raviolis in peanut sauce, and my main dish was a ginger basil tofu. It was actually very enjoyable. The only downside for me was that they don’t have a liquor license, so you cannot order any alcohol or bring your own wine. Not a big deal, but it would be nice. Anyhow the ambiance is nice, the menu has a multitude of choices, and the presentation of the food is great. Enjoy!