Monday 28 October 2013

Make today a beautiful day!

Every day has the potential to be a good day...a very good day...a beautiful day.

Easy Stuffed Vegan Portabella Pizza in a Cashew Basil Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

8 Portabella mushrooms
2 cups pizza sauce
Vegan Cashew Basil Cheese Sauce (see recipe below)
1/3 cup of each: red, green, orange pepper, diced
1/3 cup sweet onion, diced
2-3 large basil leaves, finely diced
1 tsp red pepper flakes




Directions:

Preheat oven by setting the broiler on low. Take a baking sheet and cover with a silicone non-stick baking mat or parchment paper for easy clean up. Make your Vegan Cashew Basil cheese sauce by using the recipe below. Set aside. Remove stems of Portabellas and gently rub Portabellas with a wet cloth to clean. Place Portabellas ‘belly’ side up on the baking sheet. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce into each Portabella. Now spoon about 2 teaspoons of Vegan Cashew basil Cheese Sauce on top of the pizza sauce (see recipe below). Grab a cutting board and knife and chop the onion and pepper and then sprinkle onto Portabellas. Finally, shake on some red pepper flakes and sprinkle finely diced basil on top. Broil in the oven on the lowest temperature setting on the middle rack for about 10-12 minutes, watching closely as broiler temperatures vary. Serve immediately.

Vegan Cashew Basil Cheese Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup raw cashews
1/3-1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt, to taste
1/2 tsp cold-pressed sunflower oil
1 fresh basil leaf
1 small clove garlic
1.5 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Place 1 cup of raw cashews in a bowl of water, cover, and soak overnight in the fridge. When cashews are ready, drain and place all ingredients (cashews, Himalayan sea salt, cold-pressed sunflower oil, basil, garlic, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice) into a food processor and process until smooth, stopping to scrape sides of processor as necessary. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Place any leftover cheese in a container in the fridge and enjoy with chopped vegetables, crackers, bread, and chips!

The easy stuffed portabella pizza in a cashew basil “cheese” sauce is vegan, gluten-free and will yield three to four portions. Let’s not forget you can make them in less than thirty minutes, so you can have a fabulous meal for very little work. To complete this meal serve alongside a tomato or big green salad topped with your favourite vinaigrette.

Recipe courtesy of www.miratelinc.com

Perfect plants for indoor air purification

For healthier air indoors, add one or more of these air-purifying plants to your house.

Monday 21 October 2013

Love Wisdom...

Particularly important message for those who keep on pining for those who do not bother to make an effort in return.

The Benefits of Herbs! Great Infographic!

Find out about herbs and why they are so good for you!

Fabulous No-Bake Energy Bites Recipe

Healthy, easy to make, and provides loads of energy...AND super-tasty!

Monday 14 October 2013

Beautiful apache blessing!

May the sun bring you new energy by day. May the moon softly restore you by night. May the rain wash away your worries, May the breeze blow new strength into your being. May you walk gently through the world and know it's beauty all the days of your life. - Apache Blessing



How to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome in the office

Fabulous infographic with great suggestions on how to keep yourself healthy and carpel tunnel free!


Ten weeds that heal!

You might even find some growing in your own garden?


Sunday 6 October 2013

Learn to love unconditionally...

"Learn to love without condition. Talk without bad intention. Give within any reason. And most of all, care for beings without any expectation."

8 Great Sources of Plant-Based Protein

Most foods, including bananas, have a great deal of protein, however these plant foods in particular, are extremely high in protein. And if you didn't already know, the idea of combining proteins for vegans and vegetarians to ingest "complete protein" has been revealed to be completely invalid. This idea of "complete protein" was based on a rat experiment in the 1920's, and humans do not require the same number of amino acids as rats, for healthy bodily functioning. Forget about "combining foods for complete protein" and eat a varied (preferably organic) diet of plant foods, and you are likely to be as strong as an ox, and remember an ox IS a vegan! :)

Fabulous vegan "scrambled eggs" recipe!

This delicious vegan "Scrambled Egg" recipe serves 4 - Use soft tofu or crumble firm tofu for the correct consistency.
The flavour should be savoury, and just a bit salty, but not overly so. Garlic, some cumin, a little thyme – that is the base. From there you can do countless variations.

Spice blend:
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt (Himalayan pink salt is best)
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (or more, to taste)
1 pound soft tofu (or crumbled firm tofu) drained
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (or 1 vegan stock cube crumbled)
Fresh black pepper to taste
First stir the spice blend together in a small cup. Add water and mix. Set aside.


Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. Saute the garlic in olive oil for about a minute. Break the tofu apart into bite sized pieces and saute for about 10 minutes, using a spatula to stir often. Get under the tofu when you are stirring, scrape the bottom and don’t let it stick to the pan, that is where the good, crispy stuff is. Use a thin metal spatula to get the job done, a wooden or plastic one won’t really cut it. The tofu should get browned on at least one side, but you don’t need to be too precise about it. The water should cook out of it and not collect too much at the bottom of the ban. If that is happening, turn the heat up and let the water evaporate.

Add the spice blend and mix to incorporate. Add the nutritional yeast and fresh black pepper. Cook for about 5 more minutes. Serve warm.

You can include these additions to your scramble by themselves or in combination with one another.

Broccoli – Cut about one cup into small florettes, thinly slice the stems. Add along with the tofu.
Onion – Finely chop one small onion. Add along with the garlic, and cook for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Proceed with recipe.
Red Peppers – Remove stem and seed, finely chop one red pepper. Add along with the garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Proceed with recipe.
Mushrooms – Thinly slice about a cup of mushrooms. Add along with the tofu.
Olives – Chop about 1/3 a cup of sliced olives. Add towards the end of cooking, after mixing in the nutritional yeast.
Spinach – Add about 1 cup of chopped spinach towards the end of cooking, after mixing in the nutritional yeast. Cook until completely wilted.
Carrots – Grate half of an average sized carrot into the scramble towards the end of cooking. This is a great way to add color to the scramble.
Avocado – I almost always have avocado with my scramble. Just peel and slice it and serve on top.

Some other ideas for this recipe:
Serve in a squash bowl: Serve in half a baked squash (acorn or carnival would work perfectly.) Caramelized onions would be nice, too.
Breakfast burritos: Wrap up with potatoes, fresh salsa and guacamole.
Add to mac and cheese: Use up leftover scramble (or make some scramble just for the occasion!) by adding it to your favorite vegan mac and cheese recipe.
Lettuce wraps: Tuck scramble into lettuce, serve with fresh tomatoes and drizzle with vinaigrette
Make a sandwich: Not the most ingenious idea, but one of my favorites! A scramble sandwich with avocado, red onion and sprouts.
Make a knish: Make potato knishes and add a layer of scramble
Stuff peppers: Mix with a can of black beans and some salsa. Stuff into red peppers, bake and top with a little vegan cheese at the end.
Crepe filling: Serve in a crepe, with a vegan hollandaise sauce.

Thank you to www.theppk.com for this recipe. Photo courtesy of kblog.lunchboxbunch.com