Wild Horses & Bunny Rabbits

What's this got to do with my transition 

to becoming a vegetarian? 

Part 2 of my conversion story... 

myvegetarianstory.blogspot.com

Cutest Snow couple - ever!

Can you tell I miss Hawaii?

I'll admit - each winter as the cold weather approaches, 

I pause & think...

should I leave now?

But somehow I seem to endure with images of 

papayas, 

ocean breezes

 &

palm trees

 dancing in my mind.  

Best Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe - Ever!!

Best Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe - Ever!!!

This recipe will be found in The Vegan Table by author, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

This is the 1st recipe we tried from this cookbook, but so far, so good - tis the best vegetarian lasagna recipe I've ever tasted & I'm not exaggerating!

My daughter who cooked this filling meal tweaked Colleen's recipe a titch. She used brown rice noodles instead of wheat - which I rather enjoyed - it lightened up the meal a bit. And she did add soy mozzarella grated cheese in the middle layer & on the top.

Definitely delicious! 

My Vegetarian Story is catching on. 

If you are a vegan or vegetarian, I'd love to read your conversion story. The most interesting ones will be posted at MyVegetarianStory.blogspot.com.

Please limit your personal stories to 1-3 pages. 

Also, a copyrighted book is in the works of the same name. If your story is chosen for the book & the book sales fly, then yes, you will receive a portion of the pie.

Please understand I am a natural editor, so your work may be edited, mostly grammar or spelling - & only if necessary.

I will accept only G-rated stories - as this will be a site for youth too. 

Please email me at myvegetarianstory@gmail.com.  

What's Christmas without -

The Best Gingerbread Cookies!

Here is the best gingerbread cookie recipe I've found. Originally found on the Williams-Sonoma site over a decade ago, I had to tweak it to make it my own. Preparing this holiday treat has definitely become one of our family traditions. I like to share the baked cookies with friends & family & let them do their own decorations.

Prep & Cook Time: About 1 ½ hours, plus 1 hour to chill (I prefer to chill in refrigerator overnight.)

Makes: About 2-3 dozen delicious 3-4 inch cookies.

¾ C molasses

½ C oil

1/3 C firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg (I use egg replacer)

2 ¾ whole wheat pastry flour

½ t sea salt

1 T baking powder

1 T cinnamon

½ t cloves

1 T ginger - I use finely grated fresh ginger root. Be careful not use the core, which is too fibrous.  Press ginger between toweling to remove excess moisture. I find using the real ginger root the cookie has more zing. You will have tiny fibers sticking out of the cookies, which doesn't bother me too much - I think it's a good trade-off for the flavor. If using the root, use 1 1/2 to 2 T

Beat w/mixer molasses, oil, brown sugar & egg (or egg replacer) until well blended. Add grated ginger if using root.

Mix flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger (if using ground dry ginger) & cloves.  Stir into molasses mixture, then beat until well blended.

Divide dough in half, gather into a ball, then form into a disk.  Wrap each disk in plastic wrap & freeze for 1 hour or chill in refrigerator overnight. 

Remove dough from bag.  On a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll each disk to about ¼ inch thick.  With lightly floured cookie cutters, cut out cookies.  Place about 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9 min; if using parchment paper, cook for 10 min. 

Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. 

Enjoy & 5 more days to go...

What's better than a hot bowl of homemade soup with freshly baked cornbread 

& poached pears ala mode 

on a cold winter's night?

 I promise, the last piece is for you...

Our bodies seem to know exactly what it needs.

On a very snowy December day, I made some vegetable & barley soup - a very large pot so that I could enjoy the left-overs. 

The base was from Bob's Mills 

Vegetable & Alphabet Dry Soup Mix. 

(They have many varieties & I look forward to trying them all.)

I added 1/2 c of pearled barley, 4 sliced organic carrots, 2 medium organic onions (so nice to work with - a different texture indeed), 4 organic potatoes, with the peels left on, salt & pepper, 3 bay leaves & 2 boxes of Imagine's Organic Vegetable Broth - yummy! The soup cooked in about 1 1/2 hours on a slower simmering heat. 

And for de taste de la resistance, desert was poached pears with sliced almonds (omitted on this serving) with a generous serving of Soy Delicious Vanilla Ice Cream. 

I've included the basic corn bread & 
poached pears recipes for you.

BASIC CORNBREAD 
(tweaked from Williams Sonoma recipe)

1 1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 c cornmeal (the finer the better)

1/4 c fructose

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

1 cup almond milk (you can use vanilla flavored if you like)

1 c Toffutti sour cream (tofu-based)

1/3 c corn or safflower oil

1 egg substitute, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil or spray 9-inch glass pan.

Mix together dry ingredients

Mix together wet ingredients (in a different bowl)

Combine by gently folding in the wet ingredients - do not over-mix.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake uncovered for about 35 minutes. Remove for oven & let stand for 20 minutes. Remove from pan & cut into 9 squares.

This cornbread is delicious when topped with margarine & honey!

POACHED PEARS WITH SLICED ALMONDS
(This recipe was tweaked from the Natural Choices Magazine, December 2012 issue.)

If serving 8, use:

4 pears

2 cups pear juice (I use Hansen's Organic)

2 T honey

1/2 c toasted sliced almonds (optional - but festive!)

Slice pears in half length-wise. Carefully remove the core from each half with a small spoon - easy to do - only a small amount needs to be removed)

Mix pear juice & honey in large saute pan or pot - bring to boil. (You'll need 2 pans as the pears need to lay flat.)

Add pears cut-side down - reduce heat to simmer (cook uncovered).

Gently press on pears after 40 minutes to see if tender.

Carefully transfer to serving plates.

Top with scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of leftover poached pear juice & top with toasted almonds.

This is a delightful desert - light, yet rich. Right before I begin to serve dinner, I begin poaching these pears - that way desert is still hot & ready to be served following dinner, & we all get to enjoy the sweet aroma of the pears while we enjoy our dinner. 

My Conversion Story... (to vegetarianism) 
Part 1

Posted at:
myvegetarianstory.blogspot.com


This will be an ongoing story until I catch you up in time.

How about Homemade Applesauce?

It's simple - I promise!

I had 6 apples that were given to me by a neighbor - they weren't fresh off of the tree, 

but I still appreciated them & thought I would go ahead & juice them...

... that is until the temperatures dropped to 30 degrees - 

a perfect snowy wintry night here in northern Utah.  

So I decided to make good ol' applesauce - 

what a fragrant aroma & special sweetness brought to my kitchen. 

So, I peeled. 

Then sliced with my special apple slicer. 

Looking back to 7th grade home economics class - this was the 1st recipe we used & I've always been a fan ever since!

I asked my daughter what her 1st recipe was in her class - she told me No Bake Cookies. What do you remember making? 

There they are scrumptious-looking, right, you can just taste the sweetness or tartness.

At this point, you could change your mind & make an apple pie, but I prefer simple tonight.

If you like, you can add a splash of freshly squeezed lemon juice. (I usually don't)  

I could individually slice each segment, but that's lots of unnecessary work, so instead, I'll use my handy/dandy hand-chopper. 

This will provide small dices of apple that will cook down rather quickly. 

This is just a interior look at the diced apples for you. 

Place in pot (of course), & add a good sprinkling of cinnamon.

For 6 apples I use about 1/2 t. Also add about an 1/8 c of water. This will vary depending on the apples. Sometimes I just use a few tablespoons of water - sometimes, I'll use up to 1/2 c. 

The first time you make applesauce, you may want to go with 1/2 c water just to be sure. You can always strain off the excess, or uncover & let the extra evaporate. 

 Cover & cook at a slow simmer, about 20 minutes.

Of course you can leave the apples in larger chunks, but I like to use my smasher to break down the chunks even more. 

I do leave a variety of sizes though, just to make it a bit more appetizing & to give it a more home-cooked look. 

If you like, you can mush to a puree too, especially if you're serving a little one.

So, I hear you asking me, "What about sugar?" Well, I don't use any - I think the apples are plenty sweet for me. 

I remember once when I was making jam. At the beginning, I thought the jam was pretty tasty, but decided to add fructose for others. I seem to have just kept adding & adding & adding more fructose, not really knowing when enough was enough. Looking back I really believe less is more.

You can make applesauce with even one apple if you like - it's worth it even or especially if you're cooking for yourself! You're worth it!!!

A special side-note: Back in 2003 I attended the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. I stayed at a small bed & breakfast. The owner was this very special older woman who would fix breakfast for us. Every morning, before we rose, I could smell the apple aroma in her kitchen. She would simply slice up apples, blanch them in water & serve, slightly softened - delicious & one memory that will stay with me forever! 

Peace & Holiday Warmth,

Marcy Hope Williams

Just Like Mom Used to Make... Nah - Better! 

My mother used to make the most delicious Thanksgiving yams. I tried to duplicate them once when I had moved to Utah. Needless to say, they didn't taste like mom's. 

Did she leave out a secret ingredient? Was it the altitude difference? (she lived by the ocean) or was it just her expertise in cooking? 

I could never figure it out & finally gave up on most of mom's recipes. 

I can tell you though, mom's recipe for yams began with a can of yams.

Years later I found this recipe at Wild Oats, (now called Whole Foods) - 

a yam recipe from real yams! 

I've tweaked the recipe just a wee bit for my family's enjoyment. 

Just for variety & for the special holidays, I'll prepare these yams this way. 

My family is always excited to see them on the table. 

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

 You'll find the recipe at the end of the pictures. 

Can I tell the difference between canned yams & yams from the garden  - you bet I can!

Here's my ingredients. 

The peppermint tea & cookie on the right aren't really a part of this recipe, 

just inspiration to help me cook when I'm hungry.  

1st - preheat oven to 375-400 degrees. 

I like to prepare my 9 by 13" glass pan by first spraying it with a light mist of Pam - 

you can use any type of oil to accomplish this.  

Personally I would rather take this precaution than having to do the scrubbing or soaking later. 

Peel the yams - I really don't wash them as I think they're clean under the skin. 

Here are the 5 yams all peeled. 

Slice them up 1/8 to 1/4" thick. If they're really large I either half them or sometimes quarter them. I like them quartered the best because they seem to be able to absorb the juices better. 

Scatter in pan. 

You'll combine the margarine, sugar & spices in a small sauce pan. 

Bring to a small boil, & quickly reduce to simmer until sugar dissolves. (sorry, missed this pic).

Spoon over yams.

Mix a bit. 

Cover with foil & cook for 55 minutes at 375-400 degrees.

Uncover, then cook another 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with optional nuts & brown for 3 minutes at 500 degrees.   

Voila! A yummy entree!

                               Candied Yams                                

Serves 8

5 medium to large yams (preferably organic)

4 1/2 T magarine

2/3 C golden brown sugar packed (preferably organic)

1 t ground cinnamon

1/4 t ground nutmeg

1/8 t ground ginger

1/2 t salt

Optional Toppings

1/2 c chopped pecans, or 1/2 c sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 375-400 degrees. Place potatoes in 9x13x2 inch glass baking dish. Combine margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger & salt in small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil & stir until brown sugar dissolves. Pour this mixture over yams & toss to coat. Cover dish well with foil.

Bake 50 minutes. Uncover & continue to bake until potatoes are tender & syrup thickens a bit (basting occasionally) about 20 minutes. Raise oven temperature to 500. Top yams with nuts & brown about 

3 minutes. 

Enjoy!