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

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. 

Do you have a Sweet Tooth?

Well here's a simple antidote! 

Black Raspberry Crisp

3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 c quick-cooking rolled oats

1/2 c packed organic brown sugar

1/4 c sliced or slivered almonds (walnuts would work too)

5 Tbsp soy margarine

5 Tbsp organic banana

3/4 c pure fruit jam or preserves

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly mist an 11 x 7 (or thereabouts) baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Hand mix together flour, baking soda, oats, sugar & almonds. 

3. Yes, using your fingers, mush together the butter & banana into the dry mixture. Your goal is to resemble coarse crumbs. Add more banana if need be. Set aside 1/3 c of mixture.

4. Spread remaining flour mixture onto bottom of prepared dish. Spread jam evenly over mixture. Top with a sprinkling of the reserved 1/3 c of flour mixture. 

5. Bake for 20 minutes or until top is slightly brown. Cool & cut into 20 or so bars. 

You can use any jam you'd like -  I use Smucker's Simply Fruit. I think next time I might use apricot, or even partially boiled sliced apples, or maybe even fresh peaches! Possibilities are endless! I have another recipe which is more formal, made with fresh blueberries, (a Blueberry Betty) but for a quickie - I think this serves the purpose! Enjoy!

Odds & Ends

Fun Alternative to Cheez-Its (or cheese crackers)

So sometimes, I have no idea where Eden finds these unique foods, but she does. This eco.planet (hmm, just misspelled the word planet & without the 'e', what does it spell?)  Anyway, this cracker is so fun. For the pic, I placed one of each type of cracker on its respective symbol on the box. 

Sometimes when you give up certain foods, you still may crave them (or something similar) - that's where the value of transitional food comes in.  I don't remember eating cheese crackers for at least a decade, but when Eden brought these home (actually they arrived through the mail), I was so excited to try them.

At first bite, they seemed a bit strange, as the memories of your taste buds kind of rev-up to expect a certain familiar taste. Then your imagination kicks in. At second & third taste, I began to love them. Now, I don't  include this in my daily diet, but once in a while when you might 'crave' cheddar cheese, why not reach for a healthier alternative?  

These crackers can  be a teaching tool for your children too. The four shapes represent: solar energy, being earth-friendly, wind energy & green cars with an explanation printed on the back.

   

Below are Annie Chun's All Natural Asian Cuisine - Maifun. These are brown rice noodles that cook up in a few minutes (at the most). 

And this is a heart-filled serving for tomorrow's lunch (plus veggies, of course!)

 (sorry for the blur - just a cut & paste job)

So much to share - so little time...

Until next time,

Peace to you & yours,

Marcy Hope Williams

La Nay Ferme & Organic Fresh Food

Daniel, a graphic designer & business marketing guru, (also someone I consider to be my friend) introduced me to the work of his brother, Clinton Felsted. La Nay Ferme is Clinton's creation. La Nay Ferme is an organic farm in Provo Utah with a goal of providing local organic produce to the surrounding communities as well as teaching those interested in organic farming.   

 http://www.lanayferme.com/home.html

Here's one of the images from their sites.

To be uplifted & thoroughly inspired, check out the 2 following links to learn about their farms & produce in general.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB_Gkf5LS0c

&

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_d_BlilHcM

Below are a couple of dinner meals created in our kitchen. 

These are very simple to create. The yams were placed in the microwave for 10 minutes in a 1/2 - an inch of water. The veggie burger patty took 1 minute & 30 seconds in the microwave - so even when you're exhausted & still feeling you'd like to eat, you can enjoy a well-balanced meal within about 10 minutes time. 

Most of the products eaten in our home are the freshest that we can get & organic as much as possible. 

Cheers!
Marcy Hope Williams

PS You can read more about my writing at story-express.com.