Sunny yoga kitchen in sick bed

So I came down with the stomach flu which Bella had a couple of days ago so there will be no post for a few days until I recover. I apologize and hope you understand. Happy Memorial day!

Red, white & blue smoothie

This smoothie is inspired from a smoothie at Hobbies in the Bay area. It's plain yogurt, strawberries, banana and blueberries. It's a perfect light breakfast or snack.

Red, white & blue smoothie

1 1/2 cup plain yogurt, I used soy

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 banana

1 tsp honey

Cheese cake bites

These bites were a fun afternoon treat, a mix of tart and sweet with no need for an oven. I used Dr. Cow's cream cheese but next time I think I will use soy cream cheese instead because Dr. Cow's are a little strong.

Ginger bread cheese cake bites

175g graham crackers,

1 tsp pumpkin spice

75-100g soy cream cheese

1 tbs agave nectar

Grated coconut to roll them in

Place graham crackers in a food processor and make into a crumbs. Add spice, agave and then little at the time cream cheese to make sure the dough don't become too loose. Roll into bite size balls and roll in the coconut.

Pasta salad with thousand island dressing

Yesterday was a beautiful day which lately here in San Diego has been rare. What better thing to eat on day like that than a nice fresh pasta salad and I even made a thousand island dressing to go with it.

Pasta salad

2 cup lettuce, torn to smaller pieces

1/4 yellow pepper, diced

1/2 cup sprouted beans and lentils

1 tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup sprouts

1 cup cooked pasta, cooled off

Toss everything and place on plate.

Thousand island dressing

1/4 cup cream (I used mimic)

1/8 cup soy mayo

1/8 cup ketchup

1/8 cup sweet relish

1 tsp chili pepper

Blend everything together in a small bowl.

Colorful bruschetta

Bella has been home sick yesterday and today so lunch had to be something very fast for me who actually was hungry. Bella just wanted apple sauce. Traditional bruschetta is bread with marinated tomatoes on top. I like my bread warm and with avocado, peppers and tomato. It's very fast and easy to make and actually was a pretty satisfying lunch with a nice large salad on the side.

Grilled Bruschetta

baguette bread, sliced

1/4 yellow peppers, diced

1 large tomato, diced

1/2 avocado, diced

fresh basil

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

grated cheese ( I used mozzarella rice cheese)

Marinate the yellow peppers and tomato in the oil in the vinegar for 1 hour. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry each bread slice on each side. Remove from pan and add tomato and pepper blend and fry for a few minutes until peppers are softer. Add avocado and basil and blend. Divide the mix evenly on top of each bread slice. Sprinkle cheese on top and done!!

Blueberry syrup

In the spirit of pancake making, I made blueberry syrup to go with our pancake breakfast this morning. It's easy and fast to make your own and you can use any fruit. The syrup can be used as a topping for ice cream.

Blueberry syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup blueberries fresh or frozen, mashed

Place sugar, vanilla and water in a sauce pot and bring to a boil on medium heat. Reduce heat, add blueberries and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring once in a while.

High fiber pancakes

My husband is the pancake king in our home but so far he always used mix. I wanted to make pancakes from scratch with a lot of fiber and protein and these pancakes are what I came up with.

Quinoa and flax seed pancakes

3/4 cup milk ( I used vanilla oat milk)

2/3 cup spelt flour

1/2 tsp vanilla sugar

1/2 tbs baking powder

1 tbs flax seed meal

4 tbs quinoa, cooked

1 tbs canola oil

Blend milk and flour with a whisk until there are no lumps. Add remaining ingredients and blend quick. Fry on high heat.

Chick peas in a balsamic sauce

We eat a lot of beans in this family and today I really wanted to make fast and tasty beans that would match well with the wonderful vegetables such as baby potatoes, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, radish and sprouts we received from Sea Breeze. I used creama balsamico which is reduced balsamic vinegar but you can easily reduce your own balsamic by simmer the vinegar for a few minutes in a pot.

Balsamic chick peas

1 1/2 cup chick peas, cooked or canned

1 cup cream such as mimic unsweetened

1/4 cup creama balsamico

1 tbs agave nectar

2 tbs Bragg's liquid amino's

Salt & Pepper to taste

Blend everything except the beans in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add beans and reheat.

Date and banana cake

I made this cake last night and love it because it contains no sugar only dates for sweetener. I even fooled my skeptical husband who loved the cake. I will add a picture soon but my camera went on strike when I was trying to down load from it.

Date and banana cake

3 ounces Earth Balance butter, room temperature

6 dates, pitted and soaked for 1 hour

1/2 tbs No egg substitute

2 tbs cream (I used mimic)

1/2 cup milk ( I used oat)

1/4 cup wheat germs

1 cup spelt flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 large banana, sliced

chopped almonds to sprinkle over cake

Preheat oven to 350F

Whip butter, dates and no egg until fluffy. Add cream and milk and blend well. Add remaining ingredients except the banana and nuts and blend well. Carefully fold in banana and pour into greased cake pan. Sprinkle nuts over in a even layer. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Garlic and rosemary roasted baby potatoes

We received baby potatoes in our shipment form Sea Breeze this week and I knew exactly what I was going to use for them for. I roasted them with skin and all since they are organic it's safe and a lot of nutrients is in the skin. The garlic is roasted in cloves and they are divine and as much fun as the potatoes. I used two kinds of oils; olive and hazelnut oil.

Roasted baby potatoes

2 cup small baby potatoes

10 garlic cloves, peeled

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs hazelnut oil or use other nut oil

Sea salt

Rosemary

Preheat oven for 480F

Mix every thing in a baking dish and make sure everything is coated in oil. Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 400F and bake for about 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are browned and soft.

Vegetable and bean gratin with crumble

Today is clean out the fridge day to make room for the wonderful organic vegetables and fruit delivery from Sea breeze. I love taking different veggies and making something fun and satisfying to eat. The crumble added that little extra kick to this creamy gratin.

Crumble:

1 small garlic clove, grated

100 butter

1 1/2 cup spelt or whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cup grated cheese

1/2 cup mixed nuts

2 tsp fresh thyme

Place everything in large bowl and use fingers or fork to mix everything until there is a wet crumble or use a food processor to do the work for you.

Gratin:

3 cup mixed vegetables, cut into smaller pieces (I used baby beets, carrots, broccoflower, green beans)

1 cup kidney beans

2 tbs canola oil

3 tbs spelt flour

1 1/2 cup almond milk

2 tbs dijon mustard

1/2 bullion cube

2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat to 400F

Heat oil on medium heat in a pot and add flour to make a paste. Add milk and stir until lump free. Add mustard, beans and vegetables and blend well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add bullion, parsley, salt and pepper. Place everything in a baking dish and sprinkle crumbles in a nice layer on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Thai stew

I have to admit thai food is not my absolute favorite food to eat and I think that's because it's really hard to find a restaurant that serves vegetarian thai. I'm don't feel I'm that good of a chef that I can make my own great thai. However, yesterday I decided to make go of it mainly because my hubby loves thai. I made this stew pretty spicy but removed Bella's part before I added the red curry. I served the stew with saffron rice. It's easy to make it, just add a pinch on saffron to the rice and water before boiling it.

Thai red curry stew

1 tbs canola oil

1 lemon grass, crushed

1/2 tbs fresh ginger, grated

1 cup seitan

2/3 cup white mushrooms, sliced

1 tbs Bragg's liquid amino's

1 cup green beans

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tbs red curry paste (or more)

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 cup bok choy

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pot and add lemon grass, ginger and coriander and sizzle for a minute. Add seitan and mushrooms and fry for a few minutes. Add beans, bragg's and water and simmer for 5 minutes. Add coconut milk, red curry paste and simmer for another 5 minutes or until beans are soft. Remove from heat and add bok choy and let it wilt.

Beets and orange salad

This is a recipe I found in Vegetarian times, one of my favorite magazines. The recipe came perfect after I discovered a golden beet in our garden and I received baby beets as well as oranges from Sea Breeze. The change I made was I used boiled beets instead of roasted which the recipe called for.

Beet and orange salad

4 medium beets, boiled and peeled

2 medium oranges, peeled

Grated peel from one orange

1 tbs Sherry vinegar

2 tbs lemon juice

2 tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

Cut the beets and oranges into bite size pieces. Blend together the remaining ingredients in small bowl. Place beets and oranges on pate and drizzle dressing over. Yum!

Panna cotta with balsamic strawberries

This was the dessert on Mother's day and it with one of my favorite fruits, strawberries on top of creamy panna cotta. I used aged balsamic vinegar to marinate the strawberries in and the combination of sweet and tart was very nice. It's a super easy recipe which takes almost no time to make. The best part was that I got to use my brand new dessert cups from Crate & Barrel which I got from my friend Jess. She was asking what I could use them for. Well here you go!!!

Panna cotta with marinated strawberries

1 1/2 cup So delicious plain coconut cream

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp agar-agar powder

1 cup Strawberries, diced

2 tbs aged balsamic vinegar

Place cream, vanilla seeds and sugar in a sauce pot and bring to a boil on medium heat. When all sugar is dissolved, add agar-agar powder. Simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes. Pour into small individual ceramics or glass cups. Place in fridge for at least 2 hours. Blend strawberries and vinegar in a bowl and place in fridge until serving. Place a good amount of strawberries on top of panna cotta.

Sun dried tomato pasta sauce

This is a fast and really good pasta sauce I made for Friday night's pasta dinner. It could not be simpler but it was highly appreciated by both small and big people in my house. As always, we ate quinoa pasta, broccoli and a side of mixed salad with avocado, kidney beans and sour krauts.

Sun dried tomato pasta sauce

1 cup sun dried tomatoes, hydrated in water for at least one hour

1 tbs compound butter or 1 tbs olive oil + parsley, 1 grated garlic clove and 1 tsp thyme

2 tbs Dijon mustard

1 cup cream, I used mimic cream

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 cup grated cheese, I used rice mozzarella

Salt to taste

Melt butter in a pot on medium heat and fry tomatoes for 30 seconds. Add mustard, cream and milk and simmer for 3 minutes on low heat. Add chili and paprika and simmer for another 5 minutes on low heat. Remove from heat and add cheese and salt and stir until cheese is melted. Serve over pasta or toss pasta with sauce.

Lemon caramels

I had two lemons growing on my lemon tree so I used them for these fun and different lemon & white chocolate caramels. These are probably your dentist worst nightmare. You really can't taste the chocolate very much but the lemon brings a fresh taste to it. You need a cooking thermometer for this dish. I used Organica vegan white chocolate but if you are vegetarian you can use any white chocolate.

Lemon and white chocolate caramels

170g white chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 cup sugar

Juice and peel from 1 1/2 lemons

60g Earth balance butter

Place sugar and juice in a small pot and bring to a boil. Strain the liquid into a thick bottom pot and simmer until temperature reaches 244F on the thermometer. Add butter and simmer for another minute. Add chocolate and blend well until it's smooth and all chocolate melted. Pour onto a wax paper and set in fridge over night. Cut into smaller pieces and wrap into wax paper.

Sweet corn and lentil soup

Ahh I love when fresh local corn is in season. We grow corn in our garden but I planted everything later this year so I probably wont see any corn cobs until later this summer. However, the farmers market had some. We had corn on the cob with last night BBQ dinner and I had leftover so for lunch I made a sweet corn and lentil soup inspired by a recipe in Yoga Journal. I added red lentil for protein and iron. It's a perfect fast but filling power soup before I'm heading out to to teach a yoga class.

Sweet corn & lentil soup

1 cup white corn

1/2 cup red lentil, rinsed

1 1/2 cup water

1/2 bullion cube

1/2 cup almond milk

Place everything except the milk in a pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the milk and puree until smooth. Finished!!!

Fruit bread

In my weekly bake marathon I made this fruit bread which is amazing. It's filled with fiber but yet is moist. It takes some time making but it's worth while because it taste great, it packed with nutrients and it's stays fresh long.

Fruit bread

Day 1:

250g dried figs, stems removed and diced

1/2 cup apricots, diced

1/2 cup grounded flax seed

3/4 cup wheat berries

2 1/2 cup water

Blend everything and let stand in room temperature for at least 6 hours.

Day 2:

2 cup spelt flour

1 1/2 cup boiling water

1 packed active yeast

2 tsp salt

5 cup all-purpose flour (maybe more)

Pour boiling water over spelt flour in a large bowl and blend. Add to yesterdays fruit mix and blend well. Mix ll purpose flour, yeast and salt and add to the fruit blend and really work the dough well. Add more flour if the dough feel sticky then add more flour. Place a towel over the bowl and let it rise in a warm and draft free place for 1 hour. Place dough on flour on a table or counter and kneel the dough for at least 5 minutes. Divide dough in two and place in a bread pan or make two loafs and place on a cookie sheet. Let it rice while you preheat the oven to 400F. Bake for about 35-45 minutes. Check with a tooth pick if they are done. Let them cool on a wire rack.

Tempeh Chili

This is a recipe from Vegan World Fusion Cuisine. It's a cook book which I highly recommend because not only does it have amazing recipes but it's also very inspirational. Don't get put off by the very long ingredient list for this chili. It's very easy to make and the flavors of sweet and spicy amazing. I have change a few things.

Tempeh chili

3/4 cup yellow onion, chopped

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1 tbs garlic, minced

1 tsp jalapeno pepper, roasted, seeds removed and minced

1/2 cup yellow squash, diced

12oz tempeh BBQ bacon, cut into smaller pieces

4 cuts water

1 can fire roasted crushed tomatoes

2 tbs ketchup

2 tbs maple syrup

1 1/2 cup pinto beans

1 1/2 cup corn

3/4 cup cashews, chopped well

6 tbs bragg's liquid amino's

juice from a half a lime

1 tbs chili powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 1/2 tbs cilantro, minced

Salt & pepper to taste

Place onion, celery, garlic, jalapeno. tempeh bacon and water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 20 minutes. Add tomatoes, squash, maple and ketchup and cook for another 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove 2/3 of the chili and place in blender, food processor or use a hand held mixer and blend chili just slightly for about 20 seconds. Return to pot and blend with the other 1/3 chili. Add cilantro.

Fig ice cream

Here is the recipe for the fig ice cream I made yesterday. I love cooking with figs beacause of their nutritional value. They are packed with calcium, potassium, fibers, iron and magnesium. I eat at least one fig everyday either just like it is or in my oat meal. They are naturally sweet, specially dried ones. We have a fig tree in out garden and it presents us with many figs each year. However, they are not in season yet so I used dried figs for the ice cream. I did not add much sweetener due to their natural sweetness. I love making my own ice cream with coconut yogurt and mimic cream because I know what my daughter puts in her body, it's guilt free and healthy and way better tasting than store bought.

Fig ice cream

2/3 cup plain coconut yogurt

2/3 cup mimic cream, plain

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tbs agave powder or use agave nectar

1 tsp vanilla sugar or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

6 dried figs, soaked for at least 2 hours, chopped and stems removed

Blend everything in a food processor or blender until smooth. Place in ice cream machine until solid.

Almond and strawberry tartlets

My husband is going out of town to a conference tomorrow so today was about family time and yummy dinner. For dessert we had these tartlets which I served with a homemade fig ice cream. The combination was amazing and was appreciated by everyone in the family. I will post the recipe for the ice cream tomorrow.

Pie crust:

2 cup spelt flour

1 tbs egg replace powder

50g butter

1 tsp sugar

1 tbs water

Use a food processor or your fingers to work the flour and egg replacer into the butter. When you it's all done, add sugar and water and work into a dough. If the dough seems wet add more flour. Use a roll pin to roll out the dough really thin. Place in small tartlet molds or cut out circles and fold edges around. Make the filling.

Filling:

50g butter, room temperature

50g grounded almonds

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2/3 cup strawberries, sliced

Preheat oven to 350F.

Blend everything together. Place a generous amount on each crust dough. Arrange strawberries in a nice pattern on top. Bake for about 35 minutes.