Real Food Makeover: Vegan Nachos
You’ll need to procure the following products that may or may not be homemade staples in your kitchen:
*Corn tortilla chips ( you can thriftily make these by frying regular corn tortillas–think Winco, they sell like a million for $1.29– until crisp in coconut oil)
*Refried black beans (I happen to cook like a gallon of dried black beans in my slow cooker and freeze them. I then re-fry them in coconut oil and season with taco seasonings later)
*Tomato salsa of choice (again can be easily made like so: whirl a couple tomatoes, an onion, a jalapeno, and salt in the food processor for an ultra simple salsa)
*Guacamole (quite simply: 1 mashed avocado, juice of 1 lemon, sea salt to taste. done.)
*2 chopped scallions
*Cortido (Latin American Sauerkraut. Optional but incredibly worth every minute it takes you to make this)
Layer the above ingredients in the order listed. Purposefully omit forks from your table setting. Purposefully include an extra napkin.
Delicious. Filling. Satisfying. pH balanced. No, really.
Disclaimer: By the way, if you’re wondering what’s up with that orange stuff adjacent the blue chips in the photo above, it’s a butternut squash “cheese sauce” I threw together a while ago. I used the photo for purposes of highlighting the blue chips. Unfortunately for the above recipe, my memory card was full and I was unable to patiently clear my card before consuming my supper, thus no picture of the nachos of which I write.
I’m working on refining the exact recipe for the squash nachos and will keep you posted.
Viva Los Veggies! The Do’s and Don’ts of Fasting
My college roommate and I once had a dream of opening a cafe and calling it “Viva Los Veggies”. We thought we were very clever. I’m sure someone else has already thought of this catchy title, but I can’t bear to “google it” to find out!
I am writing this post primarily for my Orthodox audience because today marks the beginning of another season of fasting. Today is 40 days before the Feast of the Nativity of Christ (Christmas) and we Orthodox prepare for the feast by fasting for 40 days. Traditionally, the Orthodox fast from meat, dairy, oil, and wine. This is the strictest sense of the fast. Women who are nursing or pregnant are exempt from these rules, as well as invalids or those with restricted diets. The spirit of the fast, however, is to eat less, obesess about food less, and focus more on the season.
Before I became a big fan of Nourishing Traditions and Weston Price, I, like most American Orthodox who fast, relied heavily on pastas and soy products. This left me very sick. Fortunately, I had a respite for several consecutive years because I was either pregnant or nursing. For the record, I’m still nursing, so I am going to do more of a vegetarian fast (including limited amounts of goat milk kefir and eggs).
The whole Weston Price movement is pretty much anti-veganism, and I’ve had to reconcile the fact that no traditional societies are strictly vegan while one significant component of my faith involves fasting. To be fair, fasting is an ancient practice that is seen in nearly every ancient world religion. The ancient Hebrews fasted for periods of time and also fasted two days per week. The Orthodox have practiced fasting since the beginning (Orthodox Christianity is the most ancient form of Christianity).
Fasting has always made sense to me from a spiritual standpoint. We need a break from complicated food processing (usually the most complicated processes, traditionally, involve processing meat and dairy). We need a break from eating too much meat, dairy, and fat; all of which are acid-forming (but healthy!) We need to practice mindfulnessof being filled by something greater than food….we need to remember our weakness as humans and rely upon our Creator.
From a cosmic perspective, there is wisdom in fasting. From a village/agrarian perspective (one that most of us have lost in the factory-farm/supermarket era), there’s a realization that the animals need a break from producing milk— the hens don’t lay as many eggs in the wintertime— the body needs a chance to cleanse from digesting meat and oils….
Nutritionally speaking, I believe it’s possible to fast and be healthy, but in America, it can be difficult to instinctively know what to do. Here are my top 5 Do’s and top 5 Don’ts for fasting. The point is to cleanse, both spiritually and physically. I don’t believe the point of fasting is to get to the point of complete exhaustion, sickness, and ultimatly deficiency. That’s not a good thing.
Don’t: Rely on soy, especially not processed soy. If it looks like meat, tastes like meat, but isn’t meat; you probably shouldn’t eat it!
Do: Try fermented soy such as miso. Soy was never meant to be eaten without fermenting. Traditional tofu is also a fermented product, and if you can find it, by all means, try it!
Don’t: Make pasta (or grains, for that matter) your mainstay. If you must do pasta, limit yourself to a few days per week and use whole-grain sprouted pastas or gluten-free options (Trader Joe’s has great ones!)
Do: Try incorporating more of the alkalizing seed-grains such as millet, amaranth, quinoa, and buckwheat. Quinoa in particular is very nourishing as it is a complete protein. Make sure that before you cook these grains you let them soak in a little bit of lemon juice or vinegar for 12 hours to break down phytic acid.
Don’t: Give in to the temptation to gorge on “vegan” cookies or treats. In fact, if I highly reccommend fasting from sugar (particularly during this winter season). Yes, Oreos are vegan, but nutritionally, they’re just a big black hole.
Do: Try to eat 50% (or more) raw during a fasting time. This is particularly cleansing and will help fill you up and provide vital nutrients. Some suggestions:
*Sprouted sunflower seeds added to salads
* Make and eat sauerkraut or pickles with every meal, especially if you’re eating beans and grains. this will add a “cheese-like” flavor and will help your body digest the extra starches.
* Add fat-rich olives and avocados, as well as dehydrated sprouted nuts to a salad to give a huge nutritional boost.
*Kombucha, juice kefir, and beet kvass are inexpensive, vitamin-rich tonics that provide B vitamins and help alkalize the blood.
Don’t: Obsess about beans. Many people try to just replace meat protein with soy or bean protein. Protein is important for sure, but since beans are so high in starch they should be limited to 1-2 meals per week so that you’re not taxing your digestive system so much.
Do: Eat from the sea. The Orthodox have always permitted shellfish during fasting periods. Although these should always be eaten sparingly due to mercury content, having scallops or shrimp once or twice per week is a great way to get protien and vitamin D. Don’t forget to try seaweed in a veggie saute.
Don’t: Be a pharisee. Don’t become a glutton, or judgemental, or too hard on yourself. This defeats the purpose of fasting!
Do: Most importantly, take advantage of the myriad of delicious vegetables available to us today. It’s amazing how filling and revitalizing a plateful of steamed veggies can be! Not to mention rich in vitamins and minerals. Fresh juicing, if you have a juicer, is a highly beneficial component to fasting.
I hope these tips are helpful to those of you who are embarking on the journey to Nativity. May all of your advent seasons be blessed as we journey to welcome the Light of the World!
This one’s for my mama: Peanut Sauce
Recently, my dear mother and I had the priviledge of attending one of the open-air concerts at our local zoo. We brought the kiddos and I had to pack a quick dinner that was tasty and transportable. The result? Thai lettuce wraps with a peanut sauce dip.
I basically made indian liver rice but cooked it in 1 cup of coconut milk and 1 cup water with a TBS of Thai Red Curry paste and threw in some sauteed frozen scallops at the end. I wrapped this in fresh romaine and served it with this peanut sauce from _Nourishing Traditions_ and garnished with cilantro and chopped scallions.
My dear mother loved this and has been asking me to post the peanut sauce. Here’s hoping you’ll like it too!
Peanut Sauce (adapted from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon)
6 garlic cloves, peeled
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 large bunch cilantro, chopped
1 T extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup natural peanut butter OR freshly ground roasted peanuts (I used the former)
1/2 cup minus 2 T of soy sauce or tamari
3 T rice vinegar
1/2 to 1 cup whole coconut milk or warm chicken stock (I think I used coconut milk!)
Place ginger, garlic, and cilantro in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add all remaining ingredients except stock/coconut milk, and pulse until well blended and transfer to a saucepan. Gradually mix in stock or coconut milk, whisking thoroughly.
This could also be thinned by more water or stock and made into a peanut soup!
Enjoy!
Frugal Nourishing Foods: Dinner Time!
It’s carnival time! The focus here is nourishing food on a budget. That’s the focus of this blog, so I couldn’t help but jump in for a ride! (Don’t worry, there’s no yucky food at this carnival!)
Today I’m going to share my favorite nourishing “penny pinching” dish. It’s meatless, but meat can be added. This dish comes from The New Vegetarian Gourmet, which is a cookbook given to me for my wedding shower! One of the recipes has been a delicous staple on our menu (as Orthodox, we practice the tradition of fasting from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays, so we need a fair arsenal of vegetarian recipes!)
The recipe is called, simply “Spinach, Lentils, Rice“. I will modify the recipe to actually not be strictly vegan, but leave the modifications there. I have served this to many guests and always get rave reviews!
Spinach-Lentils-Rice
This is a very quick dish if you have leftover cooked rice. The lentils cook up rather quickly after having been soaked.
Serves 4
1-2 cups cooked brown rice (to make this extra nourishing, cook the brown rice in liver broth as mentioned here)
1 cup lentils, soaked in water for 7 hours and then cooked
4 TBS olive oil, coconut oil, beef tallow, ghee, or lard
1 onion, chopped
1-4 garlic cloves, dep. on your preference!
1 bunch spinach (or any leafy green), chopped
2 tomatoes, diced or 1 can, drained, or 1 cup sun dried tomatoes (whatever’s on hand!)
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and Pepper
1) Heat oil in large saute pan over medium high heat. Stir-fry salt and pepper for 30 seconds.
2) Add onions and saute until soft, but not caramelized. Add smashed garlic cloves and cook for a few minutes more.
3) Add tomatoes and spinach and saute until spinach is limp.
4) Throw in your cooked rice and lentils. Mix and cover pan. Reduce heat and allow rice and lentils to warm.
5) Remove from heat. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan and mix. Leave lemon wedges on the mixture, cover, and allow flavors to blend for about 10 minutes.
Optional add ons:
- This dish pairs very nicely with feta cheese, kefir cheese, or farmer cheese.
- Italian turkey sausage goes nicely with this dish.
- Serve with a side of lacto-fermented sauerkraut and you have a completely nourishing meal!
For more inspiration on frugal, nourishing main dish meals, please visit The Nourishing Gourmet.
Don’t forget to visit The Thrifty Oreganic’s other Nourishing Frugal Meal ideas:
Better than Lara Bars!
Have you ever wondered how to make your own Lara Bar? Here’s my recipe!
Since becoming serious about cooking traditionally, I have had to give up an awesome convenience food / “on the go snack”: the “bar”. My favorite for a while was the Odwalla Bar; $.88 at Winco, I could load up on these babies and my kiddo loved them for her snack. Ironically, it was the Odwalla Bar that lead me to believe that my daughter was sensitive to wheat/gluten. I’ll spare you the delicious details, but suffice to say that it was the Odwalla Bar, in a way, that lead me on this journey!
Fast forward two years into the future. Lara bars come on the scene. What could be better? A whole food, gluten free snack bar! These have like 3 ingredients! But they are also expensive. And rightly so; I mean, the ingredients are good quality and good quality comes with a price.
I don’t know if the recipe below really comes out that much cheaper than a box of Lara Bars at Costco (~$18 for 18 bars). This recipe made about 18 bars and I’m pretty sure the ingredients, altogether would total a lot less than $18. It also takes very little time. Here’s the basic idea of the recipe. It’s not an exact science, so forgive the “Italian” style of recipe writing:
Better than Lara Bars
10-12 pitted dates
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (more may be necessary)
handful of raisins
1 cup of shredded coconut (plus more for coating)
1 TBS Raw Honey (or other liquid sweetener)]
Liquid Stevia to taste
handful of chopped crispy nuts (macadamia nuts or almonds are great)
1/3 cup of coconut oil or butter
2 scoops of Rainbow Light’s Chocolate Rice Protein Powder (optional, but really good!)
1) Place dates into food processor and process until you have a paste.
2) Add raisins, peanut butter, honey, and coconut and process until mixture forms a big mass.
3) Add your coconut oil now, as well as the protein powder, if using. Mixture may seem a bit “wet” from the coconut oil. This is okay,but if it seems too runny, add more shredded coconut. Taste for sweetness, and add a few drops of stevia (or more honey) to acheive desired sweetness.
4) At this point, add the chopped nuts.
5) Form pastey mass into balls or bars and roll in shredded coconut (or rapadura or cocoa).
6) Place bars on parchment-lined baking sheet and chill in freezer for about 10 minutes.
Notes: This is a pretty forgiving and versatile recipe. Try subbing raisins for any dried fruit (apricots or cherries would be great!) The coconut oil is not absolutely essential to the texture, either. You can get by without it, but it adds some good nutritional properties! You also don’t need nuts, the peanut butter is enough!
These are amazing! They are full of healthy fats, complex carbs, and protein! Enjoy for breakfast on the run or for dessert with a glass of milk!
