Life Alive Homemade Favorite Spin-off: Kale, Tofu, Carrots, Quinoa, Ginger/Soy Sauce

Hey Readers!

Lots of things have been going on in my life. I’ve been attempted to set up a new job while continuing my education. I love my classes in my Environmental Health major, and I’m looking into future paid internships at the USDA. So that’s basically where I have been. This is my quick and delicious recipe for days when I really just need to focus on homework.

Homemade White Corn Tortillas

I had picked up the June copy of “bon appetit” and found this very easy recipe for making homemade tortillas. I loved the idea of fresh, hot tortillas made from scratch. I searched everywhere for a tortilla press that they mentioned in the magazine, but none of my local stores had one. I will have to order one online or look in a kitchen specialty store. For today, I just used wax paper and my hands. My Nana mentioned using a rolling pin might of helped, but I kind of like the uneven look to these mini tortillas.

Mashed Red Pepper Turnips and Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt Visit

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms out there or even people who have to act like moms to others! Today is a gorgeous day and I just got back from a family reunion of my dad’s cousins, aunts, and uncles; most I have never met before.

My lovely mother with me at the reunion.

My Uncle Dave and Uncle Bill went with us and spent the night last night. My Uncle Bill happened to notice the turnips that were starting to sprout in my fridge and he asked what I was planning on doing with them. The only thing that could come to mind was a soup of some sort, but I wasn’t completely sold on the idea.

“We used to mash them like potatoes. Boil them up, slab some butter with pepper and salt and mash them up. It’s very delicious,” he said.

Fruity Smoothie and Garden Update

After a long good 5-6 hours working on my garden area, I felt I deserved a healthy and delicious reward. We had a ton of variety of fruit in our fridge, and I needed to take advantage of that. Smoothies are really easy to make and they can be made however you prefer it. All you really need is a blender to make a smoothie.

 

Alicia’s Fruity Sa-moothie

You Need:

1/4 cup strawberries cut

1/4 cup of pineapple

1 cup of mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries)

1/2 cup Orange Juice (no pulp)

1/2 cup peach non fat yogurt

Vanilla Brown Rice Custard

Happy May Day everyone! This is my month! YEAH! Well.. more like my birthday is in 20 days. WOOT! Beyond that, I was in the mood yesterday to have some homemade rice pudding. I found a couple of recipes, but most of them called for an egregious amount of Half and Half. Last thing I wanted was 3 cups of Half and Half in my rice custard. I also wanted to use brown rice over white rice to change it up a bit. This weekend was mostly dedicated towards my garden area and celebrating Arbor day late. So here is a simple and delicious recipe for Vanilla Brown Rice Custard.

You will need:

• 13.5 ounces of milk (coconut milk, soy, or almond would be delicious too)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar for step 1 of the recipe
• 2/3 cup sugar for Step 2 of the recipe
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 1/2 cup of half and half
• 1 1/2 cup of vanilla non fat yogurt or greek yogurt
• 5 eggs
• 1 Tbs of Vanilla Extract

Avocado Chocolate Mousse

I’ve heard multiple ways of making this mousse and most are vegan. I personally wanted milk in mine and real sugar for the taste factor. Chocolate seems to be my weakness lately, and I wanted to make a dessert that would satisfy my craving, but not make me cringe next time I step on the scale.

You Need for Avocado Mousse:

• 2-4 ripe avocados
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup white sugar (or some other sugar option like agave or truvia)
• 1/2 cup milk (as always I used lactose free milk. This time I used a 2% milk because I wanted it a little creamier)
• 1 Tbs of vanilla extract
• 1 Tsp of peppermint extract (optional)
• pinch of salt

For Other Layers in the dessert from the picture:

• 1 cup raw sunflower seeds without the shell (nuts could work really well for this too. Almonds would be perfect)
• French Vanilla Non Fat Yogurt (you can really use any yogurt. Imagine that sprinkle of instant coffee or heathbar yogurt. Heck you could make it a frozen yogurt on the bottom. MMMMmmmmm)
• Raspberry or berry of choice. You could even do chocolate shavings or mini chocolate chips.
• Mint leaf

1. Whip the avocados in a food processor until creamy. Then place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and sweet enough to your liking. Mine tasted more like a dark chocolate. With the mint extract it really made the flavors burst. Use a spatula to make sure all is getting blended on the sides of the blender.

2. The sunflower seeds are going to be chopped up. Make sure it’s not too finely chopped up or it will be more of a thick powder. Remember you are looking for a sort of crunch.

3. Layer your ingredients into a dessert dish of choice. Serve and enjoy!

Sunny Chili Chopped Salad

We have suddenly gone from amazing summer like weather here in Massachusetts to bitter winds chilling the bones. Can I have spring? Please? I know it technically is spring… but I want to enjoy going outside.

My mom at the moment is in the hospital, and I brought her a couple of magazines. I happened to come across a really good recipe in there for a similar salad.. but I wanted to tweak it a bit to more of my liking. Meat has been hurting my stomach lately, but I’m still trying to have a rounded diet of the right foods. I don’t want to skimp on protein. Quinoa is becoming one of my favorite staples for a great source of filling protein. I have been sticking with Trader Joe’s mixed colored quinoa to add a little life to my meals. As you have come to know, I love color. Brighter the better.

The original recipe is from Fitness Magazine by Chloe Coscarelli (Chloe’s Kitchen:125 easy, delicious recipes for making the food you love the vegan way), but her’s is called “California Chipotle Chopped Salad”. This is my version of her salad.

Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies! (shhh don’t tell your kids)

This recipe is for my cousin Meghan. My Aunt Carole mentioned that she was interested in some dessert ideas that were gluten free for her. So here it is 🙂 Bonus that there is fiber and protein.

I tried making these about a month ago, but it was a vegan recipe: Vegan Black Bean Brownie. My cousin Allison and I were going to bake it together over the phone; her in Florida and me in MA. We were going to give our opinions on the recipe, and see if it was a new thing we’d like to share with our friends. I thought it sucked. It tasted like black bean dip that had been soaked in cocoa powder. It looked nothing like the picture when I was done, and I felt kinda upset over wasting my black beans.

We had a snow day on the 1st this month, and I thought to give it another go… but my way. I placed in the ingredients I felt it needed, and adjusted as I went. I was very happy with the outcome. I might try adding 2 tablespoons of my french vanilla fat free yogurt just for a little better texture, but I was very happy with the outcome (I did down like 6 out of the 9 brownies it made in less than 2 days… -_-)  I might even try adding some soy nut butter to make it more of a “peanut free” butter swirl thing. Anyway, this is a very simple recipe. All the tools you will need to make it will be a blender, an 8X8 pan, and an oven.

Trinity Pie

This is a favorite of my family. We have made this since I was a little girl, and my dad was served it as a kid. It’s one of those meals where I feel I need to share considering there is so much history to it. It’s a part of me, and I love how food can tell stories. My dad told me “Don’t give away the family secret meal! You’re like the Bush’s beans dog!”, but I feel like I’m not really giving it away. I’m sharing something that was filled with love and looked forward to.