All Things Green

This morning I got out of bed at 5 AM and had all intentions of getting on that bus and heading into work. My stomach, on the other hand, rebelled. I thought things had calmed down in time to get on the bus, but I ended up scuttling home as quickly as possible and locking myself in the bathroom. Annie was ecstatic that I decided to call in sick and we ended up spending all day curled up on the couch. This morning I decided that it was time for my first green juice feast and to hopefully help balance the bacteria profile in my gut.

My immune system isn't normal, and my stomach seems to be my weak point. It's the first thing to start bugging me before a lupus flare and a good sign that things are wonky. I've struggled for a long time with intestinal candida, and I'm afraid I did myself in yesterday. I'm on Amphotericin (I was on Nystatin and that didn't work) and a low carbohydrate diet. I've been on the low carbohydrate diet a while and baked cookies for a potluck yesterday. I showed amazing will power and resisted shoveling chocolate chip heaven into my mouth. Until we got home. My chocolate chip cookies are amazing...but in the back of my mind I knew there would be a fallout (no pun intended) and couldn't really enjoy my one cookie. It's frustrating.

Green Juice Feast

After this morning, I started juicing everything I had in my crisper. In went cilantro, ginger, kale, cucumber, celery, a little fennel, and romaine lettuce. Right now I'm prepping spinach, lettuce, parsley, cucumber, and celery in a vinegar solution. It's a good thing I've been craving green juices lately! I used to hate them. It's amazing how cravings change.

I tested the juice, and it wasn't half bad. Annie was jumping up and down in the kitchen, so I poured some in her bowl. I'm not going to say she LOVED it, but she drank it all. I am a little proud - she's hard core.


This evening we went to the grocery store and picked up more greens since I drank most of the crisper today. Annie was in hog heaven because I kept dropping pieces of kale and spinach. She always creeps in to the kitchen and skulks off with a big piece of kale (her favorite).

Each batch of green juice contains:
1/2" - 1" long piece of ginger
1/2 a fennel bulb
1 bunch celery (leaves and all)
1 large bunch kale
1/2 bunch spinach
1 head romaine lettuce
1/2 cup cilantro (loose)
1/2 cup parsley (loose)
1 large cucumber


I was expecting to be dizzy with hunger. If I'm late for a meal or don't pack enough calories to work, I'm a mess. A shaky, cranky mess. Today I am surprised how well I feel. I've been sipping the green juice all day and supplementing with tea. I've been using a "Perk Up" tea with burdock and ginger. I'm also supplementing with probiotics. We will see how the next few days go, but don't be surprised if I don't do much baking. I am loving Janet Evanovich's novels right now, but I never realized how much she talked about food until today. The main character is a pastry/baked food addict and some of the descriptions have made me a little hungry.

It's Time to Plan the Garden

This evening I have big plans. I'm going to start checking out the Seattle Tilth's Maritime Northwest Garden Guide calendar and comparing the schedule to our supplies and the Territorial Seed Company catalog I just received. Last year our early garden did quite well. The weather got very strange this summer (so WET all the TIME), so things didn't do very well. We did save a lot of money on groceries regardless of the weather issues, and it is great to have an excuse to play in the dirt and find a closer connection with food.


If I get my act together, we can start planting outside under cloches as early as late February. Cloches are super simple to make and improve things tremendously. They also help keep many pests out initially.

Avoiding Food Borne Illness

The other night, Lance and I were sitting and watching the early news. Usually I don't bother watching news. It's often depressing or I sit yelling at the television because of some wild statement. That night wasn't much of an exception. The news casters started talking about the new Food Safety bill (please do some reading - there are some who say it opens the door to eliminating seed saving and will make it nearly impossible for small sustainable farms to function) and made a segway into people getting ill from a local sprouting provider. They of course sensationalized the story and talked about how common it is to get ill from sprouts. They had a really small blip about how no one had gone to the ER or been hospitalized.

Last year, I was hospitalized twice from food contamination. I have lupus, so I'm much more sensitive than normal people. It wasn't from sprouts, meat, eggs (I was on a vegan diet by then), or any of the usual suspects. Because of the particular bacteria and parasite, my doctor felt it may have been either the mangoes or avocados from Central America. I thought I was really careful with my food by either soaking it in a vinegar solution, or washing with antibacterial soap if the skins are inedible. I don't think people understand how frequently we are exposed to parasites and bacteria. Most people don't notice any symptoms at all while their immune system comes to the rescue. Some people may think they have the "stomach flu" or a stomach virus. Because of how common I was told this exposure it, I did some reading and discovered that one of the best ways to prevent bacterial contamination and even remove pesticide residue is to use a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution (food grade).


Food grade hydrogen peroxide is available in most health food stores. I purchase mine from rawvegansource.com. To be fair to the local evening news station, sprouts (particularly alfalfa) are a fairly notorious source of e. coli and other potentially harmful bacteria and molds. As sprouts germinate, they generate quite a bit of heat. If you've ever done any of your own sprouting and reached your hand into the jar, it really is quite warm. Combine that with moisture and it's a great place for bacteria to live and multiply. Rinsing the sprouts three times a day is helpful, but I spritz them with food grade hydrogen peroxide after they have finished sprouting and continue to rinse them once a day each day they are in the fridge.


Please consider using food grade peroxide and/or giving your fresh fruits and veggies a 10 minute soak in water and a little apple cider vinegar if you intend to eat them raw. Raw foods are wonderful for you and I am not encouraging people to avoid them by any means. Because our environment is so sterile and we no longer work in the soil with a lot of bacteria exposure for our bodies to develop a resistance, it's now wise to take a few extra precautions.

Lydia's Organics and Columbia Gorge Organic Product Reviews

Thursday was a long day. I got up at 5 AM to get ready for work and make it to the early bus, and I stayed over an hour later than usual at work to train employees. Not usually a big deal, but the evening bus took about 30+ minutes longer to get home than projected because of traffic and I had miscalculated the number of calories I brought to work . I was in "hangry" mode. If the word "hangry" is new to you, I'm happy for you. A pregnant friend of mine found the definition and embraced it: Hungry to the point of being angry and/or frustrated.

I walked in the front door and my husband said, "Uh oh." Poor Lance. He knows what I look like when I'm hangry and he quickly came up with a plan to go to Whole Foods to pick up something easy. Hangry passed and I went into the zombie stage midway through the produce section. Zombie stage is bad because I stop recognizing the difference between the food that is on the diet and the food that is not (diet meaning low carb; I don't compromise on the vegan aspect). Zombie stage is kind of good because I'm not snappy...just spaced out and giggly like the stoners in my high school classes. They never made sense when they spoke, and I imagine that's how I probably sounded in the checkout line at Whole Foods - a step away from blowing spit bubbles.

I decided to stick with my low carb diet and get a green juice and some kale chips.

Lydia's Organics Mega Green Kale Krunchies.

Typically I make my own kale chips, but these kale chips are something I'll happily have on hand in the future for hunger emergencies. They had a nice flavor with a surprising little spicy kick. The major pluses for me were that they do not contain yeast, cashews, tomatoes, or other ingredients I tend to avoid. The only critical comment I have is that they must fall apart a bit during shipping because the large pieces quickly disappeared and the majority of the bag was little crumbs that were very messy to eat.


Columbia Gorge Organic Just Greens


I am not always a big green juice fan, but lately I've been craving them more. The label had me a little worried because mustard greens and collard greens were listed as ingredients and there wasn't any fruit to balance the bitterness. It seems as though they must use a lot of celery and cucumber (with a pleasant hint of parsley) to balance the greens out. I wasn't overwhelmed at all. The label boasts that the two servings in the bottle are equivalent to 2 pounds of fresh produce. Downside: The juice is flash pasteurized, so it's not exactly raw.

It doesn't seem like these two things would be filling, but with a handful of macadamia nuts, I slipped out of my food coma and was able to function again until bed time.

Sweet Potato Pie Cupcakes

I have started to realize three things. 1) Even if it's easier for me to reproduce recipes with weights, it's not always easy for everyone else. Not everyone has a scale in their kitchen. I promise it makes baking gluten free successfully so much easier, but not everyone has that kind of time. 2) A substantial number of people with gluten intolerance/allergies also have tree nut allergies. 3) Complex recipes may taste great, but they can be overwhelming. I will still post recipes that range from simple to complex, but I'll make more effort to be more conscientious about tree nuts.

Keeping that in mind, this recipe is tree nut free without sacrificing taste or texture. This batch can easily be doubled, this is just the amount I like to make when I'm testing out a recipe. I had a range of coworkers test it out and they liked the texture and flavor. One person commented that they'd like a little more cinnamon or a cream cheese like frosting. I'll see what I can do to get that kind of flavor in a frosting with vegan ingredients.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes
Makes 9 cupcakes (prep time 15 min, cook time 25 min)
2/3 c Teff Flour
2 T Arrowroot Powder
2/3 Brown Rice Flour
1.5 T ground Chia Seeds
3/4 t Baking Soda
1/4 t Baking Powder
1/2 t Salt
1/2 c vegan Maple Syrup
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp fresh grated Nutmeg
1 1/4 small chopped Sweet Potato
1/4 c Coconut Oil
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Measure out and sift the teff, arrowroot, brown rice, chia, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Put the sweet potato, maple, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and coconut oil in a high speed blender until a little frothy and very smooth. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. After you get the cupcake liners ready in the pan, add the apple cider vinegar to the batter and stir vigorously. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 of the way up and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Thai Inspired Soup

It has been freezing in Seattle, and we are just not used to this kind of weather. It's been around 20 in the morning (I know, it's balmy for Alaska, Colorado, or most of the East Coast, but we're spoiled!) and Annie has had to wear two jackets outside and still comes inside shaking.

Annie modeling her little jacket

It was frigid on the way to the bus this morning, so when I got home I decided it was time for some soup. I had some bean sprouts, spinach, and a few other ingredients in the fridge, so I decided to go with a Thai inspired soup. The type of food I loved the most was Thai. Then my food allergies came back. And then I went vegan. Fish sauce is a mystery (and it's obviously made from fish), there's soy in several dishes, and I just don't feel good after eating it even if I avoid the suspect and non-vegan ingredients. I didn't have galangal in my fridge or lemon grass, and I obviously don't use fish sauce, so this is a rough interpretation. It's very low calorie and low carbohydrate, which is great for my diet.


Thai Inspired Soup
2-3 TB Grapeseed Oil
3-4 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 Shallots, sliced
2 Ribs of Celery, diced
2 Carrots, diced
4 leaves of Kale, de-stemmed and rough chopped
1 bunch of Spinach
1 tsp Salt
1 Lemon, juiced
1 Serrano Chili, sliced
5 cups of Water
3 T Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 T Agave
1 pack Mung Bean Sprouts
1 handful Cilantro

Warm up a wok (electric or stove top - I use a stainless steel stove top Wok) and add the carrots, shallots, garlic, and celery. Cook until the shallots start to go a little translucent and then add the salt. Add the rough chopped kale and cook until it wilts a little. Add the spinach, lemon juice, chili, apple cider vinegar, agave, water, sprouts and cilantro. Cook just until the spinach and cilantro wilts a little. I like the vegetables al dante. If you don't care much for spicy food, remove the seeds from the chili before cooking.

As a little added bonus, I add a teaspoon of soy free Miso Master chickpea miso to the soup bowl after I've dished up. It's delicious either way and great for heating up after a cold day.

Soy free chickpea miso

Mango Sauce

This sauce is great for teff waffles, crepes, pancakes, and vanilla Coconut Bliss "ice cream." It's super easy to make, which always helps.

Mango Sauce
makes enough for 2 hungry pancake eaters, or 4 ice cream bowls
6 oz (appx 1 cup) chopped mango (frozen is fine)
2 TB lemon juice
2 TB orange juice
3 TB maple syrup
1 TB tapioca starch

Put the ingredients in a small sauce pan, except the tapioca starch. Turn the pan on to medium, and while the pan is heating up, put the tapioca in a small bowl with enough water to liquefy the starch. Put the starch in the pan and stir occasionally. Once the mixture has gone from cloudy to clear and a little gooey, it's done!

Today is a short, easy post. It was my first day back to work for a full work week and waking up at 5AM to catch the bus. Lance had the day off, and I can tell he and Annie had a lot of fun because she is so tired. And bugging me to sit down and pet her. Lance is her fun time buddy and I'm her snuggle buddy. It all works out.

Pet me, hold me, DO SOMETHING!

Coming soon: Adventures with eliminating tree nuts! A lot of my cookie and breakfast recipes are tree nut free, but I've come to rely on them with cakes and cupcakes for that wonderful, buttery richness. They really help achieve a superior texture, which means I'll be tinkering around with new techniques.

Molasses Gingersnaps

If you love ginger, these are the cookies for you. After seeing these cookies on The Daily Dietribe and these cookies on Andrea's easy vegan cooking, I was in the mood to make some spicy, gluten free, vegan cookies with a molasses finish. Teff is a very versatile flour that I have used heavily in the past few months. It has molasses undertones, so although there isn't very much molasses in this recipe, it does come through.

Molasses Gingersnaps
yield: 1 dozen good sized cookies
3 oz White Rice Flour
5 oz Teff Flour
1 oz Arrowroot Powder
1/2 cup vegan Sugar
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 Tb ground Chia Seeds
1 tsp powdered Ginger
1/2 tsp Allspice
2 oz finely minced Crystalized Ginger*
2.4 oz Sulfur Free Molasses
4.5 oz Sunflower Oil
2-4 Tb Turbinado Sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all of the dry ingredients thoroughly, then add the minced crystalized ginger and stir so it is distributed evenly. Add the molasses and sunflower oil. This is a dryish batter (it won't be a big cohesive chunk of dough; it will clump together in separate large clumps). You will need to handle and press the cookies together a bit. It shouldn't be hard to get the cookies to take a cookie shape on the cookie sheet. Press a little bit of turbinado sugar onto the top of the cookies and then bake for 12 minutes.

*A lot of crystalized ginger is treated with Citric Acid or sulfur dioxide to keep a light yellow color. The problem with this is that Citric Acid is made from corn and sulfur dioxide is a preservative otherwise known as "E220" and the precurser to sulfuric acid. I was able to find some crystalized ginger that was a darker brown that only contained ginger and evaporated cane juice in the bulk section of my health food grocery store.

To see what treated ginger looks like, click here.

To see what untreated ginger looks like, click here.