A Monday....

      Mondays are always crazy and a mad dash so I keep it as easy as possible when it comes to cooking.

     The morning started with  a Winter Earl Grey White Tea Latte and a half of a Udi's bagel with almond butter and a sliced Banana. I found this White Earl Grey at the Berkley Bowl in Berkley by Harney & Sons Fine Teas.  A White Tea Earl Grey was a great find because the caffeine level is so much lower and packed with more antioxidants then any other tea.  White Teas are not toasted so they are more of a "raw tea" so you get more out of them then any other.

      Later came two loads of laundry, stripping the bed, answered 12 emails and it was lunch time.

     Daiya grilled cheese and sauteed kale. I used this great Gluten Free bread made with Quinoa flour that I found at the Berkley Bowl. It is baked by a Gluten Free bakery called the Grindstone located in Northern California. They do mail order so check them out. Such great breads. I added sauerkraut to mine Ben had his without and asked for five more when he was done. One pan, fast clean up and sooooo good! 

 Now back to working on my secret project. So exciting!!!  I made a Matcha Green Tea latte with Almond Milk which is sooo good. Matcha is another antioxidant power house. It takes a little practice to work with because it is in powder form, but with a latte you just make the steamed milk and whisk in the powder directly in your mug with a small whisk and add maybe some vanilla extract and some stevia and you are good to go.

Tic-toc Ben is home and it is time for dinner. Again, super fast dinner. I made salmon under the broiler just eight minutes and rub the salmon with a Asian rub I buy from Dean and Deluca. Toss  a salad with some left over red quinoa and dinner is ready!

I hope everybody got through their Monday without many bruises or battle scares.

Later,
Shara

Sweet mornings in disquise with super foods....

Sorry the photo is not that great I took it with my old camera that died a few months ago. Thank goodness Ben had a spare for me to use.

My morning almond milk, double shot, home made latte would not be complete with out Raw Cacao Powder from Navitas Naturals. I was reading a article on Harvard Health Publications about the heart healthy benefits of Cacao Powder and anti inflammatory properties. It is for sure a SUPER FOOD in every since of the word reading more into the article. Doing more research I found that two and half tablespoons gives you 2% calcium, 8% Iron, 4 grams of fiber, 3 grams of protein and 67.5mg of magnesium. The kicker is that it has fifteen more times the antioxidants found in a glass of red wine and twenty-one times that of a cup of green tea, even blueberries cannot compete with this stuff!!!!

The Cacao Powder is rich in flavonoids that can help with so many things from pre-mature ageing, fighting environmental damage happening in out bodies, anti-inflammatory properties and help with heart health in lowering blood pressure. Even help with your mood and boost endorphin levels.

The cacao powder also makes a excellent hot chocolate as well. I just add a little more sweetness to the almond milk and leave out the espresso shots. If you do not have a milk frothier just add two cups of some kind of milk and two tablespoons of the cacao powder and heat over medium heat while whisking until heated, combined and frothy. I like to add a few pinches of cinnamon and nutmeg and maybe a little vanilla extract or peppermint extract. YUM!!!

Peas and thank you

 

Now for Vegans out there you all know this book and Sarah's blog very well. Sarah Matheny writes the popular blog Peas and Thank You. She is married and started out practicing law, then started a family and now has a Vegan cooking and baking fallowing that may rival Rachel Ray soon enough. She just published her cook book and semi-autobiography Peas and thank you, and refers to her self as "MamaPea". She has similar nick names for her children, Husband and family. I am not sure where that came about and it may be buried in her blog some where as to how that started, cute non-the-less.

She is writing a second book because there is such a shortage for this style of Vegan cook book. I really like her blog and get a lot of use out of it especially on the two days a week Ben and I eat Vegan.  Isa Chandra Moskowitz, of the Post Punk Kitchen blog and well known writer of many Vegan cook books is still my favorite of Vegan food writers, but Sarah has a different spin. Her audience is Parents of small children, especially stay at home parents. She is a great representative for stay at home parents in every way. If you start to read her blog you will find out why, so you should after you read my review, and then log on to Amazon.com and buy her book to!

Now for my review of the book:

Book Overall: Very Good
Organization: Excellent
Ease of use: Excellent
Photography and overall look: Very Good
Recipes: Good to Excellent
Skill level required: Beginning to Medium skills required
Readability: Very Good and entertaining for sure, but sometimes a little long where some personal stories where concerned.
Who would find this book most useful: Singles, Families and Empty Nesters that have normal to generous grocery budgets who like to cook or want to learn to cook Vegan dishes.
Recipes can be converted to GF: Yes, for sure no problem with a few exceptions.
Prior knowledge: If you are new to being Vegan or are a Flexitarian, like Ben and I, this is a good intro to Vegan cooking over all and something for seasoned Vegans to. She gives a lot of short cuts to making things fast especially on a busy week night.
Ease of finding ingredients required: Easy to Hard. She uses a lot of things from Trader Joes, and of course you can find everything at Whole Foods, but most can be found at major super markets.  Some things may have to be ordered from the Internet if you do not live near a Health Food store like a Whole Foods, Wild Oats or Elliot's.

Recipe stand outs:

The Thai veggie burgers where great using cabbage leaves for the buns. I just used GF oats and they turned out great. I substituted the cilantro for basil because I did not have it. Worked out fine.

The peanut butter cookie dough balls worked out great with my GF flour mix that I always use for sweet backed goods.

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These where un-expected and very good. Great use of chickpeas.


If you would like to buy the book go to Amazon.com
or 
go to Peas and Thank You
I highly recommend joining Sarah's blog as well!!

Skin by Ann Webb Gluten Free

Ann Webb's Coffee Berry Eye and Lip Balm

How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways...

You soften the lines around the corners of my eyes
You soften the lines around my mouth
You rid my under eyes of the dark circles that never went away no matter how much water I drank and sleep I would get.
You are the best product I have used and hope you never stop being made....


I was standing in line at Whole Foods months ago and saw this at the check out. Usually I do not impulse by items especially at the check out. This stick caught my eye though because it said Gluten Free on the packaging. People do not realize how much Gluten is in make up and skin care as fillers and thickeners. So I went home and did some surfing around the web to find out about Miss Ann Webb. I think I was sold after reading about the ingredients she uses and how happy people are when they have gone to her Skin Spa in Austin, Texas. Most of her products are Organic, Gluten Free, Paraben Free, Vegan and Phthalate Free. This is no easy feet for a skin care line. Most can do only one or the other so this is impressive for sure.

So on my next trip to Whole Foods I picked it up. Now the best way to use this is before you go to bed after you wash your face, and then again when you get up after you wash your face again like most skin products. You can put it under concealers and make up with no problem. Also apply to lips and the outer area around the lips. This will help with those fine lines that all ladies develop over time. I would not reapply during the day because it is a stick and you apply it around your eyes and and mouth so keeping it bacteria free is key. So leave it at home and not in your purse.  Enjoy:)

If you want to find out more about Ann Webb's product range check out her website:
Skin by Ann Webb

With winter coming this  stick would make your face so happy as the cold air whips by as well.

Un-Cheese Spread

Ok another field trip to Whole foods to seek out some kind of Vegan chip or cracker dip. I really love cheese and crackers but not the fat content that comes with it. I just cannot eat as much as I like so I have made some home made Vegan un-cheese and I make a lot of Vegan Queso and un-cheese sauces. I will share those recipes soon. They do the trick for my cravings during the week. Sometimes I am running out of time and just need to grab something instead of making things from scratch.

Off I went to Whole Foods and looked high and low for something that was cheesy, healthy, gluten free and possibly not over processed to slather on my beloved Mary's Gone Crackers Original Seed flavor crackers.

So I found WAYFARE brand "We Can't Say It's Cheese Cheddar Spread"! They make Vegan un-cheese spreads in a few flavors, sour cream and puddings in three flavors. All are GF, Casein free, soy free, all natural. The spread is Pareve(Kosher) and GF certified. I have only tried the un-cheese spreads, but I asked my Whole Foods if they could order the Puddings and un-Sour Cream. I am not a Vegan, but I like to use Vegan products and cook Vegan a few times a week. The WAYFARE website also has quite a few recipes to try using their products. If you are in a pinch these are great.