Forbidden Rice or Why I Have Blackish-Purple Teeth Today

While my family hasn’t gone fully vegan or even vegetarian yet, we do eat that way most of the time. As a result, we have begun to incorporate new and interesting ingredients to keep things fun, new and flavorful. I’ll be blogging about ingredients that are new to my cooking repertoire, the nutritional information and examples of how I’ve used them just in case inquiring minds want to know. 

First up….Forbidden Rice!

I stumbled upon Forbidden Rice at my local whole foods and picked up a bag because, hey who doesn’t to try black rice?!? It’s actually a very dark purple color, not black and if you make it in a rice cooker it will spew dark puple steam all over your countertop (yikes!). The good news is that it wipes up easily and doesn’t leave any permanent stains. The manufacturer’s website says:

Legend tells us that this ancient grain was once eaten exclusively by the Emperors. Today, this medium-size Chinese black rice can be enjoyed everyday and is prized for its delicious nutty taste, soft texture, and beautiful rich deep purple color. High in nutritional and medicinal value, Forbidden Rice® is rich in iron and considered a blood tonifier. Unlike other black rice from Asia, it is not glutinous or rough and cooks in only 30 minutes to produce a superior flavor, texture, and color.

The website also lists nutritional information and links to recipes. I have used the rice as an alternative base to my vegetable stir fry. It has a different texture and flavor than plain, white rice, but I think that’s a good thing. It definately adds visual appeal to your dish, but remember it will add a purple hue to your entire mouth as well. It looks a bit as if I’ve just had a grape nehi or a puple gobstopper for lunch.

As far as nutritional value goes, it is on a scale of goodness better than glutinous white rice, but not as good as medium-grain brown rice and should be considered moderately inflammatory. If you have GI issues, you may consider limiting the amount of rice you eat. However, for everyone else, rice has no saturated fat, cholesterol and is low sodium and is a good source of manganese.

Enjoy!

A New Staple Cookbook: The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook

I’ve been looking to expand my cookbook selection and was lucky enough to stumble upon this little gem, The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook by Robin Robertson. The title appealed to me because my family isn’t fully vegetarian, but we do eat mostly vegetarian meals. By that I mean, that I cook vegetarian/vegan options on the weekdays and usually the weekends end up being a free-for-all. I can’t imagine a life without the occasional burger or sushi, so we just limit our meat intake to one or two meals a week. That being said, it’s been a tough road of trial and error learning to cook vegetarian/vegan meals. Some have been great, so good that I would take it over the juiciest steak any day, but unfortunately some have been so bad that I yearned for a nice cardboard box to chew on in exchange. I’ve had this book for a few weeks now and have the opportunity to read it cover to cover several times and have made quite a few dinners from it as well.  While the overwhelming majority have been good, there are a few bland ones and one that was actually dangerous. That’s right, I said dangerous. It was the Chipotle-Glazed Portobello Fajitas on page 154, where the recipe said to use “one 6-ounce can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce”.  Um..no, don’t do it! However, the happy ending to this story comes when I get all in a huff, track down this Robin Robertsons website and send her an email informing her of the severe gastro-intestinal distress this nightmare of a recipe caused. I did not expect her to return an email, it just made me feel better to give her what for.  Imagine my surprise, when just a few hours later I got a lovely, apologetic email with the recipe correction and the promise to notify her publisher. What a class act! So, it turns out you are only supposed to use 1, or 2 peppers if you are feeling really adventurous; never the whole can.  This being the first recipe that I had made I was fully ready to light this book afire until I received that email detailing the mistake and the correction (Thanks again Ms. Robertson!), but after that I felt a little better about diving back in. So, don’t let this experience put you off, just remember to update your copy on page 154.  Two of my very favorite recipes in the book are Vegetarian Scrapple (sheer genius!) and Oyster Mushroom Chowder. These healthy and delicious alternatives to my favorite country girl comfort foods have long made up for “the chipotle fajitas incident”.  I live in the city now, but these dishes take me right back to my roots in rural St. Mary’s County where Scrapple and Oyster stew are old-fashioned staples. There are at least two dozen more recipes that I intend to plow through and in the end, this book has some really great vegetarian alternatives for people who like to eat meat.

Oyster Mushroom Chowder

The creamy oyster mushroom has a slightly “seafood” taste and a texture similar to oysters. Kelp flakes, or ground kelp, are available in shaker containers in natural food stores. Sprinkled on the chowder, it makes a lovely garnish while adding a nutritious taste of the sea.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 large white potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or l/8 teaspoon dried
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 1/2 cups soy milk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
• 8 ounces oyster mushrooms
• 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• Kelp flakes (optional)

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery. Cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, stock, thyme, salt, and cayenne and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the potato is soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer 1 cup of the mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth. Return the mixture to the soup and stir in the soy milk. Heat to a simmer and stir in the cornstarch mixture, stirring to thicken. Slice or quarter any larger mushrooms, leaving the smaller ones whole or halved. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium skillet, add the mushrooms, sprinkle with the Old Bay seasoning and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms to the soup, taste to adjust seasonings, and serve. Garnish with kelp flakes if desired.

Serves 4

Grab a copy for yourself here:

Crockpot Mushroom, Wild Rice, Lima Bean Soup

This recipe has been modified from the original Butterbean Soup with Portabellas and Wild Rice to use the items I had in my pantry and give it a bit more flavor because I found the original to be a bit bland.  While my recipe is no longer fat-free thanks to the addition of a bit of olive oil, it is still vegan and delicious. I’ve been addicted to my crockpot lately and relied on that to slow cook my soup while I was at work and I walked in to a delicious warm meal on a bitterly cold day; a real treat. I also paired mine with a bit of sourdough garlic toast for dinner and then poured the remaining soup over the leftovers from the Wild Mushroom Risotto for lunch today and it is amazing! I’ll break my recipe down to show the steps that I took to prep the night before I began cooking.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Dry lima beans (could substitute butter beans, navy beans or whatever you’ve got in your pantry).

2 medium onions, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

6 cups water

6 oz mushrooms, sliced ( I used plain old buttons, but cremini would be great).

1/4 cup wild rice

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped

1 tsp soy sauce

1-2 tsp salt (to taste)

1 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1 – 2 tbsp cumin (to taste)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp smoked paprika

*My family loves smoky, spicy flavors and they really paired well with this dish, but if you prefer you can crank up or turn down the heat by adding or omitting the cayenne

Day 1 (the evening before I planned to serve the meal)

Place the dry beans in a large bowl and fill with water, then set aside to soak overnight. Next, saute the onions in 1 tbsp of olive oil until soft and translucent Add the garlic to the onions and continue to saute for another minute or two, until the onions begin to brown and the garlic/onion mixture is fragrant. Fill your crockpot (I used a 4qt and had plenty of room) with the water, onion/garlic mixture, wild rice, soy sauce, salt, pepper, sage, and rosemary and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Day 2

In the morning, add the beans and mushrooms to the crock pot and cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. After 8+ hours have passed, give the soup a stir and use a potato masher to soften the beans and thicken the soup. Finally, add the remaining spices, top with a swirl of olive oil and serve.

It’s an easy, filling and healthy soup perfect for a cold winter’s day with a crusty loaf of bread and a glass of wine. Enjoy!

Love Your Swiffer Mop but Hate the Waste?

Ah, the new year. I enjoyed celebrating the coming of 2010 with friends and family in my home with lots of snacks and libations. Unfortunately I now have to begin the dreaded clean-up. Fortunately, I purchased my Swiffer Wet Jet many moons ago and use it weekly. I love my Swiffer because it is easy to use and I don’t have to fill or empty buckets of water and cleaning solution to use it for spills, etc. For a really thorough cleaning I still go with the old school brush and bucket method, but for a quick kitchen clean-up and those high traffic areas of wood floor in my home you can’t beat it. However, the refills are both expensive and wasteful. They don’t make compostable Wet Jet pads and they are made mostly of plastic, which means that they will be sitting in a landfill sometime for just about ever. On Instructables they have great tutorials on how to remove that pesky cap on top of the solution bottle so that you can refill it with your own inexpensive and environmentally-friendly cleaning solution like this one:

Lemony Eco-Friendly Floor Cleaner Recipe
1 gallon water
3/4 cups olive oil
1/2 cup rubbing alcohol
1/2 cup lemon juice

or if you would still prefer to pay more to purchase floor cleaner, but choose one that is environmentally-friendly you can go with any of the products listed at the end. The second tutorial from Instructables shows you how to make your own Wet Jet replacement pads from recycled tshirts.  Finally, at the end there are links to the Wet Jet starter kit, if you haven’t yet purchased one, as well as links to green cleaning products that you can buy to refill the solution bottle.  Happy Cleaning!

How to remove the cap on a Swiffer Wet-Jet cleaner bottle. – More DIY How To Projects

Swiffer Mop Pad (a reusable one!) – More DIY How To Projects

Products to Buy:

The Cookie Exchange: 4 Dozen Gluten-Free, Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

My mother has decided to begin an annual tradition of exchanging cookies. The idea is that everyone brings four dozen cookies and we all eat lunch, sample the cookies and play games to spend time with friends and kindle that Christmas spirit. The challenge is that we are a motley crew and among us we have meatatarians, country girls, gluten-free gals and some weirdo vegans (ie, mom, and yes that is a tongue-in-cheek reference).  Everyone is short on time and funds during the holidays and some of us (ahem) are just challenged in the baking arena, so coming up with an easy, low-cost DIY gluten-free, vegan cookie recipe was tough.  Luckily I found a good recipe base online and with just a few simple modifications I present to you:

The No-Bake Gluten-Free, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter “Cookie”

*The term cookie is used loosely here because there isn’t any actual cooking involved This recipe makes 48 cookies.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Sugar in the Raw

1 Cup RICE DREAM Rice Drink, Enriched Original, Organic

1 Cup Hershey’s Cocoa, Special Dark

5 Cups Bob’s Red Mill Organic Quick Cooking Rolled Oats

1 Cup Smart Balance Light Butter

1 Cup Natural, No-stir peanut butter

2 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:

Place oats, peanut butter and vanilla into a large bowl. Next, combine sugar, milk, cocoa powder and butter substitute in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir frequently and allow to boil for about one minute, or until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined, thick and bubbly. Pour the chocolate mixture over the oats mixture and stir well. Really work to combine the mixture quickly because it will thicken and begin to solidify as it cools. Form about a tablespoon of the mixture at a time in your hands like little burger patties and then place onto waxed or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Once you have formed all 48, place into the fridge to cool.  You can dust with powdered sugar once cooled to make them look a bit more festive, as in their natural state my daughter and I decided that they look a bit like reindeer poo Enjoy!

DIY Green Cleaning Products

I recently read a great article from WebMD titled, “The Best Non-toxic Ways to Clean Your Home” which talks about the rise of green cleaning products and the cheap, old-fashioned green cleaning products that were used by generations before. I was familiar with some of these already, but some are new to me and I wanted to share these with you:

For more great tips and advice on how to clean in an inexpensive and environmentally-friendly way, pick-up Clean: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing by Michael Dejong. This book is currently new to my library, but it’s really a great buy; here is the description from Amazon:

Home-made Gifts: Bath Salts

My family knows that each year I’m good for home-made gifts. I’m not sure if everyone appreciates them, but too freaking bad if they don’t. My daughter and I really enjoy spending time together making crafty Christmas presents for friends and family and its less expensive, more eco-friendly and we really put a lot of love into it. Last year we made soap and cookies, which we cycle through every few years. This year I’d like to make some other bath and beauty products using natural ingredients for our friends and family to use. I really love bath and body products, but unless the budget has a lot of space I often don’t splurge on these types of presents for myself. So, here is the first recipe that I have found for bath salts. I plan to try this out in the next few weeks so that the essential oils really have time to soak into the salts. I’m planning on saving the glass jars that my favorite peaches come in to re-purpose for the packaging. I think doing a multi-layer colored bath salts might be fun too, just to give the clear glass packaging some interest. I’ll take pictures and post once I’ve got a few finished. Essential oils are easily purchased online or at most craft stores fairly inexpensively. Fortunately in Baltimore City there are lots of great shops where I can visit to test before I buy and there are many organic, all-natural options as well. So, get ready to start crafting for the holidays.  Here are a few recipes that I found online so you can DIY:

My favorite is actually a link to another blog that shows you how to make lots of homemade bath and body recipes and I’m really looking forward to trying these:

Bath Recipes (Pioneer Thinking)

• Great ideas on creating natural scents including using Dr. Bronner’s soap
  and beet juice for coloring.

• Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps Pure-Castile Soap, 18-in-1 Hemp Tea Tree, 32-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 2)

Bath Salts (from Sherri Osborn on About.com)

• I have some reservations about the mess in my tub that the food coloring might make…I’ll be sure to do a test run before gifting…

Homemade Bath Salts and Decorative Jars (Jane Lake)

• Very thorough with free labels for decorating your jars

General Instructions:
1. Collect your jars, remove labels, then wash and dry thoroughly.

2. For most bath salts recipes you can use your choice of epsom salts or sea salt, with baking soda, if desired, or a combination of all three. One good mix is one cup of epsom salts, with 1/4 cup of sea salt, and two or three tablespoons of baking soda. A little more or less of each ingredient is fine for most bath salts. Epsom salts and sea salt are soothing for tired muscles, while both will gently soften the water for a luxurious bath experience. You could also add a tablespoon or two of finely ground regular oatmeal (not quick cooking) for silky, skin-softening water.

3. Fill each jar to the top with the combination of bath salts that you plan to use. Empty the salts into a mixing jar and add a drop or two of glycerin, if using. Add your choice of essential oil – how many drops you use is a personal preference, but start with two or three drops and see if you like the fragrance. The same goes for the liquid food coloring; sometimes I use quite a few drops of food color to get the strong hue that I like, but so far it hasn’t stained the bath tub or anyone’s skin. Remember that the color and fragrance will be much diluted in the bath water. Stir the salts vigorously until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

For specific aromatherapy bath salts recipes, and how to decorate each jar, please see the individual instructions that follow:

Sunday Morning: Chocolate Covered Banana Pancakes

When I cook I draw inspiration from flavor combinations that I know I enjoy. I usually have a set of ingredients that I know taste good together and then I build them I cook them in new and imaginative ways. This morning I woke up craving a frozen chocolate covered banana, like the kind you get at summer carnivals. I knew that I had some bananas that were well past their expiration, so voila! Chocolate covered banana pancakes were born. I tested them out on my picky, vegetarian 13-year old daughter and her best friend/neighbor. These are definitely the tastiest pancakes I’ve made to date. I used 1/2 cup of whole wheat white flour and 1/2 cup of unbleached all purpose flour, which I thought gave them a nice texture, but you can use whatever flour you’ve got. I used raw sugar, but again, white is fine. Also, I used 1/4 cup of egg replacer, but for anyone wanting to use farm fresh eggs, just use one large. Finally, I use light vanilla soymilk, but regular moo juice works great too.  Here goes:

Chocolate Covered Banana Pancakes Recipe

1 cup flour (1/2 whole wheat white, 1/2 unbleached all purpose)

1 tbsp. sugar (raw or white)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup egg replacer, egg whites, or 1 egg

1 cup light vanilla soy, regular soy, or straight moo juice

2 tbsp vegetable oil (1 for the pancake batter, 1 to keep your nanercakes from sticking)

2 ripe bananas

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or dark choc., don’t use milk choc.; it’s too sweet)

You’ll have two bowls, one for the dry ingredients and one for the wet.  Mix the flour through the salt into one bowl. In the second bowl, pour in the milk and the bananas and mash with a fork or potato masher. Mix in the rest of the wet ingredients and add the chocolate chips last. Grab your pan and put a bit of the oil in and heat over medium heat. Add a 1/4 cup of batter and watch for the bubbles.  The bubbles will start on the outer edges and work their way to the middle. Once the bubbles show in the middle, flip your pancake and lightly brown. Lift the edge of the pancake and once it looks golden brown, scoop it up, put it on a plate and yell “It’s nanerpuss”! Proceed to dance around the kitchen and enjoy.

I spray a pump or two of fake butter on mine, but the girls enjoyed them plain. I think a light dusting of confectioner’s sugar would also be tasty, but they are so sweet and good I think that syrup would be overkill. I hope you enjoy these delicious pancakes as much as we did. Feel free to comment on recipe adjustments if you think it needs any, and be sure to let me know if you liked them too. Happy Sunday!

What do you mean marshmallows aren’t vegetarian?

So, who knew…marshmallows contain animal bones, organs, and animal skin (a.k.a. gelatin). Ewww!  My mother is currently obssessed with Vegan marshamallows and even sent me a link to her favorite purveyor of these tasty treats, Sweet & Sara so that I can remember to get these for her birthday.  Sara, a vegan, had a craving for rice crispy treats and developed her own recipe for home-made vegan marshmallows. What really sets Sara’s marshmallow’s apart are the flavors: vanilla, toasted coconut, cinnamon pecan and strawberry. You can buy them online direct from Sara herself or at many local health food stores, as I am sure I will do for my mother’s birthday. However, since this is my blog on saving money and doing it your self, here is a recipe for some plain, old-fashioned vegan marshmallows to make at home direct from the Vegan Marshmallows blog:

The blog details the recipe with photos, information on where to buy the ingrediants, alternates to corn syrup and flavored marshmallow recipes. I’m intrigued by the Vegan Smores and will commit to making those this fall and posting my opinion and photos of the final products. Enjoy!

Olive Oil Update: Final Decision

For my readers who followed my previous olive oil as facewash/moisturizer trial I have a final update. While I did see some immediate improvement from cystic acne and my skin tone became more even and the texture of my skin softer I was never completely rid of small white heads and clogged pores.  Over time my complexion began to look a bit dull and my pores appeared to be increased slightly.  While I found it to be an extremely effective and non-irritating moisturizer, over time I felt that I wasn’t getting a good clean using olive oil alone.  Perhaps if I had done more freqent exfoliation this may have improved, but for the inconvenience of washing with olive oil twice a day I didn’t feel that the benefits outweighed the convenience.  However, if you are really pinching pennies or are have irritated skin, olive oil is an excellent way to give your face a break from the harsh chemicals found in many face care products.  If you have more money to spend, go with a good, natural line such as Aveda I really enjoyed their Outer Peace line, but found that it could be a bit cost prohibitive.  Ultimately I found a new skin care regimen that has been effective enough that I can once again go without makeup, which in the end certainly helps the environment and my wallet.  The ability to use fewer products won my final vote. If you have tried the oil cleansing method or used olive oil as a moisturizer, please comment on your experiences.