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- 1 cup plus 1 Tbs. flaxseeds, divided,
- plus more for sprinkling top of bread
- 2 Tbs. sugar, agave nectar, or honey (I used agave)
- 1 0.25-oz. pkg. or 2 1/2 tsp active yeast (not rapid-rise)
- 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
- 2 1/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill organic whole-wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt (I thought the salt factor was perfect, but I had the hubby piling on the salted butter since his palate has not acclamated. Add an additional 1/2 tsp if you like)
- Place 1/2 cup flaxseeds in bowl, and cover with 3 inches water. Let soak overnight.
- 1 cup red split lentils (Masoor Dal)
- 2 1/2 cups distilled water
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small daikon, diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 1/2 cup red onions, diced
- 1 1/2 cup green chard, chopped
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup cooked bulghur
- Organic Fried onions found in store
- 2 cups cabbage, chopped
- 1 jumbo carrot or 2 carrots, diced
- 3/4 cup crumbled Nasoya firm tofu
- 2 Tbsp Tamari or soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 4 cups chopped romaine and red leaf lettuce
- 1 cup red peppers, julienned
- 1/2 cup shredded daikon
- 1/2 cup green onion, chopped 1/2 inch thick
- 3 tsp Gomashio (black sesame seed/sea salt mixture)
- 1/2 orange, juiced
- 2 tsp umeboshi plum vinegar
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 4 corn tortillas
- 2 Tbsp Tbsp Sunflower or Coconut oil
- 1 can of Rotel Original
- 1 can of black beans
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- dash of Tony Chachere’s seasoning
Super-Flax Whole Wheat Boule
December 7th, 2009
What a day this Sunday turned out to be! After a great morning of worship and a hubby gone away AGAIN for a performance in Detroit, I decided to make most of my “restful” day. After having a great lunch at Chipotle I decided to roam around my city, soaking up some rays before closing myself into my humble abode. Since the snow had already melted the day returned to feeling late into fall instead of winter, even though the temperature was around the 20’s. BRRRR.
When I returned to my home, I decided to pounce on this recipe like a bad boy. This was my first time to make my own bread from scratch. Since I changed my eating lifestyle, it has been pretty hard to find good hearty bread that did not seem to be too dry or tasteless. If I had my choice I would choose a good sourdough if I had no choice, but my body would say otherwise. I miss my frequent trips to Whole Foods where I could get an assortment of hearty, rustic loafs, but, alas, the nearest Whole Foods is an hour away! I have other choices but somehow shelling out 6 to 7 bucks a loaf makes me cringe. As I was flipping through the September issue of Vegetarian Times, I ran into an article describing the health benefits of flaxseeds. I had already started taking flaxseed meal on a regular basis, but when I got to the recipe talking about a Vegan bread, I was all over it.
Since I started looking at the recipe several days ago I knew that I would have to leave 1/2 a cup of flaxseeds soaking in water in order for me to have the bread ready and finished before my hubby came back home. Let me tell you something. This bread recipe was the easiest bread recipe I have ever thought of making. 🙂 I forgot that I have made a recipe that my grandmother has made for years called Heavy Bread, but it does not have any yeast in it, so it was VERY dense. This flaxseed bread was the MOST delicious bread I have ever had.
The crust was crisp and tasty with a hint of sweetness. The bread itself was somewhat dense and FULL of flavor! Each bite cried to be savored. My hubby arrived home, exclaiming, “What is that great smell?” I replied in return, “Honey, it is delicious warm HOMEMADE bread awaiting you!” Who wouldn’t want to hear something like that?
The recipe says it makes one Boule, but it made 2 for me, which is wonderful. The more bread, the merrier, you know? The other thing that require modification was an additional 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour. The dough was very sticky and would not adhere until more than the required flour was added.
Enjoy this bread as much as we did!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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Red-Split Lentil Stew with Fried Onions
December 5th, 2009
Last night was the first night that Michigan received its first snow and it was my FIRST time to drive in snow. Actually my hubby and I have been bantering back and forth about when thw first snowfall would be. Weather forecast reported snow for Thanksgiving, but we did not see any! The irony though, even more so, was that Houston received snow today! The many years I lived in Texas, I hardly saw any snow, but when I left, it started snowing. I don’t get it but it is cool for the Texans.
Seeing that it was a cold day, I really craved something warm and hearty. I have grown up eating all kinds of beans all the time, but I do not think I ever prepared them myself. Well, my hubby had a dress rehearsal tonight in Detroit for The Messiah this Saturday, so I decided to make dinner for myself. This meal took me a total of 30 minutes to prepare! It was so relieving not having to soak red split lentils because they cook so quickly. The great thing about this recipe is that it is a complete meal. It has a protein, a complex carb, and veggies.
Today marks a great day. 32 days ago I decided to follow a Vegan lifestyle. Technically it takes 40 days for something to be a habit or permanent but with God’s strength, He has helped me stay disciplined. I have lost 8 pounds so far! My hubby told me tonight that he could tell the difference in my face. What an encouragement! As those who follow, my recipes will continue to be an inspiration for the lifestyle I am following along with recipes for the carnivore at home. They will be varied. Keep following and see my results.
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Fried Wonton Chopped Salad
December 2nd, 2009 |
| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
The light dinner consisted of a big chopped salad with delicious fried wontons, all made with Nasoya products. I accompanied it with some miso soup as a starter with the salad as a finisher. The good thing about this meal is that because you are having salad, you do not have to feel guilty about having as many as you want. Enjoy a mid-week healthy dinner!
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20 Nasoya wonton wrappers
Wonton Filling
Salad
Dressing
For filling:
For Salad:
For Salad dressing:
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Ann Arbor holiday weekend
November 30th, 2009After decorating our tree on Thursday, we decided to stay up all night and venture into Black Friday starting at 3am. There has been a long tradition with my hubby’s family where every Friday after Thanksgiving they go out Christmas shopping. My first time to experience such a tradition was last year. This year, we wondered if we could continue the tradition just the two of us. We stayed up and left at 3 am for our first stop at Old Navy, which turned out to be disastrous. The line for checkout was outside the store! Forget that! We then ventured to JC Penny which opened at 4am. We found the items we had marked down. We then arrived at Walmart and stood in line from 4:30am to 5:00 in 32 degree weather. The line was VERY long but we made it into the store and out within 20 minutes. Target was our next stop. I then urged my hubby to stop at Panera for breakfast, for staying up late creates an appetite.
After a few more stops, we arrived home at 8:30am, where we proceeded to crash on our mattresses until 1:30pm. It was lovely. We then planned to get away for a few days and visit Ann Arbor, which is only an hour from where we live.
We arrived to Ann Arbor Friday night looking for a place to eat, naturally. We parked in downtown and walked around Main street until something caught our eye. We finally decided to go to Kai Garden, a Chinese / Taiwanese Restaurant. Since I have started eating vegan, it has been interesting to see what choices restaurants have for their customers. I proceeded to choose the Vegetable Delight in Garlic Sauce with Crispy Tofu and Brown Rice.
After lunch, we strolled down to Kerrytown, where there was a great Farmer’s Market awaiting us. It was a gorgeous day so we enjoyed the outdoors and the fresh green wreaths that were on sale. We then walked near the U of M campus to Nickels Arcade, which was Michigan’s first indoor mall.
We then found a major weakness of ours. A used books, CDs, and DVDs store. We spent 1.5 hours finding treasures until we were very dizzy! Those kinds of places make me feel claustopobic and dirty afterwards because the place was so dusty. After we dusted our feet from that place we visited a Trader Joes. I had never been to one but had constantly heard people talk about how great this store was. Boy, were people right. This place was so much cheaper than Whole Foods. It made me sad that East Lansing did not have a store, but we kept on living.
That evening, we decided to go try a Cuban restaurant called Cafe Habana. It had such a great environment and it was one of the cuisines my hubby and I had not tried together. We ordered tostones, which are green plantains fried twice and served with Mojo, which is a garlic sauce. Real good stuff. There were not many choices for vegan and I did not feel like another sandwich so I ate black beans and rice and steamed green beans. It was a lovely meal.
Our third and last day was the lovely Sunday. We packed all our things and checked out from our hotel and headed to 1st Baptist Church in downtown Ann Arbor. It was beautiful to see a church all decorated for the first Sunday of Advent. The church was very beautiful and we enjoyed the choir singing from the back of the church.
After the service we headed to Seva, a popular vegetarian restaurant in Ann Arbor.
My hubby and I saw a ton of people waiting in line for seating the night before so we investigated the menu and history. I convinced my hubby it would be a great adventure to try this place. I was just excited to go to a place where I would not have a problem ordering. BOY, was I wrong! It had too many choices. Both my hubby and I had to help each other make a decision. We ended up with the following:
My hubby had the Nachos Grande that consisted of house-made corn chips topped with tomatoes, green onions, black olives, jalapeños and cheese, served with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and your choice of pinto beans or black beans. He was very pleased with his dish.
I chose the Tofu Rancheros which consisted of Crisp corn tortilla stacked with refried pinto beans, sautéed tofu, ranchero sauce and guacamole, with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, green onions and a steamed whole wheat tortilla. It was very delicious.
To top everything off, we went to Michigan Theater for a free viewing of Christmas in Conneticut in a very old theater. It was a great weekend of relaxation and we hope to do it again soon!Silly me thought about asking about MSG half way through my meal, where the waitress proceeded to tell me that their restaurant does not cook with MSG. The menu said otherwise. I proved her wrong when I later got to the hotel and noticed that I had broken out in hives and had a nagging headache! So disappointing when a restaurant LIES! They will be receiving a phone call from me.
After sleeping in on Saturday morning, which never happens, we headed out for breakfast. I read that Zingerman’s Bakery and Delicatessan are very popular, especially when it comes for breakfast. From what I hear, it is one of Oprah’s favorite places to go. Can we all say “oooo ahhhh!” LOL. Anyway, when we arrived we decided that it was so close to lunch, we chose to have one of their sandwiches. My hubby had a pastrami sandwich and I had a lovely Vegan sandwich consisiting of the following: Portabella mushroom, artichokes, red pepper, onions, and hummus on toasted farm bread with a pickle. My beverage of choice was a Kombucha Wonder Drink.
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Huevos a la East Lansing
November 27th, 2009
Don’t you like this time of year? I mean, just putting up a tree, lights and decorations can create such a beautiful, cozy ambience. We were then inspired to start addressing our Christmas cards. How empowered and thankful we were to have this time for catch up. I know, I know,despite what you might think, “Hey, it is still Thanksgiving!”, we took advantage of our time. As musicians, our lives can be very hectic so we relished this time. Sometimes it is just different not having family around, even though I was able to talk to family back in Texas after their huge meal.
I later prepared a Cherry Sangria and we had that while watching ELF. Did I mention I like laughing too? Good times. Once that was finished I knew that I would have to whip up something for dinner. What to make, what to make. My hubby told me this week that we hardly have Mexican or Tex-Mex food, so I decided to make something that suddenly popped up in the deep recesses of my mind.
While we were kids, my father worked for Four Seasons and by God’s grace and blessing we were able to stay at these hotels on vacations. I mean, that was a huge perk, but boy was I spoiled with staying at hotels such as these. We really liked going to Dallas at Las Colinas Resort. We would order breakfast and my mom’s favorite was usually Huevos a Las Colinas. It was so delicious. It was 4 layers of fried corn tortillas filled with refried black beans, over-easy egg, avocado and tomatoes. This is what came to my mind as I was trying to decide to make for dinner. Is it not super strange what memories come to mind? I do not usually remember what foods I ate on my trips unless I took pictures, so I took it as a sign to make something like this memorable breakfast. I on the other hand, ate the bean mixture and added brown rice for a Vegan meal.
I pretty much used what I had on hand and came up with a recipe of my own. The important thing was that the hubs liked it and emphasized that I write down the recipe! How about that!
