Friday, February 4, 2011

One more follower, inspires one new blog!

I make up a new recipe almost everyday, or everyday I cook, which is pretty much everyday. Sure, there are some times where I have tried a recipe more than once to get it perfect but I guess that I've been, what I call, "healthy" baking for a long time now. And let's be real, I'm not some joe shmo, haha what ever that means, who started blogging to learn cooking. I actually have been cracking gluten free and sugar free baking for over three, maybe four years now. I also studied nutrition as a minor in college and even when I wasn't learning it in school and I am officially the biggest (or smallest, however you rather) health junkie I know! Yes, indeedy I am very proud. I've worked hard and studied long to make my body feel the best it can, and as a result I lost 30lbs. Maybe more since I stopped checking at 135lbs. I'm 5'0" not cute at 135, super cute at 105 but to be honest I can fluctuate a few lbs. And I'm sorry if you are a 5'0" girl who weighs 135, you are overweight! It's not to hurt feelings it's to save lives. I'm being serious here people, a diet that included lots of steaks and eggs, was a major contributing factor in my grandpas heart attack. And this is real! Fatty meats and eggs are high in cholesterol, I base my recipes off on the healthiest ingredients, and this also includes freshest and I have tested them in a calculating program to understand where the fats and sugars come from. I am a vegan, constantly re-researching things to make sure my concepts are the healthiest and if my mind changes you blog will be the first to know, if not for you, for me. So I can always remember these days, where the world is spinning so fast we can't feel it and I'm doing everything I can to feel and be awesome, and sharing it with the world. Because sharing is one of my favorite things to do, so thank you three followers. We're doing this for real!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Gluten Free, Yeast Free, Vegan Pizza!

MMMMMM we LOVE pizza! This was the start to JPS birthday weekend and it started off pretty awesome indeed!

Pizza dough:
1 cup potato starch flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour 
1/2 cup white rice flour
teaspoon of salt
teaspoon of xantham gum (or guar) (optional)
1 tablespoon baking powder
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup of water 
Method:
1. Mix and sift together dry
2. Add half a cup of water and all the oil to dry mix. Stir unti combined, then knead, and form into a dough ball, adding more water as necessary. (Note: this won’t be stretchy like wheat dough. It will be more like pastry dough.) Only add as much water as you need. Too much and the crust will be crumbly.
3.  Flour pizza stone/pizza tray with rice flour. Put the ball of dough on your pizza stone/tray.
4. Press it down gently forming a flat ball working it out to form the perfect crust. Make crust twice as thick and I vote a couple inches deep. This pizza stuffed JP and I but not enough for left overs, a very imperfect size indeed so next time we'll double it and eat it twice :)

Brush with EVOO and bake for ten minutes on 420 degrees Fahrenheit.


Now lets make some pizza sauce! This is very important when you make this pizza sauce do not put it all on the pizza or JP won't eat your pizza! It was way too much sauce, he and I had to take some off. 


Pizza Sauce: 
  • 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
  • 4 fluid ounces warm water 
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
  • salt to taste
  • Add some chunky tomatoes maybe if you like

I used rice cheese for dairy free :)
We topped our pizza with spinach peppers and Oregano. It was sooooooo delicious and the sauce was nice and spicy!

Bon' Appetite! Enjoy!


Kendra~


Saturday, January 15, 2011

I've been cooking so much and writing none!

It's been a crazy busy time and I started this blog before I had a gathering of recipes to share. The good news is, my cooking skills are sharp, and me and JP are dedicated to being healthy so I've been cooking every day and almost always trying something new and adapting delicious recipes to gluten, sugar, free vegan, using my years of the same experience cooking and baking. I've been having tummy aches from food since I was a little girl! I never liked milk or cheese, any wonder I later found myself getting more and more intolerant to lactose. Sugar gives me headaches and maybe the gluten too and although I maintain I fairly regular rule that if offered something that won't hurt me, I'll enjoy it with those I love and keep close like my friends and family, but mostly my Nana and Jp's mom, Paula, who re two of the most excellent cooks ever! MMMMM I'm dreaming flank steak, beef bourguignon, mmmmm and teriyaki steak, hehe can you tell I don't eat much meat. I eat meat if I'm feeling like I can't think, I'd like to keep kosher and I like to buy kosher products.Well anyways, I'm sitting here stuffed from eating half a decently sized pizza that was soooooooooooo delicious. JP approves and he is very picky, I think I am too. Anyways I pretty much winged it with the ingredients I had, well I even ran out of the white rice I wanted to use and substituted a tablespoon of a premade brown rice mix I had sitting around. 

So this is to say I'll be better from here. Hopefully some followers will show up and I'll be posting deliciousness every day from here on out. Expect on weekends and holidays and all threw out May! Haha Brian Regan. Much thanks for that. I love May.


Friday, January 7, 2011

Mission Impossible: Creme' Brûlée French Toast

This recipe John Paul found, compliments of Capital Hill Mansion, shared on their website.
He asked me make it and when I first looked at it I felt a rush of sadness because my first thought was I can't make this because it's not healthy and impossible but that was not an okay thought. I shouldn't have to go without and I can't make JP suffer, he's too cute!

Adapting this recipe is going to very difficult if not impossible... The brown sugar, cream, corn syrup and eggs and equal amazing texture, can we do it gluten free? I'm a firm believer that anything is possible... I'll just have to make a delicious gluten free bread (also must be made without yeast to be gluten free or Candida diet safe) Also I will have to use egg substitute, unless I can ingenious up something that will work. The creme will be substituted for RAW home-made almond milk reduced down to be thick and made sweet with honey! And the liquor sadly must go. Why make the liver work for not even a buzz? To get the tiny bit of citrus I'll add a pinch of orange zest.Hopefully I don't spend the whole day trying! But I'm run out of baked goods and I have nothing else to do and John Paul gets off work at 3pm. 5.5 hours to go time to begin!

Capital Hill Mansion's:

Creme Brûlée French Toast
1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup (1 stick) Butter
2 Tablespoons Corn Syrup
8 (1-inch) Slices French Bread
1 1/2 Cups Half and Half
5 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Grand Marnier
1/4 teaspoon salt 

Heat the brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a saucepan until blended, stirring frequently. Pour the brown sugar mixture into a 9X13-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread slices in a single layer over the prepared layer. 

Whisk the half and half, eggs, vanilla, Grand Marnier, and salt in a bowl until blended. Pour over the bread. Chill, covered, for 8 to 24 hours. Let stand until room temperature. bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Serve immediately. Serves 8. 

Here's some research in between and while I'm checking the health of all ingredients and adapting.

"Some research studies have linked consumption of large amounts of any type of added sugar — not just high-fructose corn syrup — to such health problems as weight gain, dental cavities, poor nutrition, and increased triglyceride levels, which can boost your heart attack risk. But there is insufficient evidence to say that high-fructose corn syrup is less healthy than are other types of added sweeteners.
Recommendations from the American Heart Association — not a part of official U.S. dietary guidelines — say that most American women should consume no more than 100 calories a day from added sugar from any source, and that most American men should consume no more than 150 calories a day from added sugar, and that even less is better. That's about 6 teaspoons of added sugar for women and 9 for men."
-From Article by:Jennifer K. Nelson, M.S., R.D., L.D.


First we need to start some ALMONDS soaking to make almond milk.
One cups almonds covered in a bowl needs to soak ideally for 24hours.
I'm going to use warm water and hope to speed up the process a lot.... 
View this process from where I found it, with photos: RAW ALMOND MILK



Second we need to make a gluten free bread, I'm not sure if this one will be the best and finally forever used recipe but it's a good one. 


11/2 Potato Starch
1C      White Rice Flour
1C      Maize Flour
1/2C    Tapioca Starch (flour)
3T      Baking Powder (must be gluten free)
1t      Natural Baking Soda
2t      Xanthan Gum
2C     Purified water (more if needed)
2T     Organic Olive Oil
1T     Organic or Natural pure Honey
2T     Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

Lets make bread! I'll do my best to describe everything throughly~  


Sift together dry ingredients. Mix with a metal whisk and sift again.
Make a well or hole in the center of dry goods, add 1 cup of water and other wet ingredients. Mix by cutting in from the center out till well incorporated. Adding more water as needed. I recommend NOT using the entire other cup of water. Dough should be to thin to need to be kneaded but should not be runny. 


Oil a bread pan, put dough in, cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees F for 60 min, then uncover cooking for 10 more minutes. 









Kendra's sugar free/gluten free/vegan Creme Brûlée French Toast












Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Lentils A-La Kendra

January 5th, 2011
Today I made my third batch of....

Lentils A-la Kendra
Misguidedly this recipe is not by me, it's by John Paul


You will need: A crock-pot

Ingredients:
8 cups organic vegetable broth (I used organic vegetable bullion 4 cubs to make 8cups)
4 cups purified water
3 cups organic green lentils
1 organic yellow or white onion
3 sticks organic celery
3 organic carrots
2 cloves organic garlic
1 tsp kosher sea salt
1/2-1tsp pepper to taste
1 tsp organic Oregano
2 chopped tomatoes or 1 14oz can organic tomatoes
1TB red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp organic Thyme
3-4 bay leaves dependent on size

Combine all ingredients in a crock-pot and cock on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8hours.

I put this on in the morning, cook it all day on low, and John Paul and I eat for days! This is super protein for us, I also add multiple kinds of beans to add even more protein. And Braggs soy sauce seasoning for more flavor and supplemental amino acids.

Over the New Year's weekend John Paul's room-mates were majorly hung-over, they looked like they hadn't eaten in days  I didn't think they'd make it threw till morning. One of them was pale and I knew exactly what he needed, two-three bowls of soup and some water. Maybe even some bread. At first he turned me down but after the first bite he ate a whole bowl in a minute flat. Me and JP were laughing so hard because all they could talk about for thirty minutes was how rejuvenating the soup was, they were reciting poetry like, "Great literature from the 21st century.... and as time went by they ate more and more soup... and God know's they were almost out of lentils..." So funny and so nice to have quarts of soup on hand to feed a hungry veggie boy and his crazy room-mates!

The Beginning

I've all but gone mad, trying to find acceptable healthy recipes on-line for myself and for those friends, family members, and picky spoiled eater and the love of my life, John Paul, that ask me to recommend them.

Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Vegan, and with some real foods!!!

My name is Kendra. I'm a divinely inspired health "nut" who's heaven bent on a mission to change the world one person at a time by making them feel great, really great, the kind of great I know only comes from the inside out. From the mind, body and spirit, health and joy fill every cell in our bodies and then you too can radiate with health like people say I do and I know those I look up to and learn from do.

I study many forms of health and wellness, from medical to holistic, from East to West, from ancient to modern. The truth is anything that works, works for a reason but our bodies are not the same so someone cannot tell you what to do. It's you taking in information, using experience and intelligence to break it down, and then deciding if it is right for you. Trial and error, intuition and asking your higher-self is the true path to healing the body and preventing all discomfort.

Some things I know:

Everyone has specific needs and "ideals"

Single persons have it very easy on shopping perfect.

Couples and families must organize meals to satisfy all needs and then snacks and meals away can be used as opportunities to get needs that do not match the needs of others.

Children and adolescence are the most important to fully satisfy diet needs since the body and the brain are still in growth.

It takes weeks to months to fine tune your diet but the closer you get to ideal the easier it becomes to notice some things that are irritating you in any way.

Some foods are not good for anything, refined sugars, anything genetically modified, artificial, and maybe meat.

I am a vegan, I have found this to be the ideal for my body and a good amount of research suggests this is the ideal diet for human maintenance. I also believe that the problem with mean eating comes not from the flesh itself but from the deprived soul, which is the case in most meat eating at least here in the United States. What I mean by this is "Happy life brings Happy death," someone great once said, when these animals are giving no family, no land to roam and sometimes even no sunshine, it's clear that this energy would by no means be as "good" as flesh that properly enjoyed life as the universe intended it to. I believe live and let die. If you feel the need to take away life to fill yourself with energy I think this is just the beginning of your path. I hope you do not turn away yet and try some of your options. Vegetarians suffer less cancer and heart complications. Two health risks I know are two of the most challenging facing my generation today.

I hope in this blog to share the recipes I find agree with the most people. I will properly draw attention to those foods that cause upset such as any common allergies, casein, eggs, sugar (diabetics) gluten/wheat (celiac) nuts, etc...
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