Creamy Veggie Soup (Vegan)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAh, soup. There’s nothing like soup this time of year, and the colder it gets, the more it needs to be creamy soup. I’m not one for faux dairy or cheese substitutes, and yet there are a lot of other creamy foods, like my Kale in Chestnut sauce and Celery in Chestnut Sauce (notice a pattern?) But this one is totally different, yet hits the spot in the same way. It’s really easy, really yummy, really nutritious soup which is perfect for this time of year.

Roasted cauliflower is a staple here, and every now and again I forget and buy 2 caulis. They do freeze okay, but the texture isn’t quite as wonderful, so I got intrigued by the idea of cauliflower soup.  For the veggies, Trader Joe’s sells containers of pre-chopped carrots/celery/onions, so the work involved is pretty non-existent, which is my cup of tea.

Oh, and speaking of non-existent work, Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl shared a list of 100 easy recipes.

  • 1 head cauliflower, roasted with olive oil and 1/2-1 bulb of garlic
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • A big ‘ole container of chopped veggies (maybe 3 cups?) chopped carrots, onions and celery
  • A small handful roasted almonds, around ¼ cup
  • 4-5 big sprigs of thyme
  • 3-4 cups broth–any kind works. I usually use Pacific Organic Chicken Broth
    or their Vegetable Broth. I love Pacific because they’re organic, gluten-free & don’t use GMOs
  • Salt
  • White pepper, to taste

Roast a head of cauliflower with at least a ½ head of garlic. This can be done ahead or frozen.

Heat the olive oil over med/med high heat, and add in the veggies and thyme. Let them brown, 5-6 min and stir occasionally. They’re done when they are crisp-tender.

Meanwhile, puree the cauliflower mix and almonds with 3 cups of broth. Obviously this is simple in a Vitamix. If you’re using a food processor instead, using almond flour instead of whole almonds is probably a good idea.

Add puree into the pot with the browned veggies. Stir, add more broth, salt and pepper as needed.

That’s it! Simple, yummy, creamy soup. I was amazed at how satisfying and filling it was. My buddy Shirley of GFE & All Gluten-Free Desserts  commented how much it looked like pot pie filling, and I bet it could be used well there, too.

I’m submitting this to Diet, Dessert and Dogs, who hosts Wellness Weekends. I’ll also submit it to Iris’ 5 ingredient Mondays.

Posted in main meal, recipe, side dish, soup, vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Kindness Week

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It’s Random Acts of Kindness Week! There’s very little that has brought more happiness and joy into my life than sharing and receiving kindness with others. So to celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of Sharon Salzberg’s book, The Kindness Handbook. (See below.)

To enter, please share a story about a time when you were touched by kindness.

I’ll go first. When I was 21 and just moved to Berkeley, I suddenly developed a mouthful of cavities. I went from only having 2 to having 13 within less than a year because of a weird medication reaction. When I found out, I was completely overwhelmed. I was scared, I was confused, I couldn’t afford it, and I wanted to curl up in a little ball with my favorite stuffed animal from when I was 4. So I did the only logical thing…run the 2 or 3 miles home, hysterically crying the whole way.

A few blocks from my apartment, a homeless man stopped me. “Honey, I don’t know what’s wrong, but I promise, it’ll be okay. You’ll be okay.” I stared at him, totally confused. He repeated it a few times.

He was minus a few teeth, he clearly hadn’t showered in quite some time, and presumably had enough to worry about already, and yet he went out of his way to offer ME kindness.I don’t think I answered him because I was so surprised. When I calmed down, I went back to find him and thank him, but he was gone.

It really illustrated that it doesn’t matter what someone has (or doesn’t have), we all have gifts to give if we choose to. Any day, any time, any where. It made a difference for me in that moment, and I appreciate that he went out of his way.

I’d love to read about a time you offered kindness or you received it. Please leave me a comment below, and I’ll choose one randomly between now and Feb 20th for the book, the Kindness Handbook.

UPDATED: Congrats to Derva for winning the book!

Posted in cheryl's musings | 8 Comments

Winter Recipes

When it gets cold, I go for cozy foods. Here are some of my wintertime faves:

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Celery in Chestnut Sauce (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Coconut Curried Greens (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan option)

Kale and Beef in Chestnut Saucequinoaandkale (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free)

Kale Pesto (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Sniffle Stew(GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free option and vegan)

 Drink:

Chocolate Chai (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Dessert!

spiced walnutsBittersweet Chocolate Chestnut Fudge (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Cinnamon Roasted Walnuts (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

Chocolate Raspberry Pie (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

E’s Cake (Chocolate Hazelnut Torte)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASweet Potato Pie (GF, CF, EF, SF, sugar free and vegan)

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Kale and Beef in Chestnut Sauce

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWanna hear something funny? When I first started my blog, I intended it to be an even mix of meals, breads, soups, desserts, etc. that mirrored how we eat. When I re-did my recipe index, I realized that notion bit the dust a few years back, and surprise, surprise, it seems like my blog is brought to you by the letter C and the word chocolate. Not that I don’t love chocolate, but I’d kinda like to balance things a little more.  Just cause.

Then again, as I look at my very un-photogenic, super-yumtastic stew, maybe part of my decision is because dessert photographs better?

So here’s a simple/easy meal that I absolutely adore. There’s something lovely about chestnuts. Whether that’s celery in chestnut sauce or Bittersweet Chestnut fudge, it’s just comfort food to me. I use the flour from Nuts.com, I’ll be entering it for Iris’ 5 ingredient Mondays—she tweaked the rules, and now it fits.

1 cup of chestnut flour, divided

1 lb free range beef stew meat

2 TBSP olive oil

1-1.5 lbs kale, depending on the size of your pot

4 cups organic broth (I love Pacific)

A handful fresh thyme—5-6 sprigs

Salt and pepper to taste

Pat down the beef with paper towels. Heat the olive oil. Dip the beef in ½ cup of chestnut flour and brown the beef chunks. (you can skip this step, but do it if you have time) Add in the broth and thyme and dump the chestnut flour that you used for dipping into the pot. When it’s boiling, stuff in as much kale as you can…when it cooks down, add more. I often have to add in more water at this point. Simmer for 1.5 hours or until the beef is tender, stirring very occasionally. Add in the remaining ½ cup of chestnut flour and stir well. Once you’ve done this step, you must keep stirring or it will burn on the bottom. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Enjoy!

 

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A breath of warmth to thaw the Winter chill…

cardinalFor me the last few months have been a bit of a roller-coaster, and I was hearing the same from a bunch of blogging peeps around me. We’ve all got our “stuff” sometimes. I definitely see the toll it takes. We all face losing things we love and it can be overwhelming.

I’ve found that healing is often through community, through connection. Sharing love helps pain and stress loosen its grip, even a little.

So, I’d like to invite you all to a semi-impromptu, semi informal conference call phone chat on Feb 2nd at 2pm EST. I’ll be leading a metta (lovingkindness) meditation, we’ll chat bit, and Iris of the Daily Dietribe will join us and lead a meditation, too, unless her sister’s new little one decides to arrive early.

Y’all wouldn’t have to share your own personal stuff or have meditation experience of any kind; it could just be a shared peaceful space to connect and breathe. And of course, it’s fun to actually hear people’s voices after emailing with them for ages.

If you’re interested in joining us, email me and let me know your timezone and I’ll send out an email. We’ll be doing this through Freeconferencecall.com, so it’s free, you’d just have to pay for long-distance charges.

~One kind word can warm three months of winter.

Japanese proverb

Posted in cheryl's musings | 1 Comment

Caturday Fun

We’ve gotten a lot of adorable visitors lately. No, the foxys aren’t back, but our back porch is still full.

These pics may take a minute to load, but the full sized versions are so much cuter.

Genghis mindfully contemplates food…good thing little chip has the safety of a door!

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Once we put up the bird feeder, we got many more visitors. G is taken with all of the birdies (AKA flying tasty cakes) The funny thing is that he thinks I’m going to intercede on his behalf, which is really a hoot. He’s also most enamored with the brightly colored birdies. Maybe they’ve got more antioxidants?He was also very specific about his Christmas request: Mom, I want THAT one!

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Sorry, buddy, no squirrels for you.

Most of the squirrels seem oblivious to the cats…

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Sometimes it feels like…somebody’s watching me…

 

 

We’ve also got a new squirrel who (literally) knocks on the window with a nut in his mouth. He/she’s a shameless little beggar, and it drives the cats wild. As DH put it, “The local squirrels love our bird feeder, and don’t seem to care about our cats at all. The reverse isn’t so true.” Every now and then, G forgets his surroundings, pounces and smacks right into the glass (we try not to snicker too loudly)

Here Houdini goes stalking:

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The squirrel was totally disinterested in Hou. In fact, he kept jumping to different perches so he could see inside and better make his case for more bird seed.

I do feel badly for the guys, because I think the furry and feathery friends are an insult to their cat-liness. But I also adore watching the birds and the squirrels. It definitely relaxes me, and I take more breaks to watch, which is a plus!

Posted in cat pictures | 4 Comments

Hazelnut Buttah

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Ah…heavenly hazelnut butter. On one hand, this is a non-recipe kinda recipe. On the other, I’ve both burned the hazels and had them under-toasted and it’s easier to do it *right* when you know what right looks like. I wish this could be scratch and sniff, too…

 

Okay, toast the hazels on a cookie sheet at 350 for 16-20 min, shaking the pan half-way.
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When they’re ready, they should look like this—papery linings puffed open.

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Put the hot hazels in a paper lunchbag for 10 min or so. When cool enough to touch, shake off most of the papery stuff. It doesn’t need to be perfect.

Put them in the food processor with a big pinch of coarse sea salt.  Grind for 5 minutes or OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAuntil SMOOTH, scraping down a few times. Spoon into a ball jar, and do your very best to avoid spooning into your mouth in the process.

hazbuttercupsVoila! Add in a drizzle of maple syrup for a sweet treat, use it as a filling for chocolate hazelnut butter cups (!!) mix w/cocoa and sweetener for your very own faux nutella, or just plain eat it up by the spoon. It’s also a necessary part of Hazelnut Cookies.

I’m posting this to 5-ingredient Mondays over at the Daily Dietribe. Why? because when time is short and I’m not very hungry, apple and nut butter is on the menu for quick and easy nights. So delicious.

I’m also submitting this to Wellness Weekends at Diet, Dessert and Dogs. Hop on over and check out all the good stuff.

Posted in recipe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Giveaway-10 Magazine Subscriptions

GIVEAWAY of 10 magazine subscriptions! (SCROLL DOWN FOR THE WINNERS)

Like many bloggers, I get a fair share of offers, and I try to sift through what I (and my readers) would find fun and interesting. And this fits the bill, with something for everyone.

Zinio has online subscriptions to a wide variety of thousands of magazines. Although I truly love holding something in my hands and online isn’t *quite* the same, this appeals to the part of me who is trying to declutter and be more environmentally friendly.

They have thousands of magazines to choose from. Here are a few that caught my eye:

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Or maybe you have interests beyond food, too?416248071_370 You can choose whichever one suits your fancy if you win.

More info on their offers here

About Zinio

  • Thousands of top magazines from around the world.  You can browse and purchase subscriptions or single issues instantly from your computer or mobile device to read wherever and whenever you like
  • Explore section lets you read – even without a subscription – thousands of articles from your favorite magazines and share them with friends
  • Use on iPad, iPhone, Android mobile phones and tablets, laptop or desktop

Sounds like fun?

To enter:

  • Leave me a comment and tell me what mag appeals to you.
  • Share about this giveaway on FB or Twitter and leave me a comment to let me know

One entry per item above, and make sure I have your email address so you know when you win!

This giveaway will end Jan 20th at 10pm EST.

I was compensated with a mag subscription for writing this post. I couldn’t resist!

And the winners are:

Lee Anne Pedersen
Devra
Holly P
Cindy Padget
Anna Popescu
April
Stephanie Moore
Maureen Kennedy
Sandra Simkins

Posted in contest | 28 Comments

Hazelnuts: Menu Planning Again!

 

 

Wow, this weekend was way too short, but my goodness, it’s so nice out here! I could live with this—temps in the 50s and 60s. It was even warm enough to grill on Saturday!

The last few weeks have been a complete whirlwind, so I’m looking forward to a calm week. I’m even taking off this Weds to sit on my butt and eat bonbons. Okay, the bonbons part isn’t likely, but I am SO looking forward to my mini break.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERALast week’s adventure was making and posting Candied Orange Slices, finishing up the December Sanity Retreat and looking toward a compassionate New Year.

Our theme this week is hazelnuts. I wasn’t always a fan, but they have absolutely grown on me. I adore hazelnut butter, which is a key ingredient in my hazelnut cookies, and of course it is featured in E’s Cake, which is a chocolate hazelnut torte. And faux nutella? Don’t get me started drooling. If you’re tempted, Shirley of GFE has a few options. (I always wing it…can’t go wrong with chocolate and hazelnuts, IMHO!)

I confess, I haven’t been menu planning the past few weeks, and so I’m hoping this helps me get back on track. I also really want to focus on using up my freezer stash, because not much more is going to fit in there! For future weeks, do check out Heather of Celiac Family’s website, with her weekly menu plan schedule.

Monday:
Curried Coconut Beef with roasted cauliflower

Tues:
Roasted rosemary salmon with roasted carrots

Weds:
Herbed chicken thighs with broccoli

Thursday
Probably leftovers? I’ll be home late.

Friday:
Turkey cutlets with cauliflower “mashed potatoes”. Would you believe I’ve never made them before? This seems like a travesty, especially since I have gobs of roasted garlic leftover from my garden last year.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFun stuff:
Hazelnut butter! And yes, I will write down a recipe with times and all that jazz.

And everyone else?

We’re joined by Melissa of Mom’s Plans for a Fulfilling life on less, and this is just her 2nd week of living gluten-free. We all remember what that was like, don’t we!! She’s got a bunch of fun paleo dishes on the menu, and the crockpot chili caught my eye.

Paige at Not Missing a Thing has a delicious looking Chicken Caciatorie on the menu. She’s looking for a bone broth recipe, adn quite frankly, I always wing it. Any great recipes out there? leave her a comment!

Heather of Celiac Family automatically mentally links chocolate and hazelnuts, and who can blame her? She’s got a new recipe up for Rainbow Apple Salad that sounds fun, yummy, nutritious and easy. Go Heather!

Samantha of Awkward Girl gets fit is in the middle of a Whole30/Whole 60. She’s not a hazelnut fan, but she has a family hazelnut connection so I”m sure she can be convinced with the right recipe. She’s got The best chicken you’ll ever eat on the menu, and a Rosemary Pot Roast too.

Kendra of A Peaceful Mom joins us with my favorite kind of meal plan–a simple one. She has a new E book called “Affordable Gluten-Free Meals” so hop on over if that’s your cup of tea! Her Beef and Veggie soup looked “soup-er” delicous. 😉

Posted in menu plan | 9 Comments

Candied Orange Peel

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIf you’ve clicked through to see how I made candied peel without any sugar like my other recipes, you’re out of luck. I’ve been making these babies FOREVER and make them only once a year, and so it’s become quite the winter-time tradition.

They are absolutely amazing. I mean, I love to make new and different things, and yet for some of my favorite peeps, these babies are simply the be all and end all of yummy. They’re also completely allergen-friendly, except if you’re allergic to citrus.

On one hand, it’s a very simple recipe, but a little hard to envision so I did step-by-step. Despite the simplicity, it’s a heck of a lot of steps, and it takes at least overnight to get them done. We tend to have the trays of them on every open horizontal surface…

I’m sure you’ve guessed–organic oranges are a must.

peeling orangesSlice the top and bottom off each orange. Score the sides with a knife in 4th or 5ths. Then slip your thumb under and loosen the peel. Bonus points if it all stays together.

Slice the peels to about ¼ inch thickness. I strongly recommend that you bribe someone to do this step for you.

Put the peels into a large sauce pot and cover with water.

Boil, and dump out the water. Repeat again. And then again. So yes, that’s 3 times of OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAboiling and dumping.

Then measure out 3 cups of water and 3 cups sugar. (I can say I’ve eyeballed it for years without a problem) Bring to a boil, and simmer for 45 min-1 hour. They’ll look a bit translucent.

Drain the sugary liquid into a Ball jar and save it for tea or something else fun…this batch is going to sweeten balsamic dressing on a berry salad. Spread the peels out onto wire racks or onto parchment paper. Allow them to sit for a few hours.

peelsPut ½ cup of sugar in a small bowl. Add a few semi-dried peels, and toss to coat. They’re still very soft at this point, and that’s normal. Put them on parchment lined sheets and allow to dry overnight. Or, if you’re in a rush, turn your oven to 200, turn it off and leave the peels there for ~30 min.

You’ll have pools of sugar. Save that. Orange flavored sugar always does come in handy sooner or later.

orange slicesThen dip in chocolate! Nuke for 1.5 minutes or use a double boiler, and dip in the peels. It’s that simple.

They keep at room temp in a sealed container for a week. The un-dipped orange peels will keep for 6 months in the freezer, too, but it’s imperative that you hide them well or they will never make it that long.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThey also make beautiful decorations for cakes, cheesecakes, etc.

The cake at the left was a grain-free chocolate orange cake that was cashew based. We lost the recipe in the move, and yet it seems like not remaking it would be a crime against humanity. We shall see…

Posted in dessert, recipe | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments