Discovering Socca

Socca veggie sandwhich with basil pesto spread

I recently stumbled onto Pure2Raw where they have an entire page dedicated to socca.  Until seeing socca on their website, I had never heard of the stuff.  If you’re also not familiar with socca, it’s basically a flat bread made from garbanzo bean flour. Pure2Raw lists quite a few different socca recipes from carrot cake socca to sprouted lentil socca.  You can find the list of socca recipes here.  My favorite is their skillet socca.  I did do a couple things differently though: instead of 2 tbsp coconut oil I only used 1/2 tbsp and instead adding a bit of rosemary I adding a bit of chia seeds, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, and pepper.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour

1 cup water

pinch or two of sea salt

2 tbsp oil (I used coconut oil but you can also use olive oil)

a bit of chia seeds, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, & pepper. (I didn’t measure any of these, I just sprinkled it all in)

Directions:

Preheat a lightly oiled skillet or frying pan over low medium heat. While your pan heats up, mix all the above ingredients in a bowl.  Pour batter into heated pan and cook until the edges are crispy and the top seems dry.  Socca is quite moist so it’s difficult to dry out by over cooking it.  When ready, carefully flip the socca bread and cook until both sides are looking toasted.

When my socca was done I made a veggie sandwich using basil pesto for the spread, tomatoes, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, and cucumber.  Since I don’t normally eat bread, I never get to have sandwiches so this a very nice treat for me.  I find socca very filling plus it contains a bit of protein which is also nice.  I hope you guys like it as much as Sean and I liked it.

Breakfast Today

Since I’m trying to eat more raw food and cut out processed food, which includes my morning almond milk, I’ve started eating grated apple in the morning.  I’ll usually top it with berries, either strawberries or blueberries, chia seeds, millet, hemp seeds, and cinnamon.  This morning I didn’t have any berries so I thought I would try something a little different: a carrot!  It might sound like a funny combination but the carrot had just enough sweetness to go along with the apple.

My Favorite Super-Food: Chia Seeds (plus pumpkin spice chia seed pudding)

When most people think of chia seeds the usually think of the “cha-cha-cha-chia” commercials on tv but not everyone  thinks of them as a superfood.  Here’s why they’re thought of as a super-food:

1. They contain more omega-3 fatty acids then flax seeds and even salmon.
2. They contain more antioxidants then blueberries.
3. They can be stored for long periods of time without going bad due to their high antioxidant levels.
4. They don’t need to be ground to be digested like flax seeds do.
5. They’re higher in calcium then 2% milk.
6. Just 1 tbsp contains 3g of protein.
7. They’re higher in fibre then bran flakes.
8. They help lower cholesterol.
9. They help reduce cravings.

After discovering these things I thought I would I try making chia seed pudding.  The first bowl I made turned out terrible.  I couldn’t understand why so many people liked it but thought there had to be a reason so I decided to give it one more try.  I actually gave it a few more tries, testing out different recipes I found on-line.  Most of the recipes I tried made a firm pudding, a slimy,almost solid pudding, which I thought was rather nasty.  I finally came up with my own recipe for chia seed pudding.  It has a smoother consistency, more like real pudding, but so much healthier.  I think you’ll all like it.

Pumpkin Spice Chia Seed Pudding

Ingredients:

2 tbsp chia seeds

1 1/2 tbsp canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 cup almond milk (or other milk)

1-2 tsp agave or maple syrup

a pinch of all-spice (about 1/8 tsp)

a pinch of ground cloves (about 1/8 tsp)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

a pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix together the pumpkin, milk, syrup, salt and spices.  Next add chia seeds to the liquid mixture and whisk.  Let sit for at least 30 minutes before eating.  Serve cold.  Makes one serving.

Raw Zucchini Noodles & Basil Pesto

100% raw

Tonight I made Sean basil pesto pasta for dinner.  It looked so good but since I don’t usually eat pasta and I’m trying to eat more raw food I thought I’d try adding pesto to some zucchini for my dinner.  I wanted to try to make noodles but since I don’t have a spiralizer I had to make them by hand using a potato peeler and a sharp knife.  I peeled the zucchini into long strips then using a sharp knife, I sliced the peels into thin strips.  I made sure to rinse and drain the noodles before adding the pesto. Next I mixed the zucchini noodles with fresh basil pesto and fresh chopped tomatoes.  It turned out great although a spiralizer would have been nice to use.

For the basil pesto recipe click here.

Natural Food Coloring and Cupcakes

Vanilla cupcake with chocolate butter-cream frosting.

Recently I read that quite a few artificial food colors are made from coal tar derivatives and can not only cause allergies but can also cause cancer.  Since I read that, I wanted to try and make my own natural food coloring and what better way to use it but in frosting and what does frosting go best with?  CUPCAKES!  Now since I’m working on eating healthier I decided that what ever I baked I would give to friends (or my husband).

Lets start with the food coloring.  I made yellow, red, and I attempted to make blue.  Here is how I did it:

Natural food color ingredients.

Yellow: yellow was the easiest.  Turmeric is all you need.  Just add this spice to your icing and you’ll have a lovely yellow.

Red: beet water was used for the red.  Peel and chop a beet.  In a small sauce pan, combine chopped beet with just enough water to cover the beets.  Over medium heat, simmer beets until they well cooked.  You may have to add more water as it cooks.  Once beets are cooked drain water into a seal-able container and let it cool.  You now have red food coloring.

Blue:  I tried using the same process as the red coloring but with red cabbage instead of beets.  I don’t think I cooked the cabbage long enough because my icing turned more of a bland grey rather then a nice blue.  Next time I’ll try cooking the cabbage until all the color is out and the cabbage itself is turns grey.

Natural food coloring.

Now for the cupcakes.

Ingredients:

1 cup cane sugar

1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened

2 tbsp ground flax see mixed with 4 tbsp water

2 tsp vanilla or almond extract

1 1/4 cup almond milk (or other vegan milk)

1 cup white flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

Ingredients.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix ground flax seen and water together and let it sit for 5-10 minutes or until it’s thick and goopy.

Combine sugar, margarine, flax seed goop,and vanilla, mixing until well combined.  Then stir in the milk.

In a seperate bowl stir together flours and baking powder.

Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well mixed.

Line some muffin trays with paper cups and spoon cupcake batter into the tray.  I scooped 2 rounded tbsp into each cup but found I could have used another 1/2 tbsp of batter for the perfect sized muffin.

Bake cupcakes for 40-45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before icing.

Cupcake mixing.

Butter Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup vegan icing sugar (I use Wholesome Sweetners organic icing sugar)

3 tbsp vegan margerine, softened

2.5 tsp vegan milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine all ingrediants and mix well.

**To make chocolate butter cream frosting, add cocoa powder until the desired chocolate flavor is reached.  You may need to add a couple tsp of milk to thin it out a bit.

**To make pink coconut, add a bit of red food coloring to shredded coconut and mix well.

Pink and yellow cupcakes.

Vanilla cupcake with chocolate butter-cream frosting.

Vanilla cupcakes with butter-cream icing topped with pink coconut.

Kale Chips

My new favorite snack!

I made kale chips for the first time today and was surprised at how yummy they were.    They’re easy to make and so tasty.  The only downside is the time they take to bake (over an hour).  Anyway, I loved them so much, I wanted to share the recipe everyone.

Ingredients

Fresh kale

Extra virgin olive oil

salt

Nutritional yeast

Directions

Preheat oven to 225F.  Lay out kale leaves on a cookie sheet and lightly spritz with oil.

Fresh Kale

Next, sprinkle salt and nutritional yeast on kale.

Kale with salt and nutritional yeast ready to be baked.

I like to use Herbamare sea salt.  It has organic herbs and veggies added for a little extra flavor.  Plus it’s ground very fine so it tends to stick to the kale better then regular table salt.  You can find this stuff at any health food store and probably most grocery stores.

Herbamare, my favorite naturally seasoned salt!

Now that the kale is ready, bake at 225F for about 1 hour 20 minutes or until Kale is completely dried out.

Baked kale, fresh out of the oven.

Enjoy!

PS: eat over a big bowl, they’re very messy!

No More Sugar, No More Addiction (plus roasted tomato vinaigrette)

In chapter 3 of Crazy Sexy Diet, Kris Carr talks a bit about sugar.  She explains that sugar makes us feel good because it releases dopamine in our brains.   I did a little research of my own to learn that dopamine is a neurotransmitter which provides feelings of enjoyment and plays a major role in addiction.  Since sugar releases dopamine it makes us feel good so we crave more of it which can then lead to addiction.  In Crazy Sexy Diet I read “…the cravings, withdrawal and relapse symptoms of sugar addicts are similar to those of cocaine and heroin abusers. ” I’ve always known sugar was bad for me but I had no idea it was that bad.  When I thought about the negative side affects of sugar, I thought about cavities and weight gain, not addiction.  I knew I had to cut sugar out of my diet quick!

Now I’m not saying I’ll never have any sugar ever again but I needed to cut myself off from it long enough to get past the withdrawal phase.   I decided the best way to do this was to follow the 21 day cleanse found at the end Crazy Sexy Diet.  Because I don’t have a juicer and my free time is limited I couldn’t follow the cleanse 100% but I did my best; tweaking it here and there as I went along.   The first two things I did to start off my cleanse was to cut out coffee and sugar from my diet.  I switched my morning and afternoon cups of coffee with green tea and fresh and dried fruit for my sweet treats.  The first 4 or 5 days I had a slight headaches by late afternoon, but nothing severe.  The no sugar thing was easy until day 5 while I was at work.  Thank goodness I was there and not at home when the craving hit otherwise I would probably have gone rummaging through my cupboards to find something sweet.  By the second week I was getting a little out of control eating dried fruit, which is loaded with sugar, so I finally cut that out as well.  No more raisins or dried mango for me.

The next step in my cleanse was to start eating mostly raw foods.  If I had to guess, I would say my diet is now about 70-80% raw.  The other 20-30% is mostly cooked beans, quinoa, hemp and Vega protein powder, sweet potatoes, etc.  I’ve fallen in love with salads and making fresh, healthy salad dressings.  Today I made a roasted tomato vinaigrette from Crazy Sexy Diet to go with my giant salad for lunch.  Here’s the recipe (one of my new favorites):

Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

4 Roma tomatoes, halved (I used 5)

1 1/4 cups plus t tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (I only used 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp)

1/2 tsp sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, minced (I only used 1)

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (I ran out and only had about 1 tbsp so I added a bit of dried basil and a sprinkle of dried oregano)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss the tomatoes with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, along with the salt and pepper.  Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet, cut-side down, and roast for 20-25 mins, until the skin blisters.  Set aside to cool.

Transfer the tomatoes, remaining 1 1/4 cups (1/2 cup) olive oil, vinegar, red pepper flakes, garlic and cilantro (and basil and oregano) in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Taset and adjust seasonings.  The vinaigrette will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.

For my salad I used:

Organic mixed baby greens

chopped cucumber

chopped celery

grated carrot

alfalfa sprouts

raw pumpkin seeds

raw sunflower seeds

nutritional yeast (sprinkled on top)

Dressing: roasted tomato vinaigrette