Join Me for Merienda: Oat Milk!!!!

A short post tonight,

I recently made oat milk for the first time.

I don't know why it took me this long to make some since it's so economical and easy to make. 

You just need 3 basic ingredients:

*Old Fashioned Oats (not instant oats)

Filtered water

Sea salt

*Use certified Gluten Free Oats to make sure

That it is celiac friendly!

I looked up a recipe on youtube and one suggested 2 Cups of Water for every 1Cup of Oats plus a pinch of sea salt ( I like to use himalyan pink sea salt).

Place everything in a blender and let it go until most of the oats are broken down and then pour everything through a fine mesh sieve ( any of the leftover particles can be eaten as is or used in recipes( and then bottle ( I reused some old kombucha bottles that I sanitized) and store in the fridge.

I played around with the water ratio before and after the fact. It seems like you can adjust the consistency to your liking. You could also add in vanilla or a natural sweetner of your choice to suit your taste.

I also added cacao to one batch and it's great =)

If you like oatmeal; then you'll probably like oat milk.

That's it!!!!

Give it a try =)

Wishing you peace and happy cooking🌟

<3 Love,

Jessica

Happy Halloween!!!!!=)

Here is a treat for all of you!

Homemade dark chocolate infused with
Peppermint, pure vanilla and filled with crunchies =)

Recipe coming soon!!!

Happy Halloween!!!
<3 Jessica

Join Me for Merienda: V and GF Homemade Dark Chocolate

Hello everybody!

So, I've been busy freezing in my region, but trying to keep warm by keeping busy by testing out recipes etc.This is a quick post and is originally derived from a post that I shared for the 21 Day- Dairy Free Challenge, group on facebook that was sponsored by So Delicious. If you follow my blog; you know already that I am Vegan; so joining the group was for fun and also a way to show support to others who are trying to change their lifestyles. It's been fun so far and helping one another in whatever capacity that we are able to do so, has always been my way of life =) 

I love dark chocolate and I do believe that dark chocolate loves me back, too! =)

I will have to keep on refining the recipe, but for now, here is a a decent one that yields a yummy and dark chocolatey bar of goodness. You can play around with the ingredient add-in's as you go along.

This one was embedded with more toasted sunflower seeds and toasted coconut

You can see the original batch has a grittier texture due to the coconut sugar, as well as the add in's of coconut and sunflower seeds.

This is the 'plain,' batch made with the 'powdered,' organic coconut sugar

This 'plain,' batch with the 'powdered,' organic coconut sugar, yielded a smoother texture

It's really easy and quick to put together as long as you have all the ingredients.

Ingredients:

Roughly a little more than 1/4C of organic coconut oil, melted

4-5Tb Cacao Powder

A Handful of organic coconut sugar (you can grind this with a mixer into a powdered sugar consistency; if you want a smoother bar, otherwise mixing it in as is, will just give you a crunchier texture)

A pinch of Himalayan pink sea salt

A tiny splash of pure vanilla

*A pinch of powdered Moringa

Toasted unsweetened coconut

Toasted unsalted sunflower seeds

*This can easily be omitted, as it may be difficult to procure in the U.S.

Method:

Melt the coconut until liquid, add in the sweetener of your choosing and dissolve to combine as much as possible. Then add in cacao combining well until fully incorporated. Next add in the Himalayan pink sea salt, pure vanilla, optional powdered Moringa and lastly a handful of the toasted coconut and sunflower seeds.

Pour the mixture into the mold of your choosing and tap it to remove excess air bubbles. Top with additional sunflower and coconut; if desired.

Place into the fridge or freezer to harden uncovered for at least 15 minutes.

I usually wrap my bars in parchment paper and then keep them in a container with a cover in the fridge. I'm sure you could freeze them, but would they really need to last that long? ;p

I love being able to make these bars from scratch because it's really economical and a fun way to satiate your creative pleasure and craving, while still being healthy.

As I mentioned earlier, you can play around with flavors and add-in's.

I tried one batch adding in some organic orange oil and it reminded me of some fruit truffles that I had enjoyed in the past. I had another batch that had some organic lavender and ground vanilla bean sugar mixed with it and it tasted lovely =)

I did try to do a batch with carob powder and it didn't taste bad, but the texture is much different than cacao based bars (as anybody who has eaten carob confections vs. chocolate confections in the past, knows!) So, I will be working on that version for the future. 

This original recipe was thrown together in a span of less than 15 minutes; so I'm sure I'll be updating it again in the future. Until then, please feel free to follow this blog and leave me comments or questions in the section below!

Wishing you all much success!!!!

Love,

Jessica <3

*P.S. : The formatting for this post was weird, but as long as you can read it, I'll be glad.
I'll come back later and change it up ;)

Join me for Merienda: Organic Carrot and Ginger Soup

Hello again,

It's been another stretch and so much has happened since the last post. I'm planning on a post about the Philippines, but for now it'll resides in my handwritten notes. Just be patient and it'll come =)

I've made this version of carrot and ginger soup a couple of times now. As almost all of the cooking and meals happen in my kitchen it was just out of happenstance. I think what prompted to me make soup was not only the chillier temperature outside, but also because my little niece was over for the weekend. Two of her favorite foods are noodles and soup. I remember that when she was maybe 8 months old how she loved eating the Veggie Curry that I had made. She didn't start getting to be a pickier eater until the last year, but you just have to keep on presenting different types of foods to children and just ask them to try it. They may not like it at first, but a few tries down the line they may enjoy it.  

This is a very easy and quick recipe as long as you do the prep work ahead of time. To speed up the cooking time as well as a means to retain almost all of the nutrients of the organic carrots; I steam them. I also do not peel the carrots (as long as they're organic) I just wash them very well. If you do this one day ahead it gives you one less thing to worry about. I haven't had a chance to substitute the carrots for other root vegetables, but I'm sure that parsnips, rutabagas, yams, sweet potatoes, squash would work just fine.

This could also potentially be a nice soup to bring to a potluck or for the holidays, but you don't need any special occasion to ever enjoy a great dish or meal =)

The swirl of paprika on top makes this bowl of soup look like one of our planets in the solar system. Can you guess which one? =)

                            

Organic Carrot and Ginger Soup- V,DF,GF

Ingredients:

3-5 Organic Carrots chopped into 2 inch lengths (pre-steamed)

2-3 Tb Canola or Safflower Oil

1-2 Tb of Organic Ginger minced

1 1/2 - 2 Stalks of Organic Celery diced

1/2 of an Organic Red Onion diced

4-6 Cloves of Organic Garlic minced

1 Organic Bay Leaf

A pinch of Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Organic Turmeric

1/2 tsp Organic Paprika

1 tsp of either Shawarma spice or Poultry spice

A Tiny pinch of Nutmeg (Optional)

1 Cube of Organic Vegetable Bouillion or 1C of homemade vegetable stock

3 C of Filtered Water

1/4 C of Organic Almond or Rice Milk

Freshly Ground Black Pepper and Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

 Equipment needed:

A medium sized pot

Wooden spoon

Blender

Serves 4-6 people (depending on how big of a serving you give them ;p

Do you notice what's missing from this plate?

I had some fresh turmeric; so I thought I would give it a photo shoot =)

Method:

Add oil to the pot and saute the onions,ginger,celery,garlic with the bay leaf until you smell the onions,see the celery becoming transparent and the garlic becoming a bit golden. Add in the bay leaf, cumin seeds,turmeric,paprika,shawarma or poultry spice, vegetable bouillon cube and stir until you hear and smell the cumin popping and spices blooming (about 4-5 minutes depending on your stove-top, mine is electric so it may take longer than somebody's gas stove-top). You can now add in your filtered water and stir and bring it to a boil. You should make sure to give it a taste and add in a bit of salt if needed. Let it simmer for 5 minutes and then add in your steamed carrots and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Take it off the burner and let it cool a minute or two and then add your soup to a blender, adding in the carrot pieces and other solids before the liquid being very careful not to burn yourself. Remember to pour away from yourself, not toward =) I recommend holding the top of the blender with a dish towel before blending it until smooth. Carefully empty the soup back into the pot and use the almond or rice milk to rinse the blender and add it into the rest of the soup. You can add more or less depending on if you want the consistency to be thicker or thinner. Taste the soup again and adjust your seasonings. I would add in your tiny dash of nutmeg in at this point and stir it in and let it sit a minute. 

If you wanted a smoother soup you could always run it through a sieve, but I think that the soup is fine unfiltered. I would describe this soup as having a velvety body and is quite substantial. This type of soup is really good on a cold day. The ginger and spices make it a  bone and soul warming soup =)  Inversely, this is also a good soup to eat chilled and in the summer time it is very refreshing.

This soup will also hold up well in the freezer. If you intend to freeze it; I would first freeze it into single portions and then tightly seal them in zip-top bags or vacuum seal them. To thaw, simply refrigerate until you're ready to use and then reheat.

Soup's on!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and that you all have nice holidays with your loved ones.


Wishing you good health and happiness!


Love,
Jessica

Join me for Merienda: Date,Almond, Coconut,Carob Truffles

Hello again,

I made these last week and just did a second batch for this post recently. 

These are very quick to put together and the end result is really delicious. 

Just like this recipe I'm going to keep my blurbs short and simple; so that you can get making this good stuff =)

I hope you enjoy this one and don't forget to look for the bonus recipe ;p

Date, Almond, Coconut, Carob Truffles- GF, DF, V

Ingredients:

1/2C-3/4C Sulfite Free Dates (try to use the ones with more moisture; they will be easier to chop)

1/2C          Almonds

1/4C          Organic, Sulfite Free and finely shredded dried Coconut

2Tb           Carob Powder

Just 4 beautiful ingredients...well maybe 5 if you count Love =)

This is the brand of Shredded Coconut that I use in most of my cooking and baking.

Method:

Add the dates and almonds into a mixer or mini chopper and pulse for a about 5 minutes.  If you don't have a chopper/mixer; you can always practice your  knife skills and chop them manually. I would recommended doing them separately if you are following the manual method.
Step 1

This is what the mixture should look like once it has been thoroughly chopped. The mixture should clump together into a ball.

Add the almond and date mixture to a bowl and combine it with the coconut and the carob powder.

Step 2

This is what the mixture will look like once you've combined everything thoroughly. I used a glove to mix it together because the mixture is quite sticky.
Step 4 

Simply take the mixture and form them into balls. You may want to use gloves again to roll them  since they are still quite sticky. If you let them cool down to room temperature or put them in the fridge for about 10 minutes they won't be as sticky.  Enjoy!!!!!

Step 5

These are a batch of Homemade 'Lara' bars.

Recipe Bonus

The way to make homemade 'Lara' bars is basically the same method as making the truffles. All Lara bars are Date based. The photo shows a batch that I made with Dates, Almond, Flax, Chia and spices. Absolutely delicious and much cheaper than buying dozens and dozens of Lara bars. So, have fun with this and play around with your ingredients.I think I may try to mimic a retired flavor of  Lara bar, it was one with chocolate and also had hot chilies in it as well. Omnomnomnom

Good Health and Happy Cooking!

Love,

Jessica

My Garlic Chive Sesame Rice Pancakes

Hello Again,

Thanks for sticking around! 

The following is an entry I transferred over from one of my facebook notes.

 Hooray for copy/paste!

Hope that you enjoy it!

Hello Everybody,

I received quite a few requests for this recipe so I'm sharing it with you now.

I recently made a batch of these to bring as a treat to one of my friends who has only in the last year been diagnosed with celiac disease. She actually called me up the other day to tell me how much she enjoyed them. I'm always glad when I can help make somebody's day better and I think that's true for all of us, right? 

Why not try and make a batch of these and share them with your friends and family?

If you do make a batch of them; do share some photos!

Sharing is caring =)

Hot off the press!

Jessica's Garlic Chive Sesame Rice Pancakes - GF + DF

1 C Sweet Rice Flour*

1/4 C Garlic Chives** cut finely

1/8 C Toasted Natural Sesame Seeds

1 tsp GF Baking Powder

Pinch of Turmeric

1 tsp Sesame Oil

1 Brown Organic Egg (or 1T Flax Eggs*** if you want to keep it vegan)

1 T Organic Agave Nectar

1/2 C or less of Filtered Water (depending on the humidity you will need more or less of water)

Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

*The type of rice flour you use makes a big difference both in texture and in taste.

You could use regular rice flour, but it will not be the same. It'll still taste good, but it will be a much harder pancake.

You can find Sweet Rice Flour in most supermarkets these days. You may find it listed as: Glutinous Flour, Malagkit or Mochiko.

Blue Star is a popular Japanese brand of sweet rice flour. Go ahead an buy a box of this if you can't find it otherwise, but usually the other brands are cheaper and no less in quality. I usually use brands that come in bags of 14-16oz and they usually originate from Thailand. If you manage to find the 3-5lb bags from any Korean brand those ones will probably be your best buy.

** You can find Garlic Chives in most Asian Markets. They may be called : Chinese Chives, Ku chai, Chinese leeks or Nira. They're very fragrant and the type that I used in these are the flat leafed variety.See picture below

Garlic Chives. Make sure that you wash the chives well as they're grown in sandy soil and you don't really want to eat any grit with your pancakes =)

*** To make Flax Eggs: for every egg you need, mix 1T of Flax Meal with 3 T of water and let it sit for a few minutes before using.

Mix all the wet ingredients together and blend well. Then add in all the dry ingredients. Let it sit a few minutes and in the meantime get your pan ready. Heat a large skillet/fry pan with a teaspoon of oil. I like to use either Canola or Olive Oil, but you can just use whatever you have in your cupboards; it should be fine as long as it's not a strong tasting oil.

When the pan, is hot ladle in the amount of batter that you want ( a few tablespoons for tinier pancakes and maybe a little less than one ladleful for bigger pancakes). Just like any other pancake when you see the bubbles start to form on the surface you know it's time to flip it to the other side which will take far less time than the first side. Once you flip the pancake; it probably takes about 1 minute more ( you'll see the steam rising from the surface). Stack the pancake on top of each other so that they keep warm while you're cooking the rest of the batch.

These pancakes are good on their own and really don't need much else, but you could definitely pair these up with a number of different things. If you thin out the batter a bit more you could make a spongy crepe out of them and use them as a wrap for your other nibbles. A way to make healthy fast food that is good for you!

If you have any questions about the recipe; feel free to ask.

Enjoy!

Lonely triangles of pancake sitting on a plate =p