Cinnamon Chia Bread

Cinnamon Chia Bread, originally uploaded by liphotos.

Ingredients:
- 4 cups warm water
- I cup warm soy vanilla milk
- 1 cup warm Chia tea
- 1/3 block of tofu
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp. baking powder & soda
- 5 tbsp. cinnamon
- 1 yeast packet
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions:
(1) In a bowl combine all dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking soda & powder, oats, sugar and yeast).
(2) Heat up milk and cup of Chia tea, pour into processor and add chopped up tofu, vanilla extract and olive oil. Blend until smooth.
(3) Pour liquid into dry ingredients. Mix with hand, add water until mixture is able to be poured. Scoop into cupcake tray and/or bread/pan container.
(4) Bake at 350F for 15 minutes (muffins) or 30 minutes (small loaf) or 45 minutes (large loaf).

Makes: 6 muffins, 1 large loaf and 3 small loaves

Choco Stars Cookies

Choco Stars Cookies, originally uploaded by liphotos.

Ingredients:
Wet
- 2 cups warm vanilla soy milk
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. vanilla extract

Dry
- 2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 3 tbsp. stars decorations
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
- 3 tbsp. cinnamon
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- 2 tbsp. baking soda and baking powder

Steps:
(1) Add all dry ingredients into a large bowl (oats, flour, choco chips, cinnamon, sugar, stars, baking powder & soda).
(2) Pour soy milk into a measuring cup plus oil and vanilla then pour into dry mixture a little at a time until no flour remains and the dough is sticky.
(4) Grease a cookie sheet and scoop out dough onto the sheet with a spoon in whatever sizes you want. Bake in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-14 minutes.

Makes: About 20 large cookies
Feeds: 6 or 7 mouths

Go Fresh!

I'm a person of extremes. Once I know something is unhealthy for me, I don't bother tapering off or reducing the intake, I simply cut it out of my diet. Going vegetarian three years ago was a natural step for me. Going fresh two months ago, I didn't realize how unhealthy I had really been! Below is a list of food that I thought was healthy but upon closer inspection actually wasn't because of a few ingredients in the dish.

Unhealthy Foods & Processes

Frozen Food
--> It's as quick and easy as throwing it in the oven or microwave. It's also loaded with sodium, fat & saturated fats and calories!

Canned Food
---> All canned food (vegetables/fruit/beans/soup etc.) contains extra salt and/or sugar and preservatives (chemicals).

Condiments -->
Mustard, ketchup, salsa, salt, mayo, oil, sauces (soy sauce, pasta sauce, hot sauce, BBQ sauce etc.) and salad dressings are condiments that contain hidden preservatives, sugar & sodium.

Butter & Oil -->
Frying food with butter/oil will turn to fat in my body and will also raise my already high cholesterol.

Sugar -->
Is it just me or are people sugar obsessed? It seems like it's everywhere & in everything. Online recipes I read call for a ridiculous amounts of sugar, especially for pastries. And isn't it true that sugar turns into fat in the body if it's not used up immediately? Hmm.

Go Fresh! It's the Healthier Alternative

I don't want to return to frozen, sugary, salty, pre-packaged, pre-processed crappy food. I absolutely refuse to consume salt & oil and my body does not handle salad dressings---I get sick immediately. If I don't want something to stick on the pan, I use a wee bit Pam Olive Spray. I try to bake or boil my food as much as I can rather than fry. I'm in the process of weaning off of canned food and know eventually I will be completely fresh.

In the meantime, I try to be as fresh as I can, cooking from scratch sauces, entire meals to desserts. I find the flavour is always much better. And last but most importantly, I don't follow recipes to the letter. If the recipe says 1 cup of sugar, I only put in 1 tablespoon. If the recipes says add eggplant/asparagus/onion (all food I hate), well, I won't! I only use ingredients I see fit in a recipe. And that is my two cents.

Kitchen Organization

Something had to be done about the kitchen. Whenever new food was bought there wasn't enough space to cram it all into the fridge. My sister and I gave it a good scrub down and we removed all junkfood that wouldn't be missed like mustard, mayo, cheesewhiz, Ceasar salad dressing etc.

I now present to you the new & improved fridge with each fruit and vegetable all meticulously washed prior to being put into clear bins and all containers disinfected. It looks almost sparse but it's the usual amount of food we eat on a daily basis. Since this is the family fridge and we're the only two members in the household that are vegetarian, there are things I won't eat/drink in here so I'll only mention what I do consume.

Plain yogurt, egg whites, cottage cheese, watermelon,
whole wheat pita bread, whole wheat bread, alfalfa sprouts.
Containers: red & green grapes, cherries, blueberries,
blackberries, raspberries, strawberries.

Skim milk. Containers: soy& veggie cheese, extra firm tofu,
broccoli, cauliflower, cilantro, green onion, cellery.

Roma tomatoes, red peppers, lemons, mini cucumbers,
mini red & orange peppers, spinach in ziploc bag,
romaine lettuce in ziploc bag and papaya.

Jalopenos, soy milk and vanilla extract used for baking.

Bananas, red & green apples, peaches and mangoes.
Not shown: oranges, mini potatoes, avocados, oatmeal and almonds.