Tofu Breakfast Burritos

Well, as much as I like the rain, it makes taking a jog all the more uncomfortable. Especially when it's wet and cold; now a warm, tropical rain...that would probably be amazing.

I just figured that while I'm sitting around NOT jogging, but slowly realizing that I have a Biology and Organic Chemistry midterm next Friday, I might as well post my breakfast burrito recipe!

[Buh - rr trill rr - i - to!]

I was majorly tired of eating this 7 Grain hot cereal stuff for brekke every morning, so I thought, how about some good protein and veggies?

And so out of experimentation and whatever vegetables I had lying around, the Elizabeth-variety tofu breakfast burrito was born....

Gather:

avocado mush

Extra-firm tofu (the really solid brick kind)
1 avocado
Crimini mushrooms
fresh spinach
bell pepper
onion
*brown rice flour tortilla
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
several drops lime juice
a little olive oil
*seasoning: 1/2 tsp. cumin, black pepper, sea salt

Do:

1. Heat the chopped mushrooms, onion, bell pepper in a skillet over medium-high heat, with a little olive oil
2. Rinse tofu, squeeze water out of it (use cloth or paper towels)
3. Mash the tofu into a crumble using clean hands, or a fork.
4. Add the tofu to the skillet
5. Mix the seasoning together in a small bowl. I suggest 1/2 a teaspoon of cumin, and dashes of salt
and pepper.
6. Mash 1/2 an avocado several drops of lime, and 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard together.
7. Heat brown rice tortilla, spread avocado mixture on it, and put a few spoonfuls of tofu-veg mixture inside.

I know you can burrito better than this

8. Burrito it up and devour.

*I freeze my tortillas for their longevity, so make sure to let them first thaw before heating. Brown rice tortillas have no wheat and therefore no gluten, so they will break easier. Be gentle!

*The seasoning is completely up to you! Black pepper and cumin are especially great, but be imaginative. These are your burritos.

The same goes for vegetables...use whatever is in your fridge! I use an iron skillet; especially if you are on a vegetarian diet, iron skillets are great because a little iron scrapes off into your food, and bam!, you've got more iron in your body.

More on Iron....

If you have an iron deficiency, but want to maintain a vegan/vegetarian diet, I recommend Dulse (a dark red sea vegetable HIGH in iron), and the foods on this list (not all are vegetarian sources):
Iron Sources

Dulse

In addition to eating foods high in iron, absorption of iron by your body can be increased by eating citrus fruits (orange juice too). Iron absorption is diminished from consuming coffee or tea.

Keep in mind that if you go to donate blood, but your iron level is too low, it does not necessarily mean that you have an iron deficiency. Blood banks want your iron level to be higher than normal, so next time eat a lot of iron and citrus (avoid coffee and tea) 2 days before you plan on donating blood.

I hope you like the recipe above...I always look forward to it, and even had it for dinner a few times last week. Let me know about your experimentations and if you end up birthing your own variety of breakfast burrito!

Good luck on donating blood/raising your iron levels!

Valentine's Saturday

I'm guessing that most couples celebrated Valentine's Day today, Saturday, February 12th. Eric and I started Valentine's Day last Sunday with sushi. Then we went to the farmer's market today, where I got him the freshest, purest, rawest apple juice in the universe. Yum.

The candles that Eric gave me. This picture doesn't capture their essence

Our major purpose today was to make chocolate. Raw, sugar-free dark chocolate, to be exact.

We made it right before we left school for the holidays, and it turned out wonderfully. The only shortcoming was that it wasn't entirely solid. It would melt too easily when touched.
Today we made some modifications to the chocolate recipe to prevent that ..... and let's just say more research and development is needed. (It was a slightly disgusting mess, edible, but not worthy of you!)

So if you were looking for some chocolate to devour on Valentine's Day, take Madeleine's advice from Valentine's Day last year and go for a kick-butt run instead. Any superpowers I have are definitely borrowed from her.

In short:

raw, sugar-free dark chocolate will be posted soon

sugar-free carrot cake in 2 weeks!

I want to expand on farmer's markets, and some wisdom that seems really obvious once you read it.  Apart from helping the local economy and not supporting oil companies (there really are other sources of energy being developed!)

Here's the wisdom: Eat the food grown in the same climate that your body is living in (that's you!). Why? Well because something like a pineapple has a thinning effect on the blood, and your body won't be able to warm itself as efficiently if you're in a climate too cold to support pineapples (the middle of winter). So when your local farmer's market only has apples, kiwis, and pears, that's the fruit to eat because it was grown in the same climate. More on this as it develops.

I bought an abundance of kiwis for $2 at the farmer's market today. I'll eat them, and when they are too liquidy to be eaten, I will blend them with other fruit and dehydrate them into fruit leather.

Raw Crackers

You came back! That's good because the recipe in this post is not something you want to miss.

Today I feel like a zombie; not the human-sniffing flesh-chomping kind, (bummer!) but the kind in need of some sleep.

When trying to determine the cause of this, I could immediately cross off sugar as the culprit, because I steer clear of refined sugars. Hence the sugar-free cookies I posted in the last blog!
I suggest that you avoid sugar like the plague; it will be obvious physically once you've done so!

I will be posting other sugar-free desserts as well. A few coming attractions:

Raw, sugar-free dark chocolate

Vegan sugar-free pudding                    

Vegan sugar-free carrot cake

The carrot cake will be for my boyfriend Eric, who also happens to be my ultimate partner in crime...er, cooking. We make most of the recipes together actually!

Oh and my military conditioning class Monday morning was excellent! We run in formation, so you have to keep up your pace, and if you're lucky the other people (the ones actually in the military) sing marching songs. It's quite cute actually.

If anyone is interested in running, I recommend Asics Gel running shoes (not necessary to spend over $100).


Raw Foodism

When I first heard of Raw Foodism, I wondered what could be eaten apart from vegetables, fruits, and nuts. But just as I thought veganism was radical and extreme when I was twelve, I quickly investigated and now do some of my own raw "cooking".

My friend Marika introduced me to a restaurant called Cafe Gratitude. Approximately 90% of the menu is raw, with 100% of it being vegan. I went there and couldn't believe my taste buds! The food was exquisite! For a price, but when you think about how valuable you consider your body and health, forking over some of your earnings for well, a healthier fork doesn't seem too bad.

I eventually purchased the recipe book, which contains in it a cracker recipe that I took advantage of.

Pizza Crust/Buckwheat Crackers

The final result! The green is from the spinach.

You'll need a food dehydrator, and food processor.


Rinse well, pre-soak for 8 hours, and drain:

2 cups whole grain buckwheat*
2 2/3 cups sunflower seeds


1 Tbsp chopped garlic
2 c spinach*
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp. Italian herbs
1/4 c ground flax seeds
1/2 c + 2 Tbsp olive oil
pulp of 1 or 2 carrots*
Spirulina, Chlorella, and Sea Veggie Seasoning*


In a food processor fitted with an S blade, combine all ingredients. Always taste and add more seasoning if you like. Keep in mind that the paste you create will eventually be dehydrated, so all the flavors will be a lot more concentrated. So be conservative!

Spread to about a 1/4 inch thick on dehydrator sheets. Once the crackers are dried enough, you will be able to peel them off the sheets and place them moist-side-up directly on the trays. 


Once the crackers snap apart, they are probably done. It helps to press down and feel for moist spots just in case.


The plant enzymes in these raw crackers are still in tact (not broken down by cooking, because we didn't cook...oops!). This means that these enzymes will help your body digest the food and assimilate the nutrients better. Drink plenty of water as well to prevent dehydration.

*Use raw buckwheat, so the recipe truly is raw.

*The original recipe calls for 2 c veggie pulp, but I didn't have any and my roommate's spinach was calling to me. You can use any vegetables you like, as long as the water content is high. Oh and my roommate did approve of the use of her spinach in this recipe.  =P

*The carrot pulp was used in place of carrot juice. 

*Lastly, the seasoning was something I found at Whole Foods. It contains "superfoods" which help keep your intestinal tract healthy, in part by maintaining beneficial bacterial flora. It is also alkalizing, meaning that it will slightly neutralize your stomach acid. That's beneficial because when your stomach is too acidic, one possible outcome is that fat cells are used to coat and protect your organs and stomach lining. The presence of fat cells reduces organ to organ communication, and your body runs less efficiently.

Spirulina, Chlorella, and Sea Vegetable Seasoning

 

Hello!

Welcome

A sweet one to initiate you:

Gluten-free, sugar-free chocolate chip cookies.

This recipe is adapted from Elana's Pantry. For the sake of numerical simplicity, I doubled the recipe here:

2.5 c unblanched almond flour

2.5 c brown rice flour

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 c grapeseed oil

2 tbsp vanilla extract

1 c agave nectar

2 c dark, grain-sweetened chocolate chips

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
2. Stir wet ingredients together in a smaller bowl
3. Mix wet ingredients into dry
4. Form ½ inch balls and press onto a lightly oiled baking sheet
5. Bake at 350° for 7-10 minutes
6. Cool and serve

*I used unblanched almond flour because I had already purchased it from Trader Joes. If you use 5 cups unbleached almond flour, the wet ingredients may not be properly absorbed, so use all blanched almond flour, or combine your unblanched almond flour with some other flour.

*Check the ingredients when you buy your vanilla. Some brands have undesirable corn syrup, which I will go into more depth about later.

*I usually substitute 1 c honey as a sweetener. It doesn't make it vegan but I have a few reservations about Agave Nectar, despite the fact that I use it from time to time.

*Sunspire has fabulous grain-sweetened chocolate chips!

I really need to go to sleep now, as I have to wake up at 0550 for military conditioning! It's a 0.5 unit class my roommate convinced me to take with her. Running in formation is fun though, I have to admit!

Try the recipe, it's very good!

Goodnight