Banana Teabread

This recipe comes from the Ener-G Egg Replacer box. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this product, it's an egg replacing powder you mix with water. It's made out of potato starch, tapioca flour, and other leavening agents (no animal products).

1 1/2 cups wheat flour
2 teas. egg replacer powder
2 teas. baking powder
1 teas. baking soda
1/2 cup sugar (I did 1/4 cup turbinado and 1/4 cup agave due to what I had on hand)
3 table. oil
4 table. water
1 table. orange juice concentrate (I didn't have this-it was fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mashed banana

Preheat oven 350.

Mix dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients, mix one and a half minutes.

Pour into 1 pound pan (...? I just used a bread loaf pan)

Bake 40 minutes or until golden brown.

-we made an orange glaze with powdered sugar, orange juice, orange concentrate, and a little butter (smart balance). And I'm sure you could add nuts or raisins to the bread batter and it would be delish.

Mushroom and Garlic Cream Pasta

WARNING!!!!!!! This recipe is TGTBV!!!! (too good to be vegan)

I adapted this recipe (http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1735,154167-239201,00.html) from cooks.com

Blend=
1 1/2 cups cashews (soaked)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (not soaked)
2 cups water

Set aside. This is your cream.

Sautee in a generous amount of olive oil and black pepper=
6 jumbo cloves garlic
1 small onion
8 ounces mushrooms
1 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
(all the above ingredients are finely chopped, I used my chopper)

Stir in cream and let simmer for a few minutes. Season with sea salt to taste (I did quite a bit)

Serve over noodles (we chose whole wheat penne) and tell me you are not sitting in macaroni grill when you are eating this!

Quick Curry

I got this from Nathan's sister, I'm not sure where she got the recipe. It's so mild and fast. You could use fresh tomatoes if you want to make it even more fresh.

Cooked lentils or garbanzo beans (recipe calls for 2 lbs chicken, we chose lentils
1 1/2 Tablespoon canola oil
14 oz. can coconut milk (Thai Kitchen brand)
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons curry
2 cloves garlic, crushed
14 oz can stewed tomatoes (or you could use fresh)
8 oz can tomato sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix oil and curry in pan and heat for 2 minutes.
Add onions and garlic, cook 1 minute.
Add beans, tossing to coat in curry sauce.
Stir in coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Heat until warm enough to serve.

Eat with brown rice, potatoes, or anything.

Tortillas

We can't get any good tortillas in Kansas. Or bread for that matter. You would think when you are in the grain-center of America, surrounded by farms, you could find some quality whole grain products. Not so.

The "best" tortillas I can find are these

and the ingredient list is one mile long with words I've never seen in my life!

Let's go back to the basics:

-2 cups wheat flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil (I used canola)
-2/3 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients. Work in the oil with your hands, until everything is evenly dispersed. Drizzle the water a little at a time, work it in with hands, until you have a ball of dough. You may use a little less than 2/3 cup.

Make 12-15 little balls, cover with a clean towel, let the dough rest 15 minutes.
Roll out as thin as you can get 'em and heat them through on a non-stick pan.
And don't forget to save one (or two or three) to eat with agave and cinnamon :)

Eggplant Manicotti

From: www.cok.net (compassion over killing)

1 large eggplant, cut lengthwise into 12 1/4-inch thick slices
1 medium onion, chopped
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
dash of nutmeg
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 cups marinara sauce
Lightly oil a nonstick skillet and cook the first side of the eggplant slices until slightly browned. Turn and cook the second side until easily pierced with a fork. Set aside.

Heat 1/4 cup of water in a large, nonstick skillet and cook the onion over medium-high heat until the liquid has evaporated. Stir in 2 tablespoons of water to loosen any bits of onion stuck to the pan. Cook until the liquid evaporates again, then stir in 2 more tablespoons of water. When the liquid has evaporated, add the spinach and seasonings. Stir in the flour and cook 2 minutes. Set aside to cool. (WE ALSO STIRRED IN 1 CAN OF KIDNEY BEANS, DRAINED AND CHOPPED UP IN THE CHOPPER, TO ADD SOME PROTEIN)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Place a spoonful of the spinach mixture across the center of each eggplant slice. Then, beginning with the narrow end of the eggplant, roll around the filling. Arrange in a baking dish, seam-side down. Top with marinara sauce. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.

Kitchen tools and link

OK, you techno wizards, I don't know what I'm doing yet with posting info--so info me when I mess up.

I wanted to mention two kitchen tools that have been invaluable to me in this adventure of "raw" eating.

1. World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-blade plastic spiral vegetable slicer--This tool takes zucchini (or cucumbers or whatever vegetable you'd like) and makes spaghetti noodles. It is GREAT! The raw noodles are scrumptious! I tried an apple with the slicer and my grandson scarfed down the foot long strings of apples with great delight!
I had a saladacco a couple years ago and found it totally useless. THIS device really works!

2. Vidalia Chop Wizard. This simple device makes short work of onion, celery, carrot, red pepper--whatever (!) dices. Making soups or dicing vegetables for salads is a snap.

The other thing I wanted to mention is www.greensmoothiegirl.com. The site is extremely useful. She has free videos and multiple resources for healthy eating.

Have a great day, y'all! Karla

Is it sauce, or hummus?

Or soup? Eli ate a big bowl of it for lunch and loved it.
You get to decide.

BLEND:

1 cup sunflower seeds
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
juice of 1 lime
1 cup water
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 yellow bell pepper

Mexican Delightfulness

This recipe doesn't have a name, we made it up today. But it's so good!!

Layer in this order:
1-corn tortilla
2-black beans
3-pico de gallo
4-red pepper sauce

Black beans-I used my electric pressure cooker. I did 8 cups water, 2 and 1/2 cups dried beans (not soaked), some garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, etc. I did high pressure for 32 minutes, then natural pressure release for about 20 or so minutes.

Pico de gallo-I have a little food processor that's perfect for small batches of salsas. But you can always use a knife and cutting board! I chopped 3 roma tomatoes, 1 medium yellow onion, and about 1/2-1 cup cilantro. Then I poured in the juice from one lime. You can add a little sea salt as well.

Red pepper dip-From Terrell Mullins
Blend together:
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup cashews
1 red bell pepper
1 clove garlic
3 tsp. sea salt
2 limes juiced
2 cups distilled water

SPAGHETTI (squash) AND (lentil) MEATBALLS

Ok, so we didn't exactly have time to make the meatballs, kids were crying. But we had the lentils already cooked up so we layered:

1-Spaghetti squash
2-Lentils
3-Marinara sauce

The whole family ate it up, it was delicious. Our toddler probably thought he was eating white flour noodles and he never even noticed the lentils. Marinara does a great job of hiding different flavors.

SQUASH
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut in half, remove seeds. Put in 9x13 pan with cut sides up. Add 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of your baking dish, cover everything in tin foil. Bake about 30 minutes. Shred the squash with a fork to create "spaghetti". If you've never done it, it's really fun, the squash with shred very easily as you scrap a fork across it, forming little strands.

MEATBALLS
(I'm sure you could change this up a little if you are allergic to certain ingredients. From http://www.myvegancookbook.com/recipes/recipe.php?id=20)

1/2 Cup Cooked Lentils
1 Cup Cooked Brown Rice
1/4 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Wheat Germ
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Teaspoons Lemon Juice
1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
1/8 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Chipolte Chili Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
2 Teaspoons Molasses
2 Teaspoons Dry Mustard

Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Measure out 2 tablespoons of mixture for each meatball and roll into a ball with your hands. Spray cooking sheet and place meatballs on it. Place into oven and cook 15 minutes on one side and roll over and cook 15 minutes on the other side. After they are out of the oven, let stand for about 10 minutes to allow them to firm up.

MARINARA
Raw, from chef Terrell Mullins

3 cups tomatoes
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 cloves of garlic
12 sundried tomatoes, soaked
2 and 1/2 teas. sea salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3 dates, pitted

Blend until smooth. I also added "cashew cream" because I love creamy things. (soak cashews in water over night, drain water in the morning. Blend until smooth with fresh water, maybe 1-2 cups of water, depending on the thickness you want)

Butternut Squash Soup

Another toddler approved recipe

(very enthusiastic licking of the spoon)

2 butternut squash, washed and cut in cubes and seeds removed
1 onion, chopped
olive oil to cook onion in
1 or 2 cans chicken/veggie broth
about 1 cup cashews, soaked
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper


Cook your squash somehow. I used an electric pressure cooker. I added 1 cup water with the cubes of squash to the pressure cooker and cooked on HIGH for 4 minutes, using quick pressure release.

Cook your onion in oil until tender.

I blended my cashews (about 1 cup soaked) in some water (about 1-2 cups) to create a cream.

Now you need to blend the cooked squash, cooked onion, cashew cream, and chicken broth all together.
If you have an immersion blender this soup is easier to make, you can put it all in a soup pot and blend it together. I blended it in batches with my vitamix.

Just add the spices to the soup pot and heat it to the temperature you want it.

Wild Rice Soup

WILD RICE SOUP


Tastes like rice pilaf, very mild. From the classic Betty Crocker cookbook, with my modifications.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium stalks celery, sliced (I used my "chopper" for the celery, onion, and bell pepper. Then I used a cheese grater for the carrot.)
1 medium carrot, coarsely shredded
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (If you don't do gluten: I'm sure you could leave this out, or try gluten free flour. I think it's just to thicken it a bit)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 and 1/2 cups cooked black wild rice (I cooked the wild rice in the pressure cooker so it was really fast)
1 cup water
1 can chicken broth (or veggie broth)
1 cup almond milk (If you're allergic to almonds, you could use coconut/soy milk and do a different toasted nut)
1/2 cup toasted almonds (Put in oven under broil, watching VERY carefully until just toasted, not burned)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Season with salt



1. Medium-High heat: cook celery, carrot, onion, and bell pepper in olive oil about 4 minutes, stirring, until tender.

2. Stir in flour and pepper. Stir in wild rice, water, and chicken broth. Heat to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Stir in milk, toasted nuts, and parsley. Heat just until hot.

4. Season with salt to taste.

PIZZA-So Easy It Hardly Needs a Recipe

Pizza is so versatile and everybody likes it, even toddlers :)

Whole wheat crust-check (or gluten free, yeast free, etc.)

Marinara sauce-check (you could make yours homemade and or get one from the store. Or you could go wild and do hummus or something...I don't think you could go wrong, the flavors of a simple crust and veggies would mix well with almost anything)

Toppings? Almost any vegetable under the sun. This time we did broccoli, mushrooms, onions, and bell pepper.

Top with Italian seasonings, fresh ground pepper, and you're done (follow the baking instructions with your crust-of-choice recipe)

Sprinkle with wheat sprouts and sunflower seeds for a little protein.

Power Up Protein Shake

This is a simple spin on the Terrell Mullins breakfast shake that we learned.

And a HUGE taste improvement in my opinion!

PEANUT BUTTER BANANA SMOOTHIE

1 cup wheat sprouts
3 bananas
1 tsp vanilla
Big chunk of peanut butter
Milk (we used rice)
A handful of ice
Agave if you'd like (we didn't)

As you can see the proportions are approximate :) You are basically replacing the berries with peanut butter and it hides the wheat sprout flavor a lot more.

Protein sources- sprouts, peanut butter, and nuts if using nut milk.

Spiced Chicken in Pita with Hummus

(The chicken can be substituted with sauteed, cubed cooked potato or tofu)
serves 1

Ingredients
1 small skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 pita pocket

Coating
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 garlic cloves chopped
Good pinch of cumin
Good pinch of turmeric
Handful of chopped cilantro (optional)
Onion (optional)
Good sea salt

Filling Options
1 tablespoon hummus
Mango chutney
Cucumber, diced
Tomato, diced
Lettuce leaves, torn up
Sprouts

Directions
Mix the coating ingredients in a bowl. Add the uncooked chicken pieces and toss them.

Heat a frying pan. Use tongs to drop the chicken to sizzle in the pan. Turn, and turn again, till cooked through. Poke with a knife to check for doneness (white all through). Remove promptly, or the chicken will overcook and get leathery.


I got this recipe from my new favorite cookbook, Sam Stern's Cooking up a Storm (It doesn't contain all healthy foods, but there are some great flavors and options to try and the author also has out a vegetarian cookbook).

My kids loved this recipe and didn't even know that it was completely healthy! I am also excited to use turmeric whenever I can because of the anti-inflammatory properties.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola Bars

I was making Terrell Mullins wonderful Banana Cream Pie and thought that I could use his recipe in a different way to make homemade granola bars. These are chewy and moist, although you could probably crunch them up in a dehydrator, if you like them crunchier.

The base:

½ cup almonds

½ cup pecans

Process in a blender until they are a fine meal. Add:

1/3 cup shredded coconut

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp cinnamon

1 cup dates

Process until mixed well. Place in a medium bowl.

The extras:

I cup oatmeal

1 T hemp seeds

½ cup coarsely chopped raw peanuts

½ cup cacao nibs

The extras are where you can determine the flavor of your granola bars. Some of the other things we add are: sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, cranberries or other dried fruit, flax seed, chia seeds, coconut, other coarsely chopped nuts and rolled grains. You can add up to about 2 cups worth. Put in bowl and mix well with base. Mixture will be very dry.

The glue:

2 cups of cashews (soaked)

½ tsp sea salt

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ raw agave

¼ cup water

Blend in blender until very creamy. Put ¾ - 1 cup of the glue mixture into the bowl to bind all the ingredients together. Mix well. You will have some left-over. We find it makes excellent pudding. We like to top it with sliced bananas.

Pour mixture into any pan to mold. Cut the mixture into bars and wrap with plastic wrap. The recipe usually makes about 12-14 bars. Refrigerate till needed for school lunches or snacks.

Mayan Chocolate Milk

I love dark chocolate and was wondering how I could get it into a raw diet, when I ran across these babies in the health food store:

It’s raw, organic cacao beans. They have a very dark flavor, but are not bitter. The manufacturer calls them a Mayan superfood rich in magnesium, polyphenols, flavanols, antioxidants and fiber. My first experiment with them today was to see if I could make a healthy chocolate milk. We usually drink cashew milk because of its protein content, but I used oat milk with this recipe because it is so creamy, but you could use any nut/rice milk you prefer.

Oat Milk from Blendtec’s Lifestyles Recipe Book

¾ cup whole oats

Make sure your blender jar is completely dry. Blend at your highest speed for 20 seconds (Blendtec: speed 10). Add:

3 ¾ cup water – room temperature

1 medium apple – cored and quarted

3 tsp raw agave

1 ½ tsp vanilla

¼ sea salt

Blend at highest speed for 50 seconds (Blendtec: Whole Juice). Chill and let rest in refrigerator for at least 5 minutes. You can strain this milk if you want a smoother consistency.

Now for chocolate milk add per 1 cup milk:

2 T cacao nibs

2 T raw agave

You can adjust more or less depending on your tastes, but this makes very flavorful milk. Blend at highest speed for 50 seconds (Blendtec: Whole Juice). If you would like hot chocolate, you can continue to run the blender till heated (Blentec: Soup, 1 or 2X).

Olivia loved it – you can tell by her chocolate milk mustache!

Update: I also found Cacao powder - It's even better! There's not the slight grainy-ness of the nibs. Also, I think I prefer cashew nut milk to the oat milk. You can find the recipe under milk.

Welcome to The Magic Pomegranate

The Magic Pomegranate is a private blog for those trying to eat in more healthy ways. You are now an author and/or reader of the blog. If you have friends or family members that you think would be an active addition to our blog, just email me at stories@wendygourley.com and I will send them an invite.

Here’s a few notes about posting:

If your post includes a recipe, please put the name of your recipe in the title section. Put the type of recipe in the label section at the end of your post (salad, breakfast, smoothie, etc.) Then the blog will catalogue all the recipes for us on the right side bar of the blog. Please only one recipe per post and we’d love to have pictures! If the recipe is not yours, please be sure to give proper credit. Everyone on the blog has their own nutritional needs, but please, no recipes with dairy, beef, pork or processed meats, or processed sugars or flours. We especially welcome raw vegan recipes and those using sprouts, grains and seeds. We are about healing through powerhouse foods.

If you are posting a tip, put Tips in the label section.

If you are sharing a story, put Stories in the label section.

If you are posting a question, put Questions in the label section and we'll see if any of our members have some suggestions or answers for you.

You can put multiple labels on posts, just list anything that applies. If your post doesn't fit any of the above categories, you don’t have to label anything.

Thanks for joining us! Our journey will be stronger with you along!