Food Health-Warning for Food Colorings to Be Considered by F.D.A. Panel–NY Times.com

I get many e-mails from people asking me how to transition to a vegetarian diet.  Even though I give them a lot of basic foods and tips to transition with, one of the things that I’ve found most important is to read the labels of the non fresh (boxed or packaged) foods I buy.  When I first got married my hubby and I lived with some relatives in Chicago.  One of them was battling an illness and had a friend come to help her with diet tips.  Well, her friend was a dietitian.  The dietitian sat down and went over what she ate and also stated that it was very important to avoid foods with high fructose corn syrup and food dyes.  That was over 10 years ago and I still continue to check labels for additives and sugar content.  I’ve even have my son accustomed to looking at the label of a product before he asks for it.  We all must be mindful about what we eat.  FYI,  I also have another article written on the subject posted on my blog under food health.    Check out the article below.

Warning for Food Colorings to Be Considered by F.D.A. Panel - NYTimes.com

Whole Living–Purge your Pantry!

 

FYI!  Click below.

Whole Living -- Whole Living Action Plan

Vegan Planet: Party Vegan Giveaway!

Click below for details.

Vegan Planet: Party Vegan Giveaway!

Sunday Dinner

This is a quick and simple recipe I make for Sunday dinner sometimes.  I am not a big cornbread fan (unless I make it :-) but every now and then I make this yummy treat.

Ingredients

•1 cup Fine Grind Cornmeal

•1 cup Spelt Flour

•1/2 tsp Sea Salt

•4 tsp Baking Powder

•1 Tb Maple Syrup

•1 Egg replacer equivalent

•1 cup Non-Dairy Milk

•1/4 cup Vegan Butter, softened

Veggie crumbles or equivalent and non-dairy cheese of choice



Directions

Preheat oven to 425°. Saute veggie crumbles according to directions in medium sized cast iron pan.  You can add onions, garlic, or any other seasoning of choice.  Set aside and clean pan.  Place about a tablespoon of vegan butter in cast iron cooking pan and place in warming oven.  Once vegan butter is melted take out of oven spread evenly over pan and set aside. Sift together dry ingredients into bowl. Add egg replacer, Soy, Almond, Coconut or non-dairy milk of choice and vegan butter. Beat until smooth, about 1 minute. DO NOT OVERBEAT.   Add half of mixture to pan and fill with crumbles and cheeze.  Then add rest of batter on top smoothing to the edges.  Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm with butter. YUM!

My little chef at it again!

A Timeless Passion!

This year I will be 40 and  more than anything I've been reviewing my intentions, the actions that have made up my life.  Am I authentic?  Am I honest?  Am I  living from the heart or my head?  Unfortunately, I have lived mostly from my head.  What looks good on paper and not in my heart.  But, what was so awesome about the experience of moving to Chicago for a while was that I had to re-think my actions.  I had been through a difficult pregnancy and just wanted to bask in the glow of my new little one.  My undergraduate and graduate training is in dance but I didn't want to do that.  My body wasn't ready and plus, it was getting cold and I do not like having my warm body come out into miserably cold weather after a dance class, so, I cooked.  I just felt that if I cooked something good would happen.  Interestingly enough, the post office box my hubby and I rented used to belong to a catering company. One day I received a trade magazine that talked about blogging as a way to network and become more visible in the culinary, hospitality and tourism industry.  And the rest, as they say, is history.  I started a blog, YouTube channel  (my bonus MIL suggested this), and got a Twitter account.  My husband set up my web domain and I kept cooking.  It was the one of the few things I did that seemed timeless.  I had a Personal Chef job once and spent about four hours cooking and even didn't realize it! 

I eventually began moving and dancing again and have found that yoga and teaching dance to an eager class of young people gives me that timeless feel.  I've been in 3 hour yoga classes that felt like an hour and find I go over time when I teach because I get very engrossed in what I am teaching.  So enough blabbing for now.  I know it's been a while since I have posted a recipe.  I do post pics on Facebook and Twitter and will have more of those to come.  I also have videos that I have to post.  All in all, I am learning life has to be lived on an individual basis.  Sometimes because of family expectations and societal norms we get caught up other people's view of what life "should" be.  But just think about those things that are timeless in your life.  What are those actions that align you with with your true spirit?  Keep cooking and check out what I have been cooking below.



Mini Pineapple Ginger Cupcakes with Banana Whipped Frosting

 



Ingredients for Stuffed Cornbread





Finished Stuffed Cornbread with Vegan Cheese and Veggie Crumbles

Polenta Lasagna

When I came home from yoga, my son was preparing this.

Chocolate Cake for my Sweet Pea's birthday