Tempeh Lasagna with Cashew Cream Sauce recipe

Note:
Tempeh is a healthy version of soy bcs it's fermented. You can buy organic tempeh at Publix in the organic produce section. Instead of making the sauce I'm using Muir Glen Organic Pasta Sauce (Italian Herb). For the metric conversions I have added the conventional equivalent to the right of each item I'm using from the recipe. You can also use this site for help:
http://mdmetric.com/tech/kitchen.htm
Miriam

From TofuforTwo.net:
We both love lasagne, and this is definitively one of our favorite ways to fill those pasta sheets. Fried tempeh crumbs, basil tomato sauce, and white sauce made with cashews and nutritional yeast were a delicious combination in this creamy and hearty and remarkably satisfying lasagne.

Our lasagne wasn’t extremely photogenic, but the side of steamed broccoli added a hint of aesthetic value – and also balanced the rich lasagne quite nicely.

Tomato Tempeh Sauce:

5 dl tomato sauce (passata type)
2 onions, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
200 g tempeh (6 oz)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

First, we prepared the tempeh. We chopped it finely, until we had nice crumbles.

Now, we heated a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan, and fried the temped crumbles for about 7 minutes, until they’d turned golden brown. Then Heikki added the soy sauce and the liquid smoke to the pan, and fried the tempeh until the liquid had evaporated, for a few more minutes.

I removed the tempeh from the pan, added a little more oil, and fried the onions until they became translucent. Now I added the dried basil, fried it for a few seconds, and then added the rest of the tomato sauce ingredients to the pan. I let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes, until the cashew sauce was ready, and then mixed in the tempeh crumbles.

Cashew Cream Sauce:

3 tablespoons vegan margarine
1/2 dl wheat flour (3 TBS)
2 dl cashew nuts & 1 dl oat milk (12 TBS)
9 dl plain oat milk (just under 1 liter)
1 dl nutritional yeast flakes (6 TBS)
1 teaspoon green peppercorns, ground
1 and 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

While Heikki ground the cashews with 1 dl of oat milk to create a thick cream, I melted the margarine in a small cooking pan on medium heat. When it started to bubble, I added the wheat flour, whisking all the time, and kept on whisking and frying the flour for a few minutes. Now, I added the rest of the oat milk a little by little, whisking to get it smoothly incorporated, and brought the mixture to boil on medium-high heat, stirring all the time. After the mixture had thickened a little, I whisked in the nutritional yeast and the cashew cream, and heated for a few minutes. Now the sauce was quite thick, and I added the rest of the ingredients – salt, green peppercorns, and lemon juice.

Assembling the Lasagne:

250 g (half a box) spinach lasagne sheets (Pirkka brand)
We first brushed our lasagne pan with olive oil, and spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce over the bottom of the pan. We covered the sauce with 4 lasagne sheets, and spread some more tomato sauce over the pasta. Now, we spooned about one fifth of the cashew sauce over the tomato layer, and then added three more layers of pasta covered with the two sauces. We reserved a little more cashew sauce for the last layer, and spread it evenly over the whole lasagne. We ended up with 4 layers of pasta, a layer of tomato-tempeh sauce underneath, and a layer of the creamy cashew sauce upmost.

Now we baked the lasagne in 200 degrees Celsius for about 35 minutes, until the white sauce had browned nicely, and let it cool down for about 10 minutes before serving.

http://tofufortwo.net/2008/02/29/tempeh-lasagne-with-cashew-cream-sauce/

Amazing made fresh to order, 100% natural skincare and body products!

I absolutely love these homemade, 100% natural Skin2Spirit products made fresh to order by my friend, Kirschner Kathi! I just placed another order and can't get enough! My hubby uses the face and eye lotion too. They smell and feel amazing! They end up lasting a long time so they are also a great value. I actually pay less now for my face and eye lotion than before bcs the containers are twice the size of what I used to buy. In addition to many other fabulous ingredients they contain organic, wild-crafted superfood extracts of:
-Acai Berry
-Blueberry
-Brown Seaweed
-GAC Fruit
-Goji Berry
-Mangosteen
-Noni Berry
-Pomegranate
-Sea Buckthorn AND
-GREEN TEA

Love them!

Order here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Skin2Spirit

Carrot Juice recipe for BlendTec Blender

Watch short video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWBuuKlx7Ts

So easy! I did not have any ginger so I just added an apple.

Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Pie Crust (raw, vegan)

Vegan Raw Pie Crust (or Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Crust)
2011 MARCH 4

OK, don’t let the hippie name fool you. It tastes like cinammon sugar cookies. And its super easy! And its alot healthier than regular pie crust. Just dump the ingredients in a blender, and go. Thats it. Just try it!! At least your dessert will be less guilty.

If you aren’t vegan or if you aren,t into raw food, or even if you aren’t struggling with food allergies, this pie crust is still a big winner. Consider all kinds of fillings for the crust- sliced bananas with vanilla pudding and dairy free whipped cream on top. If you can do dairy, try cream cheese and honey with cooked strawberries and lemonzest on top. This pie crust freezes beautifully. Fill it with dairy free ice cream and your choices of toppings! Ice cream pie!

I’d much rather call it Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Crust but then Google searches wouldn’t be so successful. *sigh*

This pie crust goes beautifully with my vegan cheesecake rhubarb pie recipe. Just doooo eeeeet.

Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Crust

Ingredients

1 cup pecans or walnuts (roast them if you aren’t raw! very yummy)
1 cup unsweetened coconut (the dried shaved kind- organic tends to be sulfite free)
2 tbsp warmed coconut oil (or unhydrogenated organic palm oil)
1 cup ground almonds
6 large dates (or 12 small ones) soaked in water over night (or if you aren’t raw, microwave 3 minutes or more in a bowl of water till soft)
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt ( 1/8 tsp)
1 tbsp agave nectar (non vegan can use honey) (or more, to taste)
1 tsp almond extract

Directions

Put the pecans, almond and coconut in the blender, pulse till finely chopped (but not till its like flour!)
Add in the dates, honey,cinnamon,salt and coconut oil. Blend until the mixture is well incorporated and starts becoming a ball rolling around in the blender.
Press into the sides of a pie pan. Done! Fill it with whatever you want. No baking!

HINT: Line your pie pan with parchment paper first, so its easier to remove pie wedges. Otherwise, this is very sticky stuff. Flip over your pie pan, trace a circle around the top of it, cut it out, and then cut slits into the sides of the circle. It should fit nicely into the pan and prevent a mess.

ALSO: This freezes soooo well. Perfect for an ice cream pie!!

http://www.myrealfoodlife.com/vegan-raw-pie-crust-or-cinnamon-sugar-cookie-crust/

The importance of a mattress!

Most of us know that a bed mattress needs to be replaced at least every 10 yrs, but we often try to get by on longer. I know I did! I still have the one my hubby and I purchased when we got married almost 13 yrs ago. Unfortunately, about a year ago it was starting to cause me back pain. The same thing was happening to a friend who was still sleeping on her wedding mattress too.

So instead of replacing the mattress (still trying to save money), I ordered a magnetic mattress pad that is about 2 inches thick, and the pain stopped the first night and never returned. Yay!

I got this one because my flexible spending account covered it, but there are less expensive options on this wonderful website:
http://magnapak-magnetic-mattress-health-therapy.com/catalog/trunorth-natural-queen-58x775-1000-north-magnets-p-569.html


Even if you sleep alone on a full or queen size bed, you can order a twin size mattress pad to save money if you only sleep on one side of your bed. Also, if you share a bed you and your husband may want different types of pads so you can each get your own if you purchase twins.

I highly recommend magnetic mattress pads! Yes, I still have to replace the mattress eventually, but I love my mattress pad!

Blessings,
Miriam

Yellow Mustard Recipe - French's Clone

Note:
I haven't made this yet but will try it when we run out of our Annie's organic mustard. I'm planning to use organic ground dry mustard, arrowroot powder instead of Wondra flour for thickening, and organic apple cider vinegar instead of distilled white. I also plan to leave it raw. We'll see how it goes.
Miriam
--------------

This is a recipe that I found at Grouprecipes.com and it was posted by "Tuilelaith." It's as much of a clone of French's mustard as I think you'll find. It won't be cost effective to make it relative to simply buying a bottle of French's. But if you like to serve your own condiments or are interested in how typical yellow mustard is made, well... this is pretty much how it's made.

Ingredients (T = tablespoon; t = teaspoon):

4 T ground yellow mustard
1/2 t Wondra flour (to thicken)
3/8 t salt
1/8 t turmeric
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of paprika
1/4 c water
3 T distilled white vinegar
Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients together in a small sauce pan.
Whisk in water and vinegar until the mixture is smooth.
Heat mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it boils.
After it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes (I simmer mine for 7.5 minutes).
Remove pan from heat and leave uncovered for 1 minute.
Then cover pan and let the mustard cool.
Put mustard in a covered container and store refrigerated
Yield: 1/4 cup

The Wondra flour is used to thicken the mixture. You probably could use all purpose flour if that's all you had and you probably wouldn't notice a difference in the taste. The Wondra won't clump as easily as all-purpose flour, making it a more convenient thickening agent.

http://marketpower.typepad.com/market_power/2010/02/yellow-mustard-recipe-frenchs-clone.html

The 10 symptoms of vitamin D deficiency you need to recognize

Friday, February 10, 2012 by: Aurora Geib

(NaturalNews) Taking vitamin D while still young may be good for the body in the long run. Results from a study conducted by the University of Zurich have confirmed that sufficient amounts of vitamin D taken consistently are necessary to maintain bone health.

Many people believe that maintaining healthy eating habits is enough, but only few foods naturally contain significant levels of vitamin D. According to Dr. Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, a faculty of UZH, in order to get adequate levels of vitamin D through diet alone, two servings of fatty fish like salmon or mackerel would have to be consumed every day. It is thus necessary to increase vitamin D levels in the body through sufficient sun exposure and supplementation in order to use the sunshine vitamin's full potential for maintaining proper body functioning.

This misconception about maintaining D levels through diet does have a degree of ground since vitamin D is not a stand alone vitamin. To perform many functions, vitamin D works in cooperation with other vitamins like magnesium, which can be found in leafy green vegetables such as spinach. This unique characteristic of vitamin D has contributed to the management of many chronic illnesses.

The many faces of vitamin D

Decades ago, health care professionals thought vitamin D was only good for keeping healthy bones and teeth. Recent advances in science, however, have put this vitamin in the spotlight by revealing its multifaceted role in the proper functioning of the human body and its ability to lower the risk of illnesses not formerly associated with it.

Despite the recent revelations about the potential of vitamin D, it appears that not everyone appreciates this discovery. The current lifestyle of working indoors has contributed to the growing number of vitamin D deficiency cases worldwide. This is compounded by the fact that not everyone is aware that he or she may be vitamin D deficient.

Am I vitamin D deficient?

The best way to discover vitamin D deficiency is to take a blood test that will measure the level of the vitamin in your blood. You can either ask your doctor to administer the test or buy a home test kit do the test yourself. However, you are certainly vitamin D deficient if you have any of the following ailments, and you need to consult with your doctor regarding your preventive, as well as curative, options as soon as possible.

1.) The flu - In a study published in the Cambridge Journals, it was discovered that vitamin D deficiency predisposes children to respiratory diseases. An intervention study conducted showed that vitamin D reduces the incidence of respiratory infections in children.

2.) Muscle weakness - According to Michael F. Holick, a leading vitamin D expert, muscle weakness is usually caused by vitamin D deficiency because for skeletal muscles to function properly, their vitamin D receptors must be sustained by vitamin D.

3.) Psoriasis - In a study published by the UK PubMed central, it was discovered that synthetic vitamin D analogues were found useful in the treatment of psoriasis.

4.) Chronic kidney disease - According to Holick, patients with advanced chronic kidney diseases (especially those requiring dialysis) are unable to make the active form of vitamin D. These individuals need to take 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or one of its calcemic analogues to support calcium metabolism, decrease the risk of renal bone disease and regulate parathyroid hormone levels.

5.) Diabetes - A study conducted in Finland was featured in Lancet.com in which 10,366 children were given 2000 international units (IU)/day of vitamin D3 per day during their first day of life. The children were monitored for 31 years and in all of them, the risk of type 1 diabetes was reduced by 80 percent.

6.) Asthma - Vitamin D may reduce the severity of asthma attacks. Research conducted in Japan revealed that asthma attacks in school children were significantly lowered in those subjects taking a daily vitamin D supplement of 1200 IU a day.

7.) Periodontal disease - Those suffering from this chronic gum disease that causes swelling and bleeding gums should consider raising their vitamin D levels to produce defensins and cathelicidin, compounds that contain microbial properties and lower the number of bacteria in the mouth.

8.) Cardiovascular disease - Congestive heart failure is associated with vitamin D deficiency. Research conducted at Harvard University among nurses found that women with low vitamin D levels (17 ng/m [42 nmol/L]) had a 67 percent increased risk of developing hypertension.

9.) Schizophrenia and Depression - These disorders have been linked to vitamin D deficiency. In a study, it was discovered that maintaining sufficient vitamin D among pregnant women and during childhood was necessary to satisfy the vitamin D receptor in the brain integral for brain development and mental function maintenance in later life.

10.) Cancer - Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington DC discovered a connection between high vitamin D intake and reduced risk of breast cancer. These findings, presented at the American Association for Cancer Research, revealed that increased doses of the sunshine vitamin were linked to a 75 percent reduction in overall cancer growth and 50 percent reduction in tumor cases among those already having the disease. Of interest was the capacity of vitamin supplementation to help control the development and growth of breast cancer specially estrogen-sensitive breast cancer.

Prevention is proactive

These various health conditions associated with vitamin D deficiency need not be something to fear. A proactive approach to prevention can assist in the avoidance of the many chronic diseases associated with vitamin D deficiency. For one, thousands of dollars can be saved, not to mention the peace of mind, simply at the cost of taking a walk under the sun. Save the umbrellas for the rainy days.


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035089_vitamin_D_deficiency_signs_symptoms.html#ixzz1nssha1h8