Pasta w/ Avocado Dressing

Nice & Creamy!

Ingredients

Dressing

• 1/2 Avocado
• 1/3 cup Olive oil
• 1 tsp Lemon juice
• 1 Tbs Tahini
• 1 Garlic clove
• 1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
• Sea salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)
• 2 Tbs Almond milk
• Pinch of Thyme
• Pinch of Basil

• 1 cup Broccoli (cooked)
• 1 1/2 cup Pasta of your choice
• 1 small Tomato (chopped)
• 1 small Onion (chopped)

Directions

Cook pasta as directed and set aside.

Combine  all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend. It will be thick, so you can add more almond milk to make it the consistency you want.

In a bowl add tomatoes, onions, pasta and broccoli. Add dressing and mix well. 

I served this dish cold. I'm thinking it would taste good hot also.

Some Health Benefits 

Avocados support heart, blood, liver, cell, skin and eye health. They are useful for nutrient absorption, weight-loss and detox, weight-loss.

Broccoli helps fight some cancers and supports cell health in general. It enriches the blood, nourishes the nervous system and helps in weight loss.

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Non-Dairy Butter Cookies w/ Fruit Filling

You will not miss the dairy in these cookies!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  sticks Earth Balance Butter
• 2 Tbs Walnuts (after blended in a food processor)
• 1 Tbs Almond milk
• 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Cane sugar 
• 2 Cups Unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Sea salt
• 1 Egg replacer
• Fruit spread (no cane sugar added) filling for cookies

Directions

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

Cream butter, walnuts and sugar together.  Add vanilla extract, egg replacer and almond milk. Mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and sea salt.  Add to butter mixture. Mix until combined and let chill for 15 minutes.  I could not wait 15 minutes because I had a good feeling these cookies were going to taste great so I popped them in the freezer for 5 minutes. 

Take a small piece and form into a ball and place on baking sheet.  You will need to make a hole in the middle of the cookie. I used the back of a small icecream scooper.  Dip the scooper into flour so that is does not stick to the dough.  

Add the fruit spread to the center of each cookie and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly brown.    

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Onion Mushroom Sandwich

Ingredients

• 1 large Onion (sliced)
• 2 cups sliced Baby bella mushrooms
• 1 Garlic clove (chopped)
• Sea salt (to taste)
• 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbs Soy sauce
• 1 Tbs Olive oil
• 3 Tbs Water

Directions

Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and mushrooms. Add salt, cayenne pepper and cook for 10 minutes or until onions are caramelized. Then add soy sauce and water. Cook for 5 minutes and serve with wheat bread and toppings of your choice.

This is a simple sandwich that gets tastier the more creative you get with your toppings. Go wild!

Some Health Benefits

Onions support brain, blood, heart, cell, liver and respiratory health. They are useful as a detox. The tomatoes boost eye, blood, heart and kidney heath. Avocados nourish the heart, blood and cell systems. 

I served this sandwich with carrots (good for liver, eye, heart and blood), string beans (for cell, heart, blood and digestive health) and baked potatoes (for cell, blood, digestive and immune system health). 

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Hush Puppies

Ingredients

• 1 cup Cornmeal
• 1 cup All-purose flour
• 3 Tbs Wheat flour
• 1 tsp Sea salt
• 1/2 tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp Garlic powder
• 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp smoked Paprika
• 1/2 tsp Sage
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric
• 1 Flax seed egg
• 1 cup Almond milk
• 1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
• 4 Tbs Vegan butter (melted)
• 1 small Onion (grated or chopped)
• 1/2 Green pepper (chopped)
• 2 Tbs Honey
• Oil for frying

Directions

In a small cup, add milk in apple cider vinegar. Let sit for 10 minutes.

In a bowl mix flour, salt, baking powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, sage and numeric. Set aside.

In a separate bowl combine flax seed egg, butter, honey, milk mixture, onions and peppers.

Add to flour mixture and stir until combined.

Heat oil in a pot, and using a small icecream scooper drop batter into oil. Cook until golden brown.

These golden delights are very flavorful. I could not stop eating them while I was cooking and by the time I was ready to eat I was full. They are great by themselves but I dipped them in Boss Sauce.

If anyone has any other dipping suggestions for hush puppies please share!

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Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

I love the ooey, gooey texture. Make sure you get the middle piece first!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Honey (or cane sugar)
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 3 Tbs Vegan butter (melted)
• 1 cup Peanut butter (unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup All-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup Oats 
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/2 Almond milk
• 1/2 tsp Apple cider vinegar
• 1 Bar of Dark chocolate 1.5 oz (chopped)
• 1/2 cup Walnuts (chopped)
• 1 Egg replacer

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil and flour a 8 inch baking pan.

In a bowl, mix honey, butter, vanilla, peanut butter, walnuts and chocolate. Set aside. 

In a cup, mix milk and vinegar. Let sit for 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, add flour, oats, salt, and baking soda. Then add to peanut butter mixture and stir. Add milk and egg. Mix until combined. Pour into pan. Cook for 17 to 20 minutes or until toothpick or knife comes out clean.

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Vegetable Chili

After one bowl you will be full, but its powers 

are beyond your control ... you will go back for more!

Ingredients

• 1 cup Kidney beans
• 1 cup Pink beans
• 3 cups Water
• Salt to taste
• 1 dry Bay leaf
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp Chili powder
• 1/2 Tbs unsweetened Cocoa powder
• 1 tsp smoked Paprika 
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 1 large Onion (chopped)
• 1 large Green pepper (chopped)
• 2 Tomatoes (chopped)
• 2  Tbs Tomato paste
• 1/2 cup Corn (optional)

Directions

Add beans, water, salt, bay leaf, cumin, cayenne pepper, paprika and chili powder in a slow cooker for 3-4 hours or until beans are soft.  I'm sure this complete recipe would work in a slow cooker, but I transferred the beans to a pot and finished the cooking on the stove.

In a pot, add onion, pepper, garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, beans (with liquid), tomato paste, cocoa powder and corn. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, or until chili is thick.

I served this with basmati rice cooked in coconut milk and topped with avocado. Oh, so good!

Some Health Benefits


Basmati rice nourishes the heart, blood and nervous system. It helps the body heal from wounds and maintain a healthy digestive system. It complements beans for a complete protein intake. Basmati rice's protein content is higher than regular rice.  

Avocados are known to support heart, blood, liver, cell, skin and eye health. They help in detox, weight-loss and nutrient absorption.

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Habits

If you hear some say, "I don't need to change my diet because my so-and-so ate soul food for 80 years and was perfectly healthy," or "I don't need to exercise because I eat vegan or vegetarian food," they're talking habits. 

But our bodies and minds need exercises and diet together. A Healthy or unhealthy habit feels normal as our bodies and minds get used to it - and we are always recreating old habits or creating new ones.

Granma may have had all sorts of food back then, but people in her day worked it off, unlike our sedentary times. Also, what she ate must have been healthier than the unhealthy processed food-for-maximum profit, food giants have flooded the world with these past 20 to 50 years.

We need motivation to work on ourselves, our health. Self-motivation, especially. Thinking about being well for the people you love definitely inspires us to nurture healthy habits. Thinking about loving ourselves touches us even closer.