Dino Kale Salad

I always enjoy a good kale salad and it's a nice way to mix it up from the usual lettuce choices. This recipe is from one of my favorite blogs, Rawmazing. I saw it last week and bought all the ingredients at the farmers. One tip is to make sure you have a very ripe avocado because it mashes all over the kale as you mix it, almost creating a thick dressing. Mine was not ripe and I was bummed :( Other than that it was delicious!
Recipe
one bunch dino kale leaves
red onion, thinly sliced
purple cabbage, thinly sliced
baby roma tomato, sliced thinly
one glove garlic, minced
half a lemon, juiced
drizzle of flaxseed oil
salt and pepper
Slice the kale into one inch slices, not including the stems at the end.Throw into a bowl, drizzle oil and lemon, add chopped avocado and mixed garlic, mix well with a fork. Add red onion and cabbage, I just threw in small handful of both and the tomato slices. Pinch of sea salt and pepper. Toss and refrigerate for a couple hours. I always like to make these kale salads in the morning then enjoy them for lunch, it's better to let the flavors marinade since kale is stronger than other greens.

I've really been reminded lately about God's perfect soveriegnity. That His plans and purposes are what prevails. How restful is that revelation? It just makes me exhale and sigh in relief that I am in His hands. And what better hands to be in than the God who created the universe and set every star in the sky? The God who came in the flesh and felt everything that you have, are or will ever feel? The God who loves you because He loves you because you are.

"I know you can do everything, And that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you." Job 42:2

"Many are the plan's in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

In his peace,
<3 Dani

P.S. I've been really encourage lately by haw many of you viewers I really do have! See it seems like no big deal but I really do put a lot of thought into these posts...and time! But I'm doing it by faith because I can't see how many people are viewing and I rarely receive comments, maybe from Bianca :) Which is totally fine, it's great to know the Lord is using it lately and I pray so much that people's lives can be touched by the devotions. Also, for people to know that good health is so easily before them through God's created diet! Please pass on the site to anyone who is need of assistance with diet or healthy eating!

Zesty Bean Salad

Recipe
2 C edamame, shelled
1 15-oz can garbanzo beans
1 15-oz can kidney beans
1/2 C red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 C lime juice
1 T lime zest
drizzle of flaxseed oil
salt and pepper to taste
Drain beans and rinse with cold water. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, refrigerate for at least a couple hours. Hope you like lime, this sure is a zesty one! It pairs well with some cold, fluffed millet.

Yesterday, was a wonderful day. The Sabbath now happens to be my rest day in marathon training, perfect huh? I found myself having all this spare time after my internship and before IVC. I went out in the backyard and read for awhile. I'm hooked on this book, Red Moon Rising. Ryan told me to read in years ago and finally I end up getting around to it. It is completely altering my prayer life! Let me share with you.

This is by far my favorite part so far, the author of the book Pete Grieg is about to preach at a conference before thousands of young Christians in Spain when the Lord reminds him that he has been here once before, only for a brief moment in traveling but in that moment he had cried out to the Lord, 'where is the army? Raise up an army of this generation'. Nine years had passed since then and he felt the Lord say to him, 'Even though you forget most of the prayers you pray to me, I never forget a single thing I ask you'. Is that not the most profound truth! God hears all of our prayers, they become incense of gold in heaven, they are all so valuable to Him! We must persevere in prayer believing that He is in the process of fulfilling those prayers. He really does treasure everything you say to him.

In prayer,
<3 Dani

Dijon Vinaigrette

This is my new favorite salad dressing, if you like dijon mustard then you'll love it too! I have tried many different brands and by far Full Circle Organics Spicy Brown Mustard is my favorite! They carry it at Ralph's, Raley's and Knob Hill markets. Now, you can obviously just use whatever oil you normally use, I just bought Udo's oil blend so I wanted to use that but flax seed or olive oil would work great too. The recipe always comes out best with fresh herbs as well but sometimes we must survive with what we have, I only had fresh basil on hand this time. This makes a very small amount so double it if you're not living solo like me.

Recipe
1/4 C Udo's oil blend, or oil of your choice
2 T lemon juice
1 t apple cider vinegar
1 t honey
1/2 t dijon mustard
1 T fresh basil, chopped, or 1/2 t dried
1 T fresh thyme, chopped, or 1/2 t dried
dash of sea salt

A visiting missionary from Vancouver, Canada who serves the Lord with much fervor and passion for seeing people live well and healthy spent time talking with me yesterday and praying. It was such a sweet time hearing what the Lord wanted to tell me and just receiving from Him.

It was funny because he began talking to me about this Biblical principle that there are some natural or even medicinal ways that God can use to heal us. But it's by His wisdom in these areas alone that we can find true health. He pointed out in 1 Timothy that Paul tells Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach ailments. He could have just said to keep praying and praying, but he didn't, he said to drink some wine. Literally, this verse tells us that wine is good for the stomach and illnesses but the larger biblical principle here is that God may have other things in mind to help us.

This was remarkable to me because I would have simply read right over that verse not thinking too much into it, but after hearing him put it in that way it is so clear. This may seem so simple but I have been having a hard time taking all of these supplements and really wanting to be completely dependent on Him alone, of course this man had no idea when he began talking to me about this. This verse made me realize that I am being completely dependent on Him! It's only through His wisdom that I have been able to get so healthy through these natural ways. He gave me so much reassurance and comfort through this verse. I hope like me it can give you a biblical backbone for holistic health, because our God is holistically minded. He wants us all whole and well in mind, body and spirit.

"No longer only drink water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities." 1 Timothy 5:23

Even funnier, Krissy called me later so see if I wanted to sit out on the porch with her and drink wine!

Be well and please drink a little wine, make sure it's organic because apparently there is a toxic sort of sulfur dioxide that occurs in non-organic wines. This man really had a lot to teach me, not what I was expecting when I went to get prayer, God always works in these funny ways.
<3 Dani

Make Your Own Vegetable Broth

Now that I am done with my summer classes, I have been able to do some cooking for my family. I decided that I wanted to try my hand at making my own vegetable broth. So, I went to the Santa Cruz farmer's market and got a bunch of vegetables to make the broth. It is all very easy and quite flavorful!

What you will need:

6 large carrots, peeled and chopped
small bunch of celery, chopped

small bunch of parsley, chopped

4 onions, (white, yellow, purple, etc), chopped

2 leeks, chopped

3 bay leaves

2 tsp dried leaf marjoram

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 1/2 gallons cold water

Directions:

1. All of the chopping is pretty simple, but make sure to chop big pieces of everything. Going into this I did not know how to prepare leek. Here is a tutorial that is very helpful.

2. Throw everything into a pot of cold water and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour, skimming off any foam that comes to the surface. Do not stir and do not allow to boil again.

3. I skipped this step, but if you want a really clear broth, line a strainer with a double thickness of cheesecloth and set over a large bowl. Strain stock through the cheesecloth, pouring slowly so that you do not mix up the sediments. I just poured my broth through a strainer because I do not mind the sediments.

4. Discard the remains (I cringe at this part, but there is really no flavor left in anything)

5. Refrigerate or store in the freezer in small portions.

In my next post you will get to see how I used the broth...surprises surprises

Love,

B

Pickled Beets

My nan and I both love beets. She prefers them pickled so I found this Savory Pickled Beets recipe and made them for us to enjoy this week. These were fun and simply, just the way I like it :) Now, you can actually can these but I don't know how to do that so I just put them in a leftover jar I had sitting around. Always whats simple with me :)

Recipe
2 large beets, boiled and peeled
half a yellow onion
2/3 C water
1/3 C white vinegar
1/3 C apple cider vinegar
1/2 t dill seed
1/2 t coriander seed
1/2 t whole peppercorns
1/2 t yellow mustard seed
1 bay leaf
pinch of salt
Place all ingredients in a jar, secure the lid on tight and let pickle for at least two days. Now, I tend to like apple cider vinegar but I understand others don't. If you are one of them I would use mostly white vinegar and add a few T of apple cider vinegar.

This morning as I was spending time with the Lord this passage really struck me:
"Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you will also be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again." Romans 11:22-23
As I was considering His goodness, His holiness, how nothing we do can compare to that but that He teaches us and allows us to be partakers of that holiness. This is incredible. We get to be holy like God is holy! It's not about what we think is right or good but only what He says his truly good. And for those who have fallen and make their own way the right way He can bring them back, this is so easy for Him. Don't lose faith if you're praying for fallen believers they could come back at any second. Hold tight and keep praying!
I love how God uses all these parallels with nature so we can easily understand things. I had just asked my Nan what grafting was this weekend and then he led me to this verse. Previously I would have read right through this not knowing what the heck grafting was. For those like me, grafting is where they take a branch from a tree that has been bearing fruit for years and fuse it with a new baby tree. The branch becomes a part of the tree and they come into alignment with one another to bear good fruit! Isn't that a great picture of what happens when God grafts fallen believers back to the body of Christ? Come on, that is so good, just picture God bringing back your fallen friends into His goodness and raising them up to bear good fruit again. Then pray with a full heart of faith :)

In His love,
Dani

DIY: Make your own journal

Well hello everyone! Remember me? Yes, my name is Bianca and I used to co-host this blog with Dani, but now I am super lame and never post. Anywho...I'm back in action and doing a ton of DIY projects and renovations to share with you all while I am home for summer. Before, my dear friend Annalisa left for Turkey we spent one lovely summer day making journals. We got the idea from our roommate's sister.

What you will need:

Old books (Check your local thrift store. Reader's Digest books often have really cute covers)

52+ sheet of paper (printer paper works fine) that are cut to the size of your book cover

needle with large eye

thick thread or thin string

tack

exacto knife

Directions:

First, find a book cover that you really like at your local thrift store. The number of pages in the book does not matter. You will be able to decide how many pages you want to have in your journal. Using the exacto knife, cut the front and back covers off of the book.

Punch holes in the same place along the edge of the front and back covers using a tack. about an inch apart. You want to have a hole at the top and bottom, so space accordingly. Separate your paper into groups of four and fold the groups in half. These sets are called "signatures."

Now comes the tricky part....sewing the pages into the book covers using a coptic/kettle stitch. Here is a video tutorial that can explain the process much better than I ever could. I did not pre-make holes in the signatures. Instead, I lined the signatures up with the book cover and made holes in their spines as I went. Make sure that you pull each of your stitches very tight. I lined up. When you are finished sewing all of your signatures together, attach the back cover and decorate your brand new journal however you like. I used a cutout sketch from one of the pages that I had ripped out of the original book and glued it to the front cover.

Enjoy! I definitely want to hear about and see the journals that your make. I thought that they would also be good Christmas or birthday presents :-)

Love,

B

Pumpkin Seed Granola

My mom and I found a large bag of pumpkin seeds in the refrigerator and thought, what can we do with this? My mom had been planning on making some more of her home-made granola and I had just seen a new recipe that called for pumpkin seeds- it was perfect! So we spent our Sunday afternoon making granola together. The house smelled absolutely amazing like cake and bread baking at the same time.

Ingredients:
4 C old fashioned oats
1 C pumpkin seeds, finely ground
1 C sunflower seeds, finely ground
1 C flax seeds, finely ground
1/2 C oat bran
2/3 C fresh apple juice
1/3 C honey
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 C shredded coconut

To make:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine all ingredients except for the coconut shreds. Stir well and layer on a pan, no spray necessary. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Once out of the oven. let cool and add coconut shreds.

Enjoy with almond milk and fresh fruit for a fantastic breakfast...or late night snack :)

<3 Dani

Flowers and Farmers

Enjoying a wonderful weekend at home. The farmer's yesterday was just beautiful, heirloom tomatoes, tons of melons and berries and peaches, Oh I just love summer harvest! And the flowers, there blooming like crazy now so I had to get some for myself. These ones really caught my eye, only I can't remember what they were called! But they're my new favorites.

This one farmer here in town, Route 1 Farms is the best farm stand I have seen at any of the farmers I've been too. There produce looks always wonderful and the best part-the prices are so low! There definitely less than you would find in any grocery store. Yesterday, this lady was asking why everything is so cheap and the farmer was explaining that they want everything to be reasonably priced so people can know that anyone can buy this kind of good quality organic food. Isn't that wonderful?! And really guys, it is affordable, the rest of the farmer's isn't that much different either. Get out there and check it out! You will not regret it :) Have a wonderful Sunday!

Blessings,
Dani

p.s. I emailed the farm and found out they are called Yarrows. Love them!

Lasagna with Tempeh and Celeriac

For a while this was the best dish I was making and everyone I tried it out on loved it! I will say that it requires about an hour to prepare but if you enjoy cooking and good vegan food go for it! You'll need some specific ingredients so be sure to visit a health foods store to find them. The lasagna can be made gluten-free if you use brown rice lasagna noodles, which we did and it was wonderful. Serve with a beautiful salad and this makes a for a nice wholesome dinner. There's Bianca and Annalisa enjoying dinner before we went off to Lindsay's dance show last year.
You'll need:
1 package Brown Rice Lasagna noodles
1 recipe of Celeriac Puree for Lasagna
1 recipe of Home-made Marinara
1 recipe Tempeh Ragu
5 ounces vegan shredded mozzarella cheese, we used Follow My Heart

Home-made Marinara
2 C fresh basil
2 red bell peppers
1/2 C fresh oregano
3 carrots
1 C sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 2 hours and drained
1 onion
4 dates, soaked for 2 hours and drained
2 t sea salt
1 C fresh tomatoes
2 pints cherry tomatoes
1 t lemon juice
3 cloves garlic
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend well.

Tempeh Ragu
8 ounces of tempeh
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Italion seasoning
1 1/2 cups pasta sauce (I used my homemade sauce from above)
Process the tempeh, heat in a pan with the oil for about 2-3 minutes. Add the seasonings, garlic and pasta sauce. Cook over medium for 2 more minutes. The ragu should be warm when added to the lasagna, but it can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator.

Celeriac Puree
8 ounces of peeled celery root (celeriac), from 12 ounces unpeeled root
1 clove of garlic, whole and peeled
2 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan margarine
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Cut celery root into 1" cubes and boil in pan with the garlic clove. Add salt to the water til it's as salty as tears. Not too sure what that means, Bianca always performed this step. Boil for 7-9 minutes. Drain but save a little bit of the cooking water. Blend in a cuisinart with spices, margarine and 2 T of the cooking water. The puree should look like mashed potatoes. The puree should be warm when added to the lasagna.

To make:
Step 1) Boil the noodles for about 3-4 minutes.
Step 2) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 3) In an 8 inch glassware pan layer a tiny bit of marinara.
Step 4) Then a layer of noodles, you'll need to cut them as they will be too long.
Step 5) Then you layer half of the celeriac puree, half of the tempeh ragu and 1/3 of the cheese.
Step 6) Layer of noodles and repeat Step 5.
Step 7) Layer of noodles and a thin layer of sauce and then the last 1/3 of the cheese to top it off.
Step 8) Bake for 40-50 minutes. When the cheese browns a little, it's perfect.

As always, Enjoy!
<3 Dani

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Completely raw and vegan! These are so fun and delicious! I think this was the first recipe I ever made from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. I made them way back for Bianca's birthday and they were well liked, by those that enjoy raw foods of course :) The frosting was the best part, you might consider doubling it so there's plenty!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

For the cake:
5 C carrot pulp, from about 3 pounds carrots
1 3/4 C raw sunflower seeds
1 C dates, pitted and soaked for a couple hours
2 C shredded coconut
1 1/2 t nutmeg
3 t cinnamon
Process the sunflower seeds in a cuisinart until ground into a flour. Add in the date slowly blended them in with the sunflower seed mixture. In a large mixing bowl combine the mixture with the carrot pulp and the spices, adding more to taste.

For the frosting:
1 1/2 C raw cashews
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T agave or honey
1/2 C water, as needed
You'll need a high speed blender for this recipe. In a Vitamix blend all ingredients adding in water to get a creamy frosting like consistency. To make the frosting whiter use light colored agave.

Assembly:
You need to actually have a cupcake pan with liners. Allow them to harden in the refrigerator before you remove them from the pan. Scoop out the cake and fill each cupcake section leaving a tiny bit of room for frosting. The best way to frost them is to fill a small zip-lock bag and then cut the very edge of the corner and squeeze from the opposite end. Top cupcakes with the frosting in a circular motion from outside to the center.

You can freeze these and they'll last much longer, take them out to defrost about a half hour before you eat them, they're really moist this way.

Enjoy,
Dani

Spanish Rice Bowl

I whipped up this Spanish rice bowl with some leftover homemade salsa from the tacos and it was wonderful! I've really been getting creative with all my leftovers. The salsa was better after it had sat for a couple days and all the flavors had marinated. Use a really ripe avocado and mash it in somewhat like guacamole. Yum!

Spanish Rice Bowl
1/2 C brown rice, cooked in 1 C water
1/2 C black beans
handful of shredded cabbage
1/2 or so homemade salsa
half an avocado
half a lime, freshly juiced
Cook the rice in the water, bring to a boil then let simmer for about a half hour to 40 minutes. Add the black beans while the pan is hot so they get warm as well. Place in a deep bowl, ad the shredded cabbage, salsa, avocado and then lime. Mix around with fork and enjoy!

Enjoy,
Dani

Eggplant Salad

I watched my old roommate Lindsay throw sauteed eggplant on her salad almost everyday last year and somehow never tried it. I had a little leftover from the dinner the other night so I sliced it up, gentled heated it on the stove and threw it on a salad for lunch the next day. Wow was I surprised by how delicious it was. I could not believe I had never tried it myself, especially considering how much I love eggplant! This is an especially easy way to spice up your lunch salad!

Recipe
Romaine Lettuce leaves
eggplant
red bell pepper
scallions
avocado
soy sauce
flax seed oil
In a saucepan drizzle some soy sauce and add a bit of water, a small bit. Warm on the stove at medium heat. Slice some eggplant and lay each piece flat on the pan. Depending on the size of your eggplant you may want to quarter the slices. Flip after a couple minutes and allow the other side to heat, adding more water or soy sauce not to let it burn on the pan. Meanwhile tear the lettuce leaves, dice the bell pepper, thinly slice the scallions and drizzle with flax seed oil. Once the eggplant is ready throw on the salad warm and add the avocado last.

Perfection! This was my after run meal on Saturday, I did 10 miles again. This training is really getting me though, but I'm loving it.

Enjoy,
Dani

"Refried" Bean Tacos

This summer I discovered a new way to do tacos and of course they are not really refried! You simply blend half a can of beans and then add in the other half still whole with a ton of mexican or taco seasoning and WALLAH--refried beans! Really, it's so great! Bre and I had dinner together tonight and she thoroughly enjoyed these tacos. It was so funny because Bre doesn't like anything spicy and the Co-op here in IV doesn't even carry mild salsa! So I ended getting stuff to make some fresh pico de gallo which I love anyways and it was delicious! Tomatoes, garlic, onion, cilantro and lemon, so simple. Throw on some sliced cabbage, fresh squeezed lime and you got yourself a fiesta!

Sorry about the picture of "refried" beans, it's definetly not pretty or mouth watering, but hey refried beans never did look very appetizing. We just know they are :)

Enjoy,
Dani

Frozen Raw Birthday Cake

Lindsay and I wanted to make some treat for our beloved Holly's birthday. We opened up the Recipes for Life cookbook and came across a recipe for Frozen Raw Birthday Cake-perfect! We both had so much fun making it and were so excited by how nice it came out. It was really easy too!

Recipe
1 16 oz bag of raw almonds
4-5 ripe bananas
1 16 oz bag dried figs
1 16 oz bag dried apricots

Soak the figs and apricots in filtered water overnight. Drain and blend separately and set aside. We used Lindsay's VitaMix but a cuisinart or regular blender would probably work out fine. Blend the bananas and set aside. Grind the almonds into a fine powder and also set aside. Now in a tupperware or other dish that can be frozen begin assembling the cake by layering almonds then a fruit blend, almonds then another fruit blend, etc. Start with almonds and end with a fruit blend. We did almonds, banana, almonds, apricot, almonds and then last figs. Spread the fruit blends very gently not to pick up and mix all the almond crumble. It comes out in great layers if you do it very carefully. Freeze for at least 8 hours and remove just before eating. To remove the cake, flip it upside down and if needed use a little warm water to loosen it from the dish. It should come out very nicely.
Then we got really creative and made this heart out of ground flax seed. We lined it with raisins and made a border around the cake! We were so proud of it :) Next time you have a birthday coming up you know the perfect cake to make!
Birthdays are an incredible opportunity to bless people and we spent Holly's birthday worshiping and praying. It was a beautiful evening of fellowship and encouragement. The Holy Spirit's presence was so tangible and filled the room. Jesus wouldn't have had it any other way himself.

Blessings,
Dani

Spinach Asparagus Quiche

If I haven't already mentioned it, Bianca and I are training for a marathon in November! We're very excited...especially Bianca! Last Saturday we ran our first long run together, 10 miles through Nicene Marks State Park, it was so beautiful. Apparantly replenishing your body within the hour after finishing your run is very important so I pre-made this quiche full of protein from the tofu and spinach. Bianca wasn't expecting much at all and was quite surprised by how sweet and delicious it was! She said it was my best dish yet!!! I think the key is a really sweet onion, I had bought a Maui sweet onion fresh from the farmer's market that I used. The crust was a store made gluten-free crust that was also amazing and no one would ever had known it wasn't made with wheat. All around this quiche was wonderful and I highly satisfying after a long run :) So please, give this one a try!
Recipe
1 14-oz package silken tofu
1 pound asparagus, cut into 1in pieces
2 pounds fresh spinach
1 sweet onion, diced
3 garlic cloves
12 basil leaves, chopped
1/2 T fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T rice vinegar
pinch of hot red pepper flakes
1/2 t sea salt, can add more according to your taste

1 gluten free pie crust

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a baking pan lined with cooking spray or a pan on the stove top layer the onion and asparagus and cook until translucent, 10 -12 minutes. You may cook the vegetables in a little olive oil to caramelize them. In a separate little bowl mince the garlic and mix with the chopped basil, thyme, red pepper flakes and salt. Blend the tofu with the lemon and rice vinegar in a food processor adding in the garlic mixture, careful not to over-process, as soon as the mixture is smooth it's done. Cook the spinach in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Drain and mix with the onions, asparagus and tofu mixture in a large bowl. Gently fold into the pie crust and bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes.
I have moved into my new room in Santa Barbara at the Cohen's home and I just love it. But one problem, there will probably less cooking and less pictures because I do not have a camera of my own. We will do what we can though to keep up the posts though!

Enjoy,
<3>