“Freedom is never free.” -Author Unknown

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” -Elmer Davis

~LilSis

Posted under Holidays

Happy new year!  LilSis and I love making appetizers, and there is no better opportunity for snack-crafting than New Years Eve and New Years Day!  My old Stuffed Mushrooms Italian recipe is a family favorite, and everyone loves it.  However, it's stuffed with meat and cheese so I haven't made it since I stopped eating critters almost 17 years ago.  It's time to veganize this baby!

This is a pretty easy recipe to veganize; I just substituted Tofutti cream cheese for dairy cream cheese, and sausage-style seitan for the pork sausage.  I think it came out pretty well, but I want to keep tweaking this recipe to see if I can elevate it from “delicious” to “ding dang awesome”!

Stuffed Mushrooms Italian Veganized

1 small shallot, minced
1 pkg Upton Naturals Italian Sausage Style Seitan
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
1/2 cup Daiya Mozzarella
4 ounces Tofutti Cream Cheese (1/2 tub)
Olive oil
Seasonings to taste: Italian Seasoning, salt, pepper, Frank's Red Hot Sauce, garlic powder
18 to 24 large mushrooms (depending on their size)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute shallot in a small amount of olive oil until softened.  Add seitan and sautee over medium low heat just until heated through; breaking it up with a fork.  When hot, add in the cream cheese and combine well.  Add the Daiya, breadcrumbs and seasonings.  Set aside while you prep the mushrooms.

Wipe mushrooms clean with a damp paper towel.  Rub with a bit of olive oil to keep them from drying out during baking.  Stuff with a generous amount of filling and bake until hot throughout.

Notes:

• I think I could reduce the amount of breadcrumbs, and perhaps eliminate them altogether since the dairy-free cheeses might bind the mixture together just fine.

• The filling is nice and creamy before it's baked, but the dairy-free cheeses tend to break down a bit and get less creamy as they're baked.  I'd like to try pre-cooking the mushrooms on the stove top or in the oven, and then add the filling so it cooks for less time.  I definitely want the mushrooms to be completely cooked since raw mushrooms have been found to be carcinogenic.

• This basic recipe is very customizable.  I can see adding chopped artichokes and black olives to the sausage for a tasty variation.

Happy new year, everyone!  Don't forget to have your blackeyed peas for luck and greens for prosperity.  Add a steamy pan of fresh cornbread and these mushrooms, and you have a delicous start to 2011!

~BigSis

Posted under Holidays

Woo Hoo! The much anticipated family vacay has officially began!  The morning started by me picking up BigSis, SisMama, BDot, and Tay at the San Diego airport.

Ya think they have enough luggage to last 10 days?

Then, we proceeded DIRECTLY to Bry's house to introduce baby Jack to his great grandmama, great aunt, great uncle and second cousin.

Could there be anything more adorable than these sweet, little baby's hands?

Then, as tradition has it, we always start off every visit with a trip to a local Mexican food restaurant for some yummy food and a couple of nice cold cervezas.

(Apparently BigSis was thirsty; cause while I was parking the car, she got a little head start on me.)

I'm so excited and grateful that my boss gave me the entire ten days off  to visit with my family. We'll be super, duper busy this week trying to cram in everything that we want to see and do, but we'll be posting some photos along the way if we have anything fun to share! 🙂

~LilSis

Posted under Family

I did wonder at first is there really any point in drinking green juice, but it turns out it has a range of health benefits. Where do I even start? The vitamins of course are good for you, we all know that bit, but drinking veggie juice can help improve digestion, help you on a weight-loss journey and boost your immune system. It's also good for joint health and reduced inflammation, something you'd typically get from a CBD Gummies UK supplement or those icky tasting fish oil capsules. And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits of juicing.

When I first tried juicing it was alright, but did have it's downsides, but this new recipe I found makes it even better! I'm obsessed with this spicy healing green juice recipe. I'm one of those people who is either all in or all out. I know nothing of moderation, so it's no surprise that when I juice, I really juice!

I bought my Breville Juicer a couple of years ago, and started juicing every day. I even dove into green juice. I was new to it though, and made some mistakes. To start with, I couldn't really figure out how to integrate juicing into my day, so it didn't become part of my routine.

I like to have a blueberry smoothie every morning. I'm a morning person and I have to have breakfast, so the smoothie gives me something in my tummy first thing, and provides the energy I need to do the things I want to do. I can also take my morning supplements with a smoothie, but they'd be too harsh with just juice, especially green juice.

Then when I get to work, I automatically gravitate toward the Keurig and have 2 or 3 cups of coffee during the morning. So where did juice fit in? Nowhere really. I felt like I was trying to cram it into the day when I didn't even want it.

Besides scheduling, the other challenge I had with my first attempt at juicing was the fruit/veggie balance. I made a rookie mistake and used too much fruit. You know what that means…too much sugar! It's natural sugar but it's still sugar, and that leads to blood sugar peaks and crashes, and cravings for more sugar. Not good. Not what I was going for with juicing.

The bottom line was juicing wasn't working for me. I felt kind of guilty that I had this nice new juicer, but I wasn't seeing the health benefits I was hoping for. I just generally didn't feel great about the whole experience.

So I quit. I told you; I'm all in or all out. My pretty Breville Juicer sat and collected dust for almost 2 years. It stayed on my counter though, and I knew that eventually I'd come back around to it.

Fast forward 2 years. I'd been reading about this new juicing company in town called Vim + Vigor. When they ran a special coupon recently, I grabbed the chance to buy some of their juices and do a 3-day juice cleanse. My favorite of all the blends I got to try was the detoxifying No. 01, which is kale, spinach, romaine, celery, cucumber, apple and lemon. I was shocked at how much I loved that juice.

When the 3 days passed and I was out of Vim + Vigor juice, my body was screaming at me. Get me some green juice now! I was kind of shocked at how good I felt on this juice, whereas my previous juicing experience left me feeling crummy.

The difference? Green juice was a necessary part of my day now. First, a smoothie and supplements. Second, not more than one cup of coffee. Third, green juice mid-morning when my energy starts to wane. Then a healthy big lunch and a light dinner; often raw like a salad or my favorite raw spinach and avocado soup.

The other major difference? I'm using lots of veggies, and just enough fruit to make the juice taste delicious. The general rule – I know now – is 3 veggie parts to every 1 part fruit. That limits the impact on your blood sugar.

Off to the interwebs I went in search of green juice recipes with the ingredients I fell for in No. 01. Finally I came up with the perfect combination for me, and that's what I'm sharing with you today. My green juice recipe is super spicy, healing, delicious and addictive. I'm using ginger, cayenne, lots of lemon, and a touch of salt…all working together to create something I want to drink and actually enjoy the taste of, rather than just choking down a glass of grassy flavors.

I recommend buying organic produce whenever you can, especially with these juice ingredients since all of them (except for lemons) are very susceptible to contamination from pesticides.

Spicy Healing Green Juice
(makes about 32 ounces or 2 large servings)

8 large leaves kale
2 giant handfuls spinach
8 large leaves romaine
8 stalks celery
1 large seedless cucumber
2 small Granny Smith apples
2 large lemons
1 small piece ginger
Salt and cayenne to taste, about 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp each

Wash all the produce. Remove tough ribs from the kale. Chop the celery and cucumber into big chunks. Core the apples and cut into chunks. Peel the lemons and cut into quarters.

Start juicing! I think I get better yield from everything by juicing slowly, and also by mixing up ingredients with a similar texture. I start with the leafy greens, mixing kale with romaine and spinach. This is what the juice looks like after all the leafies are juiced. Pretty concentrated stuff, right? That's a micro-nutrient powerhouse just chomping at the bit to attack any bad stuff in my system!

Once the leafy greens are done, I move onto lemon, cucumber, celery and finally apple.

This recipe makes around 32 ounces, depending on how big your items are. I drink half of the recipe one day and have the rest the next day. Ideally, you'd consume your juice fresh as soon as it's made, but that's just not practical for all of us. If you store your leftover juice in a glass jar, refrigerate it immediately, and use some citrus in the recipe, you'll cut down on the oxidation a little bit.

It's definitely a lot of work to juice, so every other day works best for me. It takes me around 30 minutes to prep the produce and juice it, and then another 15 minutes to take the juicer apart and clean all the components and dishes…

and you have this leftover stuff to deal with too:

There's actually not that much of it, which makes me really happy! Some people are creative enough to use the pulp in recipes, but I usually donate it to a friend who composts.

I'm really excited about this green juice, and think I'm going to stick with it this time since I'm doing it the right way. If you try my spicy juice or have a favorite recipe of your own, please share! To your health!

~BigSis

Posted under Food, Health

The 2009 SPCA Bake Sale is now history.  We started setting up at 6 am, opened the doors at 8 am, and left the building at 6 pm.  It was a long day, but it was incredible fun.

Our goal was to beat last year's donation of $3055.  Our little team started baking 3 or 4 weeks ago, and we pulled out every trick in the hat to try to make our goodies irrestible to buyers. We emailed everyone we know, we sent out press releases, we lined up the most irresistible sample girls you could ever meet, and we talked about nothing but the SPCA and cookies for the last month.  We decorated, packaged and labeled until we were loopy.

How did we do?  I'm too fried to remember how to get pictures off my camera today, and we don't have a final total yet because donations are still coming in online.  I'll just leave you with one little teaser for now.  We are humbled and amazed and incredibly grateful.  How much money do you think that 5 baking girls could raise in one day if their bake sale sold out?  What if God showed up in a big way to answer their prayers?  What could happen?

I'll come back later to tell you.  If I come down off Cloud Nine long enough to type again.

~BigSis

Posted under Animals

We've got less than a week before October rolls around and most everyone is already talking about baking with pumpkins and apples and getting ready for the holidays, but I'm not ready to say “goodbye” to summer yet!

We didn't have much summer weather this year in Southern California; it's been mostly cool and foggy, even into September, which is normally one of our hottest months of the year.

But, the good news is that it's supposed to be gorgeous this weekend; not a cloud in the sky and in the low 80s with a slight breeze.  And you can bet your booty that I'm planning on enjoying every second of it.

Since I'm not quite ready to admit that it's almost October and I'm still in the salad and grilling “frame of mind”, here are a few recipes that I found this week from some of my favorite foodies who aren't yet talking about pumpkin either.

Waldorf Salad by A Southern Grace

Grilled Portobello Pizzas by Lisa is Cooking

Skirt Steak Salad with Blue Cheese from Smitten Kitchen

Pan Seared Black Cod with Summer Vegetables by Use Real Butter

If it's nice this October, I may not say goodbye to summer until November and maybe by then I'll be in the mood to talk about pumpkin; just in time for Thanksgiving. 🙂

~LilSis

Posted under Food

You do remember that we get an extra hour in our Sunday, right?  Happy dance, happy dance!

What to do with that precious hour?  Here our my Top 10 Ideas for using that extra hour:

• Make a nice pot of soup for this week.  My go-to easy soup is a “can of this/can of that” recipe: Super Speedy Mexican Vegetable Stew.

• Just do it!  Intending to exercise won't get you into your skinny jeans!  Start that exercise program TODAY and you won't have to make that same old New Years resolution to get in shape!  If you're working out super-hard, you may also be less prone to sabotage yourself by eating horribly during the holidays.  Bonus!

• Dig around iTunes and download some new music to liven up your cardio playlist.

• Clean your closets out now instead of scrambling to make that end-of-the-year charitable donation on December 31st.  You know you won't have time once the holidays get into full swing!

• Have you met your medical insurance deductible for the year?  There may be some medical appointments you should schedule to take advantage of that situation, so make a list today of the calls you can make tomorrow.

• Think about what you want to cook for Thanksgiving this year.  My recommendation of course, would be to skip the turkey and do a feast of veggies and sides!

• Start your Christmas lists: gift list, Christmas card list, to do list.  It's never too early to begin!

• Take advantage of the beautiful fall weather if you're blessed with it today, and get out there in it!

• Hang out with your kids or grandkids without thinking about anything else you should be doing.

• Sleep!

photo credit: Somewhat Frank

~BigSis

Posted under This & That

Our “little baking team that could” has been baking up a storm the last two weekends, and we have just one more week to get everything baked, packaged and organized!

We're trying to raise another $3000 for the SPCA of Texas here in Dallas.  Last year's sale raised $3055 and we really hope we can do better than that for the animals this year.

It seems like an overwhelming task to prepare $3000 worth of baked goodies, and then sell them all in just one day.  We all agree though that this is some of the biggest fun we have all year long!

So far, I have bunches of these things wrapped up in my freezer:

• Cranberry Pumpkin Bread with Walnuts

• Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Walnuts

• Strawberry Bread with Pecans

• Texas Pecan Pie Bars from the Pastry Queen

• Texas Pecan Pie Bars with Chocolate and Bourbon from the Pastry Queen

• Barefoot Contessa's Outrageous Brownies

• Barefoot Contessa's Outrageous Brownies with Mint Oreos

• Barefoot Contessa's Outrageous Brownies with Bittersweet Chocolate Chips and Walnuts

SisMama has made a whole slew of awesome pound cakes in lots of flavors, and K & P have made oodles of breads.

Next weekend, we'll be making all of the candies and other treats that we don't want to freeze.  If you're in the Dallas area, email me or leave a comment if you'd like to come visit us at the sale and I'll send you the details.  If you'd like to donate to the SPCA of Texas but you're too far away to visit us, you can use the web site that's been set up for our donations.  It's http://www.spca.org/goto/bakesale.

Meanwhile, wish us well!  The SPCA of Texas – like lots of animal organizations right now – is in serious need of funds in this economy, and we'd really like to help!

~BigSis

Posted under Animals

As I mentioned with great enthusiasm and anticipation last the week, our 3rd Annual Bake Sale for the SPCA of Texas is TODAY, Monday, December 13!  100% of the proceeds go directly to the SPCA.

Last year, our sale raised over $4,000 in one day, and we hope to repeat that success this year.  Here are the details:

Location: Dallas, Texas (If you can come, please email me for the address)

Time: 8 am until 6 pm or sell-out, whichever comes first!

If you can't attend but you'd like to support the SPCA of Texas, you can contribute through this web page:  http://www.spca.org/bakesale

Thanks in advance for your support!  Stay tuned for photos and the scoop on the outcome of the day!

~BigSis

Posted under Animals

Ding Dang Darnit!! I can't believe I just did that! I CANNOT believe that I just subscribed to another magazine! I was on Food Network researching something and just saw this premier issue of Food Network Magazine advertised. Ten issues for only $15.00! How could I resist? BigSis, check it out. You might want to enter one of your recipes into their contest. Winner takes a prize of $500.00.

Food Network Magazine

Here's one of the recipes from this month's premier issue.  This Broccoli Chowder with Cheddar Toasts looks so yummy! Now that it's cooling off here a little bit in the evenings, I'm getting in the mood to make some soup. I'll probably have to triple this recipe to feed the “hungry men” in my house.

Broccoli Chowder with Cheddar Toasts

A couple of years ago, I intentionally stopped subscribing to several magazines that I had subscribed to for years.  I stopped InStyle, Food & Wine, Fit, Domino, Self, and a couple others that I can't even remember.  There's not enough time to read that many magazines and it would actually stress me out if the unread magazines started to stack up.

I had my current magazine subscriptions down to my absolute favorites, whole living body+soul,  FitYoga, Heart Healthy and Sculptural Pursuit. A couple of months ago, I received an offer to subscribe to Food & Wine for only $2.00 for the year, so I've added that one back to my monthly subscriptions. Heart Healthy and Sculptural Pursuit only come out every quarter, so I don't really receive all five magazines every month.

BigSis, you've got some stories to tell about magazines stacking up, right?  Literally, stacking up! Wanna share?

Inquiring minds want to know. Just how many magazines are too many? Six sounds like a lot to me, but maybe it's really not.  I'd love to hear from everyone on this topic. What are your favorite magazines?  How many subscriptions do you have?

~LilSis

Posted under This & That