The Search For Sugarless Bread...

A few weeks back we took Alex off refined Sugar and food with added sugar. The only exception was bread. It's a bit difficult to find bread without ANY sugar. Alex has been abusing bread the last few days and his behaviour is deteriorating again. We haven't mentioned anything to him about the sugar content of the bread because we don't want to influence him and cause him to think "hyper" when he isn't. We've just told him to stop hogging the bread because other people want some as well.



We can use some of the Ezekiel 4:9 Breads, but we can't afford to use it exclusively. I must find good bread recipies I can use for daily or nearly daily baking at home; so I expect to have some new recipies to post soon.

Sprouting Love

I've been trying not to succumb to the emptiness left behind by tomatoes. I can't eat them any more. At the beginning of March I finally figured out that those big, juicy, red beauties were to blame for an allergic reaction that had been driving me crazy and even prevented me from wearing my wedding ring for 5 years. Now, I'm tomato free, rash free and searching for fresh flavors to replace that diva of the deadly nightshades.

Since Christmas, I've been making my own fresh veggie burgers. It used to seem unimaginable to have a burger without tomatoes, but I've been having fun using other fresh fruit and veg like loads of baby spinach, thinly sliced cucumber, sauteed onions and mushrooms, and various sprouts. It's made life a lot more flavorful and interesting of late. I realized, I've been addicted to tomatoes; I'd become culinarily co-dependant.

Ever since that first veggie burger loaded with sprouts I've been trying all sorts of new sprouts. There is a farm in Pennsylvania that is in some way affiliated with The Sproutman & it puts out various sprout salads. We're not talking your run of the mill clover or alfalfa. These salads are something you can really sink your teeth into; they're comprised of sprouts the likes of which I'd not yet tasted, like garbanzo sprouts, azuki bean sprouts, different lentil sprouts and snow pea sprouts.






I've been coming up with as many ways as I can to load up on sprouts. I put some on every sandwich and wrap that comes my way. They are nutritious, delicious and have fantastic textures. I love sprouts!

I think that the excitement over sprouts has been an inspiration to eat fresh, vibrant, raw foods and that just can't be bad.

Let's Start With a Recipe.... (and a request)

A little background
My family loves spinach pies. I would dare to venture a guess that my 11 year old son loves them most of all. So the plan for dinner last friday was to finish off the vegan feta cheese I'd been hoarding since finding it in Richmond earlier this year.

I was in my local Whole Foods looking at the Fillo dough and feeling quite daunted by the whole fillo dough process and the price; things are tight for us right now and I'm generally pretty tired from running with my 7 month old son. So when my eyes fell upon the neighboring pie crusts I quickly realized that Friday's Spinach Pies were going to be, well, pies! I made a quick rundown of the ingredients of the 365 brand Whole Wheat pie crusts to ensure they were 100% Veg and off we went with a whole new idea for dinner!

On my way home I began to mull over the guts of the pie. I just didn't feel like the normal Spankopita style was going to work in a pie crust. In the end, this is what I came up with.... Oh, and by the end of the night my baby boy was also a Spinach Pie fan. That kid ate my whole first plate full and then another piece of his own!

*I will begin posting pics of the finished products soon.

Killer, Vegan Spinach Pies

1 12-15 oz. package Firm Tofu

1 16 oz. bag Frozen Spinach or equivelant fresh spinach

1 6 oz. pack of Soy Feta

1/2 cup Plain Soy Yogurt

3-5 cloves Garlic

3 tbs Dried Basil

1 1/2 tbs Dried Oregano

1-2 tsp Fresh Finely Ground Black Pepper (or mixed color peppers)

2 tbs. Earth Balance (I use the Soy Garden flavor)

2 Frozen, Vegan, Whole Wheat Pie Shells

Preheat oven to 350' F

Combine Tofu, Basil, Oregano, Garlic, Pepper, Yogurt and Earth Balance in a food processor. Once blended thoroughly, begin to slowly add the Frozen Spinach. If the mixture becomes too frozen just turn a few portions of it over with a silacone spatula and continue blending. Once all the spinach has been blended in, pour the filling into the two pie shells.

Crumble the vegan feta in a bowl with a fork. Gently smoosh an even layer into the top of the two pies almost like a top crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Set aside to cool for at least a half hour so the filling can set. After that it can be cut and served then as a warm pie or chilled to be served like a cold Quiche.

So, if anyone knows where I can find Sunergia's Soy Feta or even the Sunergia Soy Blue Cheese in the Washington D.C. area I would be greatly appriciative! Although I think it is worth the trip to Richmond, and Richmond's most awesome grocery store, Ellwood Thompson's; I'd rather find it locally so that I can use it on a whim.