Marinated Strawberries Salad

2 lbs Fresh Strawberries (tops removed & quartered)
12-18 oz. Mixed Salad Greens or Baby Spinach
2 large Carrots (grated)
1 large Cucumber (peeled, halved & cut into thick chunks)
1/2 package of Chickpea &/or Lentil Sprouts
OR
1 can of Chickpeas (drained & rinsed)
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbs Dried Basil
1 1/2 tbs Vegan Cane Sugar
OR
2 tbs Frozen White Grape Juice Concentrate
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

OPTIONAL
20-30 Fresh Basil leaves mixed into Salad Greens

DIRECTIONS:
Mix Balsamic Vinegar, Sugar or Grape Juice Substitute, Dried Basil and Freshly Ground Pepper in a large mixing bowl or a large plastic storage container. Add Strawberries, stir and refrigerate. For best results chill for 8 hours, stirring every 2 hours.

Mix remaining ingredients in a large salad bowl. Use the Marinated Strawberries in place of a traditional salad dressing.

Ahh Progress

I have made quite a bit of progess on the bones of what I am calling The Veg Book for now. I have made a chart of protein content of various vegetarian protein sources. I've compiled a huge list of the dishes I want to include in the book and I've given myself a deadline for the rough draft. It needs to be done about a week before Sara and Dallas come to pick the kids up.

I've also decided to post a few of the recipes here as I finish them. I've given myself a goal of finishing 5 of the recipes before bed tonight and posting one of those here tomorrow.

The Cookbook!

I've been constructing the bones of the cookbook that some people have been trying to get me to do for a while. Well, Dallas was the straw that finally broke this donkey. When he dropped the kids off here at the beginning of the summer he asked me for recipes to help him cook healthier meals for the kids. I feel like I've got most of the dishes that I really must include on the list already. I may be missing a few, but that's okay for now.

More than the meals and dishes that are going into the book, I think that I need to include a section on nutrition of ingredients, presentation, locating ingredients & economizing. Some of that will take a good deal of re-research since I never remember the exact details, rather the general concepts. For example; I don't know how much Potassium watermelon has, just that it has it in abundance.

So, that's the plan folks. I am striving to have the first draft of the cookbook finished by the time the rest of the kids go back to Florida in mid-August.