Best Raw Superfoods And Snacks That Come In A Package! Recommendations From John Kohler At Natural Foods Expo West

Better healthy packaged snack foods???? Is this even possible? In the video below John Kohler showcases some of the least processed of the organic raw packaged foods that he spotted at the 'Natural Foods Expo West 2014.' Can you believe some of these food products could actually be good for you too!?! Many of you new to changing your eating lifestyle will appreciate that awesome news. 

We certainly promote eating whole foods over processed, and as always John also recommends eating whole organic live fruits and vegetables as the 'best' thing you can do for your health. When that is not possible, or you need a snack option on the road, he recommends that you look for packaged foods from the 'better' category. These products are especially useful for those people transitioning to a healthy whole foods lifestyle and currently used to purchasing packaged foods at the food market. In this video which I really recommend you watch, John chooses those food packages marked to be raw, organic, or freeze dried with the least amount of additives and processing. 




Concerned about cost? Most of these items are mainly snack foods, and not eaten that often. Price may not be that much of an issue compared to convenience. One of the main factors in having access to packaged shelf stable processed organic foods is to use them when we are busy, and do not enough time to prepare something fresh. For instance when we need to pack items for lunch, work, and in the car. It's good to have healthier options to grab than a waxy sugar bomb candy bar, a bag of chemicalized fake cheezy curls, or a bottle of toxic soda. Those items are not that cheap especially when you consider you are paying for no nutritional value whatsoever. That would be money for nothing as they sang in the original MTV days.

Some of the food items John shares are actually quite interesting and very useful. Imagine a fresh looking freeze-dried perfectly green avocado... all that is missing is the water! Crazy right? If you had one of those bags of avocados all you would have to do is just add water and instantly you can serve a bowl of guacamole! Craaaaazzzzyyyy! Now add a bit of water to fresh freeze-dried mango or blueberries and then add that fruit to your salad dressing. Mmmmm... that sounds crazy good to me. John Kohler also suggests we get the easy "Product Of Nature Micro-Greens Kits" for growing nutrient dense super-food baby greens in your home. Great idea for adding the freshest greens possible to your salads and smoothies! 

Since John Kohler from 'OKRaw', and 'Growing Your Greens' of 'You Tube' fame runs a juicer sales company called "discountjuicers.com,' he also does a short bit with a new juicer company too. A very busy and helpful guy, John is full of useful information! Check his links too!

I have done the investigative work finding these various food companies. I am providing links to the websites of the products that John speaks about at the Expo below. A few of these items are very new to the marketplace, and may be difficult to find in a store. 

Yes, eat your greens, veggies, and fruits, most of the time! When you do have a snack food, be sure to make that a "better" healthier choice too! After all we do not live on a tropical paradise with all our fruits and veggies within arm's reach. Realistically our pantry and kitchens will have convenience foods as well as fresh produce. Let's choose the packaged goods without chemicals, fats, sugars, salts, and without the high heat that has cooked any nutrients right out of the food. Keep processed and packaged foods simple and as real as possible. If you happen to see some of these healthier "better" snack options in your local natural food store don't be afraid to give them a try.

WEBSITES:
R.A.W. Real and Wonderful Snacks
Tender Grown Kale Chips
Home Grown Organic Freeze Dried Blueberries
Veggie Evolution Kale Chips (Old website here)
Nud Fud Raw Snacks
Pickled Planet
Cultures For Health Kefirs
Freeze Dried Avocado and Superfoods etc. SioSi and Yumma
Go Raw Foods
Product Of Nature Micro Greens Kits
Living Intentions Gone Nuts
Nature's All Foods Freeze Dried

'Le Pain des Fleurs' Is One Of My Go To Favorite Crunchy Organic Snack Products

When transitioning off of our old processed foods favorites we may still have cravings for the crunch-tastic junk foods of our past. Usually satisfied in those days by some kind of salty fatty chemical-ized chip, or snack cracker, it is important to find safer versions of those old choices now. 'Le Pain des Fleurs'... The Bread Of Flowers... is a choice that satisfies my need for crispy crunch without guilt. A simple ingredient list of organic brown rice flour, organic quinoa flour, organic whole cane sugar, and sea salt. Quite obviously no wheat in this product makes them gluten free as well. Glad to know they are GMO free and use fair trade quinoa. 'Le Pain des Fleurs' are also allergy friendly as they are made without dairy, egg, soy, or yeast. A serving of four crispbreads contains 30mg of sodium, and the sugars are less than 1g. Okay... Okay... but do they taste good? This combination of ingredients works wonders without the over use of salt, fat, oils, and chemicals of the old greasy bag of potato chips, or cheesy crackers of yore. 

Actually the 'Le Pain des Fleurs' taste is very mild, and they accept any topping you care to add onto this crisp bread without fighting the combination you put together. Lightweight and thin they are strong enough to be smeared with avocado and tomato slices, or almond butter and jelly, it all works perfectly. Even though they are great to pair with hummus, or soups, I honestly like them plain. The Bread Of Flowers have saved me from my 'staring into the pantry' crunch cravings on many occasions.

Made in France they may seem a bit pricey compared to a bag of chips, although their value to me is in keeping me from eating a bag of chips! I can highly recommend this product as something to give a try if you see them for sale in your local market. Top them with whatever healthy snack item you have on hand, or just eat plain and unadorned. They work! In researching this crisp bread online I see that they also make chestnut and buckwheat crisp breads, which I would love to sample too. 

So there you have it my dears, an organic processed food item you can safely add to your pantry, approved by the Queen! I will be crunching while drinking caffeine-free green or herbal teas, watching Downton Abbey, Sherlock, and Game Of Thrones! Carry on! Be happy! Be healthy! Be peace!

Banana Ice Cream: A Simple Healthier One Ingredient Dessert Alternative

Doesn't that look scrumptious?!!! We still get to have sundaes while eating healthy! How cool is that? As cool as these bananas baby!  One ingredient ice cream! No dairy! No fat! No mystery chemicals! No added sugar. Natural sweetness is better. Just use frozen banana and your choice of toppings for your ice cream sundae! Perhaps you will add fresh fruit, berries, nuts, organic chocolate sauce, honey, maple syrup, or balsamic reduction glaze for your toppings. You make the call. The once a week banana sundae treat Rocks!

Most of us have bananas around for our green smoothies anyway. So when the bananas start going too dark and soft it's time to slice and dice. Be sure to peel the banana first! I confess the first time I did this last year I actually left the peel on! You cannot get it off when it is frozen! Too funny! Such a dork!

Get in the habit of having frozen banana slices ready to put in your smoothies, or to make ice cream anytime! When bananas start to get over ripe they are at their sweetest. That is the perfect time to add them to your banana bag in the freezer. The next day your bananas are ready to use. When organic bananas go on special at the store take advantage, and stock up for your freezer supply! Since bananas have a thick peel you could buy conventional to save money. They are #35 on the EWG pesticides produce list. We prefer to buy organic and avoid the nastiness of the chemical companies.

Conventional strawberries are number two (#2) on the dirty dozen list. We topped our dessert with organic blueberries. Did you know that domestic conventional blueberries (#13) have more pesticides than imported conventional blueberries (#22)? I recommend that you buy organic and avoid the dozens of pesticides each fruit has anyway. The truth is yukky.

Back to our dreamy ice cream sundae... We just grab some of those frozen banana chunks and go for it! You can also let the frozen banana pieces sit a few minutes and then mash with a fork and stir into a chunky creamy consistency. Other people like to blend their frozen bananas into a soft serve ice cream. I am lazy and do not want to be cleaning up a blender, when I can immediately be eating a sundae! Cravings are like that! So you do what turns you on! Dripping organic chocolate sauce still works for me! Yeah! Plus walnuts! Got to have me some crunchy walnuts. Who doesn't like a sundae you can feel great about?!!! Enjoy the decadence!

Chocolate Avocado Pudding: WoW! What A Decadent Vegan Mousse!

My daughter made this yummy chocolate avocado pudding, and I just had to share her recipe with you!  So creamy, so delish! I know... it seems hard to imagine how these two flavors go together. The magic is that they do! Oh my! Plus, look how simple this tasty pudding is to create! You can do this! Healthy super desserts! What's not to love! It's chocolate for goodness sake! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Must go in the tummy now!

Chocolate/Avocado Pudding

1 Large Florida avocado, or 2 California avocados

1/4 Cup Organic Dark Chocolate powder (+/- to taste)

1/4 Cup Maple syrup (+/- to taste)

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp real Vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut milk

Place all ingredients, except coconut milk in blender, and combine. The coconut milk is added to thin it out enough, to reach a pudding consistency. Add some of the coconut milk, and blend again. Check consistency, and taste. Add more milk and or sweetener as needed. This dessert holds up well covered in the refrigerator for the next evening's dessert! Very different than other recipes involving avocados! ... ENJOY! 

The Story Of Cheese... And Salt... Sugar... and Fat... Oh My!

Did you watch the entire video above? So how did you like that piece of information? Lots-o-cheese got shoved into our lives for a different reason than you thought. Put's a new spin on why some of the processed foods are lurking on your supermarket shelves. Cheese became an "ingredient" because the government had caves full of cheese leftover from the dairy industry creating "fat free" milk. So just when you thought you were avoiding fat by drinking fat free milk the dairy industry sold you on the idea you must be eating more cheese! There are many curious stories surrounding the sick sad world of modern industrialized food. The CEO's do not eat their own food. Many of them get their food from organic farms. If you start to watch food documentaries, and read a few food books, you will sadly learn the truth about what you really are putting into your body, as well as the bodies of those you love. Knowledge is power...and to have power over your old eating habits, you need information you can use about the true story behind the "food stuffs" at your local supermarket. Eating does not only involve your mouth, tongue, and stomach. It involves your mind. Mind over matter. Mind over cheese. Is it possible to change our minds about what a friend calls "The gift from the Gods and food heaven" Cheeeeeeeeeeese?

Cheese is such a little thing in life. Or is it? Think about how many foods you have been eating since you were a child with cheese included. Hey, would you like extra cheese on that pizza? I am survivor of eating those cheese stuffed pretzels, peanut butter cheese crackers, cheese steaks, cheese fries, cheese dips, grilled cheese sandwiches, ham and cheese, cheese puffs, cheese omelets, and the list goes on and on. So cheese is not a little thing after all... It was and is, a big freakin' part of our modern lives! The average person now eats 33 pounds of cheese a year. Geezzz Cheeeeeeeese!

Most people look at me now, living my nutrient dense plant eating lifestyle, and say, "I cannot do that... I cannot give up cheese!" Well let me be honest... cheese was the very very last item to go of my unhealthy favorite foods. Little cans of dripping cheese for nachos was my go to comfort food of choice every week for years. Even when I finally gave up the canned cheese to get off processed foods, I then switched to "organic" mozzarella and provolone for a few months. Still I was loving the cheese, as this was during my transition and learning time, and that is okay. Not only did the eventual knowledge of what I was really eating change my mind, but my new and improved taste buds eventually rejected anything oily. So it was my taste buds that decided there would be no more cheese for me. This was a natural outcome of actually tasting and experiencing real food. When I first went into transition, I would often take the time to ask myself to really experience on all levels what I was putting in my mouth. What was the actual taste? What was the texture? What did I like about it? Those little questions worked every time. Try it yourself! Really experience the taste and the texture rolling around in your mouth and on your tongue. Talk to yourself! haha! Ask your self those questions. You might be surprised. I tried this with fast food chicken nuggets last year. Never ate them again. No problem.

For me cheese started to taste like oily rubber. It was tasteless. A big chewy blobby gob. Liquid cheese became an oooey-gooey oily smear. This was no longer food to me. Now imagine this chewy blob going down through your body. Oh my! Let's not even go into the awful things it does to your intestinal pipes. Surely I don't have to tell you about what it does to your arteries. Let's take a handful of that ooey gooey glob and shove it in a pipe. I definitely think it will stop the flow of whatever wants to move through the pipe. Now that's the picture to keep in your head, as you eat cheese. Your friendly giant corporations and your corporate government would like you to clog all the pipes in your body. This result helps their friend big Pharma. Win, Win, for them. Not so nice for you.

Salt, sugar, fat, Oh My! These ingredients may each be different, but the results are about the same...they are dangerous to your health! Yet you will find them eagerly waiting for you in just about every processed food at the supermarket, and in an over abundance. You are, or were, addicted to this stuff. Yes, that's the trick of it, and that's the corporate plan for you, and your friends. "They" have got to get those chemical laden foodstuffs to last for months or even years on the store shelves. And they have got to get you to buy that old stuff! So "they" just add any of the fat, sugar, salt, combinations they scientifically know you desire, to that cardboard food fakery, and people really do believe it tastes great. The industry calls it the "Bliss Point." Yes food is the drug, and don't bother thinking abut the cumulative effect from doing this everyday for years and years to your body. This magical food is a wonderful convenience too. You have no time to cook, or think... Right?  Well, they count on that. Just grab and go, and believe us that it's safe. They have been convincing you of this idea all your life.

This insider information can be found in a new book titled "Salt, Sugar, Fat: How The Food Giants Hooked Us" which shares how the food industry leaders have been intoxicating you into a life of unhealthy eating. Ingredients are maximized to addict you to these foods, and get you to be a 'heavy user' of the commodity. The book is written by The New York Times Investigative Reporter and Pulitzer Prize Winner Michael Moss.  It was Michael who made the informative video above about the story of cheese. I love that cheesy video! 

Are donuts and pizza what grew on trees hundreds of years ago? Oh modern packaged foods, why do people think you are the only thing to eat? Alas so many people strangely believe food comes in a box, can, or a bag, and that product which has been on shelves in warehouses for months is better than the real thing. This belief in fake food stuffs has been systematically done over generations. Look at the old ads above. A good documentary to watch about this subject is "Hungry For Change."



Yes I realize there are those who see my new healthy lifestyle choices as extreme or odd. How did we get to the point where people think that the real food that grows on trees, or up from the ground, is the weirdo stuff? Marketing 101 folks. Look...there is an entire aisle in the food store dedicated to soda. Soda is pure empty calories, and diet soda is actually dangerous. In every food store across the nation there are cases upon cases of soda... a mixture of sugar water, high fructose corn syrup...chemicals that rot the brain and cause disease. Watch any sporting event and what do you see? Soda and Beer commercials. Ironically those are the products I literally grew up surrounded by, as my father was a beer and soda distributor. I played among the boxes in the warehouse as a child. We always had a large supply of soda in every flavor at our house, including blue soda. I loved it. As a teen I thought the color was cool and the taste was sweet. Good...right? What did I know, I only learned what I lived. It took informing and arming myself with the truth about the food industrial complex to get unhooked from the monster. This new book talks about a famous company that in its quest to rapidly increase profits would like us to drink more soda than water. No, it's not really to make your life more beautiful, or give the world a hug. It's your money for nothing, money for sickness in a bottle. I am the weirdo for saying that.

 

Oh I can hear the naysayers now. Don't say I can't eat soda, diet soda, cheese, and my salty n' sugary snax (also owned by the same soda companies). For goodness sakes, how will I live? "No, I cannot. I will not. It is not possible." 

Transitioning off of processed foods is a continual process of letting go of the old ways, it is not all or nothing, or all done at one time. Don't give up on 'you getting healthier' for a false idea of 'what you think' the restrictions will be. Use my 'Substitution' and 'Avoid' pages to get started, and help you to move away from addictive processed food stuffs. How about saying, "I cannot live being fat and sick everyday," or "I cannot live sticking myself with an insulin needle," or "I cannot live taking copious pills everyday to live," or "I cannot live having my chest cut open by a surgeon," or "I cannot live with the huge doctor and hospital bills I will have to pay from eating cheap junk everyday," or "I can not live... if I am dead..."

We do need to change our 'mindset' about sugar, salt and fats. These are the ingredients that damage all parts of our bodies, cause disease, and eventually kill people. After my cancer diagnosis Dr. Furhman told me no more dairy, sugar, salt, oil, or meat products. I had serious disease, and I have to get serious with what I eat. It was not hard for me, because I had already been transitioning off of these addictive foods for months. Perhaps if I had gotten my breast cancer diagnosis months before, it may have seemed like a devastating thought to not eat cheese anymore from that point on. Fortunately I had already replaced the old salty and sweet snacks with many new options, and that list keeps growing! Since I already knew and experienced far tastier foods, I had no problem with his statement. One out of three people will get a cancer diagnosis, perhaps it would be good for you to consider making changes now before you endure a medical crisis. So hang in there! Just give yourself time to try the new things to eat that are the healthier options. Try something new each week, and get rid of something old each week. I have been there and done this, over time it gets easier. The first week or two may be difficult. Just get yourself a bunch of new options to put in your pantry and refrigerator. Eventually you will actually be craving the new whole foods too. Instead of processed foods being 70% of our diet, how about making them just 20% instead. Does that seem doable?

Less cheese is a start. I use nutritional yeast and hemp seeds on my veggie filled naan pizzas now instead of the old style cheese. We love it! For my hubby's part, he temporarily ate goat cheese with crackers when he felt a need for cheese, until he gave it up as well. This seems to be a better alternative for those in transition, as it's drier and not oily like processed cheese foods. Dairy from cows contains too much fat, hormones, antibiotics, micro plastics, and possibly GMO's from the feed they ingest. Dairy creates inflammation in the body. Since the body has to deal with the inflammation, the body does not have the time to do the work of keeping you well by fighting off other things...it's too busy with cheeeeese.

Anyway after 14 months if I eat any products with fat or oil in them. I can now feel the oil coating my mouth. You know, it's that same feeling you get in your mouth after you've eaten some greasy fast food fries, especially if they were cold. As the body becomes clean, I have found that it will let you know the dirty low down naturally! Certainly makes it easy to get yourself to eat even cleaner. I had to recently stop eating my favorite lentil chips, because I can now feel the oil.

Sugar and salt and fats! Oh my! So how is your food future looking? Do you think it is time for you to stop the corporate madness, and your addiction to their fake foods? Knowledge is truly your power. Read about how they got you hooked, and give up the conditioning. Watch some food documentaries. Begin cutting back, and then eventually eliminating, and replacing these unhealthy choices. Start substituting alternatives each week for your family, till you have only the healthy choices in the house. It works. I was in the grocery store with my four year old grand daughter recently. I pointed out the display of big Honeycrisp apples. She walked right over, picked one up, and took a big bite out of it! Right there in the store! THAT is exactly how a child is supposed to react to seeing healthy real food! I loved it!

Being that this blog is for people in various stages of transitioning from the regular supermarket processed foods, I will not leave you with a broken heart about your processed snack love-life. You will still find on my recipe page a naan pizza that uses organic cheese. On my shopping list page I included a list of package foods at the bottom of the post that we have used. There are organic non-GMO chips and crackers you can eat on occasion, or during your transitioning phase. For example I happen to like Garden of Eatin blue sprouted chips, Seedlander crackers, and Mary's flax crackers when I need some crunch. For sweet snax I like Organic Fruit and Nut bars, and Go Raw's mini Carrot Cake Super Cookies. So your packaged snack life is not over, they always make something new! But it is not a pass to gorge on this stuff either. When you visit your local organic snack aisle be sure to read the back labels of even the organic processed foods. Look out for the sugar, salt, oils, fats, chemicals, soy, carrageenan, and msg. The least amount of ingredients the better. Big corporations are behind many national organic labels. Make sure it has the green USDA organic label and hopefully says Non-GMO as well. Always be aware of what you are putting in as the fuel for your wonderful body. This is what gets you around in life, you would not run your car on soda and fat. So why do it with your most important vehicle.

Having fresh fruit, and a small handful of unsalted nuts everyday is a healthier alternative to cheesy puffs. Instead of cheese, use salsa or hummus with your chips. Instead of chips use celery and carrots for dipping. Need ice cream? Freeze a ripe banana for 24 hours, mash it up, and add berries or nuts. Get a Ninja Creami machine. You can be sure that I will be eating a vibrant colorful helping of fresh high nutrient organic plants, enjoying fresh green smoothies, and green juices too. That's deliciousness for real. No chemicals. No extra salt, sugar, or fat needed. Natural sweetness! I hope you consider giving up the excess salt, sugar and fat in your life, and getting out of the unhealthy corporate paradigm! Eat real whole foods most of the time, be healthy, and glow. I'm not a perfect eater. Don't put that pressure on yourself. Although if we are what we eat, ...I'd rather be a peach than a blob of sugary, salty, fat, any day! 

Quick Snacks: Nutty Hemp Cashew Salsa

Mmmmmmm this is my favorite way to make salsa that has some good nutrition in it too. It can happen. Yes, you can make your own salsa from scratch, but this recipe involves using a jar of Organic Salsa. That is the quick part. This is how to improve store bought organic salsa, or regular homemade salsa. The following amounts of the ingredients are approximate, and you can adjust to your individual taste, and to the amount of salsa you are making. I just want to give you the overall idea of what to add into the salsa of choice, to make it a nutty super-food special! Once you pour your salsa into a bowl, just take a few seconds of your precious time to add a handful of raw organic cashew pieces, 2 TB hemp seeds, 2 tsp nutritional yeast, 1 TB flax powder, and 1 tsp of chia seeds. Mix and let mixture sit while you go to the pantry to get a bag of Garden of Eatin' Organic Blue Tortilla Chips, or Mediterranean Snacks Baked Lentil Chips.

I can assure you that this super salsa is always the hit of the party! Although I say...that you can go ahead and make some just for yourself, on any old day. I won't tell....just don't eat the whole bag of chips....save some for another day of crunch satisfaction. A handful is fine. Using some chopped carrots and celery even better! This is such a hearty nutty salsa, that is so totally satisfying, and so filling, that you really will not eat too many chips after all. Oh that does look yummy! For you sporty types, this would be a perfect addition to the game snack table.

Quick N' Easy Hummus Dinner

Can we have hummus all day? I would! Let's make some for dinner! Just remember to soak 

your dried garbanzo beans the night before, or if you forgot then use canned garbanzos.

Whip up in the food processor, my Baba Ghanoush style hummus with eggplant. Go chop fresh tomato, cucumber, yellow peppers, dragon beans, onion and cashews. Really just chop up whatever variety of fresh veggies from your garden, 

CSA, or farmers market, that you have on hand. You know what you like!

Heat whole wheat Naan style flat bread in the toaster oven. We keep our 

Naan bread in the freezer, so we always have a few packs ready to make a meal. 

 

Spread the hummus thickly on the Naan flat bread.

Arrange your fresh raw veggies over the Naan. Looks like a pizza! Oh Yes! That works!

Now wasn't that easy? Just slice and serve!

Another variation on this hummus dinner theme is even easier! Cut the Naan bread into fourths, and place some hummus and mixed chopped veggies right on the dinner plate! There you go...all done. That way every one can just make their own little hummus roll-ups! Either way, hummus served simply with fresh chopped veggies on Naan flat bread, or even a pita, makes a surprisingly satisfying dinner. As always serve with a side of fresh made vegetable juice! Be healthy!

What's That? Pink Pearl Apples!

Look at this crazy apple! This is our first experience with the elusive Pink Pearl Apple. Our local natural foods market only gets these apples in the store one week a year. So of course we had to try them! So unique! So psychedelic! So deliciously beautiful!  
Click on 'Read More' below to view entire post.

Baba Ghanoush Eggplant Hummus

Loving the homemade hummus! Once you make your own hummus you will not want that container from the store. It's the difference between store bought potato salad and your homemade potato salad recipe. I decided in an effort to cut back on the oil usually found in hummus, to make a version with no added oil. Yes there is some oil in the tahini, but we don't need to add another 1/4 cup to make this hearty appetizer.

Baba Ghanoush Eggplant Hummus

1 large can rinsed chickpeas, or 2 cups dried cooked garbanzo beans after soaking overnight
1-2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 lemon juice or 2-3 Tbs lemon juice
3 tbs water or organic low sodium vegetable broth
2 Tbs Tahini paste
1 tsp cumin 

Himalayan or sea salt to taste
2 tbs sesame seeds (you can roast if you wish)
1 1/4 cooked eggplant or flesh from 1 eggplant

2 tbs hemp seeds 

2 tsp curry powder

2 tsp garam masala 

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp Penzeys taco seasoning 

1 tsp Penzey's Sunny Paris 

paprika 

I used dried garbanzo beans, soaking them over night in the refrigerator. Covering  beans with water in a large bowl, so it is about 2-3 inches higher than the garbanzo beans. When ready to make your hummus, pour out liquid from bowl, rinse, place beans in cooking pot and cover with fresh water an inch over beans. Cook beans for one hour. Let cool. If you are using canned garbanzo beans to save time, rinse them first. When picking out your organic or local eggplant from from the produce department be sure to feel the top stem. You want to feel a sharp prickling sensation from those top green areas. If they are smooth and brownish then the eggplant is not fresh.

While your beans are cooking, you can roast your eggplant which is sliced in half at 400 degrees till soft, or for about 45 minutes. Just scoop out the insides when ready, and let cool. Or you can peel, chop and cube an eggplant, and then lightly sizzle in a frying pan with some organic low sodium vegetable broth until tender. If you do need to add oil to keep the eggplant pieces from sticking to your pan, use only a teeny tiny bit of olive oil. When finished set aside. Gather the rest of your ingredients. I have listed some estimated measuring amounts for the various spices. Honestly, I just add them as I go to my taste. So if you like more or less of something, just do your thing!

After your beans and eggplant are ready, place each ingredient listed into your food processor or good blender, and run for a minute or two until proper consistency. Taste for spices and salt. Add whatever you feel it needs, and pulse a few more times till mixed. If it seems too thick, I like adding a tablespoon of vegetable broth at a time, till it seems correct. Scrape out your hummus mixture into a glass container and sprinkle with paprika.

Now get out 'Doctor Crackers Seedlander Crisps' and dig in to your fantastic homemade appetizer! You can bring your hummus to a summer party, or just serve to your bad self with a few of your favorite organic multi-whole-grain chips. Even better would be to dip into the hummus with some carrot and celery sticks. We love adding some hummus to a wholesome veggie wrap too! So just be happy, and Indulge your afternoon snack fever!

Update: I have made this hummus without the tahini, added water, or vegetable broth. I used a water saute method (no oil) to cook the cubed eggplant for about 20 minutes. Cover and cook just until eggplant is translucent and remove from pan. Set aside in a bowl to cool, and drain off the water as you add to your hummus mixture. This type of cooked eggplant is very moist, and I found that it provides the liquid needed. If the hummus then comes out too moist, just add one tablespoon of hemp seeds and one tablespoon ground golden flax powder and pulse in food processor till desired consistency. Adjust spices as needed. Refrigerate in glass container, it will thicken more in the fridge. Yum!

Whats That? Blood Oranges!

I'm having a bit-o-fun celebrating the release of the old afternoon soap opera turned movie, "Dark Shadows." So here is a snack Barnabas Collins, (seen in my graphic below) and Edward Cullen might enjoy.  We purchased Blood Oranges a month or so ago, just to give them a try, as I had never eaten one. I felt they were not as flavorful as regular oranges, and rather creepy looking when cut open...Although "Someone" thought they were very sweet and delicious. Hmmm... who knew Barnabas was into plants too!

To get in the proper mood one must listen to this short clip and look at photo above!


Dark Shadows Original Version As Seen After School Daily


This post is dedicated to my childhood friend 'Ginman'. May the seventies live on!

Snack Time! Alter Eco Chocolate

A few hours after dinner, our 'go to snack' most evenings is dark chocolate. Quick, easy and healthy. Dark chocolate rocks! Two squares is all it takes to satisfy the soul. Mmmmm choclaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhte Close your eyes and smile!

The Alter Eco brand is fair trade, and organic. These are qualities we look for when we buy chocolate. Alter Eco recently changed their packaging, which came after a delay of not seeing the product for a week or two on the store shelves. Slightly concerned, 
I went to the website to see what's up. There I read a nice explanation that all was well, and they were making some changes that also improved the taste of their chocolate. That's good news, as we would certainly miss this company's dark chocolate if they went away. We tried some other brands that were just okay, and some that were waxy tasting. We highly recommend, and declare that Alter Eco is our favorite brand of the fair trade chocolates, for it's rich dark silky taste. 

So once again we are getting our dark chocolate fix, and all is well with our world. Our ultimate fav is 'Quinoa Crunch', followed by 'Blackout' and 'Almond'. Alter Eco has other flavors such as Toffee, Mint, and chocolate with orange peel. If you are in the organic section of your store and see a wall of chocolate choices. Check this brand out...your taste buds, as well as your soul, will be so glad you did! You can buy Alter Eco - Organic Chocolate Dark Quinoa chocolate right now! haha!