BBQ Summer Squash With Rice

This yummy dish is an awesome way to use up some of your garden zucchini & yellow squash.  This sauce is also yummy using any meat substitute as well as with any veggies of your choice: carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, etc...The sky is the limit!

BBQ Summer Squash Over Rice

3 small zucchini diced

1 small yellow squash diced

1 onion finely chopped

Sauce:

1 cup Catsup (organic, low sugar)

3/4 cup water

2 tomatoes pureed

1/3 cup maple syrup

juice of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons Braggs Liquid Aminos

4 tablespoons mustard

1 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons garlic & onion powder

Dash of Cayenne

Combine sauce ingredients and pour over your veggies and saute until veggies are tender and sauce has thickened.  Serve over brown Basmati rice.

Garden Harvest & White Bean Chili

Hello Fall!!! I'm so in love with the weather right now and loving HARVEST TIME!  My garden is in full force and I'm overeating all kind of amazing things like, tomatoes, swiss chard, zucchini, beets and carrots!  We also enjoyed peaches and apples from the trees in our yard as well, although they need some serious grooming.  

Above:  These are our square foot gardens with tomatoes/zucchini/squash planted behind them straight in the ground.  These gardens are so incredibly easy!  As you can see, they are sectioned off into squares and I plant per square instead of in rows.  This way of gardening has made life so much easier!  Weeding is minimal and the weeds pull out quickly and easily.

I'm thrilled that as Fall sets in I am able to make soups, stews and chili's.  There is nothing more comforting to me that having something like this for dinner!  This Chili has been one of my favorites and I used to make it with Chicken, and I decided to try it without.  Just as good!  Yes!  Hope you enjoy.

White Bean Chili

1 onion, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1 heaping tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt or 2 tablespoons Liquid Aminos

1 small can diced green chile peppers

4-6 cups Great Northern Beans, cooked 

(add as many beans as you'd like for thickness)

6 cups vegetable broth

Saute onion and garlic in a little water.  Add cumin and saute for at least 1 minute.  Keep a little moist with water.  Add diced green chile peppers, beans, & vegetable broth.  Season with a little salt or Liquid Aminos.  Heat through and serve with chopped green onions, cilantro, salsa on top, or as seen above, hot sauce!  It also makes a great dip for chips!  Enjoy!

Creamy Summer Squash Soup

My garden is overflowing with produce right now!  I can't believe it!  We are enjoying zucchini and yellow squash like crazy.  I decided to make a quick soup for dinner tonight and it turned out so good!  My kids ate at least 2 bowls each.  Love that!  They were pounding veggies and didn't even care.  Stellar!  Hope you enjoy this soup, especially if you have zucchini and squash coming out your ears like us!

Creamy Summer Squash Soup

One large yellow squash, cubed

One large zucchini, cubed

1 onion, cut in chunks

2 cups vegetable stock

1-2 cups almond milk

1/4 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos

Combine the veggies and vegetable stock in a large pot.  Bring to boil, turn to low and cook 15 minutes or until veggies are soft.  Add almond milk and liquid aminos.  Blend well.  Flavor with a little more salt, 21 Salute or whatever sounds good to you.  We didn't add anything else to ours.  Delish!  

Ponzo Noodle Salad

We love the Forks Over Knives Cookbook at our house and look forward to trying new recipes often!  This is one we've made a few times and thought I'd share.  It's a cold salad, which is wonderful in this hot weather.  Of course, I always modify a few things, so here is their recipe, modified.  If you want the original, get the book!  I love it!  So useful!

Ponzo Noodle Salad

1 pound brown rice noodles (whole wheat work too)

2 medium carrots, cut in matchsticks

3 green onions (white and green parts), cut in thin strips

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro 

1/2 cup Ponzo Sauce

Ponzo Sauce

Zest of 2 lemons

Zest of 2 limes

1/4 cup agave

3/4 cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup rice vinegar

Whisk Ponzo Sauce ingredients together and store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.  

Cook the noodles according to package directions.  In a skillet using very little oil or using water to keep moist, cook the carrots.  Drain noodles and rinse with cold water.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.  This is even better the second day!!!!!  Enjoy!!!

Protein Packed Lentils & Quinoa

I have been feeling a little sore from exercise.  I have been drinking a lot of chia and using a lot of nuts/seeds, but have been lacking the legumes and power grains.  Life is busy and I've been feeling overwhelmed with cooking much.  I threw this together for lunch.  It did take about 40 minutes to cook (the lentils, not the quinoa.  Quinoa takes about 15 minutes to cook).  It was tasty!

Protein Packed Lentils & Quinoa

1 onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, crushed and minced

2 carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 cup lentils

2 cups water

1 tablespoon 21 Seasoning Salute (Trader Joes)

Combine all ingredients in a stainless steel skillet (I used my Platinum Cookware, turning the temp to medium and when it's to temperature, 60 degrees, then I turn to low and simmer 30 minutes.).  Bring the contents to a low boil, turn to low and simmer 30-45 minutes with lid on.  Serve over quinoa.

Cooked Quinoa

1 cup Quinoa

1 1/2 cups water 

(I don't like my quinoa soggy, so I like using a less water.  It is usually recommended using 2 cups water, a 2:1 ratio.  So experiment with what you like!)

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then turn to low heat, put on lid and let steam for 15 minutes or until quinoa is light and fluffy and not soggy.

White Bean, Millet, Walnut Taco 'Meat'

We eat a lot of beans, as you know, and I don't know about you, but we need variety.  Kinda like my old chicken days...I ate chicken every day and that gets pretty darn old if I didn't have a billion ways to serve it.  I'm so glad those days are over, to be honest with you.  I love that there are so many various plant foods to choose from!  Tonight I was in a hurry to make dinner and didn't have any beans previously made like I normally do, so I pulled a can of white beans out of our food storage and put some millet on to cook and let the creative juices flow.  Ha!  Actually it isn't so creative, just a little spin on what I normally make but the flavor turned out great!

White Bean, Millet, Walnut Taco 'Meat'

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 can white beans (about 2 cups)

1 1/2 cups cooked millet

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons garlic powder (or 2 garlic cloves, crushed)

1 teaspoon cumin

coconut oil (2 teaspoons, optional)

Saute onion in oil or water for about 5 minutes.  Add walnuts for 2 minutes.  Add beans, millet and spices.  Add a little water if needed.  Cook on medium low heat until heated through.  Serve in a lettuce, or chard leaf or on corn tortillas!

Tofu Veggie Rice Wraps

This is my first time using these fun rice wraps! I have seen them and wanted to try them but usually use seaweed instead.  These were easy and lots of fun to make!  I bought my rice wraps at Smiths Marketplace in the Asian food section.  As you can see above, they just need to be dunked in water for a about 10-15 seconds.  When you pull them out, they may be stiff still, but will soften.  I also picture a sweet and sour sauce.  I used a recipe in the cookbook Forks Over Knives, but the sauce was sticky and didn't turn out well at all.  I will not be including that recipe.  This was a quick, fun lunch I had this week.

 I love the options vegetables give me!  It's quick and easy and I always feel full, satisfied and never weighed down after I eat.  Eating this way has been the answer for me and I'm so grateful for the information I've learned and continue to learn.  I'm grateful for those who do the digging and provide the information the general public needs to know concerning our food and where it's coming from.  I hope you take the time to educate yourself.  I have a list of literature as well as several documentaries here on my blog as well as in my very first post.  These are great places to start!  With the help of Pinterest I have found some amazing blogs!  People are so creative!  I love that we all share what we learn concerning plant based nutrition.  If eating plant based is too overwhelming for you, try taking it a step at a time.  Maybe a meal a week is plant based, and from there you can add to it as you find your tastes changing.

Tofu Veggie Rice Wraps

1 16 oz tub tofu, drained and sliced thinly, as picture above

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or coconut oil

2 tablespoons Braggs Liquid Aminos

1 red pepper, sliced thinly

1 carrot, sliced thinly

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 bunch cilantro, washed a stems removed

Romaine lettuce (optional)

In a small fry pan saute the tofu in the grapeseed oil and Braggs Liquid Aminos until the outside of the tofu is crispy.  Set aside.  Prepare all the veggies.  Soften the rice wraps one at a time and prepare by layering the tofu and veggies.  Wrap as you would an enchilada.  Mine was a little tricky to fold, because it was sticky.  Do your best :)  I will post a great sauce soon! 

 In the meantime, Forks Over Knives has a great Brown Sauce that I like.  That book is worth it to own!  I hope you enjoy!

Baked Tofu Nuggets

I haven't always enjoyed tofu and this last year I've actually changed my mind. It's really all about how you cook it. This recipe is easy. Dan still isn't a if fan of tofu, but all 5 of my kiddos loved these even if he wouldn't partake :) I will give you the recipe for what I made my family...reduce the amount if you need to make less.

Baked Tofu Nuggets

2 packages extra firm tofu cut into small squares

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup spelt flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

Heat oven to 400. In a bowl combine the tofu squares and olive oil. In a gallon bag combine the spelt, cornmeal flour, salt and nutritional yeast. Place a fourth of the tofu in the gallon bag and shake. Place on a large cookie sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until outsides are crispy and slightly toasted.

Sweet N' Spicy Lentils

I love lentils, they taste earthy to me.  Dan, however, can't stand them!  I am on a mission to help him like lentils.  This one was a winner.  I don't think he'd choose this over most other dishes I make, but he at least ate it and said it was good.  That's success to me, LOL!  I love serving this over brown rice, but have served it over a millet/buckwheat combination or over quinoa.

Sweet N' Spicy Lentils

2 tsp grapeseed oil

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ginger (can use fresh)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 1-lb. can tomatoes, pureed

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup lentils, uncooked

1-2 Tablespoons brown sugar or agave

1/4 tsp salt

Heat oil in skillet.  Add onion, celery, garlic and spices.  Cook, stirring frequently for 3 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients, mix well.  When mixture boils, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer 40 minutes or until lentils are soft.

Christina's Creamy Zucchini Soup

This is my Best Buddy Christina!  She and I are always swapping recipes!  Her Mom is Cindy, the author to a few of the guest posts here on my blog.  I am so grateful for her friendship.  I learn so much from her!  I'm especially grateful for this amazing recipe she let me post!  It is perfect for this time of year with all of our zucchini growing out of our ears!  Actually, I don't know about you, but I didn't get as much zucchini as I usually do and in running around to Farmers Markets, they apparently didn't either :(  Christina and I did luck out on our way to a park last week, a man was out in front of his home giving away GIANT zucchini!  We took almost all he had!  Hows that for selfish?!  If I insist you to do anything, it's to give this a try!  Thanks again to my pal!

Christina's Creamy Zucchini Soup

1 huge zucchini

2 big potatoes pre-cooked in their skins

1 sweet onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2/3 can coconut milk (I used the whole can!)

1/4 cup Braggs liquid aminos (optional)

Season to taste with 21 salute, oregano, and white pepper (I used no seasonings)

Cut up the whole zucchini into chunks and place in 7 qt. with onion and garlic.  Add 2 cups water.  Bring to medium temperature, cover and simmer over low heat until zucchini cooks down and softens. Cut up the potatoes and add to zucchini mixture.  Cover until potatoes are at the same temperature.  Add the coconut milk and use immersion blender to puree the soup, then add seasonings to taste.  So  creamy and Delish!!!!

Vegan Chili Lime Enchilada's

 We had leftover Chili Lime Beans & Rice, so I decided to make enchiladas!  Very easy and I didn't even miss the cheese!

Chili Lime Enchiladas

2-3 cups Chili Lime Beans & Rice

2-3 cups pureed tomatoes

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

14-16 corn tortillas

Using non-stick spray, coat a large griddle or skillet (set to medium high heat), run corn tortillas under water and place on the griddle.  Cook for a minute, flip.  I can usually cook about 6 at a time.  They only need to be softened, so they will bend easily without breaking.  

After cooking tortillas, fill each one with the Chili Lime Beans & Rice.  In a large baking dish, spray with nonstick spray and place enchilada's seam side down.  

Using a blender or food processor, process the tomatoes with the seasonings.  Pour over the enchiladas and Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Chili Lime Beans & Rice

This recipe was me hurrying to throw some things in the rice cooker before my piano students came.  It just sort of happened!  In fact, I'm sitting her typing this wondering what to call it?!  Amazing Rice and Beans?  Lime Taco Rice and Beans?  Fiesta Rice and Beans?  Boring.  It was so yummy that the kids were eating seconds and the next day I put them in enchiladas (yes, I will post that one too!).  Anytime we can get the kids to eat beans, we have struck gold.  Hopefully I'll have a title for this by the end, lol.

Chili Lime Beans and Rice

3 cups brown rice

6 cups water

2 cups pinto beans

1 large onion, diced

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon paprika

Place all ingredients in your rice cooker and set on high.  If you don't have a rice cooker, place all ingredients in large pot, bring to boil, replace lid and turn to low for 45 minutes.  Serve with tortillas or alone with salad and another side.

Carrot Noodle Stir Fry

We make a lot of Stir Fry in our house!  They are quick and simple.  I pretty much make it up as I go with whatever vegetables I have on hand!  This combination was delish!

Carrot Noodle Stir Fry

2-3 large carrots, halved then sliced

1-2 cups thinly cut, or shredded cabbage

1 large onion, quartered then sliced

*1/2 package Soba Noodles (I used buckwheat Soba)

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

**1/4 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos

1/2-3/4 cup water

Brown Rice

2 Cups Brown Rice

4 Cups Water

For Brown Rice, combine water and brown rice in a medium saucepan, cover.  Bring to boil, reduce heat immediately to low and simmer for 45 minutes.

Cook Soba noodles according to directions on the package.

In a large skillet, combine water, onion and carrots and cook until soft.  Add onion, garlic powders, Braggs Liquid Aminos and any additional water to steam the cabbage.  Add cabbage last!  Simmer just a couple of minutes until cabbage is slightly soft.  Add the drained Soba noodles and adjust any seasonings, if necessary. Serve over Brown Rice.

*I usually buy my Soba noodles at Smiths in the health food section.  They have a few different varieties and they are usually in three bunches as seen in the picture below.  I use 1-2 bunches for my large family when making stir fry.

**Braggs Liquid Aminos can be found at Smiths as well.  I have also bought it at a local store here in Utah, called Kitchen Kneads.  Dave's Nutrition also carries it.  It is very low in sodium and a much healthier choice than regular soy sauce!

Vegan Fajitas with Corn Tortillas

Fajitas were a general staple in our home every summer before we decided to eat more plant based.  I had forgotten about them this summer, how?!  I don't know.  I decided to throw some together without chicken. They turned out great!  I was a little worried about how my kid would eat it, because when we had them before, they would pick out all of the chicken!  No chicken to be had for dinner last night, so they were forced to eat their veggies, cause let's face it....that's all there was!!!!  Ha!

 Dan decided to try making our own corn tortillas and bought this extra fine corn flour, found at most grocery stores (above).  It has instructions on the flour/water ratio on the back.  We put some together and pressed them in our tortillas press.  They are so nummy!  We like to leave them in the press a little longer to make chips out of them too!

 Below:  The ingredients in the extra fine corn flour.  Not too shabby :)

 I love red peppers and sweet onions in these fajitas because they are sweet and add to the spicy flavor of all the spices.  You could certainly add green peppers for more color! I hope you enjoy this very simple dinner dish!

Vegan Fajitas

3 red peppers, sliced

1 large sweet onion, cut into large chunks or sliced

1 cup dehydrated or sun dried tomatoes, soaked in hot water for about 10 minutes

3/4 cup water

1 tablespoon white bean flour, or cornstarch

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)

In a small bowl, combine dehydrated tomatoes and hot water, set aside.  In a large skillet, combine your onion and red pepper.  In a small bowl, combine the water, thickener, and spices.  Mix well and pour over your onion and red peppers.  On medium heat, bring to a boil, turn to low and let simmer about 5 to 10 minutes.  Drain the dehydrated tomatoes (add the water to your pepper/onion mix, if needed).  Add the tomatoes to your onion/pepper mixture and stir well.  Serve immediately over corn tortillas.  Garnish with salsa and cilantro.

Dan's Tomato Basil Bisque

Does that not look yummy?!  Dan made this the first time and we all ate every ounce, but he forgot to write his recipe down...so he made it again, and it was even better the second time.  I think he has all the talent in the family, for sure!  I love it when he cooks!  This recipe comes right in time for the end of summer tomatoes and is great for a Sunday dinner or a rainy day.  I am so excited for Fall and all the yummy hearty dishes that come with it!  Hope you enjoy!

Tomato Basil Bisque

2 large onions, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 large carrots, halved and sliced

8-10 large tomatoes

1 cup dried tomatoes (optional)

2 cups almond milk

salt, pepper, basil, onion powder, garlic powder to taste

2 tablespoons oil; coconut or canola

Saute onion and garlic in oil.  Add tomatoes and saute, scald but don't burn the tomatoes (we used our cast iron skillet).  As you do this, the onion, garlic, tomato mixture will reduce and thicken.  This should take 8 to 10 minutes. In a blender, blend the onion, garlic, tomato mixture until smooth.

While the tomatoes are cooking down, Add the potatoes and carrots to a large pot.  Cover with water and bring to boil...turn to medium low heat and cook until tender.  Pour off the water.  Add the blended tomato mixture, almond milk, dried tomatoes and spices to taste.  Simmer until heated through.  Serve.

Summertime Pasta

 Every afternoon this week we have been going to our HOA pool.  We play until about 5:00 p.m. and then hurry home to make dinner.  I have had to seriously "wing it" this week for meals.  This is one I made that turned out pretty darn good!  We have an onslaught of tomatoes and zucchini, so this made for a very easy and cheap meal!  I hope you enjoy!

Summertime Pasta

1 bag or box of whole grain noodles (any variety will work)

1-2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 zucchini diced

4-5 tomatoes quartered and sliced

1 tablespoon oregano, fresh or dried

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

Cook noodles according to instructions on the box or bag.  In a large skillet, saute zucchini and spices in coconut oil until zucchini is tender.  Add tomatoes and heat through.  Drain pasta and toss with veggies.  Serve hot or cold.

My kids loved the leftovers cold!!

Lentil Burgers

 These burgers are a lot more simple to make and have such great flavor!  In fact, as I type this, Dan is making these tweaking these burgers to make them into a "Taco meat" flavoring and we will put them in tortillas.  Lentils are the one legume my kids and husband have had a hard time liking.  Dan says they taste like dirt, LOL.  I LOVE lentils, but I grew up eating lentils, so I'm used to them.  I have been on the hunt for good recipes with lentils.  This recipe I found at Vegan Meals. I hope you enjoy these! 

Lentil Burgers

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 1/2 cups cooked lentils

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice or wild rice

1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

1/4 cup bread crumbs

2-3 tablespoons ground flax

1/4 cup water

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons sage

1 tablespoons poultry seasoning

In a small saucepan combine onion, garlic and celery with 1 tablespoon water and steam on medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix with your hands until, adding a small amount of water if it is not coming together well.  The mixture will be crumbly.  Press the mixture into balls and put on a cookie sheet lined with parchment.  Spray with top of each ball with nonstick spray and press flat with the bottom of a flat measuring cup.  Bake at 350, 15 minutes on each side.  These burgers are a little crumbly.  The next  day, we heat them in the oven in a cast iron skillet and put them into lettuce or swiss chard wraps with Simple Hummus, tomatoes, avocado's and onions or sprinkle over salads.
How to Cook Lentils will be posted below

Cooked Lentils

2 cups water

1 cup lentils

Combine water and lentils in a medium saucepan with the lid on.  Bring to a slight boil on medium heat, immediately turn to low and cook for about 45 minutes with the lid on!  Make sure that when bringing it to a slight boil that it doesn't over flow.  If you want to bring to a boil with the lid off, you can :)

Simple Millet Stuffed Bell Peppers - Guest Recipe

 In recent months, I have become more acquainted with a person I consider a "kindred spirit".  Her name is Cindy.  I've admired Cindy from afar ever since we moved into our home.  She lives a few streets over from us.  Years ago, I learned that Cindy was a Vegetarian.  I always admired people who could stick to it, because I struggled so much over the years with what to eat and how to overcome my cravings that I just didn't think it was ever going to be possible to have a good relationship with food. 

 As Dan and I began studying a plant based way of life, I thought about Cindy a lot and felt prompted to talk to her about what she has done over the years and why she eats that way.  The other thing I had noticed about Cindy was her constant smile.  She has a calm way about her and I wanted to get to know her.  My Mom, who lives in a basement apartment in our home, which I LOVE, had decided to make the same changes we were to our lives and wanted to come with me as we met with Cindy.  We called Cindy and she invited us over for lunch.  We spent a good 3 1/2 hours at Cindy's beautiful home.  The first thing I noticed about her home was how fresh it smelled, not the kind of home where you can tell air fresheners or candles are used (like me, ha ha!).  It was clean and inviting.  She had set the table beautifully and had placed before us a beautiful millet/parsley salad, red cabbage/apple/carrot salad, and a lovely dish called triple simmer.  She had gently cooked veggies as well as a delicious carrot/apple juice.  This was our lunch.  Now, coming off of beef and chicken, and a fair amount of processed foods, I was surprised to find this meal so simple.  It was basically fruits and veggies!  I loved it!  It was wonderful!  She talked about her life and what led her to make the changes to eat plant based.  It was fascinating to hear about her life!  She talked about her family, her husband and how she overcame her chocolate addiction years ago.  She talked about her fascination with how the rights kinds of food can heal us.  We talked about the Gerson Therapy at length, something she is studying.  It was a wonderful afternoon!

Since then she has been gracious enough to share good books to read, many lovely, simple recipes and many of her insights into how to be positive and happy and how that can change our health and wellness for the better.  I feel a deep connection with Cindy and am so grateful for her friendship!  This recipe is hers.  I love the simplicity of it!  I thank Cindy for sharing it and hope you enjoy it!

Simple Millet Stuffed Bell Peppers

1 cup cooked millet (will show recipe for this below)

4 large or 5 medium bell peppers

1/2 cup sweet onion, grated or diced finely

1/4 cup red cabbage, finely shredded

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 fresh cloves garlic (or to taste)

1 large tomato - diced

1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional - to taste)

1 tablespoon water in the bottom of the pan

Cut off top 1/3 of the bell peppers and dice the tops into the millet mixture.  Remove all seeds from peppers and discard.  Mix ingredients in medium bowl and stuff into the bell pepper bottoms.  Arrange in a large skillet or pot, placing the tablespoon of water in the bottom.  Heat your pan to 60 degrees or turn on medium and when the water is bowling in the bottom or it has reached temperature, then reduce to lowest temp on your stove top.  Cook for about 20 minutes.  

Serve plain or pour red enchilada or tomato sauce over each pepper.  Enjoy!!

(scroll to the end of the post for the millet recipe)

Cooked Millet

2 cups water

1 cup millet

Combine both in a small saucepan, cover and turn on medium heat, when slightly boiling, turn to lowest heat and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until millet has soaked all the water.

Homemade Whole Wheat or Spelt Tortillas

 With little prep, these wonderful tortillas can be made and frozen or refrigerated for a few weeks.  They can be put in the oven or re-heated in a cast iron skillet.  Do not use the microwave because they can make these very tough and/or gooey.  We like these tortillas with beans, onions, avocado, tomato and lettuce.  We will put hot sauce on it as well.  My kids still eat ketchup on theirs.  I use my Bosch to mix the dough but these can be mixed by hand, kneading it for a couple of minutes to mix it well.  I also use a tortilla press.  I LOVE my tortilla press, it's one of the best investments.  I use a Villaware but I did see a CucinaPro on Amazon that is comparable. If you do not have the money to get one of these now, they can be rolled out with a rolling pin and using non stick spray in a cast iron skillet, cooked on both sides until the color slightly changes.  Here's the recipe!  Any questions please leave comments, because if you have questions, likely others do too!  Also, feel free to email me at jen78johns@yahoo.com

Homemade Tortillas

4 cups spelt or whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 coconut oil or canola oil

1 1/4 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients and mix for 1 minute.  Let rest for 5 minutes.  Divide into 12-24 balls.  Roll out or press in a tortilla press until the color slightly changes.  It's okay to have some dark spots, especially around the edges.  If you over cook these they will be crispy, which isn't a bad thing, but to keep them pliable stack them on top of each other after cooking and store in a plastic bag or container to hold a little moisture after they have cooled slightly and are warm.  It will keep them soft and pliable.