Keep Juicing, Keep Loving

 Daikon Radish, Mint, Cucumber, Lime, Parsley, Celery. Apple, Cilantro,Spinach, Wheatgrass

 Apple, Yellow Beet, Orange, Ginger, Carrot

This post is to give an example of juices you'll make when you have the primary ingredients stocked in your fridge. Other produce that you happen to have on hand keeps things exciting and adds depth & nutrition to your drinks.

Here is a list of items I always keep on hand
apples
cucumbers
celery
carrots
ginger
citrus
greens
beets

More Green Smoothies make you feel so good

Mango, Blueberry, Goji, Kale, Peach, Spinach, Orange, Coconut water

Spinach, Honeydew, Blueberry, Goji, Kiwi, Kale, Coconut water

Let's Drink!

I've been off & on a juice fast for the last 2 weeks. I love juice fasting, it aint easy, but when it works it feels sooo gooood. So.. "off & on" a fast obviously means I'm struggling. I'm blaming my busy life and workouts. Hey.. I'm training for a triathlon! The date is set for Dec 1st in Key West, Fl. So this is no traditional juice fast. Ive been supplementing with Vega my protein powder of choice, and one of the loves of my life. I love you Vega. But the juice plus the powder wasn't cutting it. So, I have added in green smoothies and for today... I'm happy.

Amazingly Delicious Green Smoothie
9oz coconut water
1/2 a lime, juiced
pinch sea salt
1 mango
and a handful of each of the following:
Kale
Spinach
fresh blueberries
frozen goji berries

Green Juice du Jour
1 apple
1 lime
3/4 c honeydew
sprig mint
3stalks celery
1 cucumber
2 handfuls spinach
stems from 1 bunch kale

Hiking the Ozark Trail VEGAN STYLE

It's my 26th Birthday and Amanda, Layla & I are hitting the trail! Specifically, we are heading to Tom Sauk on the Ozark Trail in southern Mo. We hiked 18 miles and camped out 1 night. Tom Sauk is the highest point in our great state and it's a gorgeous place to hike any time of year. Usually you can look forward to lots of water at Mina Sauk falls, less than a mile from our campsite, but this year we found only a small stream and a few large puddles. Thankfully it was enough to refill our canteens!

Our Vegan/mostly Raw hiking foods included celery, cucumbers, bananas, trail mix, sesame nut honey bars, chunks of energy (kind of like trail mix pulverized & smashed into little cubes. love em.) carrot cake cookies, Vega protein powder (I never travel without it.. or live without it for that matter) and Raw Revolution spirulina dream bars.
Yum. We ate well. It was actually the Perfect amount of food. When your body is working that hard hiking.. you actually don't get that hungry. Its hard for the body to focus on digestion, carrying a heavy pack and hiking up & down hills all day.

Cooking locally-made Tempeh for breakfast before the hike. We planned a big breakfast for the long trail ahead of us. These gorgeous locally-made tempeh steaks marinated overnight in
2parts olive oil
1 part shoyu/tamari
1 part balsamic vinegar
blend of favorite dry herbs

We made some simple "reuben style" breakfast sandwiches on Udi's whole grain Gluten Free bread with saurkraut and hummus. yessssss

Back to MO, Blogging Hiatus & a Business Venture!

 
HOWDY! As many of you already know, I have completed my vegan culinary courses and internships with the Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts. I am no longer living in Austin,TX.. though it was nearly perfect in every way.. and I have returned home to Columbia, Missouri.

I love Columbia. This is my community. I love the size, the progressive atmosphere, the diversity, being surrounded by colleges &  universities, great music, local farms & food, film festivals, museums, nature & hiking trails.. right smack dab in the middle of the country and an 1.5 hour drive from my family. Gotta love it.

When I started this blog I was leaving Missouri and heading to TX. My food preparation style, diversity of ingredients and overall outlook on food & health has come a long long way since the start of this blogging journey.

Now, I've gone gluten free and eat mainly vegan foods, and my diet includes loads of nutritionally dense "super foods." I've discovered that I'm lactose intolerant and eating more than one egg makes me nauseous. Every once in a while an egg may sneak in but I've discovered more than one way to substitute them from cooking & baking. Same with gluten.. for a very special occasion I may indulge, but for the most part I live without it, and feel great.

The Natural Epicurean, and specifically the group of 11 incredible women I went to school with, had a major impact on my life. I anticipated that it would.. I just wasn't sure how. I think we all took away different lessons and skills, we all advanced our techniques and deepened our knowledge and understanding of our relationship with food. And we formed a community which I will I am eternally grateful for and will cherish always.

So here I am. In Columbia. Some days it feels like I never left. And that's okay. Because I'm home. I may not stay forever, but this is a very good place for me now.

Finally, Im excited to announce that I'm starting a small business. Its called Sorella Natural Foods. Sorella means "sister" in Italian. I've created 20 in-home plant based culinary classes, offer personal chef work, cater small events and will be launching a line of ready-to-eat snacks & meals at local grocery stores. I'll try to post a flyer on here.. but I'm not sure how that works yet haha. If you'd like more information send me an email at sorellanaturalfoods@gmail.com

All Good Things,
Shelly

raw Italian Neatballs

Italian Neatballs
3/4 c sun dried toms
1 c orange juice
1/4 c nutritional yeast
2T Italian seasoning
1/4 red onion
3 garlic cloves
1/4 red bell pepper
1 T Irish Moss
1 C hazelnut meal
1 c sunflower seeds, soaked
1 c walnuts, soaked

Marinara Sauce
2 med tomatoes
handful sundried toms
1/8 c red onion
2-3 garlic cloves
5 basil leaves
1 t oregano, dry
sea salt

Blend the ingredients for the Neatballs in a food processor until well combined. It should be pretty smooth, but still chunky. find a happy medium. Shape em into little balls & dehydrate at 109 for about a day, dehydration time depends on the humidity in your area.

Throw all the ingredients for the sauce into a blender, add a little water if you need to thin it out.

Halfway through the dehydration roll the Neatballs in the marinara sauce, then continue to dehydrate.

To serve these cute little guys I got out my Spiralizer & made some zucchini noodles. I tossed them in the rest of the sauce, and garnished with some diced kalamata olives. These pasta bowls were a hit with my omnivorous friends!

4 Bean Spring Salad

1 can garbanzos
1 can salad beans, mix of kidney, black and cannelini
2 scallions, diced
2 handfuls dragon tongue beans, or other fresh bean
handful dry cranberries
handful chopped pecans
minced fresh herbs: basil, cilantro, mint, parsley, tarragon, chives
3 T red wine or sherry vinegar
2 T olive oil
salt & pepper

I usually don't buy canned beans unless I'm in a rush.. in this case, I needed to create a quick meal for protein and couldn't pass up the convenience.
This entire dish was inspired by the dragon tongue beans pictured below! I had to have them :) So I created this bean salad. Its extremely fresh tasting and the cranberries & pecans are the perfect touch.
The instructions are pretty simple.. drain the cans & throw it all together. The only other step is to blanch the fresh long beans & chop them, then toss em in with everything else.

Breaded & Baked Morels!!

MOREL Mushrooms.. they come & go so quickly every spring. And they're everybody's favorite! There guys are super rare, very seasonal and deliciously savory.
I manage to get my hands on some every year.. usually they get breaded & fried right away. These year I decided to take a healthier, vegan and gluten free route.

1 lb Morels, soaked in water
1 bag Whole Grain Corn Chips, crushed in food processor
3 T ground flax seeds
3/4 c water
1/2 c buckwheat flour

Soak the morels to remove debris.
Whisk together the group flax & water. This with replace the egg in a typical breading.
Set up a station with 1 plate flour, 1 bowl flax/water, 1 plate crushed breadcrumbs
Gently shake the water off of the morels. Then roll them in flour, dip in flaxwater, then roll in chips.
Set them on a greased sheet tray and bake for 25min at 400deg. Flip halfway through.

I enjoyed these with a good friend, creamy nutbased ranch & some BBQ sauce. YUM!

Creamy Zuchinni Soup

6 small to med zucchini
2 small yellow onion
4-5 cloves garlic
2 T Tamari or soy sauce
1 1/2 T Balsamic Vinegar
salt & pepper
4-5 cups vegetable broth, or more/less for desired thickness
fresh/dry Italian herbs

Dice the squash. Heat a couple T oil in a large pan, then toss in the zucchini & onion. Cook until tender. Turn heat to low and add the garlic, tamari & balsamic.  Cook for an additional minute then transfer the zucchini to a blender .. slowly add the broth until you reach your desired thickness.
Serve with diced tomatoes, chopped olives, bread crumbs, truffle oil...

I don't eat a whole lot of eggs.. but when I happen to have some in the fridge for a special occasion I poach them in my soups! It takes about 8-10 minutes, on low, with a lid. In the photo below I served the soup w a poached egg, daiya vegan cheese and sriracha hot sauce.

Nacho Kale Chips

These went too quickly to get a finished photo!! aahh!! Ill have to be more careful next time.

1 c sunflower seeds
1/4 c pine nuts
water, about 1/2-3/4 cups
1/4 c nutritional yeast
carrot, 2in chunk
red bell pepper, a 1/3
1 t mustard
tumeric, a pinch
onion, 1/8 c
garlic, 2 cloves
1 T miso
1 T applecider vinegar

Throw all of the above ingredients into a high powered blender.
Strip 2 bunches of Kale from their stems, keeping the leaves in large pieces.
Rub the leaves liberally with the Nacho dressing, then place in the dehydrator at 109 for at least 1 day.
Flip half way through.
Youll need to keep them in a sealed container once theyre dry or else theyll rehydrate & get soft.

Spicy Spring Slaw

In this forum.. I'm forced to be the critic of my own food. So let me tell you how happy I am with this salad. The name "Spicy Spring Slaw" doesn't really give it justice. "Crisp, Cool, Creamy, Crunchy, Sweet, Spicy, Salty, Pretty, Seasonal, Healthy Spring Slaw" would be more accurate. I'm sure Ill eat a version of this everyday for at least the next 2 weeks.

There are lots of substitutions that can be made too!  Try:

Avocado instead of banana

ramen noodles

cucumber

bell pepper

sunflower seeds

cashews

pear

more fresh herbs

coconut

fennel

jiacama

lime zest

orange wedges

quinoa

So, use what you've got. Make a spring slaw! For someone like me.. who can easily become housebound watching netflix, reading, cooking, or lounging, this is a perfect example of an energizing spring dish to get me moving and feeling good.

Usually, I cut the radishes and carrots into flower shapes! Which really adds to the experience of enjoying this salad. Ill have a post soon about how to do that. Always a crowd pleaser.. even when you're the only one eating :)

SLAW
Nappa cabbage 1/2 head, cut into strips
1 apple, julienned
2 scallions, diced
daikon radish, 4-5 inches, cut into rounds
1 watermelon radish, cut into rounds
red radish, 3 small, cut into rounds
1 carrot, peeled into strips
sugar snap peas, handful, diced small
cilantro,1 handful minced
1/3 c broccoli with stems, minced
1 banana, sliced into rounds
sesame seeds, to garnish
kelp noodles optional
1/2 c sea vegetable, rehydrated optional

Prep each ingredient accordingly and toss together in a large bowl. You can keep this slaw for a couple days, just leave it undressed in a large ziplock or large food storage container.


DRESSING
1/4 ume plum vinegar, or use a rice wine vinegar
2 T shoyu
2 T white miso
2T siracha, or sambal olek
1 1/2 T sweetener (agave, honey, raw sugar, palm sugar etc. )
3 T fresh ginger
1 T sesame oil
3/4 c Tea oil, or other mild flavored oil

Blend all the ingredients together until smooth.

Kelsey's Best Risotto: Marinara with Breaded Baby Zucchini

2-3 T olive oil
small yellow onion, small dice
small red onion, small dice
6 cloves garlic, minced
dry Italian herb blend
red pepper flakes, to taste
bay leaf
roasted red bell pepper, skinned, seeded & diced
pint mushrooms, diced
sun dried tomatoes, handful, diced
large can San Marzano Tomatoes
1/2 small can tomato paste
1 c water
1 c arborio rice
1 c red wine
fresh basil, chiffonade
fresh parsley, minced
salt, to taste

the Sauce
Dice the onions, combine the red with yellow, and set aside in a pile.
In a medium sized pot heat 1-2 T olive oil and add half the onions. Saute for several minutes then add the garlic, italian herbs, bay leaf, red pepper flakes and mushrooms. Cook for 2minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the red bell pepper and sun dried tomatoes. Cook for an additional minute, stirring, then add the can of tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Simmer for 20minutes. 

the Risotto
Once the sauce is cooked, in a separate large wide pan, heat 2-3 T olive oil, then add the rest of the onion. Saute until translucent, then add the garlic and the arborio rice. Cook for another 2 minutes. Then turn up the heat and add the wine. Once all of the wine has cooked down.. turn the heat to med-low and add 1/3 of the tomato sauce.. Stir frequently. Once the rice starts to soak up the sauce, and you can drag the spoon across the bottom of the pan without seeing any liquid.. add another 1/3 of the sauce to the rice. Keep stirring. If you want to walk away, put a lid on it. Once the rice soaks up most of the liquid, add the rest of the sauce and let it cook with a lid on, stirring frequently. Taste it.. see how "done" the rice is. If the sauce is super thick and the rice isn't cooked thoroughly yet, add a little more water.. add 1/2 c at a time until your rice is cooked and your have a creamy thick marinara sauce. Yum. Stir in the parsley and basil at the end, then serve. Enjoy this meal with a fruity red wine and a good friend :D

the Zucchini
6 small baby zucchini
1 1/2 c seasoned Italian bread crumbs
3 T ground flax seed
1/2 c water
1/2 c flour
balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise. Mix the ground flax seed and water. let sit for a few minutes. This can be used as a replacement for egg in any batter.
Set up a "dredging station" with 1 plate of flour, 1 large bowl of flax/water mixture, and 1 plate of breadcrumb. Rinse the squash, then dredge in flour, then flax, then breadcrumb. Set on a foil lined, sprayed/rubbed with oil baking sheet and bake at 380 for 25minutes. Flip halfway through. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper before serving.

Berry Almondine Chia Pudding

bluberries, 1 c
raspberries, 1 c
1 banana
3 oranges, juiced
1t almond extract
almond shavings, garnish
bee pollen, garnish

Blend the berries, juice and banana in a blender, but leave it a little chunky. Stir in the almond extract to taste. Add the chia sseds and chill in the fridge for a few hours, then its ready to eat!

Cinnamon Apple Chia Pudding

1 apple, diced very small
1 banana, chopped
raisins, a handful
cinnamon, to taste
maple syrup, a dash
1/2 c water or apple juice
2 T chia seeds

Mix everything together then store in the fridge for a few hours until the chia softens. Enjoy!

Green Drinks

 Green Drinks! Do it! I do. All the time. Yum.
 I always have staples like greens, celery and cucumber on hand to make drinks like these. In case of a Green Emergency I also have powders like Vega and Amazing Grass for a quick fix. Here are a few examples of variations you can make once you've got a juicer and a stocked fridge. hmmm.. I wonder what kind of green drink I'll have today?!
I've been adding Rejuvelac to many of my drinks lately. You can read about my homemade Rejuvelac here. Basically its a probiotic fermented beverage made from whole grain sprouts. It adds loads of living enzymes and will also keep your green drink from oxidizing. Fabulous. 

Romaine
Spinach
Parsley
Celery
Kiwi
Pineapple scraps
Tumeric & Ginger scraps









 Spinach
Romanine

Fenugreek sprouts
 Parsley
Cilantro
Mint
Pear
Celery
Cucumber









Rejuvelac
Collard Greens
Spinach
Romaine
Celery
Cucumber
Apple
Yellow Beet
Carrots







Dulse
Rejuvelac
Sunflower microgreens
Buckwheat microgreens
Quinoa sprouts
Fenugreek sprouts
Avocado
Apple
Kale

Avocolada Chia Pudding

pineapple, about 2 1/2-3 cups
coconut water, 2 cups
2 bananas, keep separate
avocado, save the pit
2T coconut butter
pinch of salt
juice of 1 lime
3T chia seeds

 Place all the ingredients, except the chia and 1 banana, into the blender and puree. Then, stir in the chia seeds, the avocado pit and the other banana sliced. The pit will help keep the avocado fresh for a few days. Place in the fridge and enjoy a few hours later.

Kimchi Round 2

Stay tuned for the progress of the Kimchi! This is only day 1. The jar will sit on my counter and ferment for the next 3 days or so, then I'll stick it in the fridge. Check out my last batch of Kimchi here. I made the last batch (my first at-home batch!) last week.. and its gone already. Obviously, its time to make more. This will surely be a new staple in my home.

1 head Nappa Cabbage
1 red bell pepper
2 carrots
1 small-med Daikon radish
4 knobs of Tumeric
2 c sugar snap peas
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 bunch scallions
3 T chili powder, grown & dried by one of my best friends, Billie Hainds!!
4 cloves garlic
2 in ginger
1 T miso
2quarts water + 4T seasalt

Drying Ginger & Tumeric for Tea

By request of my very dear friend Robert Jenkins, Ill be preparing a lovely tea, of which, the main ingredients are tumeric and ginger. These are nutritional POWERHOUSES, people. Get some. Tumeric is the healthiest spice in the world. (I see the grammatical error there, but just go with it.)Renowned for its anti inflammatory properties, tumeric has been used for over 4000 years to treat a variety of conditions. Its a staple in Indian cusine... and in my home. YES! Ginger, I buy like twice a week. I put it in all my juices, many of my teas, sauces, dressings, soups.. Its great for nausea or an upset stomach, its a very warm spice, so you can add it to tea on a cold day or to a bath if you have a cold! YES!

Tumeric & Ginger

 Many chefs find the best way to peel these roots is with the back of a spoon. Its not quick, its not perfect, but it gets the job done. Use a knife, and chances are you'll lose lots of the goodness. I saved all the skins and added them to my fresh morning juice. Intense!

 Peeled tumeric & ginger roots

Once you've minced them up good, spread them out on dehydrator racks.

 Alternatively, you can dry them at the lowest setting in your oven.

raw Blueberry Dream Chia Pudding

1 pkg fresh bloobs
1 banana
3 oranges, juiced
2 T chia seeds
vanilla

Toss the bloobs, banana and oj in the blender and blend on low. You dont want a perfect puree (or do you?) so leave it a little chunky. Stir in the vanilla and chia seeds. Refrigerate and enjoy a few hours later. I sprinkle a little Bee Pollen on mine.

How to Prep a Pinapple

This may seem obvious to many of you.. but there are a lot of folks 

out there who wouldn't know where to start.
And to all of those folks.. this ones for you. 

Get a sharp knife.

 Chop off the top and bottom of the pineapple, so that you have a flat surface to work with.

Slice off the skin, staying as close to the flesh as possible. Its okay if there are lots of eyes (those browinsh circular dents) hangin' around... we'll get rid of those in a minute. If you've got a juicer, juice the skin, it'll still produce quite a bit of fresh yummy juice.

The eyes are in a pattern. It should be pretty easy to slice them off with some long V cuts. So, come at a row of eyes at an angle with your knife..then make another cut so that the eyes are removed in a V wedge.

Bask in your pineapple's beauty. Can't use it all up? Chop it and freeze it. Puree it with banana and make a chia pudding. Make a pineapple salsa. or a Pineapple salad dressing! Oh the places you can go...

raw Sunflower Nuggets w Asian Sticky Sauce

Well, this is one of the best meals I've eaten in a looongg time.  To the left is a photo of the nuggets with Kelp noodles and marinated veggies. YUM. I cant wait to have it again for lunch tomorrow!!
Seriously, Ive fed these nuggets to several omnivores over the last few days.. and their responses were unanimous. They all wanted more. Even my most adamantly carnivorous foodie friend raved. I'll be working on this recipe and some similar ideas in the future. ugh, I love to eat good food.
Okay, but real quick let me tell you about the Kelp noodles. Drove all over town lookin for em.Our local vegan & raw cafe, Beets, sells them for a whopping $6.99 per package. Granted, there are several servings per package and they last for a while in the fridge.. but I wasn't excited about spending $7 per package. Natural Grocer was out of em. So I found em at Wheatsville this afternoon (went there this morning but forgot my wallet! yep.) for $3.75. Excellent. I picked up three packages. They are only 6 calories per serving, they're raw, and they're made entirely out of seaweed. Right up my alley. They better have kelp noodles in Columbia, MO because I wont be able to live without em.

 








Sunflower Nuggets
1 1/2 c sunflower seeds, sprouted
1 1/2 c walnuts, sprouted
3/4 c sun dried tomatoes, soaked in 1 c orange juice
1 large shallot
3 cloves garlic
1 T Irish Moss powder
1 c almond flour
1 T tamari
1 T red miso
1 T sage
1 t mustard powder
1/3 t tumeric
1/2 T cumin

Soak sunflower seeds and walnuts for 2-4 hours. Soak sun dried tomatoes in orange juice for 2 hours.
Pulse the tomatoes and their soaking liquid in the food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend. Its okay if theres some chunks of seeds/nuts, but you want to blend it up pretty well. Form into patties and dehydrate for 8 hours. Dip em in the Sticky Sauce, then dehydrate another 8 hours. Heck yeah.

Sticky Sauce
3/4 coconut aminos, aged coconut sap (like soy sauce only BETTER)
1/2 c agave nectar
1/4 c coconut milk
2 cloves garlic
1 in ginger
1 T sesame oil
2 T coconut oil
2 t red pepper flakes
2T sesame seeds

Blend well. Next time Im going to add a little less agave and a little more red pepper flakes. Other than that its totally solid. I got a lot of compliments on this sauce. Ill probably be making it pretty often as it tastes soooo good on veggies.

To marinate the vegetables; I dredged them in the sticky sauce. Broccoli, red bell pepper, scallion and mushrooms. Then I dehydrated them for 2 hours to soften. Delish and nutrish. 

Sunflower nugget batter going into the dehydrator