Dinner tonight was quick and easy. What to do with leftovers? Make a soup.
I popped baked butternut squash, an avocado, homemade vegetable stock and a leftover spicy nut butter in the Vitamix and let her do her thing. Results. A very tasty soup.
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Starting All Over
In 2017 my husband and I began a raw vegan lifestyle for his heart health. I joined him because I don’t like to cook and making two meals was out of the question. I also thought it could improve my health; make what was good, better.
In 2018 cooked vegan was introduced into our plan. That was good but by now I was exhausted. The Dr. told me that I didn’t have to make everything from scratch. Well, O happy day. I thought this was a blessing. I began a new journey into the vegan processed food world. Label reading became more of a necessity. As with most products in our stores the packaging can be misleading or barely truthful. Some brands are vegetarian but intimate that they are okay for vegans. Some meat substitutes taste decent and others don’t. One thing they all have in common is too much sodium and they are PROCESSED. In 2019 I gained weight eating processed food.
Here I am in 2020 beginning our raw journey again. This time it is for me. This time it is harder. I don’t know if I know too much or not enough. One thing I do know is the processed meat substitutes will be eliminated and if ever returned it will be sparingly.
As a singer once put it
Starting All Over Again is going to be tough but we’re, I’m going to make it.
Leftover Sausage Mixture
Yesterday I decided to try frying the leftover sausage mixture that I made a few days ago. To my surprise when I removed “meat” from the refrigerator the texture was more meatlike than when first made.
Baking didn’t yield a product with sausage-like texture. It looked more like a “not so done” puffy biscuit. I decided to try frying this time. Frying was not successful. It seared the outside but did not cook the inside. I put it in the oven to bake it through. 
That worked. I also tried it in the waffle iron just for giggles. I was making banana nut waffles.
To Recap
Making Vegan Sausage Patties
(I made these sausages on the 21st)
A year ago at least I searched the web for a vegan breakfast sausage pattie recipe. I found several but this one appealed to me. I don’t remember why it has taken me so long to try it. Maybe it’s because of the TVP and the Vital Wheat Gluten. I wanted to eat clean back then. I don’t know the source of this recipe so I can’t give the appropriate credit. I gave it a try.
Breakfast Sausage
1 c black beans*
1 c veggie broth
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP Tamari
2 TBSP Maple syrup*
1 TBSP sage
1/2 tsp thyme*
1/2 tsp rosemary *
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp whole fennel seeds*
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1/4 c TVP
1 1/4 c vital wheat gluten
Red pepper or cayenne to taste
*My substitutions
White beans
Rosemary Vitality Essential oil
Thyme Vitality Essential Oil
1TBSP ground fennel seeds
1/2 tsp raw blue agave
Soak the TVP for about an hour in the veggie broth. Combine all ingredients. Bake in a 350° oven.
The flavor is good but the texture was not comparable to store bought vegan or vegetarian sausages. On that I was disappointed.
Just for Me
This last week I have begun preparations for my church family’s annual Daniel Fast. I already lead a plant-based dietary lifestyle. So, what to do? I decided to go back to raw vegan meals, especially a week of smoothies.
Along with thoughts about food, I looked at my life this year. What would I change? What would I add? My assessment continually asked “But what have you done just for you?” I heard all my children’s voices asking, Mom what did you do for you?
I realize I have a difficult time to do for me. So I’ve decided to do more just for me in 2020. I now have to figure out what that looks like.
Any thoughts?
Vegan Pot Pie
This was quite tasty, at least filling. I was concerned about it not being creamy enough but the cashew cream was perfect. Instead of the dry and fresh herbs required, I used Basil Vitality, Thyme Vitality and Rosemary Vitality. Yummy, yummy flavor.
The crust made from the Einkorn flour was too thick. The cook, me, didn’t roll the dough out thin enough. I’m sure that contributed to the moisture absorption. After it was cooked, over half of the moisture in the filling had been absorbed by all the crust. My husband said don’t make this again. Of course I will at least once to correct my mistakes.
I ran out of Einkorn flour so I used buckwheat flour to knead the dough and roll it out. That’s the dark you see on the out crust. I didn’t burn it. 😀
Mom’s Buttermilk Biscuits
Good biscuits are a necessity in southern kitchens. I was happy to find several recipe’s in the Young Living Cookbook using Einkorn flour. Naturally I had to try one. I chose Mom’s Buttermilk Biscuits to try first. I eat primarily a vegan dietary plan so I had to make substitutions. I used coconut oil instead of butter and cashew milk instead of buttermilk.
The results were as expected. It was much like using 100% whole wheat flour. They weren’t flaky but they were tender on the inside and a little crunchy on the outside. The taste was acceptable. If you are not accustomed to eating 100% whole wheat bread products, this taste will require some getting used to. Some of my biscuits are thinner than others because I rolled the dough too thin at first. I left some to compare to the thicker one’s. The thin one’s had a crunch like cookies and the thicker satisfied the “biscuit” criteria.😊 My husband said they were good enough to repeat. They passed the test.
Get the Young Living Cookbook and get cooking. Click on the Young Living link on the page. It will have my information already filled in. Just follow the prompts. Welcome to the YLEO family and YLEO cooking.
Einkorn Waffles and Pancake Mix
This mix is a blend of Einkorn flour, brown rice flour, Amaranth, Tapioca flour,Sorghum flour and Garbanzo(Chickpea) flour.
My first try was edible and that’s all I can really say about that. I left iut the syrup and the vanilla flavoring. You wouldn’t think that would matter but it did. The vanilla, not so much but the removal of the sweetener was a mistake. Because I’m vegan I used E-nerG egg substitute. I didn’t let it sit long enough before i used it.
On my next try, I used blue agave sweetener and I allowed the egg substitute to fully complete its transformation.
The batter was a little thicker than I like but the waffles were much better. I will try again using the egg replacement equivalent of 2 eggs and I may add a little more milk if needed. The Einkorn really absorbs the liquid. I will keep you posted.
Join my journey through the Young Living nutrition products. The recipe for the waffles are on the bag. Click on the Young Living link on this page and purchase the book.
My SHE-RO
I had all these plans to submit posts a minimum of twice a week. I had planned what I was going to cover. I was super organized. And then…
My grandson brought home a gift that he shared with everyone except his mother. It was the flu. His dad, sister, grandma (me) and grandpa fell like dominoes. The first to get better was the gift giver of course. My granddaughter had a really rough time. Her fever would break and spike to 102+ within a couple of hours. Finally she was taken to the doctor and that’s when we discovered we had the flu strand A. Didn’t really know what that meant except we were plenty sick. My husband and I took care of each other as best we could between our daughter’s visits. The worst was finally over but it has taken the adults several weeks to get completely over it. I am beginning to have energy last more than a minute.
My daughter had the task of taking care of all of us while teaching her classes, leading workshops and editing her libretto. She is my SHE-RO.
Thank you Baby Girl. ❤❤❤
Dangerous Ground
The President of the United States is refusing to honor a constitutionally legal subpoena as I understand it. I wonder has he thought about the repercussions of his refusal to honor the supoena?
His example is giving everyone who is ever subpoenaed the precedent to disregard it and there would be nothing the prosecution, defense attorney or judge could do about it. Thus rendering subpoenas powerless.
Now for those who think I am anti-Trump because you have assumed I am a progressive Democrat because I am black consider this scenario.
Imagine you were on trial and the person that could prove you were innocent refused to testify. A subpoena is issued. They refuse to honor it. The President didn’t so why should I? Off to jail or prison you go.
His behavior doesn’t only affect his life but all of ours. Has he considered that. Or maybe this is part of his plan. For sure, this is dangerous ground.
Congress and SC judges if you stand by and allow this to happen, you have just lost your jobs. If the executive branch is above the law or any branch is above the law, there is no need for the law or lawmakers or adjudicators. Dangerous Ground.
This is not a political issue. This is a living in this democratic republic we call the United State of America issue. Both sides of the isle need to unite to do what is right.
Right now we are standing on dangerous ground.
"Black Soil" Living 