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June / July 2013Price: FREEwww.Blikki.com

20 YUMMY SUMMER RECIPESYOUR WHOLE FAMILY WILL BEG FOR!

Grow A Garden from Kitchen Scraps p.36

Nutrition Q&AVegan? How Much Protein is Enough? p.10

Straight Answers About The Carnitine Controversy! p.42

Easy to Download

Recipesp. 11

Raw Chunky MonkeyIce Cream p.32

4 of Our Favorite Summer Food Blog Sites p.12

Contents

In Every Issue

Editor’s Note 5Quick Bites! 44Soul Food 45[ [

Feature Articles:Russell James The Raw ChefNutrition Q & AOur Favorite Food BlogsThe Tastes of SummerHello - I’m VeganGrowing a Garden from Kitchen ScrapsIs Red Meat Dangerous?

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©2013 Blikki.com, All Rights Reserved. Blikki® is the registered trademark of Blikki.com. All other marks are either trademarks, service marks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. No portion of this magazine may be reprinted, copied or distributed in print or on-line without prior written consent. The statements and products featured in this publication and/or on this site may not have been evaluated by the US Food & Drug Administration. The state-ments and products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The articles written are from the author’s viewpoint and or opinion and may not necessarily reflect he opinions or views of Blikki, its owner, publisher, or editors. Articles are copyright of the author and used with permission.

Blikki®.com [b’ lik-kee]

June / July 2013

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Contributors

Sarah Britton (BFA, CNP), a holistic nutritionist and vegetarian chef, is the creative force behind My New Roots, the award-winning blog that has become an on-line destination for foodies everywhere, not only for its one-of-a-kind recipes, but also for its amazing nutritional information and mouth-watering photography.

Dr. Laura Figoski, is a licensed Na-turopathic Doctor (N.D.) practicing in San Francisco, CA. Emphasizing na-ture-based, individ-ualized and holistic recommendations, she provides naturo-pathic primary care with a focus in heart disease and diabe-tes. Ultimately, her mission is to help her patients find or regain peace, joy and ease.

Amie Sue Oldfather is the author of the award winning blog “Nouveau Raw”. Where her heart and passion is to share her healthy recipes that are not only pleasing to the eyes but to the taste buds too! She is also this year’s winner of the “Best of Raw” award!.

Lindsay Ann, founder of Dollhouse Bake Shoppe, is the series premiere winner of the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars and season 2 featured champion. She has quickly become recognized for her focus on “indulging in moderation” with the help of her DIY small batch dessert recipes, mini baking kits, and bite size party treats.

Libby Leyrer is an American Writer & Artist-Photographer living in southwest-ern France. Her first book “Step into My Green World: Awakening Through Walking Meditation”includes some of her hand painted black & white infrared photographs. Her highly personal writ-ing allows the reader to witness her journey unfolding, the twists & turns of her path met in the present moment, the magical NOW.

Lori Morris and Michelle Corso twin sisters. FitFluen-tial Ambassadors. Chefs. Cookbook Authors. Entre-preneurs. Owners of Purelytwins. Photographers. Designers. NASM personal trainers. The twins share their passion of eating healthy, staying active, and creating innovative, delicious recipes.

Alina Niemi is an author, illustrator, and artist. Her latest book is My Attitude of Gratitude Daily Journal: A Blank Gratitude Journal with Prompts to Help You Express Thankfulness and Appreciation. She is eating soup at every meal for an upcoming cookbook and grateful for lots of soup-friendly weather.

Victoria Moran is the author of eleven books including Main Street Vegan, Creating a Charmed Life, and Fit from Within. An inspira-tional speaker, two-time Oprah! guest, and host of the Main Street Vegan Show on Unity.FM, Victoria also heads Main Street Vegan Academy, a program training vegan life-style coaches.

Amy Lyons is the recipe creator at Fragrant Vanilla Cake, a blog specializing in raw, vegan, and vegetarian recipes. She uses her eye to create food art that is pleasing to look at while being deceptively nourishing. Her mission is to revamp classic recipes and make them healthier while being exquisitely delicious.

Jill Hillhouse BPHE, CNP is a Certified Nutritional Practitioner whose practice is based on her philosophy that each individual is metabolically unique. She seeks to identify the root cause of peoples’ health concerns and to educate and inspire them to be an active partner in their own health.

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Editor’s Note

Russell James’ blog, The Raw Chef, is one of Britain’s most popular raw food blog sites. Russell started preparing raw meals as a way to improve his health, and in the process of improving his health, he created a wonderful blog that helps us all achieve the same health benefits that he’s gotten from “going raw”.

Jana Free writes about plant-based eating as part of her mission to spread joy around the planet. Her love of animals, health, and a thriving Mother Earth fuels her passion to share her vegan and environmentally-conscious way of life with her readers, friends, and family. Connect with Jana on Facebook at JoyfulHeart JoyfulPlanet.

Sarah McMinn is a classically trained pastry chef Her passions for food, art, and photography led her to begin The Sweet Life. She is also a new mom to a strong, healthy, vegan girl. Every day her daughter reminds her of why she chooses to be compassionate towards animals, the earth, and her community.

Miriam Sorrell is the creator of Mouth-watering Vegan and winner of the 2012 UK Vegan Awards ‘Best Online Recipe Guide’. Her inno-vative food blog is designed to help readers make the transition to a plant-based diet. Miriam resides in Malta with her 6 year old daughter, husband, and her 4 cats.

W hen I was a little girl growing up in the rural South, I remember being blissfully happy in the garden with my grandfather—the

warm sun on my face, the smell of the soil on my hands. My mother used to tell the story of the time I was “helping” my grandfather plant his garden. As he would put plants in the ground, unbeknownst to him, I was walking behind him pulling up each plant. When we got to the end of the row, I proudly held out my hands full of bedraggled plants and said, “Here, Granddaddy, you forgot these!”

Then as I grew older and bought my first home, I cultivated a small patch of earth that was my first “real” garden. Back then I grew the usual suspects: peas, tomatoes, and green beans. You know, a “beginner’s garden”.

A few years ago, gardening grew into a true passion for me, so I planted a “proper” cook’s garden. My lovely garden is brimming with all sorts of wonderful and unique fruits and veggies: cardoons, Kaffir Limes, and my prized Hibiscus sabdariffa var. sabdariffa race ruber (used for making hibiscus tea). One of the true joys of my day is my daily stroll around the garden to see what’s ready to pick and then planning my family’s menu from that harvest. I’m always in awe of how a teeny tiny, inexpensive seed can produce enough food for my family, several neighbors and the occasional rabbit or possum.

Many of our readers have said to me that eating fresh produce is just too expensive. And to that I say, “Not if you grow your own!” Recently, I watched Ron Finley in a video at a TED conference. Ron is a self-proclaimed “guerilla gardener.” His organization encourages the neighbors in his South Central neighborhood to grow their own food. As Ron says, “Growing a garden is like printing your own money.” So get out there, enjoy the sunshine, and plant something!

Bon Appetit!

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What’s a trend you notice in food now?

Every time I’m out in London, I have noticed that people are making conscious food choic-es, rather than going for the cheapest or easiest option. Consumer awareness is huge right now.

GURU

Courgette Fettuccine

Recipe Serves 22 medium courgette (zucchini)1/2 a red bell pepper, cut julienne1/4 of a small red onion or shallot1/2 cup cashews, soaked for 20 minutes1/4 cup water2 tablespoons olive oil2 spring onions (green onions)2 teaspoons fresh tarragon1 tablespoon lemon juice1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Slice the courgette lengthways on a mando-lin with the large julienne attachment, or make into ribbons with a peeler. Then cut the red bell pep-per and onion nice and thin. Place all of these in a bowl and put to one side.2. Blend the cashews, water, olive oil, spring on-ions, tarragon, lemon juice and salt in a high-speed blender until smooth. 3. Add half of the cream sauce to the courgette and red pepper and mix it through with your hands. Keep the other half of the sauce in the fridge for up to 3 days to use as a salad dressing or crudité dip for snacks.Macadamia Parmesan1/4 cup macadamias, dry and not soaked2 tablespoons nutritional yeast1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Use a microplane (a really fine grater) to grate the macadamias into a bowl.

2. Powder the nutritional yeast in a coffee grinder or blender and add to the macadamias along with the salt. Mix thoroughly and store in a sealed con-tainer in the fridge for up to a week.

Garnish with tarragon oil, a few sprigs of tarragon and the macadamia parmesan.

Download the full recipe with garnish here.

RUSSELL JAMES’ MUST-HAVES

RAW FOOD

Russell James “The Raw Chef ”

What Is A Simple Dish Someone Starting A Raw Diet Can Make?

A great way to ignite a change is by starting with breakfast. Chia seed por-ridge is really popular these days and takes less than 5 minutes to throw together.

What do you Love to Make at Home?

I eat a lot of nut cheese. I’ll make a few different batches at once and then add them to a simple salad.

What Is The Kitchen Item You Cannot Live Without?

My knife. It’s a chef’s best friend

What Are You Working on Now That Excites You?

I’ve got a book that’s com-ing out next year. Very ex-cited about that.

Are There Any Trends You Dislike?

There’s a trend for people to want to find the “perfect diet,” but I don’t really think that exists. If someone finds a system or diet that works really well for them and feels right, then that’s their truth, and that’s fantastic, but it doesn’t mean that it’s perfect for everyone.

SpiceCumin

Music Zero 7

Smoothie IngredientSimply Hemp

Cookware John Boos & Co.

Cutting Board

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Curried Swede RisottoServes 2

1 swede (rutabaga) peeled and diced1 cup cashews, soaked 20 minutes1/2 cup orange juice4 teaspoons of your favourite curry powder1 clove garlic1" piece of ginger1 teaspoon nutritional yeastA few leaves of mint5 chives2" of leek1/2 cup raisins, soaked for 15 minutes

1. Whizz up the swede pieces in a food processor until they break down and look rice-like. Transfer them to a nut milk bag and squeeze the excess water out. This will really help prevent the final dish from being too watery.

2. Blend the cashews, orange juice, curry powder, garlic, ginger, and nutritional yeast in a high-speed blender until smooth. Add 1/2 cup of this to the swede and mix on with your hands. The remaining sauce can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge, for up to 3 days; it will also make a great salad dressing with a little extra apple cider vinegar.

3. Chiffonade the mint, finely chop the chives and chives and stir into the swede, along with the raisins.

4. Serve with the chicory salad.

Chicory Salad4 of each, red and green chicory leaves4 little gem or similar lettuce1 teaspoon olive oil1 teaspoon lemon juicePinch saltA few small whole mint leaves

1. Right before you're ready to serve, put all the ingredients in a bowl and toss, until all the leaves are covered. The reason we do this just before serving is that the chicory leaves will start to develop oil spot if left in the dressing for too long.

2. Place the chicory and little gem lettuce leaves on to the plate, then serve the risot-to in the centre, garnishing with a few extra mint leaves and microgreens if you have them.

DownloadRecipes

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Photos and Recipes courtesy The Raw Chef

www.blikki.com | 2013 | Jun/Jul - 9

QA&

with Jill Hillhouse BPHE, CNP

Nutrition

As a vegetarian (or vegan) how much protein do I need to eat per day or per meal?

Q:

A: It depends.

As a nutritionist I am asked this question many times a day. And while you may think I am being flippant with the answer, the amount of pro-tein needed really does depend on the individual situation and circum-stance of the particular person. Let’s have a closer look at protein and you’ll see what I mean.

Protein is one of the basic building blocks of the human body, making up about 16 percent of our total body weight. Hair, skin, muscle and con-nective tissue are mostly made of protein but it also plays a crucial role in all of our cells and most of the fluids in our bodies. Additionally, our bod-ies’ important chemicals – hormones, neurotransmitters, enzymes, and even our DNA – are partially made of protein. Through the body’s daily tasks of growing, rebuilding and repairing, it uses up protein constantly so it is imperative that there is a continual supply. Proteins in turn are made up of smaller units called amino acids. There are 20 known ami-no acids, 11 of which the body can manufacture on its own given it has enough in-coming protein. The remaining 9, called essential amino acids, must be sourced from our food. Animal protein sources (meat, fish, poul-try, eggs) contain all of the essential amino acids as do some plants (soy, quinoa) making them a “complete” protein. It was once thought that we needed the right combination of foods to make a complete protein at each meal but it is now apparent that a wide variety of foods over the day should provide all of the essential amino acids.

Our protein needs depend on a number of well known things includ-ing age, size, activity level and whether or not you are pregnant or nurs-ing. What is often forgotten is that an injured body (tears, burns, breaks, surgery, blood loss) needs more protein and importantly, our bones need adequate protein for proper formation not just during our youth but also in our senior years to help prevent and slow osteoporosis. Increasingly we are also finding that stress levels and the speed of a person’s metabo-lism have profound effects on protein requirements.

Okay, so let’s get to the answer. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for the “average” person is 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram (2.2 lbs) of body weight. Many nutrition experts, including me, feel this is much too low. While I really try to avoid one-size-fits-all recommen-dations (because they don’t work), I am more comfortable with 1.2-1.8 grams of protein per day per kilogram of body weight. But that’s not all. It is also important to look at the amount and type of carbohydrate and fat being eaten in relation to the protein. I often find that many people are over-consuming carbohydrates, especially in the form of grains. Pro-tein requirements are not an exact science so check how you are doing using the charts on the right. What is missing in the chart is something I often recommend as an additional source of protein for vegetarians and vegans: a good quality whey isolate or vegetable based protein powder with a low carbohydrate level. {B}

Source Qty ProteinBeansTofu ½ cup 20 gramsTempeh ½ cup 18 gramsSoy beans ½ cup 12 gramsMost beans ½ cup 7-10 grams(black, pinto, lentils, etc.)

Nuts and SeedsHemp seeds ¼ cup 13 gramsAlmonds ¼ cup 8 gramsPumpkin seeds ¼ cup 8 gramsFlax seeds ¼ cup 8 gramsSunflower seeds ¼ cup 6 gramsCashews ¼ cup 5 grams

Dairy and EggsCottage Cheese ½ cup 15 gramsGreek yogurt (plain) ½ cup 10-14 gramsHard cheese 1 oz 10 grams(parmesan)Medium cheese 1 oz 7-8 grams(cheddar, swiss)Egg (large) one 6 grams

GrainsOats (cooked) ½ cup 5 gramsQuinoa (cooked) ½ cup 4 grams Brown rice (cooked) ½ cup 2 grams

VegetablesSpinach (cooked) ½ cup 2.5 gramsMushrooms (cooked) ½ cup 2.0 gramsBroccoli (cooked) ½ cup 1.8 gramsKale (cooked) ½ cup 1.3 gramsCarrots (cooked) ½ cup 0.6 grams

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Because our readers are all over the world, you may need a conversion table before you prepare our recipes. Below is a great link and a conversion table from their page to get you started:

Converting Recipes to Metric Measures (visit The Metric Kitchen web site for full details).

Converting Measurements

Liquids (and Herbs and Spices)

Liquids can be converted to liters or milliliters with the following table. Small volumes (less than about 1 fluid ounce or 2 tablespoons) of ingredi-ents such as salt, herbs, spices, baking powder, etc. should also be converted with this table. Do not use this table to convert other non-liquid ingredients.

Weight

Weights can be converted with the following table. Note that the ounces referred to in this table are not the same as fluid ounces.

DownloadRecipe

To download any of our recipes, click the Download

Recipe button.

www.blikki.com | 2013 | Jun/Jul - 11

If you’re like us, you may not initially notice that Sarah Britton’s blog is created as a nonprofit. Yep, a “.org” in the usual “.com” world. That’s

because Sarah’s mission for her blog is to share her recipes purely for her love of healthy foods and to entice us with her recipes and gorgeous photo-graphs, just to prove that eating well can be decep-tively delicious.

Each of Sarah’s recipes focuses on healthy, whole-food ingredients that she presents to us with easy-to-follow directions that produce culinary works of art. Whether you’re making her creamy Bircher Muesli with Spiced Strawberry Sauce or her thick, rich and raw brownies, the end result is a dish that is flavorful, beautiful, and—gasp!—healthy.

Sarah is a Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Nutri-tional Practitioner, having received her accred-itation from the Institute of Holistic Nutrition in Toronto, Canada. She creates recipes that are gluten-free, vegetarian, mostly vegan, and without common allergy triggers like soy, whenever possible. When Sarah’s recipes do include small amounts of dairy products or ingredients that many of her readers might typically avoid, she offers sugges-tions for substitutes, such as replacing butter with coconut oil. Sarah says that she tries to make her recipes available to as many people as possible, and I agree that there seem to be endless possibilities for turning her recipes into meals perfectly suited for foodies of all kinds.

Quinoa Spring Sushi & Quick-Pickled GingerSarah’s Quinoa Spring Sushi is more than just sushi. We like to think of it as a delicate portion of plant-based heaven. Forget everything you think you know about sushi and ready your palate for a dish that is all at once light, filling, nutritious, and rich in texture and flavor. Sarah credits her appre-ciation for new food adventures to her best friend’s mother, who taught her to eat everything “outside of the norm.” Sarah’s Quinoa Spring Sushi and DIY Quick-Pickled Ginger certainly fit this description, putting superfood quinoa unexpectedly on stage with traditional sushi ingredients like avocado,

sesame seeds, and spring vegetables. Sarah shows us how to create a masterful sushi roll and how to prepare accompaniments like Tezu pickled ginger and spicy wasabi using healthy, whole-food ingre-dients.

Pho-Inspired Noodle Bowl Sarah’s memories of her high school years include eating bowl after bowl of poorly made pho, simply to escape her parents for the day and have a little fun in Chinatown, she admits. Motivated by her travels to Berlin and what she calls “really tasty” food enjoyed in a Vietnamese restaurant close to where she was staying, Sarah recreated her vision for what good pho tastes like. She brings this new awareness to her tantalizing Pho-Inspired Noodle Bowl recipe. Putting her own spin on conventional pho, using earthy-tasting buckwheat noodles in place of traditional rice noodles, Sarah’s Noodle Bowl is brimming with goodness from ingredients like fresh ginger, fennel seeds, cardamom, star anise, and coriander. She replaces pho’s standard beef and chicken broth with a veggie broth and suggests throwing in exotic plants like bok choy, romanesco, and sriracha. Add a few mushrooms, tamari, and lime and see where your inspiration takes you.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread PancakesPancakes are one the most comforting comfort foods we can think of, and Sarah’s Gluten-Free Banana Bread Pancakes take everything that’s delectable about this breakfast dish and wrap it up with even more thick, fluffy, syrupy goodness. The perfect pairing of walnuts and bananas in these pillowy pancakes becomes even more heavenly with rich maple syrup drizzled on top and optional grated dark chocolate as a garnish. A lazy weekend cozied up in bed was all the inspiration that Sarah needed to escape for just a few minutes to the kitchen to whip up a batch of these beautiful cakes. Just a quick spin in the food processor turned tasty walnuts into walnut flour, the nutty base to these gluten-free pancakes. {B}

FOUR OF OUR FAVORITE FOOD BLOGS

“MY NEW ROOTS”CREATOR ~ SARAH BRITTON

Blog Reviews Written By Jana Free

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Pho Noodle BowlBanana Bread Pancakes

Quinoa Spring Sushi

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Banana Bread Pancakes

Serves 2

Dry ingredients:1/3 cup walnuts2/3 cup rolled oats1 tsp. baking soda pinch sea salt

Wet ingredients:

1 very ripe banana1 tsp. vanilla extract1 tsp. olive oil2/3 cup nut milk 2 tsp. maple syrup

For garnish: maple syrup1 banana, sliced

a handful of walnuts, chopped extra-dark chocolate, grated

Directions:

1. In a food processor, pulse walnuts until they resemble a sand-textured powder (do not over process – you’ll end up with walnut butter!). Remove walnut ‘flour’, add oats and pulse until you get a shaggy flour. Place walnut and oats flours in a large bowl. Add baking soda, sea salt and stir to combine.

2. Add all wet ingredients to the food processor and blend to combine.

3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until the two come together. Let batter sit for 30 minutes at room temperature.

4. Heat a little coconut oil (or ghee) in a skillet and drop in 3 large spoonfuls of batter (you are after three, 8 cm / 3 inch sized pancakes). Spread slightly with the back of the spoon to even out the batter. Turn heat down to low. Let cook on the underside until the topside is opaque, which will take more time than a regular pancake. Check to see if the bottom has browned, and if so, flip over to cook the other side. Cook until the underside is crispy and brown (although the middle is a little moist, this is okay).

5. Put pancake on a baking sheet in a warm oven, and cover with some foil while you make more (this will also give them time to firm up a little in the middle). Serve with pure maple syrup, fresh banana slices, chopped wal-nuts, and grated dark choco-late for a special treat – they are banana bread pancakes after all.

Fragrant Pho Noodle Bowl

Serves 2-3

BrothIngredients:

2 lbs. / 1 kg onion (white, yellow, red…)1.5 oz / 50g fresh ginger1 Tbsp. fennel seeds3 black cardamom pods (green cardamom also works)3 star anise5 whole cloves½ tsp. black peppercorns1 cinnamon stick1 tsp. coriander seeds½ Tbsp. sea salt6 cups / 1.5 liters water

Directions:

1. Peel and roughly chop on-ions. Wash ginger and slice, leaving the skin on.

2. To the pot of water add all spices, onions, ginger and salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer for one hour or more with the lid on. You can also boil for thirty minutes, turn off the heat and let the broth steep until you are ready to eat.

3. Strain broth through a sieve into another pot and discard all solids.

Noodle Bowl Suggested Ingredients

Noodles: soba or rice (cook ac-cording to package directions)

Greens: bok choy, spinach, swiss chard,

Cruciferous veggies: broccoli, romanesco, cauliflower, cab-bage (raw or lightly steamed)

Other veg: mung bean sprouts,

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carrot, bell pepper, mush-rooms

Garnishes: lime, toasted ses-ame seeds, Thai basil, spring onion, sriracha, tamari

Assembly:

1. In very large bowls place some roughly chopped greens. Ladle in the hot broth, which will quickly wilt the greens.

2. Add noodles, all veggies and top with the garnishes. Thai basil may be hard to find but it is worth the search! Makes all the difference. Serve hot. Enjoy.

Quinoa Spring Sushi

Makes 6-8 rolls

Ingredients:

Sushi Quinoa:

1 ½ cups quinoa (white, black, red, or a combo)

3 cups water

Spring Vegetables – use anything you like and that is in season.

Sesame seeds – roast them in a dry pan until they smell fragrant.

Directions:

1. If time allows, soak your qui-noa for up to 8 hours. Drain and rinse well.

2. Put quinoa in a pot with wa-ter. Bring to the boil, reduce to simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes until the water has been ab-sorbed (do NOT stir!).

3. When the quinoa has cooked, transfer it to a large bowl to halt the cooking process and cool it down. When it is no longer piping hot, you may add just under half (only half!) of your tezu, the vinegar preparation. Fold to incorporate and taste for seasoning. Add more salt if necessary. The quinoa should have a distinct sweet acidity, but not be overpowering. Now cover loosely with a towel and let the quinoa cool completely.

4. While the quinoa is cooking, prepare all the filling ingre-dients. Blanch the vegetables you want cooked and cut everything into long strips for ease of rolling.

Tips & Tricks for Making Successful Sushi

1. Cut all the vegetables into a consistent width, so that you don’t create a “bulge” in the roll – this can encourage the nori to split.

2. Be careful not to overstuff the roll. This is not a burrito.

3. Select a maximum of three or four fillings per roll. You want to allow each ingredi-ent to shine – with too many

elements, the flavours of the individual fillings become muddled.

4. Moisten your hands as you assemble the rolls, especially when spreading quinoa over the nori. Keep a small bowl of lukewarm water next to where you are working so that you can continually dip your hands as needed. You can also use this water to moisten the bare end of the nori sheet to create a seal so the roll stays closed.

5. Use a very sharp knife. This is where ceramic knives really come in handy! Of course a sharp metal knife is totally fine, just make sure it has a razor edge, otherwise you’ll end up with a big, smashed-up mess.

6. It is important to wipe the blade of the knife clean with a damp cloth after every single slice of the roll. {B}

Sarah BrittonMy New Roots

DownloadRecipes

Photos and recipes courtesy My New Roots

www.blikki.com | 2013 | Jun/Jul - 15

“THE SWEET LIFE”CREATOR ~ SARAH MCMINN

T here’s certainly more going on at The Sweet Life than just a collection of amazing vegan recipes. Chef, writer, and photographer Sarah

McMinn does an extraordinary job of spreading the “vegan love” with The Sweet Life, which features an assortment of dishes that are traditionally thought of as non-vegan, including French toast, crepes, quiche, frittatas, and Reuben sandwiches. Her recipes are presented with such tantalizing appeal that they to call to everyone: “Make me now!”

Sarah is a longtime vegan and is trained in French Patisserie. The recipes on The Sweet Life make for some of the most tantalizing and decadent vegan creations we’ve ever seen. Roasted Beet and Cashew Cheese Pizza, Raw Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake, and Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Maple Caramel Sauce are just a small sampling of the vegan food brilliance taking place on The Sweet Life.

When you throw your heart and soul into some-thing, it’s hard not to make magic happen, and that’s what The Sweet Life is all about. It’s about being a champion for animals, who depend on blogs like The Sweet Life and other vegan supporters to be their voice. It’s about considering the environ-ment and our global neighbors when we make food choices. And, it’s about learning to give our bodies healthy and nutritious food that actually nourishes, like food is supposed to do.

Take a look around The Sweet Life and let yourself drool a little bit. Food should be that alluring and that heavenly. When you see such divine seduc-tions like Classic Crème Brulee made vegan, there’s no turning back. Here’s to The Sweet Life!

Orange Pistachio Cinnamon RollsWhat’s the one dish that you’re most challenged to find in a vegan version? For many people, it’s the cinnamon roll. That ooey, gooey cinnamon taste sensation, with just the perfect combination of chewiness and fluffiness, is recreated vegan style on The Sweet Life, and we’re betting you want to know

exactly how it’s done. The Sweet Life offers up the same perfectly spiraled pastry with that familiar rich and creamy glaze drizzled on top, but with a surprise sprinkling of shelled pistachios and a bit of orange zest thrown in for good measure. The Sweet Life suggests that you make these Cinnamon Rolls as part of an Easter feast. We say, why not dazzle your vegan and non-vegan friends and family with these sweet indulgences for a just-because-they’re-vegan-and-awesome celebration.

Raw Goat Cheese Salad with Pears, Hazelnuts, and CherriesThe Sweet Life does it again! How do you win over the hearts of vegan skeptics? Give them all of the luscious, purely pleasurable food they’re used to eating, and then tell them how good it is for their body and the planet after they’ve devoured the entire vegan variety. One of the most difficult foods for non-vegans to give up is cheese, but try a quality vegan cheese made with soaked nuts and a splash of lemon juice and it’s bye-bye dairy cheese for good, in many cases. It’s an even-better-than-cheese cheese! The Sweet Life presents cheese lovers with a macadamia nut “goat” cheese that gets its tangy flavor from unpasteurized white miso. When layered between sliced pears, dried cherries, and sliced hazelnuts, then topped with an apple cider vinaigrette, this salad is nothing short of bliss.

Lemon Pepper Quinoa Pasta with Blackened TofuThere’s a trick to getting tofu so delicately black-ened, creating those signature grill marks that not only add visual appeal but also serve as flavor trig-gers of sorts. The secret is in the method and in the special ingredient, so give this pasta and tofu recipe a try and see what culinary prowess you cook up. We love this Lemon Pepper Quinoa Pasta because it’s full of color, texture, and zing for the taste buds. Filled with crunchy, seared veggies and gluten-free pasta curls, it’s a hearty dish that most food lovers can delight in. {B}

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Orange Pistachio Cinnamon Rolls

Vegan Goat Cheese Stacked Salad

Lemon Quinoa Pasta Ph

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Orange Pistachio Cinnamon Rolls

makes 12 rollsCinnamon Rolls

3-4 cups all-purpose flour1/3 cup granulated sugar1/2 tsp salt2 packages active dry yeast1 1/4 cup soy milk1/3 cup vegan butter, soften1/4 cup chickpea flour

Filling2/3 cup granulated sugar1 tbsp + 2 tsp cinnamon1/4 cup vegan butter, softened1/2 cup shelled pistachios, chopped2 tbsp soy creamer for glazing

Glaze1 cup powdered sugar2-3 tbsp orange juice2 tbsp orange zest (optional, for a stronger taste)

1. In the large bowl of a stand-up mixer, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.

2. Heat 1 cup soy milk over me-dium heat until milk is warm (about 100 degrees F). With the other 1/4 cup milk, com-bine it with chickpea flour, stirring together until thick and gooey.

3. Once milk is warm and chick-pea flour mixture is thick, add to the dry ingredients along with 1/3 cup butter and mix, using the dough hook attach-ment, for two minutes. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at

a time and beat to combine. Once the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl and is soft to the touch, the dough is done.

4. Transfer to a floured surface and knead the dough for about five minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a large oiled bowl. Roll the dough around to coat in oil, cover in plastic wrap, and place in a warm area for 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

5. The dough is ready when you stick your finger in it and the dent remains. Roll out onto a floured covered surface into a large rectangle about 1/4 ” thick. Trim edges. Spread on a little bit of vegan butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.

6. Drop small gobs of vegan but-ter around the entire dough and spread it so that it covers the dough, leaving the top 1/4” of the rectangle clean.

7. Combine cinnamon and sugar and spread evenly atop the butter.

8. Finish with chopped a layer of pistachios.

9. Lightly oil a 9×13 pan and set aside.

10. Brush the top 1/4” with soy creamer. Then starting at the bottom of the rectangle, roll dough evenly into a tight roll. With your fingers press together the seam, then seam side down, cut dough using a serrated knife into 12 equal pieces, about 1” thick.

11. Place cinnamon rolls evenly in pan, reshaping as needed and pinching together at the seams once again. Cover loosely in plastic wrap, and allow dough to rise for a second time (about 40 min-utes or until doubled in size).

At this point you could also cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigera-tor overnight to bake off in the morning. If you do this, remove rolls from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking to let rolls finish rising.

12. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Once cinnamon rolls are ready, remove plastic wrap and brush tops and sides with remaining soy creamer. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven, transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

13. Combine ingredients for the glaze and pour on top cinna-mon rolls

Serve warm.

Lemon Pepper Quinoa Pasta & Blackened Tofu

yield: 2

1 1/2 cups quinoa pasta2 cloves garlic, minced1 medium leek1/2 bunch asparagus4-6 sun-dried tomatoes10 kalamata olives (about)2 Tbsp lemon juice2 Tbsp olive oil + 1 Tbsp for skillet pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)1 Tbsp chopped basil salt and pepper6 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into four slabs1-2 tsp veggie broth paste or 1 cup veggie broth

Photos and recipes courtesy The Sweet Life

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Cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile heat up 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medi-um heat. Add garlic and leeks and let cook five minutes, stirring often. Add chopped asparagus (stems re-moved), chopped sun-dried toma-toes, and halved kalamata olives. Continue cooking for another couple minutes, stirring occasionally until asparagus is heated up, but still has a slight crunch. Remove from heat. Mix the cooked noodles into skillet. Add lemon juice, olive oil, cayenne pepper, basil, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Blackened TofuOkay this is my super-easy, super-la-zy, and super-secret tofu technique.

1. Heat up a second skillet over medium-high heat

2. Brush both sides of each tofu slab with a very small (1-2 tsp total) amount of veggie stock paste

3. Place on hot skillet and grill 2-3 minutes on each side.

If you don’t have or can’t find veggie stock paste you can marinate the tofu in veggie broth for at least 30 minutes before grilling.Plate up, sprinkle with ground pep-percorns and enjoy!

Vegan Goat CheeseStacked Salad

Makes 2

1 large pear1 large handful of fresh arugula or mixed greens2-3 tbsp chopped hazelnuts

2-3 tbsp dried cherries Macadamia Nut “Goat” Cheese Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Macadamia Nut “Goat” CheeseMakes about 3/4 cup

1 cup macadamia nuts, soaked 8-10 hours1 tbsp unpasteurized white miso2-3 tbsp water, as needed2-3 tsp lemon juice pinch of salt

• Drain and rinse the macada-mia nuts.

• In a food processor or power-ful blender mix together nuts, miso, salt and water (as need-ed) until it forms a smooth paste. Transfer onto a double layer cheesecloth, wrap into a small log, and let cheese to sit out for 12- 36 hours in a warm area; the cheese becomes more tangy and salty as it sits.

• Remove cheese from cheese-cloth and adjust flavors (if necessary) by adding lemon juice and/or salt.

• Store in the refrigerator.

Sweet Apple Cider Vinaigrette 2-3 tbsp raw agave2 tbsp apple cider vinegar juice of 1/2 lemon5 tbsp cold pressed olive oil salt and freshly ground pepper

• In a blender combine agave, apple cider vinegar, and lemon juice. With motor running, slowly add olive oil until thick and well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

• Store in refrigerator.• To assemble the salad: Core

the pear and slice it into thin slices. Place few leafs of aru-

gula on a plate and cover with a pear slice. Top the pear with a few hazelnut-sized pieces of nut cheese and a couple of dried cherries. Layer with a couple more small pieces of arugula and repeat 4 times.

• Top with cheese, cherries and a few crushed hazelnuts and finish with Sweet Apple Cider Vinegar. Serve immediately. {B}

Sarah McMinnThe Sweet Life

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www.blikki.com | 2013 | Jun/Jul - 19

W hen Amie Sue created Nouveau Raw (new raw) back in 2008, she simply wanted a place to organize her recipes and share

them with family and friends. Five years later, Nou-veau Raw is the winner of the 2013 Best of Raw for an Online Blog award, and Amie Sue sees 48,000 unique visitors monthly visit her site for raw food inspiration and celebration.

Nouveau Raw is a raw food recipes website and blog, but Amie Sue doesn’t claim to be 100% raw or endorse a completely raw lifestyle. She and her husband graduated from Living Light Culinary Art Institute in 2009, and this training fueled Amie Sue’s desire to prepare and share healthy, raw dish-es. Amie Sue realized that raw foods are her “culi-nary soulmate,” and she set out to create recipes that nourish the body, give it energy, and bring it to the place of peace that she found.

Nouveau Raw caters to all kinds of eaters. People who eat all raw, partly raw, or are just dabbling in raw food visit Amie Sue’s site for ideas on making nutrient-dense meals. Nouveau Raw’s recipes are meant to deliver health and happiness by encour-aging its readers to eat more whole, live food. They fit perfectly into any healthy eating plan, and that’s what makes them so appealing.

Certainly, Nouveau Raw’s recipes are raw, but they speak more to the fact that fresh, living fruits, veg-gies, nuts, seeds, and grains have an important place in most diets. Amie Sue’s raw recipes tempt people from a variety of backgrounds, eating a wide range of diets, to explore healthier options when it comes to their food.

Nouveau Raw is a living food fete, and the recipes on the site make great conversation pieces revolv-ing around the absolute yumminess of healthy breakfasts, entrées, and desserts—raw or not. Amie Sue suggests that you prepare her raw recipes and keep the fact that they’re raw a secret at first. Let the dish stand on its own as a tantalizing, culi-nary creation, and then let it slip that it’s actually good for you.

We know that you will enjoy these three recipes from Amie Sue. But don’t stop there—head over to her site and add a little raw food love into your kitchen.

Raw Apple Butter OatmealAmie Sue’s Apple Butter Oatmeal is a “stick-to-the-ribs kind of breakfast.” We say that this oatmeal is so loaded with creamy and wholesome goodness that there’s no option but to be in a state of grace after you finish it. Decadent almond milk, spiced chia seed apple butter, freshly chopped apples, and crunchy walnuts come together for a bit of break-fast heaven that is scrumptious cold, at room tem-perature, or slightly warmed.

Raw Vegan FishsticksWe know what you many of you must be think-ing: “How on earth do you make a raw vegan fish stick and have it taste anything like a fish stick?” Fish sticks are... well, they’re fish sticks. Raw Veg-an Fishsticks, on the other hand, are amazingly healthy, tasty, and fun creations from Amie Sue’s kitchen that deliver that characteristic seafood fla-vor by using iodine-rich kelp. It’s brilliant enough that Amie Sue creates a moist, flavorful fish stick center with mouthwatering dill, lime juice, tamari, and almonds, but the fish stick batter bumps the dish up to an entirely new level of genius. A coating of raw cashews, ground flaxseed’s, and paprika give a little bit of crunch and a whole lot of “wow.”

Raw Spicy Lemon Pepper Zucchini Pasta with BroccoliNouveau Raw’s Spicy Lemon Pepper Zucchini Pasta with Broccoli is bursting with flavor, texture, and color. Pretty, spiralized zucchini noodles weave through a rich mixture of sea salt, lemon, and olive oil, providing the perfect base for the tangy sun-dried tomatoes and crunchy broccoli florets. It’s filling enough for a meal, yet it leaves you feeling light and properly nourished. {B}

“NOUVEAU RAW”CREATOR ~ AMIE SUE OLDFATHER

20 - Jun/Jul | 2013 | www.blikki.com

Raw Fish SticksRaw Apple Butter Oatmeal

Raw Spicy Lemon Pepper Zucchini Pasta

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Raw Fish Sticks

yields 20 fish sticks

1 cup raw almonds, soaked1 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked1/2 cup celery, minced1/2 cup red onion, minced1/4 cup fresh lime juice1 Tbsp + 1 tsp kelp powder1 tsp Braggs Aminos or Tamari1 tsp sea salt1 tsp dried dill weed, or 1 Tbsp fresh dill weed1/2 cup water

Breadingyields 1 1/4 cups

1/2 cup raw cashews1/4 cup ground flax seeds1 tsp smoked paprika1 tsp smoked sea salt1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper1 tsp nutritional yeast

Preparation:

1. After soaking the almonds and sunflower seeds, drain and rinse them. Place them in the food processor, fitted with the “S” blade. Process until they break down to a paste.

2. Add the celery, onion, lime juice, kelp powder, Braggs Aminos, salt and dill. Pro-

cess until blended together. Scrape the sides down occa-sionally.

3. While the food processor is running, drizzle in water – add only enough to make the paste moist. Transfer to a bowl.

4. To make the breading, grind the cashews in the food pro-cessor to a small crumb size. Don’t over process, as this will start to release the oils.

5. Add the ground flax seeds, paprika, salt, pepper and yeast. Pulse together and pour into a rectangular con-tainer for dredging.

6. Measure out 2 Tbsp of “fish batter” and shape into a fish stick. Then coat with the breading and place on the mesh sheet that comes with your dehydrator. Continue until all the batter is used.

7. Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 1 hour then reduce heat to 115 degrees and continue drying for 4 -6 hours. Don’t dry these too much that they get hard… fish sticks are moist.

8. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can reheat them by placing them back in the dehydrator for a while.

Raw Apple Butter Oatmeal

Serves 1

1 cup almond nut milk1/2 cup rolled, gluten free oats3 Tbsp apple butter1-2 tsp raw agave nectar1 Tbsp chopped raw walnuts1/2 Apple diced for topping along with 6 whole walnuts for garnish.

Preparation:

1. In a medium sized bowl whisk together all the ingre-dients except the chopped nuts and diced apple.

2. Allow mixture to rest over-night in the fridge or allow it to sit on the counter for 1 hour. If the porridge is to thick feel free to add a tad more nut milk.

3. When you are ready to eat, sprinkle the top with cin-namon, diced apple and chopped nuts.

4. Note ~ if you are sensitive to phytic acid in oats, soak the oats in a bowl with 1 1/2 cups of water and a dash of salt over night. Come morning, rinse the oats well and add the remaining ingredients. You could also blend this recipe in a blender or food processor to make it creamy.

22 - Jun/Jul | 2013 | www.blikki.com

Raw Spicy Lemon Pepper Zucchini Pasta

1 serving1 medium to large zucchini, spiralized2 tsp cold pressed olive oil, to start1 1/2 cups Fresh Broccoli Florets1/4 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes (oil packed)1/2 tsp Hot Red Pepper Flakes1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice, or more to taste1-2 Pinches Sea Salt, or to taste Black Pepper, to taste Lemon Zest, for garnish, optional

Preparation:

1. Spiralize your zucchini, creating “noodles”. If you don’t have a spiralizer you can use a potato peeler. It won’t offer the same texture but it won’t effect the flavor either. Sprinkle salt on your “noodles” and let them soften while you gather all the other ingredients. The salt will help to release water from the zucchini, which will soften it. This isn’t necessary if you are short on time or want more of a crunch.

2. Chop the broccoli florets in to

small pieces.

3. Slice the sun-dried tomatoes. If you don’t use oil packed sun-dried tomatoes you might want to soak them in some water to soften them up a bit.

4. Combine the sun-dried tomatoes (drained of liquids), broccoli, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, salt, and oil. Toss to coat.

5. Plate and grind fresh black pepper over the top, adding lemon zest if desired. Serve immediately.

Creamy Caramelized French Onion Soup

Ingredients: yields 5 cups

3 3/4 cups almond milk 2 Tbsp lemon juice (half lemon) 1 Tbsp chickpea miso ¼ cup Tamari 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper 2 cups Balsamic Caramelized Onions (divided; 1 cup chopped, 1 cup whole) 2 Tbsp olive oilPreparation:

In blender combine the milk, lemon juice, miso, Tamari, thyme, cracked black pepper and

1 cup of caramelized onions. Blend for about 30 seconds on high.

Turn the speed down and drizzle in the olive oil while it is running.

Add 1 cup of chopped caramel-ized onions and pulse about 3-4 times.

Pour into a serving bowl.

To warm, place the soup in a wide-mouthed bowl, the more soup surface there is, the quick-er it will get warm. Place in the dehydrator set at 145 degrees for 30-60 minutes.

Serve and enjoy! {B}

Amie Sue OldfatherNouveau Raw

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Photos and recipes courtesy Nouveau Raw

www.blikki.com | 2013 | Jun/Jul - 23

Miriam’s blog and love of food, along with her desire to conceive esthetically beau-tiful, gratifying, meatless meals, bring us

vegan recipe after vegan recipe. Her gorgeously prepared comfort foods leave us scratching our heads and wondering, “How did she does she do it?” It’s easy—Miriam is a passionate foodie who proves time after time that it’s possible to bril-liantly prepare non-meat, non-egg, and non-dairy foods that win over the pickiest non-vegan eater.

The motivation behind her genius is her ability to understand that we eat with our eyes first. So when she prepares her recipes, she makes sure they appeal to our eyes first, then because they taste so darned “normal,” we’re hooked. And before we know it, we’re recreating her recipes and eating a compassionate, plant-based diet—and bragging about it!

Don’t believe me? Try her Vegan Burger King Burger. This burger looks like a decadent burger straight out of any 5-star gourmet eatery, yet with Miriam’s sleight of hand, it is meatless, soy, gluten and cholesterol-free.

Many of the recipes on Mouthwateringvegan.com are Mediterranean-inspired. Some come from Miram’s love of Eastern cuisine, and others simply were born from her vegan joy of eating all kinds of food. Most of the entrées, desserts, and even smoothies on Miriam’s blog are incredibly nutritious, possessing the unique quality of being healthy and delectable simultaneously—diabolical!

In fact, Miriam’s blog is the first to announce the creation of a proper VEGAN hard-boiled egg. Miriam says that it is the first in the history of the world. And, wait for it . . . she’s perfected the vegan fried egg too! But Miram’s just getting started—she won the prestigious UK Vegan Award for Best Online Recipe Guide for the 2012, and she’s the author of the book “Mouthwatering Vegan Recipes,” which is slated to be released this June.

We really can’t say enough kind things about Miram’s blog, her recipes and her influence in helping to move the conversation forward about

eating a plant-based diet. Even if you’re not a vegan or vegetarian, it’s easy to incorporate Miri-am’s recipes in to your daily diet rotation. Your taste buds will thank you, and so will your waistline and the planet. Bon appétit!

The Perfect Vegan Fried Egg…Sunny Side UpMiriam admits she’s “cracked” the code on deliv-ering a vegan fried egg substitute that’s more than acceptable. It’s a near perfect non-egg fried egg, if ever there was one. An oozy, gooey, soft, yellowy egg “yolk” tucked into a meaty tofu “egg white,” lightly fried to give it a familiar texture and flavor that goes perfectly with toast or browned pota-toes—sheer mouthwatering yumminess and so delicious that Miriam’s picky, egg-eating partner gave it a thumbs up.

“Sausage” & Bean Shepherd’s PieThere are comfort foods, and then there are comfort foods. This “sausage” pie falls into the latter category. The characteristic presentation of a Shepherd’s Pie involves a fluffy top layer of mashed potatoes with a filling of dense, hearty ingredients. Miriam once again puts her spin on the traditional and reassures us that our desire for healthier, kinder, and tastier food isn’t a tradeoff for one little ounce of flavor. Her protein-rich “sausage” and bean version of Shepherd’s Pie is, for us, more inviting and heavenly than the original.

Vegan Timpana – The Ultimate Naughty Pasta Pie

At last, “vegan man food!” Well, that’s what Miriam calls her titillating Timpana—a non-meat interpre-tation of a meal that is usually one of “most cruel dishes to eat.” Timpana is usually made with all kinds of animal ingredients, from chicken livers to beef mince to eggs and who knows what else. Her cruelty and cholesterol-free version stacks up more than nicely against its non-vegan counterpart, proving once again that flavor-fulfilling, mind-grat-ifying, and stomach-satisfying are all possible in a non-meat meal. Be careful, Miriam—this is the kind of meal that makes a man profess his undying love for you. {B}

“MOUTHWATERING VEGAN”CREATOR ~ MIRIAM SORRELL

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Vegan TimpanaPerfect Vegan Fried Egg

‘Sausage’ & Bean Shepherd’s Pie

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www.blikki.com | 2013 | Jun/Jul - 25

Perfect Vegan Fried Egg

Ingredients For The ‘Yolk’ 2 Tbsp vegan dried instant mashed potatoes, dehydrated flakes or powder 7 Tbsp (105 mL) hot water (may need a tiny bit more)1 tsp nutritional yeast¼ tsp turmeric¼ tsp kala namak salt, other wise known as black salt – it has a sulphuric “egg” flavour, so is essential for this recipe (you should find this at your local Indian or Asian grocery store, or from Amazon)¾ tsp Orgram egg replacer (or Ener-G in the US)1 tsp vegan margarine1 tsp sunflower or canola oil (not olive oil, as that would alter the taste)

MethodMake up your mashed potato mix, add margarine and other ingredients, and mash until con-sistency resembles hard-boiled egg yolk – it should be thick in consistency. Then spoon out half of the mixture, and set aside.

‘Egg White’ Ingredient1 349g pack of firm silken tofu (I use Mori-Nu) – Tip for this recipe :- you may wish to get the packet of tofu and place in the freezer for half an hour prior to opening it and cutting it up – makes for a firmer cut.

MethodNo secret or frills, it’s firm silken tofu. Using a round cutter (mine was 7cm/2¾”), cut through the centre of the tofu block, so you should be left with a cylinder around 2” thick – this will yield around 4 egg whites. All you have to do is cut this into 4 equal slices with a very sharp knife (don’t use a serrated one).Next, with a smaller round cutter (around 3cm/1¼”), press out the centre of the first ‘egg white’, which will leave space for your ‘yolk’. Do this carefully, as the tofu will be very fragile, and repeat the same with each ‘egg white’.Now heat up some oil in a non-stick pan. Meanwhile, take 1 teaspoon of the egg yolk (make sure it has cooled down), roll it in your palms, then flatten it slight-ly. Then, using the smaller cutter, cut out the ‘yolk’ circle, which will fit inside the centre of the ‘egg white’ perfectly. But don’t place it in there yet at this stage.Gently place your egg white in the hot oil, one at a time, in and shallow fry it until golden around the edges on both sides. Now flip it, and place your egg yolk in the middle to fit the puzzle so to speak, and press down a little with a teaspoon.Meanwhile add some hot water to the mix in your 2nd ‘egg yolk’ bowl, and stir all the time until you reach a smooth egg yolk con-sistency. Using a small teaspoon, pour a tiny amount of this in the centre of the egg yolk, but don’t agitate it. Then spoon some of the oil it is frying in over the top of the yolk, to seal the top, and sprinkle on some salt and pepper.Gently bring it out from the pan onto your toast, or your plate, and enjoy alone, or with your favourite sauce.

Vegan Timpana

Ingredients extra virgin olive oil1 medium sized onion, very finely chopped2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped2 or 3 bay leaves1 x 14 oz (400g) tin chopped tomatoes½ tsp coriander seeds (opt.)1 tsp agave nectar, or brown sugar1 tsp hot curry powder3 Tbsp tomato paste/puree1 tsp sea salt2 cups of veggie mince / ground ‘meat’ crumble½ tsp oregano1 Tbsp brown sauce1 tsp vegetable stock granules, powder or cube1 tsp vegan butter/ margarine (optional)1¼ cups (300 mL) water freshly chopped flat leaf parsley, for garnishing salt to taste12 oz (340g) ribbed macaroni, boiled and drained2 cups grated vegan cheese1½ cups (360 mL) vegan milk (soya or other)½ cup pecan nuts, crushed2 Tbsp nutritional yeast11 oz (320g) vegan shortcrust or puff pastry

Note for Homemade Shortcrust Pastry : If you must make your own shortcrust pastry here is what you will need and how to

26 - Jun/Jul | 2013 | www.blikki.com

make it in readiness for this recipe : 4 oz dairy free margarine8 oz plain unbleached flour A pinch of salt Water

MethodPlace the flour in a large working bowl, then cut your margarine into pieces in the bowl, add the salt and start to rub the ingredi-ents with your fingers blending them both together and creating big crumbles with it. Next add a little water a little at a time until a ball is formed. Wrap it up in cling film or plastic wrap and allow to sit in the fridge for a half hour.Next roll and shape.

Method For Timpana1. First, heat up your oil in a

large non-stick saucepan; throw in the onion and garlic, and stir, making sure that they don’t burn.

2. When they have become translucent, add the mince, and continue to mix for a fur-ther 5 to 10 minutes, so that the flavors merge.

3. Next, add the tomato paste and the spices, whilst con-tinuing to mix for a few more minutes.

4. Now add the remaining ingre-dients, except for the water. Mix, and allow to cook for a few more minutes, adding a little water at a time, until all of the liquid has been added. Cover, and allow to simmer very gently on a low heat for 20 minutes or so.

5. Taste for salt – if needs be, add more agave or salt.

6. Grease an 11 x 7 inch (2 L) casserole, and pre-heat your oven to 375ºF (190ºC)

7. Roll the pastry out on a clean, floured surface until large

enough to cover the dish base and sides, and leaving enough to cover the top. Shape it into the dish, and trim off any excess at the edges.

8. Mix the Bolognese sauce in a large bowl with your pasta, add the cheese, the nutrition-al yeast, the milk, and the nuts, mix well, and spoon into the pastry-covered casse-role. Distribute as evenly as possible.

9. Cover with the remaining pastry, and brush on the soya milk across the top. Place in the oven until golden – 30 to 40 minutes should do.

10. Bring out of the oven, and allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving. Use a very sharp knife to cut it into portions.

‘Sausage’ & Bean Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients1 400g (14 oz) tin borlotti beans3 Tbsp tomato paste1 cup (8 oz) tomato pulp1 onion, very finely chopped2 cloves garlic, finely chopped salt to taste½ tsp stevia, or other sweetener of your choice a little water5 vegan sausages, fried or grilled, then cut into slices and set aside1 cup vegan cheese (optional)

olive oil for frying150g (5 oz) instant mashed potato - Make according to instructions on packet, add margarine, creamy vegan milk and salt to this for best results – you must add the vegan margarine, or else the potatoes won’t go golden.

Method1. Fry your onions and garlic in a

skillet pan (I used a small cast iron gratin dish), then add the tomato paste, and the beans, and stir.

2. Preheat your oven to 400ºF (200ºC)

3. Next, add a little bit of water, the salt, tomato pulp, and your sweetener, and cook until thick, but not too thick.

4. Then remove, and make your mashed potatoes.

5. Add your grated ‘cheese’ on top of the bean mix, and add the cooked sausages on top of this.

6. Your final layer is your mash – so spoon it on top, and then place in your pre-heated hot oven (put a spoon of marg. in the centre, it will melt and make the potatoes golden).

7. The dish is ready when the mashed potatoes are nicely gold-en on top. Serve and enjoy! {B}

Miriam SorrellMouthwatering Vegan

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Photos and recipes courtesy Mouthwatering Vegan

www.blikki.com | 2013 | Jun/Jul - 27

GET EVEN MORE FROM BLIKKI MAGAZINE

“Like” us on Facebook to enter our giveaways

Are you a blogger or chef who would like to be featured in

our gorgeous magazine?

Please e-mail: HippieDiva@Blikki.com

28 - Jun/Jul | 2013 | www.blikki.com

Dip your spoon into a creamy, rich scoop, or two and savor the nearly end-less flavor combinations in this classic American dessert. Nuts, chocolate, or sensational summer fruits, anyone?

the tastes of Summer

Sweet, cool, and luscious, ice cream is one of life’s most tempting treats and an irresistible pleasure during the summertime.

Photograph courtsey of The Sweet Life

Cool Summer Recipes

Chunky Monkey Ice Cream p.32

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Serves: 3-4 ~ Prep time: 5 mins

Ingredients• 2 medium size Hass avocados (about 2 cups sliced)• 1 cup coconut cream• ½ cup lime juice (juice from 3 medium to large limes)• lime zest from 3 limes• ½ teaspoon liquid stevia

Instructions1. Place avocado, coconut cream, lime juice and zest and

stevia into your high speed blender like a Vita-mix or a food processor might work.

2. Blend till nice and creamy!3. And try not to eat the whole batter while taste testing.4. Adjust sweetness or tartness (add in more lime zest) if

needed.5. Pour batter in a glass dish and place into freezer to set.6. Stir a few times an hour.7. Take about 4-5 hours to really set.

Avocado Coconut Lime Ice Cream

Recipe and Photos courtesyPurely Twins

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30 - Jun/Jul | 2013 | www.blikki.com

Strawberry Rhubarb Ginger Ice Cream Makes about 6 cups

1 cup coconut water2 cups organic strawberries1 cup organic rhubarb cut into 1 inch pieces1 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger2 cups young coconut meat (or raw cashews, soaked 4 hours)2 cups soaked raw cashews, drained (soaked at least 4 hours)1/2 cup raw coconut nectar or raw honey or raw agave nectarseeds of one vanilla beana pinch of sea salt1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed to liquid

Add coconut water to a food processor, along with strawberries, rhubarb, ginger, cashews, coconut, nectar, vanilla, and sea salt. Process until smooth, then (processor running) add the coconut oil slowly and process until well incorporated. Pour the strained mix-ture into an ice cream maker and process according to directions. Remove from ice cream maker, and let sit in the freezer for at least four hours or overnight to firm up to scoopable consistency.

Recipe and Photos courtesyFragrant Vanilla Cake

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www.blikki.com | 2013 | Jun/Jul - 31

Recipe and Photos courtesyThe Sweet Life

makes about 1 quartIce Cream Base6 very ripe bananas -- 1 cup raw almond milk*1- 2 tbsp raw agave, maple syrup, or coconut nectar1 tsp vanilla extractRaw Chocolate 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted -- 1/4 cup raw cacao powder2 tbsp maple syrup -- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract1/3 cup walnutsIn a blender combine bananas, almond milk, vanilla extract, and sweetener, mixing until very smooth. Transfer to shallow container and freeze 20-30 minutes until chilled and icy around edges.Make the chocolate by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer to a shallow container and freeze. Once frozen remove chocolate and cut into small chunks.Put the chilled base into your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s instructions. Then stir in walnuts and chocolate chunks by hand in a bowl. Transfer to an air tight container and freeze 4-5 hours to harden completely.

Raw Chunky Monkey Ice Cream

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1 can (14.5 ox, 411 g) dice or whole tomatoes, organic preferred1/2 cup (125 ml) tofu1/3 cup (84 ml) oil1-1/4 cups (313 ml) nondairy milk3/4 cup agave nectar (188 ml) or sugar (150 g)1 Tbsp (15 ml) peeled and minced fresh ginger1/4 Tsp (1 ml) cinnamon1/4 Tsp (1 ml) ground clovesMake sure the tomatoes you are using do not contain pepper, onions, garlic, or vinegar. Drain the tomatoes and discard the liquid.Add the tomato pieces and remaining ingredients to a blender. Blend about 1 minute, until well blended and there are no longer large chunks of tomato.

Chill. Churn according to your manufacturer’s instructions.

Tomato Ice Cream

Recipe and Photos courtesyThe New Scoop

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Sometimes, the thought of going vegan just plain scares people. It can seem complicated. Impractical. Exotic, but not in a good way. In reality, however, you’ve eaten vegan food every day of your life (unless you were ever on Atkins and consumed only roast beef and hard-boiled eggs until your best friend told you, in confidence, that you were starting to smell funny).

In the current, ever enlightening era, going vegan on the spot is a kind of positive epidemic. Somebody will see a video about the conditions on factory farms or in slaughterhouses, or catch a documentary about the near-miraculous health benefits of a whole-foods, plant-based diet, and voilà! Instant vegan. This is great if you can do it – and stay with it, but you don’t help anybody by being an overnight sensation and burning out in a month. For you there is:

The One-Day-at-a-Time Plan

Alcoholics put down the bottle one day at a time, and you can dispense with animal foods (and most processed foods, too, if you’re willing) the same way. All you have to do is eat foods from the plant kingdom for this day’s meals and snacks, and you’re good. You don’t have to worry about your sister’s wedding next June, your company’s Labor Day barbecue, or what you’ll eat if you ever go to Argentina. Today, you’re enjoying a plant-based diet. And this is the only day there is.

The One-Thing-at-a-Time Plan

A lot of people feel comfortable in cutting out red meat first, then other meat, then fish, then eggs, and finally dairy products. I can’t fault the system: it was, with some trips and starts, the one I used. If I were making the change today and opted for this plan, however, I’d eliminate chicken first, red meat later, simply because it means fewer deaths. Cattle are large, and one death makes a lot of meals; chickens are small and one death doesn’t make many nuggets.

by Victoria Moran

The Vegan-at-Home Plan

This means that you’ll learn the basics, get some recipes, stock up on plant-based convenience foods, and in your very own home, the one place where nobody can tell you how to be you, you’re plant-based. And you can decide what animal products you’ll want to keep as fallbacks for when you’re out.

The Vegetarian-for-Now Plan

Vegetarians have pulled away from 90 percent of their peers in taking the stand of not eating anybody who had a mama. To help you be the healthiest vegetarian you can be – and move on to vegan smoothly and efficiently:

• Don’t overcompensate with cheese and eggs. Choose vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, and nuts and seeds as the bulk of your diet.

• Move away from eggs as soon as you can. In the ethical sense, it’s hard to find a good egg. More than 97 percent of laying hens are, at this time, kept crowded in tiny cages and denied any vestige of a normal life until they’re killed – and then they’re left out of the Humane Slaughter Act simply because they’re birds.

• Experiment with totally plant-based foods and recipes. Keep moving veganward by buying plant-based cook-

books, surfing vegan Web sites, checking out vegan restaurants,

and getting the vegan option of your vegetarian dish

when possible (i.e., hold the cheese on the veggie burger).

And however you make the change, have fun with it. It really is a grand

adventure. {B}

Adapted from Main Street Vegan: Everything You Need to Eat Healthfully and Live Compassion-ately in the Real World, ©Victoria Moran, Tarcher Penguin 2012. Victoria is the author of eleven books, a vegan lifestyle coach in private practice, and the director of Main Street Vegan Academy, training and certifying vegan lifestyle coaches. Learn more about Victoria’s work at www.mainstreetvegan.net.

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Kitchen ScrapsGrowing a Garden from

I love composting all the kitchen scraps I can but when I fill up my compost bin or run low on some vegetables in the garden using kitchen scraps to grow plants is a great activity. I love using kitchen scraps to start new plants as a fun gardening

activity with my son, everyday we check and see how the plants are progressing. It’s a great way to come full circle on produce we bout at the market together and cooked together. Starting your own plants from kitchen scraps is really easy and for a garden-ing nerd like me!If You are going to attempt this I suggest making sure the scraps you start with are good quality, I like to use organic produce grown locally when I start plants from kitchen scraps.

reprinted by permission of BlackThumbGardner.com

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Growing Leeks, Spring Onions, Scallions, and Fennel

You could go out and buy some vegetable specifi-cally for growing but I like to wait till I actually have a call for them in my cooking. With all 5 of these examples you will use the end of the vegetable with the white roots.Take the left over white roots and place them in a container with a small amount of water in it. You want the roots to be wet but you don’t want the entire thing submerged. Take your container and place it in a sunny window sill. I’ve actually grown green onion scraps in a fairly shady window on the north side of our house, your success may vary. I like keeping some in a window in the kitchen for my morning eggs, and in my office for snacking on (the wife loves kissing me after that). Within 3-5 days you will begin to see new growth come up. Remove the produce as you need and just leave the roots in the water to continually harvest your kitchen scrap crops. You should refresh the water weekly to keep the plant healthy.

Lemon Grass

Lemongrass is similar to all other grasses and because of that you just need to place the roots you cut off into a container with water and put in a sunny window. In my experience the lemongrass

is a little more dependent than green onions and leeks from above.After about a week there should be some new growth from your lemongrass. Once you have new growth you will need to transplant the plant from the water into a pot with soil and put it back into the sunny windowsill. You want to wait till your lemongrass reaches a foot tall before you begin harvesting it. Just like before cut off what you plan to use in the kitchen and allow the roots to continue to sprout. It’s just like cutting your lawn, it will just keep coming on if you keep it healthy.

Growing Romaine Lettuce, Celery, Bok Choy & Cabbage

Just like the scallions, you will take the white roots of these vegetables to grow your produce. By cutting of the stalks or leafs with an inch or more and placing them into a bowl of water with the roots facing down you will be on your way. You want to make sure the roots are in water but you don’t want to submerge the entire plant. Make sure to place the bowl into a sunny window and spritz it with water weekly to keep the top of the plant moist.Several days later you will begin to see the roots and leaves sprouting. 7 to 10 days in remove the plant from the water and plant it into soil with only the leaves above the soil. Your plant will continue to grow and in several weeks you will have a new head ready to be harvested.If you want a different way to go with your pant you can try planting directly into the soil, skipping the water staging step from before. Keeping the soil from drying out will be very important that first week.

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Growing Ginger

If you’re looking for an easy plant to grow indoors Ginger is the one for you. Just take you’re a chunk of Ginger from your kitchen scraps and place it into the soil. Make sure the newest buds are facing up. Unlike the other plants we’ve talked about so far Ginger will enjoy filtered light rather than direct sunlight.Soon enough you will begin to see new growth sprouting up out of the soil, and under the soil roots will begin to sprawl out into the soil. After the plant acclimates to its new home you will be ready to harvest the next time you need Ginger. Pull the entire plant out of the soil and cut off a the pieces you need, and just replant it like you did initially.As an added bonus for you Ginger makes a great house-plant. Even if ginger isn’t your thing as far as cooking goes you can still get some aesthetic value out of the plant.

Growing Potatoes

Taking potatoes from produce back to growing is a great way to keep more waste out of the garbage. You can grow any variety of potato you like, it should just make sure the scrap has ‘eyes’ growing on it. With a potato that has a strong presence of eyes you can chop it up into 2 inch square pieces. Make sure each piece has 1 – 2 eyes. After you’ve cut your potato into pieces leave them out in room temperature for

a couple of days. Leaving the pieces out allow the cut surface area to dry out and become callous which will prevent the pieces from rotting in the ground.Potatoes need a very nutrient-rich soil, so if you have compost you should be sure to incorporate some into your soil before you plant it. When you are planting your potato cubes make sure they are in the 8 inch depth range with the eyes facing the sky. When you back fill your cube place 4 inches over the potato cube and leave the other 4 inches empty. Over time as your potato grows and roots begin to appear you will want to add more soil.

Growing Garlic

You only need a single clove to regrow an entire garlic plant, just place the end with the root down into the soil. Place your container in a warm part of your home with direct sunlight and sit back and wait for the garlic to root itself and begin to send up new shoots. After the garlic becomes established in the soil cut back the shoots and the plant will begin to put all its resources into growing a big delicious garlic bulb. Just like the ginger above once you harvest your produce you can repeat this process and run through the cycle again.

Growing Sweet Potatoes

When you plant sweet potatoes you want to use the ‘eyes’ just like you do with a regular potato. You can bury the entire potato or pieces like you did with

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regular potatoes under a thin layer of topsoil in a damp and sunny place. Soon you will have new shoots beginning to appear from the soil. When the shoots begin to reach a height of four inches you will replant your pieces giving them around 12 inches between one another. Generally it take somewhere around 4 months to grow sweet potatoes like this. Keep a watchful eye out for slugs, they will be trying to eat your crop before you can.When your growing your own sweet potatoes you want to be sure and use an organic soil as most commercial growers use chemicals to keep them from shooting.

Growing OnionsWith onions your going to use the root end you cut off when prepping to cook your onions. Onions are great because of the ease to propagate. You want to try to keep half an inch of onion above the roots. You will want to take your cutting and place it into your soil in a sunny place and cover the top with topsoil. Keeping your soil moist will be very important while the onion begins to establish itself. If you’re in the North East like myself you will want to keep the onion indoors in a container during the winter.If you repeat the cycle and keep planting the onion roots eventually you should have enough onion plants going that you’ve become onion self-sufficient!

Growing Mushrooms

For the most part I’ve focused on plants that are pretty easy to grow, propagating mushrooms is not included in that. If you’re going to try to propagate mushrooms you’ll be competing with the other fungi space. Mushroom spores enjoy warm humidity and nutrient rich soil, cooler temperatures will give your mushrooms a higher likelihood of success against other fungi

You want to grow mushrooms in a pot, trying to grow them in your garden would have too much competi-tion from other mushrooms. Growing mushrooms inside of a container also allow you to mow the container around and provide different conditions for the mushrooms, which will help them propa-gate faster. I’ve experience the greatest success by providing a warm filtered light during the day and cool temperatures at night.To get your mushrooms to propagate take off the head and place the stalk into your topsoil, making sure to expose the top to the air. If you have the right conditions for your mushroom you will have a new head grow from your base. You should have some very clear feedback if your mushroom has taken or not very quickly.

Growing Pineapple

To start growing pineapple you will need to take the leafy green top and remove all the fruit (yellow parts). To harvest a starting piece form a pineapple take a good grip of the leaves and twist the crown off of the fruit. If the brute force tactic isn’t for you can take a good chef’s knife and slice of the top of the pine-apple and scrap off the flesh of the fruit with a spoon. Take a sharp knife and begin to slice small horizontal

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pieces off of the bottom of the crown till you can see root buds (picture below). Peel off a few layers of the leaves from the base of your pineapple cutting.

With your prepped pineapple cutting prepare a container of warm water and place it cut side into the container. When the cutting begins to root replant it into a container with soil and be sure to water once a week. This kitchen scrap recycle is a long game, you won’t have a pineapple worth harvesting for 2-3 years.

Avocados

Rather than tossing your avocado seed when you’re getting the fleshy fruit for your cooking use it to grow your own avocado plant. Warning this one is going to take even longer to fruit then the pineapple if ever. House grown avocado plants rarely fruit and if you can grow it outdoors it could be 5 to 13 years before your eating your own avocados. People who farm avocados grown them off grafts (maybe a good idea for another article?!)Take your seed and wash in the sink, with your cleaned seed stick in three or four toothpicks and

suspend it above a glass of water. You want to place the seed broad end down and cover the seed with around an inch of water. Place your container into a warm area in an area with filtered sunlight and add water as needed. Within 2 – 6 weeks you will see roots and a stem begin to sprout. Once your avocado has a stem that is 7 inches long cut it back to 3 inches, this will focus the seeds back in to growing a strong root system. When your roots are thick and the stem has re-leafed take out the toothpicks and place the plant into a rich humus soil. I suggest using a 10 inch diam-eter pot. Leave the seed half exposed when you plant it into the soil.

Now that your plant is in the soil you want to supply it with a continual supply of light watering with an occasional deep soak. Avocados prefer a soil kept moist but you want to avoid saturating it too much and drowning the roots. If your leaves begin to turn yellow you are watering it too much, give the plant a few days of from watering. Now that the plant is established you want to begin to give it as much sunlight as you can. If you notice that your leaves are beginning to brown at the tips you have a salt build up in your soil and you will need to water the soil thoroughly and let it drain. Once your stem reaches 12 inches in height you will want to cut it back to 6 inches to help new shoots grow. {B}

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Is Red Meat Dangerous? Our Resident Naturopath Explains

This is a big question that researchers have been exploring for many years with many conflicting results.

You’d think with all our technolo-gy and information these days we would be able to figure out the answer, but this seem-ingly simple question is not so easy to answer.

You may have seen reports on a recent article stating that carnitine, an amino acid found in high concen-tration in red meat, can contribute to atheroscle-rosis. (Click here for link to the original article.)

This study did two things:

1. They took mice and fed them either a regular diet or one high in carnitine. They then measured the amounts of artery-damaging compound, TMAO (trimethyl-amine-N-oxide) produced by the intestinal bacteria of the mice in the two groups. They found TMAO levels were higher in the mice fed high carnitine.

2. They performed an obser-vational study of 2,595 human subjects undergoing evaluation for possible heart disease. They found that higher blood levels of carnitine were correlated with

a higher incidence of “cardiac events” such as heart attacks, strokes, and heart disease-relat-ed deaths.

From these two pieces of infor-mation the paper’s authors con-

cluded that diets high in carnitine cause heart disease in humans.

This is confusing for many peo-ple, especially those of us in the natural medicine field, because for years, carnitine has actual-ly been known to be a valuable heart-healthy nutrient. From im-proving exercise capacity, to de-creasing mortality in post-heart attack patients, carnitine has a well-established track record for helping heart tissue heal.

By looking a little closer at this carnitine paper, we find that there was something abnormal about the mice used in the origi-

nal study. These laboratory mice were genetically engineered to be missing a key enzyme in fat me-tabolism that made them more susceptible to atherosclerosis. They were likely to develop ath-erosclerosis even on a normal

diet. As healthy natural humans, we have this en-zyme intact and thus are not at any risk from carni-tine in the diet.

Additionally, the claim that blood carnitine levels correlated to higher inci-dence of “cardiac events” does not hold up when the data is analyzed using standard statistical meth-ods taking into account “multiple comparisons.”

Also, a correlation between car-nitine and cardiac events does not indicate causality. It is just as likely that the higher carnitine levels in the blood could be the body’s reaction to already present heart disease.

Prominent nutritional medicine expert, Dr. Alan Gaby MD states, “the bulk of the scientific evi-dence indicates that carnitine is beneficial for the heart, and the conclusion circulated by the me-dia that carnitine is harmful is unwarranted. One wonders why natural-medicine-bashing junk science so often makes its way

Dr. Laura Figoski

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into the news.” Yes indeed, I do wonder.

From my perspective, it may be more appropriate to consider the possible healthful or harmful role of red meat in the full context of the whole food itself rather than just a single amino acid. What is the source of the meat? Is it grain fed or grass fed? Does it have toxic additives, hormones or antibiotics? How has it been prepared? What is the state of the person’s digestion that is break-ing down the meat? How much protein does the person need? What else is the person eating?

When I work with my patients, all of these ques-tions are much more important to me in decid-ing the appropriate role of red meat in their diet. It is critical to take into account people’s individ-ual variation and recognize that their needs may be different. I do not whole-heartedly condemn or endorse red meat; rather I consider it in the

broader context of the whole individual. One, scientifically suspect, report about a single ami-no acid found in red meat is certainly not going to change my mind. {B}

Dr. Laura Figoski, is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor (N.D.) practicing in San Francisco, CA. Emphasizing nature-based, individualized and holistic recommen-dations, she provides naturopathic primary care with a focus in heart disease and diabetes. Ultimately, her mission is to help her patients find or regain peace, joy and ease.

To contact Dr. Figoski, she can be reached at 415-617-9252, email: lauranaturopath@gmail.com or website: www.lauranaturopath.com

Are you a blogger or chef who would like to be featured in

our gorgeous magazine?

Please e-mail: HippieDiva@Blikki.com

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These banana bites are a really fun way to serve an ordinary snack.Ingredients:bananas (find the ones with as little curve as possible)creamy peanut butterchocolate chipschopped nuts or sprinkles (optional)

Directions:• Peel and slice off the ends of each banana. Cut the banana into about two 3" long pieces.• Stand your banana bites up on their flat, cut side. Hollow out the center using a straw or apple

corer.• Be sure not to go all the way down, leaving about a half inch banana, unhallowed, at the bottom.• Melt your chocolate according to the package, in a small, deep bowl. Dip the bottom half of your

banana bites into the melted chocolate and roll in chopped nuts or sprinkles. Place on wax paper to dry. Refrigerate until chocolate has set and dry.

• Once dry, remove the bananas from your refrigerator. Transfer the peanut butter to a pastry bag or a zip lock bag with the corner snipped off, and pipe it into your hollowed out bananas. You can also just spoon the peanut butter into the hole for a simpler alternative.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Stuffed Banana Bites

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Dollhouse Bake ShoppePhoto & Recipe Courtesy of Dollhouse Bake Shoppe

Quick Bites (super fast vegan recipes )

DownloadRecipe

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moment. The textures, colors and scents of the terrain became utterly familiar, as if to be my outer self. I am also reminded of the strength and vitality of my body, her connection to the world of nature and to all of life. This is the foundation of my day, my state of consciousness, my ability to metabolize and appreciate my daily life experience.

Now that I live in a different country, far from my family and many of my friends, I am grateful for my morning walks. I continue to connect with nature, her symbols and gifts. I am called “La dame qui marche” (the woman who walks) here in my corner in southwestern France. For me it harkens to the Native American culture of the United States, so I hold this title/reference in high regard. Because I walk on the small country road near my home, all who pass by get a wave and a smile from me—sometimes a “bonjour” or blown kisses. It has not taken long for me to become part of the visual story of this little hamlet. I am grateful and feel very accepted and cared for.

So if one were to ask me, “What are the benefits of walking meditation?” I’d have to reply that there are many and they are absolutely unique to the individual. For me they have been a mystical awakening, combined with added vitality and health, clarity of mind, elevation of mood—and now, in my new community in France, a place in the historical mythology of this part of Gascony, in the hearts of her people. {B}

Meditative Walkingby Libby Leyrer

What I couldn't know when I started my morning walks is that they would become my literal path to awakening. It

began in early spring 2002 with a decision to replace my wake-up ritual of coffee and the Today Show with coffee and a walk in the nearby arboretum. It soon became a walking meditation, a commitment first thing every morning to meet and traverse the world of nature with an open heart. In the autumn of that year I added the component of writing about the experience. The writing reflected my connection to and reverence of nature, its cycles, the interplay between my inner and outer world. This expression informed my spiritual journey along the path of my daily meditation.

When I was 18 years old I was initiated into Transcendental Meditation, so I’ve been tuning in to my inner world for quite a while. My practice of walking meditation reminds me that my body connects me to the world of the senses. The present moment holds the power of action and response, of creating my reality. Each morning I am given new lessons in the form of symbols, natural phenomena and the many visual and hidden transitions of nature: the seasons, weather, the life-death-rebirth cycles. Birds and animals made themselves known to me; trees became my friends. I would stop at the same places every day, offer a prayer or a flower, or just close my eyes for a

Soul Food

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