Friday, January 24, 2014

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie


Now that everyone is over being sick of Holiday food, I'd like to share a recipe that is reminiscent of Pumpkin Pie but healthier and lighter! Enjoy...

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1/2 cup Pumpkin Pie Mix (from a can)
1 large frozen (very ripe) banana
1/2 cup water
6 ice cubs
1/4 cup Better than Milk powder (or powdered milk of your choice)

Blend all until very smooth in a blender, about 1-3 minutes.


Saturday, January 18, 2014

Orange "Chicken" Rice for Potluck Today



Orange "Chicken" and Rice

2 1/4 cups brown rice, dry (Uncle Ben's?)
2 1/2 cups water

2 cups Light colored TVP
2 1/2 cups hot water

2 Tablespoon oil
1 cup cashews (raw is best!)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Sauce
1 cup orange marmalade
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 T chicken-style seasoning

Put rice and water in a covered pot and bring to a boil, then lower temperature to low-medium. Leaving covered, cook for another 20-25 minutes or until steam lessens significantly and rice is soft. 

Mix TVP and water and allow to set until moisture is soaked up.

While rice is cooking, "fry" cashews in oil until they brown slightly. Add TVP and coconut and stir well. Set aside.

Mix sauce ingredients thoroughly. 
Combine all ingredients and serve warm.

Blessings!



Tuesday, January 14, 2014

(Are you Weird??) and Raspberry Millet Breakfast



Raspberry Millet Breakfast - and Are You Weird?

Please forgive my lengthy absence. Trying to get computer troubles fixed over the next couple of days!!! :-)
 
Take a minute to read through my ramblings, and you'll be rewarded with a recipe at the end. :-)

Anyone who knows me knows that I am quite open and not political. You are "different." You already know it anyway, so why not just talk about it and see if we can learn together how to succeed despite our differences? (That can be understood in more than one way, I guess.) People are so touchy and ridiculous and changeable. We all have these things that we know about other people that are impolite to talk about, so they just hang between even close friends like a stink in the air. That’s one thing I think I learned from all my Korean friends. Just say it! They freely ask and share each others’ ages and incomes, and whatever. They’ll tell you if they think you’re fat or even ugly. Why not? No fat person will be surprised. In America, we try to wear clothes to hide our fat or just never mention it, and hope no one notices. REALLY? In Korea, they told me that I have a witches’ nose (in contrast to small and flat!). They didn’t show any disdain, though, just thought it was less attractive. I think that was a great lesson for me. I don’t have some gorgeous nose, but my nose is just fine by American standards. AND THEY WEREN’T HATEFUL or “superior” about it. It was just a fact that people all noticed and that set me apart. They also freely joked about my size - I am about twice the size of many Korean women, lol.

I’m passionate about this concept, and it’s part of what makes me socially different - and threatening. This is isn’t to say that I don’t struggle with what people think about me, especially when I’m tired or ill. It’s not to say that I don’t look in the mirror (at my THIN) self and see a huge butt or a crooked smile just like others do. But I know that the reality is often very different than what we tell ourselves.

Different can have many advantages, but one of them is that the pain of isolation can cause us to stand back and evaluate who we are and why we’re here. If we come to terms with our uniqueness - even our “flaws,” we can evaluate each one on it’s own. If my “different” is a short temper, it’s something that Jesus can overcome in me. If my “different” is ratty, big hair, I can come to terms that God allowed me to have a Brillo Pad for some reason. I should seek to be as beautiful as God made me to be and learn to properly care for what I have. It may be VERY different - I do not ever comb and almost never brush my hair. I keep it clean and style it with my fingers (gasp!!). Funny thing is, it took me THIRTY years to embrace my hair and stop fighting it. Now I get compliments on it continually, even though it’s certainly not “normal,” and not “fashionable.”

WHY do we fight what God made us? I mean the physical, the personality, etc. God loves a rainbow. He INTENTIONALLY made you what he made you, and I think he just shakes his head in sadness at all we do to fight what we have and be what we think others expect. Be your own beautiful self and embrace it!

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I'm not that into millet - it's "different." ;-)  But I believe in encouraging tastes to expand for the sake of variety and nutrition. Here's a yummy breakfast for a cool winter morning!

Raspberry Millet Breakfast

1 cup millet (a dry cereal in the cereal section at your grocery or health food store - birdfood. :-)
3 cups milk (I like almond milk best.)
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

plain yogurt (your favorite kind - love homemade coconut yogurt)
raspberry preserves (yummy!)

Blend millet in a blender or food processor until grainy, but not fine flour, about a minute or less in a powerful blender like a Vitamix.
Over medium-high heat, in a sauce pot, bring millet, milk, water, sugar and salt to a boil, stirring well, to prevent lumps.
When it reaches a boil, cover it and turn to low. Simmer until thickened, 20-30 minutes.
Serve with yogurt and raspberry preserves.