Inside Ellie's Head

Yummy orzo with fresh spinach & tomatoes

For dinner tonight: orzo with spinach & tomatoes

Ingredients:
Orzo
Some bow tie pasta to add variety
Tomatoes
Spinach
1 Clove of garlic
Avocado
Feta cheese
Pine nuts
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Make pasta
As pasta is cooking put all other ingredients in a mixing bowl. When pasta is done, drain it and pour the pasta into the bowl and mix everything together. The veggies will cook just slightly by the heat of the pasta.

Enjoy!!

Potato Leek Goodness!!

Last night we enjoyed a simple and delicious soup. Quick, easy, and thoroughly satisfying! 

Potato Leak soup & Garlic / Sundried tomato toast. YUMMMM

First I sautéed a big onion, two leeks and one fennel until all were soft. 

Then I added three pealed and diced potatoes, and a carton of organic vegetable broth from whole foods... (actually all my ingredients were organic from whole foods...)

Brought it all to a boil, then simmered with with the lid until potatoes were soft and cooked. 

I uncovered it, turned off the heat and let it sit for about 3 - 5 minutes. 

Then I poured the contents a cup or two at a time into my blender (I don't have one of those cool hand held ones that make soup making a breeze!) and pureed the mixture. 

Once all the soup was pureed, I poured it back into the pot, turned the stove back on and seasoned with salt, pepper, and chili powder (I have yet to find a dish that doesn't taste better with a dash of chili powder). 

And VOILA! Yummmy Potato Leek Goodness.

For the Garlic toast: 

I squeezed 5 or 6 cloves of garlic through the garlic press into a small bowl then combined this with the sundried tomatoes (in extra virgin olive oil) that I got from trader joes... Mixed it all together and spread it on peaces of toast bread with a spoon. Then put these in the oven and baked them at 350 degrees for about 10 - 15 minutes. Once I took them out, I cut them into smaller bite size pieces. 

Beautiful! and delicious. 

Gingery Scones... YUMMMM

Cold weather calls for some Yummy scones!!! 

These scones are absolutely DELICIOUS! In fact, I cannot wait until tomorrow morning when I can have another one for breakfast. Yummmmmmm

THANK YOU NANCY, FOR THIS WONDERFUL RECIPE! 

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoon backing powder

1/2 cup oats (I was all out of oats so I used hot cereal) 

1/4 cup whole flax seeds

1/4 cup sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon 

2 eggs

A stick of butter (I use a stick of butter for 1.5 batches - a bit less for one batch)

1/3 cup cream / half and half / or milk (I used milk since it was the only thing I had)

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Any fruit (I used 1 cup of crystalized ginger chunks, finely chopped, and 1/2 cup of raisins - in the past, I have also used shaved coconut, currants, chocolate chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a big bowl (flour, oats, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, flax seeds)

3. Melt butter and mix it in with the dry ingredients until it is spread in small lumps throughout the flower

4. Separate fruit and combine it with the flour / butter mixture

5. Beat the eggs in a separate small bowl, add the cream and vanilla. Set aside 1 tablespoon of this to be used later for a glaze.

6. Pour the egg and cream mixture into the flour / butter and toss lightly together, first with a fork and then with your hands. bring the dough together. Don't overwork it. 

7. Knead the dough a few times on a floured board, then shape into a rectangle about 3 /4 inch thick. Pad the edges with the side of your hand to make it smooth. 

8. Mix a little sugar with the left over egg and cream and brush it over the top. (I forgot to do this step... so my scones are not golden brown but they taste heavenly!)

9. Cut the rectangle horizontally and vertically until you have 3" x 3" squares. Cut each square diagonally across to make triangles. (I normally get about 24 scones from 1.5 batches). Put the scones on an un-greased backing sheet and bake at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes or until they are well puffed and golden brown on top. 

HOT HOT HOT COCOA

    2% Organic Milk 

+     Organic CoCoa Powder 

+     raw cane sugar 

+      a dash of chili powder 

+     Some Cinnamon! 

____________________________

=     TOTAL YUMMNESS 

Especially good on cold wintery days! 

Of food and eating raw..

Eating nothing but raw foods for five days has been the most challenging part of this whole diet. More difficult than giving up Chocolate, having nothing but pureed soup after five, and preparing almost every meal myself!

I cannot imagine a life of nothing but raw food! I craved bread, baked sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, sauteed eggplants, steamed vegetables. I thought about the vegetarian green curry I could no longer have and the Indian lentil dish. I dreamed of brown rice topped with vegetarian celery stew in broad daylight.

How glad I am that it is now over. I go back to the Vegan diet I once found so restrictive with renewed excitement. I can EAT!! I can eat almost all that I please! Well, except for dairy, meats, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, saturated fats, etc. But still, there is so much that I CAN eat now. Fruits, steamed kale, organic peanut butter with toast, bananas, and a tad honey, grilled portobello mushroom sandwich... 

I absolutely cannot wait to get started!!!

Chocolate... Mmmmm... Chocolate...

The hardest part of this detox is NOT having any CHOCOLATE!!!

Mmmmm... chocolate....

Apparently I am an addict. I can hardly go without the stuff for a day and now it's been not two but 3! days without it. 

Last night, in an effort to stop myself from thinking about deliciously decadent and creamy dark chocolate truffles, I made myself a hot water and molasses concoction and drank it as though it were tea. It may surprise you that it did do the trick. Naturally, it's no chocolate or hot cocoa substitute, but it got me through the night... and it may even get me through the next 27 days. 

Everything else about my new diet, I am actually enjoying!    

Vegan for a Month

This new vegan diet is food for creativity! Today I prepared two yummy meals. Both healthy, both filled with veggies, both completely delicious. 

My greatest surprise was how wonderfully rich our dinner turned out to be, even though it was mostly raw. 

I prepared some Bulgur wheat and added to it finely chopped:

- Green onions

- Jalapeno peppers

- Tomato 

- Cilantro 

- Celery 

- Rasins

- Apple

and a hand full of raw lentils that I soaked and sprouted yesterday, some salt and pepper.

I served it on a bed of fresh chopped lettuce. It was delicious!