Beverage || Coconut Water {Two}

There is another, and potentially cooler way to open young coconuts. After experimenting with both methods, I think I prefer this one!

Garrett love it this way! Especially when building forts in the living room and playing Swiss Family Robinson!

1. You first must shave the white “bark” off of the top of the coconut like so. Just use a standard, small paring knife.

Continue around until you got most of the white bark off of the top.

 

 

2. There is a weak spot forming a near perfect circle around the top of the coconut. Take the point of your knife and tap it into the coconut until you penetrate the shell.

I used the rubber mallet to tap the knife in again but you could really use whatever is available.

 

 

 

 

3. Turn the knife back and forth 90 degrees. It should crack the coconut along the top as shown to the left.

The top should basically pop up as you wiggle the knife.

 

Supper cool, toddler approved — feel like you are somewhere fabulous even though it’s -10 and snowing .. or is that just us ..

Beverage || Coconut Water

So, have you ever soon these in the fruit isle at the grocery store? They are delicious and super nutritious and you should buy them all the time! Why? For one, new research is indicating that they are a better option than sports drinks for athletes when they need a boost. They are a more natural and potentially more effective way to balance your electrolytes.

I overheard these chicks in a cute little cafe chatting about how to break into one of these coconuts. They were sharing one that the cafe had graciously cracked for them. One chick commented to the other what a dream these are for the dreaded hangover. “But how do you open it?”, one asked. “Guess you just have to come here.”

Truly, no need to go there — just read here.

Jail-breaking Young Coconuts

So we use a vegetable cleaver and a rubber mallet. It’s fairly obvious at this point — cleaver in, smash with mallet. It’s really quite cathartic.

Make another chop to form an “X”.

It should look like this.                   

After you’ve made the slice you want to wedge a knife into the “X” — do this over a bowl.

Now get out your little strainer from 1978 and pour into a glass.

This drink is so easy, refreshing and delicious! It’s even toddler approved!

There are still more things that can be done with the meat inside the coconut — next post.

Soup || Red Lentil & Roasted Red Pepper

This soup is so delicious! Red Lentils with Roasted Red Pepper and hints of curry and basal, yum! Even more delicious if you add a couple slices of Avocado to the top!

The health benefits of lentils are extensive and listed in the first lentil soup recipe. Red Peppers are another great source of all kinds of nutrients and antioxidants.

In terms of conventional nutrients, the bell pepper is an excellent source of vitamin C at 175 milligrams per cup. (That’s more than twice the amount of vitamin C found in a typical orange.) Bell peppers are also a good source vitamin E at 630 milligrams per cup. In addition to these conventional antioxidant vitamins, bell peppers are also a very good source of the antioxidant mineral manganese. Bell peppers also contain many phytonutrients, including:

• Flavonoids
  • luteolin
  • quercetin
  • hesperidin
• Carotenoids
  • alpha-carotene
  • beta-carotene
  • cryptoxanthin
  • lutein
  • zeaxanthin
• Hydroxycinnamic Acids
  • ferulic acid
  • cinnamic acid

Red Lenti & Roasted Red Pepper Soup

2 Onions — Chopped fine
4 Celery Stalks — Chopped fine
1/2 of one clove of Garlic
2 Carrots shredded finely
1 1/2 Cups of Red Lentils
Saute in a little water with the lid on until the onions are translucent.

Add:
7 cups of Water
2.5-3 cups of your preferred Spaghetti sauce (we like Prego!)
2 rounded teaspoons of Chicken Style Seasoning
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt (to taste)
Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of curry powder
1/2 cup fresh, chopped basil (packed in) OR 1 rounded tablespoon dried
4 red bell peppers
Cut the peppers into large chunks. Rub in 1 teaspoon of melted coconut oil. Put the     peppers on a cookie sheet and broil until the juice starts running out and the tips begin to char. Put the peppers in a food processor and process until they appear diced — NOT pureed! They should still be chunky — tiny diced bits. Add them to the soup!

Optional:
Add 8 drops smoke flavour — so good!
1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed — roasted and processed with the peppers. Adds a nice bite!

This soup can last up to 5 or 6 days in the fridge and freezes well!

Soup || Cabbage & Dill Borscht

It’s fall and in our house that means another excuse to make soup! Soup is such a healthy and easy meal option. You can make it over the weekend and have it on hand for most of the week! You can even freeze it.

This Cabbage & Dill Borscht is one of our family favourites! Cabbage is something worth adding to your diet. Along with broccoli and other brassica vegetables, cabbage is a source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells. The base of this (traditionally cream) soup is Almond Milk — which we discussed the health benefits of in the Alomond Milk recipe post. All round delicious and healthy!

Cabbage & Dill Borscht

Saute in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil:
2 Onions
4 Celery sticks
2 large Carrots, shredded on large
2 small Potatoes cubed
1/2 of one small Cabbage shredded finely

Add:
7 cups Almond Milk (see earlier post)
4 cups Veggie Broth
1-28oz can of diced tomato’s (with juice)
1 bunch fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon Garlic Plus (a Club House seasoning)
2 1/2 large stirring spoons of spaghetti sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste.
1 can garbanzo beans (added at the end)

This soup will stay in the fridge for up to 5 days. It’s a delicious fall favourite!

Salad || Grilled Mediterranean Salad

This salad is so delicious! It is almost like a meal in itself and happens to be my fabourite way to eat spinach! Spinach well known for being very high in antioxidants but less known for it’s high folate or folic acid

What we love: This salad is healthy, delicious and filling! It doesn’t take very long to make yet is fabuous!

What we love less: nothing unhealthy about this one! However you do have to make the correct amount as it doesn’t keep well.

Dressing
½ cup balsamic vinegar (or slightly less)
½ cup olive oil
¾ teaspoon salt
2 or 3 turns of the pepper grinder

Grill (or under the broiler)
½ red or orange pepper
½ green pepper
½ yellow pepper
(if you like zucchini slice into ovals and grill 1 zucchini as well)

Cut these into large chunks and put them in a bowl. Pour some olive oil over them and season with salt and Garlic Plus seasoning or your favourite seasoning. (Garlic Plus can be found at Costco in the ClubHouse seasoning section)

Place baby spinach on a platter with a sprinkling of baby greens and pour half of the dressing over the salad. Place the grilled veggies on top as well as:

2 sliced tomatoes or half a package of cherry or grape tomatoes (better if you slice them)
Pickled artichoke hearts cut in half (as many as you like)
A handful of green and black olives (each, whatever kinds you prefer — Mediterranean being an obvious choice!)

Pour the rest of the dressing or some Little Creek dressing over the top of the veggies and serve! To take this salad up a level, add some lightly steamed asparagus with a little Garlic Plus on them. Delicious!

 

 

Salad || Quinoa Tabouleh

Best Tabouleh recipe — truly! Made even more delicious and nutritious by the substitution of Quinoa instead of cous cous or Bulgar wheat. Quinoa has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value. Its protein content is very high, providing 12-18% of your daily required amount in a 100 gram serving. Unlike wheat or rice (but like oats) quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protien source among plant foods.  It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.

What we love: The combined health benefits of Parsley, Lemons, and Quinoa leave you with a nutritionally rich salad, providing more of your B vitamins (B1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 9) than can be found in most dishes.This salad is fresh, filling and full of complex textures and flavours. It keeps for 2-3 days in the fridge so make extra!

What we love less: This salad is traditionally made with cous cous which is a pasta. Not the best health choice. However, made with Quinoa there is nothing not to love!

Quinoa Taboleh

1.5 to 2 cups cooked Quinoa
1 bunch parsley chopped
1 bunch green onions
3 celery stalks
1 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
3/4 of 398 ml can of black olives
1 large tomato
1 long english cucumber

Put the cooked Quinoa into a large salad bowl. Dice all of the veggies and add them to the bowl. Add the dressing — you can either pour each dressing ingredient over the salad and mix or mix them all beforehand and pour them on.

Try adding a touch of chopped fresh mint or cilantro for a more complex flavour.

Dressing

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
add pepper to taste.

Key: keep in mind that great Tabouleh means that the amount of veggies exceed the amount of grain!

Dessert || Chocolate Ganauche Cake

This cake is delicious and almost healthy enough to eat for breakfast! Well, not quite — but vegan, almost completely raw and gluten free!

What we love: it is fast and easy and freezes really well! As with most of my mom’s recipes, it is also gluten free!

What we love less: It is made with soy which is not the best health choice. My mom has in fact just reinvented this recipe using homemade cashew ‘tofu’. That recipe will be complete and featured in her new cookbook coming out in the fall!

Chocolate Ganauche Cake

Crust:  In a bowl combine, mix well and press into a 9 inch spring form pan.  Place in the freezer to set while you make the filling.

½ cup cocoa powder
½ cup ground almonds
¼ cup palm sugar; or coconut sugar; or fine sucanat sugar
¼ tsp. salt
Scant ¼ cup melted coconut oil
Generous 1/3 cup of lightly toasted shredded unsweetened coconut
Generous 1/3 cup of lightly toasted and slightly chopped sliced almonds

In a food processor blend:

1 tsp. vanilla flavouring
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ packages of Mori-Nu X-firm Silken Tofu (must be this brand)
¼ cup smooth natural peanut butter (opt.)

Melt on top of the stove constantly stirring:

4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
½ cup decaf coffee or water
1/3 cup maple syrup or agave syrup

Once blended, add the chocolate mixture into the food processor until well blended and smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.  Pour into the pre-prepared crust.  Set in the fridge (covered) overnight or for at least 6 hours.  Serve with thickened berries and whipped coconut cream!  This cake will last 5-7 days in the fridge and can be frozen at any point.