Tag: homemade

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Cranberry Sauce

Hello and Happy Holidays!!

The Holiday season is upon us and celebrating with delicious, festive food is an enjoyable part of the season.

Specifically, cranberry sauce is a common ingredient and traditional condiment that is typical for the Winter Holidays.

I wanted to introduce a homemade Cranberry Sauce that can be made from 3 ingredients and takes only about 5 minutes of your time.

There are added sugars, high-fructose corn syrup, colorants, or preservatives.

Watch a video below on how to make this recipe or just print it out.

The ingredients:

  • 3 cups of fresh cranberries
  • 1 fresh Fyui persimmon
  • 4 dates (all pits removed)
  • 2 cups of filtered water

The equipment:

  • A blender, knife, cutting board, and a 4-cup Mason glass jar

The preparation:

  1. Remove cranberries from a package and rinse under cold water.
  2. Wash and peel persimmon and cut into 4 pieces
  3. Put cranberries, dates, persimmon, and water into a blender.
  4. Blend well until the mixture becomes smooth and homogenous.
  5. Serve immediately.
  6. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze in the portion-sized containers for up to 2 months.

Yield: 4 cups

Total servings: 16 (each serving is 1/4 cup)

Total calories: 500 kcal (31.25 kcal per serving)

This recipe makes about 4 cups of Cranberry Sauce, which can serve 16 people. You can also cut the recipe in half to make less of it.

Watch a 1-minute video on how to make this recipe.

Cranberry Sauce

Nataliya
This recipe needs only 3 ingredients and takes about 5 minutes to make.
All of the ingredients are fresh and raw, and no cooking is necessary.
There are no added sugars, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, colorants, or taste enhancers.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
0 minutes
Servings 16 people
Calories 31.25 kcal

Equipment

  • Blender
  • Cutting board
  • Knife
  • 4 cups Mason jar

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups fresh cranberries
  • 1 piece fresh persimmon
  • 4 pieces Medjool dates (pits removed)
  • 2 cups filtered water

Instructions
 

  • Remove cranberries from a package and rinse under cold water
  • Wash and peel the persimmon and cut into 4 pieces
  • In the blender, combine cranberries, persimmon, and dates
  • Add water to the blender
  • Blend everything until smooth and homogenous.
  • Taste and adjust it to your preference. For example, you may want to add a few more dates to make the sauce sweeter.
  • Store in a refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze in the portion-sized containers for up to 2 months.

Notes

This recipe makes about 4 cups of Cranberry Sauce, which can serve 16 people. You can also cut the recipe in half to make less of it.
It is ready to serve immediately. You can store this Cranberry Sauce in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. 
Enjoy! 
Nataliya @ https://beinginbesthealth.com/
 
 
Keyword antioxidants, dairy-free, delicious, easy, gluten-free, lowcalorie, noaddedoil, noaddedsugar, nutrient-rich, nutrition, plant-based, raw, vegan, wholefoods

 

 

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Quinoa Pancakes

Happy Independence Day weekend to everybody! It is a middle of the year and almost a middle of the summer. What is your favorite summer-time activity? For me, it is the appreciation of the long days filled with the sunshine and the delicious and colorful summer foods. 

Today, I’m sharing with you one of my favorite recipes – the quinoa pancakes.

It needs just a few ingredients, is easy to make, and tastes very good. Actually, both the sweet and savory versions of this recipe can be enjoyed year-round. 

 

 

 

You will need the following ingredients:

  • Quinoa (white, red, or multicolored),
  • ripe banana,
  • flax seeds, 
  • water.

That’s it. You may use a little bit of coconut oil, however, it is optional if you use a non-stick skillet.

You will need this equipment: a bowl, blender, and non-stick skillet. The amount of preparation time can be reduced if you have more than one skillet. I typically use 3 small non-stick skillets, and in this case, the total preparation time takes about 5-7 minutes. 

What I love about this recipe is that the pancakes have a neutral taste and can be enjoyed with both sweet and savory meals or snacks. As a sweet version, I like to serve them with berries, fruits, and coconut yogurt. For a savory twist, I serve them with veggies, salads, and dressings (taco-like style). On this image below, you can see 3 pancakes, each served with the arugula leaves, slices of tomato and red onion, and avocado cubes. In this version, the pancakes work as flatbreads or soft tacos. 

Additionally, I soaked and sprouted the quinoa seeds, which is an easy step that can improve the digestibility and nutrient availability. Moreover, soaked and sprouted quinoa gives you more pancakes if compared with those made from the unsoaked quinoa. Note that this recipe does not need any flour; the whole quinoa seeds were soaked and sprouted and blended together with banana, flax seeds, and water. Here is a full recipe, enjoy!

Download the recipe: Quinoa Pancakes

By the way, it is the middle of the year, and I’m wondering how are your new year resolution goals doing? How successful have you been so far? Which obstacles came your way?

Let’s discuss how I can help you to get back on track during the next 6 months.

Our first 20-minute discovery session is free of charge, and I can work with you as a wellness coach or/and a nutrition consultant, depending on your needs. Contact me today, I’m happy to see how I can help!

In best health,

Nataliya.

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“Burgers”! Vegan and Raw

I’m excited to finally share with you a very delicious recipe: Raw Vegan “Burgers”!

I made them for the first time around Thanksgiving holiday, and later I experimented with the recipe and tried a few different versions of it.

The bottom line: these “burgers” do not have any animal ingredients, so please do not expect that the taste and texture will be just as it usually is in an animal-based product.

However, these vegan “burgers” are still super delicious, satisfying, filling, and quite addictive in a good way (meaning that it could be difficult to stop after eating just one “burger”). The recommended serving size for this recipe is about 2 or 3 “burgers”, depending on their size, so it means you can eat more than one!

I just wanted to mentioned one more thing: some people pay attention to the color of the vegan “burger”, and, as I learned, it mostly depends on the ingredients that you use.

This recipe will have a brownish-reddish-purple color because of the beets, and if you decided to replace the beets with a green vegetable (such as celery), the color of your product will be brownish-green. As you can see on this picture, the colors are different, but the taste and texture will be similar.

What you will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • nuts, seeds, vegetables, herbs, and spices.
  • Equipment:
    • a knife, cutting board, food processor (I like Cuisinart), a large mixing bowl.

Method of preparation:

  • Process the nuts and seeds into a fine powder.
  • Process the vegetables and herbs into a smooth mass.
  • Combine the dry and wet ingredients, form patties, and assemble them into a “burger” meal.
  • The whole process takes about 15-20 minutes.

Download a full recipe here: Burgers raw and vegan

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 2 cups sunflower seeds
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)
  • 1 small beet, chopped (1/2 cup)
  • 1 carrot, chopped (1 cup)
  • 1 small handful parsley, chopped
  • 2 Tbs ground flax seeds
  • 3 Tbs nutritional yeast
  • 2 Tbs dried herbs (Italian seasoning)
  • Optional: 1/16 tsp sea salt

Yield: 5 cups or 9 burgers, Serving size: 2-3 “burgers”

Method of preparation:

  1. Process spices, nuts, and seeds in a food processor into a powder and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Process all vegetables and fresh herbs in food processor into a smooth mass.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine processed dried and wet ingredients using a large spoon or your hands, until it becomes a homogenous mass (if it is too wet, add more of the dried ingredients such as extra powdered nuts or seeds). The final texture should be not too soft or too wet.
  4. Measure about 1/2 cup of the mixture to make one patty.
  5. To serve, place a patty on a lettuce or cabbage leaf, and decorate with slices of bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and parsley.
  6. Store in a refrigerator for up to 3 days, freeze up to 2 weeks, or serve immediately and enjoy!

Finally, I’m including my quick video with some ideas on how to make a “burger” meal and serve it in a beautiful and delicious way. Hope you find it helpful.

The inspiration for this recipe came from the book by Baird and Rodwell (referenced below).

Bon appetit and happy holidays!

Nataliya.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi43YVpgEz0&t=6s

References:

Baird, L. & Rodwel, J. (2005). The Complete Book of Raw Food. Healthy Living Books: New York, NY

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The Homemade Beans: Yummy!

Recently, I had to cook a batch of soybeans for a client. Yes, they were organic and non-GMO, and it took some time to find. If you are lucky to live near a Natural Food Store such as Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco or others that carry them in bulk, that’s great. Online shopping is another option; the Nuts.com, Amazon, and some farmers sell the dried beans online.

Dried soybeans.

Step 1. Soak the beans.

Before I soak the beans, I like to rinse them once. Then, in a bowl, I put 1 cup of beans and add 4 cups of cold water. Why so much water? The beans expand about 3 times from their dried size and they soak up, like a sponge, a lot of water. At this point, I add a teaspoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to assist with the fermentation process. Then, I leave the beans on the counter overnight or for at least 8 hours. Read the recipe here.

This is how the beans look after soaking. Notice their expanded size. If you look closer, you will see the tiny sprouting tails.

Step 2. Cook the beans.

After soaking, I drain the water, rinse the beans, place them into a pot, and add about 2 cups of water. I bring them to a gentle boil and cook on the lowest temperature for about 10-15 minutes. After I turn the heat off, I let the beans sweat under the closed lid for 10-15 minutes. (The cooking time differs for different types of legumes, but in general, it takes less time to cook pre-soaked beans.)

Fully cooked soybeans. They expanded just a bit more during cooking and sweating process.

Step 3. Decide how you want to eat them.

If I plan to eat the beans on the same day, I usually drain the liquid and add the beans to salads, main dishes, soups, casseroles, or snacks. If I want to eat them a few days later, I do not drain them and keep the pot in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If I plan to freeze them (which I rarely do as they usually run out after 2 days), then I would drain them first, and them freeze in portion-size containers.

Step 4. Making soymilk.

This time, I wanted to experiment and make my own organic, non-GMO soymilk.

I soaked and cooked the beans, and let it cool. I had about 1 and 1/2 cups of cooked beans and about the same amount of cooking liquid. Then, I blended the beans and the cooking liquid in a blender. After that, I poured the mixture into a nut milk bag to separate the liquid from the solids. After squeezing the liquid out well, I got about 3 cups of delicious, silky, smooth, slightly sweet soymilk. I think it is worth trying the homemade soymilk at least once in a lifetime because the taste and the texture are amazing and way superior to the packaged soymilks from the stores. Notice that I did not add any sweeteners, salt, or other ingredients; the soymilk was amazingly delicious in its plain version and it had no beany or pasty taste. It can be stored in a refrigerator for up to 3 days, and used in smoothies or Buddha bowls.

Homemade soymilk and the bean balls.

Step 5. What to do with the soybean pulp?

The soybean pulp that remained in a nut milk bag can be used in different ways. The fastest way is to put it into a compost. However, my favorite way is to utilize it into a recipe as it is full of nutrients and fiber. This time, I mixed it with some ground flax seeds, oregano, garlic, onion, salt, and lemon juice and rolled them up into the savory bean balls (falafel-like) and served them as snacks.

Hope you found this post interesting and got some inspiration for trying new recipes. Feel free to leave any comments.

The Recipe: Homemade soy milk

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup soybeans, dried
  • 4 cups water for soaking and cooking

Yield:  1 cup cooked beans or 3 cups of soy milk

Equipment: a bowl, a pot, a nut milk bag

Preparation:

  • Place the dried beans into a bowl and add 2 cups of water.
  • Soak overnight or for 8 hours.
  • Drain soaking water, rinse the beans.
  • Place soaked beans into a pot, add 2 cups of water, bring to boil and simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes.
  • Turn the heat off, and let the beans sweat under the lid for another 10-15 minutes. Let cool.
  • In a blender, blend the beans together with a cooking liquid until smooth.
  • Pour the mixture into a nut milk bag and squeeze as much liquid out as you can. This is the soy milk.
  • Pour the soy milk in a cup and enjoy the pure deliciousness!
  • Pour the rest of it into a glass jar and store in a refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Remove the pulp from the nut milk bag and either compost it or include it in other recipes. You can mix it with some ground flax seeds, spices, and salt and make the bean balls.

Cheers to healthy and fun eating!

Nataliya.

 

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Tomato Celery Cucumber Juice

It is the end of summer and I like to celebrate it with vegetable juice prepared from some local and seasonal produce.

My favorite is a homemade version of V-8 juice. The original V-8 recipe calls for eight vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, celery, beets, parsley, lettuce, spinach, and watercress.

However, I found that if I only have three ingredients, it still tastes pretty yummy.

For this Tomato Celery Cucumber Juice recipe, I like to juice tomato, celery, and cucumber, in any proportion, depending on what I have. The taste of this juice is sweet and salty and can satisfy the salty cravings in a very nutritious way.

To make an easy homemade version of V-8 juice, you will need these ingredients:

  • Tomatoes, 8-10, average size
  • Cucumber, 1 large, or 2 small
  • Celery, 2 stalks

Preparation

Wash and scrub the vegetables. Depending on your juicer, you may need to cut them in halves or quarters. Put the vegetables in the juicer. Enjoy immediately or store in a refrigerator for up to 12 hours to preserve the maximum nutrition.

Here is a quick video on how to make this juice.

To your health,

Nataliya

Reference:

Campbell’s. (2018). V-8 vegetable juice. Retrieved from https://www.campbells.com/v8/vegetable-juice/v8-vegetable-juice/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwiJncBRC1ARIsAOvG-a5wF6jqgUboThqErspcWGGcFK8tUE-FmjSz-EGGVAd2690ad0Le10QaAoiFEALw_wcB

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Easy Quinoa Salad

Hello everybody,

I feel inspired to share with you an easy quinoa salad that I have been recently making. It tastes delicious and satisfying and takes under 30 minutes to make.

Quinoa is a gluten-free seed, and, according to Filho et al. (2017),  it has all essential amino acids. The vegetables and spices provide minerals, vitamins, anti-oxidants, and fiber.

You will need the following equipment:

A mixing bowl, a spoon, a knife, and a cutting board.

You will need the following ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup cooked quinoa (I used multi-colored quinoa)
  • 1/3 cup raw shredded or julienned carrots
  • 1/3 cup raw shredded or julienned cucumbers
  • 1/3 cup cut broccoli florets (raw or steamed)
  • 1 avocado, cubed
  • 1/4 cup green onion, sliced
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 2 Tbs raw apple cider vinegar, diluted with 2 Tbs filtered water
  • 1/4 tsp curry powder
  • Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Yield: 2 cups, Serving size: 1 cup

To assemble the salad, mix all the ingredients together.

As an option, you can add other sources of protein such as tempeh, nuts, or seeds. This salad may also work as a pleasant side dish that can complement many different dishes.

Recipe variations:

  • Add different fresh or dried herbs (mint, rosemary, dill, cilantro)
  • Add different seeds (flax, sesame, sunflower)

Here is a quick video on how to assemble it:

Thank you for visiting and happy eating!

Let us know if you have any questions!

Nataliya

References:

Filho, A. M. M.,  Pirozi, M. R., Borges, J. T., Pinheiro Sant’Ana, H. M.,  Chaves, J. B. P.,  &  Coimbra, J. S. (2017) Quinoa: Nutritional, functional, and antinutritional aspects. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition,57(8), 1618-1630, DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2014.1001811