Cleaning out the pantry!

Since we have decided to go completely organic, I thought now would be a good time to clean out our pantry.
Here is all the food we were able to get rid of......geesh!

So my kids wanted to help out a local pantry after hearing a few sad stories about families in need. So we cleaned out the pantry and brought it up to the food pantry! No turning back now!

Great french toast!

Here is another recipe from Alicia Silverstone and these are soooo yummy. My kids even liked them. This was the first time we have ever tried tofu and were a little hesitant, but we LOVED them!!!!

Great French Toast

INGREDIENTS
Yeast-free bread slices (French Meadow Summer Bread or whole spelt bread are good options)

1 1/2 cups firm tofu

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons rice syrup

1/2 cup soy milk

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon corn oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Oil of your choice (olive, safflower, sunflower, etc.) for frying



STEPS
Blend all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
If too thick, add more soy milk. 

Dip bread in batter and fry in hot oiled skillet until browned on both sides. 



Topping:
Serve with maple syrup.
Or you can make a great cinnamon butter by mixing cinnamon together with Earth Balance to taste.
You can also make a maple/flax syrup by mixing 1/2 cup maple syrup and 2 teaspoons flax seed oil (that kind of ratio, because you don't want to make more syrup/flax than you will use)
Mix them together well.
The oil adds a nice layer to the syrup.

I'm learning!

In my search for recipes I came across one that called for Tempeh. What in the world is tempeh?!? So here is what I found out about Tempeh.....apparently very good for you so I think I will have to try this recipe if I can just find this stuff in the grocery store.

What is tempeh?
Tempeh is a fermented food made by the controlled fermentation of cooked soybeans with a Rhizopus mold (tempeh starter). The tempeh fermentation by the Rhizopus mold binds the soybeans into a compact white cake. Tempeh has been a favorite food and staple source of protein in Indonesia for several hundred years.
But tempeh is now rapidly becoming more popular all over the world as people look for ways to increase their intake of soybeans and isoflavones.
They discover tempeh's versatility and delicious taste. Especially vegetarians and vegans find the structure and protein content interesting. Tempeh has a firm texture and a nutty mushroom flavour. Tempeh can be used in different ways. Normally tempeh is sliced and fried until the surface is crisp and golden brown or tempeh can be used as ingredient in soups, spreads, salads and sandwiches.
Make your own tempeh!
It's easy to make tempeh at home at a very low cost. Dehulled soybeans are soaked overnight, cooked for about 30 min and mixed with tempeh starter. After 36 to 48 hours incubation you have delicious fresh tempeh. Tempeh starter contains spores of Rhizopus oligosporus or Rgizopus oryzae.
Tempeh is healthy!
Tempeh is very nutritive and contains many health promoting phytochemicals such as isoflavones and soy saponins. Tempeh fermentation produces natural antibiotic agents but leaves the desirable soy isoflavones and most of the saponins intact. Tempeh is a complete protein food that contains all the essential amino acids. The soy protein and isoflavones have many health benefits. Isoflavones strengthen bones, help to ease menopause symptoms, reduce risk of coronary hearth disease and some cancers. Tempeh maintains all the fiber of the beans and gains some digestive benefits from the enzymes created during the fermentation process.

Peanut butter cups recipe!

Here is an awsome recipe for peanut butter cups from Alicia Silverstone's book "A kind diet". These are soooooo awesome! Something that a man had said on one of Oprah's shows stuck with me. He said it was alright to eat the foods that you want as long as you make it from scratch. If you want french fries, make them from scratch. You are not going to want to do this everyday because it can be a pain in the butt. So after hearing that it, it is so true. I LOVE peanut butter cups but it is not something I would make everyday. So if I make this recipe once a month, I still get my fill on my peanut butter cups but it is not as bad as going to the store and grabing one everyday. I also make these in the small muffin pan so they are about a third of the size. My kids love these as well.


SERVINGS
12

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (preferably unsweetened and unsalted)
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs or 10 graham cracker squares
1/4 cup maple sugar or other granulated sweetener
1 cup grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips
1/4 cup soy, rice, or nut milk
1/4 cup chopped pecans, almonds, or peanuts


PREPARATION
1. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. (If You Care makes unbleached liners made from recycled paper.) Set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
3. Stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and maple sugar and mix well.
4. Remove the mixture from the heat. Evenly divide the mixture, approximately 2 tablespoons per cup, among the muffin cups.
5. Combine the chocolate and milk in another pan. Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted.
6. Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture.
7. Top with chopped nuts.
8. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

Starting fresh!

You would think I would learn my lesson on watching certain shows after I watched a 20/20 episode on hotels and now have a fear of all the germs inside a hotel room. But no, I didn't! So a couple weeks ago a friend of mine let me borrow the movie Food Inc. This was one of the worst shows I have seen! It makes me so sick to my stomach to even think what I am feeding my body, and even worse what I am feeding my kids bodies. So we are cleaning up our bodies and starting fresh. I have been doing quite a bit of research and will be posting some of my findings. I'm going to try to keep this to all the good things I find instead of it being negative. So welcome to our adventure of organic eating!!!!!
Oh I forgot to mention that I also rented the movie Super Size Me from the library and it may be awhile before I can go out to eat again........I really have to stop watching these shows!

Stay tuned!

This blog is going to be changing since the Weber family has decided to go organic. Stay tuned for further!

Slacking

I know I have been really slacking on keeping up with this blog. I think we have made so much progress so it is not as big of a deal to keep up with this. Adriana has done great this week as well. I actually got my vegetarian to eat meat! She helped me make meat balls from a homemade gourmet recipe and she was more than willing to give them a try. I was so surprised when she said she liked them! She is also trying more soup this week. The only problem we are having is getting her to eat things more than once. For instance she would not eat any of the meatball leftovers so I guess we will keep having her try the foods when they are fresh. I also try to let her help me cook as often as possible because I think that is a big help.