Shebang!ed out Sprouted Quinoa Cookies

I am on the quest to make a reasonable cookie for the hubby who is craving sweets.  He ate a boat load of vegan girl scout cookies this morning and has been begging me for vegan cookies since he had one of anna B's gluten free vegan cookies (which ended up being 8 after a few days).  Anna B's and my schedule aren't the same, heck, I never really have a schedule, it's just make, make, make and deliver.  I like it this way.

I had a few things that I wanted to try out, making something sweet out of quinoa, using organic coconut oil (which is a renewable resource), Shebang! of course, and ground flaxseed.  I love when everything just works out perfectly, oh, and it had to be gluten free too.  I just prefer it that way.  No allergy here, but I just like it since I started cooking gluten-free for Pelham about 3 years ago, full time, before that it was during the holidays to impress my Aunt Robie, who has been gluten free FOR-EV-VER.  I just loved the challenge.

So get out your mixer and your coffee grinder and let's make some cookies.

Shebang! Quinoa Cookies

Ingredients:
1 c. Shebang! spiced sugar blend
6 oz. coconut oil, I get the refined organic Spectrum brand
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/4 c. almond, coconut or soymilk
2 tsp. baking powder, aluminum free, of course
1 c. ground sprouted quinoa, I get mine in the bulk section at Whole Foods Market
1 c. rice flour
1/2 c. ground flaxseed
extra Shebang for rollling

Directions:
In an electric mixer, or mix by hand, the Shebang! spiced sugar with coconut oil until well creamed.  Add vanilla and baking powder till well combined. Add soymilk, and continue to beat.  Add ground quinoa, rice flour and ground flaxseed and beat till combined.

Place on parchment paper and or in a bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Shape dough into walnut sized balls and roll into the extra Shebang! until well coated.  Place on a baking sheet, two inches from the next.  Using the bottom of a cup, flatten to 1/2 inch. Continue with the rest.

Bake 10- 12 minutes and remove from oven.  Let cool a few minutes before transferring to a wrack to cool.

These are absolutely delicious!

I used a coffee grinder to grind up my sprouted quinoa (it comes sprouted) and flaxseed, then measured.  I just loved the smell and the texture.

Chris ate a lot of dough, and has had at least 5 cookies since I baked them.  I enjoyed one a few minutes out the oven.  That's my favorite time, well, that and breakfast.

Oh, and on a personal note, I've been listening to bluegrass all day, and feel like a worker bee.  My favorite has been Mumford and Sons' Sigh No More. His voice reminds me of how I picture Ireland, the people, the heart of it all, Ireland.  I hope I go one day.

Coconut Tofu and Thai Red Curry

My husband has decided to go vegan.  He says he's doing it for me because it makes me so happy.  It is a very selfless endeavor for him because he is a full-time farmer who burns loads of calories a day chopping firewood, clearing land, driving machinery and all of that jazz.  He needs a rib-sticking supper.

Thai Red Curry with Coconut Tofu

Trying to feed him three hearty meals a day and snacks has become a part-time job and I am loving it.  I get to be totally creative in the kitch again, but I only have a limited amount of time because of my work, the kids, Pelham's school schedule and laundry. ;)

Here's last night's vegan, gluten free 30-minute meal.

I started with preparing Coconut Tofu and cooked the rice at the same time. Then moved on to chopping up the veggies and sauteing in a pan and then adding the coconut milk and spices.  Then heated the oil in the fryer and fried up the Coconut Tofu.  By that time, all elements of the meal where piping hot and ready to be plated.

Rice
Go ahead and start cooking your rice, in the amount  you need, according to package directions.


Coconut Tofu
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. flaxseed, ground mixed with 3 Tbsp. water
1/2 c. rice flour
2/3 c. grape juice (you can use beer too)


1 block of Twin Oaks Tofu, cut into 1/2 inch thich triangles


1 bowl filled with 1/4 c. rice flour


1 bowl  filled with 2 c. coconut flakes


Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed and water.  Let stand for 2 - 3 minutes to thicken.  Add rice flour and grape juice and whisk until smooth.  

Coconut Tofu

Cut Tofu into triangles and coat with plain rice flour.  Shake off access flour.  Pick up tofu by one corner and dredge in your flaxseed mixture.  Tap access off.  While still holding corner, coat all sides of rectangle in coconut flakes.  Place on a cookie sheet.  


Continue with all of the tofu.  Place cookie sheet in fridge until fry time.


Heat the oil in your fryer or pan to 360 degrees.  Fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden.  Remove from oil and place on a plate with paper towels to cool. 


For a dip I used equal parts teriyaki sauce and Graves Mountain hot pepper jelly.  Mixed them together and put into a small dipping bowl.  But you can always use orange marmalade mixed with mustard and horseradish, Thai peanut sauce or whatever combination of flavors you like.


Thai Red Curry
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. chopped ginger root
1/2 c. yellow onion, sliced thick
1/2 c. bell pepper, sliced thick
1/2 c. thick sliced portabella mushrooms
1/2 c. eggplant, sliced and quartered
1/2 c. broccoli florets
1/2 c. carrots, cut into small slivers
1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
1 Tbsp. prepared Thai Red Curry
1/2 tsp. Bang! Bang! Bangarang!
2 Tbsp. Shebang! spiced sugar blend
Fresh basil and cilantro, chopped


Directions:
In a large skillet, heat the oil to medium heat.  Saute garlic and ginger.  Add onions and peppers.  Add eggplant and shrooms.  Saute for about 5 minutes more.  


In a large bowl to the side, whisk together the coconut milk, red curry, and Bang! spices.  Pour milk into pan. Add broccoli and carrots.  Bring to a low boil and then set to simmer for 10 minutes.  Right before you serve toss in the fresh herbs and stir.


Serve hot over rice.


So, I made this feast last night and it was SO filling.  Chris couldn't believe that he was completely satisfied and stayed satiated for the whole evening!  I was very happy too because I love Thai food and any excuse to use coconut milk in any dish.  It had a whole lot of flavor and the kids even loved it.  But, they didn't like the coconut tofu, but in all fairness, I didn't ask them to try it, like I usually do.  I was so hungry from working outside that I was just so happy they enjoyed the rest.

I hope you do too.

Hot Southern Mess

Hi Friends!

I know it has been a while between visits but you will have to forgive me.  I've been ever so busy beating feet on the concrete.  I'm trying so hard to bring my vegan vittles to a grocer near you, but boy is it difficult.  Not everyone shares my passion for fabulous food.  Some days I have victories and most days defeat.  The 'no's' do not bother me as much anymore because when I get a 'yes, bring in a case of everything' I feel like I'm a LIVE WIRE and on FIRE!

Right now, I should be making a couple batches of Bangarang! and a couple batches of my Jengi and Punjabi lollipops, but I really, really wanted to take a moment and get back to the recipes.  It's always been the cooking that interests me most.  Savoring a flavor.  Enjoying the meal, tremendously.

I'm working on a new cookbook at the moment that I have fondly dubbed "Hot Southern Mess". Vegan Southern Cuisine. I have enjoyed every dish that I have tried to create, with the exception of my first batch of Pimento Cheese spread. I think it would have been better if I had purchased a jar of pimentos instead of roasting an organic red pepper and chopping it up.  For some odd reason, it made the whole batch taste very earthy like the scent of potting soil.  As soon as I made that association, I couldn't enjoy it.

You see, smell has so much to do with the way I cook.  I am SO sensitive to smells, whether it be good or bad.  I was a personal trainer and aerobics instructor for over 6 years before I took to farming and the smells in a packed gym would almost floor me by the end of my work/play day.  Being a personal trainer, I had to be very food/body conscious too. To this day I hate floor to ceiling mirrors.  They remind me of a book that I read many years ago. It was said that the Gullah women of the Lowcountry in South Carolina believe that those mirrors bring the devil out of you.  For some odd reason, I believe it.

I have lived in the South all of my life.  I was born in Virginia, then moved to Texas as a child, then Oklahoma, then back to Virginia, then to Georgia, then to South Carolina, then back to Virginia, where I've been for the last 5 years on a farm in Caroline County.  My family lives Culpeper, Richmond, Caroline, Reva, Mechanicsville, Warrenton (all VA), Hilton Head, SC, White Sulper Springs, WV, Oklahoma City, OK, Conway, AR and a great Uncle in Louisiana.  My family is as Southern as the day is long.

And in the spirit of great Southern tradition, I am writing a cookbook on my family's food. It can also serve as a remedy for all of y'all that cooked up Paula Deen's best dishes (which she did warn from the very beginning that her food should be enjoyed only on special occasions not everyday fare), and to combat against high cholesterol, high fat, high sugar foods.

Now, everyone knows that I'm vegan AND I hold a special place in my heart for Paula Deen.  I loved her memoir.  I loved that she busted her butt and supported herself and her two boys.  But I think she is a Shady Lady for lying to the health inspector and cooking illegally out of her home kitchen that was not certified.  She lied for years! All of those people eating those bagged lunches that were supposedly made in a certified commercial kitchen and there is no consequence.  She is above the food law and now it is a reflection, a funny little footnote in her Epic life.

Le sigh.

SOAP BOX (skip if you aren't into it)

I would encourage Southerners to please stop cooking your vegetables to death.  Seriously, they are so little nutrients left after you have cooked your greens for 3 hours.  Kale goes limp after 5 seconds of steam, seriously.  I just want us all to have the very best health.  We can't control our genes but we can control how we cook and eat.  Every meal is a choice.  Just make good choices.

Low sugar, low alcohol, low (or no if you are gluten-free) wheat, no meat (for me please and thank you). Bam! I'm sorry to shoot from the hip but I just have to keep it real and keep it simple.

STEPPED OFF THE SOAP BOX (continue reading for fun)

One of my very first recipes that I have enjoyed recently is my Jambalaya.  When I was at Longwood University I was Biology major.  I really don't know why, but I liked saying that I was a BI-O major when others asked.  I started working on my 3rd or 4th cookbook that was French Creole Cajun Cuisine.  It was packed with over 250 recipes that I cooked in the dorm kitchen.  I gained about 20 lbs during the cookbook and flunked all of my classes because I was obsessed.  Literally, obsessed.  There was so much flavor and so much fat and everyday was Mardi Gras to me.  College was like Mardi Gras and I was literally living like I was in New Orleans, hopping from place to place with a Hurricane in my hand and eating from the finest Creole kitchens.  I was a mess.  Needless to say, I had to leave on academic probation and go home with my cookbook in hand and black stretch pants.

A few years ago, I threw the cookbook away. It just hurt to look at it.  Truly a disappointment. There were things that it meant to me, like why was in college when all I wanted to be was a chef, but I was persuaded by others that was not a good professional for a mother, if I was thinking to the future. Long hours, working nights and weekends, working holidays and so on.  No, no, best to take the safe route, the unselfish route, and just have a hobby of cooking and writing cookbooks for no one else to see, or care and self-publish.  I've been writing cookbooks since I was 16, almost one book a year ever since.

I want someone to see and taste the food I'm cooking up in the GreenHearts kitchen.  I can't make and sell everything that I feel is a masterpiece.  This is a one man show.

So here's a little taste...

Jambalaya

Ingredients

Jambalaya

3 c. water with 1 ½vegan vegetable bouillon

 (I use Rapunzel brand vegan veggie bouillon)

14 oz. Tofurky Kielbasa, sliced

1 Tbsp. Earth Balance butter

1/4 c. green bell pepper, chopped

1/4 c. yellow onion, chopped

1/4 c. celery, chopped

1/4 c. carrots, chopped

3 small tomatoes, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 bay leaves

2 tsp. Bang! Bang! Bangarang! hot and spicy signature seasoning

1 tsp. fresh picked oregano

1 tsp. fresh picked thyme

3/4 cup rice, cooked using package directions

Directions

To begin, cook rice according to the package directions. At the same time, get out a large stock pot and heat the vegan butter over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, pepper, carrot and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add water and bouillon cube and bay leaves. Simmer until cube is dissolved. Add vegan kielbasa, Bang! Bang!, oregano and thyme. Stir in cooked rice.  Bring to a low boil then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes.  Serve piping hot in soup bowls. Add more Bang! if you like.

I hope you enjoy.  This dish takes me about 30 minutes to make, start to finish.  It is great to feed my husband, a farmer who likes things to be hearty and feel satiated after supper.  My kids love rice and veggies. They are not crazy about the Tofurky.  But, I love all of it. Every element. I love the warmth and comfort of this dish.  I love the texture of the veggies and chewiness of the Tofurky.  I love the smell of the fresh thyme.  I love eating with a spoon.  No fork tines. The roundness of a spoon and how it's the perfect fit with no sharp edges.  It's just comfort.

From my GreenHeart to yours,
Jen

Candy Corn!

Calling all corn lovers! Callin' all corn lovers!  COME AND GET IT! ding-a-ling-aling!
Y'all know who you are! hahah!

I'm talking about those who wait every year for Silver Queen or Golden Queen or any other sweet corn to finally come to market. Sweet corn, loaded in big coolers with tons of ice on top to keep it next to frozen. Oh, what a magical time at market. Everyone rushes to ya asking for 8 ears and some picky people shuck them right there, which I think is rude, and look at it and go to the next and shuck that one, you aren't picking out a Christmas tree or Wedding China, it's just sweet corn and it's gonna be good!

Those who love candy corn and johnny cakes or Hoe Cakes, hey!, that dear, ol' Paula Deen used to make.  Paula, I love you, but why didn't you come to meet me at your restaurant when I went to the Lady and Sons to drop off my spices and lollipops for you and your staff.  It was very rude of you not to even send me a thank you card.  I did travel from Caroline Co, Virginia all the way to Savannah, Georgia to see you. Where are your manners my dear! Ugh, when I'm big and famous, I'm gonna remember my fans who got me there.

Y'all who are nodding, salivating, or have shot your arm straight up in the air and said that's me! Oh ME! I love corn too! We have something in common.  I love corn!
Corn was the very first thing I remember eating at 11 months.  Homegrown sweet corn. Ain't nothing like it in the world! (sorry but I just had to use the words ain't and y'all when talking about corn).

So I ate my first ear of RAW sweet corn last night that I had picked up from market and then Usher song played in my head as the world melted away and I was left with all of the yummy sensations of eating raw sweet corn right off of the ear!

Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh my gosh!

to quote Usher or Will I Am from BEPs, who I think wrote the song but Ush sang it. Any who.  I'm sure neither hip-hop-popstars were talking about raw sweet corn when they laid down that track, hahah!

Talking about pop-songs, we have a song that we sing while washing our hands at GreenHearts Farm.  It's actually to the tune of Beyonce's All My Single Ladies.  We sing "all my dirty farmers, all my dirty farmer, all my dirty farmers put your hands UP!" While we are washing up in the utility sink.  Even my husband, VMI CLASS of 2002!!! sings this song, I think he actually started singing it first!  He's quite the clever minx.

How come no one has ever stopped me on the street and told me never to boil water for sweet corn.  People tell me the craziest things that I could never use and never remember either! Why wasn't something as important and life changing as this, one of the whispers in my ear, hahah! Dagnabbit, I had to wait almost three decades to figure this one out, on my own, out of sheer survival.

Last night, after my farmer's market, I was so hungry I just couldn't wait for the water to boil and the corn looked all lovely and the color of butter and I just went for it. I enjoyed it so much that I had to research immediately, before I shucked the second ear, so I could start gnawing on another ear knowing that it was not poisonous or deleterious to my body or whatevs.  I had to have more! I found out that people eat raw corn all of the time! and guess what?! 

IT TASTE LIKE CANDY!!!

So, now I have a new song in my head as I weed my no-till Silver Queen corn patches and irrigate them in today's Virginia simmering heat.  That Tim McGraw song.  I'm changing the lyrics to "watch my CANDY CORN pop up in rows, every night be tucked in close to YOU-O-oooo."

Farm Girl Glam!

Hi Friends! I don't really know why I have to blog about this but I just do! I feel like I have to pass it on to you and you and you! So a very Merry Unbirthday to you!  Here's my latest and greatest "and that's a good thing", hahah! Martha Stewart.  She and I have so many things in common, our love of lemons, and I really liked her crocheted shawl thing when she got out of jail.  She looked lovely and set a trend for like two years with that little number. You go Girl! Now, you know I don't agree with her business practices of the past and what landed her in jail but I think she is cute and quirky. And we all learn from our mistakes.  I'm not judging.

Back to why I brought you here, hahah!  Two words: Baking Soda. . .BAM!

Oh yes, baking soda is the word, haven't you heard?!  It's good for so many things, cooking kale and washing and exfoliating your face so you look Farm Girl Glam!  So get on your sundress, cowgirls, and but on your boots! Let's ham it up with this homemade recipe for baby soft skin!

Here are the deets. . .I made a paste with two tablespoons of baking soda and a wee bit of water.  Mixed it up and rubbed it gently on my face.  Then, using lukewarm water, I slowly massaged the paste, adding water until it was completely gone, like a one minute process. Towel dried, and VIOLA! Instant Farm Girl Glam that cost me mere pennies! Y'all, I'm serious. Baby soft skin!

Go out there and GLAM! and HAM! it up.

TTFN,
Jen

I dream in BBQ

Me stirring up a winner at the chili cook off!

I was hanging out with some of my nearest and dearest old friends at Benji's 30th birthday party on this Saturday past.  Everything was lovely, the conversation, the salad, the lighting. Just good friends having a grand time.  One of my dears, Jason, said the most extraordinary compliment to me. He said something like, "being different is just your thang, because you are Jenny Lane." Well, I've never been good at quoting what was said verbatim but I tell you, it made my glow. Thank you, Jason for making this little farm lady feel special.

As I write this now, I'm dreaming of big things like entering into a BBQ competition on my birthday, no less, with a vegan gluten-free BBQ recipe.  You may be asking yourself, How the heck does she think she's going to pull this one off?! And the answer to the question would be, well, I will bring the best recipe I can make with my spices and such and see if the judges like it as much as I do.

For lunch today I had vegan, gluten-free BBQ that I made using TVP, chopped apples, onions, parsley, homemade Carolina sauce with BANG!, grape jelly and a dab of peanut butter.  It was out of this world good.  I had to have seconds! Then thirds! I'm quite stuffed now and I don't feel like lifting a finger, well, only figuritively speaking that is, since I am typing away at my usual 110 words per minute. 

When home computers first came out, one of my favorite games was a typing game which would load words in the middle of the screen and you would have to type them as fast as your little fingers could click, clack and it kept me completely occupied for hours on end.  The second game I loved to play was BRICKS! I found out I have that game on my new phone.  The new version is way more challenging and not as mind numbing as I remembered.  I actually had furrowed brows and pursed lips as I played on my blackberry.  IT's JUST A GAME JENNY LANE! hahah!

Back to lunch, I'm not quite sure which recipe that I have created will be the one that I submit for final judging but I'm cooking up another one involving deep-fried pieces of gluten-free seitan and dipped in my smokey, grape jam sauce. I think that one will be the golden ticket. But we will see. The recipe for my famous chili was like this too.  Thinking and dreaming of what would highten the flavor experience so that the food is so delictable and hits every high and low note that it leaves you saying, "that is DANG! good. Hit me again!" And I would say, "with pleasure! KRAPOW!" and serve another heapin' helpin onto your plate.

I am literally dreaming in BBQ now.  I've had a couple of dreams where I was foraging for the best ingredients, sampling steaming wooden spoons, chopping and stirring. My dreams are staring into a deep silver pot looking at bubbling burgundy.  I dream in BBQ! WAHOO!

GreenHearts Farm is Making House Blessings

Birds and Bells

This Sari is on my Wishlist

Since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated and down right intoxicated by the sweet tune of brass bells clinking in the wind. What kind of childhood did I have you may ask, and indeed I'd answer a fine one.  In our quiet neighborhood that ran along one side of Lake Pelham in Culpeper, Virginia, we were quite an eclectic bunch of people, which is no wonder I like to cook the way I do.  Across the street we had the influence of Japan from one neighbor whose wife moved to the states to marry and make merry. Then we had childhood friends, Matt, G and Boo whose mother is from Lebanon and makes the most wondrous Lebanese food.  Our next door neighbors were from Pakistan and would fly these ginormous kites on Pelham View Drive that seemed to stretch to the sun.  I remember the father of Ravi, who was a little younger than myself, told me that when he lived in India he used to put glass on his spool of rope so when you were competing against the other kite flyers you could cut their lines easier.  I loved to imagine the place he had come from, battling kites, eating strong smelling foods, sari's and all of that jazz.

Kite flying in Pak

We would stand outside and watch him fly his kite while listening to the strands of hanging bells dance about in the wind whipped front porch and the whoosh, whoosh, whooooooosh of the kite as it would fly high and then take a dive.

Our neighbors had strands and strands of hanging birds and bells where most people would hang big, fat, green ferns in our neighborhood. I wasn't curious to know what these bells did but I remember loving them.  The first time I laid eyes on the hanging bells as an adult, I had to get one for me, and one for them, and one for her. and one for him.  It was the first World Market that I had ever been too and there was a little tag that said that these bells where handmade in Pakistan and that they are said to ward off bad spirits.  How romantic! Here all this time, I'd been looking for these bells and now I had them and there was actually great meaning and a story or a legend behind the love.  Oh, I was smitten for these little bits of whimsy.

For years now, I have given them to the brides and grooms as part of their wedding present. I think there is nothing more thoughtful, in my opinion.  Now they hang from my Farmer's Market tent to ward off bad spirits or negative people.  Everyone loves them and now, for the first time in my life. . . I'm going to attempt to make them. Wish me luck!

One of my Besties, Sarah, from Pakistan and me at Senior Prom!

Time to break out the refurbished sewing machine and begin to razzle-dazzle.  I'm through with playing in the garden for the day.  I wanna make some happy!

So let us give a cheer! To Happy Days and Happy Nights! And flying Kites!
Jen
ps~ I'll show pics as I progress. OOOOOOhhhhh! I'm so excited!

Hearts! with a little cow bell.

It's 12:17 am and I just finished my first! hahah! Talk about a project!  I think I may have to make them only in the winter because I got nothing done in the house while sewing and stringing.  It was sooo worth it though!

A closer look

Hip! Hip! Hooray!