Sourdough Revival

 

I have seen a lot of folks looking for sourdough starter cultures in the last while and I decided to post about how to revive a dried culture here as I have been mailing out some to folks who do not have one to start with – these directions will come in handy.

If you’re looking for a kombucha, ginger beer or sourdough starter ~ I could be your guy. Send me an email or post a comment on this blog and I’ll be more the happy to help you out.

What you have to know is that reviving a dried sourdough starter can be a pretty bulletproof and simple task – most of the time. Like all cultures that go dormant however, you do not know if they are “alive” again until you go through the process to wake them up. Some have gone to sleep forever and you need to start all over again. No big deal – just let me know and I can ship you out another.

Day 1 Instructions: 

Soak 1 tsp. dried starter in 1 Tbs. lukewarm purified or spring water for a few minutes to soften

Stir in 1 Tbsp. all-purpose or bread flour (orgainc), cover loosely with a tightly woven cloth or Abeego wax/cloth wrap and let sit at 20 degrees (plus) for 24 hours. If you stir the mixture a couple of times during the 24 hours you will aerate and push the process along a little further.

Day 2: 

Stir in 1 Tbsp. of flour and 1 tsp. of purified water and let it sit as in day 1. Bubbling should start within 48 to 72 hours of this process. If not, your culture might be stagnant. Try again.

Day 3: 

Add 1/3 cup flour and 1/4 cup of water to activate culture.  Build the starter one or two times per day until you have what you will need for baking – remembering you will need to keep some to set aside for future batches. Equal amounts (by weight) of flour and water usually give you the best culture consistency for baking.

Aftercare: 

Your starter can be stored in the fridge with a loose fitting lid or Abeego. You can then feed it once weekly to keep it alive. You may also go the route of drying your culture out on a silpat if you feel that you are done with baking.

Spring (10 minute) veggie soup

 

Tired of salad, still on a training plan…enter Zuppa.

Yesterday felt cold, really cold and blustery. I think that during this point of my training, when I’m burning off all my body fat, I just tend to be more cold. Plus, we live in the woods in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies so….we still have knee-deep snow in places that I’m sure adds to this fact.

This soup wasn’t as satiating as I would normally make it because I had measured my protein and placed it in the bottom of the bowl instead of just going for it like i usually would. If you’re watching calories, this one is very very low on carbs, good amount of fiber and if you measure out your protein, it’ll balance out quite well for an evening meal.

In the bottom of this bowl is 4oz of firm organic Tofu. In Jeff’s bowl was 6oz of Tofurky Lightly Seasoned “Chicken”. So jealous of his “meat”…hee hee.

Ingredients: 

4 cups veggie stock – try my homemade recipe HERE

2 cups hot water

2 medium carrots chopped

2 cups cauliflower chopped

2 cups broccoli chopped

1 medium yellow onion diced

3 cloves garlic diced

3 cups white mushrooms sliced

1 cup shelled peas

1 heaping TBSP Mugi Miso

Coconut oil (spray) or 1/2 tsp

1 tsp salt

** I use sriracha on EVERYTHING including this soup. Add to your desired heat.

Method: 

In a large pot saute onions, garlic and carrots in coconut oil for 5 minutes on medium heat to soften and release flavour.

Next, add in cauliflower and broccoli and saute for another 3-4 minutes.

Add remainder of ingredients starting with your veggie broth then your water. Bring to a boil for 1 minute then reduce and simmer for 30 minutes or so.

You can either add protein directly to the soup OR place it in the bottom of a bowl before serving. If you do this when your protein is cold, it will cool off the soup while heating up.

Serves 4.

Pity Party Pizza – Vegan

 

Walnut and Brussels Sprout “Zaa”

 

46 days into prep without a re-feed meal and I was starting to feel like my next check-in email would be responded to with a “guess what? You get a re-feed”….instead, I was told that I looked like I’m retaining water which upped my cardio to an insane level AND changed my overall diet plan again.

This did not sit well with me, Jeff suggested we go for pizza. I had enough will to NOT cave and head for legit dangerous territory but I did need to pretend I ate pizza in order to survive.

I birthed a couple of recipes I hope you can find some enjoyment in.

Water retention. Pfft.

 

Tofu & Cheeze “Zaa”

Without having anything tomatoey, I needed to build a base. I was originally going for a Thai flavour but it ended up being something…else.

 

I utilized my usual vegan prep food for these recipes…but not the asparagus as I am mad at asparagus right now and don’t want to taste it on anything remotely delicious. Stupid, plain, boring and never ending asparagus.
Base:

Ezekiel wraps

1 tbsp sun butter

1/4 cup rehydrated sundried tomatoes (let sit in really warm water for 10-15 mins)

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup water
Cheese:

4 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/8 cup water

1 tbsp chia seeds

*Mix all ingredients in small dish with fork and allow to sit for 10 minutes to thicken* voila “cheeze” 

Pizza toppings: 

Roasted brussels sprouts

Roasted broccoli

Chopped tomato

Cubed Tofu

Walnuts

Yellow onions

Maple Syrup

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 425.

Slather on base, then add ingredients as desired. Bake for 10-12 minutes checking back to ensure you aren’t burning the “crust”. On my second effort I sprayed the bottom of the “pizza” with coconut oil. 

Pizza #1 was: 

Base, slivered yellow onion, brussels, tomato, walnuts & drizzle of maple syrup.

Pizza #2 was: 

Base, broccoli, tomato, tofu (measured per my diet plan), “cheeze”.

Winter Salad – Eating in Season

 

A beautiful salad I wish I could’ve chowed down on!

 

Another recipe from my Earl Grey School teaching series in Calgary. Keeping it simple and fun allowed the kids to have a blast putting this one together.

Ingredient by ingredient they identified in season veggies

These ingredients were a great segway into teaching about carbon footprints, our impact on the earth and what it truly means to be a locavore.

The kids love participating ~ even when it’s just emptying out a baggie into a bowl. Hands on is key & food is the way to their hearts and minds.

Another  vegan (nearly raw) recipe requiring no cooking – perfect for you to pick up and make at home with your family.

I was SO impressed by what the kids knew about the items that we discussed. One girl even knew (without using the exact terminology) that broccoli and kale belonged to the same family ~ brassicas ~ faith in some of humanity restored….look at all those hands up in the air!

 

The smart board here is showing my chart that addresses carbon footprint impacts in the food production industry.

With the use of technology we were able to forego our usual paper handouts (which I hope were making it home for parents to have a look at all the continued resources) and put up a lot of great information for the class to have a look through and comment on.

These kids will definitely be thinking more “Earth first” after going through how they themselves can help reduce carbon emissions by the choices they make as little humans – they seemed to come away feeling quite empowered. If you’re looking for the lesson plan I used to accompany this recipe – contact me!

Ingredients:

– 3 cups raw, washed broccoli florets

– 2 cups blanched yams, cubed

– 2 cups frozen or fresh peas

– 1 cup green onion diced

– 3 cups chopped kale (any variety)

– 4 tbsp lemon juice

– 2 tsp grated ginger

– 1 tsp Himalayan salt

Method: 

Combine all ingredients in large bowl, stir and serve. You can also store in the

I think this one works best if you settle it in the refrigerator for a few hours to let all the flavours combine.

Top this recipe with sesame seeds or toasted pumpkin seeds as I have omitted these due to allergies.

Great as a side dish, this recipe serves 8-10 sides.

Chili Chickpea Caesar – Vegan

Another one for the salad vaults – and yes there have been a tonne of them lately. Why? Well, because I am cooking mostly only 1 creative meal per day and that is at dinnertime when I can spare the minutes of my life to do this. To add, I’m in contest prep currently and salad-type meals are the best for my waistline at this point – yours too!

This heart healthy salad took about 10 minutes to put together….less waiting for your chickpeas to firm up. In total you’ll need about 45 minutes to get this done so may I suggest this tempo:

Get home, preheat your oven then slip into something more comfortable…….put on some tunes, crack a bottle of Perrier with a slice of lime and romance this one together. You’ll need to get your kissing on before you eat this one…she’s a garlic-y doozer which I used to my advantage trying to overcome this poorly timed flu.

Dressing Ingredients: 

2 tbsp Vegenaise or any other type of vegan mayo.

1 large clove garlic

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

3 tbsp water

1/2 tsp Himalayan salt

1/2 tsp tri-colour pepper (freshly ground)

Salad Ingredients:

2 cans chickpeas

4 cups kale torn to small pieces

2 cups romaine lettuce chopped into small pieces

1 tsp Chili powder

1 tsp Garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp avocado oil

Method: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large mixing bowl add both cans of rinsed chickpeas with chili powder, garlic powder, salt and avocado oil. Mix well.

Spread over baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, remove from oven & stir/mix and bake for another 12 minutes or until desired firmness is reached.

While these are baking combine all your dressing ingredients in a wide mouth mason jar and blend with a hand blender. If you do not have a hand blender simply ensure all your ingredients are minced as finely as possible and whisk in a deep vessel with a fork.

Toss greens in dressing and top salad with roasted chickpeas. You can even use these chickpeas as a simple appy to replace salty crackers or nuts.

Serves 2-4 people. 2 as a full meal, 4 as a side.

Nutritional Info: 

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 725
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 16 g	25 %
Saturated Fat 2 g	9 %
Monounsaturated Fat 4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 5 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 3 mg	1 %
Sodium 836 mg	35 %
Potassium 6209 mg	177 %
Total Carbohydrate 128 g	43 %
Dietary Fiber 57 g	229 %
Sugars 32 g
Protein 42 g	85 %
Vitamin A	4130 %
Vitamin C	237 %
Calcium	96 %
Iron	145 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

 

No peanut satay

I drummed this recipe up while I was wondering what to do for yet ANOTHER dinner salad. In our house, most of the time but definitely during prep season our last meal of the day is a salad. We harness the most beneficial nutrients of all of the raw vegetable ingredients simply by not cooking them at all.

Flavours are crisp, clean and robust every time.

For this particular salad I was craving something a little Thai but didn’t want to use peanut butter as I have that as a staple at least a couple of times per day. I also wanted to avoid peanut butter so that this recipe could be accessed by folks who may have moderate to severe nut allergies.

The flavours at the end of the day are not 100% Thai Peanut sauce (obviously) but are a great second runner up in my books.

The bowl itself contained snap peas, spiralized zucchini noodles, red peppers and mushrooms. Macro-nutrient wise dinner was still on point for prep.

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon Mugi miso

3 tablespoons Sun Butter

1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon  hot pepper oil (this stuff is HOT so choose your own adventure)

3 tbsp hot water – add as needed to create smooth consistency

2 cloves raw garlic

1/4 tablespoon coconut manna / coconut butter

Method: 

Place all ingredients in wide mouth mason jar & blend with hand blender.

If you do not own a hand blender then simply ensure that you utilize a garlic press or dice the hell out of your garlic to ensure it’s all mixed up nicely.

I topped a great hot salad which included some new lightly seasoned Tofurky for a vegan protein option.

Nutritional Info: 

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 317
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 8 g	12 %
Saturated Fat 1 g	7 %
Monounsaturated Fat 3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg	0 %
Sodium 332 mg	14 %
Potassium 635 mg	18 %
Total Carbohydrate 54 g	18 %
Dietary Fiber 5 g	20 %
Sugars 3 g
Protein 13 g	25 %
Vitamin A	1 %
Vitamin C	80 %
Calcium	28 %
Iron	18 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

 

Vegan Carob cookies

 

 

Every time I make a dessert recipe I firmly state that I rarely do so. Well, because we are embarking on a NEW business venture (yep another one) I will be using some of my time to try and create prototypes for testing – you may even see us out at the farmers markets this summer AND you should definitely see us with a booth at the fall bodybuilding shows….stay tuned.

My risk, your gain, these cookies were inspired by a bag of carob chips I had leftover after teaching part of my health series at my step-daughters elementary school. I call sugary things “sometimes treats” and enjoyed that I could reinforce that terminology with the class delivering surprise cookies.

*Nearly* sugar-free, these have made the recipe books…well, mine anyway. Just wish I would’ve busted out the equipment for some decent food shots.

Carob chips come in sweetened and natural – natural carob is NATURALLY sweet so please try to find unsweetened chips.

Dry Ingredients:

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

4 cups spelt or coconut flour * I used both and liked spelt more

Wet ingredients: 

1/2 cup almond milk

1 1/8 cup coconut oil melted

2 tsp vanilla extract – try my simple recipe

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups carob chips – save us for last!

Method: 

Baker I am NOT so I will have you know that there were two fallen trial recipes before this one. I attempted both baking AND dehydrating however, baking won.

Set oven to 350.

You will need 2 bowls, one large one medium.

In your medium bowl mix warm melted coconut oil with vanilla extract and brown sugar. Dissolve your sugar up in this mix.

In your larger bowl add all of your dry ingredients and mix well.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add your wet ingredients as pictured below.

Once this is done SLOWLY add your nut milk and mix until sticking. Add in your carob chips.

The dough should be relatively dry and ball up easily. Don’t add all your nut milk at once and don’t be afraid to use a tad more over the recipe if you feel the cookies are too dry.

Ballers being ballers – stoked to have a recipe that just might work.

Next, roll into doughnut hole sized balls and place on a cookie sheet.

These bad girls don’t grow too much so squish them down with your fingers or a fork to ensure they are thoroughly cooked.

Bake for 10 minutes. I tried 12 and they dried out too much, 10 should work well if your oven temps are true.

 

 

Kale & Aubergine Hot Salad

I’m dedicating this recipe to my lovely lovely friend Ziuta in London who is a busy mom of two and tries SO hard to learn new things and stay healthy. I don’t know how you do it lady, but I applaud you.

I’d normally call this one Kale & Zucchini however, Ziuta refers to them as their other name (aubergines) so I will for those purposes as well.

This is such a quick recipe that you can’t make any excuses for not getting your S&*T together to make some decent meals.

I’ve made this vegan (of course) but if you’re NOT vegan you can sub in whatever protein you wish. I’d hope for your sake you utilize this recipe to implement a Meatless Monday in your home – stay heart healthy.

I have omitted onions and garlic from this as they aren’t “safe” right now in my house ~ excess gas during prep time is not ideal, so add this if you wish.

You will need a pan with a lid or a way to cover your pan.

 

Ingredients: 

10 large white mushrooms sliced

1 large bunch kale chopped well

2 med/large aubergine spiralized or sliced thinly, you can also use a potato peeler or mandolin to make thin strips.

1 cup chopped pea shoots

2 cups snap peas

1 tsp coconut/avocado oil

16 oz Tofurky “chicken” type protein

2 large cloves garlic diced

1 medium yellow onion diced

Method: 

Heat oil in large (deep) pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sautee for 3-4 minutes until they start to clarify but not brown.

Next, add kale, mushrooms and peas and cook for 3-5 minutes with lid on.

Next, add your vegan protein to basically just warm it up and brown a bit….you will have to add COOKED animal protein to this if you are using meat. DO NOT ADD RAW MEAT!!

Cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add in pea shoots & aubergine.

Serve as a hot salad in bowls. This serves 4 people approximately 4oz of protein.

This is approximately 600 calories per serving…my nutrition generator is NOT working at the moment and I will update once it start accepting my new foods. 

 

 

 

Falafel Salad with Tzatziki Dressing

A lot of the time new recipes are born of my die-hard desire to not waste any food in my home. Looking in the fridge I noticed there was some Tzatziki dressing that was going to go off ~ chickpeas to the rescue.

This recipe is simple, though not too quick if you’re in a rush but if you prep the whole recipe you’ll have leftovers you can freeze and use easily any time.

Going out for food is absolutely impossible during prep, these made the cut and didn’t equal a cheat because I re-arranged my Macros for the day to accommodate.

You must try this one.

Ingredients:

Falafel

2 cans of chickpeas

1 medium yellow onion chopped

4 large cloves of garlic diced

1 large dried chili pepper (or chili pepper flakes)

2 tbsp cumin

2 tbsp corriander

1 tsp parsley flakes

1 tsp celery seeds

1 tsp salt

1 cup spelt flour

Water as needed to thin mixture

Dressing: 

1/2 cup vegan sour cream

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup chopped dill

Juice of 1 large lemon

1 large clove of garlic

** Place all ingredients in small vessel and using hand blender mix until creamy and smooth**

Salad: 

Cucumber, Kale, Spinach, Peas, tomato – you name it! I keep a big clean bowl of ready-to-eat mixed greens in the fridge that work well with every style of salad.

Method: 

Combine all ingredients in bowl and use hand mixer or food processor to mix well.

“Raw” Ingredients

I liked this a little more on the watery side to ensure they cooked a little more quickly.

Pre-heat a cast iron pan to medium heat and coat lightly with coconut or olive oil. (You can use a non-stick pan if you don’t have cast iron). We are not looking to use oil to deep fry in any way, only to keep the falafels from sticking! I used a small ice cream scoop to set the mix into the pan, this made them about golf ball sized or a little smaller.

Cook over medium heat for approximately 4-5 minutes per side. The ingredients will firm up in the same way as a pancake, where you can see them starting to cook through the middle (from the bottom) and will know it is time to flip.

Don’t over cook these as they can turn into little hockey pucks quite easily, so patience is best when you’re working with this one.

Dress your salad with the falafels, add hot sauce, dressing and top with diced tomato and cucumber.

Enjoy! – Serves 8 (at least) or two plus a tonne of leftovers!

Nutrition Information Falafels: 

Nutrition Facts
Servings 8.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 158
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 3 g	4 %
Saturated Fat 0 g	1 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg	0 %
Sodium 254 mg	11 %
Potassium 211 mg	6 %
Total Carbohydrate 26 g	9 %
Dietary Fiber 6 g	25 %
Sugars 1 g
Protein 7 g	14 %
Vitamin A	2 %
Vitamin C	4 %
Calcium	6 %
Iron	17 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Nutritional Information Tzatziki Dressing: 

Nutrition Facts
Servings 8.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 57
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 6 g	8 %
Saturated Fat 1 g	4 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg	0 %
Sodium 41 mg	2 %
Potassium 24 mg	1 %
Total Carbohydrate 2 g	1 %
Dietary Fiber 0 g	1 %
Sugars 0 g
Protein 0 g	1 %
Vitamin A	2 %
Vitamin C	6 %
Calcium	1 %
Iron	1 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Vegan {high protein} quesadillas

Ingredients: 

2 pieces Ezekiel Wraps

1/4 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup sliced green pepper

1/8 cup daiya shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup yves ground round

1/4 cup black beans (or my RECIPE for mixed beans which was yum)

1 tbsp pico de gallo

Method: 

Heat up large pan to medium heat (if you have some kind of sandwich press machine this will simplify things a lot).

Place one wrap down, add all ingredients except salsa, top with another wrap.

Cook on one side until hardened and browned then flip and do the same for the other side.

Cut with pizza cutter, top with  pico de gallo.

Extra topping suggestions: Cilantro, sour cream (soy pictured),

 

Nutritional information: 

Nutrition Facts
Servings 3.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 158
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 4 g	6 %
Saturated Fat 1 g	4 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg	0 %
Sodium 330 mg	14 %
Potassium 222 mg	6 %
Total Carbohydrate 22 g	7 %
Dietary Fiber 5 g	21 %
Sugars 1 g
Protein 8 g	17 %
Vitamin A	2 %
Vitamin C	20 %
Calcium	5 %
Iron	15 %