Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Alkaline Dough for pizzas, wraps, buns, and more!

Learning how to prepare a basic dough will open the doors for a lot of new creations in the kitchen. Since being on this 30 day alkaline challenge I have realized that I will not find a lot of things in the stores that I'm used to finding when on a regular vegan diet such as buns, pizza crust, tortillas etc. I refuse to let that hold me back from enjoying many of the dishes I love so I decided to do some research and learned how EASY it is to make a vegan dough that can be used to create several different dishes. There were a few different recipes I found and I took a little inspiration from each one in order to create what I thought was the most simple recipe with minimal ingredients that are all on Dr. Sebis food guide. 

Empanadas before cooking

Empanadas after cooking



Pizza Crust




Tortilla wraps



Ingredients:
2 cups of spelt flour
1 cup of garbanzo flour
2 tbsp. of sea salt
2 tbsp. of onion powder
1 tbsp. of oregano
1 tbsp. of basil
1/4 cup of grapeseed oil
1 1/2 cups of spring water
1/2 cup of aquafaba (water chickpeas are cooked in) if making bread or buns

Burger buns



Directions
1. In a large bowl combine flour, salt, onion powder, oregano, and basil. Mix ingredients together thoroughly.
2. Add grapeseed oil and half of the water, aquafaba if necessary and mix together. 
3. Using your hand continue mixing the dough and adding more water as necessary. You will know the dough is ready when it stops sticking to your hands and is forming into a nice ball. If it is too sticky add more flour.
4. Clean off your working space and coat it with a little bit of flour.
5. If making tortillas or wraps pull off about a golf ball sized piece of dough and roll it out to the shape of a tortilla. Cook in a ungreased skillet on medium high heat for about 2 minutes on each side.
6. If making burger buns hand roll to the shape and size of a traditional bun and bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes or until its firm enough to hold up but not so hard you cant stick a knife through it. Slice in half and put in whatever vegan burger you desire.
7. If making a pizza crust roll dough out onto a pizza baking tray and fold edges up to shape like a crust. Coat it with a little grapeseed oil and bake at 400 for 10 minutes before applying your desired pizza toppings.
8. If at anytime your dough gets sticky you can always add more flour.




Portabella Fajitas



I like this dough because I consider it a multi purpose dough. There are so many different things you can try using these recipe and I will definitely be showing you guys some of my creations which are all of course Dr. Sebi approved!

~Peace begins with your plate~


Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Alkaline Mushroom Stroganoff


This dish is savory, filling, and bursting with flavor. Going alkaline you do not have to give up creamy pasta! Simply find pastas made from the ingredients on the Dr. Sebi food list and make your cream out of those same ingredients. I already have a regular vegan mushroom stroganoff recipe on this blog and this one is just as delicious only difference is its completely alkaline!




Ingredients:
1lb of chickpea, quinoa, or spelt pasta. I used quinoa.
2 to 3 cups of portabella mushroom
1/2 cup of brazil nuts
1/2 cup of chickpea flour
1 red pepper
1 sweet onion
1 cup of kale
2 cups of spring water
sea salt
cayenne pepper
onion powder
ground savory
basil
oregano



Directions:
1. Boil pasta and set to the side. Let sit in cold water to avoid sticking.
2. In a high speed blender place brazil nuts, 1 cup of water, salt, onion powder, and cayenne and blend until you get a smooth creamy sauce.
3. Dice mushroom, red pepper, and onion, and seasonings and sautee over medium high heat in  2 tbsp. of spring water until veggies are tender.
4, Add chickpea flour and spring water and whisk everything up to a gravy like consistency adding more water or flour as needed. 
5. Dice kale and add to the pan and allow gravy to simmer until kale is completely cooked down this may take about 10 to 15 minutes.
6. If necessary adjust seasoning to liking.
7. Drain pasta and add to gravy mix stirring everything all together.
8. Serve up and enjoy!

~Peace begins with your plate~



Alkaline Mayo

Mayo is a great staple ingredient to have in the fridge. You can make several different recipes with it and it gives that creamy sauce people like to have in sandwiches, salads, and several other dishes!











Ingredients:
1/2 cup Grapeseed or Olive oil
4 teaspoons Key Lime juice
onion powder
sea salt
1 cup of Aquafaba (water chickpeas are cooked in)



Directions:
1. In a high speed blender add aquafaba, sea salt, onion powder, lime juice. Blend on high speed.
2. Slowly add oil while blending the entire time.
3. Once you reach a creamy consistency which may take up to 10 minutes depending on the type of blender you have, your alkaline mayo is complete. 

~Peace begins with your plate~

Chickpea salad

Alkaline Mac and cheese

Just because your eating alkaline doesn't mean you have to miss out on any of the flavor that comes from the usual vegan dishes you prepare. My husband created this cheese sauce for the mac and cheese recipe and let me just say OMG it is sooooo delicious. I had to get on him to give me the recipe but here it is!!!




Ingredients
1 lb of quinoa, chickpea, or spelt pasta
1 cup of roasted butternut squash
1 cup of walnuts
1/4 cup of brazil nuts
1/2 of a red onion
thyme
oregano
basil
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
onion powder
sea salt
approx. 2 cups of spring water
approx. 1/3 cup of hemp milk




Directions:
1. Boil pasta and set to the side.
2. In a high speed blender add squash, nuts, onion, water, milk, and all seasonings. Blend until you reach a creamy queso sauce consistency. This may take a while. 
3. Drain pasta and mix sauce together with pasta. At this point adjust seasoning to your liking and if you need it creamier add more hemp milk.
4. You can server it like this or bake it in a nonstick dish for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees and top with red chili flakes!

This dish is perfect for anyone transitioning to a vegan or alkaline lifestyle. The nuts make it super creamy and the combination of spices gives it that savory flavor we all love in mac and cheese. Give this dish a try and let me know how you like it!

~Peace begins with your plate~

Alkaline Fried Mushrooms

These are by far my favorite thing to eat. I promise these taste better than any chicken nugget or processed vegan chicken nugget that you can find in the store. I never knew mushrooms could taste so good! I have to control myself because they are fried and if I didn't stop myself I would be frying them up every damn day. If you are trying to transition a picky eater to a vegan or alkaline diet I definitely recommend starting with these!


Ingredients:
2 cups of oyster or portabella mushroom chopped into the size pieces you desire.
2 cups of spelt flour
1 cup of garbanzo flour
2 cups of hemp milk
grapeseed oil
sea salt
cayenne pepper
onion powder
basil
dill
1/3 cup of aquafaba

Directions:
1. In a large bowl add both flours, sea salt, cayenne, onion powder, basil, and dill. Mix everything together well.
2. In a second large bowl pour about 1/2 a cup of the flour mixture and mix with hemp milk and aquafaba. This should give you a thin batter like consistency. If its too wet add more flour if its too dry add more milk.
3. In a large frying pan pour grapeseed oil about 2 inches deep and set heat to medium high.
4. To ensure a clean efficient frying area make sure you have everything you need on hand. You will want your mushrooms, dry mix, wet mix, tongs, and a plate covered in paper towels all lined up and ready to go.
5. Coat your mushroom in the wet mix, then the dry mix, then back to the wet mix, then back to the dry mix and set it in the oil, the oil should be hot at this point to where the mushroom immediately starts frying. If it doesn't you need to let it warm up more.
6. Repeat the process with all of the mushrooms they should take about 5 to 7 minutes to fry and you will need to flip them half way through frying. 
6. When mushroom is done remove from oil with tongs and place on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
7. If you want to keep them warm until serving place them on a baking tray and set in the oven on low temp.
 Make sure you make more than you think is enough because once these things hit the table they will be the first to go! You can eat these by themselves, top a salad with them, or wrap them in a spelt tortilla. There are so many ways to enjoy these delicious fried mushrooms!



Here they are as "chicken" strips

~Peace begins with your plate~




Alkaline Chickpea and Walnut meatballs

If you are craving something "meaty" and filling these meatballs are a great option. You can also form them into burgers and eat them on alkaline bread if you like. The combination of the walnuts and the chickpeas is extremely flavorful. These will not disappoint! 




before baking

Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked chickpeas
1 cup of crushed walnuts
1 cup of spelt or garbanzo flour
1/3 cup of aquafaba (water from cooked chickpeas)
1 cup of portabella mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
1 shallot
sea salt
cayenne pepper
onion powder
ground savory
basil


Directions:
1. In a high speed blender add chickpeas, walnuts, mushrooms, red pepper, and shallot. Pulse until everything is chopped up and blended enough to get molded into a shape.
2. Place mixture into a large bowl and add flour, aquafaba, and all the seasonings. 
3. Use your hands to mix everything together until it molds like actual hamburger meat. You may need to use more flour if its not holding together well. 
4. Mold the mix into meatballs the size of your liking and place on a baking tray covered in parchment paper. 
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes flipping halfway through.
6. Allow them to cool down before serving, this helps them stay sturdy. 



I served these delicious meat balls with quinoa and roasted veggies and we absolutely loved them! Remember you can always adjust the seasoning to your liking so that's why I don't give measurements on them, I'm usually just eyeballing it myself lol. Hope you enjoy these Alkaline meatballs!

~Peace begins with your plate~





Alkaline Dirty Rice

This savory rice will have you going back for more. Of course its gonna be a bit different than the traditional dish your used to because one its vegan, and two its completely alkaline! Regardless of the differences its not missing any flavor!
 Ingredients:
2 cups of wild rice
1 red pepper diced
1 green pepper diced
1 onion diced
2 cups of portabella mushroom diced
2 cups of okra
2 cups of cooked chickpeas
sea salt
cayenne pepper
onion powder
ground savory
thyme
1 tbsp. of grapeseed oil (optional)

Directions:
1. Cook rice and set to the side.
2. In a large pan pour in tbsp. of grapeseed oil and put on medium high heat. If you don't want to use oil you can substitute it with spring water.
3. Add onion, peppers, mushroom, and okra. Then add sea salt, cayenne, onion powder, thyme, and savory. Sautee everything together until veggies are tender.
4. Add chickpeas and continue cooking for a few more minutes.
5. Now mix the rice in and add another tbsp. of grape seed oil to create more of a stir fry. Keep tossing the rice through the veggies until all of the flavors are combined. If you need more seasoning now is the time to add it.
6. Turn heat down or off and let sit for a few minutes before serving!







Here I served it with some steamed kale and topped it with alkaline mushroom gravy!
I hope you enjoy this dish and if you do don't hesitate to let me know!

~Peace begins with your plate~

30 day Alkaline cleanse...Dr. Sebi approved!!!

Happy 2018 everyone! I decided to start the new year off by changing my diet up a bit. My husband and I decided to do 30 days of alkaline Dr. Sebi approved eating. So all throughout January that is the goal and so far we are half way done and absolutely loving it! Dr. Sebi has cured everything from aids, herpes, lupus, sickle cell, blindness, and the list goes on!




If you are unsure of who Dr. Sebi is and his methods click the links below.





For many people this is a life style change that they follow strictly. Once the month is over we still plan to incorporate many of his teachings into our lifestyle but the main reason we decided to give this a try is to help us transition into more of a plant based whole foods diet cutting out processed foods and vegan junk. There are tons of fruits and veggies not on the Sebi nutritional guide that I cant imagine giving up. We eat a mostly healthy vegan diet but we do indulge in soy and other processed vegan foods more often than we should. Half way through the month and I can already see and feel changes in my body that I know come from eating a clean alkaline diet. I'm all for people eating however their heart desires as long as it doesn't require taking the life of another sentient being, but sometimes even eating vegan you can still be unhealthy so its still good to learn new healthier ways to improve your diet. 


I'm excited to show you guys some of the alkaline recipes I have and will continue to be making throughout the month. They are all super delicious and I honestly don't feel like I'm missing anything. The ingredients are so minimal it makes it so easy to whip up a flavorful meal without over thinking it. Stay tuned because I have LOTS to show you guys!

~Peace begins with your plate~