The Easiest Almond Milk

In a blender, mix:

4 ice cubes
1 cup of water
1/4 cup almond flour (ground blanched almonds)
one grind of pink sea salt
1 teaspoon of maple syrup

I do not strain this because I do not like to waste any of the almonds and I like the texture just as it is. It is delicious very cold and frothy.

Fusilli with red peppers, basil, corn, and mushrooms

Boil fusilli in salted water.

In a large wok, sauté 2 chopped red peppers in olive oil. Add lemon pepper.
Add in a few handfuls of sliced brown mushrooms and sauté some more.
Make a space and melt a dab of butter to sizzling point and add 2 cubes of frozen garlic or some fresh minced garlic into the butter and stir it, adding more lemon pepper.
Mix the garlic through the peppers and mushrooms.
Add in some frozen white corn.

When the pasta is done, save a bit of the boiling water. Stir the drained pasta into the vegetables in the wok and add in a little of the hot pasta water.

Fold in a batch of fresh basil, washed, with stems removed, and sliced.
Slice a few handfuls of pitted Kalamata olives as the basil softens.

Serve with pasta topped with the Kalamatas and shaved Trader Joe's Unexpected Cheddar and freshly grated pepper. Add a little pink sea salt if desired.

Berkeley Oat Cakes

These are a variation on a Nova Scotia Oat Cake, made less sweet and with a bit of extra protein from the almond flour and slivered almonds. I find them much more delicious than a store-bought granola  or protein bar and they are considerably less expensive. 

Preheat oven to 350.

In a big bowl, mix well:

2 or 2.5 or even 3 cups oats, depending on how rich you want the oatcakes to be

1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup All Purpose flour (If you don't have almond flour, just use a total of 1 cup of All Purpose.)

1/4 to 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed, depending on desired sweetness 

1 t ground Himalayan pink seasalt (don't skimp)

Add in one stick of butter (1/2 cup). I use a pastry blender. If you don't have one, first chop the butter in with a knife, and then crumble it in with your fingertips.

Mix in 1/2 cup dried cranberries.

When you have the butter and cranberries nicely mixed in, add 1/4 cup boiling water and knead the mixture into a good dough and form it into a ball.

Spead parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Press the dough onto the parchment paper and then, with a very lightly flour-dusted rolling pin, roll out the dough so it is evenly about 1/4 inch thick -- or just use your hands to press it out thinly. (I used my hands.) Tidy the edges by pressing them in with your fingers so they are not rough. (This will make them cook more evenly.)

Sprinkle slivered almonds generously over the top and gently go over the almonds with the rolling pin or your finger tips to press them into the dough. 

Deeply score the rolled dough into rectangles with a pizza cutter or sharp knife. I make mine quite small (about 2 inches square)  but they can be made any size. There is no need to separate the rectangles. They will neatly break apart along the lines after baking.

Bake for 12 minutes at 350F and check. Turn down heat to 325F and bake for another 5 minutes or so. Bake until they are golden and crispy at the edges. Be careful not to overcook them.

Take out of oven and slide the oatcakes, on their parchment paper, onto a cooling rack. Eat some warm and store the rest, when they have cooled off, in an airtight glass container. Make sure no dogs are left alone in the kitchen with the cooling oatcakes or you may come back to find the front row or two have been eaten. (I cool mine on top of the fridge after this happened once.)

They are good plain or with a slice of sharp cheddar and a strong cup of Irish Breakfast tea. I eat some with creamy Irish Breakfast tea for a very early breakfast, and then repeat in the late morning!

Instant Pot Lemony Red Lentil Soup

Sautee a big chopped red onion in olive oil in the Instant Pot.

While that is cooking, boil a kettle of water and whisk about 5 teaspoons of Vegetarian Better Than Bouillon into 5 cups of boiling water.

Add to the onions 2 cubes of frozen Trader Joe's garlic and two cubes of frozen ginger -- or use fresh if you have it.

When garlic and ginger are mixed through the onions, add two tablespoons of tomato paste and a heaping teaspoon of paprika and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and grate in some pepper. Before this starts to stick, pour in the hot broth and stir well.

Add a cup and a half of rinsed red lentils and a couple of handfuls of baby carrots chopped into bite sized chunks or a big carrot or two, chopped up.

Set Instant Pot to pressure cook for 15 minutes and then let it slowly release for 8 minutes. 

Remove lid carefully and blend the soup with an immersion blender.

Stir in the juice of a big lemon.

Serve with crusty buttered seeded baguette or some other tasty bread.

Instant Pot Sweet Potato, White Bean, Vegetarian Sausage and Kale Soup

Slice two Trader Joe's Italian vegetarian sausages.
Sauté in Instant Pot for a few minutes in a little olive oil till browned.
Remove sausage and set aside in a bowl.

Sautee a chopped onion in a bit more olive oil. After a few minutes, add 2 cubes of frozen Trader Joe's garlic and a cube or two of frozen Trader's Joe's ginger. (Or fresh.)
Grate on some lemon pepper as this cooks.

Add in a large sweet potato or two smaller ones, cut up in small cubes.
Grate on a little salt and pepper.

Add 5 or 6 cups of Veggie Both (whisk Vegetable Better Than Bouillon into boiling water).

Set Instant Pot to pressure cook for 8 minutes and let it release for 10 mins.

Open lid carefully and add a generous amount of chopped Tuscan kale.
Add a can of white beans, drained and rinsed.
Set Instant Pot back to sauté mode and cook for about five minutes to soften the kale.

Stir in the sausage and serve with rosemary crackers and peppered goat cheese medallions.

Very simple, very good granola

Pre-heat oven to 300.

On a cookie sheet, mix well:

5 cups of rolled oats (not the quick-cook type)
1 to 1.5 cups of slivered almonds
.5 to 1 cup of sesame seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
several twists of pink sea salt

Drizzle olive oil over the top. Then drizzle either maple syrup or honey to taste.
Mix well.
Pop in oven for 10 minutes
Stir again and bake for 10 more minutes
Stir again and bake for a final 5 or 7 minutes. Be careful not to let the almonds get too dark.
(Total baking time  approximately 25 mins.)

Remove from oven and stir and let cool.

When completely cooled, add in a good quantity of chopped dried slab apricots. (I like to use Blenheim from Trader Joe's.)

Store in a sealer container or ziplock.

Serve with sliced nectarines or peaches and milk.

Blueberry Pancakes and Vegetarian Sausages

For two people... (double if desired)

Heat a little olive oil in a medium frying pan. Put in vegetarian sausages and quickly brown the outside to get a good texture. Then turn down and continue to cook.

Beat 3 eggs.
Beat in 1 T olive oil and 1/2 cup milk.

Add in 1 cup Trader Joe's multigrain pancake mix.

Microwave a cup of frozen blueberries until slightly warm. (Or just use fresh.) Add into pancake batter.

Heat a large frying pan and add a dab of butter and spread around.
Ladle in four pancakes. Flip when the show little holes.

Makes about 8 pancakes.

Serve very hot with butter and real maple syrup and the sausages.