Another Alfredo Sauce Recipe

This is so quick and easy. Adding red roasted peppers would be great in this recipe also. This is great as a sauce on vegetables, in a casserole or in my case I used it on a pizza. This is really tasty and does not have all the calories in what Alfredo Sauce does. Give it a try, I think you will really like it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1/3 cup raw, unsalted cashews
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 3 Tablespoons low sodium tamari-I did not use as I did not have any in the house.
• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance Margarine
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 2-4 cloves of garlic
•  Black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put everything but soy milk in the food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down sides of the food processor.
2. Add soy milk and blend well.
3. Use on pizza's, pasta, vegetables or wherever you want Alfredo Sauce.

I made a pizza this evening  using this sauce and it was very good.
I baked my pizza crust for about 6 min. removed from the oven and put this Alfredo Sauce on with vegetables that I had roasted earlier. It was very tasty. I forgot to take a picture. It was gone before I thought of it.

Note:
To roast veggies  I put my chopped up veggies in a plastic bag.. I had red pepper, onion, crimini mushrooms, and green grapes. I put just a little oil in the bag with some fresh rosemary that I had in my garden. Shake the bag well and put on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread out single layer on baking sheet. Roast at 425 degrees for 25 minutes or so turning once.


Enjoy!!!

Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

A friend toke me to lunch at a local country club yesterday.
On the menu was a Roasted Vegetable Pizza with Alfredo Sauce. You know just how fattening Alfredo Sauce can be.So I did not order it. Instead I had a salad.
But, I have been thinking about that pizza and decided to make a healthier version of it. In between canning today I made up this Alfredo Sauce.
A friend gave me her Tops News Magazine  (October, November edition) and found the basic recipe in there.
 Tomorrow I will let my pizza crust rise, (it is in the freezer at this time)
and roast my veggies and have a healthy pizza. Doesn't that sound great!!!. Will post it after I make it.

Ingredients for Alfredo Sauce:

• 1 medium head of cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets.
• 1 Tablespoon earth Balance Butter
• 3-4 tablespoons chopped onion
• 4 clove garlic's, minced
• 1/4 cup soy creamer
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated,  cheese of choice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.
2. Place cauliflower in boiling water, cook till very soft.
3. Melt the butter in saucepan, saute onions and garlic.
4. Add soy creamer and Parmesan cheese.
5. Stir until cheese melts. 
6. Add seasonings.
7. Put in food processor with strained, cooked cauliflower.
8. Process until very creamy, adding cauliflower water or more soy creamer to the proper consistency.
9. Add  more seasonings to taste if needed, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper. etc.

Enjoy!!

Verna's Date Balls

I absolutely love Medjool Dates. They are big and sweet and a great sugar re- placer. I wanted to make something quick and easy for my sweet tooth and for my grand kids when they came over. Also wanted it to be healthy. This is what I came up with.. Quick and easy, plus very tasty!!!
Wouldn't these be great drizzled or dipped in a vegan chocolate, especially at Christmas time.  Yummy Yummy!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2-2 cups Medjool Dates, pitted and chopped
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance Butter
• Orange zest from 1 large orange
• Juice of 1 large orange

1. Put in a small kettle. Cook for a few minutes until soft..
2. Put in a food processor and blend till smooth.
3. Remove from heat and add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract-no imitation please..

In a large Bowl:

• Put in 4 cups rice krispies
• 3 cups shredded coconut

1. Put date mixture over cereal mixture.
2. Mix well with hands.
3. Form into small balls, and put on parchment lined baking sheet.
4. When all the mixture is formed into balls, refrigerate for an hour.

These freeze up beautifully.

Enjoy!!

Cherie Claybourn-Cancer

Health Tip of the Week Hope and Help for People with Cancer We just returned from the Healing Strong Conference (for those with cancer) in Atlanta where my husband and I had the privilege to be among an incredible line up of speakers.  These excellent practitioners had much to say about healing cancer naturally.  One of the speakers, Ty Bolinger, has written an excellent book for anyone with cancer or anyone who wants to prevent it--Cancer: Step Outside the Box.  Before you make any decisions about cancer treatment, read the book and make an informed decision. Recipe of the Week Cancer Fighter A team in the UK found that a compound in carrots called falcarinol reduced cancer in rats. Allicin, a compound in garlic, has also been found to fight cancer. 4-5 carrots, scrubbed well, green tops removed, ends trimmed 1-2 kale leaves 1/2 cucumber, peeled if not organic 1 garlic clove with peel 1 handful parsley, rinsed 1 lemon, peeled if not organic Cut produce to fit your juicer’s feed tube. Juice carrots.  Roll kale leaves and push through with cucumber, add garlic, watercress or parsley, and push through with lemon.  Stir and drink as soon as possible. Serves 1 From The Juice Lady's Living Foods Revolution

Verna's Hawaiian Carrot Salad

This is my version of a Hawaiian Carrot Salad. I had some carrots in my crisper that I needed to use up. I love anything with a citrus flavor in it and decided to make my carrots into a Hawaiian Salad. At least this is my version of such a salad. It is very refreshing and very quick to make.
I placed the salad on a ring of orange slices. It looks so very pretty!

Ingredients:

1. 3-4 cups carrots-shredded
2. 1 cup dried cranberries
3. 1/4-1/2 cup mayonnaise of your choice-go easy.
4. 1/4 cup agave nectar or honey
5. 3 Tablespoons  fresh orange juice- I used even more than that 
6. 2 teaspoons orange zest-probably used more.
7. 1/2 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
8. 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained-optional
9. 1/2 cups walnuts-toasted and chopped

Directions:

• Mix together all ingredients. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Enjoy!!!

Beet and Lentil Hummus

It is that time of he year when everything needs to be pulled in the garden. My kitchen looks like a canning factory.
I love beets and decided to try this recipe. I love the color of it. It would be great sprinkled with chopped parsley on the top of the hummus before serving. Isn't this pretty!!!
This recipe called for lentils. Next time I make it I would like to try chickpeas in place of the lentils. The recipe did not call for roasted beets. But roasting just adds lots more flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup lentils, cooked and drained
• 2 medium beets, roasted, cooled and cut into chunks
• 1 clove garlic peeled-I used more like 3
• 2 Tablespoons tahini paste
• 2 Tablespoons oil-I used coconut oil.
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• I also added 1 teaspoon cumin

Directions:

1. Cook lentils, drain. (extra lentils freeze up beautifully).
2. Roast beets, cool cut into chunks..-To roast beets, clean , cut off tails and tops of beets. Wrap in parchment paper than tin foil. Bake at 425 degrees until tender.
3. In a food processor add garlic, tahini, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and cumin. Process until very creamy..
4.  Add beets and lentils. Continue processing until very smooth.
5. Put in serving bowl, sprinkle with chopped parsley.
6. Serve with veggies of choice.

Wouldn't this be a pretty Christmas Hummus!!!!

Enjoy!!!

Mashed Potato Veggie Strata

I found this recipe in the May, Better Homes and Garden Magazine. I found the recipe to be very good but I did use cauliflower in place of the potatoes. Just make sure the cauliflower is drained really well as you do not want the strata to be runny.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cubed-Verna used cauliflower-or use a combination of both.
•  
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers
• 1  8 oz. carton of sour cream of choice
• 1 tablespoon basil pesto-Verna used about 2-3 tablespoons as I just made a lot of it up.
• 1/4 teaspoon salt-Verna did not use.

• 2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 1 medium yellow summer squash cut lengthwise and sliced.
• 1 of each, red, yellow and green sweet peppers, chopped
• 1 medium onion chopped-about 1/2 cup-Verna used more
• 8 oz. cheddar cheese-shredded-cheese of choice
• Plus Verna added:
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
•  1 teaspoon dried basil
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a glass 7" by 11" pan.
2. In large sauce pan cook potatoes (cauliflower) drain and mash like you would mashed potatoes. Season to taste. The recipe did not call for this but it sounded really bland without adding seasonings.
3. Spread mashed potatoes (cauliflower) in sprayed pan.
4. In a food processor  blend roasted sweet peppers until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and add sour cream, pesto, and salt if using. Spread over mashed potato layer.
5. In a large skillet saute onions, garlic, peppers  until tender.
6. Add zucchini and squash., cook only till crisp tender.
7. Add the rest of the ingredients-not  the CHEESE.
8. Mix well. put over roasted  red pepper layer.
9. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes.
10. The recipe called for adding the cheese immediately. I suggest adding it the last 10 minutes of baking as it just gets crusty. if adding to soon.

Enjoy!!!

Life's Very Hard Lessons

A long time friend had been on my mind this last week. I was so busy canning and freezing up food for the winter and did not take the time to call her as I usually would have.

To make a long story short, when I finally got around to calling her, I found out she died the night before. Today is the funeral and I can't even go as I have been sick in bed all week and still not doing to well.

Please don't do what I did!!!

That is to get so caught up in life that you don't take time for people (which is the most important gift on this earth)
If someone is on your heart today, email them , call them. But don't wait around like I did. I can never take that time back that I would have had with my friend.

I beat myself  up everyday that I was that busy. Yes I know God forgives. But I have to pay the price of my busyness.!!

 Remember Nothing is more important than PEOPLE!!!

Bike Riding to Kewaunee with Mary

Some of my favorite things are bike riding, Victorian Homes, gazebos and cool boats which where all in Kewaunee where we had our picnic lunch. What a beautiful area!

It was the hardest bike ride I have ever been on. Not because of the distance but because of the wind. My knees were not liking it very much. Plus when I got home I found out my tires on my bike were very low. I didn't think that was a problem as I had just got new tires on my bike a couple of days before.
We rode our bikes from Luxemburg to Kewaunee, which was 33 miles round trip.
Oh what a day!!!

Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic and Rosemary

I have been roasting veggies for a long time, but have never used balsamic vinegar in the recipe.
OMG  this is so very tasty.  Cauliflower has never been one of my favorite veggies as to me it is so bland..
But oh, this is terrific. I will be making it again in the  very near future.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head of cauliflower broke into bite size pieces.
• 3 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaf, stems removed and leaves chopped fine
• 3 teaspoons fresh parsley- chopped fine, or 2 teaspoons dried.
• 2 teaspoons EVOO-optional
• 7-8 clove garlic, minced fine
• 1/8 teaspoon salt-optional
• 1/4 teaspoon honey or agave nectar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper- I usually use more
• 3/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar-I used Apple Balsamic Vinegar from Olive Cellar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place all ingredients in a bowl (not cauliflower) and mix well.
3. Pour over the cauliflower and mix well. (I mixed it up early in the morning and let it sit at room temp several hours before baking.)
4. Spread onto a large baking sheet lined with plain parchment paper. Make sure cauliflower is single layer.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, turn the cauliflower and bake another 15 minutes or so until golden brown.
6. Serve immediately.

Yummy!!!!

Enjoy!

Alphabet

If plan A didn't work-the alphabet has 25 more letters!!

STAY COOL!!!

From Cherie Claybourn

Health Tip of the Week Choose life! When we hang onto fear, resentment, anguish, grief, or blame, we hold ourselves in bondage. All toxic emotions block the flow of energy in our body and produce acid. An acidic environment allows cancer cells to thrive and gives rise to all sorts of other diseases.  When we let go of toxic emotions, we set our bodies free.  We choose life! Recipe of the Week Cranberry-Cucumber Fat Buster Smoothie 2 pears, Bartlett or Asian 1 cucumber, peeled if not organic 1⁄2 cup loosely packed baby spinach 1⁄4 lemon, peeled if not organic 2 Tbsp. cranberries, fresh or frozen 1-inch-chunk ginger root 6 ice cubes (optional) Chop up pears and cucumber and blend until smooth. Add lemon juice, cranberries, ginger, and ice as desired, and blend until creamy. Serves 1.  From The Juice Lady's Big Book of Juices and Green Smoothies //www.juiceladycherie.com/Juice/big-book-of-juices/?utm_source=The+Juice+Lady&utm_campaign=98b226211f-Eblast+7-1-13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a860739912-98b226211f-63611221The Juice Ladys Big Book of Juices

Family

 My son,( very easy to pick him out.) My sons special wife (in glasses) and there 3 daughters,
 And of course me in the front.


       AREN'T WE JUST SO GORGEOUS!!!  :)                         

Fox River State Trail

We did this trail also in August. It is probably my favorite trail
more later.

Old Abe Trail

Three weeks ago Mary and I went to Chippewa Falls and biked the Old Abe Trail. What a fabulous trail. It was all paved and we did almost 70 miles in 2 1/2 days that we were there. That was a really nice pace as we wanted to do shopping and some other fun stuff also.
Bike riding is probably my very favorite exercise, especially when we get some nice trails.

Lots of Bike Riding

While my blog was down I did lots of bike riding.
Mary and I rode from Green Bay to Pulaski one weekend and the next weekend we rode from Blondel to Pulaski..

Vegetarian Beet Burgers

I found this recipe on Live Well Network.
 I love beets and had some in my garden so decided to give this  recipe a try. These patties had a really great flavor.The beets made the patties look more like hamburger
. I am about to freeze the patties. I put them on unbleached parchment paper before freezing. After frozen I bagged them up in twosies and marked for future eating.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lbs. beets, washed,peeled and cut into 1" pieces
• 1/2 green lentils, cooked
• 1/2 cup bulgur wheat, cooked
• 1/2 cup roasted cashews, ground to a powder
• 8 oz. crimini mushrooms, chopped like hamburger-these are the baby portabellas
• 1/2 cup onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic-minced-I used 
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme-I used more like 3 teaspoons
• 1 teaspoon salt-I used about 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper-I used more like 1 teaspoon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the chopped beets on slightly oiled pan and roast for about 20 minutes.-I put my beets on unbleached parchment paper.
3. Remove from the oven and set aside.
4. Saute onion,garlic for a couple of minutes.
5. Add mushrooms, and  thyme continue to saute, 5-7 minutes
6. Set aside to cool
7. In a food processor, place the beets, buglur, onions, garlic and mushroom mixture
8. Process until everything is combined and on the chunky side.
9. Add cooked lentils, process just until mixed..
10. Remove mixture from food processor, put in a bowl and refrigerate at least 1/2 hour.
11. Divide mixture into 6 patties. I made them smaller so they would not fall apart. I had about 9 burgers.
12.  Heat a griddle or frying pan spray with oil. when pan is hot, carefully cook patties about 5 minutes on each side.
13. If using cheese, melt cheese on the burger.
14. Serve on a bun or lettuce greens with caramelized onion, avocado if you like or whatever toppings you may prefer.

Enjoy!!!

A Load of Cabbage

My friend and I went bike riding Friday September 6,  in Black Creek and stopped at Wagner's  afterwards to get some produce.  The cabbage the size of a basketball, it is  $1.00 a head. When we arrived at nine o'clock this is the way the wagon looked. When we got back at noon the wagon was almost empty. I picked up a kohlrabi the size of a soccer ball, for a $1.25. They have huge green peppers 3 for $1.00.  Muskmelons and watermelons really reasonable. If you have not been out there stop and get some produce. You will be glad that you did.

What a deal it all is.

Anyway about our bike riding that day.

  My friend and I were bike riding from Black Creek to Naverino. The trail was very empty and forlorn except for

supposedly bear spotted on the trail. In 11 miles we had met only 1 other person. I had a blowout-like instant on my bike and had no way I could drag my bike any distance. The back  wheel would not turn as the inner tube was all jammed up in the flat tire.  With my bad feet that was almost an impossibility as there was no way I could walk back 11 miles and drag the bike..  Plus my bike is a Brie which is a very heavy bike. Within just 1 minute or so, 2 people appeared on the trail.  Not sure where they came from as we were out in the boonies. They saw my dilemma and kept on going. Yikes we need your help, why are you leaving us!!!! I didn't say that but was sure thinking it!

Within a few more minutes we saw the lady walking back towards us. She informed us that her husband went to get his truck and he would get us back to Black Creek were our car was parked.

As they were loading up our bikes they told us that they always walk at 6-6:30 in the morning, that they have never walked this late in the morning. (It was about 11:30 or so)  

 Talk about Divine appointment. They totally came to our rescue and God answered our prayers before we even really prayed. God is so good and  so faithful. I get so overwhelmed by His love every time something like this happens.

When it happened my friend said she was going to bike back to Black Creek and leave me on the trail by myself with maybe the bear. Horrible thought . I told her she should not do that as if a bear came I would toss him my lunch and after he gobbled that up he would be after me and I can’t run with my bad feet. That is what we would have had to do it these people had not showed up.

 

 Isn't this story  just to cool!!!!

Hi
My blog has not been working for several weeks. My son-in-law fixed it this afternoon.

I will be posting recipes this week.

Verna

Verna's Tropical Coconut Cream Pie and Verna's Pineapple, Mango Ice Cream

I am so sorry I could not post this recipe. My daughter came to my rescue so that you could get the recipe.

Ingredients:

Crust

• 2 cups vegan vanilla wafer cookies
• 1 tbls canola oil-I used vegan Earth balance
• 1 tbls unsweetened almond milk

Coconut layer

• 1 12 oz. pkg. extra firm silken tofu, drained
• 1 medium ripe banana
• 1/2 cup low fat coconut milk
• 2/3 cup sugar or sweetener of choice
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tabl coconut oil
• 2 tabl cornstarch
• 1 Tabl pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teas sea salt
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Topping

2 cups chopped fresh pineapple

1/4 cup sugar

2 tabl fresh lemon juice

1 tabl cornstarch

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 8" square glass pan with cooking spray To prepare crust: Pulse cookies into crumbs in a food processor. Transfer to bowl and mix in oil and almond milk.

Press mixture into the bottom of pan. Bake 8 minutes.

To make Coconut layer:

1. Blend tofu, banana, coconut milk, sugar, lemon juice, coconut oil, cornstarch, vanilla and salt in a food processor till smooth< scraping down the sides a few times.
2.  Add coconut flakes and pulse just a few times till coconut is blended.
3. Pour over the crust, and bake 55 min to an hour until top is golden brown and pulling away from the sides of pan.

To make topping:

1. In a saucepan bring pineapple, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch to a boil.
2.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 min.
3. Pour topping over coconut layer.
4. Completely cool, wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate 3 hours before serving..

Verna's Pineapple Ice Cream:

• 1 pint silken Vanilla Soy Creamer
• 1/2 cup Better Than Milk Soy Powder
• 2 cups frozen pineapple and mango. I used a whisker more pineapple than mango.
• Put all in food processor and blend on high until the consistency of soft serve ice cream.

Comments from Verna's test Kitchen:

The second time I made this I made a graham cracker crust and liked it a lot better.

Enjoy!!