Fennel Root, Pumpkin, & Tempeh

March 18, 2013 6 Comments

My lunch today was just too tasty not to share with my favorite people. 🙂 I’ve been trying to vegetables, new spices, & new combinations. I can honestly say I have never eaten this combination before today. I LOVE trying new delicious foods! I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 Fennel Root thinly sliced
1/8 small pumpkin thinly sliced seeds removed
1/3 block Tempeh thinly sliced and cut in half
2 tbs. Coconut oil
Himalayan Salt
Shredded raw cheese (optional)

This is a SUPER simple recipe. Heat coconut oil over medium-high heat in a medium-sized pan then place fennel, pumpkin, & tempeh in pan. Cover and let cook for about 3 minutes, then stir. Cook mixture until browned. Sprinkle with salt and if desired sprinkle with cheese (raw cheese or Daiya cheese).

This entire meal will take you about 10 minutes all together to make. It’s super delicious! Let me know how you like it by leaving me a comment below!

Health benefits of fennel bulb

Fennel bulb is a versatile vegetable, used since ancient times for its nutritional and medicinal properties. This winter season has some noteworthy essential oils, flavonoid anti-oxidants, minerals, and vitamins that have known health benefits.
Bulb fennel is one of very low calorie vegetables. 100 g bulb provides just 31 calories. Further, it contains generous amounts of fiber (3.1 g/100 g or 8% of RDI), very little fat and zero cholesterol.
Fresh bulbs give sweet anise-like flavor. Much of it is due to high concentration of aromatic essential oils like anethole, estragole, and fenchone (fenchyl acetate). Anethole has been found to have anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.
The bulbs have moderate amounts of minerals and vitamins that are essential for optimum health. Their juicy fronds indeed contain several vital vitamins such as pantothenic acid, pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), folic acid, niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin in small but healthy proportions. 100 g fresh bulbs provide 27 µg of folates. Folic acid is essential for DNA synthesis and cell division. Their adequate levels in the diet during pregnancy can help prevent neural tube defects in the newborn babies.
In addition, fennel bulb contains an average amount of water-soluble vitamin, vitamin-C. 100 g of fresh bulbs provide 12 mg or 20% of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals. Further, it has small amounts of vitamin A.
The bulbs have very good levels of heart-friendly electrolyte potassium. 100 g provides 414 mg or 9% of daily-recommended levels. It is an important electrolyte inside the cell. Potassium helps reduce blood pressure and rate of heartbeats by countering effects of sodium. Fennel also contains small amounts of minerals such as copper, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and selenium.

In Health, Hope, & Happiness,

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Pumpkin Spice Muffins

November 6, 2012 No Comments

For today’s “Tasty Tuesday” post, I want to give a shout out to the amazing Elana Amsterdam of www.ElanasPantry.com. She has inspired me so much throughout the years and has made the transition to a gluten-free lifestyle much more enjoyable! Her recent post was on these delicious pumpkin spice muffins, and they are way too good not to share! For the full posting and to get her recipe head on over to http://www.elanaspantry.com/pumpkin-spice-muffins/.

For those of you wanting to avoid honey, I would recommend substituting coconut syrup for the honey to lower the glycemic index a bit.

Enjoy these delicious Autumn muffins with a cold glass of homemade coconut-walnut milk!

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Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Author: Elana Amsterdam

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients

¼ cup coconut flour
⅛ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3 large eggs
½ cup freshly roasted pumpkin (canned pumpkin will not work)
½ cup honey
2 tablespoons vegan palm oil shortening
⅛ teaspoon vanilla crème stevia

Instructions

In a food processor pulse together coconut flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger
Pulse in eggs, pumpkin, honey, shortening and stevia
Transfer batter into paper lined muffin tin
Bake at 350° for 25 minutes
Serve
Makes about 8 muffins

Again, make sure you check out her full post at http://www.elanaspantry.com/pumpkin-spice-muffins/.

Have a great day VOTING YES ON PROP 37!!! 🙂

XOXO,

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Tasty Tuesday- Pumpkin-Fig Pancakes- GF, SF, Paleo

October 30, 2012 No Comments

GOOD MORNING!!

You made it past Monday, and THAT deserves a celebration! How about some delicious pancakes? Maybe you’ve been trying to eat healthier and have cut gluten and sugar out of your diet. You feel GREAT, but there are some things you really miss! Pancakes might be one of those. 🙂 Luckily

we have this delicious pancake recipe that can feed your cravings while still nourishing your body! This is a variation from the original recipe found at www.runningtothekitchen.com. Check it out, it is a brilliant website!

There are many different pancake recipes out there that are delicious with different textures, flavors, and ingredients. This is just one of those variations. I made these for Sunday Morning Breakfast topped with some warm berries sprinkled with stevia and they were just perfect. Next time I’m going to drizzle my Sunflower sauce on these babies…YUM! Maybe with the berries…it would be like a PB&J pancake!! YESSS PLEASSSE!!

INGREDIENTS

½ cup almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tablespoon ground flax or chia seed
pinch of salt
½ tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup pumpkin puree (preferably homemade- if canned make sure it’s organic and from a BPA-Free can)
3 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tbs coconut sugar or xylitol
1/4 cup dried figs (sulphate free) chopped into pieces (optional)
coconut oil for cooking pancakes
Berries, hemp seeds, cacao nibs, or shredded coconut for topping

Instructions

Heat a pancake griddle over medium heat.
Pour all ingredients except figs into a food processor and pulse until completely combined. You can also make these in a blender or stir by hand in a mixing bowl. Add in figs and stir by hand.
Add 1/2 tsp coconut oil to pan and let melt
Pour batter in 1/4 cupfuls onto the pan and use the back of a spoon to gently form into a circle and spread out. (Batter will be a bit thicker than regular pancake batter). Cover with a lid
Cook for about 2-3 minutes on the first side, carefully flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes on the second side.
Repeat with remaining batter, adding more coconut oil to the pan as needed.
Spread raw butter or coconut oil on pancakes and drizzle with warmed berries, sprinkle with hemp seeds and coconut. You can also sprinkle with powdered stevia or use my sunflower sauce!!