Mushrooms in your juice?!

No, not the trippy kind!

1 (white) mango
1 zucchini
5 white mushrooms
1 honey crisp apple
1 pear
1" cube of ginger

Juice.

Note: mushrooms are the only vegetarian/ vegan food that contain vitamin d naturally!

Monday morning calming juice

Trying to avoid the impending freak out of school being back in full swing, trying to maintain proficiency in three languages, packing for our move (yay! Homeowners!), babies, upcoming trainings to become a certified WIC breastfeeding peer counselor, doula births, and my sanity.

Here is some juice that helps me to feel calm. No- I have no scientific proof.

1 sweet potato
1 pear
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1 inch cube ginger
1 handful parsley

Coconut avocado smoothie

2 avocados
1 banana
4-6 small scoops of coconut ice cream
2 tsp tahini paste
Coconut milk as needed

1. Blend until smooth and drink immediately. If not drank immediately, the avocado will turn brown.

BBQ Tofu Tacos

1 package organic sprouted tofu

1 onion, chopped

1 jalapeno, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch piece of ginger, minced

handful of carrots, chopped

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

1/4 jar Bone Suckin' sauce

5 white mushrooms, sliced

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

dash of tumeric

salt, to taste

corn tortillas

mixed greens lettuce

guacamole

hot sauce

1. In a cast iron pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add crumed tofu. onions, ginger, garlic, carrots and jalapeno. Turn to medium high heat and fry until onions begin to soften. Add bell peppers and continue to fry for about 5 minutes. 

2. Add 1/4 jar of Bone Suckin' sauce or homemade BBQ sauce, and let simmer, stirring occassionally so the tofu does not burn to bottom of the pan, for about 15 minutes on medium heat. Taste and add more sauce if necessary. The mixture should not be soupy, just sweetly flavored. 

3. Add mushrooms, nutritional yeast and tumeric, and continue to cook until mushrooms are tender. 

Serve as tacos or taco salad with optional toppings such as mixed greens, guacamole, hot sauce, or as an h'ors d'oeurve with scoop chips .

All of the ingredients could also be thrown into a slow cooker for a quick meal. Enjoy!

Red sauce with veggies

This recipe is for a traditional Italian tomato sauce with added vegetables making it a great family meal.

I just recently began attempting to make a weekly red sauce in order to keep the family tradition alive. Every Sunday my parents and their parents before them started the sauce around 9 am and allowed it to slow cook until pasta time. For years, this method and passed down recipe intimidated me to the point where I would avoid the temptation of attempting to recreate this classic.

Here goes.

1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced chopped or sliced
Handful of basil
1/2 handful parsley
1/4 c water
2 16 oz cans whole tomatoes
1 12 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 c tomato paste
Pinch of raw sugar
Salt
Pepper
Assorted chopped veggies or 1/2 bag of mixed frozen veggies such as corn, broccoli, carrots, peas
2 handfuls baby spinach
8 mushrooms, quartered
2 tbsp olive oil for frying

1. In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and add onions and garlic. Sauté until translucent then add basil, parsley, salt and pepper and mix.

2. Add the three cans of tomatoes, tomato paste and water and mix. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.

3. Add pinch of sugar, cover and allow to simmer for at least 5 hours. Taste occasionally adjusting salt and pepper as needed.

4. Add the veggies for the last length of cooking. About 20 to 30 minutes for frozen veggies and 1 hour for fresh.

5. Serve over hot al dente pasta and enjoy.

This recipe yields enough sauce for 1.5 pounds of pasta. I serve it over 1 pound and then freeze the remainder of the sauce for a later date.

I typically serve it with kid-friendly pasta such as rotini, farfalle or wagon wheels and separate some "adult sauce" and add crushed red pepper and ricotta cheese. The canned tomatoes I use are Muir Glenn Organics.