Modern Wife

Tag: vegetarian

  • Giant Puffball Mushroom

    Giant Puffball Mushroom

    Overnight it seemed, these giant puffball mushrooms sprouted in our backyard. We spotted them in autumn last year and let them grow till they popped into greenish brown powdery spores. Cute, then gross. This year, we found a bunch of them in the same spot. I wondered if they were edible. Google said yes. And it has been found to contain a mucoprotein called calvacin, which is a potent antitumor agent, but becomes toxic with prolonged use. Once a year, though, and eating it as close to nature as possible instead of ingesting a distilled version? I’m willing to give it a try.

    So we plucked one out, inspected it to make sure it really was a Calvatia gigantea, and rinsed the dirt off.

    Wash the dirt off the giant puffball mushroom

    Cut off the bottom. This picture shows a couple of the defining characteristics of a Calvatia gigantea: no stem and no gills.

    giant puffball mushrooms have no stem and no gills underneath

    Slice it up. Some people slice off the outer layer and wind up with a block. We just sliced it. As you can see, we picked it early enough in its development stages. The inside is still white and perfect. Do not eat if there are spores.

    slice the giant puffball mushroom

    Store and refrigerate the rest.

    store and refrigerate the giant puffball mushroom

    Some organic extra virgin coconut oil on the cast iron griddle over medium low. Throw in a sliced onion and cook until glassy. I mixed equal parts safflower oil and soy sauce, some salt and pepper to taste, garlic powder, pinch of cayenne, dipped the giant puffball mushroom slice both sides and cooked it.

    cooking the giant puffball mushroom

    Cut it up into strips and serve it up. It would make an amazing addition to stir fry vegetables. The mushroom flavor is subtle and takes on seasonings really well. The texture is soft and smooth against the tongue. I love it!

    stir fry giant puffball mushroom strips

    Also great dipped in a beaten egg and French Toasted.

    dip giant puffball mushroom in egg and cook it

    Gluten-free French Toast Giant Puffball Mushroom with maple syrup drizzled on top and fruit on the side.

    Gluten-free French Toast Giant Puffball Mushroom with maple syrup drizzled on top and fruit on the side

    Have you ever eaten a Giant Puffball Mushroom? Got any recipes to share? Scroll below to comment. Thank you!

  • Cranberry Cheesecake

    Cranberry Cheesecake

    From the moment I took my first ever bite of a cheesecake, I was hooked for life. For the longest time, though, I always bought it, never made it from scratch here at home. It took a friend coming over and making one right in my kitchen before I realized how easy it is. Back then I didn’t even have a KitchenAid Mixer . It was all made with elbow grease. (The trick is to make sure the cream cheese is completely soft.)

    Now that my dear husband bought me one, it’s even easier. Faster. Well, at least the prep is. So tempt your family with this cheesecake recipe if you want them to get you a KitchenAid Mixer for Christmas. It will be worth it, I promise.

    Cranberry Cheesecake

    Ingredients for Cheesecake:
    (Get certified organic ingredients when possible.)
    15 graham crackers, ground
    3 tablespoons butter, melted
    4 packages cream cheese (8 oz each)
    1 1/2 cups sugar
    3/4 cup almond milk
    4 eggs
    1 cup sour cream
    1 tablespoon vanilla
    1/4 cup all-purpose flour

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Grease a 9 inch springform pan. Thrifty Tip: I save the wax paper from sticks of butter in the freezer. I use it to grease any and all baking pans.

    In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter and press onto the bottom of the springform pan.

    In the KitchenAid Mixer bowl (or a large bowl), mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Add almond milk, eggs one at a time, sour cream, vanilla, and flour. Mix until smooth. Pour this cream cheese mix into springform pan, on top of the graham cracker crust.

    Bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven down to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for the next 30 minutes, then to 250 for another 30 minutes. Turn the oven off but let the cheesecake stand in the oven. Do not take the cheesecake out. Keep the oven door closed while it cools, approximately 5 hours. Once the oven and the cheesecake is cooled completely, take the cheesecake out of the oven and chill in the refrigerator.

    For cranberry topping, use my Maple Cranberry Sauce recipe.

    Cheers to you on this holiday season!

  • Autumn Apple Pie

    Autumn Apple Pie

    This is a basic apple pie recipe that your grandmother likely already has in her recipe box, but here you go. Now you can have this apple pie recipe online as well.

    Apple Pie

    Ingredients: Perfect Pie Crust
    3 cups pastry flour
    1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
    pinch of salt
    1/2 cup iced water

    This is my perfect pie crust. I learned how to do it from a vintage recipe when I got married in 1996 and have perfected it all these years. Mix flour, butter and salt, until mixture is in crumbs. Toss with iced water. Do not overmix. Divide pie crust dough into two. Use the wax paper from one of the sticks of butter to grease the pie pan. Roll out one part of the dough and lay in the pie pan. Roll out the second part of the dough and cut out holes to let the steam out.

    Ingredients: Apple Pie Filling
    7 organic apples, peeled and sliced thin
    1/2 cup organic cane sugar
    1/2 cup organic brown sugar
    3 tablespoons organic and unbleached all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoons organic ground cinnamon
    1/4 teaspoon organic ground ginger
    1/4 teaspoon organic ground nutmeg

    Preheat oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all apple pie filling ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into the pie crust bottom already in the pie pan. Cover with the top pie crust. Pinch together and push a non-metal fork’s tines on the edge of the crust. This is a good time to put the assembled apple pie on the Food Zappicator and turn the zapper on to zappicate the pie. Brush whisked organic egg white on the top crust while zappicating. The egg white wash will give the pie a nice golden color once baked in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes. Turn the pie in the oven and bake for another 25 minutes. Cool before serving.

  • Coconut Quinoa Cereal

    Coconut Quinoa Cereal

    You might be surprised by how delicious and filling this Coconut Quinoa Cereal is, while being quite possibly the healthiest breakfast on the planet. Let’s look at the ingredients.

    Quinoa is a versatile whole grain that can be made into a salad, a lunch casserole, or a dinner side.

    Quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein, and one of the few plant foods that contain all nine essential amino acids. It is also high in fiber, magnesium, B-vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants.

    – 11 Proven Health Benefits of Quinoa
    Authority Nutrition

    Coconut milk is no slouch either. Coconut milk improves heart health, builds muscle, helps lose fat, prevents fatigue, stimulates digestion, relieves constipation, manages blood sugar, and prevents anemia, joint inflammation, and ulcers. (Source: Dr. Axe)

    Don’t you feel healthier already? Now go and make this cereal.

    Coconut Quinoa Cereal

    Ingredients:
    1 cup coconut milk
    1/2 cup quinoa
    1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
    Maple syrup or raw honey to taste
    More coconut milk to taste

    Heat the coconut milk until boiling. Add quinoa and cover. Lower heat to simmer until the coconut milk is absorbed but still slightly wet. Mix the shredded coconut in. Serve warm with maple syrup or raw honey and more coconut milk to taste. Makes 2 servings.

    Experiment with some of your favorite toppings. Sliced apples with cinnamon, berries, bananas, nuts. Have a happy healthy start to your day!

  • Aloo Gobi

    Aloo Gobi

    Aloo Gobi is one of those dishes I’ve enjoyed in lunch buffets at Indian Restaurants, but don’t usually order as an entree for dinner. It’s unassuming and understated, not as much star power as the tandooris or the tikka masalas.

    When it comes to home cooking, though, Aloo Gobi wins because I can make it in under an hour. Also, a quick glance down the list of ingredients reveals at least five ingredients that are known to be cancer-fighting immune boosting superfoods.

    Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is blowing up all over the internet with lists upon lists of the many benefits and uses for it, from nutrition to personal care to first aid to household uses.

    Garlic has been shown to lower risks for certain cancers, as well as supports the immune system. We turn to our recipe for Honey Lemon Garlic Tea every time we feel under the weather and need a boost.

    Ginger fights cancer, relieves motion sickness and nausea, aids digestion, promotes healthy circulation, and many more. It is a major ingredient in Hulda Clark’s recipe for Kidney Cleanse.

    Turmeric contains curcumin, which is more effective than many pharmaceuticals against several chronic and debilitating diseases including cancer, and has no side effects.

    Cauliflower and other Cruciferous Vegetables contain sulforaphane, one of the ten best cancer-killing phytonutrients.

    So here it is, my version of Aloo Gobi, the cancer-fighting, immune boosting superfood that can be made under an hour. I started out with this recipe and modified as I went along.

    Aloo Gobi

    Ingredients:
    1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil
    1 teaspoon cumin
    1 teaspoon minced garlic
    1 tablespoon minced ginger
    1 onion, sliced
    2 medium diced potatoes
    1 teaspoon turmeric
    1 teaspoon paprika
    1 teaspoon garam masala
    2 tablespoons plain yogurt
    1/2 cup water
    2 tablespoons coconut milk
    1 head of cauliflower
    Salt to taste
    Rice
    Cilantro

    Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute cumin, garlic and ginger until the spices are infused in the oil. Spread onions across the skillet but do not stir. Let the edges of the onion caramelize. Stir in potatoes and cover to steam. Season with turmeric, paprika, and garam masala. Stir in yogurt, water and coconut milk. Cover and let it cook for about ten minutes.

    While the potatoes are cooking, cut up the cauliflower into florets and stir into the stew. Cover and let it simmer for half an hour. Salt to taste. Serve on top of rice and garnish with cilantro.

  • How to Make Homemade Pasta

    How to Make Homemade Pasta

    My daughter has been making homemade pasta with her Dad for as long as she remembers. Preparing meals is a family activity in our home. It’s so gratifying to see my 10-year-old daughter competently handling knives and the stove, while conversing about our family’s health philosophy (in between silly stuff).

    We stopped eating wheat for a few years, but the complexity of blended flours trying to capture the texture and taste of wheat seemed more of a process than simply committing to using organic or non-GMO wheat flour products.

    We still enjoy coconut flour for making coconut muffins, arrowroot flour for making dry arrowroot cookies, rice flour for making rice cakes. But when it comes to making bread and pasta, there is nothing like good old wheat.

    Homemade Pasta

    Ingredients:
    1 cup semolina flour
    1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
    2 eggs or 3 egg whites, free-range and organic

    Combine semolina flour and salt. Add beaten eggs. Mix to make a stiff dough. On a lightly floured surface, flatten dough with a rolling pin. Jelly-roll the flattened dough and cut into noodles.

    Homemade pasta for dinner. #semolina #pasta

    A photo posted by Modern Wife (@modernwife) on

    We used a curly knife to cut the pasta.

    My daughter chops the #pasta with a curly knife.

    A photo posted by Modern Wife (@modernwife) on

    Bring a large pot of water to boil. Unroll the pasta and add to the pot of boiling water. Cook until al dente.

    Unrolling #homemade #pasta.

    A photo posted by Modern Wife (@modernwife) on

    Serve with your favorite sauce. Or simply toss with butter, salt and herbs such as green onions and cilantro.

    #homemade #pasta #dinner with chopped #herbs. #cilantro #greenonions

    A photo posted by Modern Wife (@modernwife) on

    Serves 3.

    Buon appetito!

    Homemade Pasta

  • Fiddleheads

    Fiddleheads

    I’ve never met this vegetable before: fiddleheads.

    It’s the curled ends of a young ostrich fern, harvested in early spring. It is rich in vitamin A and vitamin C.

    There are so many recipes and ideas for cooking fiddleheads online, but here is the simplest way to serve it:

    Steam the fiddleheads for about 20 minutes. Melt butter on warm fiddleheads. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with quinoa on the side.

  • Coconut Muffins

    Coconut Muffins

    Coconuts made quite an impression on my husband and daughter when we visited the Philippines. My home has coconut trees growing right on our front yard. One Sunday morning a boy climbed one of the trees with a machete and carefully lowered bunches of coconuts down to our driveway.

    harvesting coconuts from tree in the Philippines

    We drank fresh coconut juice and ate fresh coconut “meat” that day.

    Coconuts are nutritious and can be eaten in so many different ways: juice, “meat,” oil, milk. Here’s a healthy breakfast recipe that uses various coconut products:

    Coconut Muffins

    Ingredients:
    4 tablespoons organic virgin coconut oil, melted into liquid
    6 organic eggs
    1/2 cup organic coconut milk
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 cup organic coconut flour
    1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
    6 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut

    Preheat oven to 400˚F. Grease a 12-muffin pan with coconut oil or use paper muffin cups.

    Beat eggs, coconut oil, coconut milk and salt. Add coconut flour and baking powder. Whisk until smooth. Pour batter halfway into muffin cups. Sprinkle with shredded coconut.

    Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins. Serve with raw honey for sweetening.

    This is based on a recipe found in The Candida Free Cookbook by Shasta Press. I skipped the Stevia for sweetening. Stevia is the sweetener of choice for people who are on a candida-free diet. Since my family and I are not, I took the liberty of topping the unsweetened coconut muffins with raw honey to taste.

  • Guacamole & Salsa

    Guacamole & Salsa

    I make the easiest and most delicious Guacamole & Salsa east of the Mission. Or so I think. Give it a try and see if I’m right.

    Guacamole & Salsa, when made fresh with organic ingredients, are a super healthy combination. Avocado has more than two times the potassium found in a banana, and is rich in the B vitamins, folic acid and vitamin E. Tomatoes contain lycopene, a powerful anti-cancer nutrient. Cilantro is excellent for removing toxic metals such as mercury from the body. Red Bell Peppers are rich in antioxidants, vitamins A, B, C and E, and a number of beneficial minerals.

    Guacamole

    Ingredients:
    2 organic avocadoes
    1 organic tomato, chopped
    a bunch of organic cilantro, chopped
    salt and pepper to taste

    Mash the avocadoes with a fork. Add chopped tomato and cilantro. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix together.

    Salsa

    Ingredients:
    2 organic tomatoes, chopped
    1 teaspoon lemon juice
    1/4 cup organic bell peppers, chopped (I used red in this recipe, but any color will do)
    a bunch of organic cilantro, chopped
    salt and pepper to taste

    Mix all ingredients together. Squeeze a little lemon juice.

    Serve either or both Guacamole & Salsa with organic and/or non-GMO chips, such as Garden of Eatin’ Blue Corn chips, as seen in the photo above. Enjoy the fiesta!

  • Yogurt with Granola Bar

    Yogurt with Granola Bar

    I’ve been buying only organic raw plain whole milk yogurt since last summer. I found some in my local health food store and now I’m hooked. Let me break it down:

    Organic: means the milk comes from cows that are not given antibiotics or hormones, and are fed organic grass and not GMO corn raised on pesticides.

    Raw: means the milk is not pasteurized, fresh as fresh can be right out of healthy cows. It has not sat in a giant vat with who knows how many other cows’ milk to get pasteurized. Also, raw milk still contains the nutrition that is the reason why we drink milk in the first place. (Raw milk is illegal in some states. Because the government wants you to buy their crappy milk.) Here’s more info about real milk.

    Plain: means I don’t have to put up with overly-sugared yogurt from questionable sugar sources. It means I don’t have to eat old fruit that’s sat in that container for who knows how long. I’ll add my own fresh fruit, thank you.

    Whole Milk: means I want the fat. Yes, I do. Real fat, not saturated fat, is good for you.

    I’ve served it with Maple Cranberry Sauce, but mostly I serve it with apple. Here’s the recipe:

    Ingredients:
    organic raw plain whole milk yogurt
    organic apple, peeled and chopped
    organic maple syrup
    Nature’s Path Organic Crunchy Granola Bars, Apple Pie Crunch Chia Plus

    Scoop out yogurt into breakfast bowl. Drizzle maple syrup and top with apple. Finish with granola bars.

    Apple Yogurt with Granola Bars