Homemade pizza: half and half; sausage and veggies

This afternoon, I made a homemade pizza for my daughter. I started way ahead of time to give the dough a chance to sit and rest a bit.

Homemade pizza ICL_1 4.28.16
Homemade pizza

I then ground a variety of herbs and spices to be added to the sauce. I must add, that some of the freshly ground herbs and spices made its way into the pizza dough as well.

Homemade pizza ICL_2 4.28.16

By the time I picked her up from school. The pizza was done, and just waiting to be devoured. So she it was nice little surprise that was awaiting her once we arrived home.

Part of the pizza had a mix of sausage, veggies and roasted garlic and the other side was veggies and roasted garlic. She said it tasted amazing and she had three slices.

 

Raw Food: Juicing; Carrot, pineapple, orange, ginger and… garlic?

Yesterday morning, I went to the store and purchased nine pounds of carrots.

Raw carrot juice.ICL_2 4.17.16
Raw carrot, pineapple, orange, ginger and garlic juice

I went home and juiced the above drink. My daughter was my tester for the garlic. She said, that she could not taste the ginger, but the did think it was spicy because of the ginger. If ginger or garlic doesn’t appeal to you, don’t add it to your juice. I tend to add a lot of garlic to the juices I make for myself (much more than I added in this drink) because of it’s amazing benefits and its also a natural boost to the immune system.

  • Carrots – 3 pounds
  • Pineapples – 1
  • Oranges – 5
  • Ginger – 1/2 inch
  • Garlic – 2 cloves
Raw carrot juice.ICL_2 4.17.16 (2)
A big pitcher of mu freshly juiced juice!

Throughout the day, my daughter and I drank the juice and before we knew it, it was gone!

Raw carrot juice.ICL_3 4.17.16
Juicer pulp from juicing. I use them in soups, vegan burgers, salads, stir fry and composting. This pulp will be used to make raw fruit cookies!

I saved the pulp and today I will use it to make fruit cookies. I’ll be sure to post the finished cookies.

 

 

Raw Vegan Munchies: Two types of crackers and guacamole

This weekend, I made a huge batch of raw vegan crackers and put my 9-tray Excalibur food dehydrator to good use. I made some sweet cookies that my daughter said smelled like banana muffins and I made a huge variety of crackers.

Raw snacks bean and veggie chips_imcl 4.12.16
Raw snacks: Black bean crackers and veggie crackers

My daughter made quick work on the crackers and is slowly making a dent into the vegetable and bean crackers that I made. She said they’re really good.

I thought I’d have a bit more of the black bean crackers for myself since she normally does not like spicy (I added Korean chili pepper and a variety of other hot peppers to the black bean crackers) but she’s loving these and is eating them by the handful.

Raw food beannveggie crackers_icl 4.13.16
Guacamole with black bean crackers and veggie crackers

This morning, I made guacamole. I have not prepared that in a while, and the crackers, chips, whatever you want to call them worked perfect for dipping. Guess what, the veggie cracker were mainly made from juicer pulp. In our household, the pulp never goes to waste. I use it in soups, gumbos, vegan burgers, desserts and raw vegan snacks. Of course, the old standby is compost.

Happy munching!

Sometimes, even Amazon has issues…

Earlier this morning, while attempting to make a purchase on Amazon I received this error message…

The Centurians Wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke

Amazon

We’re sorry. An error occurred when we tried to process your request. Rest assured, we’re working to resolve the problem as soon as possible. Please try again in a few minutes.

A bit odd, but ok…? I realized that my card information needed to be updated. My bank recently sent me a new card, they updated to the “smartcard” feature. Is that what it’s called? So now, my expiration and security number has changed. I updated the information and went to  complete my order and still got the above error message. I attempted to make the payment a few more times and finally it started working.

I’m really looking forward to reading The Centurian’s Wife. It’s supposed to surround events after Jesus’s death. I love the Bible and read it daily, so this sounds great. I just hope they don’t deviate too much from scripture. Anyway, this book was recommended to me on my GoodReads profile. Here’s what it says…

“Janette Oke has dreamed for years of retelling a story in a biblical time frame from a female protagonist’s perspective, and Davis Bunn is elated to be working with her again on this sweeping saga of the dramatic events surrounding the birth of Christianity…and the very personal story of Leah, a young Jewess of mixed heritage trapped in a vortex of competing political agendas and private trauma. Caught up in the maelstrom following the death of an obscure rabbi in the Roman backwater of first-century Palestine, Leah finds herself also engulfed in her own turmoil–facing the prospect of an arranged marriage to a Roman soldier, Alban, who seems to care for nothing but his own ambitions. Head of the garrison near Galilee, he has been assigned by Palestine’s governor to ferret out the truth behind rumors of a political execution gone awry. Leah’s mistress, the governor’s wife, secretly commissions Leah also to discover what really has become of this man whose death–and missing body–is causing such furor. This epic drama is threaded with the tale of an unlikely romance and framed with dangers and betrayals from unexpected sources. At its core, The Centurion’s Wife unfolds the testing of loyalties–between two young people whose inner searchings they cannot express, between their irreconcilable heritages, and ultimately between their humanity and the Divine they yearn to encounter.”

I can’t wait to read it. Actually, I don’t have to wait since I discovered I can read it on my iPad for free since it’s also free on the Kindle. Hooray! ☺️

Vegan: Red potato ranch fries

Yesterday evening, making ranch fries was a spur of the moment decision. I’d already had dinner prepared for my daughter. She had eaten a few hours before; however, since I know she loves homemade fries, I prepared a quick snack for her.

Homemade ranch fries_icl 4.5.16
Homemade ranch fries

I must say that it’s a shame that the only picture that I took was before I slid these homemade fries into the oven. My daughter returned for seconds and then thirds and so when I realized that I should take a picture, there were only a few fries left. In hindsight, I still should have taken the picture since it would have shown how much of a hit they were!

I will say they were golden brown, and the seasonings I had added to them made them very tasty. They had the proper crispness that many of us associate with fries, but without the added calories since they were baked instead of fried. I never fry them, if I’ve prepared them, they’re always baked.