I wanted to make a moist, spicy cake for the holidays with a good crumb, spongy yet substantial—and low-sugar and vegan. Could I do it? I could and I did. It was the big hit of my Thanksgiving dinner. I co-opted key parts of two different recipes and added my own usual tweaks and tricks…to come up with a moist, fluffy, deliciously out of this world cake that was wayyyyy lower in sugar than even the best “healthy“ recipes I could find. Only 4 g sugar per generous slice, plus a super impressive 4 g …
Blueberry Shortcake Smoothie with Benefits
This Blueberry Shortcake Smoothie is actually more aptly titled Blueberry Shortcake Sneaky Shatavari Smoothie—but I didn’t want to scare you off. 😉 You don’t HAVE to add the shatavari or other herbs (then it’s just a tasty blueberry smoothie!), but I devised this blend specifically to get some of my daily shatavari in without being the wiser, smoothie-flavor-wise. Stealthily slipping herbal/botanical and bioactive additions into my smoothies for added benefits without ruining the delicious smoothie refreshment is a specialty of mine. I’m always perfecting blends that can handle a significant amount of medicinal stuff without …
5 delicious, energizing, soothing adaptogenic cocoa recipes from a health coach-fitness trainer-herbalist
Think cocoa is for winter only? Think again! Sure, it’s most appealing to face into a steamy cup when it’s frosty outside. But a rich, deep cocoa drink is so satisfying year round. And while in Arizona now I do tend to switch from cocoa to smoothies by late spring, when I lived in Seattle a hot cup of cocoa was pretty much welcome year round! As a “joyful nourishment instigator” (integrative health coach, fitness trainer, fitness nutrition specialist, Ayurvedic herbal advisor and motivation specialist), one of my specialties is inspiring people to LOVE fueling …
Spicy Mexican Black Bean and “Chorizo” Soup
Here is the recipe for my Spicy Mexican Black Bean and “Chorizo” soup, made for hungry people and immune systems that need a little boost! Lots of cayenne, jalapeño, chili powder and garlic. Also of course black beans, plus El Burrito Soyrizo (this one’s organic, some aren’t), tomatoes and onion and cabbage and chard/kale/mustard green mix, sweet potatoes and carrots, mushrooms and corn. And even beets! Red, fiery and also a tiny bit naturally sweet. Sooooooo good with those Mesquite Green Chile Corn Muffins I made the day before…recipe to come! This is easy to make, …
The Simple Chocolate-Spice-Cherry Cake Recipe I Invented for My Own Birthday
It’s perfect for the holidays too. My best friend offered to bake me a cake for my birthday. But I’m picky about ingredients and especially about low-sugar and low-fat (and still delicious) baking. I’m also looser about straying from recipes—we have a ton in common, but when it comes to recipes she wants to follow them to the letter and I want to barely use them as a guide to create something even better. So we agreed that I would supervise and orchestrate, and she would be my sous chef. 🙂 And this is what …
Red Bean-Red Beet-Red Cabbage Soup
A gorgeous, warming, red-purple soup for winter’s gloomiest days! I whipped this up the other night when I had a large hunk of a giant head of red cabbage still waiting to be used, even after a couple days of stir-fries. I remember my Grandma Rose, who lived downstairs when I was growing up, cooking cabbage soup—and I loved the smell in the house. (My dad, I recall, did not.) She used beef, which as a plant-based eater I do not, but you can add meat if you like or you can use veggie “crumbles” as I did. …
Chocolate-Cherry-Reishi Immune-Boosting Smoothie
I invented this smoothie in the last week out of a craving for something cool, sweet (but not too sweet) and satisfying to nourish myself back to health after seven days of the worst bug I’d had in decades. I feel amazing after drinking it, and it’s yummy too, so I really wanted to share it right away! It’s so delicious, there’s no need to limit it to just a “medicinal” use. Now that the weather’s heated up here in my Southwest home, it’s a great daily treat even now that I’m feeling great again. …
Pumpkin Chocolate-Chunk Cookies (Vegan)
These cookies were a huge hit at Thanksgiving—so much so that I am making them again for Xmas. And I also promised to get them on the blog real soon. So—voila. I worked extra hard on these—I made them several times (I know, tough job!), adapting from at least four different pumpkin spice cookie recipes, trying different combinations of flour types and quantities till I got the taste and texture I wanted. They’re extremely low-sugar, as are all my recipes—so as always, you can up the sugar either by adding more granulated (and adding more moisture to balance …
Extra-Spicy Baked Gingerbread Chai Donuts
I love gingerbread at the holidays. I”m sure that makes me exactly no different than most people. Actually, I love gingerbread all year long. Nothing like a gingerbread cake of any kind with a cup of tea. In playing with recipes to come up with the perfect gingerbread cake and gingerbread cookies, it occurred to me that a fun way to convert gingerbread spice cake (or the chai cake I was drooling over) into bite-sized servings would be to put the batter in my new mini donut pan. I mean, to me the only thing better than a …
Hot Cocoa-Turmeric Milk—An Antioxidant Love Child
Yes, I have a tendency to wonder if adding chocolate to things will make them even better. I mean, give me some credit. I don’t do it to everything. I don’t add it to, say, cornbread or apple pie or tomato soup. (Now, black bean soup would be another story. Mole, right?) But I’ve long wondered if my turmeric milk (also known as “golden milk”)—based on a traditional Ayurvedic recipe—could be made a little more appealing with the addition of cocoa. I mean, I drink hot cocoa in nut milk. I drink turmeric in nut milk. Why not …
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