What Is Left To Eat? -- a Food Journal by Laura Bracken

  I wasn't sure what I was going to make but I found some really thin whole wheat tortillas at the store and suddenly I was craving a big ol' burrito.  I toyed with the idea of vegan cheese and/or vegan sour cream, but I'm really trying to not use processed foods so I decided to go without (and I didn't miss them!). Went home and started some brown rice in the Instant Pot.  While the rice was cooking I put a bit of water into a non-stick frying pan on the stove on high and threw in half a chopped onion, then a very large, minced garlic clove, then maybe two tablespoons of my Mexican seasoning (see below).  I added more water only to keep things from sticking to the bottom of the pan while I opened a can of low-sodium pinto beans.  I drained the beans then dumped them into the frying pan and used a potato masher to mash them into the other ingredients while continuing to cook.   I may have lowered the heat a bit, I don't recall.  T...

Soup and salad is a good meal to transition from winter to summer.  Here in California, spring can be short.  We kind of leap right into summer. So I'm taking advantage of our short spring to enjoy this light and hearty meal (oxymoron?). I made the zucchini soup in my Pampered Chef blender.  I recently saw an article about the top blenders.  So I was looking at the one they deemed the best, and honestly, I like my Pampered Chef better.  Not only is my blender less expensive, but mine actually COOKS the food (if I choose) whereas the other blender merely heats the food up from the friction of the blade. Click this link if you are interested in seeing more.   This link is from my Pampered Chef friend, Hillary.  There are always all kinds of deals and specials.  (I also use the blender to make all my nut milks, nut butters, and nut flours... there's still many things I have to try.) Anyway, I found a zucchini soup recipe online but then chan...

Wow, this was good.  Just finished lunch and so glad I took notes while making it! I can't call this "whole foods" because I did use some processed foods, but they were minimal and they were still "good ones" (as far as I'm concerned)... so I'm fine with this. I made the rice first.  I did something different this time and it worked.  Yay! Rice Ingredients 1 cup whole grain brown rice 1¼ cup water 1-2 inches of finely grated ginger 5 twists of salt 4 small garlic cloves smashed or minced ½ teaspoon turmeric powder Sauce Ingredients ¼ cup unsweetened peanut butter 1/8 cup coconut aminos (or soy sauce if you swing that way) 1/8 cup rice vinegar 1½ tablespoons coconut aminos gochujang sauce 1 large garlic clove crushed or minced ¼ cup water Juice of one lime Toppings Green cabbage, sliced into bite size pieces Purple cabbage, sliced into bite size pieces Carrot, sliced into bite size pieces Scallion, sliced Mung bea...