Recipes
This page is dedicated to my husband
who is the lucky? recipient of all my
experiments.
I create in the kitchen and feel that, with good ingredients,
I make
good, healthy meals.
Here are some of my favorites.
By the way: That's Bob standing on Mt. Tam next to Sulphur
Shelf,
an edible FungusAmongus (we do NOT eat fungus in the wild)
when it grows on conifers (so we're told by the experts at the
Oakland Museum)
Email your favorite Trail or Healthy Recipe
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6lbs Raw Almonds
1/4-1/3 Cup Agave Syrup (less syrup = more stirring)
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Ground Cloves (for a spicier flavor, esp during the holidays)
1 Tsp Ground Ginger
Dash -
1/8 Tsp Cayenne
2 Tsp Sea Salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix thoroughly first 5 ingredients into a muddy paste. The thicker
the paste/the less agave, the more stirring and the less they stick together when done
Add all almonds and stir until completely coated (fold with a large
spoon from bottom to top.
Spread onto 2 large baking sheets
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes
Stir – folding outside edges in toward center
Cook another 15 minut4es and repeat this (probably one more time) until
almonds brown and are lightly brown in the middle when cut in half
Let cool
While cooling – massage (careful, they’re hot a first) and move almost
around so they don’t stick together
When cool, sprinkle with pinches of salt, most of which will not adhere
When completely cool, transfer to air tight container and vacuum seal or
store in glass jars in fridge
Discard remainder of salt or use in your next creation. |
Agave Almonds
This recipe is one I've perfected after
about 40 iterations. When done just
right, they do not stick together when
cool.
They are lightly sweet and extremely
flavorful without using much sugar.
Agave syrup is like watery honey
and is available at many health food
stores. If you have problems finding
Agave, you can try honey, but you
will need to heat it gently at first to
get it to a more watery consistency
so that it will spread.
Excellent Holiday Gift for your
hiking buddies, great trail snack. |
Wraps are easy to make and seem exotic OTT (on the trail).
Make no mistake - on a hard hike or paddle, PB&J is still the food of
choice, but if you have the luxury of not having to hike hard after
lunch, wraps are marvelous:Base - lay the flat bread out onto your
work surface.
Spread your spread (see sample recipe below) lightly, being sure to have
spread for adhesion on the final end.
Fill with: avocado, red/yellow pepper, feta, pine nuts, whatever.
If you use tomato, paper towel dry first and lay along just one section.
If you use spinach or lettuce, you can lay it over all the fillings and
roll up, leaving space at the end for the "binder."
If you use pine nuts or anything that can fall out, be sure to put them
on a section with a "binder" like avocado or spread.
Roll up either long ways (if you need more sandwiches) or the way you'd
get more rolls. Actually, it's like folding, approx 2" folds each.
If you lay your fillings in approx 2" sections, that makes them a bit
more interesting.
Wrap tightly in saran wrap and gently press to get the air out and blend
ingredients. |
Wraps
For years friends have told me that
I should open a sandwich shop.
I don't think so.
But I do love to create interesting,
yummy sandwiches and have found
that the soft rectangular wraps (such
as those found at Trader Joes) make
wonderful, healthy, low cal, high
energy sandwiches.
Be creative - here are some tips.
See Spreads below |
Finally, I've found a cookbook that thinks like I do -
healthy, low fat with FLAVOR.
So often I tell a friend, a pinch of this, a taste of that - I create
and improvise. That does not work for everyone. This is a
very friendly-to-use, healthy cookbook that I highly recommend.
One thing, I would add mint to the Quinoa Tabouli and I would lose the
cilantro in other recipes, but that's me. |
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Ok, it's out - my secret for goodies OTT (on the trail)
I found this site years ago searching for affordable bread mixes.
I was so tired of paying $4-$5 for a bread machine mix. Since
then, I've ordered many things and have found their quality and prices
to be exceptional. Here are some of my favorites:
- Gingerbread Cake (great for holidays)
- Carrot Cake (try using OJ instead of water for a different flavor)
- All the bread mixes (careful on Multi-grain - they indicate 1TB yeast
and it should be 1.5 Tsp)
- Brownies - yum!
- Oatmeal Cookies (I've done this with OJ too and I've also tried adding
extra oats)
(before you experiment, I recommend trying it they way they
suggest)
- Corn Relish - comes in a huge jar and a great condiment
- Grated Orange Peel (yummy in bread mix with dried cranberries)
- Their dried cherries are the best I've found
- Oat Bran or Honey Bran Muffins
Their packaging is practically non-existent and this appeals to my sense
of preservation of the environment. Not fancy, but good and
downright cheap! I place my order and usually try something new.
I've never been disappointed. |
Granary Bulk Foods
Reduce your Green Footprint, they use less packaging and their products
are Yummy in your Tummy! |
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Caramelized
onions: 2 TB chicken bouillon with about 8 onions, canola & butter
Add Fennel towards end of caramelizing and cook till soft and lightly
brown
Stock: (golden brown from caramelized onions in bottom of pan)
Water
2 bay leaves
1 tsp rosemary
Fennel throwaways
Carmelized Onions (from whence salt comes)
garlic
At end add in 1 package imitation crab, 1 package frozen corn and cooked
fennel |
Fennel, Corn & Crab soup |
| Favorte snack OTT (on the trail) - no question - Medjool Dates
& Dried Pineapple -
Forget Power Bars (sorry potential sponsors), for pure power - dates.
Clif makes a good bar, all natural, made with dates for a handy snack.
2nd favorite snack - Fuji apples - pre-cut your apples by cutting 4
times almost all the way thru, (angle tip of knife downward and
stop just before it touches cutting board). This makes 8 nice
pre-cut pieces (or 4 if you prefer and don't cut as much, which is the
way Bob likes it). Wrap in a small piece of saran and you're
really to hike! Nutrition, fiber, hydration & energy. |
Favorite Snacks OTT |
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
Several lemons cut into slices
Boil for 5 minutes
Cool and add:
Juice of 6 lemons Store in
covered jar
To 1 glass of sparkling water add 2 Tbsp syrup or to taste
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Lemon Syrup for
yummy lemonade |
2 oz. vegetable
oil or vodka
¼ tsp each: citronella & eucalyptus essential oils
1/8 tsp each: pennyroyal, cedar & rose geranium essential oils
Combine ingredients and apply mixture directly to all exposed skin.
Keep oil away from eyes and mouth
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INSECT
REPELLANT
p.248
Book: “Herbs for Health and Healing” by Kathi Keville, Rodale
Press, 1998 |
Peppered
Pecans
3 TB butter
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp (5 ml) hot sauce
½ tsp (2 ml) salt
3 cups (750 ml) pecan halves
Snack to prepare before a trip.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees,
melt butter in small skillet, add hot sauce, garlic & salt, sauté for 1
minute
toss pecans in butter mixture and spread nuts in a single layer on a
baking sheet
bake for about 1 hour or until pecans are crisp, stirring every 10 to 15
minutes. |
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Have you ever seen America's Test Kitchen
on PBS?
They test and test and come up with the best way to do every day type
recipes.
They rate products (both equipment and food products).
If you use recipes to cook, or just use ideas to create, they're a great
resource! |
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1 small cooked Kabocha squash (I bake it
whole, then cut, de-seed and dig out the yummy colorful squash)
1 8oz pkg of Neufchatel or Fat Free Cream Cheese
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup of roasted, salted sunflower seeds
1-2 TB Maple Syrup, type B of course
In food processor, grind sunflower seeds, add rest of ingredients and
whirl away into a yummy colorful spread that you can put on crackers,
morning toast or serve as a side dish.Note: if your squash is
medium sized, use about 1 cup for recipe below |
SEASONAL Kabocha Spread |
Your favorite pancake mix
Egg whites
Kabocha Squash or 1 Small Sweet Potato
Adding egg whites and vegetables ups the protein and nutritional
quality. Also, the flavor is so yummy, you won't need syrup (or
much less anyway). Add almond extract, toasted pecans, cinnamon or
any spice you like to make a more interesting pancake. |
Kabocha or Sweet Potato Pancakes |
You'll need a food processor for this one.
Process together:
Any toasted nut or seed: Pine Nuts, Pistachios, Sunflower, Almonds
Add any cheese you like that has a relatively strong flavor: Feta,
Blue, Pecorino Romano
A whole bunch of fat free cream cheese. I usually use 3 fat free
to 1 low fat ratio.
Add any (small amount) of heat
Add almost any herbs: Sage, basil, combo
Enjoy instead of mayo, use on wraps, crackers, toast |
Low Cal Spreads |
Cut a piece of puff pastry into 9 pieces, I
use a pizza roller (3rds both ways).
Put into oil spritzed muffin tins and stretch them into little cups,
crimping the corners a bit.
Fill with: 1 rounded Tsp of the Kabocha Spread + approx 1/2 tsp
Almond Butter
Sprinkle with small bittersweet chocolate chips (from Granary Bulk foods
or your favorite healthy store)
Bake according to Puff Pastry directions.
Reheat left overs in oven - they're just as good reheated. |
Healthy-ish Dessert |
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