Trying my hand at a few things

Namely: Mahea's Gone Crackers, sprouting seeds, and chia pudding. Let's work in reverse, shall we?

So far, I'm munching on the chia pudding. In the mix:
-3/4 cup almond milk
-2 tbsp chia seeds
-2 squirts raw agave sweetner
-1/2 tsp cinnamon

I fork-wisked the first three ingredients together in a cutsie clear teacup(that's quite frankly too small for tea anyway) and stuck it in the fridge to set while I took my run. The cinnamon was stirred in as an afterthought when I realized that basically cinnamon makes everything better.

And I do say that I'm "munching" on my puddang because we all know the little *bite* you get out of gelled chia seeds, though I wish I had let it set a tad longer as I like less of a bite. Still fun to get a small crunch factor though.

I definitely do see a difference when I'm chia-less in my diet. I seem to have more energy when I've snuck the little bastards in, and enjoy them sprinkled on the ever present massaged kale salad. *Note* Kale is always bought dinner BEFORE massaging, so as not to take advantage of it.

As for the sprouting seeds, I'm using the Big Raw Blog's jar method, and currently my lentils and sunflower seeds are soaking in my own little mason jar. Yeah, I'm one of those "mason jar people". I do believe that sweet tea and lemonade just automatically taste better coming out of a mason jar. Go ahead and blame it on my Texan daddy, I don't mind. But I digress... In a few days (if i've done it right), I should be the proud muncher of some newly sprouted numblies.

I've seen sprouted things in the market before, and while I enjoy mung bean sprouts and alfalfa sprouts almost on the daily, I've never ventured out into the world of other sprouts. After Big Raw Vegan Blog posted twice about this, I knew I had to give it a try. The towel method I shall try after my jar method experiment.

And lastly for the "Mahea's Gone Crackers" or as Evan calls it "Mahea's blatant rip off of an excessively overpriced trademarked cracker" I think I've nailed down a good recipe:

1 cup brown arborio rice (not brown basmati)
1/2 cup quinoa, washed
3 tbsp tamari
1/2 cup flax seeds
1 1/2 cups broth
1/4 cup sesame seeds
black pepper
Olive oil

*Prehead oven to 3-fiddy.*

1. Cook the rice and quinoa with 2 cups of plain water and the 3 tbsp of tamari. (I'll confess I just threw them into my rice cooker for 1 cycle and that works fien.)
2. When cooked and cooled to the point of not burning yourself, transfer 3/4 of the mixture to a food processor and add the flax seeds. Slowly drizzle in the broth till mixture is sticky and looks like lumpy porridge. You may not use all the broth and that's ok.
3. Transfer to a large work bowl and fold in the remaining 1/4 mixture, sesame seeds, and broth (if any left). Season with black pepper.
4. Oil your 1/2 sheet pan very lightly and plop out the mass into the center. Use a rubber spatula to gently pull the goop around till you end up with the whole surface covered in a relatively uniform thickness. You will pull to hard and see the pan below, just go back the other way to patch it up.
5. Bake at 3-fiddy for an hour, till edged pull away and the center feels hard and dry.
6. Cool completely on pan (the carry over heat will help to finish the dehydration) and crack into pieces. Store in an airtight container and try not to sneak out of bed at midnight to devour them.

Picture soon... soon as I buy that new Canon. Which will be soon. But not yet. Patience!

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Porridge when it's pouring

I remember the tropical thunderstorms of my youth. Torrential downpours, thunder that resonated in your chest, sweeping winds and driving rain that blew in from both sides at once. Nature is quite glorious isn't it?

If you're anywhere around California, than chances are you've gotten a few drops of rain this week. But the storms over Los Angeles are finicky, lavishing attention for only a few minutes at a time (and boy what attention!). I want some rain damn you! Oh mighty Zeus, kick some butt up there and flood my backyard! (Not really though, please don't flood me out!)

The cold and the rain mean 1 thing and 1 thing only: space heater. Wait, no! I mean: soup. Yeah, soup. So sad for me that I discovered 2 past-their-prime lemons too late for my raw kale salad last night, but good news for my eats tonight. However, thin soups are so not my style and I knew I didn't want noodles so what to do what to do...

I remember when I was young my mom would make jook for me, a thick rice porridge with shredded chicken and flavored with green onion and anise. Somehow I've outgrown the anise flavors of my youth (too much Chinese food), and I don't eat chicken anymore, but my love for thick rice porridge has never lessened. Taking into account the leftovers in my fridge, I came up with a recipe that's hearty, citrusy, warm, thick, gooey, and down home, with some added protein. You'll need a large pot and a medium skillet for this one.

Lemony Porridge with Brown Butter Leeks
1 cup rice (I used 1/2 brown 1/2 calrose white)
3 cups vegetarian broth
2 leeks slices to 1/4 inch rounds, white and light green parts only
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 block firm silken tofu in 1/4" cubes, or crumbled
Pepper (white or fresh ground black)
2 tbsp Earth Balance
2 lemons juiced
Optional: 2 tbsp chia seeds

1. Don't wash your rice! Unless you see foreign material, keep it nice and dirrrrrty (you know that's not really dirt right?). Just dump it in the pot with the broth and cover, bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Add garlic to rice pot, continue to cook, stirring occasionally to beat down the foam or unstick some bits from the bottom of the pot.
3. Heat up the Earth Balance in the pan and cook till foamy, swirling it around.
4. Add in the leeks and toss to coat, stirring constantly till the leeks begin to soften and take on some color.
5. Uncover the rice and test for doneness, when rice is tender add the silken tofu cubes and 1/2 of the lemon juice.
6. Stir rice porridge carefully, heating through the additions, and salt/pepper to taste. Also taste for lemony-ness, and add more lemon juice if you want. (I used all of it.)
7. Stir in chia seeds and kill the heat on both burners while you grab some bowls.

Serve by spooning porridge into bowls and top with leeks. Makes 2 adult main dish portions or 1 dinner/1 lunch for 1 lucky person (all fingers point to me). It's supa fast, supa easy, and supa yummy, though maybe not the most haute cuisine.

Ok, now it's time for space heater! Yay! (Lordy, is it really only tues...?)

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