Friday

March 2013

Earth Hour 2013

“The World is using the equivalent of one and a half planets to support life on Earth.”

Earth Hour 2013 is coming up tomorrow, Saturday March 23 at 8:30pm (Eastern time) and I couldn’t be more excited! It snuck up on me this week and I nearly forgot all about it until yesterday evening, even after I recently wrote an article for Delight Gluten-Free Magazine about celebrating it with a gluten-free twist in the March/April issue….safe to say it’s been a busy week! We’re planning to switch off all our lights and appliances, have a candlelight yoga session, and indulge in vegan blueberry pie–the recipe will be posted on Sunday!

This morning as I was writing this post, I was quietly listening to the news in the background. They were discussing a nominated CNN Hero, Doc Hendley, for his work in bringing clean water to those living in impoverished areas where safe water is scarce. It’s sadly not news to me that many people in other countries must walk for 4 or 5 hours just to reach their water for the day, and it’s dirty water at that. Today is World Water Day and I feel incredibly lucky to live in a place where clean water is available to me whenever I turn on the sink. Clean water should not be a privilege. It’s so vital that we take care to preserve the resources on this planet through our everyday actions and by celebrating our planet every day. Check out the awesome video by EarthHour.org for 2013:

In the spirit of celebrating and sustaining our mother Earth, I’d like to share five easy but effective things that I try to do on a regular basis to help sustain our planet:

Turn off the water faucet while brushing teeth to save water.
Use sustainable candles and candlelight instead of lamps a few nights per week.
Bring reusable grocery bags on shopping trips. If I forget, I am sure to recycle the bags by using them for small trash bags in the house or in other ways.
Use (or upgrade to) energy saving electronics and appliances whenever possible. My latest energy efficient purchase was an energy star ultrabook laptop.
Buy local produce often. I love supporting the local farmers and economy in this way. A bonus is planting a garden annually ourselves.

For more ideas to celebrate Earth Hour and Earth Day often, check out my article in the March issue of Delight Gluten-Free Magazine for tips and fun vegan/raw food recipes. I also have a plethora of easy and earth friendly recipes I’ve posted throughout the life of this blog that can be browsed in the Recipe page or by typing in keywords such as “vegan” or “earth day” in the search box in the upper left corner of my site.

Happy Earth Hour and World Water Day!

How will you celebrate the planet today?

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Saturday

November 2012

My Allergy Friendly Kitchen

I’m lucky to have a mostly dedicated gluten-free kitchen, thanks to the help of my boyfriend, who isn’t exclusively gluten-free. He’s a kitchen whiz and a fast learner. Sometimes I think he knows how to handle my allergies better than I do. So when we’re at home, this is where the magic happens. I happily spend most of my time in this room. Some readers have been asking about how I keep my kitchen functional and allergy friendly at the same time so I decided to give everyone an inside look at the staples, setup, and equipment that are always in my kitchen.

Left to right: Centrifugal juicer, Sodastream Maker, Black & Decker High Speed Blender

We set up an exclusive beverage station since raw juices, smoothies, seltzer water, and homemade soda are constantly happening in our kitchen. Instead of coffee, we down a large glass of green veggie juice or a fruit and veggie smoothie which I feel is even more energizing than a large cup of joe. The vitamins hit your system immediately and alkalize on the way. What better way to start the day?

A wide variety of spices are always on hand in my kitchen. My parents are big on bold flavors and it definitely rubbed off on me. No matter how simple a dish, you can always spark it to life with a good combination of herbs and spices.

I love that most herbal tea is naturally allergen free and gluten-free. Our tea and bar cabinet is a great addition to keeping things organized. Some of the liquors on the bottom are exclusively Yan’s since we haven’t checked the whiskey for gluten content yet. My staples include a good organic red wine, chamomile, pau D’arco, some Yogi teas, and all Traditional Medicinal teas.

Fridge magnets hold up our Ph balancing chart, which is a basic breakdown between some highly alkaline and highly acidic foods. I believe a slightly alkaline body is a healthy goal to shoot for, so we try to minimize our intake of highly acidic foods. We usually eat meat 1 to 2 times a week and always have vegetables and greens on hand via juices, smoothies, sautes, and more. Low glycemic fruits such as berries and apples are also a staple on the menu.

Some of my favorite flours/gluten-free grains to cook and bake with are quinoa, millet, buckwheat/buckwheat flour, almond Flour, hazelnut flour, brown rice flour, coconut flour, corn meal.

Staples in the pantry: Black rice, brown rice, wild rice, Tinkyada brown rice pasta, canned olives, canned pumpkin, coconut milk, raw nuts and seeds, Terra sweet potato chips, almond milk, xylitol, coconut sugar, agave nectar, coconut oil, olive oil, Namaste foods mixes, King Arthur gluten-free mixes, Enjoy Life snacks and more.

Many meals are happily shared here (but no “Happy Meals” mind you!) If any soy or gluten does make it’s way into the kitchen on occasion, we have dedicated dishes and pans for keeping things segregated.

Our kitchen has lovely natural light that I love utilizing in my photography. At the end of the hallway, it takes a right towards the backdoor which leads out to one of our mini gardens…

And what would a gluten-free, allergy friendly kitchen be without a raw produce section on hand? We call it the farmacy. It’s getting cold out, but our mighty kale is still standing strong. The flavors of fresh produce and herbs is truly incredible and I’m lucky to walk out my door to have my pick. I hope you enjoyed the inside look!

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Saturday

September 2012

Breakfast Stuffed Tomatoes

Our garden is overflowing with ripe red tomatoes. Today I braved a sudden downpour to pluck these hanging lovelies and oddly, standing unprotected in the chilled rain didn’t bother me today. It felt raw and beautiful. I seemed connected to the ground, the sky, and all that is. I looked on the miracle of living plants offering their bounty in a vibrant flash of color, contrasting perfectly with the greyness of the morning. Breathing in the scents of the garden while it soaks an unexpected gift of water makes me realize how everything is moving around us in delicate but certain cycles of life. These simple moments make me welcome the first day of fall with open arms.

I love gathering freshly picked produce, walking two minutes back to the kitchen and using it immediately. It doesn’t get any more nutritious and fresh than that. Today’s highlights included ripe green bell peppers, towers of kale, and crisp white onions. I knew these would marry well with some sort of egg scramble, but I wanted to try something a little less conventional. I’ve always been a fan of any kind of stuffed vegetable or fruit, and quickly eyed the shiny red tomatoes. Breakfast stuffed tomatoes ensued in a flash–a naturally gluten-free, soy-free and paleo pick me up in the morning. It’s mouth-watering delicious!

Breakfast Stuffed Tomatoes

Yields 4 stuffed tomatoes

This recipe is free of: Gluten, Soy, Dairy (if omitting the goat cheese), Nuts, Fish, Grains, Legumes, and Yeast. (Paleo)

4 large tomatoes
4 to 5 large soy-free eggs
1/2 cup diced green bell peppers
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup finely chopped kale
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Optional: Crumbled goat cheese
4 leaves fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Cut the tops off the tomatoes and hollow out the center and set securely in baking dish.
Dice the vegetables and distribute evenly among the four tomatoes.
Beat the eggs and pour evenly into tomatoes.
Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes.
Optional: During the last 10 minutes of cooking, add the crumbled goat cheese on top to warm.
Serve hot.

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Monday

August 2012

The Best Place for Gluten-Free Food

The absolute best place for fresh gluten free or allergen free food is not the grocery store. We’re blessed to have three abundant spaces of land to fill with organically grown produce thanks to Yan’s amazing mom. Shes’s been lending her green thumb all summer long to a plot of land at a family member’s place just outside the city. I swear this produce is even more crisp and fresh than the clean air out here. How a processed gluten free snack could ever measure up to this organic feast is beyond me. Going back to the roots of nutrition is really what being gluten free and food allergic should be all about.

Yan’s mother taught us the ins and outs of planting and harvesting as we caked our gloves with dark fertile mud and yielded vibrant veggies and greens to boot. Everything in this garden is on my good list; no gluten, soy, legumes, and obviously no peanuts. For once I’m surrounded by food that I can eat instead of the other way around. All winter long, we’ll still be indulging in this feast as we plan to freeze what we can’t eat quickly enough right now.

Fresh summer squash, green bell peppers, the mighty Kale, red potatoes, yellow onions, rainbow carrots, rainbow chard, firey red tomatoes, fresh dill, round heads of cabbage, and spicy chiles are just a fraction of the goods we harvested this weekend and I can’t wait to gather more next weekend.

We immediately retured from the country garden and slowly simmered a curried cabbage soup over the stove, which was a warming treat after helping with the family move earlier in the day. All our warms thanks to Jim and Sveta for the extra garden space again this summer.

Yan, his cousin Nastya and I loved all the green goodness!

With all this harvest, gluten free and more is easy as can be.

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Sunday

March 2012

Self Sustaining Spring

This spring, we at Sprinkles and Allergies are challenging ourselves to be more Self Sustaining. Take our challenge for Self Sustainable Spring at Sprinkles & Allergies by planting at least one herb, vegetable, or fruit plant this spring. Join us and share your progress! We’d love to know what you’re doing to make a greener spring. Know where your food comes from by growing some of it yourself.

Our indoor garden is preparing for an outdoor move very soon. The usual whispers of spring were anything but quiet this year. Explosions of blossoms, birds, buzzing, and furry creatures started weeks ago here, which is much more than I could have hoped for in previously notorious bitter cold February and March. A mild winter means a wild spring–a time for initiating self sustainable gardens, compost, and overall renewal. Though we live in a small apartment, it’s still surprisingly doable, mostly thanks to our large bay windows and balcony. We love breathing in the fresh wisps of spring.

We’ve been growing Basil and Arugula from the seed for about a week and a half now. I can’t believe how much the Arugula has shot up in such a short time. This week, we’ll be planting some broccoli and parsley to go along with the other plants since our Kale tree seems to be on the fritz after the winter months.

Above, our Arugala is thriving but tending to lean more towards the sun. We’ll be moving it outdoors to the balcony soon where it can grow stronger in the full sun. Below, our baby basil are starting to peek through the moist soil.

This plant has special meaning to us.

Over a year ago, Yan surprised me with a beautiful flowering plant called a Kalanchoe. The day he got it for me marked the first month of our relationship together. This little tree-like gem has been through a lot, even having been knocked clear off our balcony and ripped out of the pot during a nasty thunderstorm last summer. Today it still grows strong and is beginning to show signs of blossoming again for the spring. I think we’ll need a bigger planter for it soon as it’s been growing out of control lately! The flower meaning of Kalanchoe is endurance and lasting affection. When asking Yan if he knew this today, he said “Well…uh…of course!! That’s the reason I got this one! Yeah!” Nice try Yan

Here’s a short video of our small indoor garden. I find tending to it to be full of meditation and relaxation while connecting back to the simplest roots of things.