Use all organic ingredients

Sesame Seed Balls with Coconut

Ingredients:

One cup raw sesame seeds, I used the unhulled seeds for more fiber

Three tablespoons raisins, golden or Thompson

One-fourth cup unsweetened coconut flakes, reserve one tablespoon for garnish

One teaspoon grapeseed oil

One teaspoon honey

One-half teaspoon ginger powder

One-half teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Grind mixture with some pulsing for two – three minutes. Mixture should look very moist, mealy, and close to a paste, but will clump on a spoon easily, continue pulsing if needed. When mixture is ready, place half teaspoon size amounts into ball molds, or roll into balls by hand. If using a mold, sprinkle some coconut flakes into bottom of mold, then drop small amount in and press down with your finger. If rolling balls by hand, place balls on pan and sprinkle each with a bit of coconut flakes. Place sesame balls into refrigerator or freezer for at least 2 hours, then un mold or remove from pan and enjoy! Store leftover balls in a glass container with sheets of wax paper between layers for up to two weeks. Makes 35-40 small balls. What a perfect little nutritious treat!

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Cranberry Sauce (low sugar)

Ingredients:

12 ounces fresh cranberries

Two apples, peeled and diced

One-half cup white cane sugar

Juice of two oranges

One cup apple juice

One teaspoon cinnamon

One-fourth teaspoon allspice

One eight teaspoon nutmeg

Combine sugar, orange juice, and apple juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir in the cranberries and mix well. Add spices. Return cranberry sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and boil gently for 7 to 10 minutes and all berries pop. During the last 2-3 minutes, use a potoato masher to gently smash berries and apple pieces. (Skip this step if you like whole berry sauce.) After cooking for 10 minutes, remove from heat and place in one or two serving dishes. Chill until ready to use. The cranberry sauce will thicken as it chills. This can be made several days in advance. Makes 2¼ cups of yummy, mild flavored, less sugar cranberry sauce.

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Creamy Butternut Squash Soup (non dairy)

Ingredients:

Four cups butternut squash with seeds, no skin

One cup no sugar apple sauce or two large raw apples cored

One – two cups filtered water or vegetable stock

One-half cup raw cashew pieces

One-half teaspoon sea salt or non salt seasoning if desired. I use Braggs seasoning.

Cinnamon and nutmeg powder for garnish

Bake the butternut squash, cut in chunks (with seeds) in one-half inch water for 30 mins. at 400 degrees. Remove squash from baking dish and place on a cutting board to cool 10 mins. Use a sharp knife to cut skin off squash, then place the rest with seeds, into a food processor or high speed blender with other ingredients. Process until smooth. If you don’t have a high speed blender, you can put the apples and cashews in your food processor and grind to a meal, then add to blender mixture. I needed to use my tamper to stir the mix as it was blending. I just used water to make mine, but vegetable broth would add more savory flavors. If you want a truly hot soup, pour into a saucepan and heat on a low flame. If you’re using a Vitamix blender, just by processing on high until the mixture is smooth will heat it gently.
Pour out soup mixture into soup bowls and garnish with a light sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg. I happen to like love these spices and add a bit more. Serves 4-5. Happy Harvest!

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Cashew Cheese with Dill

Ingredients:

Two cups cashews, soaked two hours and drained

Two large cloves garlic

Juice of one large lime

Three tablespoons olive oil

One-half teaspoon sea salt

One-third cup filtered water

Two tablespoons acidofolus culture with bulgarus (or use whey)

Two medium sprigs dill tops, or two tablespoons chopped

Place all ingredients except dill in a food processor or high speed blender and process until smooth. I needed to use my tamper to stir the mix as it was blending. Taste after it is smooth to adjust for more lime juice, salt, or garlic to your desire. When nut cream mixture is smooth, add dill and process for only a few seconds.

Scrape out mixture  into a cheese mold or screened bowl that is lined with cheesecloth. Smooth mixture and flatten top surface. Place container of cheese ( with a container under cheese to catch any moisture leaking out) into a dehydrator for 14 hours at 105 degrees. Remove cheese and refrigerate for atleast 24 hours. Un-mold cheese and serve with vegetables, fruits, crackers, etc.  This Cashew Cheese is soft like a hummus spread. Enjoy the creamy, cheesy, probiotic goodness!

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Pickled Asparagus recipe by Dan McShane Sometimes you don’t always need a new recipe to make a delicious organic food or beverage. This pickled asparagus recipe by my husband, was perfected over several batches. It is just the right combination of sweet, spicy, and tangy. The short processing time keeps the asparagus spears firm and full of nutrition. Ingredients: Brine- combine the following 4 items and bring to a boil, keep the brine at low simmer until ready to use in the jars. Four quarts water One quart white vinegar Three-fourths cup sea salt Three tablespoons sugar or agave syrup Assemble 8-10 washed and sanitized (dishwasher or boiled) twelve ounce glass jars, lids, and rims. Boil clean lids for five minutes and keep covered in water, ready to seal up filled jars of asparagus. Place in each jar, spices first: One-half teaspoon dill seed Two or three peeled garlic cloves Two pinches red pepper flakes, (adjust to your own tastes) Washed and halved tops and bottoms of asparagus spears, tightly packed (trim bottom one or two inches of asparagus stalk if tough, and discard) Pour brine mixture with a large ladle, until jar is filled to within one-half inch from top. Place clean, hot lid on jar, place rim on jar and tighten. When all jars are filled and sealed, slowly place them on the canning pot wire rack, and into a canning pot filled with boiling water that just covers the top of the jars. (Most canning pots only hold 7 jars, so two batches will need to be processed.) Return filled canning pot back to a boil and then boil for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and carefully lift jars out of pot with the metal rack, then place them flat on a cutting board or towels. Placing the hot jars on a cool counter, like granite, can crack the jar. Allow them to cool, then store at room temperature for at least 5 days, before opening to eat them. The longer they sit, they more spicy flavored they will be. I hope you love these pickled asparagus spears as much as we do! Tweet

Refreshing Organic Beverage.

This Organic Iced Sun Tea favorite recipe works beautifully with high quality Organic Yerba Mate by Guayaki.

Guayaki Sun Mate with Lime: Fill a glass pitcher with 5-6 cups of distilled water. Add 5 Guayaki Mate bags and let stand in the sun for 2-6 hours, for desired strength of tea. Bring mate in, remove bags, add one organic lime sliced, and 3 teaspoons Organic Blue Agave, (more or less as desired). Mint leaves can also be added for a different flavor. Place sun mate with limes in refrigerator to cool for 1-2 hours. Serve over ice with a lime wedge for a delicious organic, energizing beverage.

With global warming staring us in the face and the growing trend toward more ecologically friendly lifestyles, more and more people are including local organically grown food in their diets. Organic farmers rely on natural ways to fertilize their soil and combat pests, rather than synthetic chemicals, resulting in stronger, healthier (and many say tastier) vegetable plants. If you are new to organic cooking and already own a number of cookbooks, you may ask yourself ‘do I need new recipes for organic cooking?’

Anyone new to cooking requires recipes they can follow to prepare healthy meals, and if those meals include organic ingredients, having one or more organic recipe books will make cooking tasty side dishes and main courses a lot easier. Anyone using organic ingredients in standard recipes may discover that they need to modify the recipes to accommodate the richer flavors. Recipes created and perfected by long time organic cooks take advantage of the fuller flavors and higher nutritional values of organic foods.

Even old hands at cooking organic food often discover the need to find new ways of preparing dishes to keep the family interested in the meals they make. Anyone that wants to introduce more organic vegetables into their family’s diet will need tasty ways to get the family to eat them. Those that have joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) as a way to save on fresh vegetables and fruit may well receive vegetables that their current cookbooks do not have recipes for.

Many families have one or more members that choose not to consume meat products, requiring vegetarian/vegan recipes designed to supply al l the required nutrients, including sufficient vegetable proteins to replace the protein that would normally be received from meat. Serving tasty organic vegetarian dishes will ensure that the family member remains healthy and happy.

New mothers who are concerned about the possible effects pesticide residues and food additives may have on their babies can now find organic baby foods in the local supermarket. These are most likely more expensive than regular baby food and there is no way to determine how much sugar and salt they contain.  Babies are more sensitive to pesticide residues and other chemicals as their organs are still developing, and some studies have indicated possible correlations between pesticide residues and developmental disorders in children. The best way to give your child the best start in life is to give him homemade organic baby food where you control the amount of salt and sugar while eliminating synthetic chemicals.

Someone new to cooking organic food may well ask ‘do I need new recipes for organic cooking?’ If you are satisfied with substituting organic ingredients into your standard recipes, perhaps you do not. If you are a novice cook choosing to go organic, you should consider getting one or more organic recipe books instead of standard cookbooks. Having an organic vegetarian cookbook will enable you to prepare delicious vegetarian fare for the non meat-eater in your family. Homemade organic baby food will give your baby his best start in life, and you’ll need good recipes to work from.