Poor Little B.S.s'

Oh dear, when it comes to the defense of Brussels sprouts, I could cry. It's just one of those vegetables that cannot and will not be appreciated naked, so to speak. It has to be lathered in a thick coating of butter before anyone thinks to eat it. I, on the other hand, could eat roasted brussels sprouts all day long and am sure that if caught between choosing chocolate over brussel sprouts, would choose the latter. HERE is what i do:

1.Oven: 400 F

2.cut off the ends of the brussels sprouts and then cut them in half.

3. soak them in warm water with about 1tbsp salt for 5-10 min( get rid of any critters)

4. coat them in olive oil and some salt then place on a cookie sheet

5.roast for 20-30 min(depending on how crunchy or soft you want them)

6. EAT(all of them in my case).

In case that didn't make your mouth water as much as it made mine, maybe this will:

1 cup of brussels sprouts has:

-125% daily value of Vit.C

-195% D.V. of Vit.K

-low in fat and cholesterol

-and is a good source of riboflavin

This is Alexis Leduc on behalf of brussels sprouts worldwide, telling you to just give them a chance.

milk a la almond

So here is the Simplest and most cost efficient solution to all your dairy diliemas; Raw almond milk. Approximate cost: $2. Time to make? 5 minutes(exluding soaking time)

• 1 Cup Raw Organic Almonds


• 4 Cups H2O


• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla

1. Soak the Almonds in 4 cups water 4-6 hours. I soaked them over night, no biggie...

2. After soaking, put them in a blender, or vita-mix if you have one, and blend for about 1 minute, add the vanilla and then blend for another 1-2 minutes.

3. Strain the milk through a cheese cloth to remove the skins and pulpy stuff. I had to actually sqeeze the milk through the cloth with a fair amount of upper arm strength....not that its a problem for me, just saying...put your back into it.

4. Store it in a container, preferably glass, and refrigerate. Keeps up to 3 days.

and there you go....it's not very sweet, but I like it that way. If I use it with my cereal, i'll put some agave nectar on it to make it a little sweeter.

AS FOR THE PULP: you can either....

A) dry it and save it for some pretty sprinkling on like.....uh....cakes, or put it on your yogurt/cereal/whatever.

B) Dry it and then crush it up even more and use as flour!!

So if this really didn't "hit the right tune" with you, here is an alternative Raw almond recipe from the book "Everyday Raw" by Matthew Kenney:

• 1 Cup Almonds(soaked 4-6 hrs)
• 4 Cup water
• 2 TBS xtra virgin coc. oil
• 1 tsp lecithin
• 1/4 Cup Agave
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 pinch sea salt

Then put everything in a blender and blend...

I should probs mention that it does have a weird/funky after taste-theres no denying it, even the holiest of holy's vegan will agree. But man up and drink it....your heart will thank you later.

Yo mama's choco-chip cookies revolutionized.

So these Bad boys kicked the butt of any chocalate chip-oatmeal cookie I have ever made, ate, or thought of making...hm.....AND, with no butter or white flour, they are heart-beating healthy.This Recipe is brought to you by Vegetarian Times but only because this is the first blog entry and I decided to play it safe and stick to a solid recipe before I unleash my inner tiger at you.

• 3 Tbs. canola oil
• 2 cups walnuts
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1½ cups oat flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3 3.5-oz. bars bittersweet vegan chocolate, chopped, or 1½ cups vegan chocolate chips (12 oz.)

OVEN: 350 F
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

1. Blend the Walnuts in a food processor for about 1 minute, then add the oil and blend for 3 more minutes, until it looks like Peanut butter.
Note: from this point, I transferred the walnut mix to the kitchen aid mixer and blend the remaining ingredients using this, but if you don't have one, you can just transfer it to a bowl and use a hand-held mixer.

2. Put your Brown sugar and 1/2 Cup H2O in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.....DON"T walk away, WATCH IT till it boils then TAKE IT OFF! so then pour this hot hot liquid in with the walnuts, add the vanilla, and blend till its all together and mixy-like-looking-lumpless.

3. So then you take your oat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon mix is separately, then mix it in with the walnuty mixture. Let this mixture cool off for a while, then fold in the oats and chocolate chips.
Note: Oat flour can be expensive and hard to find. I used a mixture of spelt flour, rice flour and some other stuff, but you can use Brown Rice flower, Spelt flour, or just plain gluten free flour. Unless your pro at differentiating flour tastes, you will not tell a difference. Also, instead of Chocolate chips, you can use nuts or raisins or whatever......I won't hunt you down for being innovative.

4. From this point on, it's basic cookie dough knowledge: roll them into balls, and either flatten them, or leave them balled. put in oven, bake for 9-12 minutes until they're golden, and when you take them out, force yourself to walk away and let them cool, otherwise I guarantee it will get messy and eventually painful.

there you go kids.