Pasta. Peanuts. Coconuts. Journey.

Totally nuts!

I’m impressed how much we have learned in the Multimedia class. Apart from the technical stuff, this class has made some significant changes in my life.

1. I’m not afraid of cameras anymore.
2. I feel stronger and happier, because I’ve changed my eating habits.
3. It’s the one class which I really look forward to, as Monday comes.

I think that’s enough for a wonderful journey.

My dear readers and followers, I’m so glad that you’ve joined me and that you’ve been commenting these posts!

Carrot Ribbon Pasta Bowl with Coconut Almond Satay

This week I tried something new – raw food. Actually it’s just salad. You pay attention that you don’t cook or boil anything.

Was it a salad? (Laugh.) Yes, I like it! And I like the peanut butter in it. And I like mushrooms. And I like that it’s not cooked, that it’s raw, because it’s healthy.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

Carrot Ribbon Pasta

5 to 6 cups (packed) Carrot Ribbons

Coconut Almond Satay Sauce:

Yields roughly 1 and 1/4 cups total (you will only need about half batch of this sauce for today’s complete recipe)

1/2 cup PLUS 2 Tbsp Almond Butter (you can either purchase or make this yourself) – substituted with Peanut Butter

1 Tbsp Date Paste

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar //or// Lime Juice

3 Tbsp minced Green Onion //or// minced Garlic to taste

1 tsp Curry powder

1/2 tsp pressed Ginger

1/4 tsp Cayenne powder

2 Tbsp Coconut Aminos (optional)

1/4 c Coconut Cream, melted (you can either make this or use store bought)

1/4 c Water

Salt to Taste

Assembling your Pasta Bowl:

1 c packed chopped Spinach

1/2 c dried Crimini Mushrooms (I substituted with champignon mushroom)

1/4 c minced Mint

1/4 c mined Cilantro

1/4 c minced Chive

Methods/steps

Carrot Ribbon Pasta

1) Grabbing one end of the Carrot (preferably the end with a stem that you would otherwise cut off – this will act as a convenient “handle” while you rotate it)

2) Proceed to peel downwards on your veg, rotating it as you go

3) Continue peeling the veggie until you’ve reached the core or until you can no longer get ribbons

Coconut Almond Satay Sauce:

1) Whisk all of the above ingredients together evenly.

2) Transfer to an air tight container and place sauce in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes (or more) so the flavors can fully develop. Your sauce will thicken as it chills.

Assembling your Pasta Bowl:

1) In a mixing bowl combine the following: All of the Carrot Ribbon Pasta and All remaining herbs and veggies

2) Once you’ve tossed together all of the above veggies you can add the Satay sauce. Mix into your veggies roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cups of the Coconut Almond Satay Sauce

3) Tenderizing the Carrots: Let your veggies sit for about 5 minutes after they’ve been dressed with the sauce — this is where the magic happens! Your carrots will naturally tenderize and become so gorgeously wonderful!

A meal for your skin

How about an afternoon, spent cooking and enjoying a vegan meal?

Me and Mikael Rose Corbin (USA) decided to cook together. Mikael actually knows all about what’s good for you, what’s not, what contains more fat and what contains more carbo. I’m still trying to understand the rules of the game and grasp the meaning of healthy living. She’s really into healthy lifestyle and all that.

I meditate often.

Mikael made the cooking fun. Back at home she’s even performing in her kitchen!

Think of being back home in my own kitchen and I dance in my kitchen all the time, so it [cooking with me] was very therapeutic and very nice. I felt very peaceful and relaxed.

She’s taking a break from a stressful lifestyle back at home. Mikael forgot about herself and didn’t eat unless a friend would remind her to. I’ve had that kind of work overload, and you are way too worried  about deadlines & co to pay attention to secondary things. Wait, did I just say that food is secondary? Sometimes it is.

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This is the first meal that I really consider a part of my growing as a cook. It’s the only one that was a bit challenging and a real meal too. It contains protein and calcium (beans), carbohydrates (brown rice), good things for your skin (avocado) and all the vitamins that spices can give you.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

4 peppers, tops cut off and cleaned out
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups or 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup cooked brown rice
2 diced avocados
2 cups tomato sauce
Spices: 1 tablespoon chili powder and cumin, ½ tablespoon oregano, curcuma and salt and pepper
Consider substituting these ingredients with you favorite ones!

Directions

Preheat oven to 250° C
Saute onions and garlic until golden brown. In large bowl, mix spices, rice, beans, onions, garlic and avocado to create filling.
Stuff each pepper with the filling until full.
Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until the peppers are soft and the insides are gooey and cooked.
Just before peppers are finished baking in the oven, heat up tomato sauce in sauce pan.
When peppers are done, you can either slice in half or serve whole. Ladle tomato sauce over top for a delicious and balanced meal.

Make it low-carb by replacing the cup of rice with either a cup of vegetables or another cup of beans.

I got this great recipe and slightly changed it from here.