Fe's Pickled Papaya

I LOVE this recipes that Fe shared at my last cooking class. This is a traditional recipe from her home country in the Philippines. I love how it is sweet and tangy and goes well with a stir fry or even a heavy curry where it cuts the fat. Here's a pic I stole from Fe's Facebook! See how finely she cuts the vegetables? Thank you, Fe!

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs green papaya, Julienned

2 medium carrots, julienned

1 large onion, sliced thinly

10 cloves garlic, sliced

2 tablespoons peppercorns

1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1" of ginger, sliced very thin

1/4 cup of salt

2 cups white vinegar

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup of raisins

Cooking:

1. Place the julienned papaya in a large bowl and combine 1/4 cup of salt and mix until salt is well distributed.

2. Place the papaya in a colander and and rinse with water.

3. Using a cheesecloth, or clean dish towel, wrap the papaya and squeeze off extra liquid.

4. Put the papaya back into the large bowl, and add carrots, garlic, ginger, onions, peppercorns, bell peppers, and raisins.

5. Heat vinegar in a sauce pan until it boils.

6. Add the sugar and 1 1/2 tsp of salt and cook until dissolved.

7. Turn off heat and allow the syrup to cool until the temperature is low enough to handle.

8. Place the combined vegetables and spices into a sterilized jar and pour in the syrup.

9. Seal the jar and place inside the refrigerator for a week or 5 days minimum to achieve the expected texture and flavor.

Watching people change their lives is what it's all about!

It's been really exciting watching people become aware of their bodies, and realizing that they are in charge! I love seeing people take the information we give them, and run with it. When someone is ready, they have the willingness, and that's all it takes to make changes. Imagine being able to freely make food choices that make you happy and healthy. Life is so sweet when you get to the point that you can sit down with a bowl of rice and vegetables and smile. Everyone who makes the connection between their food and their health AND emotions, almost never go back to eating the foods that tore them down emotionally and tore them up physically.

Eating healthy is an exciting adventure as you watch your body change to look younger, slimmer, and have more energy and tone. Eating well changes your brain, as well. People feel a sense of pride and satisfaction when they realize that their head feels clear, and focused. You also start to think about how 'green' you are just by eating great food! It's becoming more popular too! You start to feel you like you fit in at your local health food store, and most stores have events and classes where you can socialize with others who are trying to do a little better too.

And, then there's the needles!!! Erik's technique is so gentle that all of our patients leave with a smile and a relaxed vibe. I love how our patients tell us they make taking their herbs part of their routine and enjoy what they are doing for them, because they don't have any nasty side effects and don't leave you with that feeling in the back of your head that you some how took a little

dose of poison like some pills do!

Great Job Mountain Home! I'm so proud of our community growing in such a clean and positive way!

Thai Soup

Yum. I've been obsessed over this Thai soup for over a week now. I've tried making it before, but I think I was over thinking it. Some galangal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galangal) in it would be nice, but who knew Shallots would work well! Try this soup, and I am SURE you will not be disappointed.

You will need:

Shallots (2)

1 bunch cilantro

1 large shallot, small dice

fresh ginger, less than 1 inch, but get a larger piece and use if for other dishes and tea

1 can coconut milk or cream

3 cups of veggie broth

1 teaspoon thai roasted pepper paste (by Thai Kitchen)

2 tablespoons shoyu or tamari

1 lime, zested, juice reserved

Juice of one lemon

1 block of cubed and lightly pan fried tofu

1 cup large chopped cabbage

1 yellow or red bell pepper (or mix of yellow and red), sliced

1 cup of white button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 onion, chopped into large chunks

1 yukon potato, cubed

In a heavy pot, splash 2 tablespoons of peanut oil. Add shallots and onion. Saute for 2 minutes, and add mushrooms and cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently on medium high. Add coconut milk, broth, chili paste, and ginger. Stir well, and allow to simmer. Steam the cabbage, and potato in a steam basket until just tender, and them to the soup along with the bell pepper slices. Allow soup to marry for 10 minutes, and then add the lime zest, and juice, as well as the lemon juice and about 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro. Stir and serve hot. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.

Once I was out of coconut milk, so I sauteed the veggies in coconut butter on LOW, and added some unsweetened soy milk. It worked, as a matter of fact it fooled my soy hating husband.

The Desserts Cooking Class was awesome!

Hello! Last night Erik and I did a cooking class on 'healthier' desserts. As you might assume, it was fun due to the sugar consumption and smell of warm baked goods to excite everyone. My hope is that everyone was excited about cooking with some alternative sweeteners like brown rice syrup, agave, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and stevia. We live off these desserts at my house, and they make me feel more balanced. We even made some raw holiday date balls that impressed most folks. My absolute favorite is the vegan chocolate truffles.

Cooking in The Ozarks

Happy sunny December day to you! I've been cooking and brewing up some ideas. I am going to start blogging....yeah, me and everyone else you know, right? Just because the voices in my head sound good to me, doesn't mean I should start writing it down.... But, we will see how this goes.

Tomorrow is my holiday desserts cooking class where I will be hanging out and teaching some interestingly interested folks about 'healthier' desserts. Sharing my love for cooking and eating whole foods in my home town has been exciting, and a little stressful. Someone will always think your crazy and not like you. But, most people think I'm crazy, but still like me....I think. Follow me for an update on how the class goes!

Rainbow Noodle Bowl

So, I've been fantasizing about creating a color spectrum with food. I don't know if anyone else thinks about these things, but as a chef, I do. It could be tomatoes or red bell peppers, carrots or oranges, yellow bell peppers or yellow squash, green anything, there are a lot of green vegetables to choose from, blueberries, and red cabbage or grapes for purple.

For my mother in law's birthday party I made a japanese noodle bowl using soba noodles, and a color spectrum of blanched vegetables with a shitake mushroom broth with some fried tofu. Very pretty as you can see! Great for kids too!