NO Giblet Holiday Gravy

Gluten-Free, Vegetarian with Vegan Option

1/4 cup butter (or Earth Balance for vegan version)

1/4 cup brown rice flour

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

2 cups more or less of Imagine NO Chicken broth

2 teaspoon white miso (dissolved into a little warm broth)

1 boiled egg grated

(or about 2 tablespoons grated organic tofu for vegan version)

Sea Salt and cracked pepper to taste (very important ingredients)

In medium sauce pan or skillet melt butter over medium high heat.  Whisk in flour and poultry seasoning stirring constantly until blended and smooth.   Slowly whisk in broth a little at a time as you stir constantly. Note:  do not pour in broth all at once.  You can always add more if the gravy gets too thick – easy.  If it’s too thin a little more difficult to fix).

Bring to simmer and cook until gravy is just starting to thicken. Remove from heat and whisk in dissolved miso.  If gravy still needs a little thickening  return to simmer for another minute.

Cover and keep warm until serving.  Re-heat gently if needed and add a little more broth if too thick.

This gravy is an amazing knockoff of the original! Put it to the blind taste test. And, it’s simple enough to serve all year over biscuits, on mash potatoes or try it in a vegetable pot pie.

For pot pie, do not let it thicken.  It will thicken as it bakes.

 

Rosemary Apple Cranberry Relish (No Sugar – No Chemicals)

I remember when I first discovered the recipes on a bag of fresh cranberries and I was like WHAT!?!  Why are we serving jellied, canned cranberry sauce at our holiday table when homemade is this simple?  If you have 10 minutes, a bag of cranberries, some sugar and water you  have cranberry sauce.  Don’t like it chunky then puree it.  If you like the jelly stuff, put it in a mold.

From that “Ding Ding” moment on, everyone relies on me to bring the cranberry sauce. They think I went to a lot of trouble – NOT!

Over time, I’ve made many versions.  This delicious version is sugar-free.  Trust me when I say this combo is extraordinary!  After the celebration serve the left-overs on toast, nut butter sandwiches and my favorite – spread it on a hunk of dark chocolate….Yummmm!   Happy Holidays!

Serves 8-10 Servings

2 granny smith apples (peeled, cored and diced very small)

1-12 ounce bag of cranberries (washed)

½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice

½ cup water

½” sprig of fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger (optional)

½ cup stevia (or to taste)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Dash of sea salt

Add all ingredients into large saucepan.  Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer.  Cook for about 10 minutes or until apples and cranberries are soft.  Remove rosemary sprig.  Place in cover dish and chill.  Serve with a fresh sprig of rosemary garnish.

Healthy Holiday Makeovers: The Main Event! My Dad’s Famous Cornbread Dressing

You must first start with the Best Cornbread for the best cornbread dressing!  My Dad was not the cornbread guru.  It was my Grandma Ethel who made the most amazing cornbread in her old, trusty iron skillet.  It was buttery and golden with just the perfect rustic, satisfying texture.   She served it with beans, soup and chili.  Oftentimes her dinner was crumbled cornbread in a tall glass of buttermilk (I never got up the nerve to try that..lol).

She sometimes got “a hankerin” for dressing on just a regular ole day and would make it with roast chicken.   And of course, it was the start of the most delicious cornbread dressing ever made.  Grandma is making cornbread on the other side now and I know she would be proud of this version…

Classic Iron Skillet Cornbread*   (8 Servings)

(Gluten-Free, Vegetarian with Vegan Option)

1 cup stone ground organic cornmeal**

½ cup organic polenta (coarse ground grits)**

1/4 cup oat flour (Bob’s Red Mill is Certified Gluten Free)

1/4 cup tapioca flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoon pure maple syrup (or powdered Stevia for non-sugar version)

1 organic egg** (or 2 tablespoon flaxseed mixed with 4 tablespoon water.  Let stand for a few minutes until thickened)

½ cup organic applesauce (unsweetened)

1 1/4 cups more or less of milk (or unsweetened plant-based milk for vegan version)

1 teaspoon Bragg’s apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon organic grass fed butter (use Earth Balance for vegan version)

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Place iron skillet* in hot oven while mixing together ingredients.
2. In large mixing bowl mix together all dry ingredients.  Whisk together all wet ingredients in large measuring cup.  Add wet ingredients to dry, mixing until just blended.  Do not over mix or you will have flat bread.  Batter should be very thick but pourable.
3. Melt butter in hot iron skillet*.  Tilt skillet to coat evenly the bottom and sides. Pour batter into hot skillet making sure it’s spread evenly. Place on center rack in oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from skillet. (DO NOT SLICE BREAD IN SKILLET).

*Note:  You can use a muffin tin, glass or metal pan for this recipe.  However; a good ole iron skillet is an excellent source of iron for a plant-based diet and when it is well seasoned, iron is virtually “non-stick” and a joy to cook with.  See tips below for cleaning and seasoning an iron skillet.

Tips: Add a chopped jalapeno, whole kernel corn and herbs for a different spin.  My favorite is fresh chopped sage and garlic.  Use your imagination with this versatile southern favorite.

**Corn, Soy & Canoli are the most genetically modified food crops on the planet.  Buy organic to avoid GMOs.  Unless you have access to local, farm fresh eggs from well cared for chickens, look for eggs that say on the carton “organic” and “pastured” – NOT “pasteurized” .  The chicken and egg industry is a very cruel one.  Let’s vote with our wallet.

Southern Cornbread Dressing  (15-20 Servings)

(Gluten-Free & Vegetarian with Vegan Option)

1 skillet of prepared cornbread, crumbled and dried overnight

1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs (rice is good)

1 large onion, chopped fine

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 large stalks of celery, chopped fine

1 medium bell pepper, chopped fine (I use red, but Daddy’s prefers green)

1 large apple, peeled and chopped fine (crisp, firm red apple)

2 tablespoon rubbed sage (or 1/4 cup fresh chopped)

1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped)

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

½ teaspoon dried rosemary (or 1 teaspoon fresh chopped)

1 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)

1 teaspoon cracked pepper (or to taste)

4 cups Imagine Brand No-Chicken Broth

1 cup more or less of milk (or unsweetened plant-based milk for vegan version)

3 boiled eggs, chopped fine (or 1/2 cup extra firm organic tofu** chopped to look like boiled eggs for vegan version)

2 tablespoon butter (or Earth Balance Butter for vegan version)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Preheat deep 12″ iron skillet or 9 x 13 glass pan.
2.  Place all dry ingredients and spices into a very large mixing bowl and with clean hands mix well.
3. Add broth and milk.  Mix until well blended. Taste adjust seasonings.  Add a little more milk if needed.  Dressing should be very moist, but not runny.  Gently fold in eggs or tofu.
4. Add butter to hot pan and tilt to coat bottom and sides. Pour dressing into prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour or until turning crisp around the edges and starting to brown on top.  Do the shake test.  It’s done when it doesn’t jiggle.

Growing up, when everyone was focused on the bird, I had my sites on the cornbread dressing and cranberry sauce. In my family, the cornbread dressing IS the main attraction. Thanksgiving dinner is not complete without my Grandma’s dressing.

After Grandma passed my Dad took over.   It doesn’t matter whose house we end up at for this celebration, as long as he brings the dressing.  Last Thanksgiving my Dad and I cooked at his house (the house we grew up in).   I made my version and he made his. His comment, “Well Gail this is just larapin!  The highest compliment coming from my Dad!  I hope you enjoy my version of this southern classic!

Stay tuned for “No-Giblet Gravy” and “Cranberry, Apple & Rosemary Relish”.  You can’t have cornbread dressing without the gravy and cranberry sauce – Right?

Tender loving Care For Your Iron Skillet:

I use my old iron skillets for everything from sautéing to baking.  A well-seasoned iron skillet never sticks.  Just a few tips from my Dad on how to keep your skillet rust free and non-stick – FOREVER!

To season a skillet, make sure it is completely rust free* and dry.  Coat skillet with a thin layer of vegetable oil.  Turn upside down in oven and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  You may need to repeat this process a few times, (depending on the condition of the skillet), until a paper towel rubbed on surface comes away clean.  If you follow the next 3 tips, you will never have to do this again!

1. Avoid using soap in your iron skillet unless absolutely necessary.  Scour (with plastic – not metal) and rinse with hot water.  If you do end up burning food in your skillet do not scrape it!  Fill pan with water and heat to simmer for a few minutes.  The food will come right off.

2. To dry skillet thoroughly, place it over low heat or in a warm oven for a few minutes.  Store in oven when dry to prevent any moisture from coming in contact with pan.  Never put oil on a damp skillet – It will lock in the moisture and cause it to rust – overnight!  Oil is only necessary for long-term storage to protect it from rusting when humid.

3. Never cut your skillet with a knife. It will damage the seasoning and cause it to stick in that spot.  You will have to re-season it.

* Use lemon juice and coarse ground salt to scour a rusty skillet.  Repeat if needed until no more rust remains.

Creating Health in 2015

What an amazing year it has been!  Food Revelation launched “Food Is Talking” and “Food Compatibility Testing 101” workshops were created and are going strong.  The books are on the way.   I am so grateful to be living in these amazing times!  I am so grateful to be living and extending my passion and purpose!  My passion is Food – My purpose is empowering others to empower themselves. The message is spreading like wild-fire and being embraced – “We Are What We Eat & Think“!  This quote has made the rounds a lot lately, “Happiness is an Inside Job”.  So is Health!

Our state of health is hugely dependent upon the quality of food we provide these bodies.   We have tried to maintain them on chemicals and it has not worked.  If chemicals were the answer to illness, then the people taking the most prescriptions and eating the most chemicals would be the healthiest.  We now know this absolutely is not the case.  Conclusion… chemicals are not compatible to the human body.  The farther away we get from our natural diets, the more medicine we take the sicker we become. Collectively we’ve forgotten what food is for, which is understandable, given what we’ve been taught and accepted as truth up to now.  Truth is always changing.

“If we all worked on the assumption what is accepted as truth is really true there would be little hope for advance”.  We would become extinct. – Orville Wright

 We cannot escape the fact our natural, organic bodies require natural, organic food. Food is more than something to satisfy the taste buds; it fuels our energy stores and maintains our health.  The connection between what we eat and our health cannot be severed.

The light bulb went off in my mind this year and illuminated this new idea:  What we “think” is just as important to our health as what we eat (if not more so).  We create with our minds what we experience in our world.  We are made in the image of our Creator (call it God, Source, etc.) and so we ARE co-creators. All matter and experience is only possible because of this limitless, inexhaustible energy.  It is the only constant and only changes form, like water and vapor as we create with our minds. Our creations; every invention, technology, belief system, etc. started with a thought, an idea.

It is our minds, fueled by infinite Source that continues the evolution of the human experience on this planet.  It is our minds that created this epidemic of chronic disease that is running rampant in our world today.  It is our strong belief (a “thought” we accepted as truth), that illness is a natural state of aging or is inescapable because of genetics. This collective belief has fueled the “evolution of illness” and created one of the largest industries in the world – Healthcare or better said “Sick Care”. We have come to believe no matter what we do, we will eventually require medicine (chemicals) to maintain a gradually declining quality of life.  As Mike Dooley has so famously coined, “Thoughts Become Things” and so they have.  To change the reality we have created, we only need create a new one.    So what will we create in 2015?

This “light bulb moment” not only changed my life, but many others over the last few years. “NO ONE Good food is Good for every “body” all the time”.  Our bodies are unique.  Our DNA is unique.  Every creation on this planet is unique. That must also mean that not one good supplement, one good diet, one good healing facilitator, doctor or medical protocol is right for everyone.  Each body has different nutrient requirements that change constantly depending on our physical and mental state of health.  Even our spiritual health has an effect on the body. Our nutritional needs are also influenced by what we ate yesterday or last week; for instance; if you consumed 1 cup blueberries yesterday, chances are you will not need the nutrients provided by this fruit today.

Variety IS the spice of life for us humans!  With that being said, there also is NO ONE “so-called” bad food that is bad for every “body” all the time.  Some bodies are very compatible with “so-called” bad foods like; chocolate, caffeine, wine, meat, grains, dairy, etc.  It’s not about “Good or Bad”, it never was; it is only about “Compatibility”.  Can you hear the non-judgment in that?

We have the inborn ability to know what is compatible and highly compatible to our bodies at any given time.  If we can release all the clutter in the body (toxins) so we can receive clear communication; leave our judgment behind (get our minds out-of-the-way); and change belief systems that no longer serve us or our bodies; we can allow our bodies to do what they know how to do, heal themselves.  Illness or wellness is not just a physical state; it is also a state of mind.  No diet will bring lasting health to a body where a mind stays focused on illness.  Our thoughts must be in alignment with health to create health.  Where your focus goes, energy flows.  Thinking healthy, loving thoughts about your body and the food you are providing it and striving for food compatibility are crucial keys to good health!

You might be asking now, “What makes any food, so-called “good” or “bad” incompatible to the body?  Foods can become incompatible for various reasons; #1 digestive distress (the body cannot digest the food).  The body has no use for a food it cannot digest or assimilate.  Or #2 the body’s requirement for that nutrient profile is already met for the time being.  Or #3 a true allergy or intolerance exist.   Any incompatible food can eventually become a sensitivity, allergy or intolerance if over consumed (moderation and variety is key).  Rarely are we born with an allergy; they develop over time as we continue to consume foods the body does not need for whatever reason.  On the other hand, highly compatible foods are balancing and corrective to the body.  Knowing what these foods are and eating more of them can correct conditions before they present with symptoms and escalate.

It’s OUR job to know what our unique bodies need and don’t at any given time.  Only WE can create balance and health in our bodies.  Lower animals do not judge their food good or bad and in the wild they eat intuitively.  They don’t eat things that make them sick if given a choice. Of course, thanks to man they are not always given that choice.  Many of our pets suffer from the same ailments has their human friends and are directly related to the over consumption of an unnatural diet. Not only are we also born with the intuition to know what to eat, humans have the ability to adapt to our environment and food supply.  Our ideal diet may change and evolve but one thing is still true, Mother Nature provides the most compatible source of food for all animals.

Another “Ding Ding” this year.  As we evolve, which is what we are constantly doing, our nutritional needs are also changing.  I believe (based on what my client’s highly compatible foods are telling me) we are collectively evolving into vegetarians and vegans, naturally.  The explosive momentum the vegetarian/vegan movement has gained over the last decade is confirmation.  It is becoming clear our survival on this planet will depend on our collective decision to embrace a more loving, respectful, “greener” way of living and eating.   Not only is the innate cruelty involved in the mass production of meat (factory farming) making its way into the light, we are starting to realize raising massive amounts of animals just for food is not sustainable and mysteriously, our bodies are following suit….unconsciously. Clients are often not surprised to hear they are not highly compatible or even compatible with meat and they will exclaim, “So that’s way I can take it or leave it” or it simply does not appeal to them anymore.

Sometimes the incompatibility with meat is pointing to an over acidic state in body (all meat is acidic). Many bodies still require some nutrients only animals can provide.  This becomes obvious when some clients test highly compatible for meat or any animal product.   And, I’m sure the human body has many nutrient requirements that science simply is not aware of, that can only be supplied by nature in its many forms as plant or animal.  Evolution is a slow process, and through it, we can be kind to all animals, including the human one by being an informed consumer and striving for cruelty free choices.

2015 is bringing with it a powerful shift in perceptions.  How we perceive our food and our bodies is one of many. What we think (our unique perception), followed by the action we take, affects the collective mind.  Has we improve our own state of health, we are improving the world.  We are one.  Just like a wave is part of the ocean, each ripple affects the ocean.  As we remember how to heal our bodies, we remember how to heal the world.  It is eating for compatibility (without judgment) that allows our bodies to heal naturally. The world will naturally heal as we leave judgment behind and remember who we are:  We ARE one, We ARE the change – So BE IT!

The Evolution of Veganism

Vegan-ism is an Evolution –

A process that is escalating as collective consciousness rises.

However, meat consumption is in our collective DNA.  We have been consuming meat for a long, long, time.  As a “Food Intuitive” and “recovered judgmental vegan”, I have come to realize that every “body” is different with its own set of nutritional requirements dependent upon physical, mental and even spiritual state of health.

Over the years and hundreds of “Food Compatibility Charts” later, it has become very clear that many human bodies have not yet completely adapted to a 100% vegan diet.  A good many still require some things only animals provide. And there may be those that will always require some animal products.

Collective consciousness has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 10 years.  It is this growth that is fueling the vegan/vegetarian movement.  The vegetarian diet is accepted by the main stream now with the strict vegan diet following in its footsteps.

Still, when people test highly compatible for animal sourced food, their body is saying it still requires it; however, not in the “oversized” portions being consumed today.  Unless you are healing or pregnant, the average body can assimilate easily about 20 grams of protein at a time.  6 ounces of salmon is 35 grams of protein.  1 cup of yogurt can be 10 – 23 grams of protein.  The lower the fat content the higher the protein density.

Denying our body what it still requires can lead to deficiencies that at the very least can keep us from performing optimally at a physical and mental level.  And, worst case scenario lead to illness. At that point, what animal are we being cruel to?

Unlike many other animals, the human body is very adaptable to whatever food source is available; otherwise we would have become extinct long ago.  Adapting takes time.  Evolution is slow.

The exciting news; I’m finding that “most” everyone is compatible and can achieve optimum health with a vegetarian diet.  “Cruelty Free” options that do not involve death for the sake of consumption are out there (if we so choose to search it out).  If meat is required, it can be sourced humanely in a way that respects and honors the animal providing it; again a choice.

“Farm to Table” eating is making a comeback – BIG TIME!  More and more people are finding creative ways in the city to raise their own chickens and gardens.  Produce co-ops are “cropping up” (couldn’t resist:) in every town.  Eating locally means fresher options and supports our local economy and community.

The vegan movement has brought into the light the horrific cruelty by factory farming conglomerates; an industry that has existed “in the dark” for decades.  Now it is hard to ignore anymore how meat arrives on the plate.

With the evolution of veganism we are creating a world less and less tolerant of “cruelty to animals”.  As we become less tolerant of cruelty to lower animals we also become less tolerate of cruelty to the human animal.

If you are entertaining a plant-based diet, it’s because you are ready. Just be kind and patient with yourself.  It’s a process and a very personal one.  If you are wondering if your body has made the shift to a vegetarian or vegan diet you can know through “Food IS Talking” intuitive food compatibility testing (see contact info below).

It’s important to love and respect everyone’s journey including your own. This is called unconditional love; the pure definition – “the absence of judgment”.  Powerful thing to love unconditionally; it creates loving conditions.   The Intuitive Chef