Divine HealthIn pursuit of healthy living.

I’ve posted an announcement on my business blog that includes some personal news. Please head over there and check it out.

Divine Events by Helena Blog

Thanks!

One of my favorite bloggers, Cook. Vegan. Lover. posted about a Vegan Care Package Swap and I thought it sounded interesting so I decided to join in the fun. I was paired up with Theresa in New York, check out her blog at Quantum Vegan. Her posts are often thought provoking and she has some very tasty recipes too! I had so much fun the day my package arrived! It took a lot of restraint not to open everything and try it all at once! 

A box full of goodies and a hand written note!

First up we have Handmade Lavender soap, Handmade Peppermint Foot Cream and The Merry Hempsters Vanilla Hemp Lip Balm all from her local Co-Op. My feet and lips are as soft as a baby’s bum!

Divine goodies for my skin!

I gorged myself on these delicious cookies! I’ve managed to save the yummy bars so I hope to try them soon.

Hello, sweet stuff!

Here we have Koyo Seaweed and Lemongrass Ginger Ramen Noodles and Yama Moto Yama Roasted Seaweed. I’ve had one of the ramen noodle packages and it was so tasty! I had to convince myself not to eat the other package right away.

Slurp!

There was also a can of Amy’s chili that I haven’t tried yet. I love Amy’s products though so I’m sure it will be great! The last thing and the one that touched me the most was her personal note. She talked about how she picked some of her favorite foods and told me a little about her local Co-Op. I have to admit this made me feel a little guilty. I didn’t end up including anything local in my package. I might have to surprise her with a little something special over the holidays from San Diego. Theresa also included a few coupons and a Vegan informational pamphlet. I seriously couldn’t have asked for a better swap partner!

Feelin the love!

Thank you so very much, Theresa! I hope you enjoy your package!!

One of my favorite things about living in San Diego is the endless hiking options. There are so many different areas to hike that are all unique. We decided to try a hike in the Laguna Mountain area last weekend. I wanted to bring a light lunch to eat along the way and knew it was going to be really hot.

Cold and juicy!

Veggie wrap ready to roll

Veggie wraps are great because you can use any combination of veggies you have on hand. I used white beans, zucchini, spring mix, sprouts, tomato, red pepper and a little dressing.  We stopped about half way through the hike and found a nice cool rock to sit on.

Enjoying the shade

The watermelon was particularly refreshing. This lunch hit the spot and gave us enough energy to finish the hike.

It was a beautiful day!

What is your favorite food to take on a long, hot hike?

I think this makes a refreshing light dinner on a hot summer evening. The cole slaw can be made ahead and kept cold. It called for crunchy Asian noodles but I couldn’t find any that didn’t have HFCS so I used rice crackers and they tasted great on the salad. The original sauce for the rolls called for fish sauce so I tossed it aside and used a recipe for a sweet and spicy sauce that a friend gave me. The rolls require a bit of work but I promise they are worth it! Cool, crunchy, sweet, salty and delicious!

Slightly Asian Cole Slaw (adapted from Sam the Cooking Guy)

Ingredients:

• 1-10 ounce bag cole slaw
• 1 red pepper
• 3 tablespoons vinegar, rice vinegar if you have it – if not white is just fine
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Rice crackers (broken into bite size pieces)

Directions:

• Add vinegar, sesame oil, soy and sugar to a small pot over medium heat to mix, but do not boil – remove from heat
• Slice red pepper into thin strips and then cut them in half lengthwise – you don’t want them too long
• Mix together red pepper, cole slaw and cooled sauce
• Top with rice crackers just before serving

Asian Cole Slaw with Rice Crackers

Asian-Style Veggie Rolls ~ Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients (rolls):

• 8” round sheets rice paper
• 2 cups thinly sliced bibb lettuce leaves (I used spinach)
• 2 cups cooked bean threads (cellophane noodles)
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 1 cup shredded carrot (about 1 large)
• ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
• ½ fresh cilantro leaves
• ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions

Ingredients (sauce)

• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tbsp hot chile sauce

Prep work done, ready to start rolling!

Preparation

• To prepare rolls, add hot water to a large, shallow dish to a depth of 1 inch. Place 1 rice paper sheet in dish, and let stand for 30 seconds or just until soft. Place sheet on a flat surface. Arrange 1/4 cup lettuce over half of sheet, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Top with 1/4 cup bean threads, 2 tablespoons sprouts, 2 tablespoons carrot, 1 tablespoon mint, 1 tablespoon cilantro leaves, and 1 1/2 teaspoons green onions. Folding sides of sheet over filling and starting with filled side, roll up jelly-roll fashion. Gently press seam to seal. Place roll, seam side down, on a serving platter (cover to keep from drying). Repeat procedure with remaining roll ingredients.
• To prepare sauce, in small bowl combine rice wine vinegar, sugar, ¼ cup water and chile sauce; set aside.
• Serve rolls with sauce and enjoy!

Make sure the surface is wet or they will stick!

Maybe not beautiful but delicious nonetheless!

What’s your favorite meal to make when it’s too hot to cook?

I think I’m in a recipe rut. The problem is my arsenal of cookbooks and recipes include lots of meat and dairy based dishes. Since going vegetarian and trying to go vegan I have found lots of new recipes but I don’t think I have enough. I find myself unmotivated to pick recipes, shop and cook. But I love cooking so this doesn’t make sense. I’ve started reading a ton of vegan blogs and websites looking for inspiration but most of the time the recipes look difficult or time consuming. I’m okay with that once or twice a week but not every night. The other problem I run across is recipes with tons of ingredients which translates to spending more money than I’d like. We rarely eat out so that means that I make dinner every single night. That’s a lot of recipes, assuming I don’t repeat any of them too often. Erik will eat anything, he’s not excited about food. He only eats because he has to. I wish I had that kind of relationship with food, then maybe this wouldn’t be as difficult.

A few of my veg'n cookbooks

I’m also frustrated by the fact that most vegetarian recipes use cheese or other fattening products. Is it really that hard to come up with healthy vegetarian/vegan recipes? Surely not. I think I’m going to have to start making up more of my own.

Where do you find recipes and inspiration to cook?

The hubs and I really enjoy pizza but we’re burnt out on Margherita and all the other usual suspects. I decided to try out my old barbeque chicken recipe using tofu. It turned out really great! I like the ease of buying a pre-made whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joes or Whole Foods.

BBQ Chik’n Pizza

Ingredients:

1 whole wheat ready to bake pizza dough

¼ cup barbeque sauce

¼ cup pizza sauce (pasta sauce or tomato sauce with Italian herbs will work)

8-10 ounces firm tofu (seitan would work great as well)

2 Tbs cilantro finely chopped

¼ cup red onion finely chopped

2 Tbs olive oil

½ cup shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese (Daiya vegan cheese works too)

Instructions:

Let the dough rest at room temperature and prepare as directed on packaging. I like the way it turns out if you pre-cook for about 5 minutes, then add the toppings and finish cooking. Press the tofu to remove excess water and chop into small pieces. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add tofu, cook until the tofu turns golden brown. Remove from heat and toss the tofu with barbeque sauce. Spread the pizza sauce in a thin layer over the crust and top with cheese, tofu, onions and cilantro. Cook for about 10 minutes or according to the package.

We try to eat a decent amount of veggies with every meal so I made a quick green salad to go along with the pizza. It was a perfect meal.

What’s your favorite vegetarian pizza toppings?

Yesterday we brought the spa home by giving ourselves a French Pedicure. Today let’s add to that experience with some delicious cucumber water! Everytime I go to the spa I love the water they have in the relaxation rooms. Usually there is a citrus and a cucumber water. One day it hit me that there’s no reason I can’t have this at home. Now it’s my favorite way to enjoy water in the summer. If you don’t like cucumbers you could do the same thing with oranges, lemons and limes or any combination of them. Strawberries would be good too.

This is a really great way to get your daily intake of water if you don’t normally like to drink it.

Step 1: Slice a cucumber, you’ll want about 5-7 slices for every liter of water

Slice the cucumber

Step 2: Add cucumber and filtered water to a pitcher

I like the ease of a Brita Filter System

Step 3: Refigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24. The longer you leave the cucumbers the stronger the water will be. You want to remove them after 24 hours because they will start to desinigrate.

Tasty!

Step 4: Sit back, relax and pretend you are at the spa while you enjoy a glass of delicious cucumber water!

I’ve been giving myself pedicures at home for a very long time. It’s relaxing and fun to change my polish whenever I want. I’ve grown my collection of tools and polish over the years, the only thing I am missing is the nail tech to give my feet a rub. Oh wait, that’s what the hubby is for! Today I’m going to share how easy it is to give yourself a French pedicure. It doesn’t take much, I promise!

What you’ll need:

Nail polish remover

Cotton swabs

Q-tips

Nail clippers and file

Base coat, white polish and top coat (any brand will do)

Toe separators or a paper towel

OPI is my favorite nail polish brand

Instructions:

Remove any old polish from your toenails. Clip and file as necessary. If you have a wood stick to push your cuticles back that would be great, it helps with nail growth. You can also clip off any dead skin.

Place the toe separators or weave a paper towel through your toes. Apply a base coat which will help the white paint stay in place longer. Next you will paint the white tips. You don’t have to be too careful because I’m going to tell you how to fix it later. It does help to try to only paint the top 1/3 of your toenail though. Let the white dry thoroughly, at least ten minutes.

Now it’s time to clean up the white paint. You can use a q-tip and a little nail polish remover to do this. The natural curve of the q-tip makes this process really easy. Simply take the q-tip and wipe straight across the nail. As you go along and get a feel for it you might want to add more of a curve.

Easy peasy!

 If you have an old makeup brush you can also use that dipped in nail polish remover to help with the clean up process.

A hard bristled brush works best

Once you have all of your toes done you can finish with a top coat to give the nails a nice shine and help hold the color in place. If you want a true pedicure at home experience you can soak and scrub your feet before you start the nail process.

Ta da!

You can buy everything you need for less than the cost of one spa pedicure and it will last for 25 or more pedicures at home!

Wishing you happy feet!

I love grilling in the summer! To be honest though, since we live in San Diego we grill year round. I do grill more in the summer though. Especially since the season brings tons of great veggies! Corn on the cob is probably one of my favorites on the grill. I’ve tried soaking it, leaving the husk on and a few other ways. I’ve found the easiest method is to grill it with foil. It comes out perfect every time and requires little effort. This works great on a grill or even a camp fire!

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Ingredients:

1 ear of corn per person plus one square of foil for each

Earth Balance organic buttery spread – about 1 teaspoon per cob

Salt to taste

Directions:

Peel the husks off and rinse the cobs, dry thoroughly. Lay foil squares out and spread the Earth balance right on the foil, add a dash of salt if desired.

Place the corn on the foil and roll it up, twisting the ends to close. Repeat for as many cobs as you have.

Grill on medium to high heat for about 20 minutes total, turning at least 3 or 4 times to prevent burning. If you are using a charcoal grill or a camp fire it might take closer to 30 minutes and you should turn the corn every 5. Carefully remove the foil and enjoy your tasty grilled corn!

What’s your favorite veggie to grill in summer?

I’m thankful to live in a free country! I’m thankful to the troops who fight for our country every single day!

Have a fun and safe fourth everyone!