The Wonders of Rosemary

By: Genevieve Melzer

Herbs and spices are food changing ingredients. They also can make your food healthier, by adding flavor without adding unhealthy additives such as to much salt and sugar.

In this recipe I use the popular culinary herb rosemary. After doing a bit of research I found out that rosemary is extremely good for you.

Rosemary is good for the immune system, increasing circulation and improving digestion. Rosemary also contains anti-inflammatory compounds that are useful to reducing the severity of asthma attacks.

Rosemary has also been shown to increase concentration by increasing the blood flow to the brain. Rosemary is truly a superb herb! Not only does rosemary smell amazing and add wonderful flavors to food but it also helps you in so many other hidden ways.

Herbs are also super easy to grow, so if you are thinking of starting your own garden try an herb garden first. How amazing will you feel when you are eating organic herbs that you grew yourself.



Rosemary Potatoes

You will need:
4 red potatoes
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 tablespoons of olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a 9 x13 inch Pyrex pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Thinly slice the potatoes.
Layer one layer of potatoes on the bottom of the pan sprinkle with one pinch of salt and pepper.
Pick fresh rosemary from the sprig and sprinkle all over the potatoes; make sure all potatoes have at least one piece of rosemary on them. (Use ½ sprig rosemary for each layer of potatoes)
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over first layer of potatoes and add another layer of potatoes. Sprinkle salt, pepper and rosemary over new layer of potatoes. Repeat until all potatoes and other ingredients are used.
Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
Note: Your kitchen will smell amazing when these rosemary potatoes are cooking.
After 40 minutes take out of the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
Serve and enjoy!

Another way to get rosemary into your daily food routine put a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary into some olive oil to infuse it. Then use that olive oil as a dipping sauce for veggies and other snack foods.

Next time you are cooking try to add herbs and spices to your food instead of salt or sugar and see what kind of delicious concoctions you come up with.

Rich Chocolate "Soft Serve"

By: Elizabeth Beals

I found this recipe floating around the internet and thought it would never work. There is no way a frozen banana would taste like soft serve ice cream. Low and behold I was wrong! Not only does taste it taste just like soft serve, but I can dress it up with whatever I'm in the mood for. Chocolate, peanut butter, coconut flakes, or frozen fruit for strawberry ice cream or peach! The list is as long as your imagination.  The hardest part of this recipe is waiting for your bananas to freeze and picking your flavor.

One frozen banana in a blender

You will need: 

1 banana (frozen) 1 per serving

1 tablespoon dark coco powder

1/2 tablespoon maple syrup

1/4 or less almond milk

1. Place frozen banana in a blender with the coco powder and maple syrup.

2. Blender together while slowly adding in the almond milk until you get the right consistency of soft served ice cream. Don't over blend or it will melt into a liquid, it will still taste good just not what we are looking for. You may need to scrape down the blender to mix it all in.

Serve right away with some extra toppings if you like. I love coconut flakes on mine.

This is great for kids and holiday parties coming up. Make a big batch and freeze it for later. It will scoop more like ice cream if you freeze it for an hour or so. Most people will never be able to tell that this isn't chocolate ice cream. I won't tell if you don't.

Before: Choclate Ice Cream with Coconut flakes. 

After: Clean bowl and a happy lady!

Homemade Laundry Soap

Making a double batch so I needed two bars of soap

Homemade Laundry Soap

by: Elizabeth Beals

2 cups soap flakes (1 bar of soap, I use Ivory)

2 cups baking soda

1 cup washing soda

1 cup borax

Tools: cheese grater, container with a lid 

1. Use a cheese grater for your bar of soap. (I have a cheese grater that I use only for this)

2. Mix soap flakes, baking soda, washing soda, and borax.

That's it! You now have laundry soap. I have been using this recipe since 2007! It keeps my clothes clean with 1/4 cup in cold or warm water.

Washing soda and borax can sometimes be hard to find in stores. When I first started making this I had to special order them from my local grocery store. If you ask them nicely, most stores will do this. Target and even Winco carry them now, because they have gained popularity in recent years for their cleaning power.  

Not only is this MUCH cheaper than buying a brand name laundry soap, it's better for the environment too! No harmful dyes or chemicals, and it's easy on sensitive skin. 

One step at a time, trying to be better to myself and our Mother Earth.

Gingersnap Cookies 100% Vegan

By: Genevieve Melzer

'Tis the season of giving and indulging in special holiday treats. Sometimes as a vegan you can’t have all the holiday desserts that other people are enjoying. We here at Two Girls and One Organic Garden are here to change that, we want you to be able to eat desserts that not only taste good but are made with the best ingredients out there.

Baking cookies is always a fun activity around this time of year and I encourage you to throw on some Christmas music when you make this recipe.

You will need:

2/3 cup melted coconut oil
1 cup coconut sugar
3 tablespoons flax milk (Option: can use almond or coconut milk)
¼ cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups gluten free all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger
½ teaspoon of ground cloves
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg

Preparation Procedures:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl combine the oil and sugars. Beat in the flax milk, molasses and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda and spices then stir together.
4. Add the dry flour mixture in the wet mixture and stir together until mixed completely and is a dough consistency.
5. Place bowl with dough in the “ice box” (refrigerator) for 30 minutes.
6. On a heavily floured surface scoop a 2” amount of dough and roll into a ball then roll out the ball using a rolling pin or anything else that rolls dough out, like a wine bottle. Roll dough out to ¼ of an inch if possible.
7. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes into the rolled out dough, remove excess dough and use a spatula to remove cookie from surface and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat until all dough is used.
8. If you are short on time you can also scoop out 1-2” balls and place on cookie sheet. No rolling pin or cookie cutters needed.
9. Place cookies ½“ away from the other cookies on baking sheet. Feel free to decorate cookies with sprinkles before you bake them.
10. Place in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes and 10-12 for the scooped out ball cookies.
11. Let cool and serve.

Tip: These cookies go great with a glass of cold coconut milk eggnog.

This recipe makes about 20 cookies (6-8) per baking sheet. Try to share these gingersnaps with friends and family…although they are tough to share because they are so delightfully delicious. Have a happy and healthy this holiday season.

 

Lemon Green Falafels

   The cool thing about these falafels, besides being packed with healthy greens, is that they can be served in a variety of different ways. One of my favorites is as a bite size appetizer for a party or light lunch. They can also be served over a bed of greens in a salad, or I've even shaped them like a link before I fried them and rolled them in a rice wrap with stuff like shaved carrots, my sweet cucumbers, sprouts and a spicy aioli. With hummus to dip my "falafel spring-rolls" in. So. Good. No matter how you eat them, I am quite confident you will like them.

By: Elizabeth Beals

Lemon Green Falafels

Ingredients:

4 cups of dark leafy greens (swiss chard, spinach, kale) stemmed, deveined and ruffly chopped 

1 can 15.5 ounce chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons tahini

1 1/2 tablespoons garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup fresh parsley, stemmed and ruffly chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and pepper to taste

3-4 tablespoons of oat flour

1/4 cup grape-seed oil

Tools or special equipment: 

large bowl food processor

medium mixing bowl

large frying pan

wax paper

Preparation and procedures: 

1. Place all ingredients Except: oat flour, grape-seed oil, in food processor.
2. Blend the mixture until all combined into a wet, sticky, dough-like mixture.
3. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl and stir in the oat flour one tablespoon at a time. You want to thicken the batter just a bit, making it easier to handle and form into a small patty shape.
4. Wet your hands to help the mixture not stick to them and start to forming your patty. About 2 tablespoons of mix per falafel, then place on wax paper. Re-wet your hands if needed. 
5. Heat oil in a large frying pan, over median low heat. (Be aware that grape seed oil has a low burn temp, and may smoke if the pan gets too hot.) Keep the pan moving when frying the falafel so it won't stick to the pan.
6. Cook for 2-3 minutes on one side, checking to make sure they aren’t browning too quickly. If so, lower the heat. Flip once until golden brown and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until golden brown color is reached. 
7. Place finished patties on a paper towel, serve when hot.  

I eat my falafels with hummus and shaved carrots on top, served with sweet cucumbers and a spicy aioli drizzled over it all.

 Sweet Cucumbers

Ingredients:

1 cucumber with the skin peeled off

3/4 cup beet sugar

1 cup rice wine vinegar 

Tools or special equipment: 

mandolin 

medium mixing bowl

Preparation and procedures: 

1. Mix sugar and rice wine in the bowl

2. Use the mandolin to slice the cucumbers almost razed thin

3. Soak the cucumber slices in the sugar mixture for at least an hour

   Spicy Aioli

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegan mayo

juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced

sriracha to taste

pinch of salt

Preparation and procedures:

1. Mix everything together

Keep in glass jar.

A Vegan Thanksgiving

By: Genevieve Melzer


This thanksgiving was truly a magical feast as almost everything was vegan. I was the only vegan at my thanksgiving but it was at my house so I thought my house my rules. I had no part in dealing with or cooking the turkey and it felt good to stand by my beliefs and make everything else completely vegan.

We had mashed potatoes made with earth balance and almond milk, mashed yams also made with earth balance, almond milk, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. I bought two vegan pies from WholeFoods and vegan cornbread stuffing. We had vegan shallot and thyme gravy that was delicious. I also made a vegan green bean casserole which I had never made before and it was very simple so I decided to share the recipe with you.

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

You will need:
3, 15 oz cans of green beans
1 jar of sliced mushrooms
1 cup of almond milk (unsweetened)
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
½ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 can French Fried onions

Preheat oven at 350 degrees
Drain green beans and mushrooms and mix together in a large bowl. Season will salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Pour seasoned green beans and mushrooms into a casserole pan.
In a small saucepan heat the almond milk, do not bring to a boil. When almond milk is warm add the cornstarch and stir and heat on low until mixture is thick, may take 5-10 minutes.

When the almond milk mixture is thick; pour all over green beans and mushrooms in the casserole pan. Place in oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle French Fried Onions all over top of the casserole and return to the oven for 5-7 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes and serve while the casserole is still warm.

This green bean casserole is perfect for older relatives who are used to having this dish at Thanksgiving, the best part they can’t tell its vegan.

Another dish we made was a cranberry sauce from scratch that was very simple. Here is that recipe.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce
You Will Need:

4 cups of raw cranberries
2 oranges juiced (juice needed only)
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 Apple chopped up into small pieces
In a medium sized bowl mix cranberries, orange juice, coconut sugar and apple pieces altogether.
Pour mixture into a medium sized saucepan and turn on a low to medium heat.
Cook for 20 minutes or until the mixture is completely cooked and looks like cranberry sauce, stirring occasionally.
Let cool for 10 minutes and serve and enjoy.

Cooking on Thanksgiving is quite the undertaking, but it is also very rewarding when other people tell you how much they enjoy the food you spent the day slaving over to make. This Thanksgiving was very special to me because I stayed true to my beliefs and my family completely supported me too. It was also a celebration because my boyfriend just proposed to me a week before Thanksgiving and I said “yes” so our families came into town to celebrate with us.
Supportive family, amazing friends and delicious food is what Thanksgiving is truly about.