Cordyceps Militaris Mushrooms (in stir fry, no oil)

I visited a new Harmon's grocery store and was in heaven with their produce section. The variety was incredible! These mushrooms were amongst items I had never seen before, and, yes, I stood in my kitchen today looking at them and asked myself, "What am I supposed to do with that?" I mixed them with brown-rice noodles and marinated pan-seared tofu. My 14 yo liked the mushrooms and noodles (and was a good sport about trying the tofu). He said they were pretty good. Note: He usually does not like mushrooms. These are pretty mild and have a nice texture. I really enjoyed this meal.

Ingredients:

1 pint cordyceps mushrooms

4 oz dry brown rice noodles, prepared

1/2 cup vegetable broth (or water)

1/2 cup-ish green onions (incl white part)

1 clove garlic minced

1 block tofu prepared (drain, slice, press, marinate, pan-fry/bake/or bbq) - optional

Method:

-Rinse mushrooms

-Heat wok (or pan) on medium-high

-Sauté the white part of the onion and the garlic, add some of the broth to keep from sticking, 1-2 min

-Add the mushrooms, add more of the broth, stir, 1-2 min

-Add the green onions, sauté a couple more min, add more broth (or the rest of the 1/2 cup)

-Add the noodles and mix all together
-Serve with tofu (or tempeh, edamame, just plain)

You can also mix in your favorite sauce. This recipe is basic, mild, but fresh-tasting.

Cordyceps militaris mushrooms rinsed

Green onions, garlic clove, brown rice noodles,
mushrooms. I kept it very simple so I could taste
the new ingredient.

Vegetable broth/bouillon

Tofu, noodles, wok with mushrooms and veggies

I love the colors! (Not filtered)

Son's portion as an introduction.

"Kitchen Snippets"
The previous owner of our home salvaged
doors from a home built in the 1800s

Something else I didn't know:

Our human bodies have the characteristics of herbivores rather than carnivores. Because of this, the enormous amount of meat, dairy, and eggs we have been conditioned to eat are making us very, very sick (individually and culturally): heart disease, variety of cancers, diabetes, lung disease, brain problems, infections, high blood pressure, liver disease, kidney disease, suicidal depression, various auto-immunity diseases, erectile dysfunction...

The good news:

We can recondition our brain, habits, and tastebuds and get back to our natural way of eating as well as improve our health. Whole food plant based eating is the only diet proven to reduce heart disease and reverse T2 diabetes (and improve T1 diabetes), reduce BP... you get my point :)

Kiwano - the "Horned Melon"

I found this beauty at Harmon's grocery store. It was easy to cut into.

-Cut lengthwise and scrape the pulp and seeds out into a bowl and eat with a spoon

-Cut them into little half-moons and eat them like orange slices

-Cut crosswise and squeeze the seeds and pulp out... they pop out nicely

Hubby, son, and I were the only ones here to try it, and we all liked it. It's like a sweeter cucumber taste maybe with a little lime. You can eat the seeds, and they are each surrounded by a sweet gel. It's refreshing! 

Some nutrient info: 3.7 g protein, 18% RDA Vitamin C, 21% RDA magnesium, 13% RDA iron, several antioxidants, ++ 

Look at the tips of these horns! They are very sharp.
I was trying to figure out where to place them in the
shopping bag so they don't poke the rest of the groceries

Such a pretty color!

Rambutan Fruit

These are a fun fruit and very tasty! My 14 yo really likes them. 

I found these at Walmart

They are about the size of a golfball.
There's a seam to cut along to open up.
It's like a giant grape but with a seed
(don't eat the seed).

The fruit peels away from the seed
fairly easily.

Humorous Food Memes, Cartoons, Videos

1st of 3: My ideas for vegan restaurant names.
"Vegan AF"
(AF stands for my town, American Fork, of course) 

2nd of 3: My ideas for vegan restaurant names.
"Vegan SL,UT" for Salt Lake City, Utah

3rd of 3: My ideas for vegan restaurant names.
"Viva! Las Vegans!"
(Thank you, thank you, very much)

All My Meals Are Vegan; Take It Slow

Like the "Psycho Salad" post where I post different salads for inspiration and self-motivation, this post will be reserved for other vegan dishes I make that we seemed to like ("Oh, yeah! Let's make that, again!"). They won't always have recipes attached to them.

The following video is Luke Cutforth's parody of Twenty One Pilots' "Heathens" video called "Vegans." 💚

Diced potatoes, mushrooms, onions, green bell pepper,
red and green jalapeño, Beyond Meat sausage, gravy (not pictured)

Chili beans, jalapeño, baked potato, blanched broccoli

Sautéd bell pepper, red cabbage, onion, and broccoli.
Tofu, noodles.

Baby potatoes and Beyond Meat sausage. Greens and sprouts

Psycho Salads- Yummy Yummy

This mash-up video cracks me up!

Here I will include pictures of different salads I make (or see) to help inspire me and my family ("Remember when we made that? Oh, yeah! That was good; let's do that again) and will be updated. Dr. Joel Fuhrman encourages us to make large salads (mixture of raw veggies) the main course and not as a small side.

🌱 For chopping greens technique, click here.

🌱 For reviving wilted greens, click here 

I recommend this recipe book for healthy dips
and dressings: raw, vegan, oil-free, gluten-free.
You can order a hard copy on Amazon HERE,
or an electronic copy on her website,
RawFoodRomance

Greens, cucumber, bell pepper, carrots, and
baked tofu (teriyaki) with creamy mustard
dressing

Haven't made, yet, but looks good!

Greens, quinoa, roasted corn, bell pepper,
carrots, radish, roasted red pepper dressing

Greens, roasted cauliflower, chili beans, quinoa, roasted red
pepper dressing

Greens, baked tofu -teriyaki, avocado, hemp seeds,
orange bell pepper, raisins, pecans, probably a sesame
ginger dressing

Haven't tried but looks good: broccoli, lentils, yams,
tomatoes

From Marie's garden

Marie's garden: Do you see the tiny snail in the center? 💚

Everyone's is different, but basically: yams w/pineapple/
pecans/hemp seeds, shredded raw beets,
roasted cauliflower, jicama, greens w/ tomatoes

Greens, radish, tomatoes, roasted cauliflower, yams w/
pineapple and pecans

Greens, green beans, carrots, quinoa, roasted corn,
mango (I think, or crushed pineapple...hm)

This is also a good dressing in-a-pinch. It does have
sugar and sodium. I like that it's fat-free

Tomato with Basil and EVOL Snack

I love this.  So far I've only made this for hubby and myself.  The best ingredients for me are tomatos from the garden as well as freshly plucked basil.  If your grocer sells yummy tomatoes and basil, you are in luck.  I haven't tried this with dried basil, but that is certainly an option.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Tomato
Basil

Layer leaves, roll, slice.

Chop tomato, add basil,
drizzle with oil.
Yum.
And so good for you.