Get Natured

Weird foods: Popped amaranth

Amaranth is commonly referred to as a grain, but it is actually a tiny seed with big benefits. It is a great source of calcium, iron, protein, magnesium, zinc, and amino acids. Just 1/4 cup (uncooked) amaranth contains 7 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, and 21% of the RDA for iron.

Amaranth can be cooked as a hot cereal, ground into (or purchased as) flour for gluten-free baking, or even popped like popcorn!

I love popped amaranth tossed with salads, over hot cereal, added to baked goods, or in homemade granola bars.

Popping amaranth has a bit of a learning curve. It took me several tries before I found a method that works for me. It may take some experimentation for you as well but, to get you started, here is my method*:

Heat a dry pan on high heat.
Add about a tablespoon of amaranth and quickly move the pan in a circular motion (ala "Jiffy Pop") over the burner. The key here is to keep the pan moving in a circular motion until the amaranth has finished popping so that you don't end up with "snow" all over your kitchen!

*Note: This works well over my gas stove- I'm not sure how it would work over an electric burner.

(Updated from the original post, published May 2009.)

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, by Allison

Breakfast

Travel food

Getting ready to go on vacation is never really easy. Packing always takes significantly longer than I ever imagine that it will. For our latest adventure, we traveled by airplane (yes, another trip right after our California RV adventure!) and that makes all of the preparing and packing and whatnot just that much harder. I can never find decent food in an airport for myself (let alone something that my kids will like and that I'll feel good giving to them). This time, I wanted to be prepared instead of starving a few hours into our flight!

Breakfast:

Our flight was at 10am, so we had a chance to have breakfast before boarding. My husband and I had breakfast at home but, since we had to get the kids up and ready early, I made a portable breakfast for them. Super pancakes (in the mix: whole wheat and all-purpose flour mix, hemp seeds, almond milk, banana, canola oil, vanilla, baking powder) and fresh blueberries. Because these pancakes are sweet from the banana, the kids love them without any toppings and that makes them extra portable and great for in-car breakfasts.

Lunch:

Instead of purchasing an airline meal (that may or may not be something that we can eat), I packed a snack bag for each of us. Our bags contained sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwiches (I didn't want to break any "no peanut" rules that we may have encountered so I avoided peanut butter), edamame (soy beans), snack bars (Clif ZBars, Nu Go bars, etc.), Snapea Crisps, sliced apples, and Snackimals cookies.

Thank you, vacation

Over the past couple of weeks I have been on a road trip in an RV through all kinds of places in my home state of California. We've been to the desert and to the beach. In hot places (surprisingly the coast!) and cold (nighttime near Mono Lake). We've soaked in mineral springs, climbed sand dunes, toured a ghost town, visited family, built with Legos, boarded Air Force One, and high-fived Mickey Mouse. My kids are wiped out but we're all having a great adventure.

A few highlights:

Along Hwy 395 in the Eastern Sierra:

I went for a run here one morning- that is Mt. Whitney in the background (the highest mountain in the contiguous US):

My little gardeners:

Sand dunes in Death Valley:

Badwater Basin salt flats (it looks like snow, but it is salt!):

Desert sunset:

Crazy hot spring resort just south of Death Valley. This place had private mineral baths- so neat!

Schoolhouse at the Calico ghost town:

Carlsbad State Beach:

Fun!

At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (this place made me cry- very moving!):

"Let's squish our faces together!":

Vacation is awesome. Not only do I temporarily escape the must-do routine of daily life, but I find myself repeatedly shocked out of the numbness of normal. A family of big horn sheep on the side of the road. Laying in bed and having a conversation with a toddler in a moonlit RV. A crazy hot spring resort in the middle of the desert. All things unusual. All things special. All things with lasting impact beyond their tangible contact.

Vacation provides opportunities for us to learn more about each other too. Such as when we heard a song on the radio that my husband dislikes so much that it almost makes him mad. Normally we don't listen to the radio together. Especially the one odd (and crummy) station that we found when we were in the middle of the desert. In the context of our routine, we might not have known things like this about each other. Vacation affords room to make exceptions. To bedtimes. To having dessert before dinner. We try new foods that aren't a part of our usual spread. Some may be added to the rotation at home, some are "I-have-to-try-____-while-I'm-in-_____" foods.

I was born in Southern California and lived there until I was 8 1/2. I have mentioned before my love affair with all of the magical things that grow in the Southern California climate. I so love the warm salty air, avocado and citrus groves, brightly colored flowers, and jacaranda trees. I even saw cherimoyas at a roadside produce stand, swoon!

Even though our road trip schedule has been crazy (think 5 consecutive theme park days!), I feel decompressed. I'm tired but content. I'm unwound. My left brain has relaxed enough to allow my stress-averse creative side to emerge from hibernation. I love that I've had moments that call for the notebook that I carry around in my bag or even my iPhone note app because I simply must capture a passing thought before it gets away. I am pleasantly surprised to learn this about myself: inspiration to be creative or to write doesn't come from quiet. It comes when my mind is un-numb. Thank you vacation for this!

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, by Allison

What about iron?

Weird foods: Hemp Seeds

Since I began down my vegetarian path over 15 years ago, I have heard my share of people's comments on vegetarians and our "weird" foods. People say things like, "the vegetarian diet is an interesting one!" (usually while rolling their eyes). While it is true that health-conscious people have a wide assortment of foods that we include in our diets, I don't consider "vegetarian food" to be mysterious or even all that different from any other kind of food.

For the most part, vegetarian food is simple. We eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, beans and other legumes, etc. Nothing freaky there. Venture down the center aisles of your natural foods store, though, and you may find some things that you readily assume to be obscure and secret vegetarian items.

Enter the hemp seed. Sounds almost illegal, right? No! Hemp seeds are a great source of protein, iron, and omega 3 fatty acids. They taste a bit like tiny sunflower seeds and go great in oatmeal, muffins, pancakes, granola, bars, salads, grain dishes, smoothies, and more.

Hemp seeds are becoming easier to find. Whole Foods and other health-oriented grocers carry them as do smaller health food stores. They are also available online from stores like Vegan Essentials or even Amazon. Give them a try!

(Updated from the original post, published April 2008.)

2 comments

, by Allison

Breakfast

Strawberry banana mini muffins

Nothing says spring quite like strawberries from a roadside stand. We have managed to find a couple that are open this month and I'm amazed at how quickly we finish off pint after pint of berries!

My kids' preschool had an Easter egg hunt this week and I brought these mini muffins to share. They are the perfect spring treat for kids and adults! Because the wet ingredients are mixed in the blender, feel free to get sneaky by adding nut or seed butter, seeds, protein powder, veggies, etc.

If you're feeling extra fancy, I think a few white chocolate chips would knock these out of the park (but, as usual, you didn't hear that from me)!

Strawberry Banana Mini Muffins (vegan)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 large extra ripe banana
3/4 cup vanilla soymilk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 tbsp canola or other oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 350º F (176º C). Spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick spray.
In a medium bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a blender, combine banana, milk, flaxseeds, brown sugar, oil, salt, and vanilla. Puree until smooth. Pour into bowl with flour mixture and mix to combine then fold in strawberries. Please don't over-mix!
Fill mini muffin cups level with the top and bake muffins for about 25 minutes or until they are golden brown.

7 comments

, by Allison

Springtime moments and upcoming "weird foods"

I have been busy with so many things over the past couple of weeks. From training for and running a 12k (7.46 mile) race to control-freaking the details of some upcoming travel. Meals have been quick and un-special. Days have been sneezy (I've been using the heck out of my sinus rinse bottle).

We've been picking wildflowers...and even enjoying a "campfire" in our backyard.

Over the next several weeks I will be traveling on and off. To places that are remote and unconnected and places that are not-so-far or off the grid. I'll blog when I can and share some of our adventures. In the spaces between, I plan to republish a series of posts that I wrote for my Allibrew blog a while back on "weird foods". These are things that are less commonly found at mainstream stores and that may appear in recipes that you find from vegan or vegetarian sources.

One of the main things that I strive to do here on Get Natured is to remove the mystery that seems to surround "vegetarian food". I want to dispel the myth that eating a plant-based diet is complicated and strange! Hopefully my "weird food" posts will help with that part of my mission. If you have a request for a certain food to be covered, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail (allison@getnatured.com)!

(PS- Can you tell that I've been having fun with the Camera+ iPhone app?)

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, by Allison

Favorites

My roots and fresh-squeezed OJ

I lived in Southern California until I was eight. Since I learned to eat in a place where avocados and other magical things grow in the backyard, I am forever ruined. I have zero tolerance for bad avocados. I will not (WILL NOT) drink orange juice "from concentrate" (what the H does "from concentrate" mean anyway?). I prefer limeade to lemon. I know what sapotes (aka sapodillas), loquats, and guavas taste like. I know how to crack open a macadamia nut with a vice and I love the sound of chickens making chickeny sounds in the beams of early morning sunlight. Those are my roots.

Back in 2002 my dad gave me three little citrus trees for Christmas. These poor trees have been through a lot! They have been moved a few times. They have spent nights in freezing temps without a blanket. They are troopers, my trees.

This year, for the first time EVER, one of the trees actually produced fruit! On Sunday morning, we (in our pajamas, no less!) picked 10 oranges from our little tree and made some juice. The best orange juice ever, actually!