Nourishing Spoon

Have friends coming over and want to make a quick snack?  Whether you are gluten-free, dairy-free or not, these Creamy Crunchies are a crispy, savoury treat!  Daiya has just released into the market a line of different dairy-free cream cheeses!  Whohoo for all of us who are allergic to dairy or are vegan!  I stumbled on to these new products at the health food store in Tenafly, Healthway Natural Foods .  As soon as I got home, I spread some of the Chive and Onion Cream Cheese, which I whipped a little, on a couple of gluten free Mary's Gone Crackers; but that didn't hit the spot.  So I chopped up some sun dried tomatoes which I had picked up from Trader Joe's earlier, and voila!  Instant gratification!  Yumm! X-Crunchy, creamy and yet a little "tarty" and definitely tasty. Creamy Crunchies  6 Mary Gone Crackers 3 TB Cream Cheese  1TB Chopped Sun Dried Tomatoes  Easy snack for any time and perfect for the holidays! ...

Shauna and Daniel Ahern, of Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, were our gracious hosts of the Best of New York City Potluck recently.  What a spread by food bloggers!  All of a sudden, gluten free doesn't look so bad - as a matter of fact, pretty darn tasty!     Being gluten free requires discipline - but with food like this  - it's sweet punishment!   Interested in learning more about how 'sweet' gluten-free can be, contact me jyoti@nourishingspoon.com     Cheers to a Healthy You! Jyoti

What can it be?  Raw Mango Salad, of course! This recipe has been adapted from  Michael Natkin's cookbook  Herbivoracious  Now that mangoes are in season, this is the perfect recipe for those of us who can't wait for the mangoes to ripen! 1 Raw Mango 1/2 Red Onion 1 Lime Fresh Dill or Mint Sea Salt to taste 1 tsp Hot Sesame Oil or Toasted Sesame Oil 1 tsp Coconut Sugar (to your taste) 1/2 jalapeno or chili pepper - optional 2 inch ginger grated Love using my Kyocera mandoline slicer - one of the best kitchen toys ever!  After peeling the mango, slice the mango with the mandoline or very finely with a sharp knife. Do the same with the onion. Watch those nails and knuckles!  You can play with the blade settings of the mandoline to create the visual effect you are seeking.  Squeeze approx 1/3 cup fresh lime juice and mix well with the coconut sugar or other natural sweetene...

Daddy aka Mr. Mohan Happy Father's Day Everyone!  Hope you had an enjoyable day with your loved ones!  Here's Cool Daddy!  Yes, even though I have crossed the half-century mark, I still lovingly call him "Daddy" or "Papi!"  Perhaps, we don't want to grow up and still love that term of endearment which resonates with our special bond with that soul? I can never forget driving lessons with Daddy on Kapiolani Boulevard and near Diamond Hill! "Oh! don't forget to pull the hand brake."  "Did you turn the tires?"  "Ahyaa! (Chinese exclamation) you have to go closer to the curb, not so far!  LOL!  At 16 "Driving with Daddy" in his prized, green-colored Mustang with manual steering, was quite an adventure!  Poor Papi, I can only now imagine what his cortisol level must have been! I am ever so grateful I got to spend my college days with him, the ambitious entrepreneur, who was always travelling from one country to...

This morning I landed up watching and, of course, sampling the green smoothies the Vitamix rep. was demonstrating at Costco.  Feeling inspired, as soon as I got home, I prepared this green smoothie with the fresh organic baby spinach and mangoes I had picked up while I was there: 1 cup Coconut water 1 cup Organic Baby Spinach 3/4 - 1 Mango cut into 1 inch pieces (can use frozen) 1 Tbsp. Coconut Cream 1 Tbsp. Coconut Flakes (optional) 1 tsp. Flax Seeds (optional) 1 Medjool Date Ice Easy Part: In Vitamix or strong blender, blend all of the above ingredients. If you want it to taste like a slurpie, add more ice.  It's a cold, damp day here today so I just added about 7 ice cubes 'cause I didn't want a very frozen drink. The spinach gave it color and vitality, while the coconut cream gave it character, and the not too ripe mango yielded a pineapple type of sweet and sourness. Yummmm!  (Add more mango or coconut cream to your taste.) Hard Part: What should w...

Shhh!  Here's my secret!  Chopsticks and a small bowl!  You'll eventually get tired of picking up those seeds and grains of rice!  It's true the larger the cutlery and plate size, the more you eat! Write with experience. When I moved to Germany, I was appalled at the size of the plates.  They were more like PLATTERS not PLATES!  The spoon was so large that the first time I put it in my mouth, I felt like I was at a dentist's office and had to pry open my mouth wide, really wide. It took time getting used to, after all I had just moved from Hong Kong where I was used to eating with chopsticks, in which I had to barely part my lips.  Surely, weight gain was inevitable, along with excellent, hearty food.  It was almost impossible to finish every thing on my plat[t]e[r]. If only I had known then what I know now, put half the food aside to pack up to take home. This way you only eat half 'cause you know ...

   Couple of days ago, I missed my stop on the subway and landed up on 34th Street.  I looked for uptown train signs only to find out that I would have to swipe my card again if I wanted to go back! Uggh!  I decided to exit and perhaps go to the meditation center.  Upon reaching the street level, I backed out of the meditation center idea 'cause it was couple of avenues away and it had started raining. I quickly noticed that I was only 1/2 a block from the B&H Photo Store.  Perfect. The memory chip for my camera had cracked recently and needed to be replaced.  So off I went to B&H. I had heard so much about B&H - expecting it to be a regular camera store was sooo shocked and amazed!  I found myself like a little girl lost in the candy store!  OMG!  Was this Santa Land? Conveyor belts carrying  products up and down, so many gadgets, so muchhh to just get yourself lost into.  Lighting, Tents, Tripods, Lense...