Wonderful Websites

I took a look at my old links and decided my favorites had changed. Also, I figured that by now everyone knew about Lolcats. So these are a selection of my favorite links that I think you're less likely to know about. Enjoy!

Environmental Working Group -This nonprofit focuses on disclosing how safe consumer products are. You've probably heard about the "Dirty Dozen," the common fruits and veggies that have the highest number of pesticides. EWG publishes this, as well as sunscreen safety guides (UBA/UVB spectrum and chemicals), cosmetic safety guides, and cell phone radiation studies, among others. They have some Iphone apps too, so you can be informed on the go.

Seafood Watch -This guide is published by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, another nonprofit. It tells you what seafood and sushi choices are sustainable and which are bad, and also give some info. about mercury contamination. They also have an Iphone app and a printable seafood guide, as well as sustainable seafood recipes.

$5 Meal Challenge Slow Food USA - This challenge was based out of the idea that you don't have to spend a lot to eat well. The $5 is based on the average cost of a fast food meal, so people have now submitted thousands of recipes for homemade healthy meals that are under $5/person (many are well under that cost).

Good Guide - This website rates consumer products and brands based on their impact on health, environment and society. Note they are not rated based on consumer satisfaction or value, you will need to use a different website to find that out. They have guides for pet care, kids, toiletries, clothes, and electronics. And they have an Iphone app too:)

Center for a New American Dream - This website is probably encompasses all of my own utopian ideals! Their mission statement says it all:

"The Center seeks to cultivate a new American dream—one that emphasizes community, ecological sustainability, and a celebration of non-material values, while upholding the spirit of the traditional American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We envision a society that pursues not just “more,” but more of what matters—and less of what doesn’t."

Mediterranean Pasta

This is a recipe that we've been making regularly because it's one of those easy meals that's great for a weekday night, while tasting like you spent a lot of time on it. You can prep all the toppings while the pasta boils. You can play around with the toppings, but I recommend at least keeping in the olive oil, vinegar and garlic, and making sure that some of the toppings will add salt for flavor. 

Mediterranean Pasta

Makes 4 servings (2 cups each)

20-30 minutes

8 ounces uncooked pasta (we use whole wheat penne)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp olive brine

3 garlic cloves, minced

4-6 cups loosely packed chopped spinach (if frozen, use 2-3 cups and thaw (frozen spinach is denser))

15 oz can navy beans, no salt added (or 2 cups cooked)

1/4 cup finely chopped olives

1/4 cup marinated artichoke hearts (to reduce sodium, you could use fresh or frozen and cook it)

2 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted

1-2 tomatoes, gutted and chopped

3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

1) Follow package directions for cooking pasta. Continue other steps while pasta is cooking.

2) Combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, olive brine, and garlic in a small bowl.

3) Combine remaining ingredients together (spinach-pine nuts), except for feta cheese and tomatoes.

4) When pasta is done cooking, drain then quickly return to pot. Quickly add and stir the spinach mixture and oil mixture into the pasta. The heat from the pasta will warm the other ingredients and wilt the spinach.

5) Top with the tomato and feta.

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling

Charlie's grandma Jeanne is turning 90 this weekend! In celebration I made this cake. I took a Wilton cake decorating class last year but haven't tested out my skills since. The way we learned to decorate cakes in the class wasn't exactly health-the main frosting recipe we learned was based on shortening. So I set out to make a very special cake. I was worried that if it wasn't healthy, Charlie's grandmother wouldn't eat it. I didn't want it to taste healthy though. I also wanted it to be all natural and vegan. After looking through various recipes for ideas, this is the end result. I think it turned out well. It's not as healthy as eating a piece of fruit (although I did sneak 2 cups of fruits and veggies into this cake!), but as cakes go I think it's pretty good!

Cake batter:

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups flour (I used 1/2 all purpose and 1/2 whole wheat pastry flour)

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 Tsp Ener-G egg replacer + 1/4 cup water (you could use 2 eggs instead and omit oil)

2 Tbsp Canola oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cups grated zucchini

additional water, if needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then add wet ingredients. Stir until mixed, then add zucchini and stir until just blended. If the batter seems to dry, add more water, 2 Tbsp at a time until a better consistency. Coat 2-8 inch baking pans with cooking spray and pour mixture into pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in pan then remove and completely cool on wire racks. This will make 2 short layers, if you want a tall cake you could double the recipe. The zucchini makes this very moist.

Raspberry filling: 

1/4 raspberries, fresh or frozen (thawed)

1/4 raspberry preserves

Puree raspberries then mix in preserves. This will spread pretty thin, if you wanted a thicker layer then you could use just preserves (but I find this to be too sweet). 

Chocolate frosting:

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup pureed raspberries (fresh or frozen, if you don't want the fruit you can sub water or soymilk)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp smooth peanut butter at room temperature (or you can use coconut oil)

I had to use an immersion blender to get this to come together, since the peanut butter is a little hard to mix in. If the consistency is too thick to spread, add more water, 1 Tbsp at a time. The peanut butter in the icing will make the icing harden int the refrigerator. Although this doesn't sound like a lot of icing, it spreads easily so I even had some leftover. It tastes completely sinful too. Eating it, I can tell that there's peanut butter in the frosting but it's not the dominant flavor and it's not bad.

Buttercream frosting (for keeping filling inside and for decorating the top)

1/4 cup softened butter or non-hydrogenated margarine ( I used organic earth balance, which is vegan)

2 Tbsp pureed raspberries (or other berries, for color, sub water for white frosting)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus extra

Mix with a hand blender. Add powdered sugar if it's too thin, or water 1 tsp at a time if it's too thick. I had a lot of frosting left for the amount of decorating I did. I don't recommend making any less than this though because it will be hard to fill the pastry bag. I really like the flavor that the raspberries give the frosting. If I wasn't trying to cut down on the sugar I would consider doubling the recipe and frosting the whole cake with it!