Broccoli Toast—My Attempt...

Goddaughter Elvira did serve such delicious Broccoli Toast while I was in Limburg.

Sure, she is a Lady Chef and an excellent one!

This is what Evira served my best friend Ellie (her Mom) and me...

So, once back home in the USA, I did ask Elvira for the recipe.

BROCCOLI TOAST

Ingredients:

• 8.5 oz broccoli rice
• 1.5 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of coconut flour
• 4 oz smoked salmon
• 2 avocados
• flax seeds to garnish

Instruction

1. Heat a frying pan with the coconut oil and sauté broccoli rice for a few minutes. It may just be al dente. Let cool a little.
2. Add the eggs and the coconut flour. Mix well and let stand for a while.
3. Heat a frying pan and spoon 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the pan if it is hot enough and bake brown. Bake all broccoli toast like this.
4. Serve with the smoked salmon, flax seeds, tomato, basil and or avocado.

Sauté broccoli rice

Adding the coconut flour.

Adding the eggs...

Trying to form the toast patties...

Baking them brown...

And there is my very humble version of Lady Chef Elvira's professional Broccoli Toast.

Tried this on July 5th and have been searching for some ready broccoli rice to repeat and perfect it...

NOPE.

So this is it—a humble form of Elvira's perfect Broccoli Toast.

Served on a heated Pillivuyt plate on a Le Jacquard Français linen rose placemat.

Related link:

In Limburg with Friends | previous post by me

Healthy 98% Lean Turkey Meatball Soup

 As stated before, for both of us, Pieter due to his heart condition and for me due to my Chronic Kidney Disease, preparing our own meals is important to avoid high sodium intake.

ALL prepared foods from the supermarket (for baking or finishing at home!) are loaded with high sodium.

Any processed food is also way too high in sodium.

Another issue is the high cholesterol and for me, avoiding to eat high–protein foods, like: red meat, dairy products and eggs makes it often challenging.

Healthy 98% Lean Turkey Meatball Soup for Supper...

Served in Pillivuyt plate and eaten with Bridal Rose (Sterling, 1903 ) by Alvin soup spoon.

At Whole Foods Market I got this 98% lean ground turkey breast—454 g or 1 pound

Adding one egg to the ground turkey breast meat, spices such as dried celery or no salt seasoning and then bread crumps or Panko. 

With your hands you kneed it through and you will notice when it becomes perfect, when it all is adhering well.

Next you roll balls and set aside.

The ONLY real low sodium (5%) soup we use is from Trader Joe's

For this soup, to serve 8 portions, I use two packs of 1 quart or almost 1 liter each.

Also love to grab Trader Joe's MIREPOIX chopped vegetable mix, a blend of carrots, onions & celery.

Also about 1 pound total and of course, you can make your own!

Then I add two hand–fulls of Italian Pearled Farro

Farro is a hearty whole wheat grain with a firm texture and delicious nutty flavor.

I've been using it for years now, instead of any pasta type things.

Make sure to stir the bottom of your soup pan as it LOVES to stick to the bottom...

When it boils, you add the meat balls and cook till they are done.

You have a quick and easy supper this way and it serves 8.

Did roll 23 balls out of my pound of ground turkey breast and this is my two–ball portion and Pieter gets his three–ball portion since he's not restricted in high–protein.

With ONLY one egg used for 23 balls, I'm not worried about my high–protein intake there.

We never can cut out something entirely from our diet.

Do you love to eat soup for supper?

Related link:

HEALTHY HEART recipe for CREAMED MUSHROOM SOUP | previous post by me

HEALTHY HEART recipe for CREAMED MUSHROOM SOUP

 For both of us it is a MUST to prepare our own meals.

So here I love to share with you a Healthy Heart Recipe.

Also for Chronic Kidney Disease where Low Sodium Food is KEY!

CREAMED MUSHROOM SOUP...

Any time I see some great quality mushrooms at Costco, I grab them for using in our kitchen.

These were Baby Bella, 680 g or 24 oz.

For Mushroom Quality Criteria:

{What YOU should LOOK for when Buying Fresh Mushrooms} ←click link to my previous post.

~

Pieter had found at Walmart Supercenter, Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Low Sodium Soup and than it disappeared...

So we contacted Campbell's Soup.

It was already on April 19, of this year, that we got a courteous email reply from Mr. Alex Jablokov, Manager, Sales Operations—Campbell's Foodservice.

We even got a direct link to Amazon for: Campbell's Classic Low Sodium Ready to Serve Cream of Mushroom Soup, 7.25 Oz, Pack of 24 ←click it.

INGREDIENTS:

24 oz of fresh baby bella, cleaned and sliced

1 bunch of chopped green onions

4–7.25 oz cans of low sodium cream of mushroom 

1–14 oz can of coconut milk

3 teaspoons of spicy curry

2 teaspoons of turmeric

pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of butter

Sauté green onions in 2 tablespoons of butter, add sliced ​​mushrooms and spices

Simmer for 5 minutes. Add coconut milk and 4 cans of Cream of Mushroom Low Sodium Soup, let heat through and SERVE...

Made this soup on June 30, after coming back from my solo trip to Europe and I used the double yellow Kalanchoe plant as a quick accent.

The yellow goes well with the soup due to the use of Spicy Curry powder and Turmeric.

Served in our French Pillivuyt soup cups with the Bridal Rose (Sterling, 1903 ) by Alvin soup spoon.

ENJOY!

Honey Mushrooms or Armillaria Mellea Recipe

 Of course we do see lots of mushrooms in our garden!

Honey Mushrooms or Armillaria mellea in our garden. 

Showing also the underside with its lamellae.

There used to be some trees on our front lawn...

Still the roots are below the lawn and that's where toadstools love to grow, as they need some cellulose and lignin for food.

Love their fragrance when the Honey Mushrooms are fresh and good quality!

Next morning I did collect some for preparing a Honey Mushroom risotto...

Maybe they were even better yesterday? Their caps have a little curled up now.

Pieter did gather the other cluster and I've already boiled them, will freeze those for later usage!

Still looking very fresh and good!

Showing you a good detail of their stem.

For preparing in a dish, we ONLY use the caps!

They have to get boiled for about 3 minutes and then drained.

Using one of my baskets, for gathering fresh food.

Here it is, except for the melon in the back... 😏

Those are all the fresh ingredients needed.

Oh, a great tip I once read is to keep pine nuts in the freezer to keep them from going rancid.

After trimming off the Honey Mushroom stems, add water and boil for 3 minutes.

Then pour into strainer to drain and cut into smaller pieces, set aside.

In a non-stick pan over medium heat do dry roast the pine nuts.

Set aside.

For the entire bag of 454 g of arborio rice, I use a bit over 2 pints of water to boil with just one Porcini tablet. If not available, you can substitute with vegetable bouillon.

Chop the two onions, cut the Italian parsley for having it ready towards the end.

You add enough olive oil into a large enough non-stick skillet for stir frying the two onions.

Add the arborio rice and stir till the rice has been fully covered. 

Then pour half of the small bottle of white wine over it, while stirring.

Start adding the hot bouillon and keep stirring.

It will take about 20 minutes in total preparation time.

When most of the liquid has been absorbed, add the pine nuts, the Italian parsley and the Honey mushrooms and stir again till all liquid is fully absorbed.

We ate ours with baby arugula with a bit of Agave nectar whisked into white Modena vinegar (Trader Joe's) as dressing.

 We dusted the risotto with Trader Joe's Pecorino Romano & Parmesan blend grated cheese with only 2% cholesterol and fat. Sodium is low too with only 3%. See FRESH Made Pasta Sauce below with image.

Husband Pieter liked it very much and so did I; will prepare it more often!

In this photo there is no grated cheese added as I wanted to show the other ingredients clearly... 😉

Hope you find yourself some Honey Mushrooms...

Related link:

{Toadstools Digest Lignin in Nature} | previous post showing Honey Mushrooms or Armillarea mellea

{FRESH Made Pasta Sauce} | previous post showing the grated cheese

{RICED CAULIFLOWER}

A blogger friend from the UK, Daphne from the blog: Ivy, Phyllis and Me! posted on September 10 of 2014: CAULIFLOWER RICE ←click on hyperlink so I had to try this.

What a surprise to find at Trader Joe's already Riced Cauliflower!

Easy for browning the onion with garlic in olive oil, adding the Riced Cauliflower and done!

Added here Quinoa from Costco Wholesale and Beef-less Ground Beef from Trader Joe's 
Quick and healthy supper!

Have you already tried Riced Cauliflower?

{Healthy Vegan Pancakes Recipe}

For a healthy and very easy pancake recipe, this one will do the job!

Again I did substitute the whole wheat with whole wheat pastry flour from Whole Foods Market and it works just perfect.

Instead of berries I used the first time just fruits I had available... kiwi, cantaloupe melon and seedless grapes.

Dusted off with desiccated coconut (unsweetened!) that is available at Trader Joe's also, together with the coconut sugar.

Of course I also use the real Maple Syrup, grade A that we usually buy at Costco Wholesale 

This is how the batter looks like...

You can find the recipe under Vegan Fluffy Pancakes  by clicking it. 

Using my large 32 cm (12.5") cast aluminum Select Cuisine pan from Europe that we found at a Hanos.nl wholesale in The Netherlands, where I went with my best friend Ellie.

It came home with me in the suitcase!

Mine did not turn out that Fluffy though, so I omitted it in my title.

Yes, you can be very generous in using this healthy Coconut Oil, also from Costco.

Pieter and I both loved them very much and I like to make a larger batch. Easy for having something on hand when you have no time.

Just add fresh fruits and flaked coconut with maple syrup and you are eating!

Hope this helped some of you that look for healthy recipes for diabetes type 2 or other health reason!

Thanks for stopping by! Ⓜ

{Pleurotus Ostreatus in Wood Garden Provided Meal}

A nice and welcome surprise... finding several meals in our Wood Garden because Pleurotus Ostreatus were growing on some decaying wood.

Look at this basket full of Pleurotus Ostreatus from our own Wood Garden!

As already mentioned earlier in a post, toadstools or mushrooms do digest e.g. lignin.

Here they are digesting some old trees and producing nice fruit bodies.

Some more on the outside of the cut down tree...

Within a couple of days they are ready for harvesting.

The total picture...

Several times that did yield us a nice harvest of fresh, home grown Pleurotus Ostreatus!

You can buy those also at some grocery stores.

Showing you their lamellae, on the underside where spores are being formed for next generations.

Perfect Pleurotus Ostreatus with their beautiful lamellae.

After washing and cleaning them, removing the hard stems and cutting them, they got sauteed in olive oil. 

With some garlic, onions and Beef-less Ground Beef from Trader Joe's they make a great and heart healthy lunch!

Related links:

{FRESH Made Pasta Sauce} | previous post by me showing you the Beef-less Ground Beef from Trader Joe's.

{Olympia's Greek Moussaka Vegan Style} | previous post by me showing you the Beef–less Ground Beef from Trader Joe's