Pozole Rojo

November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 / ktbuchs87

I Pozole Rojo | Life Healthfully Lived might be a weirdo (ok, I’m totally a weirdo) but I love to hear the history behind food and certain dishes. So often our cultures and traditions are built around the food we serve. Food can tell so many stories, like what was available back then, what types of jobs we were doing, if we were going through bad times or good times, or if we were celebrating a holiday. I just really geek out over how certain dishes came to be.

A few weeks ago I was trying to figure out what kind of soup to make. I wanted something new, but nothing too complicated. I have no idea how I stumbled upon it, but I found a soup called pozole. Pozole means hominy, which is a type of corn that has been treated with lime to soften the husk, and it is a traditional Mexican stew. When I think of Mexico, stew is not what comes to mind first. Pozole Rojo | Life Healthfully Lived

After a little research, I found out that pozole had a ritual significance. Maize, or corn, played a huge role in the lives and culture of Mexicans. Ancient Americans believed that humans were made out of cornmeal by the gods. In a traditional pozole, prisoners were killed and cooked with hominy and seasonings and then served to the whole community as a form of communion. Once cannibalism was outlawed, pork was substituted for human because it tasted similar.

Aren’t you glad that I’m sharing this with you? Hungry yet?

Have no fear, I am not going to make this with human flesh (I’m not Sweeney Todd) and I’m not even going to make it with pork. I decided to do a vegetable pozole and make it a pozole rojo by adding a mole sauce. I did stick to the traditional hominy, which is really delicious and I had never had before, as well as traditional seasonings.

Pozole is still served today for celebrations like weddings, birthdays, and New Years. But you can make this pozole rojo anytime and it’s a great way to warm up on a cold night.

Pozole Rojo

3 large dried ancho chiles
2 large dried pasilla chiles
2 cups hot water
2 tbsp cocoa powder
4 to 5 cloves garlic
1 cup onion, diced
1 can of hominy, 28 oz (read the ingredients to check for preservatives)
6 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp Mexican oregano (regular would work too)
3 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 lime

Get a large skillet and heat it over medium-high. Toast the chiles until they are a little soft and bendy. About 5 minutes. Place the chiles in a large bowl and cover the chiles with hot water. Let them sit for 15 to 20 minutes until they are totally soft.
Once the chiles are totally rehydrated, take them out of the water and save the water. Cut off the tops and remove the seeds and place into a blender. Add the water they were soaked in, the cocoa powder, and the garlic cloves. Blend until you have a smooth paste.
Heat a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add a little olive oil and saute the onions until they are soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add in the hominy, cumin, and Mexican oregano and stir to combine everything.
Pour in the vegetable broth and salt and bring everything to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook covered for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust any seasonings and squeeze in the lime juice.

I served this topped with guacamole, but you could also use cilantro, radishes, or even sour cream if you were so inclined. If you want a more traditional pozole with pork, check out this recipe here. Pozole Rojo | Life Healthfully Lived

What are some of your favorite meals with some history? Any dishes that your family has always made for a special occasion?

DIY Wednesday: Cream Of Celery Soup

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015 / ktbuchs87

This might not seem like a DIY post at first glance, but trust me it’s a good one. Have you ever made a recipe that called for a can of whatever cream soup? Mushroom, chicken, celery, broccoli… They are used frequently in casseroles and other baked dishes to add a creamy flavor.

They’re also full of preservatives, MSG, artificial colors, and other not so good for you things. But they are SO convenient. Open a can, dump in, and go about your business. I get it, sometimes you need dinner to be fast and things like cans of cream of soup make the process smoother.

Which is why I made this DIY post. You can have the same convenience of the canned stuff but the nutrition benefits of homemade. Make a big batch of this cream of soup and freeze into batches. That way when you need to use it, you can pull out one serving and move on with your life. Simple right?

I made cream of celery for this version, but this formula will also work for mushroom and chicken. Just make sure if you do chicken, you cook the chicken before you add it to the soup. You also might want to add a carrot or two to the chicken version.

This soup is really easy to make, so whenever you meal prep for the week just add this into the mix. Another plus? This homemade version tastes WAY better than that red and white can. 🙂

Cream Of Celery Soup

2 1/2 cups celery, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup leeks, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable broth or water
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/2 tsp celery salt
and pepper, to taste

Heat a little olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onions and leeks for about 10 minutes, until they’re soft.
Add in the garlic and celery and stir to mix together. Cover the pot and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the lid and pour in the 3 cups of broth or water and season with celery salt. Bring the pot to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cook until the liquid is reduced by about half, about 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and puree the soup until smooth. You can do this in batches in the blender or use an immersion blender. Return the puree to the pot and add in the 1/2 cup coconut milk. Stir to combine and heat over low heat, but don’t let the soup boil. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

You can use this soup right away, but it will thicken up even more once it cools. Let the soup cool completely before you freeze it into batches.

Spinach Artichoke Lasagna

October 30, 2015October 30, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

Today is my last day of being 27 years old. 27 has been good to me, but I’m excited to see what 28 has in store. It’s weird to think that I only have two more years of being in my 20’s. I can remember the day I turned 20 and thinking, “Finally! I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m an adult and I’m important.”

While I’m important at any age, I was far from being an adult. 20 is barely not a teenager and I had so much I still needed to learn. In all honesty, I still have a lot to learn and I think that is true for any age. Except maybe 100. Once you hit 100, you can pretty much do whatever you want and your excuse is I made it this long I think I’m gonna be just fine.

I decided to make you a delicious dinner for my birthday, which now that I’m typing it out sounds backwards. You should be making me a delicious dinner for my birthday. Jeez, you’re lazy! Making me do all the work on my birthday!

You know how delicious spinach artichoke dip is? That was my inspiration for this lasagna. Instead of cheese, I used bechamel sauce and artichokes along with a layer of spinach to create a creamy and delicious filling. This meal can come together really fast if you use a jar of tomato sauce and a box of lasagna noodles. But if you want to make everything from scratch like I did, I promise you won’t regret the time you put in.

This is also one of those meals that is even better the next day and makes really great leftovers for lunches throughout the week.

See? I’m feeding you even beyond dinner. 28 is making me a giver!

Spinach Artichoke Lasagna

1 batch of my tomato sauce or a jar of your favorite store brand
1 box of gluten free lasagna noodles (I made these from Against All Grains)
3-4 cups spinach leaves
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1/3 cup raw cashews
1 tsp Italian seasonings
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp celery salt
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

If you are making the tomato sauce and noodles get those ready and set aside. If you’re using boxed noodles make sure they are cooked and ready to go.
To make the bechamel sauce: In a blender or food processor, grind the cashews, Italian seasonings, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp celery salt into a fine powder. Set aside.
Heat a little olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add in 2 tablespoons of the cashew powder and stir to make a paste. Cook until the cashew powder turns golden brown.
Whisk in the can of coconut milk and keep whisking to combine the paste and milk. Whisk in the nutritional yeast and salt and pepper. Keep cooking and whisking the milk until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your preference.
Pour the sauce into a blender and add in the drained artichoke hearts. Pulse a few times to break up the artichokes, but don’t make it completely smooth.
Now it’s time to build the lasagna. Preheat the oven to 350 and get out a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Put a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom, then a layer of noodles, a layer of artichoke sauce, a layer of spinach, and a layer of tomato sauce. Keep going until you run out of noodles and make sure you end on tomato sauce.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling. Remove from oven and uncover. Let the lasagna cool for 10 minutes before you slice and serve.

You can make this lasagna ahead of time and then just pop it in the oven at dinner time. I hope you have a Happy Halloween and a great weekend!

DIY Wednesday: Herbed Macadamia Butter

October 21, 2015October 21, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Have you ever seen a log of herbed butter? All cut into pretty round slices and full of delicious herbs like parsley, chives, basil, and oregano?

This is not like that.

Well, it’s sort of like it but not quite. I had the idea to try and come up with an alternative to those fancy herbed butters that are so delicious. I haven’t had dairy in years, and I wanted to see if I could make a dairy-free version.

Sure, there are tons of vegan specialty butters that you can buy. But many times those butters are full of processed ingredients that aren’t any better for me than regular butter.

So I decided to go the route of making a savory nut butter. First I had to decide which type of nut to use. Almonds and peanut butter have their own distinct taste and I wanted to use something a bit milder so that you could really taste the herbs.

Cashews are pretty mild, but they can be a little grainy in texture unless you have a high-powered blender. I settled on macadamia nuts. They are mild and have a slightly buttery taste to them and come out nice and smooth when blended into butter.

I was surprised how quickly this came together and I was pleased with the taste and the spreadability. The only thing that I couldn’t really change was the color. Yeah, it’s kind of an icky brown, but sometimes the ugliest concoctions taste the best. Just trust me on this one.

A few notes about the recipe. You don’t have to roast the nuts, but it adds a nice depth of flavor to the savory butter. Raw nuts will give you a lighter, more appealing color. Don’t worry about the coconut oil giving this butter a coconut-y flavor, it’s just to help the butter set in the fridge and spread nicely on things like bread.

Herbed Macadamia Butter

2 cups raw macadamia nuts
2 tsp roasted garlic
2 tsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme

Preheat oven to 350 and spread the macadamia nuts on a large baking sheet in an even layer.
Roast the nuts for 10 minutes and then transfer to a blender or food processor immediately.
Blend the nuts, scraping down the sides as needed, until you have a smooth and drippy butter. It should be almost liquid like.
Add in the teaspoons of coconut oil and the 1 tsp of salt and blend until combined.
Add in the garlic and the rest of the seasonings and blend until completely combined. Taste and adjust any seasonings as needed.

This will obviously not act the same way as real butter, as in it won’t melt. But it does add a nice salty, herby, and fatty quality to whatever you use it on. And really, who doesn’t like things that are salty, herby, and fatty?

Keep this in an airtight container in your fridge and let it warm up a few minutes before you use it so it spreads easily. And there you have it! Your own savory spread that you didn’t have to pay top dollar for! Enjoy!

DIY Wednesday: Cream Cheese Frosting

October 7, 2015 / ktbuchs87

My birthday is on Halloween. I think because I was born right in the middle of fall, the love of all things fall is sort of woven into my genes. Usually for my birthday, my mom would make spice cake or carrot cake and one year I think she made a hummingbird cake…. but I could be wrong about that one. Anyway, the cakes that she made would beg for cream cheese frosting and that was just fine with me.

I love cream cheese frosting. Most other frostings are WAY too sweet and I can only take a few bites before I start to get nauseated. But cream cheese frosting? Skip the cake and get me a spoon. It’s a little sweet, a little tangy, and all delicious.

I haven’t had cream cheese frosting in years because it’s basically cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Since I don’t do dairy or refined sugar anymore, cream cheese frosting isn’t really at the top of my list of things to eat. With fall baking underway, I thought it would be a good time to try recreating this frosting without any dairy or refined sugar. Lucky for me, it wasn’t that hard to do! Just a few ingredients, a little planning ahead, and you have a delicious cream cheese frosting that is ready to top carrot cake or any other fall favorite.

Oh, and if you think it’s easier to just grab a tub of cream cheese frosting at the store? Think again. Not only is it full of chemicals, sugar, and preservatives, but it doesn’t actually contain any cream cheese…. Explain that one to me! Do yourself a favor and make this simple, dairy-free frosting without the high price and chemicals.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 more if you like a tangier frosting
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp coconut butter NOT coconut oil

Drain and rinse the soaked cashews and place in a blender or food processor. Add the lemon juice, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Pulse a few times until the cashews are broken up into little pieces.
Add the water and blend the cashews until you have a smooth cream. Add the coconut butter and blend to combine everything. Taste and see if you need to add more sweet or more tang.
You can use the frosting right away or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. If you do store it in the fridge, take it out 20 minutes before you want to use it to let it warm up a bit.

To test out the frosting, I made some carrot cake cookies. Because if you have frosting you have to have cookies right? I just threw some things together and the cookies actually turned out pretty good. I’m going to tweak them a bit and then put them on the blog so you can enjoy your homemade frosting!

I’ll have a new recipe for you on Friday and then Monday I hope to do a recap of the awesome wedding weekend! It was a great time and I am so happy for the new Mr. and Mrs. Meyers!