1/4 C Butter
1 onion
2 t garlic pwd
1/2 white pepper
16 oz chopped broccoli
1 quart veggie broth
1/2 C flour
1 1/2 C almond or soy milk
salt to taste
8 oz follow your heart Monterey Jack cheese

Method: Melt butter in stock pot and saute chopped onion until softened. Add garlic and pepper, cook for one minute then add broccoli and veggie broth, simmer until tender (10-15 minutes). Meanwhile whisk flour in almond milk until smooth. Stir into soup frequently until thickened. Reduce heat and stir in vegan cheese until melted and heated through. Salt to taste

1 package Morningstar Farms Chick'n Strips
1 C Louisiana brand hot sauce
1/4 C Vegan butter such as Soy Garden

Ranch Dressing for dipping:
1/2 C Veganaise (Follow Your Heart brand)
1t apple cider vineager
1/4 t dill, parsley, onion pwd, garlic pwd
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Mix all ingredients for Ranch and refrigerate until needed.
• Saute your Chick'n strips in the butter until fairly crispy.  Remove from heat and add hot sauce in a cool bowl (do not heat the add hot sauce to fry pan or it will smoke you out!)

Serve Hot Vings with Ranch on the side and celery sticks if you like.  This recipe is a favorite of Green Earth Grill customers!

Can also serve in a tortilla w/ organic shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes, gourmet street food!

Photo is of Green Earth Grill's Hot Ving Wrap:

• 4T Calcium Bentonite Clay Powder (can be found at most health food stores or buy the pharmecuetical grade at Living Clay, both are edible)
• 4T Xylitol sweetener (also found at most health food stores or buy the pharmaceutical grade at Epic Dental, any brand in the food isle is safe)
• 4T purified water
• 4 drops peppermint extract or peppermint essential oil (omit the peppermint oil for baby's sensitive taste buds)

Method:

Mix the powders together in a small glass bowl.  Drop the peppermint oil into the water.  Slowly add the water into the powders until it forms a paste.  Using glass or wood  bowls and utensils is preferred over metal as the clay is porous and will absorb any leached particles.

Benefits of Bentonite and Xylitol:

• Calcium bentonite clay has been used for centuries to help detoxify the body.  When consumed, it absorbs toxins in the digestive tract and eliminates them. 
• Bentonite clay is used in this preparation for it's very mild abrasive properties to help scrub and polish the teeth.
• Although not proven (by anyone but me), the calcium in bentonite clay may help re-mineralize a tooth with mild decay. Please read more about my experience with this below.
• Xylitol has become popular in dental preparations recently due cavity fighting properties.  It's effectiveness can be compared to that of fluoride but without the potentially harmful effects of swallowing fluoride.
• Xylitol is totally edible and is commonly found in sugar free gums and  in baked goods and other foods for those persons with blood sugar issues as it causes no rise in insulin levels.
• Xylitol is a naturally occurring sugar found in corn cobs.

I developed this simple recipe for toothpaste after discovering that my 16 month old had a small cavity on the face of one of his front teeth.  I visited the dentist with concern and he advised me to brush his teeth with a children's fluoride toothpaste and stop nursing him throughout the night.  Well, I knew I wasn't going to do either of those things, so I began searching for a toothpaste that my child could safely swallow but would be effective in protecting his tooth from further decay.  I read the labels of every toothpaste available at the health food store and they all seemed to have ingredients that I was unfamiliar with.  So, to make due I started brushing his teeth with straight bentonite clay.  I also used this on my teeth and the first time I did, they seemed whiter and smoother right away.  It does, however, taste like mud.  So, after reading up on Xylitol, I added it to the preparation and a few drops of peppermint oil.. Voila!  The best toothpaste ever! 

Now, I was begining to worry about my son's cavity so I monitored its progression w/ daily brushing, knowing that he would need that tooth for at least 6 more years!  Then one day I noticed that instead of being brown, his cavity was turning white again!  No kidding!  Also, I remember that I would put a little bit of the paste directly on his cavity after brushing before bed so that the clay could absorb any bacteria that the Xylitol was fighting off. 

Then one day, we ran out of toothpaste and I was lazy and started buying some from the store.  After just one tube finished, his cavity was brown again.  Of course, I bought more ingredients and made more toothpaste and we are using it everyday.  He is four years old now and his cavity is almost white again.  I continue to moniter it, although we haven't been back to the dentist.  I'm planning to take us all in the next couple of weeks, so expect an update!

Oh, P.S.  Don't worry if your kids are like mine and want to brush four times and swallow all the toothpaste because it tastes good, the clay is good for the digestive tract and actually prevents some measure of "morning breath".  Again, this is my observation! 

Also,  I just had to post this link to xylitol releasing pacifiers!  Dental Blog 
Enjoy the recipe!  Happy Brushing!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup raw sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegan margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
approximately 1/3 cup applesauce (enough to equal 1 egg)
2 1/4 cups gram flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-12oz bag vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 370 Fahrenheit.

Beat sugars, margarine, vanilla, and applesauce together in a large bowl

Stir in gram flour, baking soda, and salt. (Dough will be somewhat stiff).

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until light brown.

Cool.

Enjoy!

Serves: 3 dozen

Preparation time: 10 minutes

 Helpful Hints:

• If baking multiple batches, keep dough in fridge while each batch is baking.  Warm dough makes flat cookies!
•  If you like unbaked cookie dough,( like my husband does) you'll be surprised to find that gram flour has a slightly bitter taste before being cooked.  It reminded me of sprouted hummus that has not been blanched.  After they're cooked however, they taste exactly like wheat based cookies, even better because they retain chewiness even after freezing.
• Try freezing some and putting them in your child's lunchbox for a high protien dessert!

According to Victoria Boutenko in her book "Green for Life," Chimpanzee's are our closest DNA relative; and we should be eating more like them for optimal health.   For weeks I allowed lettuce to wilt in the fridge before realizing that there must be a way to keep it clean and fresh and ready to serve ( in a smoothie or salad) at a moments notice.   Then, I remembered a trick I learned while working at Nature's Bin Health Food Store in Indian Rocks Beach.  We kept a large sealed plastic container in the deli with washed lettuce leaves and a damp paper towl that kept the lettuce perpetually crisp.  While I'm sure this is the intention of the "crisper" drawer of my refrigerator, I've not had the same results.    The tip:

1. Go to the grocery store and fill your handbasket with 4 heads of various greens.
2. Feel healthy and empowered knowing you will consume all of these this week!
3. Go to the food container isle and check the price of the largest one available. ($15 rubbermaid)
4. Realize that you can buy a plastic container intended for your closet with a lid for 1/3 of the price. ($5 sterilite)
5. Buy the cheap one,  take it home and wash it to make it ready for use.
6. Chop the bottom off all the heads of greens, wash them in cold water and place them in the bin with a damp kitchen towl.

Now you will have the freshest, crispiest greens available at your fingertips anytime of the day, just like your cousin the Chimpanzee.  Once again, that recipe for delicious kid friendly green smoothie is this:  handful of greens, frozen banana, 1 cup water. Blend.

For more green smoothie recipes, visit A Veggie Venture.

Happy Year of the Ox!  Stay healthy with a resolution to drink more greens!