Good Morning Cake With A Bite. Great for your heart and keeping everything flowing
Background: This has to have a background. Who in their right mind would put all of these ingredients together. No comment.

I normally eat a handful of walnuts a day to be sure that I have enough Omega-3 (alpha-linolenic polyunsaturated fatty acid) thought to be important in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, depression, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis, reduction of inflammation, and excessive blood clotting among others http://whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=84 Since other well known sources are either off my list since I am a vegetarian, or take more preparation, I have settled on walnuts. Other sources are flaxseeds, salmon, soybeans, halibut, hemp seeds, some leafy greens and the rest which are under 15% of the daily recommended amount. And I was out of walnuts – or so I thought. Had been out for 3 days. In my research, ran across mention of a number of spices which inhibited production of clotting factors in a dose-dependent manner  http://www.naturalnews.com/026454_blood_spices_garlic.html And the list included cloves (29-fold more potent than aspirin in inhibiting ararachidonic acid induced human platelet aggregation), hot or cayenne peppers, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, garlic, apple in decreasing order of effectiveness in this area (the active ingredient for each of the spices above in order are: – eugenol, capsaicin, curcumin, innamaldehyde, piperine, allyl sulphide, and quercetin. I quote: Quercetin is found in many common foods including apple, tea, onion, nuts, berries, cauliflower and cabbage.  http://www.phytochemicals.info/phytochemicals/quercetin.php caper, lovage, apples, tea, onions especially red and many other foods http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercetin. Check out http://www.ctds.info/natthinners.html. Also see Comparative List of Acid and Alkaline Forming Foods at http://www.ctds.info/chart.html

Ingredients
ground clove 1/4 tsp
cinnamon 2 tsp
sweet basil 1 tsp
ginger 1/2 tsp
curcumin 2 tsp
black pepper 1/2 tsp
cayenne pepper mix (with coriander and garlic) 1 tbsp
garlic 2 cloves
6 walnuts (suddenly ran across them in the freezer)
6 almonds
1 egg
1 tbsp honey
blueberry jam on top with butter

Processing: Add a small amount of water to the above and a small amount of flour. Keep adding water and flour until you get the right consistency (pours but not too fast). Of course, the less liquid, the faster the cake “bakes”. In that regard, we will not talk about the other side of the cake pictured here. The final decision on the cake? Actually quite good. Now, I just have to be sure that I don’t cut myself. I am not a person with a medical degree of any sort but I am sure that there is not enough anti-clotting factors in this cake to overwhelm the natural control mechanisms of the body. On the other hand, think I’ll stay in today.

Apple Blueberry Salad.
The blueberries I strained out of blueberry jam with the strainer. Sometimes you just have to work with what you have. Apple washed well but with skin left on for the vitamins, minerals which are only or mainly in the skin. Dressing was poured on one by one – coriander, sweet basil, za’atar (thyme, sumac, sesame seeds), honey, and olive oil. By the way, this salad sort of provides some balance to my breakfast cake by providing vitamin K in the lettuce and olive oil which has a blood clotting effect on the system. http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=234#answer

Beet Soup and Cayenne On Whole Wheat.

I am an intuitive eater. If I am thinking beets and cayenne, I eat them. I do not often let my normal eating habits overrule. Actually, as you can guess, I do not have normal eating habits. If I don’t know how to fix something, I find out or use my intuition. You may think that this is irresponsible, disorganized, and a long list of other negatives, but I trust that my body knows what it needs. It plans to live to 100 if I don’t get in the way. The ingredients: 1 Beet, 1 onion, 3 garlic cloves cooked until beets done. There are a number of spices which go well in a beet soup. My preference is to let everyone take a cup of soup and add their own. I added cinnamon and honey. One think I would have done differently is to dice the beets. Had one heck of a time getting them out of the cup. The cayenne pepper mix (Middle Eastern style with garlic and coriander) is covered liberally with grated or crumbled (this was scraped with a sharp knife from a block of frozen sheep cheese) cow, goat, sheep cheese – your choice, and za’atar with its thyme and sesame seeds. Besides helping to lower LDL cholesterol which causes plaque to build up in my arteries, I have just helped my liver produce antioxidants, reduced possible inflammation in my joints,  reduced the possibility of cancer in my lower intestinal tract, and if I was pregnant (I’m not, but if I was, that would be a first), its folate would help in the development of the spinal cord of the embryo. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49

And the cayenne pepper? Great for the heart and circulatory system, reduction of pain, and helps in the digestive system. In fact, if you are having or are in danger of heart problems, cayenne can be a life saver. http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/cayenne.htm If you are interested in your health, read this. If you have not read it, you are doing yourself a great disservice.

Chips and Hummus With Hot Sauce. Squares cut from a flour tortilla fried in olive oil. I used relatively little oil which means that in a hot pan, had to move fast to turn over each and every one of the squares before they burned. Less oil is soaked up. Otherwise, you can deep fry them without all the turning but be sure to paper them to soak up the extra oil afterwards. Put Za’atar on the hummus with its thyme, sesame seeds, and sumac for the extra health benefits including the antibacterial, antifungal properties because the hummus had been out for three days. Don’t worry, I did not serve it to anyone else.

Fried Veggies with Kashkaval Cheese and Live Life to the Fullest Spices.
I figure there are two ways of looking at this – at least. First, you boil them and boil a lot of the vitamins out, they taste boiled, and you are unhappy. Or you fry them, they are not quite done but have retained more of their vitamins and minerals – where are they going to go?, and you are happier with the taste.  You may live longer with the boiled version, or not, but if I get run over by a truck, I don’t want my last thoughts to be “And here I ate all of those vegetables boiled.” I’d rather go happy. Ingredients: Peas, broccoli, onion, carrots fried in olive oil. Spices: Oregano, coriander, turmeric (curcumin), butter, salt to taste. Add the cheese (any cheese you like), and the butter at the end. Two tips: When you pour those vegetables into the hot smoking oil, have the cover in the other hand because all that water on the vegetables is going to hit hard. Second, do not keep the cover on too long in order to get the fried look instead of the well cooked look.

When I came back from vacation, my cat had small bumps all over the outside of her ears. Inside was fine. And it didn’t seem to bother her at all. The vet had no idea what to do but, being in business sold me some anti-flea stuff. To be fair to him, he did not see her because she is a street cat who found me and still spends a lot of her time outside. Except for petting, I have never picked her up. So, left to my own devises, searched the web, and in some filled-with-light, out of the way place found someone saying that you should try aloe vera. While I was waiting for the aloe vera from my daughter, I had some aloe vera juice which I was drinking for another reason (we’ll go into that at another time). Put it on her ears. She did not like that, and I had to put down the small bottle I had put some in for treating her, before she would come back to be petted. Within one day, the condition had improved considerably. Put a little on twice a day, and by the third day it was almost gone. Great stuff this aloe vera.

Lady of Leisure
I took away the chair which my cat has been sleeping on in order to do some photography. She came in, went over to where the chair had been and meowed once and looked at me. I told her that she would have to sleep on the spare bed which was in the room. She sniffed around, and then went over to the bed and explored it, finally getting off and going out the window. About 15 minutes later she was back. Again she went over to where the chair had been and meowed twice. I decided I had to explain to her what the situation was. So I told her that I had taken it away in order to do something and would put it back up tomorrow. That in the mean time, she could sleep on the bed. She meowed twice as if making some statement, got up on the bed, lay down and promptly went to sleep. Sometimes all we need is the reason. 

Spaghetti in White Sauce with Champignon Mushrooms
This time, finally, I cooked less spaghetti than I thought I wanted. And it was still more than enough. It expands slightly and the dry spaghetti always looks so thin and never enough. After draining and setting aside, boiled the cut mushrooms and then fried them in olive oil to give both taste and color. Put garlic powder and ground ginger into milk heating on the stove and added flour a little at a time to make the sauce. Always put very little flour in each time unless you want to keep adding milk while your sauce lumps up and you end up with enough sauce for the neighborhood. Did not put any other spices in because I wanted the sauce to be white. Added crumbled walnuts to the sauce for crunch, and also a small amount (that’s all I had) of Kashkaval cheese on top. Read the mushroom warning.
 olé
Cayenne and Salsa Omelet. The best of many worlds. Cayenne (hot red pepper or chili pepper) is mentioned in reports from Aztec culture (http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/salsas/history-of-salsa.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper). The Kashkaval (Bulgarian) cheese helps with the burning sensation along with the other ingredients of the salsa. The shog (Middle Eastern preparation of chili pepper) has coriander and garlic in it. See below. Za’atar of Middle Eastern origin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Za’atar ,Omelet – wherever chickens are found. The salsa also has hot red peppers in it so in effect, it’s doubling up for added medicinal effect. But remember, small amounts over a period of time is recommended. For information on herbal remedies in general: http://health.howstuffworks.com/herbal-remedies.htm , and cayenne in specific: http://health.howstuffworks.com/cayenne-pepper-herbal-remedies.htm

 Leftovers
Eggplant, garlic, sweet potato, veggi-burger, cayenne pepper sauce, and mushrooms. Beet salad cooked with fresh garlic, chilled and mixed in mayonnaise with sweet basil.

And the least of these

When I went to open up the freezer door, there was a tiny, tiny cockroach on the outside of the door. As I was about to close it again, I looked and didn’t see him. So I looked under the door at the bottom, and there he was. I waited until he turned around and had gotten to the outside before closing. I figure he has as much right to live as I do.

Meaning beyond our comprehension. Ever since I have been using the place mat with the marachas on it, I have been using a lot of cayenne or chili sauce. Life moves in coherent patterns, regardless of the reasoning we add in order to make it meaningful for us. That is also part of the coherency.

 Chili Egg Tortilla. Browned the tortilla on both sides. Put too eggs into the smoking olive oil, spread cayenne pepper sauce, and salsa putting in a frozen slice of cheese (in this case Kashkaval). Covered until eggs cooked and cheese melted. Less than a minute on the high flame. Shot the dish on the maracas place mat, rolled the tortilla and ate.

 Broccoli Spaghetti (Improved). The electricity is off. They told us! Note on the door and everything. Between 9am-5pm to do repairs. Forgot. Suddenly my screen is black. Black not the blue screen of death I’m used to. Now what? Eight hours without the computer. Sort of realigns priorities and views of life. If I can’t write, what will I do? Started out by cleaning the apartment. Put off way too long. That was 20 minutes. And that’s not because it’s clean already. It still isn’t. Absentmindedly sat down at the ‘,machine’ and tapped the keyboard, and the mouse, just in case. Nothing. Had forgotten. Didn’t know what time it was. My clocks are all connected to power lines. Not knowing what time it was, decided to fix lunch – and since I had all this time on my hands, why not do it right? I had already made the decision last night to make the bowl look eatable (original below). The guys downstairs (stomach monitors) don’t care, (for them, its all the same), but the gatekeeper cares.
Everything was boiled together. That’s the same.
Now, the differences:
Ran boiling hot water over the spaghetti to get the starch off.
Put it into a bowl and mixed with a small amount of olive oil to keep it pliable.
Cut and fried the soy burger in butter until browned.
Cooked sliced red bell pepper and garlic in a corner of the pan.
Cut off and ate the stems of the broccoli.
When ready, put the mixed burger/pepper/garlic into an indentation in the spaghetti.
Created the sauce in the same way as last night, with milk, butter, powdered mushrooms for cooking, salt.
Placed the broccoli around and put the sauce on top, instead of mixing in.
Added three slices of the bell pepper, which I had saved, as emphasis.
Most importantly, did not put all of the material I had onto the plate.
This works in all areas of life. Presentation IS important. I actually enjoyed the dish this time. The original:

CAT

During all this time, and even while eating, Cat did not come in. It meant I was way too early for lunch. Although… she has become sort of unreliable as a time piece. I think she’s found someone out there she likes. Just not enough to bring him home. Although knowing her sense of territory, I doubt if it would ever even cross her mind.
This going without electricity. You should try it some time. Just flip the switch. It’s a whole new world. Makes you stop and think what you are really doing – not that it’s going to change anything much, but who knows. I even had to write this on paper. Haven’t done that in years. Had to use a book to write on because there’s no space on my table. Book – that’s a novel idea. And I hate punning. Actually opened the book. It’s my Spanish dictionary sent to me two years ago. Never used it. A whole new way of learning! Speaking of languages. Cat comes in or, before she even comes in, on the threshold, she is meowing “Here I am, I hope you have the food out”. All of that in one meow. Very tight syntax. I bring her a can of cat food and start putting it into the dish. She butts my hand sending it all onto the floor which she promptly starts eating. She’s like the guys downstairs. Doesn’t matter to her. The bowl is only for us. Then, when she’s finished and is heading for the outside, she actually stops, looks back, and meows before continuing. I feel thanked.
 

 Mesa Verde. The vegetables you need (spinach, carrots, red bell pepper, onions, garlic) on natural rice inundated with a yellow cheese, mushroom powder sauce. The rice should stand on its own with cumin, rosemary, thyme, salt, butter. Only one precaution. If the rice is not quite fully cooked, be sure to eat only half the amount you want, and drink a lot of water. In about half an hour, you’ll thank me.

Comment: I took the cap off of the sweet chili sauce, and at the end of the meal, the bottle was sitting there uncapped. I looked for the cover. Said to myself, it’s got to be here. Would not have put it anywhere else, but just to check, looked everywhere else. Could not find it. Finally left the room figuring I would come back with new eyes later. Was in the kitchen about an hour later when I looked down and saw the cap. It was right where I had looked for it on top of one of the other jars. Right there. Must have looked directly at it at least 7 times. Interestingly, it did not look exactly like the picture I had in my mind. And that is so often the case. Things are right there and because they do not match, we do not see them. The cure? Stop looking. Start doing something entirely different. And with an empty mind, you’ll see things you have never seen before.

 Easy Apple. An apple may do wonders for you, but lacks something in the whole fruit form which never encouraged me to eat one a day. Solved it. Not that I’m going to do this every day.  A faster way to dice an apple: You want to make concentric circles with a knife down to the core, around and around the apple. Then cut about 20 top to bottom wedges down to the core. You can do this holding the apple the whole time. But, if you prize your fingers, do not chop. Missing the apple, or having a softer than expected core could mean disaster. On second thought better to use a board. Then, just slice the apple top to bottom around the core and the pieces will just fall off. Fast? Never do anything fast with a sharp knife, but yes faster than any other way. Dump into sauce pan with water, brown sugar or honey, and cinnamon. Start cooking, add instant or almost instant whole oats, raisins, (optional as it was here, trailmix), and walnuts for omega-3. Under 5 minutes tops.
 

Plants For A Future. An excellent resource on the edible, medicinal, gardening, vegan organics, and other qualities of plants worldwide from Cornwall, England – Plants For A Future. 7000 plant database. Very easy to use, and can download it. It’s nonprofit (charitable trust). If you like it, consider giving a contribution through the paypal button. He/She should definitely be kept in business. http://www.pfaf.org/index.php
 

Walnut
Diuretic, stimulant and antilithic (tending to prevent the formation of urinary calculi, or to destroy them when formed). “They are used internally in the treatment of low back pain, frequent urination, weakness of both legs, chronic cough, asthma, constipation due to dryness or anaemia and stones in the urinary tract[176]. Externally, they are made into a paste and applied as a poultice to areas of dermatitis and eczema. The oil from the seed is anthelmintic (acting to expel or destroy parasitic intestinal worms). It is also used in the treatment of menstrual problems and dry skin conditions[238]. The cotyledons are used in the treatment of cancer. Walnut has a long history of folk use in the treatment of cancer, some extracts from the plant have shown anticancer activity.” http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Juglans+regia As indicated elsewhere, aside from flax it has the highest per serving of Omega-3 out there. But flax tends to lose its potency in this regard very quickly, and should be ground just before using. The leaves, bark and root bark of the walnut tree are also medicinally significant.
 

 Stacked Pasta. You should see the rest of the kitchen. On second thought, give me half an hour. I had found this one, last cherry tomato in the bottom of something and was going to use it as color emphasis (the spotlight finally!). There it was, sitting on the empty plate waiting for the entree, and waiting there while the configuration was built, and then I moved it to clean the plate before the shoot. And forgot it. We’ve all been there – in both positions. This dish is a testament to my having learned from all the mistakes previously made.  Two important notes. It must ‘float’ on a sea, in this case puddle, of mushroom powder sauce, milk, butter, and cheese. Secondly, put some oil in the water when the noodles are cooking. Otherwise there will be no in-between – they are all stuck together. Ingredients: Soy burger, red bell pepper, onion, mushrooms (optional). You need to handle this preparation, and if anyone objects, stick it in the oven before serving. I didn’t – on either. Spices are critical here. This plate is medicinal. Turmeric, black pepper, oregano, dill, cayenne pepper powder, brewer’s yeast for Bs, sweet paprika. Alternate view.

 Sweet Hot Apple Slaw. Coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, caraway seeds, fruit chutney (or a tbsp of brown sugar – but it’s not the same). This will not only spice up your meal, it will cure whatever ails you. I’m running out of ideas for an apple a day. Think I’m going to change it to ‘An apple a week….’ Come to think of it, I have gone an entire year without seeing the inside of an apple, or the other way around. Of course, the ‘reap what’s sown’ comes into play.

 Breakfasthenge. Honey and Cinnamon Toast On Mushroom/Avocado Egg. The spices tell the tale – coriander, thyme, cassia (Chinese cinnamon), oregano, cumin. Today I clean out my refrigerator which has been closed for over half a year.

 This needs a note. Most cookbooks and people who are really into cooking for a living, or as a hobby for that matter, would never come up with this. And therein lies its strength. Picture the person living alone, desperate about what to eat, and get all of the minerals, vitamins, protein, and whatnot (for most of us, it’s whatnot), who is constantly asking ‘who wants to spend all that time cooking for myself’, and for whom the “peanut butter sandwich, if it gave everything needed, would make them happy” sort of approach to eating. Are you still picturing, or have you just come to the conclusion it’s you and have stopped listening? Either way, this is the dish. And did it taste great. That’s a statement not a question. The crown for this assemblage is hummus with Middle Eastern style topping (store-bought). The spices are tumeric, crushed black pepper, coriander, thyme, and salt. Everything (potatoes, cherry tomatoes, peas), except the hummus, is dumped into the pan with some oil and/or butter (side note: The hummus can go in too, but only at the end), put on low flame, covered, and checked until the potatoes are soft. The thinner they are, the faster that happens. Throwing in an onion wouldn’t hurt. And if anyone says ‘Are you eating well?’ Just tell them they can rest assured.