Burnt Bean Tortillas. This is for everyone who has burned something. Guess that means 99.999% of the world above the age of let’s say 6. Before that, you are simply a recipient. It’s somehow comforting to know that you’re in good company. Tasted one of the beans. Interesting… so they all went into the mix. The tough part, if it isn’t just interesting, is cutting the burned part off of a bean. I pass. Now, after pan renovation, the garlic was sliced and fried. The burned beans, smashed, were added back into the pan with a small amount of water, 2 heaping tbsp of mushroom power for cooking, and about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce. This was followed by the most important part – the spices: Thyme, coriander, oregano, turmeric, black pepper. Food has become, for me, merely a carrier for spices. This is where our normally humdrum food substances meet the exotic world of taste, the type of heat which does not burn, the truly medicinal, the taste and smell of other worlds. The more I learn, the more I realize that the natural world was created to provide interactive support for each living entity. We have moved so far away from our roots in this regard, that we have lost the folk wisdom gleaned from millions of years of being truly immersed in the living world around us. Modern drugs can only attempt to mimic the power and healing of the natural world. Our drugs heal only partially because the break down and synthesis has stripped the basic support of all of the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and factors which we have still not identified, from the living organism in which it was immersed, giving in the end only partial healing, partial protection, and lack of fulfillment. Our ancestors knew the effects of certain plants on the system. And as we have moved away from nature over the years, we have begun to lose this knowledge. Much of it is already gone, and the last vestiges are fading. We have lost so much. And then I ran into Annie’s Remedy – Essential Oils and Herbs. http://www.anniesremedy.com/remedy_use14.php
 

 Cinnamon Honey Tortilla Cuts. Living alone, I am not above taking all the help I can get. This was started as a rich mushroom soup powder to which I added, milk (creamer), real live mushrooms (champignons store bought), peas, and coriander. Served with cinnamon/honey tortilla mini-folds. The tortilla was cut (actually bent and folded to break) before putting them in the pan with small amount of olive oil. Do not try to cut once hot and in the pan. One side slightly toasted, turned over, and folded with two utensils after inserting the cinnamon and honey. Need to work fast here in a hot pan so they do not burn. That’s the biggest challenge I’ve faced all day. Of course, it’s only 8:00am. If not up for the challange that early in the morning, take them out before folding. As you can see, a machine did not make those.
 

 Tomato Paste Egg. If you have never tried this, you really should. Two eggs shaken in a jar and poured in. Cover and when it has cooked on top, add the tomato paste (should be slightly sweet). Pour sesame seeds or za’atar (sesame seeds, thyme, sumac) on and cover to finish.
 

Enhancing Your Immune System. Natural News.com One of the best online personal health newsletters I have found. This particular link talks about enhancing the immune system, emphasizing natural products and plants available. 
http://www.naturalnews.com/Report_Anti-Viral_Remedies_Influenza_0.html%22%3EThe Five Best Anti-Viral Products to Beat Influenza, Swine Flu, Bird Flu and SARS
 

 Quinoa/Amaranth/Flour/Nut Super Pancake. Think I have found where the idea of jigsaw puzzles came from. Also, why raisins were developed – to fill in the holes, of course. As you can see, I am very bad at these kinds of puzzles, but found the result delicious. And very healthy. A nutty crunch and favor which made it one of the best pancakes I have ever eaten. Don’t take my word for it – try it. Made of 1/3 flour, 1/3 quinoa, and 1/3 amaranth (see discussion of amaranth on previous posts). Almonds and walnuts added to the grinder when the quinoa and amaranth were ground to a powder (do not put the flour in at this stage). Add a small amount of oil to the batter after flour and water have been added to the desired consistency. Best to use butter to fry the pancake because some of the ingredients can cause the dough to stick. I used only olive oil here, hence the photographed result. Have not tried other oils, so there may be many alternatives to butter. 

 Before Reconstruction
 

  Bean Pasta Co. This is close to the healthiest dish you will ever eat. So I guess the phrase ‘drop dead delicious’ would not be appropriate. The crowning sauce is a combination of nuts and seeds, mushroom powder, milk, butter, flour (very little), coriander, oregano, turmeric, crushed black pepper, rosemary (for information on this spice – checkout summary and the precautions at the bottom of the page if you plan on using a lot of it http://herbalmusings.com/Rosemary.htm) Also, check out  http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/rosemary.php  I added about 1 heaping tbsp of brewer’s yeast for the B vitamins. The ground nuts and seeds are almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. The base is garbanzo beans (chick peas) http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?dbid=58&tname=foodspice, mung beans often used in the Far East and the Asian Subcontinent as a main dish, as a preparation for desserts, and the basis for sprouts (It is also called green bean, mung, moong, mash bean, munggo or monggo, green gram, golden gram, and green soy  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mung_bean), and the final ingredient, butterfly pasta. The spinach you recognize. The beans, nuts, seeds, mushroom powder, and spinach just about gives everything you need to operate efficiently. Keep this level of protection up, get your 10 minutes of vitamin D sunshine a day, and you are covered. Wait, don’t cancel your health insurance, but you may find that you won’t be needing it much. Four comments on the cooking: 1. Be sure to cook the spinach 2. Soak the garbanzos over night, drain and put new water for several hours, boil and dump water before adding the pasta and spinach. For the mung beans depending on recipe and source, either soak over night or just start boiling for some minutes, rest for 1 hour, change water and cook until soft, or just cook until split and ready. One way to look at it http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Suresh7.html (a yoga instructor in the Bay area). 3. Put the milk or water for the sauce into the pan first, and then start adding the mushroom powder and flour a little at a time. Once you have the sauce the consistency you want, add the ground nuts and seeds. Be sure to have water or milk available for adding to the mixture as necessary. 4. Add the rosemary to the initial milk or water so that this spice has a chance to become pliable and fully integrated. Other spices can be inserted as you go – but, the earlier the better.
 

A compact conversion chart for just about everything except money http://www.vrp.com/chart.aspx
 

Herbs and Spices
One of the most complete treatments of herbs and spices which I have found. http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/bulkherb/bulkherb.php Mountain Rose Herbs Gives origin, contemporary information, folklore, and photo for each.

Some quick reference charts of herbs and spices
Most complete treatment of herbs and spices found is http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/1menu.htm  herbs2000.com

The actions of herbs and spices (quite good) http://www.herbs2000.com/h_menu/1_actions.htm Particularly helpful as it gives the common names of herbs and alternative names used for each to help in finding an herb

List of ailments http://www.herbs2000.com/disorders/1_symptoms.htm

Herb and Spice Charts Gives basic food groups and give herbs and spices applicable http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blmisc2.htm

Gives the herb or spice and on which dishes used http://www.foodandnutrition.com/Appendix/spice_chart.htm

51 herbs and spices and on which dishes used  
http://www.recipes.ubr.com/home/cooking-tips-page/herb-directory-herb-chart-herb-information-spice-directory-spice-chart-spice-information.aspx

Best descriptive for each herb or spice http://www.chef-menus.com/herb_and_spice_chart.html
 

 Cinnamon, Honey and Raisin Tort with cold Strawberry Jam Yogurt. Says it all. With added Ginger. Taste wise, I can’t decide whether the ginger is a good thing, but as for the possible effects of ginger on the body, it’s a very good thing.
 

 Egg Salad with Burnt Bean Tortilla Stand-in. The salad is the center piece,  made in the usual way so I will not bore you. Was going to show several ways of making an egg salad, but this is the best one and the one I was going to use as my finale, so why waste time on the others. My heart was in this one. p.s. bean tort is one I saved from last night and is still frozen here. One of the things photos do not tell you.

 Nut and Seed Pasta (formal attire). The important ingredients here are the ground nuts (pecan) and seeds  (sesame, sunflower) mixed with the soy burger before adding it to the pasta and pouring on the coriander, basilicum, and oregano. A teaspoon of sweet chili can be added. The burger and grounds were fried in olive and coconut oil. The butterfly pasta visually makes this dish.

Boiled Egg and Support. Believe it or not, boiling an egg has been placed on the list of cooking which is planned, and therefore not part of the foods normally available to me. I have tried to determine just what it is about hard boiling an egg which places it out of the range of instant cooking, and came up with two factors. First, I cannot just boil one egg. It is a waste of heat and of the time involved, hence it becomes a preparation stage for further meals, and therefore becomes planning. Secondly, one cannot see the transformation taking place. Hence, the inability to monitor progress and be on top of the process. This means that time is no longer an active part of an ongoing procedure, but becomes an abstract entity, meaning quite simply that one does not stand there and watch an egg boil. You leave the room to do other more important things, and inevitably forget, ending up with burnt pans and eggs. Hence the egg timer. However, this time I did remember and came back just as the eggs were congealing (I hoped). Ate the first one, just to be sure, and the second you see as the center piece for butterfly pasta and peas in a mushroom powder sauce. The third and fourth eggs… well, we’ll see. Have no plans at the moment.