Unexpected and delicious surprises

Time for something other than soup or stew, am I right?  Or at least something to go with that stew or soup?  With Valentine’s so close (and a very healthy and breathtakingly good recipe coming soon) our thoughts turn to the sweeter things in life.

Talking about Valentine, I just love this quote from Dr. Tae Yun Kim, and it continues to inspire me.  It’s not only beautiful and poetic, but also very fundamental and true.

“You are who I dreamed of….

And so you came to be.

And you shall be with me beyond time.

I will never leave you,

and 

my love will follow you

as you follow my light,

just as the tail of the bird follows the wing.”

(The First Element, page 121)

So I got to thinking, with all the soups and stews I have been making – so popular in our family with this crazy rainy and snowy weather – what can I make that boosts our regular dinners into something special.  Should still be healthy, yet a real treat.

I already know that cornbread is very popular here, and cornbread muffins as well.  This recipe that Shirley came up with years ago is a well-tested and well-enjoyed taste experience.  You can get the recipe for that here.  I also know that often I get the ‘complaint’ or should we say, suggestion that the muffins are “empty” and couldn’t I put something in them.  Hmmmmm……Dr. Tae Yun Kim also is my ultimate not only Martial Arts teacher but also gives incredible encouragement to try different and new things.

How about some berry filling?

I happened to have some blueberry cheesecake filling stashed – good thing nobody found it – and I used that.  It’s a very simple filling – just get blueberries, fresh or frozen ( and any other berries work great here as well, and I imagine pretty much any fruit filling) boil them with a little rose wine, or water if you don’t like wine, add as much sugar as you need but don’t make it too sweet – and thicken with a little corn or sweet rice starch that you have dissolved first in some water – this will prevent hard little pebbles in the sauce.  Let the fruit sauce cool.

When you are ready, fill muffin cups, or bread pan, or both as I did 🙂 with a thin layer of cornbread mixture, then add a generous layer of fruit filling, and top with another thin layer of cornbread batter.  Bake as directed in Shirley’s recipe and enjoy, and bask in the compliments you are sure to receive!

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Bread baking creativity

Lately, Dr. Tae Yun Kim has not only been emphasizing health and healthy foods, but also to use creativity in cooking and creating new dishes with healthy ingredients.

Dr. Tae Yun Kim has been busy in the kitchen, coming up with some incredible (and incredibly delicious) new dishes that will delight body, mind, and spirit! Here are some pictures, but alas, for the recipes, you’ll have to wait until the cookbook comes out.

Meanwhile, here is something for you to try out, if you like.

For St. Patrick’s day, I wanted to do something other than the usual cabbage and corned beef.  Not that there is anything wrong with it, but there had to be something more exciting than that.

Allow me to digress here a bit.  So often I think of something to cook, bake, saute, broil, etc and then think, nah, that’s just a bit too far out and I let the thought go.

However, Dr. Tae Yun Kim says this in her book, “Seven Steps to Inner Power:”

‘Mistakes are essential to your progress.  How did we humans get the idea that to be perfect we couldn’t make mistakes?  Never making a mistake does not make us perfect.  Never repeating a mistake – after we learn from it – is as perfect as we need to be.”

So, armed with new confidence, I went to do what I had in mind.

See?

I had read a lot about cauliflower pizza dough.  So I thought why not make cauliflower bread?  But I didn’t have any cauliflower, only cabbage.  They are in the same family, right?  Why not cabbage?

Since I had already tried Megan’s awesome bread (recipe here) and knew it is absolutely divine, and I had received comments that it was the best bread they ever had (not even knowing it was gluten-free!) I was going to start with that basic recipe.  By the way, credit where credit is due – originally I was tipped off to this recipe by Shirley of Gluten free easily on one of her awesome roundups here.

I started out with the original recipe, except I only used 1/2 cup of water to proof the yeast (it worked just fine).  I sautéed half a small head of green cabbage, with onions, garlic and salt, and pureed it in the blender with a little bit of water.  I tried to end up with one cup of liquid but it was a little more.

I followed the remainder of the recipe but ended up adding a little more of each flour to make it the consistency in the recipe.  I added a handful of chopped up kalamata olives and a smattering of grated cheese.

And after it was done baking, I received the biggest complement I have received for any bread I ever made.

This is not wet or underbaked – I just am not an expert at taking food picture yet 🙂

Dr. Tae Yun Kim herself said it was THE best bread she ever had.

What more could I have asked for?

PS: After the meal, not a crumb remained, so I can’t tell you how long it would last……

 

 

 

 

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Creativity in the Kitchen

The kitchen is an amazing place.  It can be a warm place for family gatherings, it can be a lab, or simply the best room in the house.  In Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s home it’s all of the above!  Not only does she eat the healthiest of foods, but she also makes incredible new food creations that blow the mind!

Dr. Tae Yun Kim shares that good healthy food shouldn’t just taste good, it should also look good, and it shouldn’t be the same old thing every day, no matter how healthy.

That is why she has been creating some pretty amazing things!  Right now, Dr. Tae Yun Kim is working on a cook book, where she will explain about all aspects of food, even down to the detail of how your attitude while cooking will affect the quality of the food!  She mentions the example of how when you fix dinner as a newly wed or to impress a boy friend – how you will so happily cook and set a delightful dinner table.  On the other hand, if you are unhappy about someone or something and you have to cook for them, you will probably make something that does’n’t taste near as good as it could be or should be!

So challenge yourself – no matter what kind of mood you are in, no matter how your day has been – when you cook, focus on your love for your family (or whomever you are cooking for)!

 

 

 

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Healthy and Great Tasting Food

The beauty of this great tasting dish is that it takes only a few minutes to prepare, and is very healthy!  It is low calorie and low carbohydrates, and happens to be gluten free.

Dr. Tae Yun Kim has been focusing on healthy meals, especially those that can be prepared with minimal efforts, because who has time for a lot of cooking?

To prevent us from falling back on just stopping by a fast food place or grab other ready prepared foods (that are often full of unhealthy fats, have too many carbs and are otherwise not optimal choices) Dr. Tae Yun Kim is constantly coming up with wonderful dishes that not only taste good but also please the eyes!

For this particular dish, start with a medium sized frying pan, and cover about 1/2 inch high with chicken or beef broth; or water seasoned with garlic and ginger if you don’t have broth on hand.  Add some gluten free soy sauce – how much depends on how strong a taste you like, and sliced tofu and/or sliced chicken – and let simmer and soak in.  Add some red pepper flakes, amount will depend on how spicy you can handle.  Add a small handful of sliced onion, small handful of broccoli, mushrooms and spinach.  Add an egg or two and let is set – and you are done and ready to enjoy!  You can eat this with brown rice, or plain.

For the year 2016,  Dr. Tae Yun Kim has asked her students, and all her friends to please focus on good health, and to this end, she has been creating many new recipes!  Stay in tune!

HE CAN DO, SHE CAN DO, WHY NOT ME!

 

 

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New Beginnings

It’s been a couple of years since I have come to this spot and shared some great food creations with you.  It’s not that there hasn’t been any new food in my life, but that wonderful life things have kept happening and there simply wasn’t any time to do any  writing to do these special meals justice.

But Dr. Tae Yun Kim has been coming up with a myriad of healthy and very tasty breakfast, lunch and dinner meals that just blow the mind. Maybe we can even talk her into putting it all together into a cook book!

Dr. Tae Yun Kim has a very unique cooking style as you might remember. She goes by Ki energy, and will put together whatever works best for the people she cooks.  The above dinner was a spur of the moment kind of dinner, naturally gluten free, and some of the most delicious and healthy creation ever.

Not only did it taste heavenly, it was also very healthy, full of protein, vitamins, fiber and all the good stuff.  There was lots of ginger and garlic in the sauce, and it was made creamy by the addition of ground yucca, another of Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s additions.

Because this dish is naturally low in carbohydrates it is great for diabetics and those that want to reduce their carb intake.

I will get you the basic recipe tomorrow.  For now I just wanted to let you all know – this blog is alive and well and will supply you with great new recipes!

Thanks for sticking with me, I look forward to more happy bloggings!

 

 

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Any time apple smoothie

Dr. Tae Yun Kim’s apple trees have been producing like crazy this year!  They are wonderfully sweet, juicy, crisp apples that stand well on their own, and are fabulous in apple sauce, apple pie, coffee cakes and such.

Now that the nice fall temperatures have been taking a break and scorching heat is upon us once more, Dr. Tae Yun Kim has come up with this new, and most fabulously refreshing drink, that will make you think you are having liquid, chilled apple pie, except better, and all healthy and good for you!

Here is what you do (after you picked the apples):

Into the blender container, put the following:

1/8 – 1/4 cup nuts – we use a good mixture of almonds, cashew nuts, pistachios, pine nuts and sometimes peanuts – feel free to use whatever you like, and can tolerate.  We use the same mixture used here.   If you cannot have nuts, we have successfully used all natural, gluten free protein powder

1/2 – 1 cup ice cubes

sprinkle of cinnamon or apple pie spice

2-3 apples, peeled (you can leave the peel on if you prefer)

depending on the sweetness of your apples, add maple syrup to your liking – you can use any sweetener you like, but we love the flavor, and love knowing it is all natural, pretty much straight out of the tree

add chilled water (although coconut milk also works well) – enough to the consistency of your liking – we typically make it more into a cold drink, but enjoy it as smoothie as well

And there you have it!  Enjoy and get energized!

And as an extra bonus, do check out the story of the apple farmers in Dr. Tae Yun Kim’s book, “The Silent Master,” starting on page 127.  You will love it!

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Blueberry and nut power drink – Dr. Tae Yun Kim’s recipe

Sometimes I get really lucky.  A couple of days ago, I got to try Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s her super secret – and now shared – recipe for a very healthy power drink.  You can either have this as a smoothie, or a more liquid drink.  If you prefer a smoothie, make sure your blueberries are frozen, and add some ice cubes.

Here is the original recipe, but feel free to experiment if you have any nut allergies.  The blueberries are there for a reason, as they are helping with antioxidants, fight Alzheimer’s, and do a host of other good things for your body.  But of course, you are welcome to experiment.

Start by assembling the nuts.  To save time, I have made up individual serving baggies that look something like this:

In each bag, there are (approximately) 3 – 4 of each (except more of the pine nuts because they are so small):

Put those in a blender, along with about a cup of blueberries, more or less.  I always use frozen ones.  Add honey according to your sweet tooth, and add enough water to make it your desired thickness.  If you want more of a meal replacement, use any milk instead of water – coconut milk is superb with this.

Blend really really well, and enjoy ice-cold.  If I have this for breakfast, I am not hungry for a long time!

And my quote for the day, by Dr. Tae Yun Kim, doesn’t really have to do with either nuts or berries or even food, but I happened upon it and loved it so much I wanted to share it with you:

“The whole purpose of change, the whole purpose of continuous cycles of yin and yang is to take you higher, to make you grow, to give you more of what will lead you to a truer expression of your Real Self.  Never be afraid of change.  All changes lead you into greater good.  That is the purpose of change and the purpose of life.”  (Seven Steps to Inner Power, page 51)

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The carrot cake redemption

I found this on the counter one night when I came home from work.

No, this isn’t an evil sign.  Someone very creative was asking for some carrot cake!

Dr.  Tae Yun Kim, my Martial Arts teacher, is fully embracing an all organic and gluten-free life style, and as a result I have been cleaning up my diet as well.

There are countless carrot cake recipes out there, but good gluten-free ones are hard to find.  I found a great recommendation on Shirley’s blog, http://allglutenfreedesserts.com/dreamy-carrot-cake-gluten-free-spinner/

If you want to make a really really good carrot cake, follow the recipe.  It is the best I ever made.

All went well.

had the eggs ready…

Mixed all the dry ingredients together

mixed the wet ingredients together

and put it all together.

Then, after it looked like this

I baked it until it looked like this

So far so good!

But then, when I cut the cake into two layers – disaster struck!

The top layer crumbled all to pieces!  O no!

After taste testing some of the stray crumbs, I realized that yes, this was indeed a most outstanding carrot cake.  But what to do now?

Well, I thought about a quote from Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim:

“People and events can shape someone for good or bad.  But you alone have power over these things, more power than you realize.  It does not matter how bad circumstances may seem.  What I discovered was that how I dealt with circumstances was much more important than the circumstances themselves.” (Seven Steps to Inner Power, p xxi)

So, next step – I made the frosting.  Except instead of all that sugar, I used orange blossom honey.  I carefully used it as glue and it worked for holding it all together.

But it sure didn’t look good!

This didn’t help much either!

But then….I had some fruit in the fridge, and this happened:

End result: the best carrot cake indeed!

HE CAN DO, SHE CAN DO, WHY NOT ME!

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Healthy Almond Snack

So, a while ago, I learned there is such a thing as National Almond day. It was February 16th.

And while I didn’t post it on that day, I did make these great almond snacks, totally healthy and very delicious!

Dr.  Tae Yun Kim wants all her students to live a healthy life, and eat the best healthy foods, and will give advice to those that seek it.

In today’s world, it’s hard to find good, healthy, gluten-free snacks.  Not that they aren’t easily available – far from it!  But it’s just that there is so much else out there that is competing with the healthy and wholesome items!  So, to make it easy, here is a very simple recipe for outstanding almonds.  We all know that nuts, especially almonds, are good for us – they contain the good kind of fats and lots of minerals, so, here we go!

Do give these a try – they are one of  Dr.  Tae Yun Kim s favorite snacks!

First, get some whole almonds.  If you can get them already blanched, great. But if you want to go the extra mile, get almonds with the skin still on, and soak them in cool water until the skin comes lose.  (Yes, it’s a lot easier if you pour hot water on the almonds and peel immediately. However, it alters the consistency of the almonds and they turn mealy rather than light, crunchy, yet almost fruity if you take the time to soak them in cool water.

Once peeled, dry them and put them in a pan with hot olive oil.  Lightly sprinkle with Himalayan Salt, or any salt you like, and garlic powder.  (Fresh is ok too, but tends to burn too easily).  Add finely chopped fresh rosemary, or dried rosemary to your liking, and roast thoroughly.  At this point, feel free to experiment with other spices, but this is my original recipe.

Arrange them nicely, offer them, and watch them disappear in a hurry!  Now, it’s time to feel good about a naturally gluten-free, very healthy, and most delicious snack!

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Corny Creativity with tomatoes and zucchini

By this time, you probably have had your fill of zucchini and tomatoes.  Gardens and markets alike are full with the freshest of produce, and just yesterday a dear fellow Jung Suwon warrior brought me some more homegrown zucchini and tomatoes.

Of course I am always grateful for homegrown veggies, however, you need a lot of creativity to keep coming up with new ways of cooking and serving them .   I just so happened to pick up Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s book “The First Element” and find this little gem:

“Remember, when you wish to create or manifest any aspect of your life, you do not have to invent anything.  All you have to do is open your awareness wider and wider, and your infinite capabilities and richness will become more and more visible.  Jung Suwon doesn’t teach you something new.  It teaches what you already have – what you can open to as you become more aware.”

Using this creativity, I really wanted to make something incredibly delicious, yet easy to put together, and very healthy – and good-looking too.

Here is the result:

If you want to try it, here are the very easy instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and grease the foil.

Cut up a one-foot long zucchini (that’s what I had, you can use smaller ones too, for appetizers.) into rounds, not too thick

Cut a pre-packaged tube of Polenta (or make your own if you prefer) into slices, again, not too thick.

Now cut up tomatoes, and let the fun begin!

Lay out the zucchini rounds on the foil, brush with some olive oil, and put in oven for about 15 minutes.

Cover the zucchini slices with the polenta slices and then with the tomato slices.  Drizzle with olive oil and garlic, and add salt and pepper and bake until heated through and vegetables are cooked.

If you can have dairy, it’s very tasty with some cheese melted in.

Of course, from here, do as Dr. Tae YunKim  suggests, and let your creativity flow – you can add herbs to your liking, you could try different cheeses, or even add some pastrami.

Have fun with this recipe!

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