IMG_5906Cheezy "Steak Fries" in all their glory

 

Who says "fries" have to be deep fried potatoes?  These Cheezy "Steak Fries" are simply delicious.  They deliver on so many levels.  For starters, they're just beautiful to look at.  Then you pick one up… biting into that yummy, cheesy coating amped up with the perfect kick of spice, enjoying the fantastic contrast of their ever-so-sweet interior – crisp & juicy – a beautifully unexpected pairing to their deliciously complex jackets.  Satisfying and addictive.  Yes, such a combo exists.  As in, every time you open the fridge you'll be smiling at that other half of jicama, knowing you'll be turning it into another platter of Cheezy "Steak Fries" the very next day.

What to serve with your Cheezy Fries?  I like them alongside a side salad or this thick, creamy milkshake đꙂ  Now those are amazing combos we can feel great about! 

 

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 This recipe has been submitted to Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes for June bookmarked recipes & to 

the Root Vegetable No Waste Food Challenge at Turquoise Lemons.

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Recipe for Cheezy "Steak Fries" (1 large serving or 2 small)

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 large jicama
  • 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 ounce (2 Tbsp) sesame seeds 
  • 1 ounce (2 Tbsp) pepitas 
  • braggs sea kelp delight seasoning 
  • a few shakes of dried garlic
  • few shakes cayenne
  • himalyan salt to taste (don't be shy tho!)
  • turmeric
  • black pepper
  • nutritional yeast powder (if you have nutritional flakes instead of powder, just add the flakes to your spice grinder along with the pepitas.)
  • smoked paprika for garnish

Method:

  1. Remove the outer peel of the 1/2 jicama.  Slice into thick fry shapes as pictured above.
  2. Place fries in a large bowl and toss with 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil until well coated.
  3. Place 2 Tbsp sesame seeds into a spice grinder and pulse or whiz until fine. (It's important to grind the sesame first by itself as sesame tends not to grind up when amongst other larger stuff.)  Dump sesame into a separate, medium bowl.  Next, add pepitas, several shakes of braggs kelp seasoning, dried garlic, cayenne, himalayan salt, turmeric & black pepper into spice grinder and whiz until fine.  Pour into the medium bowl with the ground sesame.  Stir a liberal amount of nutritional yeast into the bowl until all the ingredients are well combined to create your cheesy coating.
  4. Pour the cheesy mixture into the large bowl containing the fries and toss until well coated.  Garnish with a little dried paprika if desired – it adds that toasty, browned affect + more yum flavor!
  5. Save any extra cheesy coating for the other half of jicama the next day.  Or use as a delicious salad topper!

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Enjoy!  

Have you started any Spring activities yet this year?  We've been planning and preparing the garden.  Jim has made it look amazing!  We're doing lots of new things this year from dandelion greens, (yes, that's right- for juicing. Plus the tops are the richest plant source of lecithen.  No more shelling out big bucks for dandelion greens at the grocery) purslane and nettles plus a flowering wall of nasturtiums.  I've been envisioning the nasturtium wall for a few years now and am SO excited we're finally doing it.  We'll be using the nasturtiums as our substitute for cleansing cilantro since these two plants have similar properties and flavor, however, the nasturtiums are so much more beautiful and incredibly easy to grow!  I'm absolutely fascinated by living food nutrition, wildcrafting, and the beautiful recipes one can make with these highly nutritious, wild edible and medicinal plants.  Feel free to check out Turtle Lake Refuge in Colorado, for a look at their awesome celebration of the connection between personal health and wild lands.  Meantime, back at the ranch here this Spring, the weather has been quite all over the place, with a gorgeous snow fall just three days ago and 6o's expected this weekend.   

 

Do you have any gardening plans?

What are your favorite Spring activities?

 

All Love,

Juliane

 

Thank you for visiting!

 

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Oil Painted Portrait on Archival Linen Covered Board by Juliane Porter.  (Click on the image for a better, larger view)

My sister sat for me over the winter holidays resulting in this oil pained portrait.  While she posed we joked about my doing a life-size portrait of her fighter-pilot husband in full uniform so they might hang it at the top of their staircase to admire multiple times a day 🙂  Actually, to an artist that sounds like a fun project too!  Something classic like you'd certainly have seen just a century or so back.

But back to business at hand, delivering on my promise from my very first post, how and where to find pieces like the adorable White and Warren cardigan and J.Crew necklace she's wearing.  Merchandise has obviously been updated for spring, but you'll see similar items.  

We both love fashion, with an eye to acquire beautiful, high quality pieces at affordable prices – after all one should be able to afford to have a life in their beautiful wardrobe 🙂  

One great way to find the best price on an item you're interested in, is to punch the brand and style into ShopStyle.com, which aggregates merchandise from retailers, allowing users to search the most stylish stores all at once — by designer, brand, store, sale items, price point, and color.  

Another surefire way to a good deal is signing up (judiciously, to prevent email inundation) for your favorite brands' smart deal email notifications.  White and Warren, the designer of cashmere classics mentioned above, has one-day-only offers several times a year during which one or two items are available at huge discounts (think 70+% off). 

Do you have any favorite sites that give great deals?  What are they?


“Mama and Her Cubs”, 24″ x 36″ Commissioned Oil Painted Portrait on Canvas (Click image for better, larger view)

It was an absolute honor to create this commissioned oil painting of my gorgeous friend, Bick Fielder, and her three beautiful children. Over the past few months painting them, I was overwhelmed by her amazing spirit and the perfect love she has for these darling babes.

 

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"The Farm" 16" x 20" oil on canvas by Juliane Porter

 

Rather than my writing about my latest oil painting, "The Farm," I'll share the words of my client, for whom this gorgeous slice of heaven holds years of special family memories: 

 

"It is so beautiful!!  I cried when I saw it!  It is so perfect and just how I will always remember summers in the Catskills, with the blue, blue sky, the white clouds popping over the green mountains,  the reflections in the pond, the weeping willow on the bank of the pond that my grandmother planted, the barn, the farmhouse, I could go on and on…"

 

It was my absolute pleasure to capture this magical oasis in oil paint for your family to enjoy for generations to come.

 

Love All, 

Juliane

 

Have you ever commissioned an oil painting for yourself or loved ones? Feel free to contact me if you're interested.

 Be sure to follow me on Facebook, PinterestInstagramTwitter YouTube to stay current on all things SN!  

 

Thank you for visiting 🙂 

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& their Adorable Friends

 

I count Thanksgiving as the official kick-off to "The Holidays" and this year's start has been the best ever!  We spent Thanksgiving WITH the Turkeys and all their sweet, adorable friends below.  And, I also made a fully vegan celebration which I'm hoping to prepare again at Christmas to share with you all.  So, I can attest that it is indeed possible to give thanks without having an animal on the table at dinner.  In fact it was an absolutely fantastic celebration filled with love, gratitude, laughter and delicious food.

Here are a few snaps from our visit to Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, an amazing rescue organization committed to ensuring all the animals who come to them will be safe, loved and protected for the rest of their lives.  

 

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This is Victor, a stunningly beautiful, happy fellow whose favorite girlfriend turkeys are Tilly and Cosette.  He's always walking around with his feathers up, twirling around, and trying to impress them.  Victor, and his girlfriends too, are exceptionally sociable, loving to be stroked and talked to just like any domestic dog or cat.

Farmlamb

 

I had to tear myself away from Andy here, a tiny lamb rescued in November, who contracted serious joint infections shortly after birth that went untreated. His owners, who were planning to eat him at a barbecue, basically left him to die in a cardboard box when he became too weak to stand.  He was taken home by a caring neighbor and brought to Poplar Springs Sanctuary with very swollen, stiff joints.  Although xrays revealed that his joints have fused & he'll never be able to walk perfectly, they are working with their veterinarians to make him as comfortable as possible.  He has been adopted by their blind sheep, Josie (below) whom he adoringly follows around the yard like a puppy.

 

Goat

  

Josie the blind sheep is best friends with Andy the tiny lamb above.

 

Farmcow

 

Cows are the sweetest animals too!  My gorgeous friend here particularly loves having his head stroked, especially around his beautiful horns.   Looking into those beautiful eyes is pure love.

 

JimsMomHen

  

Birds too, are very loving, snuggly little creatures.  These sweet little chickens love being held and actually purred in our arms and made sweet conversational sounds as we talked to them, similar to a cat's conversational meows.  Of course, each animal, like humans, has its own individual personality so some are more extroverted than others.

 

MeChicken

 

JimHen

 

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Honestly, I just wanted to put both my arms around this magestic creature and give him the hugest hug.  It makes my heart so happy to connect with our fellow beings in this way… to know that this sweetheart is loved, gets to see the sun, feel the earth and breath fresh air.  No living being,  human or animal should ever go through this life tortured or unloved.

 

Peacock

 

Last but not least of the more than 200 animals on the 400 acre farm, meet Edward the Peacock.  Much like Victor the turkey, Edward is quite fond of showing off his beautiful tail feathers as Paul captured him doing above!  (Big thanks to Paul for all your great cell phone snaps!)  Edward can fly very well and he roams around the entire farm every day, but he always come into the barn at night, where it is safe.  

 

We had so much fun with all the animals, including others such as pigs, piglets and horses too.  At the end of our visit, we piled into our truck overlooking one of the pastures, turned on the heat (beacuase Brrrr, it was a cold day!) and ate vegan apple pie along with hot cider from a huge thermous we'd made for the windy, November day.  As we sat enjoying our pie and hot cider, 25 or 30 sheep, lambs and goats were released from a barn right in front of us and we got to watch them, young and old, galloping with glee, single file into the pasture, all so carefree and full of happy innocence.  

A perfect finale 🙂

 

How was your Thanksgiving?

Have you ever been to an animal sanctuary like Poplar Spring?

 

 

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Spicy Sesame Noodles…  

Decadent.  Rich.  Creamy.  

Tantalizing yumminess that delivers freshness, zip and zing in each and every bite.  

 

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Spicy Sesame Noodles… Indulging never tasted & felt this good!

 

Something this fabulous couldn't possibly be fabulous for you… yet it is!  Indulge your tastebuds and your eyes with a gorgeous symphony of color and flavor.  

 

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Living Foods make us feel Alive!

 

I love to make Spicy Sesame Noodles for friends who always want the recipe 🙂  Serve it on white plates in pretty little stacks using a ring mold. 

 

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Packed with Antioxidants, Phytonutrients & Enzymes.

 

Make all your raw pasta dishes taste a whole lot better with perfect texture, by using my favorite tools:  a spiralizer (best for squash), a coconut noodler (great for squash, cucumber & coconut) and a julienne peeler (for carrots).

  

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Spicy Sesame Noodles are packed with Iron, Calcium and Protein

 

Enjoy this Living Foods rainbow of deliciousness & health!

 

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The vegetables we use are limited only by our imaginations!

 

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Carrots julienned using the julienne peeler.

 

Recipe for Spicy Sesame Noodles (2 large or 4 medium servings)

Ingredients:

Noodles

  • 2 large yellow zucchini (peel for more of a pasta feel- or leave peel on for added nutrition & color) or 2 large baby thai coconuts, or mixture of both
  • 1 small cucumber, peeled
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 2 scallions or a handful chives
  • small handful cilantro, coarsley chopped

Sauce

(This is a double recipe of sauce. Feel free to cut in in half.  Not having enough sauce for your noodles if your veg are larger than norm would be very sad. Simply store leftover in the fridge for soba noodles 2 days later.

  • 2/3 cup raw sesame butter (or cashew or almond butter)**
  • 4 Tbs low sodium tamari
  • 3 Tbs ume plum vinegar or rice wine vinegar
  • 2 -4 tsp garlic chile paste or my fav chili paste + 1 finely minced clove garlic
  • 1 tsp (or to taste) liquid stevia (or honey)
  • lime wedges
  • 1 -2 tsp sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Method:

  1. Spiralize the yellow squash.  A coconut noodler is easiest for the cucumber- do not use the skin or seeds. A julienne peeler is best for the carrot.  Very thinly julienne cut the red bell pepper by hand.
  2. Add all the noodle ingredients (yellow squash thru cilantro) to a large mixing bowl.  Gently combine with clean hands  to incorporate.
  3. Combine the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, whisking with the tines of a fork til smoothly integrated.
  4. Drizzle half (you can always add more later) the sauce over the noodles and toss gently to distribute. Add more to reach desired consistency if needed. Store extra in fridge for up to 2 days for use on more veggie noodles, soba noodles etc.
  5. Serve on white plates, to show off the colors, using a ring mold to make neat stacks.  
  6. Spritz each stack with a lime wedge.  If desired drizzle extra sauce over stacks & plate.  Garnish with sesame seeds or chopped cashews or almonds depending on the butter you used (optional).  Serve with chopsticks.  

**This recipe does not use peanut butter or peanuts because even raw, organic peanuts are highly allergenic, susceptible to molds, salmonella and toxins such as aflatoxin, which creates congestion in the liver, is associated with liver cancer and shown to stunt growth in children. As if this were not enough reason to avoid them, peanuts are also pro-inflammatory, pesticide laden and contain anti-nutrients known as lectins. I know, it's a food we associated with fond childhood memories, however I encourage you to do your own research on peanuts.

Have you ever eaten at a Raw Vegan restaurant?  Where did you go?

Do you have a Raw Vegan restaurant in your area? Which one?

 

Wishing you a fantastic weekend!

All Love,

Juliane

 

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Sandy highway
"Sandy Highway" 16" x 20" Oil on Canvas by Juliane Porter

 

Please click image for a better, larger view. 

"Sandy Highway" is the latest oil painting in my Nantucket series.  It's quite a journey to get to some of the isolated beaches of the Island, and always worth it.  Please enjoy!  

Feel free to leave your feedback in the comments below 🙂

All Love,

Juliane

 

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A highschool snap from our trip to Paris, France!  That's little old me on the far right end:-)

 

Happy Throwback Thursday!  Perfect chance to share this cute little snap I found from a trip to Paris in high school.  After a full day of shopping in the gorgeous city, we of course wasted no time showing off our fashionable ensembles for a dressed up night out.  Gotta love our printed tights 🙂


What is your favorite travel memory?

Do you have a favorite travel destination?


All Love,

Juliane

 

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"Summer Pedals" Nantucket, Mass.  16" x 20" Oil on Canvas by Juliane Porter

 

Please click image for a better, larger view.

Today's officially the last day of Summer!  Perfect timing to pay tribute with my latest oil painting, "Summer Pedals".  This bike reminds me of the one my sister rode as a pre-teen, which was then passed down to me for many additional miles of transportation and fun around my beautiful hometown.  Fond memories:)

Please enjoy!

 

All Love,

Juliane

 

What color was your first/favorite childhood bicycle?

Did you live in a town where you were able to independently ride your bike anywhere you wanted to go?

 

 

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“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though
nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

-Albert Einstein

 

"There are no ordinary moments."

-Dan Millman


“Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.”

-Albert Einstein

 

"Becoming a genuine individual requires learning the
oppositions within oneself. Those who fail or refuse to face the oppositions
within have no choice but to find enemies to project
upon. Enemy simply means a "not-friend;" unless a
person deals with the not-friend within they require enemies around them."

-Michael Meade

 

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my
imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is
limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

-Albert Einstein

 

"You are that vast thing that you see far, far off with great
telescopes."

-Alan Watts


"We learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by
practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are
the same. One becomes in some area an athlete of God."

-Martha Graham

 

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”

-Albert Einstein


Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true
wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you
realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.

-Lao Tzu


Love is never afraid of
fear. Fear is always afraid of love.

-Sri
Chinmoy


When I let go of who I am, I become what I might be.

-Lao Tzu

 

The art of living… is neither careless drifting on the one
hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other.  It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding
it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

-Alan Watts

 

All Love,

Juliane


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