Ten Talents cookbook review

About a week ago a friend lent me her 1968 copy of Ten Talents, a Seventh-Day Adventist cookbook which you can find used. She thought I would be interested in the extensive use of coconut oil in a book from the 1960's. Although I am very intrigued by the recipes in Ten Talents, what fascinates me even more is the instructions on nutrition—how to eat to be healthy—and how good nutrition is Christian.

I got into cooking (or rather uncooking) six years ago when I thought the raw food movement was first happening. I lived in Maryland then. My teachers (my naturopath, nutritionist and good friend) were going to raw classes and teaching me about raw food—how to make it, and why it's good for you. We got books like Raw Food, Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow , and Raw: The Uncook Book. The most fun though, was taking the concepts we found, and creating our own recipes.

Now I'm borrowing this Seventh-Day Adventist cookbook from a friend here in Colorado and I see that everything I thought was new about raw food was already published in 1968. And where do the authors of this cookbook get their information about nutrition? From Ellen G. White, a visionary of the Seventh-Day Adventist church from... are you ready for this? The late 1800's. The late 1800's?! People have been promoting my beliefs on good nutrition for over a hundred years?

But wait, there's more! Ellen G. White believed that good nutrition is biblical. This cookbook preaches that eating healthy is not only good for you, but is what God wants. Ten Talents cites the bible for their instructions on what foods we should eat. That would make the concept of eating healthy not only as old as Ellen G. White, but thousands of years old.

As someone who has struggled to defend our reasons for eating healthy (well, mostly on the East Coast, not in Colorado), this is really exciting to me. I realize now that I'm not doing anything new, I'm just doing what most Americans nowadays don't. I feel so refreshed :-)

So what nutritional practices does this cookbook teach exactly? This book is very anti-refined sugar, calling it poison (as I often do).

They recommend honey, dates, and fruit to sweeten. Here is one of my favorite sketches in the book, where they call for "abstaining from white sugar products."

Several places also call for drinking water—6 to 8 glasses a day—between meals, because water with food dilutes the enzymes our bodies need to digest food. Drinking lots of water is one of their "Seven Keys to Health."

Ten Talents tells us to eat as much raw food as possible, how to conserve food, not to overcook food, how to use herbs for healing, how to use juice for therapy, how to combine foods, and more.

Some passages that spoke to me:

I am crazy about this book, and I would love to see some of the updated editions (how the book may have changed with time), as well as some of the books written by Ellen G. White. I've already ordered a used copy of Councils on Diets and Foods on Amazon. Can't wait.

I must warn you, while Ten Talents is well-known as one of the best vegetarian cookbooks of all time, this cookbook is NOT gluten-free. But that doesn't mean that you can't find tons of great recipes, information and inspiration in it. Here is a photo of two of the recipes I've already made: Healthy Candy (I left out the carob) and Fruity Chews (p. 122 and 123), both raw. They were a little too moist after being refrigerated, so I put them in the dehydrator over night, and now they're perfect. Totally yummy. I'm going to make a bigger batch of them to freeze for my maternity leave :-)

♥, Kelly

Our Spunky Holiday, Independence Day

I'm sorry I'm late in getting this post up in time for our second Spunky Holiday round-up, Independence Day. A week ago my father-in-law had emergency surgery, and my husband was gone for most of the week, visiting him in the hospital in upstate NY. He's doing better, but if you would keep him in your prayers for us we would love that.

So I don't know how many entries we can get on such short notice, but if you're planning on making something for the 4th of July, please join us :-)

My honey, the designer, and I whipped up this badge, which you can use for your post. The letters change to match the holiday approaching. (I got the idea from Google—Thanks, Google :-) This (at the top) is our Independence Day badge.

Here's what you do:

1) Grab the current Our Spunky Holiday badge from here (remember it will change for each holiday).

2) Post the badge with your Independence Day recipe on your site, and link to me in the post (I will link back to you when I post the roundup).

3) To participate the recipe must be gluten-free.

4) Email me the link to your post: Kelly(insert @)theSpunkyCoconut.com and I will feature your photo here on Spunky, with a link to your site and recipe. Please title your email to me "Our Spunky Holiday" so I can spot it easily.

For Our Spunky Holiday: Independence Day, I need your entries by June 30th. I'll post the round-up the following day, July 1st.

If you're new to the whole gluten-free carnival concept, check out this post to get an idea of how it will appear :-)

Here is my 4th of July entry, Whipped Parfaits. I was going for red, white and blue layers, but didn't quite get it. I wanted to use frozen organic cherries for the bottom layer, which turned out to be too dark and too pink. If you use the original recipe for strawberry mousse, you can get a truer red color. Also, my blueberries were frozen, so they're darker too. Fresh blueberries would give you a lighter blue color.

For the mousse and whipped topping recipes click here. Makes 4 pretty whipped parfaits.

♥, Kelly

Strawberry Mousse Pie gluten-free, dairy-free

The other day I was reminiscing about going to the diner in college with my dear friend, Darah. I have such good memories of us driving there, belting out the lyrics to One Headlight by The Wallflowers or Into the Mystic by Van Morrison. At the diner in our small town just north of Philadelphia we ordered coffee (lots and lots of coffee) and all kinds of pie. Darah introduced me to Elephant Ears, a sort of heart-shaped pastry, which I liked, but not as much as the pies. That's what inspired me to make this strawberry mousse pie :-)

Strawberry Mousse Pie (dairy-free, gluten-free)

Bake this crust for about 10 minutes. You can use a large deep pie dish (like a ceramic one) or a small glass pie dish. If you use a small glass pie dish you wont need all of the crust dough or all of the filling.

Set aside to cool.

Strawberry Mousse:

Add to blender or food processor:

3/4 cup coconut milk (I use canned)

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

1 heaping cup frozen strawberries (Do not defrost the strawberries. The combination of the cold strawberries and the gelatin creates a whipped-like texture.)

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp + 1 tsp Gelatin, dissolved into 1/4 cup boiling water (add this last, right before blending)

Puree.

Optional: Add a few drops of red India Tree natural food coloring to make the mousse darker pink.

Pour into cooled crust to about half full.

Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until it's set.

Coconut Cream Whipped Topping:

Rinse blender of food processor.

Add:

2 cups coconut cream*

1 tbsp honey

5 to 10 drops vanilla liquid stevia

1 tbsp Gelatin, dissolved into 1/4 cup boiling water

Puree.

If your coconut cream was cold from the fridge you may not need to wait for the whipped topping to set up in order to top the first layer.

If your coconut cream was not cold, then refrigerate the coconut cream whipped topping until it begins to set up.

When it's almost whipped topping consistency, pour it over the strawberry layer.

Refrigerate for about an hour to finish setting up.

* To get the coconut cream, use a can of full-fat coconut milk (I use Thai Kitchen) that has separated. Open the can and carefully scoop the solid white cream off the top. If your canned coconut milk hasn't separated put it in the fridge overnight to get it to separate again.

This recipe might work with agar powder in place of the gelatin, but you would have to experiment with it. I know you would need about 1/4 to 1/3 the amount of agar powder as you would gelatin, so around 2 tsp to replace 1 tbsp + 1 tsp gelatin. However, I don't think the texture would be whipped-like, but I could be wrong.

Other questions? See my FAQ page here.

♥, Kelly

Quinoa and Coconut Waffles

Once in a while I love to make waffles. I would make them more often if I had a healthy waffle maker. But unfortunately, mine is coated in non-stick—the only non-stick appliance I own. If you know of a company that sells stainless or ceramic waffle makers (is there such a thing?) please let me know!

These waffles are based on this pancake recipe . I just added more flour, and some baking powder. If you want a corn-free/grain-free baking powder, see my post here .

Add to blender:

6 eggs

1/2 cup quinoa flakes (you can probably substitute almond meal flour)

1/2 cup coconut flour + 2 tbsp

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking powder (grain-free baking powder recipe)

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup ghee (which is casein-free) or coconut oil, liquified (grapeseed oil might also work)

1 cup cashew milk

(How to Make Cashew Milk Video)

1/8 tsp vanilla liquid stevia

Blend well.

Pour into greased waffle maker, set to high, and almost full.

Mine take about 2.5 minutes each.

Makes 4

What is stevia and why do I love it? See my video here.
Other questions? See my FAQ page here.

♥, Kelly

PS I haven't tried it yet, but I bet these would be great for making a few batches at once, keeping them in the fridge, and toasting them throughout the week :-)

Strawberry Birthday Cake (gluten-free, grain-free, casein-free, dairy-free)

I'm so excited to be sharing this recipe with you as part of Iris's Birthday Cake Challenge! When I created my coconut buttercream frosting for those of you who can't use the nut frostings in my second cookbook, I knew I had to make this strawberry birthday cake next. Zoe and Ashley both have a birthday in July, and I think this cake screams July and little girls, don't you? Oh, I'm so tickled with it. If you want to make it less, well.. pink, I would try adding more coloring, and see if you can get it red. Or of course, you could keep the frosting cream colored, or even make it yellow.

For those of you who were asking, I did substitute Earth Balance Soy-Free Buttery Spread for some of the coconut cream in the frosting, and it worked fine. But if you try it and your frosting isn't as thick as you want it, just add another tablespoon or two of sifted coconut flour. Next I'm going to use Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate , just for fun. Same goes for substituting that: If you try it and your frosting isn't as thick as you want it, just add another tablespoon or two of sifted coconut flour.

Usually I would use my Vanilla Bean Cake for a birthday cake, but strangely enough, I haven't been tolerating white beans during this pregnancy. So I developed a new white cake, and it's very delicious :-) I hope you love it too.

Vanilla Berry Cake

(I gave this cake a nice hint of berry flavor by adding 1/8 tsp of Chocolate Raspberry liquid stevia. If you prefer, you could substitute strawberry extract, but I'm not sure how much you would need.)

Add to mixing bowl:

5 whisked eggs

2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/8 tsp Chocolate Raspberry liquid stevia

1/3 cup honey or agave

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup coconut flour, sifted

2/3 cup tapioca flour

2/3 cup Bob's almond flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup coconut oil, liquified (grapeseed oil would probably work also)

Mix with handheld mixer.

Pour equal parts into two round greased 9 x 1.5 inch cake pans.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 18 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes, then flip onto wire racks to cool completely.

Using a large serrated knife, carefully remove the bottom crust and sides of the cake.

Lay one cake on a piece of parchment paper.

Spread a very thin coat of frosting on top, to keep the berry compote from sinking in too much.

Pour about a cup of strawberry compote on top and spread evenly. (I made my compote by defrosting frozen organic strawberries, straining the extra juice, and giving them a quick spin in the blender.)

Lay the second cake on top.

Cover with frosting. Note: I made my frosting this beautiful pink color by using India Tree natural food coloring.

Store in the refrigerator till you're ready to eat.

After refrigerating it will easily come off the parchment paper.

Optional: Decorate with fresh strawberries, cut in half, and small pink rose petals.

♥, Kelly