You’ll need:
1. 1 1/2 cup wholewheat flour
2. 1/2 cup chestnut flour
3. 1/4 cup chickpea flour
4. 3/4 cup arrowroot flour
5. sprinkle of salt
6. 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
7. 5 tbs macadamia nut oil
8. 4 tbs toasted sesame oil
9. 1/4 cup agave syrup
10. 1/4 cup maple syrup
11. 1/4 – 1/2 cup soy milk (enough to make the dough nice and smooth)
12. Seed mix (I used black and white sesame, sunflower and pumpkin)

How to:
1. Mix the flours, salt and baking powder
2. Add oils, syrups and soy milk. Mix everything well (I use my hands) until the dough is smooth and ready to be rolled out
3. Roll out the dough, working with one third at the time, until about 1/2 cm thick (or thinner if you want it super crisp)
4. Generously sprinkle with the seeds and seal them into the dough with the rolling pin
5. Cut out shapes with cookie cutter
6. Place on baking sheets (they can be placed closed to each other since they don’t spread out)
7. Bake at around 180°C until they are nicely golden, turning the pan half way through (I did 10 cm sized cookies and baked them for about 15-20 min)
8. Take them out and let them cool on rack

You’ll need:
1. 1/2 cup vegan butter
2. 1/2 cup brown sugar
3. 1/2 cup rice syrup
4. 1/2 cup golden raisins, chopped
5. 1/4 cup rum
6. 1/2 cup oat flour
7. 1 cup kamut flour (or another of your choice)
8. 3 tbs cocoa (unsweetened)
9. 3/4 tsp baking soda
10. dash of salt
11. 150 gr chocolate chunks (white or milk or dark)

How to:
1. Simmer the raisins with the rum in a covered pot for about 10 min, then let them rest until the liquid is almost absorbed
2. Mix vegan butter with sugar and syrup
3. Add the dry ingredients and mix well
4. Add raisins and chocolate and mix
5. Roll the dough into little balls
6. Place on baking sheets and give them a gentle press to flatten them slightly
7. Bake at around 160°C until they are done
8. Take them out and let them cool on rack

Even though the powerful dairy industry would like us to believe that we will dissolve and vanish within a week if we don’t consume our daily 3′s there is more to the calcium story than such. For example, I haven’t seen a lot of elephants drinking milk and they seem quite strong. And since when did fish need milk? I am pet-sitting a goldfish for the holidays and her fish food has milk in it! I am impressed with the strength of the milk producers. They really have found their way into all sorts of weird places.

Anyway, back to the calcium question – where do people outside of the western world, vegans, and all other animals get this famous mineral? Well, there are so many sources – dark green veggies, beans, sesame and so forth. This beautiful rosy pink vinegar is the result of a recipe I got from Christiane Northrup’s amazing book Women’s Bodies Women’s Wisdom – Basically you take calcium rich herbs (I used nettle, sage and clover) and fill them in a jar. Then you cover them with organic apple cider vinegar, close with a lid and let it all steep in the fridge for about 2 months. The result is a vinegar which with 1 tablespoon gives as much calcium as a glass of milk.

I adore autumn! It is one of my favorite seasons (along with winter, spring and summer). Now the markets are a bounty of mushrooms of various kinds. As we know by now our mushroom friends are filled with immune system goodies which makes autumn the perfect season for them. Another beautiful example of Mother Natures brilliance.

I have been cooking soups and stews on them and today I made this creamy-dreamy-mushroom-pesto. I made a good quantity and put the left-over in little glass jars sealed with olive oil.

You’ll need:
1. Mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped (for this recipe leave the classic button mushroom alone (he is so great for vegan patés and lots of other things) and get the really flavorful ones. If you haven’t tried organic, fresh shiitake mushrooms then you are in for an aromatic treat!)
2. Onion, peeled and chopped
3. Garlic (as much as you can handle), peeled and chopped
4. Parsley
5. Sprinkle of mild paprika
6. Salt
7. Oil (I used colza and olive)

Optional:
1. Tofu

How to:
1. Heat the oil in a pan
2. When warm add onion, garlic and parsley and slow fry until soft and translucent
3. Add mushrooms and salt and paprika
4. Keep the heat going so the liquid from the mushrooms evaporates quickly
5. When everything is tender and ready put in blender along with a chunk of tofu
6. Blend until chunky or smooth (as you prefer) adding oil as needed

Serve with noodles, rice or on wholegrain toast with a salad or soup. A spoonful directly in a soup would probably also be yummy.