What’s Good For Today?

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Cara Reynolds, clay, Darude, Finland, music, ocarina, ocarinas, potato music, pottery, Pupsi, Sandstorm, Sauna Ocarinas, Toni Patanen

Potato jams.

Sandstorm by Darude on the potato for your pleasure.

– Mushpa

Vegan Arepas con Curtido Fusion Recipe

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arepa recipe, arepas, cabbage, coleslaw, colombia, corn meal, curtido, Food, fusion, harina de maiz, latin american food, latin american recipes, Latinas cooking, Mushpa + Mensa, pupusas, recipe, traditional food, Vegan, vegan cheese, venezuela

Arepas, Pupusas, Gorditas. Different maize (or corn meal) patties made slightly different in many Latin American countries. Delicious either way you eat them. A food that is economical, and so versatile it can be stuffed with literally anything you could imagine, from eggs and avocados, to meats and of course, the classic, cheese…ohh quesito!

I decided to make Arepas once we started reaching the back row products in our kitchen cabinet. Somehow, we always end up getting the most creative when we have less resources. But I cannot complain. Even when we are low on food in the cabinets we often feel like our life is full of richness. Cheesy, I know, but true. And Cheesy is always good… as the recipe below will show you.

These Arepas were a simple recipe. Basic. Paired with cabbage salad, usually accompanying Salvadorean Pupusas. Here is the recipe. Go make them. Delicious. I used corn meal called P.A.N. This is what my mother gave me, and it is what I have read, the most commonly used corn meal.

For the Arepas:

2 1/2 cups of water                                                                                                                                            2 cups of PAN – Harina de maiz (pre-cooked corn meal)                                                                   1 teaspoon of salt.                                                                                                                                             Oil                                                                                                                                                                         vegan cheese for stuffing

Pour water and salt into a container. Mix well. Start pouring the corn meal slowly, while mixing. Make sure you don’t get any lumps! When all is mixed, knead the dough until it is smooth, and let rest for a few minutes (3-5 minutes).

Oil your pan, or griddle  a little bit on medium to low heat. Place patties and fry them until they brown in one side, and then the next. About 5 minutes each side. The lower the heat, the better, as you want the water inside to dry out a bit. Ideally when you knock on one with a knife, it should sound hollow or like an echo. The lower the heat, the longer they will be on the pan.

Place them in an oven at 325 degrees and let them cook for about 10 more minutes.

Cut them open in half, and stuff with a small palm full of cheese. Veggies and Protein are also an option!

For the Curtido:

1/2 head cabbage, a carrot, and a yellow onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar/ maple syrup/ honey
1 teaspoon dried oregano, or Italian seasoning
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

You can use a bag of ready coleslaw as I did this time (excluded the onions). Mix all vegetables in a bowl. Mix all other ingredients in a separate bowl, and then pour over cabbage mix. You can let it rest for a few minutes, while you season the arepas, but 2 hours or evnn the day after rest will absorb the flavors the best.

Serve along side the arepas and ENJOY!

Buen provecho,

Mensa

Avocado Egg Salad Recipe

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avocado egg salad, Avocado Egg Salad on Homemade Vegan Wheat Bread, avocado salad, Cara Reynolds, egg salad, free range, health food, healthy living, Maria Emilia Borja, organic, organic recipe, recipe, smoked paprika, vegan wheat bread

Avocado Egg Salad on Homemade Vegan Wheat Bread

 

2 small organic avocados, peeled
6 hard boiled free range organic eggs
1/4 cup organic mayonnaise
6 chopped organic green onions
1 and 1/2 tablespoons organic lemon juice
6 to 8 shakes of smoked paprika, depends on how much you love it
sea salt and pepper to taste

 

 

 

1. Place the eggs in a saucepan and fill with enough cold water to cover the eggs (they should sit in a single layer). I use my Le Creuset Cast-Iron 1-Quart Oval (Dutch) French Oven so the eggs can rest in said single layer with no drama! Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. As soon as the water comes to a boil, turn off the heat and cover the pan; let sit for 13 minutes (15 minutes if you’re cooking a dozen).
2. Drain the water and immediately run cold water over the eggs. Transfer eggs to an ice bath and allow eggs to chill for 10 minutes.
3. Peel and roughly chop the hard boiled eggs.
4. Add the avocado to a mixing bowl with the mayonnaise, green onions, lemon juice, smoked paprika, sea salt and pepper. Mash the avocados, leaving them slightly chunky if desired. Add the chopped hard boiled eggs and stir well to combine. I like to let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes so the flavors work themselves into each other, but it is not necessary. Eat on toasted bread with watercress or greens of choice. I also will put it on a romaine lettuce leaf and eat it like an egg salad lettuce taco!

It’s delicious!

Recipe by Mushpa (aka Cara)

Maya’s Magical Zine

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2004 Ford Super Duty E350 Step Van, art, artist, box truck, Cara Reynolds, crafts, diy, eco-friendly, etsy, fashion, gay, handmade, Happiness, home-made, homemade, inspiration, jewlery, kickstarter, lesbian, love, Maria Emilia Borja, Maya the Truck, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, organic, plush animals, queer, quote, recycled, renovation of step van, screen printing, t shirt designs, women dyi, Women DYIers, women owned business

Hello Super Mushpa y Mensa Fans! We know it has been killing you waiting for our next post. Well here it is Maya’s Makeover Zine!!! We will not go on and on about our amazing zine as it is pretty self explanatory, but here is what Maya’s zine includes:   Our truck’s full makeover archive with before & after pictures of the project. Mushpa y Mensa DIY tips a.k.a. our gained knowledge we give unto you! How-to everyday eco-tips Delicious food recipes Plus Mushpa y Mensa’s greatest hits and inspirational thoughts from our blog, “La Casa“! All this in a fantastical and printable PDF. Want some more Mushpa y Mensa?  Check out www.mushpamensa.com With much love, Mushpa y Mensa (a.k.a. Cara Elaine and Maria Emilia)

Minty Lavender & Rose Body Scrub

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art, artist, birthday gift ideas, birthday month, Cara Reynolds, eco-friendly, handmade, lavender body scrub, love, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, organic coconut oil, organic sugar body scrub, peppermint body scrub, rose hips body scrub

February is Mushpa’s Birthday Month!
She has a wonderful tradition of celebrating not only one day, but other days too! It makes you feel extra special, and your birthday lasts not only a day, not only a weekend, but a whole month! I’ve tried to get very creative and have hand-crafted many of her little gifts. Stamps made out of wine corks, soul-mate bracelets, and even a home-made potpourri!

A couple of days ago, I decided to whip up a really easy, but super delicious body scrub using all natural ingredients for her. Good for the body, and good for the soul!

All you need is:

-a clean glass jar, fabric, rubber band and ribbon

– organic sugar of your choice. The coarser, I think the better.

-organic coconut oil

-peppermint oil (or any other minty oil of your choice)

-lavender and dried rose hips

Heat some water in a sauce pan and place the coconut oil jar in the water. This will quickly soften up the oil without the need of a microwave! Measure about 1/3 cup of coconut oil and place in a bowl. Slowly add the sugar, until it starts absorbing most of the oil. I say it will be about a 1 cup. If you pour too much sugar and it becomes dry, add more oil!

After mixing the sugar and coconut oil, add the peppermint oil essence. I used about 20 drops of oil. Start with a little less, and keep adding until you find the perfect balance.

Add the Lavender! I suggest about 1 to 2 tablespoons, and mix it all up.

After you have the perfect scrub, line the bottom of your glass jar with rose hips. This is a nice little detail, and it looks beautiful at the bottom of the jar! Once the scrub is in, the roses will also absorb the oil and you can use them as part of the scrub too.

After the layer of rose hips, I added a layer of the scrub and filled it half way. Then I added a layer of lavender, placing the dried lavender on the outer edges of the glass so you could see it better. Then add the second layer of your scrub, and once again, one more layer of lavender. I placed three rose buds at the top so when Mushpa opened it, it looked oh-so-very-nice!

Close the jar. Cut a round piece of fabric, place it on the lid and hold it down with a rubber band. Then add the ribbon….. perfect!

Happy Birthday Month Mi Mushpa!

❤❤❤

-Mensa

Super Delicious Chocolate Oat Bran Cookies

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Cara Reynolds, Chocolate Oat Bran Cookies, diabetic recipe, dukan diet, Dukan Diet Chocolate Oat Bran Cookies, dukan diet cookies, dukan diet dessert recipe, Dukan Diet Oat Bran Cookies, dukan diet recipe, home-made, homemade, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, organic, organic diabetic recipe, organic Dukan Diet Chocolate Oat Bran Cookies, recipe, sugar free cookies, sugar free oat bran cookies, Super Delicious Oat Bran Cookies, Truvia Spoonable

I have been working tirelessly on the greatest oat bran cookie recipe ever! I feel like I finally have one worthy enough to put in our blog. It is sugar free as well (for all you diabetics), we use Truvia Spoonable instead.

Here it is:

Dry Ingredients

12 Tablespoons of organic oat bran

5 Tablespoons organic Dutch processed cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons organic flax seeds

3.5 Tablespoons Truvia Spoonable

2 Teaspoons baking powder

Wet Ingredients

3 Tablespoons alcohol-free vanilla

2 whipped egg whites (dry or liquid)

3 Tablespoons Trader Joe’s fat-free sour cream (or organic nonfat Greek yogurt)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then mix the wet ingredients in another bowl, then mix them all together. Mix ingredients for a few minutes till the oat bran and cocoa soak up all the fluids. You don’t want it runny. Then put some aluminum foil down on the baking sheet, grab a big spoon, dig in the batter and scoop out a spoonful onto the cookie sheet 12 times! Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Take out, cool and eat!

Keep the leftovers in the refrigerator since there are not any preservatives. This way they will last about a week. Use the sour cream if you want more of a brownie type of cookie. If you want a denser cookie use the Greek yogurt. They both are delicious just different.

Enjoy!!!

– Mushpa

The Healthiest Dessert: Tofu Chocolate Pudding!

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Cara Reynolds, dessert recipe, dukan diet, dukan diet dessert recipe, dukan recipe, easy dessert, eco-friendly, fast and easy dessert, healthy dessert, healthy recipe, home-made, low fat sweets, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, organic, recipe chocolate pudding, tofu chocolate pudding, tofu dessert

The yummiest, and healthiest dessert you will ever eat….

And you can make it in less than 5 minutes.

-1 package of Silken Tofu

-1 tablespoon of sweetener (We like Stevia/Truvia. Adjust if you want more or less. I started sprinkling and kept adding until I reached about 1tbsp.)

-2 tablespoons of powdered cocoa (adjust as well…I started sprinkling and mixing until chocolatey goodness was reached)

-1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender….and boom! That’s it.
It was so good, that I realized that I should probably take a picture after I had finished it all!

-Mensa

Making some Organic Mayo….with Coconut Oil

Tags

Cara Reynolds, coconut oil, curdled, eco-friendly, homemade, Maria Emilia Borja, mayonnaise, Mensa, messed up mayo, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, organic

We bought a jar of coconut oil at the super-market the other day.

It was a bit hard to find a good use for it because even after trying some recipes, it of course didn’t behave like the olive oil which we use regularly.

I did use it as a hair mask, which was nice, but there was still a lot left on the jar….

So out came the idea to make Mayo with coconut oil. I looked up some recipes and it is totally possible and doable.

We used…..

• 1 whole egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon of fancy mustard
• 1/2 a lemon’s juicy juice
• a good pinch of salt
• some pepper
• 1/2 cup of Organic Coconut Oil
• 1/2 cup of nice Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Disclaimer.… if this is your first time making mayo (like it was mine), be careful and do it EXACTLY as the instructions tell you… After you learn, then you can experiment. I  should have done so…

 

Do the following:

• Mix your two oils together.
• In a food processor, blender or bowl (if you are hand whipping with a whisk grandma-style) mix the eggs, yolks, mustard, lemon juice and condiments.
• After all is nice and even start adding DROPS of oil to your mixture and continue the blending and whisking process. *** this is where I messed up***…If you add the oil too fast, the mixture will curdle and you’ll end up with oily egg juice… So sad.
• Keep adding drops until it turns a lighter color…you will be able to tell if they start mixing well.
• SLOWLY add little streams of oil and continue to blend…and just keep doing it slowly, oh so patiently…
• After you are almost done with the oil (about 1/4 cup left) you can speed it up a bit if using a blender, and add the rest of the oil. It should start to become a heavier mixture….continue on until its silky smooth.
• Let it set for 30 minutes in the fridge.

*** IF YOU MESS UP***

I saw many posts and recipes say how you could not save your mixture if it curdled….NOT TRUE!  You can mess up and still have delicious mayo!

Since I had done it the first time in the blender and messed up, I decided to hand-whip it.

I added another egg yolk in a bowl and whipped it….and to that base I started to add the droplets of the curdled mix slowly, whipping it by hand. I followed the instructions clearly this time, and poured the messed up mixture in without having to throw it away! And it worked!

FANTABULOUS Home-made, coconut oil mayonnaise.

Since it’s home-made, with NO preservatives and whack ingredients, it only keeps in the fridge for about two weeks or less….but its worth it!

YUMMMM……

-Mensa

Homemade Clay: An Inconvenient Truth…

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alternatives, an inconvenient truth, art, artist, Cara Reynolds, clay, eco-friendly, elmer's glue, handmade, homemade, homemade clay, is Elmer's glue ecofriendly?, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, mineral oil, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, natural food dyes, polymer clay, turmeric

So you try to be conscious and it ends up you didn’t do much better than you originally thought you would.

I looked, and searched for home-made clay recipes all over the internet. I was looking for a clay that would be malleable yet durable enough to make beautiful things, cheap enough to produce and make over and over again, and a recipe that didn’t use nasty or toxic ingredients.

And I found one! It was perfect….or so I thought.

The ingredients?

-1 cup of Non-Toxic Elmer’s glue

-3/4 to 1 cup of Corn Starch

-2 tbsp of mineral oil  Olive Oil

-1 tbsp of lemon juice

Not so toxic, right?…. Well, I looked into what mineral oil really is, and essentially it is the “by-product of the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum-based products from crude-oil”. That same oil in the clear bottle and the pink cap that you put on a baby’s bum bum, that stuff (plus some fragrance), comes from an incredible unsustainable source. On top of that fun fact, the World Health Organization  “classifies untreated or mildly treated mineral oils as Group 1 carcinogens to humans.” (Source) Group 1 carcinogens = DEFINITELY CARCINOGENIC TO HUMANS. What?!?!

So since I am being all aware and into this, I decided to replace mineral oil with OLIVE OIL!

Cool… That’s great. So I am happy I’ve done my research and I feel better about myself.
I go about following this recipe, which at first I was hating, because it did not come out like it said. After reading the comments from other people though, I cooked the dough longer and realized that the most crucial thing is to KNEAD the clay when it’s REALLY HOT. Then all the parts will blend.

ps. I also added turmeric to the recipe to give it some natural color.

But then something else happened…another question that should’ve been obvious to ask, but I did not. Where the heck does Elmer’s glue come from???

Oh here we go again….. Elmer’s glue is made of polyvinyl acetate which, you guessed it, comes from petrochemical sources. Come on world!!! Really? Which really makes me think about all the “non-toxic” things we buy, that are actually quite toxic to our environment, our bodies, and our world! Of course elmer’s glue is toxic if it’s source and main ingredient when extracted from the ground  pollutes and kills everything around it!

Agrrr… I’m not so happy about this at all. I want to be able to make my own clay/dough at home, with decent ingredients that won’t harm you and me.

I haven’t experimented again, but I will once I find the perfect ingredients.

In the mean time, I will try to use up all my “non-toxic” glue, and try some more natural glue recipes. And lesson learned. Check ALL ingredients and where they come from regardless of now “natural” and non-toxic they are.

-Mensa

 

3 Ingredients: All Natural Every Day Cleaner

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all purpose cleaner, Cara Reynolds, eco-friendly, environmentally friendly cleaner, handmade, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, natural cleaner, nature's alchemy, peppermint essential oil, the new homemaker, vinegar, water

We made our own all purpose house cleaner with 3 ingredients we have at home. It will save us some $$$ and it is super environmentally conscious, AND its as easy and cheesy as 1, 2, 3!

One:

Dont throw away your old cleaner’s spray bottle!

Keep it, and fill it half way with white vinegar.

TWO:

Fill the rest of the bottle with all-natural tap water! ; )

THREE:

Add about 5-10 drops of essential oil. We used peppermint because it smells oh-so-fresh, but you can do anything from lavender to patchouli!

THAT’S IT!

You can use this anywhere and everywhere, and according to The New Homemaker there is dozens of combinations that you can use vinegar with to clean everything from your laundry to removing stains and odors!

So why bother buying “green” cleaners when we can make them at home!?

So do it now!

love,

-Mensa