I love Cajun cooking as much as Mexican.  Guess it’s their “bite”.  This seasoning is the basis for most of my Cajun dishes.

My Cajun Seasoning
•    2 tablespoons onion powder
•    2-½ tablespoons garlic powder
•    2-½ tablespoons dried basil
•    2 tablespoons dried oregano leaves
•    1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
•    1 tablespoon celery seed
•    4 tablespoons paprika
•    1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper*
•    3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

*if ya really like it spicy, you can substitute the following:  one dried habanero pepper, seeds and all, with 1 tsp. of ground cayenne.

In the cold months, I love to have two to three cups or nice hot herbal teas. Herbal teas have many additional health benefits. They are best when sweetened with stevia or other all natural sweeteners. All of the following must have teas can either be purchased as tea bags, or you make them yourself by simply adding the natural ingredients to boiling water. When you make tea it is best to boil the water first,  turn off add your herbs and allow it to sit for about 15 to 20 minutes for optimum benefits.

We love Latin food in my home and one of our favorite dishes is Guacamole. My husband created his own recipe based on one from one of your favorite eating spots. Enjoy it with the Plantain chip recipe we added in this post too.

Costa Rican (spicy) Guacamole

1 -2 large ripe Florida/Caribbean avocado, peeled, halved, and pitted
OR
4-5 California avocados, peeled, halved, and pitted
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup fresh diced tomatoes
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2-3 large serrano chilies seeded, chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Greetings, everyone!

Lately, we have been working to focus our efforts on the specifics of healthy living, in general. As the name Vegan Family Living implies, we will also begin to address our ongoing transition of lifestyle as we learn more about healthy living. Even though the vegan diet has become a cornerstone of our household, we are discovering that healthy living involves so much more than just what we eat. In fact, most of us spend only 8% or less of our day for mealtimes. That combined with the roughly 63% used for sleeping, working, and commuting, leaves us 29% of our day in which we can focus on choosing “healthy alternatives” that would benefit “the rest of our life”.