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I love affirmations, and they have seen me through some tough times.

If you are not familiar with them,  affirmations are thoughts, ideas and stories to reprogram your consciousness to change your reality.

Beautiful, meaningful, positive affirmations have the power to rewire your beliefs.

They can also influence your health because our bodies are a  battleground for the war we wage in our minds. By changing the conversation that is happening in your mind, your body will become stronger and healthier.

Affirmations should be positive, present tense, personal statements about the reality you want to create.

To begin using affirmations, I suggest you write down an affirmation on a piece of paper or record it on your smartphone.

Read or listen to that affirmation, a few times a day especially in the morning when you wake-up and before you go to bed.

Affirmations are also a great tool to achieve goals. Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey and Jim Carrey are just a few well-known people who used positive affirmations to achieve their success.

For example, today’s affirmation will be A for acceptance. “Today I will accept myself just as I am. I will reaffirm that I am a beautiful person just as I am and  I will feel peace, harmony, and love.”

Now on to food. This week I tried making vegan eggplant parmesan.

I love ricotta cheese in my eggplant parmesan so as a substitute I blended together a combination of nuts, tofu, lemon juice and fresh herbs to mimic the flavor and texture of ricotta. It tasted pretty good,  and once everything was baked together, I didn’t miss the ricotta at all.

Hope you enjoy this vegan eggplant parmesan as much as I did. If you love pasta as much as I do, you will probably enjoy my Vegan Manicotti with Spinach and Vegan Mac n Cheese with Cauliflower Bechamel.

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*Many people in the wellness world are turning to cannabidiol, commonly referred to as CBD Oil, for its powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety effects. I believe it is the next step in health and wellness for people suffering from anxiety disorders, depression and chronic pain.  You can now purchase a safe and effective vegan Plant-based CBD Oil made from Hemp from me. Link here.

My number one goal with this product is to help you live an anxiety-free and pain-free life.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a peaceful and compassionate day.

Vegan Eggplant Parmesan with Cashew Ricotta

Eggplant Parmigiana with Cashew Ricotta

 

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Vegan Eggplant Parmigiana with Cashew Ricotta

Author: Ordinary Vegan

Recipe type: Entree

Ingredients

Eggplant

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ medium onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 28 ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes
• 2 large eggplants
• salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tbsp minced fresh oregano
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 bunch fresh basil, stemmed and leaves torn into large pieces
• 1 recipe Cashew Ricotta (see below)
• 1 cup dried bread crumbs
• ½ cup non-flavored, non-dairy milk

Cashew Ricotta

• ¾ cup raw cashew pieces (4 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 grinds of black pepper

Instructions

To make Eggplant:

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft and translucent (about 4-5 minutes). Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and their juices and cook, stirring occasionally until thick, 25-30 minutes. Let cool, then transfer to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Heat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with a little olive oil.
3. Trim the ends of the eggplants, then cut the eggplants lengthwise into ¼ inch thick slices. Place the non-dairy milk in a bowl and the bread crumbs on a plate. Dip each slice into non-dairy milk and then into the bread crumbs until each slice is coated lightly in the crumbs. In a large skillet, heat a tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Put as many eggplant slice as will fit in the skillet and cook until golden brown, turning once, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towels to drain, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.
4. Stir the oregano and 1 tablespoon of the parsley into the cashew ricotta.
5. Spread one-fourth of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the prepared pan, then arrange one-third of the eggplant slices on top of the sauce. Sprinkle one-third of basil leaves over the eggplant, Spread one-third of the cashew ricotta (about ½ cup) evenly over the basil leaves. Repeat the layers two more times: sauce, eggplant, basil and cashew ricotta. Spread the remaining sauce over the last layer of cashew ricotta. If you have some extra bread-crumbs, you can also sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top to give it a crunchy top.
6. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until the juices are bubbling. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Cashew Ricotta

1. In a food processor, combine cashews, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 garlic clove, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, tofu, ½ tsp salt and 2 grinds of pepper. Process until smooth and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

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