Variations on salad and sushi

Salad

This time I added snap peas and celery to the salad. YUM! The crunch is amazing.. and the spices.. you won't forget this salad.




Sushi

My husband thinks the almonds are irritating his mouth.. maybe they're too rough. So, I made the raw rice mixture with cashews, instead of almonds. Success! Just change the nut you use to get a slightly different texture. I doubt you could go wrong with this recipe. Really.

(Left, original raw rice recipe. Right, made with cashews.)



Enjoy the original recipe:



Or try with cashews~



Don't forget to make some of your sushi with just avocado - it's great! Then, make others with sliced celery, red bell pepper and cucumber. Mix it up!

Cookies, cookies, cookies

One of the best things about raw foods are the desserts.. and the fact that they are so easy to make and stay fresh in the fridge or freezer for weeks! That means you can make cookies whenever you get a little extra time and just keep them on hand. No more excuses for not being able to curb your raw sweet tooth!

Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies (not completely raw)
1 c raw oats
1 c dates
1+ t cinnamon
handful chocolate chips (you can use raw or regular/cooked)

I blended the oats, dates and cinnamon in the food processor until it was all tiny chunks. It was a little dry so I added a bit of agave. Do this if your dough isn't sticky enough. Then I added the chocolate chips (cooked) and pulsed to chop them up a bit.

Now, form into cookies! Voila! Eat immediately or put in the fridge for a while. They'll last for weeks in the fridge, so you can double or even triple the recipe if you want!




Almond goji-berry cacao cookie (raw, from Ani Phyo's dessert book!)

1/2 c raw almond butter
3 T agave nectar
2 T vanilla extract
1/2 t sea salt
1 1/2 c almond meal
1/4 c goji berries
3 T cacao nibs

Just like the bag of goji berries I bought a few weeks ago, raw cacao nibs are another one of those things that you *think* is expensive when you buy it.. but ends up lasting, and lasting, and lasting..



And I don't buy nut meals, I grind my own as I need them. So, I put the 1 c measure cup next to the coffee grinder. Then, throw a handful of almonds into the coffee grinder. Grind until fine (or chunky, if you prefer.) Make as much as you need!.. it only takes a minute. Really. :)

Hand-mix together the almond butter, agave, vanilla and salt. Then, add the almond meal, goji berries and cacao nibs. Mix well.



Use 1.5 - 2 T of dough to make each cookie. Serve right away or store in the fridge.



Store extra cookies in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy whenever you want!

Do you or your kids ever want to have cookies for dinner? Now is your chance!

Asian salad and sushi

This salad is GREAT! I should've tried this one sooner. I'm loving it.

Salad ingredients:

At least 1 c each shredded red and green cabbages
At least 1/2+ c bok choy, cut how you like
1/2 c cilantro
1/2-1 c mung bean sprouts (if you have them... we didn't, unfortunately)
1/4 c hemp seeds

Dressing:

no more than 1/4 c cold-pressed olive oil
1-2 t cold-pressed sesame oil
2 T agave nectar
1 large clove garlic, minced
1+ red thai pepper minced (I used a few.. probably more than my husband prefers! ha)
1 t minced ginger
1 t sea salt

NOTE: I bought a bag of dried peppers and ground them in the coffee maker. I loooove spicy food, so this is something I keep on hand.

First, mix the dressing by hand and set aside.



Now cut your veggies for the salad.

Put your dressing on the salad and let it marinate. See how easy this is???? If the dressing is too strong, just add more veggies to the salad.





Sushi ingredients:

1 c pecans
1/2 c sunflower seeds
1/2 c almonds
2 T onion powder or minced onion
1/2 c parsley
Juice of 1-2 lemons
1 T garlic powder
2 T Nama Shoyu
2 T cold-pressed sesame oil

Plus, sliced veggies of choice

While your salad is marinating, cut your sushi veggies. I used avocado in the sushi and also added it to the salad. (If you haven't noticed.. I add avocado to everything!)

Throw your sushi-rice ingredients into the food processor. Blend until chunky. This really takes less than 5 minutes!

Now make your sushi. Put (about) 2 T rice mixture on the raw nori sheet. Cover with veggies and roll. That's it!



Slice!



This salad and sushi are a great meal!

Keeping Busy

I think I've been thinking about un-cooking and exercising way too much lately. Granted, I had to learn a lot in the beginning.. I've picked out a few recipes that I just love and I'm still experimenting with new ones..

But I have to say that this is a total buzz kill.

If you think about food, think about exercise, think about your body all the time .. don't be surprised if you get tired of it all. Instead, try doing something worthwhile, something good - not just for others but for you as well!



I'm talking about becoming a foster home. We've been one for years and have loved every second. Actually, we're new to Arkansas so our fosters for the past year have been random abused, neglected and lost animals that we've found - or have found us. But now we're helping out a local group and of course, on the first day decided to take home 3 sickly black kittens: Ted, Marshall and Barney. (Anyone watch 'How I Met Your Mother'?)



They're on antibiotics for a fever. They were absolutely flea-infested when we brought them home so they immediately went into the bath tub where my husband and I spent over an hour and a half picking off hundreds of fleas. Poor little guys!



Marshall had it the worst .. he's got scabs all over his neck. I think Marshall and Ted were anemic from all the blood loss. Sad, isn't it?

Barney's hair is shorter.. maybe that's why he didn't have as many fleas. But for some reason he's probably a half pound smaller than the other two. (That may not sound like much.. but when you're only a pound and a half, it's a lot!) :)



Whether you're fostering children or animals, or helping the elderly.. it's important to spend your time helping others. Don't waste days, weeks, years dwelling on your weight. Get active. Be helpful. . . and everyone benefits.

Raw day 21 - strawberry ganache fudge cake, spaghetti

Were trying new noodle dishes.. and since we loved the pesto pasta so much we decided to try a sun-dried tomato marinara pasta tonight:



It's very good! (Though next time I'll make the spaghetti that Tyler prefers, which is italian-spiced oily noodles with diced tomatoes. I don't know what else to call it but it's not a smooth sauce, it's more a light noodle dish with italian spices and diced tomatoes on top. You know?)

Anyway, this was very easy to prepare and very good!

Ingredients:

1 c tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/2 c fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
1/4 c evoo
juice 1/2 lemon or lime
1 t pitted dates
1 t oregano
1/2 t rosemary
1 t sea salt
3 T sun-dried tomatoes

Mix all ingredients, except sun-dried tomatoes, in food processor or blender until smooth. Then add sun-dried tomatoes and blend until mostly smooth, or to desired texture.

That's it! Just make your zucchini noodles while it's blending or even ahead of time. But don't put the sauce on the noodles until you're ready to serve.

Yum!


Dessert

I also decided to try one of Ani Phyo's fancy desserts: Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake (with a few substitutions of my own.)

I have strawberries on hand, not raspberries, so I used those. We also don't use walnuts so I subbed almonds. At first I thought they would be too sturdy, too heavy.. but they're pleasantly rich and smooth!

As usual, I halved the recipe:

Ingredients:

Cake -
1.5 c almonds
1/3 c unsweetened cacao or carob
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 c dates

Frosting (I had to make the full recipe b/c the half recipe wasn't big enough to blend) -
1/3 c dates
1/4 c agave
1/2 c ripe avocado
1/3 c cacao powder

Filling -
1/2 c fruit, in this case strawberries

To make the cake, combine nuts, cacao powder and salt in food processor. Blend until still slightly coarse. Add dates and blend until well mixed. Shape into 2 stackable cakes of desired shape and set aside.



Now, make frosting by blending all frosting ingredients until smooth.

To serve, frost top of one of the cakes and layer with fruit (strawberries or raspberries.) I also added another T of frosting on top of the fruit to help the upper layer stick.



Stack the second cake on top.



Now cover top and sides with frosting.



You can serve immediately or put in the fridge for a few hours to firm up. The assembled cake will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

I know you can eat this cake immediately as I had a slice right away. WOW! This is half the recipe, so it should make only 3 servings... (the whole recipe, if you doubled the cake ingredients, is said to have 6 servings.. but honestly, I think it has a lot more!)

Raw day 18 - sushi, pesto pasta

I am so tired of making the same foods every day! We make tons of salads (which I actually love but I know Tyler is getting bored with) and of course, raw mexican food because it's so dang easy. So, starting today we're branching out to Asian and Italian foods. I've been wanting to do this, anyway.. I've just been toooooooo lazy.

So here goes!

Raw sushi

Pate:
2 Cups Pecans
1/3 Cup Minced Red Onion (I did not use very much onion and I only used onion powder)
1/2 Cup Chopped Parsley
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 Teaspoons Nama Shoyu
2 Teaspoons Cold Pressed Sesame Oil

Other ingredients:
Sliced veggies - avocado, bell pepper, celery
Sprouts
Raw nori rolls

We spent the weekend in Tulsa, OK (the closest large city to us) and of course we spent a ton of money at Whole Foods. Hey, we rarely get to shop at such an awesome grocer. I freaking love that place! Though I sure wish I had bought more raw nori. Dang. At least we'll be stopping in Dallas in October, so I can pick up some more then. We bought tons of raw nuts, seeds, spices, oils, goji berries, sugar. Yay!

So, luckily I had all of the ingredients for some yummy raw sushi (including cold-pressed organic sesame oil and raw nori.)



I saw this recipe on gliving.com and decided to try it today. WOW. I will definitely be making raw sushi on a regular basis now. (Tonight we're trying zucchini pasta with pesto.. I can't wait!) Back to the sushi..

My knives are unbelievably dull so I left the sushi in a large roll and dipped it as I ate. It tastes just as good! :) I actually quartered the recipe so I could just try it first. Now that I know I love it I can make a whole batch and keep the pate in the fridge for up to a week. Then I can throw together the sushi whenever I want. I think this will be key to eating more diverse raw meals!

Directions:

Put your pecans in the food processor. Blend into small pieces. Then add all of the other ingredients and pulse to mix. That's it!

Use your sushi roller. Place one piece of nori on the roller. Spread about two T of pate on one end. Put your sliced veggies across the pate. Now just use your roller to make the sushi! Slice or eat as-is.



I made two rolls using a quarter of the recipe.. and I ate them both for lunch, along with raw snow peas on the side. I dipped those in the soy sauce and also used them to pick up the yummy stuff that fell out of my sushi roll as I ate. What a great meal!



So... while I love the idea of being raw 100% of the time.. I've decided that Nama Shoyu is so hard to get where we are that it's just not worth it. Honestly, I don't see how it can be much better for you than soy sauce. They're both just salty sauces. So, until I learn otherwise.. I don't mind using regular soy sauce, since we can actually buy that here.


DINNER

Delicious Pesto Pasta



I'm using their photo because mine came out fuzzy. Oops.

This pesto is so delicious and SO easy to make! This is a great dish to make after a trip to the farmer's market, where you can pick up bunches of fresh spices for really cheap.

Pesto ingredients:
3 c fresh basil
1 c pecans
5 cloves garlic
dash sea salt
up to 1/3 c olive oil

First, blend your pecans in a food processor until it's all small chunks. Then, add the basil, garlic and salt. Blend again. This time, add oil as needed to make it mostly smooth. You still want some chunks but you want it to be sauce-like as well.

NOTE: Using a blender will make a smoother pate.. but I wanted some chunks in my sauce, so I used the food processor. This would make a great veggie dip or great in lettuce wraps, too!



Toss with zucchini and carrot pasta! I even added 1/2 of a fresh avocado to each of our pastas. It was great!

To make the pasta peel the zucchini and slice both the zucchini and carrot. I used our mandolin on its thinnest setting. We have a very simple mandolin that only slices, so after I made several slices I would just stack a few together and slice into strands. Voila. It was so easy.

I actually made my zucchini and carrot strips first, then smeared them with a tiny bit of olive oil and left them to marinate. I have never made veggie pasta before and I wasn't sure if they would be soft and noodle-like or crunchy like fresh veggies!.. I have to say, this is absolutely delicious!.. the best noodles I've had in a long time!

My husband couldn't stop saying how good it was. He loves this dish, so that's a relief. Yep, this is a recipe we'll repeat in our house! Tomorrow - I'm making zucchini pasta with marinara. Yum!

Raw day 14 - snacks for the weekend

We're heading out of town this weekend so I wanted to make sure we had raw snacks to bring! We'll need some breakfast foods and snacks for the trip. So, here's what I came up with:

1) Peanut-butter banana bites

1 1/2+ c raw peanut meal
1/3 c flax meal
1 large banana (maybe 2, if you need more moisture)
4 T raw agave nectar

I made this one up, so I'm not sure how they're going to turn out.. but they smell fantastic and the batter tastes great, too! I just made small-ish sized balls and put them in the dehydrator at 110. I plan to leave them in for about 5 hours.


2) Strawberry muffins (though I don't have any muffin cups at the moment, so these are just big muffin balls)

1 2/3 c almond meal
1 c flax meal
1/4 t sea salt
2 T agave
1 T vanilla extract
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 c fresh or frozen chopped strawberries or whole blueberries
up to 1/3 c water

This is Ani Phyo's blueberry muffin recipe.. but my husband won't eat blueberries for some reason, so I substituted chopped strawberries. These smell SOOOO good right now. There's a glaze recipe, too.. but since I wasn't putting these in muffin cups I won't be making a glaze this time. I can't wait to try them!




3) Simple oat snack bar

1 c dates
1 c oats
1 T cinnamon, to taste

I made 3 large bars that we can share, so we don't have to carry a bunch of small bars. But if I was making these just for me I would make 6 bars. Just blend the dates in the food processor until they've been chopped into small bits (they will probably stick together at this point.) Then put them in a bowl and hand-mix in the oats and cinnamon. Put your desired amount onto a sheet of plastic wrap and fold into a bar shape. Keep in the fridge until you're ready to enjoy them. That's it!

Raw day 12 - amazing apple cobbler, more kale recipes

I think that knowing I can only use raw food ingredients in my recipes has really opened my eyes! Now, when I want to make something - whether it's sweet or savory, snack or more filling - my thoughts immediately turn to wholesome, raw ingredients. It's becoming second nature!

And ever since I saw Ani Phyo make a peach cobber with raw pistachios, I've been on the hunt to find them. Pistachios have to be the yummiest nut ever. I could eat them everyday... and now that I found raw pistachios, I just might!

Serves 2

Crust ingredients:

1/2 c raw pistachios
1/2 c dates

Filling:

2 organic fuij apples
at least 2 t ground cinnamon
2 T agave nectar

THIS IS SO EASY!

First, I put the crust ingredients into the food processor and turned it on.

While the crust was blending I sliced my apples pretty thin. Each of us got one whole apple per bowl. I sprinkled lots and lots of cinnamon onto the apples and smeared it around with a spoonful of agave nectar (approximately.)



As soon as the crust was ground into small pieces I just poured it directly onto the apples.



OH MY WOW! Of course, this would work with raw oats as well.. but we have been eating so many oats lately that I wanted to try a nut covered cobbler. Yum!




I made another batch of the always-yummy, B12 enriched kale by smearing olive oil, a little nutritional yeast and sea salt all over each piece. **I've noticed that even in raw food cookbooks there are dishes made with maple syrup or nutritional yeast .. I assume it's because they aren't bad for you and probably more because they have a nutritional quality about them that makes small quantities okay - or even good for you. And I think adding a little B12 to your diet, even a dedicated raw food diet, is a good idea. Plus, it makes tasty, cheezy kale chips!



I experimented with cashew butter kale today.. all I did was scoop out some raw cashew butter (oh yes, this is fun and messy) and smeared it all over the kale! It doesn't get much easier than this!

These chips are super crunchy and very good! I don't know how to explain the flavor.. kind of nutty but not overly so. The cashew butter has a very light flavor to it. I think next time I'll try with raw almond butter and see how those turn out, too!



What are your favorite kale chip flavors??? Share!!

Raw day 11 - fruit smoosh

I read about raw foodies drinking smoothies every day. I guess I'm not just much of a smoothie person.. but I'm going to try to be. I know they're really good for you and help you digest everything in your smoothie. I know, I know. So, here's what I'm doing to try to get used to it...



I've been making very smooth bowls of fruit smoosh. It's basically a very thick, very smooth smoothie! One batch could probably feed two people, as it makes two full bowls, but I usually eat the whole thing! Don't worry.. it's guilt-free!

I fill the small bowl in my food processor with frozen bananas and strawberries (mostly bananas.) I let it thaw for about a half hour before blending it into a fluffy, smooth, creamy bowl of goodness. Then, blend it completely. Sometimes I have to add a dash of water - just enough to keep it blending! Do not add too much. I fill my bowl and top with random dried fruits and nuts - this time, goji berries and sliced raw almonds. Don't forget to put the remaining smoosh in the freezer while you eat the first bowl. It won't freeze solid while you're eating the first bowl but it will remain solid.

YUM!! You will love it! Plus, the smoosh is so cold that it freezes the fruit and nuts so they become very crunchy. I make this one all the time now.

Faster raw sour cream

I meant to make my raw sour cream earlier today.. for our raw tacos tonight. But you know how it is when something else gets in the way. I totally forgot!

So, this time I used cashew butter instead of my own soaked cashews, it was super fast! All I had to do was add a little water to thin it out. Wow, it's fluffy and creamy! And when using cashew butter (East Wind, I believe is the brand we buy) it's super fast and easy, too.

Easy!

Ingredients:

1/3 c cashew butter (I used less than if I were using my own soaked cashews)
1/8 t salt
1/2 t apple cider vinegar
juice of 1/2 small lemon
1/2 t agave
1/8 -1/4 t acidophilus powder
*water, as needed to consistency

I let it sit out for an hour (or a little more while we made dinner).. voila!

Raw day 8 - chocolate day

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.. my husband is a choco-holic, so I'm preparing lots of chocolate goodies for his birthday. (You know, I never thought I would EVER say this.. but after being around chocolate all day, making all of these yummies.. I honestly don't want to eat any! haha)

At least I started out the day with a filling and healthy meal! And I wasn't even hungry for lunch. Weird.

Breakfast:

A few pecans
1/3+ cup buckwheaties cereal
handful goji berries
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
A few dates, chopped into small pieces
small handful sunflower seeds
A lot of my fresh mylk (It was grrrrrrreat!)



Dinner celebration:

Chocolate date bites
Chocolate covered peanut butter balls
Chocolate covered cherries
Peanut butter chocolate pies

Some of the things I dipped in chocolate:



To make peanut butter balls and the crust for the peanut butter pie I simply de-shelled a bag of raw peanuts and ground them in the coffee grinder. Now, add just enough water to make them sticky. That's it! If you prefer a sweetier or stickier peanut butter you can always add a little oil or raw sugar to the mixture.. but I wanted these to be simple. And they were great!

My favorite has to be the easiest of all - remove the pit and insert a raw almond into your dates. Voila! I'm telling you these are easy and so fantastic.. even before they were dipped in chocolate.

To make dried cherries you just remove the pit and stem - then dehydrate! I love, love, love dried cherries.. and they are so easy to make.



The fanciest part of the feast has to be the peanut butter chocolate pie (that tastes kind of like snickers, especially the second day!):



I didn't add any dates to the crust of this pie.. I just smooshed the peanut butter I made into my little 3" tart pans, that I lined with plastic wrap for easy removal. Make sure your crust goes up the side of the tart pan and is open in the middle, for your fillings. Now put in the freezer while you prepare the rest of the pie. I made 3 tart crusts.

Filling:

10 dates, sliced into small pieces
1-2 T raw agave nectar

Remove crusts from the freezer. Mix filling ingredients well and separate into the three tart crusts you've made.

Topping:

1/2 c cacao powder
3 T agave
1 T oil
dash of salt

Mix the chocolate topping - this is a VERY rich recipe - and smear on top of all 3 tarts. Now put in the fridge to harden.



Use the remaining chocolate mixture to cover your peanut butter balls, cherries and dates! **I ran out of dark chocolate so I also made a lighter chocolate mixture (using more agave in the chocolate to thin it out) and dipped the remaining dates and cherries in the light chocolate. I do not have cacao butter so my chocolate wasn't solid and they were very sticky! It didn't matter.. we had lots of fun licking the chocolate off of each other. Very romantic! :)

Update: one week raw

I didn't think I was losing any weight.. but I am happy to say that i was wrong! (I don't own a scale but I do take measurements and know how fit I am based on how well my clothes fit.)

So, when I began my raw journey last week I took my measurements.. and in just a week, here is what has happened:

I've lost:

1/2 inch in my waist
almost 1 inch in my chest (the more, the better, I say!)
3/4 inch in my arm
1/2 inch in my thigh
3/4 inch in my hips

And this was just in 7 days! I am not losing muscle, either. I know a few days ago I was complaining about lack of energy.. but I think we've figured out what it was. Tyler and I have BOTH been fighting off some sickness. (Of course, several sick people at his work have been coming in when they were sick rather than staying home and protecting others from becoming sick.) But all we've both experienced is sore muscles, like we've been working out, and lethargy. I'm happy to report that as of yesterday I'm getting my strength back and I never actually felt sick. Yay!

Needless to say, this raw journey is proving even easier and having greater results than I imagined. I am so happy! .. and I encourage everyone else to set a goal for yourself, if you plan to go raw (for a week, a month or forever.)

It's similar to when I decided to be vegan. Once I said "I'm vegan" .. I did it. There was no more maybe, no more temptation by non-vegan foods. Going raw is the same way! If I say "I'm raw" .. then I am.

Things look a little different when you decide to do something, rather than saying you're "considering" doing something. Set a goal. Achieve that goal. It's a great feeling!

Good luck! I hope my experience has helped someone learn about raw foods, how easy it is and to go raw, no matter if it's 50%, 75% or 100% raw. If I can do this - you can, too.

... more to come.

September is 'National Chicken Month'

Thrown, dropped, mutilated, and ground-up alive. This is the shocking reality faced by hundreds of thousands of chicks each day at the world's largest egg-laying breed hatchery - Hy-Line International in Spencer, Iowa. New hidden camera footage obtained at this facility during a Mercy For Animals undercover investigation gives a disturbing glimpse into the cruel and industrialized reality of modern hatcheries.

BEWARE: Baby chicks ground-up alive in this video! We may be able to look away but they can't avoid the terror.

www.mercyforanimals.org/hatchery/

In an attempt to boost post-summer lagging sales, the chicken industry has declared September as "National Chicken Month." Sadly, billions of chickens are raised and killed for human consumption each year in the U.S., many of whom suffer from crippling leg disorders due to intensive genetic selection for extremely rapid growth rates.

COK sees "National Chicken Month" as a great opportunity to shed light on the industry's cruel, yet standard, practices and to encourage people to choose compassion by leaving chickens--and all other animals--off our plates.



Get involved!.. for the animals AND for your health. WE ALL DESERVE BETTER.

www.cok.net/feat/national_chicken_mo
nth/

Raw sour cream that is actually sour!

I experimented.. and it worked! I couldn't believe how great this raw sour cream was last night. You've gotta try it to believe it.

1/2 c cashews, soaked
1/8 t salt
1/2-1 t apple cider vinegar
juice of 1/2 small lemon
1/2 t agave
1/8 -1/4 t acidophilus powder

Pour off nut water. Blend all ingredients together.. this will not make a large amount, you'll need a small blender.

Put blended sour cream into a storage container, mug or bowl and cover. Leave out on counter for 2+ hours to sour. Taste it periodically if you want. Place in fridge as soon as it's sour enough. Stir and serve cold! (Mine was sour enough after 2 hours.)

It's sooooooo good! We had it on raw tacos last night. Wow. I forgot how much I missed sour cream!

****I will definitely be adding acidophilus powder to my cheesecake recipe. I can't wait. It's going to be so rich and sour like cream cheese. Yum!

Raw day 6 & 7 - hemp seeds, nut mylk

Even before going raw, I loved salads. We always try to vary our veggies, fruits and nuts that we have on hand. It makes us try different recipes using the ingredients we have. And I'll admit that we're keeping even MORE varied foods on hand now that I'm raw (and Tyler is eating mostly raw at home.)


New to me!.. hemp seeds:

One bag of hemp seeds goes a long way. Just a spoonful here or there and you're packing in 33 percent pure digestible protein, lots of iron, vitamin E and omega-3 and GLA!



It's great on your chocolate puddings (along with a sprinkle of dried cherries or goji berries) and of course, on salads:



This picture was lunch yesterday - a raw chickpea patty, salad with raw croutons and hemp seeds! I made a tomato dressing in my tiny blender by blending: 1 tomato, pinch salt, 1/2 clove garlic, rosemary and oregano. It was okay.

IMPORTANT: because the human body produces no Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), it is important that EFAs be consumed on a regular basis. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of Americans take in too little of one of the most important EFAs--omega-3--which is found in flax, walnuts, and hemp seeds.


Nut mylk:

I'm making Ani Phyo's vanilla milk, since it's simple and versatile. (NOTE: If you want to use mylk in your recipes to make them thicker but you don't want anything sweet, just omit the dates and vanilla. It's that easy.) Also, since I have a regular blender and not a VitaMix, I had to shrink the recipe by about 20%.

Ingredients

a bit less than 1/2 c almonds
a bit less than 1/2 c dates
3/4 vanilla bean
pinch sea salt
4 cups water

Put all ingredients in the blender. (The directions didn't say to soak before blending but I'm letting this mixture soak for 1/2 hour before I actually blend it together. I think this will make it easier for my blender to make a smooth mylk.)



Blend! I poured my mylk through a strainer into the jar, so the mylk would be smooth. It's beautiful!



Store in the fridge in a closed container for 4 days. Then just do it again! Making nut mylks is super simple. When you know you're running out, just make some more.

*As an experiment, I'll be keeping a cinnamon stick in the jar with the mylk.

**This winter we will make a nog by reducing the water content and adding cinnamon and nutmeg to the milk!



I didn't want to waste the chunky bits of the mylk so I put it back into the blender, added fruit, some ice and water.. and had a fresh smoothie with lunch!

Raw day 5 - chickpea patties, fastest fruit cobbler

My stomach wasn't happy with me for the first few days on my new raw food diet. I didn't feel bad most of the time, just periodically. Luckily, that seems to have stopped. Yay! ... but something else weird is happening..

I didn't sleep much this weekend. I wasn't tired at all and woke up early on my own.. I just didn't feel like sleeping in, even though we usually do on the weekends! Weird. It's certainly not a bad thing.. just an observation.

Today was my fault, though.. today was not good.

Usually I exercise 4 days a week, some combination of dancing and pilates. I'm usually smiling and having fun. I love pushing myself and I always get a boost of feel-good hormones while I'm doing it. . . but today I actually quit after 35 minutes. Yikes. I hear that you're supposed to have more energy than you know what to do with. I hope that'll happen soon!.. and that I'll drink as much water as usual. I don't know why but I forgot! Usually I chug water all day.. I have no idea what happened today.

I actually feel great. My body feels good. My muscles feel good. I'm happy. . I just wonder why I lack the drive to exercise. Hopefully it's just because I forgot to hydrate...



Now on to my favorite part of the blog - the food!

Breakfast:

I'm really enjoying fresh fruit on my raw toast! It's crunchy and wonderful. I will DEFINITELY keep raw toast made at all times.

Dinner:

Experimental almond-crusted chickpea patties :)

For dinner tonight, we have some chickpea patties in the dehydrator that will hopefully taste reminiscent of falafel. We'll see!

Chickpea patty ingredients:
1.5 c sprouted chickpeas (see earlier post about sprouting)
1 clove minced garlic
1 t cayenne
1/2 t cumin
some parsley and cilantro
1/2 t sea salt
water, as needed (approx 1 cup)

Crust ingredients:
in a coffee grinder, put a handful of buckwheaties and about 6 almonds. Blend until fine or slightly chunky. Put this into a bowl and add a handful of sesame seeds. That's it! (NOTE: next time I'll leave the almonds slightly chunkier and add a small t of olive oil to the the mixture.)

To make the chickpea patties I put all of the ingredients into the food processor and blended, adding water as needed until it became smooth enough for me to form into patties. You don't want it runny.

Now just form patties on your teflex sheet that are about 1/2 inch high, using all the dough. Now sprinkle your crust ingredients over each patty.



Dehydrate 3 hours on one side. Then flip over and dry no more than 5 hours more. Keep testing them to see how dry you want them. I kept them moist on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. Wow, these came out better than expected!



I poured some of our homemade salsa (that we threw together yesterday with random fridge ingredients) on top of the patty.. the flavors were perfect together! I made 2 batches of Ani Phyo's raw sesame bread - so I can just pull it out to make sandwiches anytime! Served with, you guessed it, kale chips fresh out of the dehydrator. YUM!

If you have the bread around.. you won't have any excuse. But you have to make it first. If you want to eat more raw meals - you must, must, must keep raw food ingredients around. You must!


Dessert:

I wanted something sweet and something fast.. so here's what I did:

Ingredients
1 c dates
1 c oats
2 t agave nectar, optional

Blend dates and oats in food processor until very small pieces. Your crumble should be slightly sticky. If it's not, add a spoonful or two of agave and mix again.



In the meantime you'll slice your favorite veggies into individual bowls. (That's the great thing about this cobbler, you can serve everyone their own favorite fruits!)



Pour crust on top of lots of fruit. YUM! Dig in. I promise you won't be able to put it down.