Stacey D - My Raw Food Experiment

Mango Salsa

2011-06-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

I've been searching for inspiration and found it on Facebook via Beni Johnson - the wife of one of the most influential people of my spiritual life, Bill Johnson. I've subscribed to iBethel.tv for a couple of years now and recently purchased the Wellness Seminar held at Bethel Church in Redding, CA in which Beni speaks about wellness and advocates raw food. I don't have much time these days, as usual with full-time school, parenting, providing child care, and now gardening season. It's important for me to note that every time I take advantage of listening to podcasts or watching streaming sermons online from Bethel it never fails: my life is changed from a deep place in my heart - always. I NEVER go away thinking, "that was a waste of time!"

So Beni recently asked if others had had much luck growing cilantro at home. I never have had much luck myself, but had a nice big fresh bunch of cilantro in my crisper waiting to be used and after a trip to the Iowa City Farmer's Market over the weekend I scored a bag full of hothouse tomatoes and it's time for my first batch of salsa of the season! I just happened to have a very ripe mango here as well and decided to try out some mango salsa. Success!

The recipe made exactly enough to fill this cute jar and because I strained the tomatoes first I got another little jar of fresh tomato juice as well. Mmmm, good!

Mango Salsa

7 small tomatoes, strained
1 medium mango, chopped
1 sweet bell pepper (I used orange to match the mango ;)
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder (you can use fresh if you have it, I didn't have any on hand)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp fresh lime juice

First cut tomatoes in quarters and place in a strainer over a pot or bowl. Gently mash massage the tomatoes to extract juice and allow to sit for 5 minutes or so to drain. Pour tomatoes, chopped mango and all seasonings in a food processor and pulse a few times. Do not over process. Pour into a jar to use later or a bowl to enjoy now!

This is a sweet and tangy salsa and is delicious with raw tortilla chips or in a raw wrap. You can also enjoy it with tortilla chips if you aren't eating all raw. Either way, it's worth giving a try for a new twist on salsa.

Raw 'Cheese' Sauce

2011-04-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Back to my hunt for a raw cheese that feels like a satisfying substitute for the real thing. This one passed my "kiddo taste test" so it's a winner for the whole family!

I found a recipe for a cooked vegan cheese sauce that used almost all raw ingredients. I thought, "Why cook it?" So I modified a few things like using raw bell pepper instead of jarred pimentos and changed up quantities to make a smaller batch. I used dried seasonings but if you like you could easily use raw garlic and onion (they just don't sit well in my tummy these days so I didn't want to risk it.)

I'd like to experiment with this recipe and dehydrate some on a paraflex sheet sometime but that's going to have to be another day with another batch. I have big plans for this one. This is a cheese substitute that fits the bill right now and I don't have to wait hours for (except for the soaking part but I did that this morning and came back to it when I was ready to start the recipe. Soaking is somehow different for me.)

Raw 'Cheese' Sauce

3/4 cup water
1 cup raw cashews (soaked for 6 hours if possible)
1 lemon, juice of
1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 orange or red bell pepper
1/3 cup nutritional yeast (optional - cut 1/4 cup water if not used)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Add more water if needed for desired consistency. Enjoy with vegetable crudites or as a sauce over raw noodles.

I haven't had any kind of non-raw cheese substitute that has even come close to this. I absolutely LOVE it! Hope you enjoy it, too.

Raw Turtles

2011-04-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

I have had quite a sweet tooth lately and with Valentine candy of the past and Easter candy of the near future on my brain I decided to satisfy my craving with a raw version of one of my very favorite holiday candies, Turtles.

These are really very simple and easy to make. I used my usual raw chocolate recipe with a bit less agave to cover pecan halves that were covered by date halves and voila: Raw Turtles! They are so yummy and satisfying, and better yet they have saved me from even wanting the real thing.

Raw Turtles

Raw Chocolate
1/3 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup raw agave nectar

Other Ingredients
30 raw pecan halves
30 date halves

Mix coconut oil, cacao powder and agave together into a thick chocolate sauce. Lay the pecan halves on waxed or parchment paper covered cookie sheet and cover each one with half a date. Dip each pecan/date combo in the chocolate sauce and place in freezer to harden.

I recommend storing in either the refrigerator or freezer to keep the chocolate from melting. They'll last longer in the freezer and I find that I eat goodies like this less frequently if I keep them out of site in the freezer than if I can see them every time I open the fridge.

Long Time, No Post. What's UP?

2011-02-17T07:56:00.000-08:00

Wow, I haven't posted since July 2010! It is now February 2011 and raw food is still a part of my life, though not in the quantity I would prefer. I've been encouraged, motivated and even inspired by comments that people have left on the blog and today received and email stating: "We've scoured the web to look for qualifying blogs who've gone the "Extra Mile" in being an overall excellent resource." What? Really? Wow! I'm not really sure I deserve it but Thank You!! Nothing more motivating than that to get back to blogging! Check out the award badge on the right side of the blog to see many more blogs featuring raw food.

So where have I been? I had a baby girl in September. She's so awesome and her big sister is amazing with her. As a nursing mom I've become even more aware of what is going into my body because someone else is reacting to it.

Here I am with my family. The girls are perfect. My hubby and I managed to grow an extra chin for each of us during my pregnancy. Not the most flattering photo of me, but real. Seriously, time for change.

NOT surprisingly baby girl does not tolerate one of my favorite indulgences: dairy. I confess that I am a lover of cheese, and I haven't been able to have it for the past 5 months. What better reason to begin the hunt for a satisfying raw cheese alternative. It's on!

I don't have an raw recipes to post today but I want to give two big thumbs up to Weight Watchers. For the first time in 13 years they have revamped the program and for the better. The new points system encourages people to eat more fruits and veggies by making the vast majority of them worth 0 points, meaning those following the plan can eat as much fruit and veg as they want. I'm so happy for this change as I did Weight Watchers in the past and was always frustrated that people could eat their processed unhealthy crap and still lose weight but not gain health. This has been addressed with a new points calculator as well. Finally, calories are not accounted for. Instead they use protein, fat, fiber and carbs to calculate the points based on how the body uses those nutrients and not based on calories consumed. Not all calories are created equal. There's probably still some room for improvement but I feel that this is a giant leap from where they were a year ago.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

2010-07-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while since I've posted to this blog. I've been away from blogging about raw because I've been avoiding raw quite a bit during pregnancy. Not intentionally at all. I just haven't had an appetite for raw food, I can't explain it.

Though I recently had a craving for healthy fat and one of my favorites is virgin coconut oil. Mmmm, good! That is what led me to make some raw chocolate covered strawberries!! They're very simple really.

1/2 cup raw cacao

1/2 cup raw coconut oil

1/3 cup raw agave nectar

That's all folks. Blend it all up in a food processor or blender and you have a thick chocolate syrup which you can dip strawberries or any other fruit or goodie in. Once you put them in the fridge it only takes 30 minutes or so for them to firm up. I also made some chocolates in candy molds but didn't get any photos of those. Some have raw almonds in the center - another tasty and healthy fat to satisfy my healthy fat craving. I guess that baby needed a little extra something to help pack on the weight before coming into the world. We're due 8/23 - just over 3 weeks to go (give or take ;)

Green Goodness, thanks to iPhone?

2009-11-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

It's true. I took the plunge and bought an iPhone a couple of days ago with high hopes of using handy applications to help me and my family make some healthy lifestyle changes. Sound unlikely? That's what I might have thought before I learned about all the AMAZING possibilities that this little piece of wonderful has to offer!
Because I got my new iPhone I looked into a free web service I used years ago called

Spark People

This service offers a number of web tools to help people meet their health and fitness goals. It's a whole package. And it's free!! I can't say enough wonderful things about Spark People. You'll have to just check it out for yourself to truly appreciate all it has to offer.

So with the inspiration of my iPhone and a free website as well as a free app for my new toy from Spark People, I set up my account with my current data and set goals. Now I can track my progress daily using my phone, no matter where I am. The convenience is amazing.

There are many factors that go into a healthy lifestyle. I personally choose as many local foods as possible, growing much of it myself. I have every intention of remaining vegetarian, though do not intend to make the move to vegan. I do intend to eat at least 50% of my daily calories raw and hope to increase that over time. I appreciate the motivation that I've gained through a high tech contraption because trust me friends, I wasn't getting motivated any other way!

So this morning I replaced my morning cup of java with a heavenly simple green smoothie that even my 4 year old gulped down. We were both impressed by the flavor, the energy and the shimmer in the glass. It was like magic!

Simple Green Smoothie

1 cup frozen peaches

1 fresh banana

1 cup baby spinach

1 cup water

Blend in the Blendtec until smooth and dreamy. Serves 2.

Stuck

2009-08-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

I feel stuck. I haven't been eating a raw diet for quite some time now. I've gained quite a bit of weight and I don't like it. Who would? It's frustrating because I have this amazing, bountiful garden with amazing goodness available for harvest and even get food delivered to my door by my CSA (including tons of zucchini that "I just don't know what to do with". Ha! There's zucchini noodles, zucchini hummus, zucchini chips... what is wrong with me?

Anyway, I'm preparing for a one day mono diet cleanse/fast. I'm choosing cucumbers because we have an abundance of them and they are oh so good for me. I'm hoping this will jump start a fresh inspiration to move back in the raw direction, even if it's not 100% raw. I have a friend that would like to do raw for one week with me so I'm hunting down recipes now and planning some good dehydrated breads and crackers to help get back into the groove.

So in the meantime, enjoy a happy, colorful photo of a days harvest from the garden.

Homegrown Inspiration

2009-06-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

Growing my own food has always been inspiring. When I saw the tops of these gorgeous crimson radishes poking their heads out of the soil inviting me to pull them up I was totally amazed that they grew so quickly and even more excited to eat early crops from the garden other than lettuce which we've been harvesting small amounts of for the past 10 days or so.
This year I planted nasturtium, a plant I've never grown before. They have these gorgeous edible flowers and while I understand that growing this plant is somehow good for my soil, growing the flower to eat is good for my soul :) Another edible flower that I included in my square foot gardens this year is the pansy. They come in many different colors and they have long been one of my favorites because of their bright colors and papery petals but again, this is the first year I've grown them. I can't wait to create a salad with homegrown greens and gorgeous edible flowers.This lush bowl of salad greens including a variety of lettuces and arugula from the garden was more than photo worthy. I feel so blessed to have the liberty to walk out my back door and go to my garden to gather my lunch or dinner. Wow.
So I've been away from raw for a while and though I of course continued to eat raw foods I did not manage to maintain a high raw diet. If all of this homegrown fresh goodness isn't inspiration to get back into the raw groove I don't know what is.

Purple People Maker?

2009-03-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

Since I gave up solid food breakfasts for Lent I've been enjoying lots of new smoothie creations. Because my husband and I are hoping to add to our family I thought I'd make a little something to possibly encourage fertility. The result is the Purple People Maker ;)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 frozen banana
2 cups water + 2 Tbsp shelled hemp seeds (or use 2 cups hemp milk)
1 tsp agave nectar
1 tsp Sambazon Acai Powder
1 tsp wheat grass powder
1 Tbsp maca powder

Whether this smoothie will actually increase our chances of making a little person or not is unclear, ( I leave the actual creation part up to God) but this purple smoothie wonder sure did taste wonderful so that's good enough for me.

Durian Goodness

2009-01-26T08:45:00.000-08:00

Here is video of the Durian Goodness!

Durian Love

2009-01-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

So we recently bought a whole frozen durian from our local Asian market, Chongs. We've had durian before, Cam loved it immediately, I'm still on the fence and Cam quickly convinced Adi to give it a try and she's a durian lover as well... Here's a photo of the spiky fruit before it was opened. It's HUGE!

Adi was so excited about opening the durian. She could hardly stand waiting for it to thaw. This one had a really mild sweet smell prior to opening. One that was tolerable for me since I'm not a huge fan of the durian stench.

As you can see I'm not so sure about this stuff. I'm trying really hard to like it, but am amazed at how much my 3.5 year old totally LOVES the stuff!

Here she is actually licking the fruit out of the spiky casing. She couldn't get enough!

And finally a big ol chunk of durian heading for her salivating mouth. It was interesting to watch Adi and Cam go nuts over the stuff. I hesitantly had a little bit. I'm still not a durian lover, but rather tolerate it.

After getting the seeds out of each section we froze the durian using round biscuit cutters so it's in individual size portions. It has a custard like consistency and would probably mix really well with banana to make a frozen ice cream. I might like that a little better. I wanted to post a video but we're having a hard time getting it to upload, must be too long? I'll try editing and see if I can get it out there some time, it's worth it just to see and hear how Adi responds to the experience.

Blueberry Ice Cream

2009-01-13T12:18:00.000-08:00

The other night when I asked Adi what she wanted for dinner she said, "ice cream". Ha ha. No ice cream for you. With the COLD winter weather lately I've had no desire at all to eat ice cream. But she persisted so I decided to come up with a raw vegan ice cream to make my little princess happy.

Get ready for a really simple recipe.

Blueberry Ice Cream (Serves 2-3)
2 frozen bananas
1 cup frozen blueberries (you can also use thawed or fresh blueberries if you like)

Break the bananas into 1-2 inch sections to fit in an agar style juicer using the blank plate and alternate blueberries with bananas. Voila. Blueberry ice cream. Adi ate it up :)

I'm Posting This on All Three of My Blogs

2009-01-08T06:30:00.000-08:00

John McCabe from Sunfood Living
sent out an email last week about his new book.

Here is what he wrote:

Hello everybody,

After years of work, I have decided to pass over the traditional book
publishing fiasco and to publish my newest book on an
advertiser-supported Web site:
http://www.hempnowbook.com.

People told me, “Oh, you can't do that!”

Yes, I can!

Yes, I did!

Various publishing companies that looked at the manuscript
wanted the book to be shorter, to be focused only on hemp,
and to not contain the “controversial chapters” about the drug war,
political corruption, the prison industry, and corporate greed.

To their proposals to cut my book in half, I say: No, thanks!
That would truly be a book to nowhere.

By publishing the book for free on the Web,
people all over the planet can educate themselves on the topic.
People all over the planet have already been looking at
my other Web sites (http://www.sunfoodliving.com,
and http://www.sunfoodtraveler.com - which is going to be overhauled).
This new site will give them more of my writing to read.

I didn't write the book for money. I wrote it for the environment,
for wildlife, for family farmers, for the health of humanity,
and for a more sustainable world.

According to the authorities and industry leaders who
read through the manuscript as I was writing it,
it is the most up-to-date and complete book on the history,
laws, and uses of hemp, the world's most useful plant.

Even though the U.S. is the world's number one
importer of hemp products, U.S. farmers are not
allowed to grow it, but Canadian farmers are growing
many thousands of acres of it, and they are doing so
largely to supply hemp products for the U.S. market.
Read my book and understand why the U.S. government
refuses to allow family farmers to grow hemp.

My new book has been endorsed by
The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance;
The Hemp Lobby;
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML);
Oregon NORML;
and The Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform.

Also, the people at http://www.VoteHemp.com read
through the manuscript, provided me with information for the book,
and connected me with people to interview.

After years of writing, rewriting, researching, toiling,
interviewing, editing, and more researching and writing and rewriting…

As of today, December 30, 2008…

The complete manuscript of
HEMP: WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW
can be read for free by accessing:
http://www.hempnowbook.com

"Hemp: What The World Needs Now" is the first book to be formulated for this strain of Web delivery by a new company. If you know of any other authors who want to publish their books in the same advertiser-supported format, feel free to contact Sam Estrin: Sam@Odinmetatech.com.

Meanwhile, spread the word about http://www.hempnowbook.com.
Link it to your Web sites.

Educate yourself about hemp and what it can do
to create a more sustainable culture.

Add raw hemp seed powder and raw hemp oil to your
daily diet, and feel your health improve.

And, have a great New Year!

Rock on!

John McCabe

Wheatgrass Juice

2008-12-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

Wheatgrass juice is this crazy amazing super packed nutrient dense uberfood (the word superfood just doesn't do it justice). Here are a few of my favorite points from a list of 40 benefits of wheatgrass juice - click here to see all 40

Farmers in the Midwest who have sterile cows and bulls put them on wheatgrass to restore fertility. (The high magnesium content in chlorophyll builds enzymes that restore the sex hormones.)
Wheatgrass Juice is a superior detoxification agent compared to carrot juice and other fruits and vegetables. Dr Earp-Thomas, associate of Ann Wigmore, says that 15 pounds of Wheatgrass is the equivalent of 350 pounds of carrot, lettuce, celery, and so forth.
In the American Journal of Surgery (1940), Benjamin Gruskin, M.D. recommends chlorophyll for its antiseptic benefits. The article suggests the following clinical uses for chlorophyll: to clear up foul smelling odors, neutralize Strep infections, heal wounds, hasten skin grafting, cure chronic sinusitis, overcome chronic inner-ear inflammation and infection, reduce varicose veins and heal leg ulcers, eliminate impetigo and other scabby eruptions, heal rectal sores, successfully treat inflammation of the uterine cervix, get rid of parasitic vaginal infections, reduce typhoid fever, and cure advanced pyorrhea in many cases.
Wheatgrass Juice cures acne and even help to remove scars after it has been ingested for seven to eight months. The diet must be improved at the same time.
And one of my own: wheatgrass is easy and cheap to grow at home! Consider the dollars saved by juicing wheatgrass instead of pounds and pounds of vegetables! Eat your veggies to fill up your tummy - juice wheatgrass to get all those nutrients! Check out this post by Anthony Anderson (Raw Model) to learn how to grow wheatgrass without soil!

I have one quick warning about wheatgrass juice. It's a seriously powerful antioxidant. You don't need much. One ounce is enough to kick me in the butt so go easy to start out. When I have it I feel and instant zing and often get nauseous if I take too much. I recommend adding it to a whole food smoothie to help minimize that type of effect. So now enjoy a short video of my 3 1/2 year old daughter helping me juice some wheatgrass.

Triple Berry Cake

2008-11-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Heather invited me to a women's retreat this weekend and for the occasion I wanted to make something really special to share with the other women. I've made this cake in the past but didn't remember to take photos before devouring it, so this time I made sure to get pics to post with the recipe that I got from Raw Goddess Heathy. I'm pleased to report that everyone I heard comment on it was wowed at it's delicious flavor and texture but also in awe that it was actually raw!

Triple Berry Cake

This cake is a berry inspired version of Café Gratitude’s mud pie – same concept, but with different flavours.

Crust:
Make a nut crust of your choice.Press into the bottom of a 6” spring form pan, or into a pie plate. (I used 1 cup soaked Brazil nuts and 1 cup pitted dates mixed together in a food processor and also used an 8" pan instead of 6")

Filling:
1 ¼ cup almond milk
1 ½ cups cashews
1/3 cup agave
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ cup melted cacao butter
1 tbs lecithin2 cups mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries), set aside

Blend the first four ingredients until completely smooth. Add the cacao butter and lecithin. Continue blending until incorporated. Transfer 1 cup of this mixture into a bowl. Add the berries to the remaining cream in the blender and pulse the berries until they start to break down, keeping some texture. Transfer the berry mixture into a bowl. Pour half of one cream onto the crust. Pour the other half on top. Continue, pouring the first cream on top, followed by the second. Now, with a knife, swirl the two creams together into a pretty pattern. Chill the cake for a few hours, or until firm.

Fruit Salad

2008-11-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

I love pomegranate season. As much as I want to try to eat more locally, I can not resist these gorgeous, wonderful, tasty jewels. I was craving a fruit salad and this is what I came up with, all ingredients purchased from my local co-op and very simple.
What's in it:

grapes
pomegranate seeds
banana
oranges
kiwi
pears
apples (the only locally grown ingredient!)

This salad hit the spot and provided the color celebration I so needed to visually please my palate.

Successes and Failures

2008-10-29T05:56:00.000-07:00

The past week and a half has been pretty challenging in raw world for me. My birthday was Oct 18 and rather than trying to plan a raw birthday I opted to throw caution to the wind and enjoy whatever the day had in store for me, cooked food or not. Up until then, I'd been doing quite well with my raw food experiment and I was ready for a break.

As I witnessed with my husband, once you get a taste of eating cooked foods again it's hard to get back on track with raw. Especially now with the autumn weather cooling off, cold salads are no longer refreshing but rather chilling and I'm struggling to find "warm" foods that satisfy my palate and my body's desire to be warm.

That said, I've spent the past week and a half trying to find balance. What I've landed at is eating raw foods all day while I'm at work and allowing myself a cooked meal at dinner time. I also drink lots of hot tea and a daily coffee at work. This makes me feel sane.

So I'm scrambling to find raw breads and such to make my belly feel full while I'm at work. I have my trusty granola recipe which I eat almost daily but I needed some bread. I tried to make some Essene bread and despite the amazing looking photo below of what I made, it was an utter failure.
Raw Essene bread making appears to be an art of sorts. My understanding is that the outside should be crisp and crusty but the inside should be soft. The photos I saw online were of Essene loaves, so that's how I did mine. It looks amazing, but when I cracked it open the inside was an unpleasant, gooey gross inedible glop. If I ever try Essene bread again it will be flat like all of my other breads or I'll just bake it!
So now, for my success. I saw a tasty looking recipe on my fave site www.goneraw.com for Awesome Pizza Bread. The recipe called for a ridiculous amount of tomatoes - 16 lbs! So I had to make some pretty big changes and as you can see from the photo what I ended up with was so tasty I broke off a chunk to eat before I remembered to get a photo of it!

Pizza Bread

5 cups tomatoes, diced or processed in food processor
1 cup flax seeds, ground
1 cup pumpkin seeds, ground
1 cup almonds, ground
1/4 cup chia seeds, whole
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp basil
1 tsp Herbamare

Process all ingredients in food processor to mix. Spread on Paraflexx sheets and dehydrate at 110 for 3-4 hours then flip and remove sheet and dehydrate additional 6-10 hours. Shorter time will keep it pliable for bread or go longer for a crispy cracker. This recipe made 3 trays.

BMI

2008-10-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

So I recently calculated my Body Mass Index (BMI) and "Ideal Weight" using an online calculator. I had thought that I was out of the red zone (my definition of red zone is having a BMI that indicated I am medically coined "overweight") but according to the calculator I'm not quite there. I currently have a BMI of 25.1 - 25 and over is considered overweight.

In so many ways I resist looking at this kind of thing, but ultimately when it comes right down to it, this calculator takes a lot of things into consideration. Height, weight, age, gender. And it doesn't attempt to proclaim that given these factors one must be a precise weight. There's a broad range. For me, the medically recommended weight is between 125 and 164. That is a range of almost 40 lbs!

So what am I going to do with this info? Well, I have not set a weight loss goal because I am doing this raw food challenge to improve my health - the weight loss has just been icing on the cake and I like it that way. But I like having a better idea of where my weight should be - somewhere within that broad range and it feels like once I'm in that range, I'll have a little something to celebrate!

Today is day 70. Just 30 days to go on the challenge. Then what? I'll keep eating a high raw diet, I'll just include a cooked meal here and there, as weird as that may feel, I think I'll really appreciate the cooked foods I do choose to include in my diet all the more.

Trusty Raw Granola

2008-10-07T05:08:00.000-07:00

Wake Me Up Granola (Original Recipe on Goneraw.com)

I've been making this recipe a lot lately and modify it almost every time depending on what I have. Most recently I replaced the apples with peaches and then replaced the pineapple with apples. The result was really wonderful and super crispy. Here's the base recipe I use which is slightly modified from the original which you can see linked above.

Ingredients
Preparation
Part 1: Soak

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups almonds (or nuts of choice)
1 cup buckwheat
6 pieces of dried pineapple (I used 1 cup fresh)

Part 1: Soak (optional)
Soak almonds, pineapple and buckwheat overnight. Buckwheat will have some gel like consistency in the morning, relax, it's normal. Just drain and rinse out seed, nut and pineapple the following morning.

Part 2: Granola

Ingredients
Soaked nuts, seed and pineapple
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, unsoaked (sunflower or combo is nice too)
4 apples
4 dates
1/2 cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 - 1/2 cup agave nectar or honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup raisins or other dried fruit

Place soaked nuts, seed and pineapple in a food processor. Pulse until desired texture or granola texture for the nuts and seed. Remove to a big bowl enough to mix. Place the pumpkin seed in the food processor and pulse where it is still chunky. Remove and add to the bowl with the seed, nuts and pineapple. Place apples in the food processor and pulse until chunky. Do not over process apples leave it in small chunks. Remove then add to bowl. Place dates and agave nectar in the food processor, process until smooth. Add to the bowl and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.

Part 3: Dehydrate

Spread the granola mix in paraflexx sheets, score into squared pieces if desired and dehydrate at 110 degrees overnight. The next day, flip the granola around then dehydrate until dry. Enjoy with fresh home made almond milk or coconut yogurt and fresh fruits like blueberries or bananas.

Caramel Apple

2008-09-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

It all started when I saw the first caramel apples appear in the grocery store and I couldn't resist telling Adi how those were my FAVORITE fall-time treat when I was a kid growing up. Hearing this, she naturally insisted that I buy one for her. I did. And I salivated as I cut it up for her to eat (too hard for a 3 year old to figure out the art of eating a caramel apple).

That's when I started scheming to create a raw caramel apple recipe. So without further ado - here it is:

Caramel Apple

1 beautiful apple

5-10 dates (depending on size of dates and size of apple, Medjool dates are bigger so use fewer but ultimately use your own judgement)

1/4 cup chopped nuts of choice (I used almonds)

sprinkle of sea salt

Wash your apple really well and dry. I'm sure you can find the sticks at a craft store but I just stole the one out of Adi's caramel apple! Put apple on the stick. Next use the blank plate on an agar style juicer (Champion, Sampson, etc.) to create date paste. You could also just use a mortar and pestle to grind the dates into a paste if you don't have one of these types of juicers. A rolling pin might work as well, use your imagination. Spread the date paste over the apple and roll in chopped nuts. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired (totally made all the difference for me) and enjoy!!!

Chocolate "Cheese" Cake

2008-09-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

I made this recipe for a women's retreat our church had and I was really surprised by how well it turned out) and how well it was received! I made this recipe up all by myself :)

Chocolate "Cheese" Cake

Crust
1 cup nuts or seeds of choice (I use Brazil nuts)
1 cup dates
dash or two of sea salt

Filling
5 avocados
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 tbsp lecithin
1/2 cup agave or honey
2/3 cup cacao powder
1/8 tsp sea salt

Process nuts/seeds and dates in food processor until chopped and chunky - careful not to over-process. Press in the bottom of a spring form pan (or pie pan) and place in freezer while you prepare the filling.
Place all filling ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. Taste for sweetness and add more agave/honey if desired. Remember, it will taste different after it sets! Place in fridge to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

For a really wonderful fall treat I added some pommegranites to the cake. I just love them, they look like little jewels and as Adi would describe them they are, "crunchy and delicious sweet!"

Eggplant "Bacon"

2008-09-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

Another original coming from goneraw.com with some modifications.

Ingredients
1 large eggplant
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or raw honey)
4 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
Salt to taste (optional)

Preparation
Thinly slice your eggplant, lengthwise (think about how bacon strips look). I use a mandolin slicer. You could probably accomplish this with a vegetable peeler too. Alternately, you could make ‘round’ bacon by slicing the other way.

Remaining ingredients make up the marinade. Mix up these to make the marinade. Marinate eggplant strips for 2 hours.

Place on dehydrator sheets. Salt bacon (optional) and dehydrate for 9 hours. Turn bacon over and dehydrate another 9 hours. Around 110 degrees or to desired crispness.

Broccoli Salad

2008-09-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

The original recipe came from goneraw.com but I modified it a little bit.

Broccoli Salad

Ingredients
5 cups broccoli, chopped
1 cup walnuts (or nuts/seeds of choice)
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup raisins

Dressing
1 cup cashews
3 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (or more to taste)
1/3 cup water

Preparation
Blend the dressing ingredients until smooth. Then pour over the broccoli, onion, nuts/seeds and raisins. Mix well.

I top mine with Eggplant "Bacon".

Zucchini Hummus

2008-09-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

I fully credit Deborah on RawFu as she posted the original recipe on her blog Rawvelations

The original recipe was posted to Raw Fu and accredited to Jennifer Cornbleet’s raw food made easy.

I (Stacey) made a few changes and this is what I ended up with:

2 zucchini, peeled and grated. Roll the grated zucchini in paper towels or clean towel and press hard to remove excess moisture or just squish it in your hands in snowball-sized batches)
4 tbs raw tahini
4 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp of olive oil

Take all ingredients except the zucchini and toss them into the food processor with the ’s’ blade and blend together. Add zucchini and process until desired consistency.

This was so so so good! Better than regular hummus, in my opinion. I took this to a pot luck and everyone who tried it loved it (as far as I know!) This will definitely be a staple in my house.

Take Out Salad

2008-09-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

Cam has been suffering from a nasty cold for the last few days - he seems to get this every single year in the fall without fail - he's really wishing he had stuck to the raw food challenge longer but he needed a break and I fully supported that. Any way, he always feels like Thai food helps out quite a bit whenever he gets sick - particularly lemongrass, so he decided to order from our favorite Thai restaurant, Thai Flavors. When I say this is our favorite Thai restaurant, what I really mean is that this is our favorite restaurant in Iowa City. It's so amazing! I felt like I couldn't let him order without getting a little something for myself as well. So this is what I chose: Mixed Vegetables Salad with Special Peanut Dressing. This was not 100% raw (I'd say more like 90%), as you can see there are some little fried onions on there and the peanut dressing certainly wasn't raw either but I ate it with glee. It was wonderful. I wish I had the recipe for the dressing so I could make a raw version. Maybe if I'm really nice...

I'm finding myself being much more lenient over the past week since Cam started getting sick. I realize that from the beginning of this challenge I never intended to be 100% raw so I'm giving myself a bit more space when it comes to things like hot tea and decaf coffee. Probably not the healthiest thing in the world to drink but I'm pretty sure it won't kill me either. As the weather cools off I long for a warm belly.

Another indulgence has been a 1/4 cup serving of some strawberry popcorn that we grew in our garden. I was so excited to have successfully grown popcorn in the first place that I just had to give it a try. And honestly, 1/4 cup was enough for me. I savored every tiny morsel and it was enough. I realized after listening to Cam eat some potatoes and onions that he cooked up on the first morning of his "break" with all of his "mmmmm's" and "ohhh's" with a few "oh that's soooo goooooood's" that one thing that eating mostly raw does is make eating some cooked food so much more pleasurable. I got mad at Cam at first because I thought he was just rubbing in my face that he was eating cooked food, but in reality he was simply delighting in the food! Sure, it helps that we grew those potatoes and onions in our own garden, but it's nice to have developed a whole new appreciation for God's creation and provision.

I feel like I'm definitely growing closer to God through this experience. My spiritual journey has already seen many ups and downs and I'm grateful to come out of each twist and turn stronger than I was before. It's amazing how exposed I feel when eating raw. I just can't shove my stuff down any more. I feel like God kind of likes that. I thank God for blessing this raw food challenge!

40 Days Raw

2008-09-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

The last time I challenged myself to raw food eating was a 21 day faith experiment in which I actually fasted from cooked food (same difference from an eating perspective but from a mental, emotional and spiritual perspective it was something completely different). I went through a tumultuous 3 weeks of eating only raw food, even on Thanksgiving Day! It was hard, even maddening at times, but I grew so much spiritually during those 21 days and I felt physically amazing. It was a huge challenge, though and by the end I was so ready to eat cooked food again. I didn't have that complete synchronization between mind, body and spirit in which all three agreed on raw food.

I couldn't deny the benefits, however, and when the Boston Vineyard (which has observed the Lent season with 40 days of faith over sevearl years) chose to celebrate lent with a more traditional Lenten season I was horribly disappointed, to the point of not celebrating lent at all! I was so hoping to take the next step onward to a 40 day faith experiment in which I would again fast from cooked food. The lack of a commitment like that sent me on a path of, "I just want to eat whatever is NOT raw". So for several months I neglected - even abused my body with much unhealthy cooked food.

Now I don't want to imply that all cooked food is unhealthy, because I don't believe that to be true at all! In fact I believe there are many cooked foods that are alkalizing to the body and ultimately I feel like having an alkaline PH is more important than eating all raw food or whatever. A raw diet is a healing diet but I feel like there are many whole cooked foods that can be incorporated once the healing and synchronization have occurred. The unhealthy cooked food I'm referring to is vegetarian junk food. Organic chips, cookies, crackers, processed foods. Organic or not, still largely unhealthy.

So now, here I am on this 100 day raw food challenge and after 40 days, I really truly know that something has changed in me.

Physically, I don't crave cooked foods. I feel perfectly content eating uncooked food in it's natural state. A big salad is completely satisfying, and more recently I've noticed the simpler the meal, the better (I don't want to spend my whole life in the kitchen!)

Mentally, I don't think about food all the time. I do enjoy food, I just don't obsess about it. I find myself occassionally wondering what foods I will add after 100 days (I believe that for me about 80% raw is my long term goal - I'm currently between 95-99%).

Emotionally, oh crap did I ever have a huge fit last week. I realized just how severe my emotional eating was. But it was good. I hashed it out with God and came through it a stronger woman, and even more faithful believer. Praise Jesus for that!!!

Spiritually, I can't help but feel like 40 days really is a huge milestone. It's a very biblical number. Jesus was tempted for 40 days (and now many Christians honor that time during lent) as he prepared for his ministry. And after Jesus died on the cross and rose again he ministered for 40 days before ascending to heaven at the right hand of God and sending the Holy Spirit to earth to help the diciples. I'm sure there's more, but I haven't studied the bible enough to know. So 40 days for me is significant. It doesn't mark the end of my challenge, but I recognize it as a special time to note marked changes in my life - especially the change in my relationship with food.

Cheez-its

2008-09-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

I've read rave reviews for these raw Cheez-it crackers and finally got around to trying them. Trust me, they are well worth the effort. I couldn't believe how tasty these are. I was too lazy to score mine as they were dehydrating so I just broke them into pieces which suits me just fine. I do have to warn that they are completely addicting!!

So here's the recipe that I got from www.goneraw.com

spicey cheezits

Ingredients

1 cup soaked and dehydrated, sunflower seeds
1 cup as above, brazil nuts
1 cup as above, almonds
1 big tomato
1 cup red pepper, diced
¼ ground flax
1 pinch cumin or to taste
2 teaspoons salt or a bit less to taste

Preparation

blend all ingredients and spread on teflex or parchment paper as thin as you like, after a few hours score with a pizza cutter and leave until dry on top( overnight for me) then flip and leave until crispy(all day!) then eat eat eat!!!

I ended up omitting the flax as I saw others who commented that they made the recipe without the flax to avoid the flavor of it. I sometimes have issues with digesting flax (usually just when whole seeds are used in breads or crackers) so I went ahead and left them out as well. The result was crispy, lovely, can't get enough crackers!

Chocolate Fix

2008-08-29T08:33:00.000-07:00

I've been craving chocolate in a fierce way lately and these two goodies have really been satisfying. I found the recipe for Raisin Fudge on www.goneraw.com but I will post it here as well. I love these because the raisins give it this wonderful tang that I love... I've always been a fan of chocolate covered raisins. The fudge is MUCH better!

Raisin Fudge

Rich and satisfying, this is sure to curb your sweet tooth!

Ingredients
1½ cups Walnuts
1½ cups Raisins (sulphate-free)
½ cup Cacao powder
dash of cinnamon (I omitted this)
pinch of sea salt

Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and balled up. Remove from bowl and press into square or round glass dish – alternatively you can shape into one large square with your hands. Freeze until firm, then slice. This may be kept refrigerated or frozen.
This recipe is originally from www.therawtable.com!

The next one was my own creation (I'm so proud!)

Chocolate Rose Silk Pie

Ingredients
Crust
1/2 cup nuts (I used Brazil nuts which were amazing in this recipe)
1/2 cup dates

Filling
1 cup cashews
2 tbsp coconut oil
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tbsp lucuma powder (optional)
1 tbsp lecithin 1 tbsp rose water (I got mine in the Asian section of my co-op)
pinch of sea salt

Preparation
In food processor or blender combine nuts and dates to make crust. The consistency should be pretty chunky, I really enjoyed this crust and used it originally for my Key Lime Pie. For the filling: add all ingredients to a high speed blender and mix until smooth. I used small Pyrex dishes (1 cup size) and pressed the pie crust in the bottom of four dishes (you could use one larger dish or spring form pan if you like). Pour in the filling and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to set. You could put in the freezer to set faster, but I found that it set just fine in the fridge. You can remove pretty easily from the dish or just eat it strait out of it - it's up to you :)

This pie is so lovely. My mom tasted some and couldn't believe how good it was. Her eyes about popped out of her head. This one is a keeper for sure!

Raw Meals

2008-08-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

Stuffed mushrooms with eggplant strips. Tomato tree with eggplant strip trunk, stuffed mushroom flowers and clementine hill.
Coconut "rice" sushi rolls with cucumber and banana pepper "nigiri".
Corn on the cob with herbed olive oil, eggplant "bacon" and herbed tomato slices.
The top two are my creations and the bottom two are Cam's. He reminds me that simple is great too. I tend to go for more complicated dishes (perhaps I have a more complicated pallet ;) Regardless, all of these meals were amazing and so satisfying!

Key Lime Pie

2008-08-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

I have to give credit to Raw Model, Anthony Anderson for the basic recipe for this one! I doubled the recipe and made a couple of modifications.

Crust
1/2 cup nuts (I used Brazil nuts which were amazing in this recipe)
1/2 cup dates

Filling
2 avocados
1/3 cup of coconut oil,
1/4 cup lime juice (I used lemon and it was WONDERFUL - and alkalizing too!)
1 tbsp lecithin
1/4 cup agave
1/2 - 3/4 cups water
pinch sea salt

In food processor or blender combine nuts and dates to make crust. The consistency should be pretty chunky, I really enjoyed this crust. I divided the crust and pressed into four 3" metal biscuit cutters on a glass pie dish. You could also use mini spring form pans or make one larger pie.

Blend all ingredients for filling except water - adding gradually as needed to make it a cake batter consistency. Pour into pans and freeze for a couple of hours to set.

I froze mine overnight then used a sharp knife to separate the sides from the biscuit cutters and they popped right out. I then allowed them to thaw in the fridge for several hours before serving. They would, of course, thaw faster if you left them out on the counter.

Spaghetti and "Meatballs"

2008-08-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

This is what Cam and I had for lunch. Sometimes the zucchini noodles can get a bit boring so this is what I did this time.

Spaghetti and "Meatballs"

Noodles
1 medium/large zucchini, spiral sliced (or use veggie peeler to make noodles)

"Meatballs"
1/2 cup walnuts
1 tsp sesame oil
1 roma tomato (I used heirloom green sausage tomato)
2 tbsp fresh basil
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Sauce
2 roma tomatoes (again, I used heirloom green sausage tomatoes)
7 macadamia nuts
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup fresh basil
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Mushroom Topping
6 button mushrooms
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp nama shoyu

"Parmesan" Topping
Equal parts nutritional yeast and cashews, blended in spice grinder

First make Mushroom Topping: Slice mushrooms and coat with olive oil and nama shoyu. Place in a glass bowl in dehydrator at 110 until ready to use.

Use a spiral slicer or veggie peeler to slice zucchini into noodles. Divide the noodles into two bowls for serving.

Make sauce: Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender (again, I used the Magic Bullet - handy little thing). The sauce should be chunky with some bits of macadamias still visible.

Make "meatballs": blend all ingredients in food processor (I used my Magic Bullet and that was perfect for the size). Spoon out small amounts of mixture and roll into balls.

Assemble: pour sauce over noodles, then add "meatballs". Arrange mushrooms however you please and sprinkle with "Parmesan" topping. Place bowls in dehydrator for about 15-25 minutes until warm and enjoy!

Raw Pizza

2008-08-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

Cam found this recipe on goneraw.com so here's a photo of ours. I couldn't have "sausage" pizza without mushrooms even though the recipe didn't call for them. I also left out the diced peppers and onions because it seemed so full! It was delicious. I can't believe I waited so long to try making raw pizza. Yummy!

Sausage and Pepper Pizza from goneraw.com
6 small

Ingredients
1 cup buckwheat, soaked
¾ cup sundried tomatoes, soaked
1 avocado
1 onion, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup flaxmeal, ground
1 cup sundried tomatoes (sauce), soaked,
water saved
1 teaspoon oregano (sauce)
1 clove garlic (sauce), minced
½ teaspoon basil
2 Medjool dates (sausage), pitted
½ teaspoon fennel seed (sausage)
1 cup walnuts (sausage)
1 pinch crushed red pepper (sausage)
1 dash ground red pepper (sausage)
¼ teaspoon EACH salt, pepper, oregano, basil (sausage)
1 cup almonds (mossarella), soaked
2 teaspoons tahini (mozzarella)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (mozzarella)
½ teaspoon Nama Shoyu
green pepper, diced (optional)
onion, diced (optional)
raw-cured olives, optional

Preparation
Make the crust: Process the buckwheat, tomatoes, avocado, onion, and sea salt until smooth.Remove to a bowl and add the flaxmeal. Spread on two Teflexx sheets until about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Score into slices and dehydrate for 3 hours. Flip the slices, turn heat to 95 degrees and dehydrate about another 10 hours.

Meanwhile, make the pizza sauce: Blend together tomatoes, oregano, garlic, and basil with just enough soakwater to make a thick sauce.

Make the sausage: Process the walnuts till chopped. Add dates, fennel, basil, oregano, salt and peppers and process until it comes together but still has texture.

Make the mozzarella: Blend together the almonds, tahini, lemon, and nama shoyu until smooth. Let sit in the fridge overnight.

To make the pizzas- Assemble: Crust, then: Tomato Sauce; Mozzarella; Sausage; Chopped onion; Chopped green pepper.Dehydrate at 110 degrees for about an hour or until warm.

Masman Mushroom Curry

2008-08-19T08:38:00.001-07:00

Last night I made a very tasty curry. Here's what I did:

Masman Mushroom Curry

Serves 1

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped (any kind - I used button)

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1/4 cup cashews, chopped

1 tsp Nama Shoyu

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup coconut milk (see recipe below)

1 tsp masman curry powder (or your favorite variety)

Mix first five ingredients in a bowl and place in the dehydrator at 115 for about 30 minutes to marinate and warm. Blend coconut milk and curry powder and place in seperate bowl in dehydrator for 30 minutes to warm. After 30 minutes pour coconut curry mixture over veggie mixture and enjoy as a soup or with cauliflower "rice".

Thick Coconut Milk

I make this one a bit thicker than normal for use as a curry broth,

1 1/2 - 2 cups coconut meat

4 cups water (use coconut water if you have it, if not, use filtered water)

"Rice"

1 head cauliflower

Chop Cauliflower in a food processor until fine and “grain” like.

Two Weeks Down!

2008-08-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe how well this raw challenge is going for me. It really helps to have the support network and inspiration of the folks at http://www.rawfu.com/ I'm having so much fun creating raw food goodness and I'm noticing some really big changes in a really short time.

The first week was full of raw emotions - my definition of this is when you eat raw food something different happens with the mind/body connection. Suddenly food is no longer a comfort (even though it's really friggin good) but instead becomes what it was meant to be: nourishment. The result is raw emotions. Stuff that can't be masked or comforted by the old familiar cooked food creeps up and doesn't go away until you deal with it. It's wild, and not very pleasant to be perfectly honest. But how beneficial! I think this will continue as the challenge goes on but hopefully with less intensity!

Second week also full of raw emotions but leveling out, or maybe it's just that I'm learning how to deal with stuff rather than just coping (prayer has been a huge help for me over the past couple of weeks - not about the food or staying on the "diet" but working through the emotional stuff).

So here's what I'm noticing:

I feel clean, fresh and vibrant
I'm losing weight but that's not my motivation (and that feels good)
My clothes fit me better
I have more energy - really, I know everyone says that but it's totally true
I don't need naps anymore (even though I still want them - see raw emotions ;)
I don't need as much sleep - I can't go to sleep early even if I want to because my body isn't tired. It's weird.
I'm almost ready for intentional exercise (exercise is a dirty word in my book ;D )

I'm not hungry. Seriously, I just don't have much of an appetite anymore. I'm perfectly happy eating Ants on a Log for dinner.

I don't think about food. How can that be? I have to plan all of this food I'm making, right? Well, yeah. But I don't think about food between meals. Cam always asks me, "what's for lunch" and my answer is always, "Dunno, I haven't thought about it".

All of these things are amazing. I'm really impressed with this whole process. I highly recommend eating more raw in the summer, it makes all the difference in the world. I'll have to adjust to more warming foods like ginger and cayenne when the weather cools off but for now cold food is just what the alternative medicine practitioner ordered.

Plum Roll Ups

2008-08-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

My friend Liz gave me a bag of plums that she picked from her apartment building. It was a perfect opportunity to make my first fruit leather! So, here is my best attempt at a recipe for what I did:

Plum Leathers

Ingredients

4 cups fresh fruit (I used approximately 30 small plums)

1/2 cup raw honey (or agave)

Preparation

Remove the pits from the plums and process in blender or food processor. Add honey; be sure to taste as some fruits are more tart than others. Add more honey if needed and process until smooth.

Pour out on paraflexx sheets and spread to edges of tray about 1/8 inch thick. I used 2 trays. Dehydrate at 115 overnight or for about 12 hours. The leathers should be firm but not crispy.

Cut a piece of parchment paper (or waxed paper) to fit the dehydrator tray (leave about an inch extra for the end of the wrap). I found it easier to pull the leather off of the paraflexx sheet first, then lay the leather on top of the parchment. Place the leather at the top and leave some space at the end (the extra inch) and roll it up.

Once you've made your giant fruit roll up, slice it into 1-2" sections and secure the extra paper at the end with tape or your favorite stickers :)

Oh the Joy of Raw! Seriously :)

2008-08-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

OK, so this sandwich is on Olive Rosemary Bread with Garlic "Mayo", avocado, tomato, cucumber and Eggplant "Bacon". It was so amazing. The recipe for the coleslaw in the background is:

Coleslaw

1 small head cabbage - thinly sliced
1 cup almonds
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp Herbamare (organic seasoned sea salt)
1/2 tsp celery salt
3/4 cup water

Blend all ingredients except cabbage in blender until smooth and creamy. Add more water if needed. Pour dressing over sliced cabbage and mix well. This is a recipe that I've found actually gets better the second or third day as all the flavors sink in to the cabbage :)

Next is a melon salad with Grawnola and hemp seeds. Mmmmm good!

This is a first time try for something a little different. Cam created this really pleasant soup.

Coconut Curry Clear Broth Soup
2 servings

coconut water from one young Thai coconut
meat from one young Thai coconut - cut into noodle like strips
2 tbsp dried wakame seaweed - soaked 5 minutes to rehydrate
1 tsp masman curry powder (we got this spice mix at our local Asian market)

Place equal amounts of coconut water in two separate bowls. Sprinkle the masman curry powder over each bowl. Place several pieces of wakame in the center and layer coconut noodles on top in a criss cross fashion. This was super simple, super fresh, and super refreshing!! Wonderful soup, honey! (I was sceptical!!)

Here's my Thai inspired tortilla before I rolled it up and gobbled it down.

And the grand finale of this post:

Banana Strawberry Crepe LOVE!
Banana Crepes
6 ripe bananas
1 apricot
1/8 tsp cardamom

Mix all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Pour on paraflexx sheets 1/8 inch thick (4 crepes per tray) and dehydrate at 105 overnight (about 10-12 hours). They should be soft and pliable, not crispy.

Creme Filling
1/2 cup cashews (soaked)
1/2 cup Brazil nuts (soaked)
Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
Juice of one lemon
1 tbsp agave
1/4 cup coconut water (or nutmilk of choice)

Blend in food processor or high speed blender until thick and creamy.

Strawberry Sauce

10 strawberries (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 tbsp agave

Blend in food processor or high speed blender to saucy consistency.

Assemble crepes, drizzle (or pour ;) strawberry sauce over top and garnish with a dollop of cream and strawberries.

Oh my, this has been the most wonderful sweet treat so far.

What We've Been Eating

2008-08-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

So here are a few of the meals we've enjoyed over the last several days.

Raw Veggie Chile with Sweet Corn Relish and Lettuce Salad w/ Blueberry Dressing

Next was Veggie Nut Burgers on Sesame Bread with Walnut Mayo, Cauliflower, and Watermelon

Pecan/Cauliflower Rice Stuffed Green Sausage Tomatoes with Teriyaki Kale Chip Topping

Pecan/Cauliflower Rice Stuffed Green Sausage Tomatoes

1/2 head cauliflower
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (soaked 10 minutes)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
25-30 green sausage tomatoes (or any other variety) - seeds scooped out
1 cup Kale Chips (or any other green garnish)

First place cauliflower in food processor and process unto a rice like consistency. Add pecans, soaked sundried tomatoes, cilantro, sea salt, and vinegar and pulse to incorporate but keep the rice consistency.

Stuff the mixture into halved and hollowed tomatoes and top with Kale Chips or other tasty green garnish :)

Corn Polenta with Mushroom Gravy, "Fried" Onion Rings, Eggplant "Bacon" and cantaloupe.

Polenta with Mushroom Ragout (Ani Phyo's recipe)

Polenta
1 1/2 tsp sea salt (we didn't use this much - more like 3/4 tsp)
1 clove garlic
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 cup cashews, dry
2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen (we used fresh and found 1 ear yields 1 cup)
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tbsp)
1 1/2 tbsp yellow onion, chopped

Mushroom Gravy
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (we only used 1/4 cup)
3/4 cup mushrooms, any kind (we used portabella)
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt (we only used 1/4 tsp)

Ragout
2 cups mushrooms, any kind, chopped
1/2 stalk celery, chopped
2 tsp fresh thyme

To make polenta process salt, garlic and black pepper first. Then add cashews and process. Place in a bowl. Next, pulse corn kernels with lemon juice. Place in blow with cashews and onion. Mix well. Set aside (or dehydrate for a few hours to firm it up a bit)

To make gravy, blend all ingredients in gravy list until smooth. Pour gravy into a bowl.

To make ragout, stir mushrooms, celery, and thyme into the gravy base.

To serve, use and ice cream scooper to scoop polenta onto four plates. Drizzle with ragout, and serve with a sprig of fresh rosemary as garnish.

Will keep for two days in fridge (or longer if you dehydrate a bit)

Dead Food List

2008-08-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

My friend Heather was wondering about the "Dead Food List" that I mentioned in a previous post. So some folks put together a list of foods that are either completely dead or just controversial/questionable. I suppose people who are concerned about eating a 100% raw diet would take this list a lot more seriously than I do. For instance, if a manufacturer says that they produce their products at a temp below 118 or 115 or whatever I give them the benefit of the doubt. Agave is a good example. There are several manufacturers that claim their product to be raw. The same manufacturers usually sell a non-raw version that is generally less expensive as well. I always choose the raw version and trust that they produced the product in the way they claim. I have no way to prove otherwise.

To be honest, I wouldn't be able to do this whole experiment if I placed too many restrictions on myself. Isn't it enough to go from a diet of high cooked vegetarian foods to all uncooked vegan? If an ingredient here or there is not completely raw, I'm willing to bet I'll not only survive but I might even enjoy my food more and who knows? Maybe I'll actually get some nutrients from those foods as well ;) The point for me is to see how I change over the entire challenge... perhaps I'll come out feeling like I want a baked potato but there's a possibility that I'll feel more like eating fewer foods from the "Dead Food List". Only time will tell, friends.

Blueberry Pie

2008-08-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

I got the original recipe from a book called Alive in 5 by Angela Elliot. I have a feeling I'm going to be using a lot of her quick and easy recipes over the next few months. Here's the original:

Makes 6 servings

1 cup raw walnuts
1/2 cup pitted dates
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Himalayan salt
4 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar

Combine the walnuts, dates, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor, and process until the mixture holds together and forms a dough. Press into a 9-inch glass pie pan. Rinse and dry the food processor. Place the blueberries and agave nectar into the food processor, and process until pureed. Our the puree into the prepared pie crust. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

My notes:

In the book Angela recommends soaking nuts before using them (for at least and hour). I did this but now wish I hadn't. My crust seemed a bit soggy after the blueberry puree was poured in and it set up in the fridge for a while. Next time, I will NOT soak my walnuts first.

I used slightly different ingredients:

3/4 cup soaked raw walnuts
1/4 cup soaked raw almonds
1/2 cup pitted dates
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (probably not raw)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (that's all I had left)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons raw agave nectar
1 teaspoon psyllium husk powder (to make sure the puree firmed up)

So the pie is completely delicious. The only thing I would change in the future is not soaking the nuts for the crust (or if I do soak them I would put them in the dehydrator for a bit before using them.) Even though the crust is pretty mushy it still tastes wonderful. It reminds me of oatmeal so the flavor ended up something like blueberry crisp without the crunch. Mmmmm good.

100 Day Raw Challenge Starts Tomorrow

2008-07-31T20:44:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day. August 1st marks day one of my 100 day raw food challenge being put on by Bunny Berry and RawFu. The nice thing about this challenge is that I get to make up my own rules, set my own goals. My main goal is to eat a high raw diet for the duration of the challenge. By high raw, I mean 90% or more. I plan to use ingredients such as agave nectar and nutritional yeast that are consider "dead foods" but I feel add enough enjoyment to the raw recipes containing them to be worth it.

A while back I fasted from cooked food and completed 21 days on raw food only. I was less than graceful, but made it all 21 days. It was so HARD to do! As I recall, it was in late fall right around Thanksgiving. That was the hardest meal I've ever eaten. Seeing all the hot cooked food around me made my cold raw substitutes less than desirable but I did it. Oh yes, I made it through the torture that it was. But I was fasting. That's the difference. I chose to give up something I had grown completely dependent on and was forced to find new ways to cope. My emotions ran rampant and from a faith perspective God worked wonders in me over those 21 days.

This time around I'm choosing a challenge for health. Don't get me wrong, I feel like God is leading me in this direction and will bless this journey as much as, if not more than, my 21 days. But it feels like I'm more prepared this time and I'm going in with a different perspective. I have to, 100 days is a long time! And now thanks to Bunny and RawFu I have a community of people who are going to be doing it with me.

So I may post weekly updates on this blog or I may not. I'll most likely keep the nitty gritty of my experience on the forum blog and save this one for the fun recipes that sustain me.

Wish me luck, I think I'm going to need it ;)

ChocoMelt Cookies

2008-07-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

I've been making lots of coconut milk and almond milk to feed my addiction to Superfood Coffee so what do I do with all the leftover pulp? Not one to waste, I came up with this recipe:

ChocoMelt Cookies

Dough
3/4 cup almond pulp - dehydrated and ground into flour
3/4 cup coconut pulp - dehydrated and ground into flour
1 cup oat groats - ground into flour
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 vanilla bean - seeds scraped

I actually dehydrate the leftover pulp right away after each batch of milk. It doesn't take long at all and this way I have a stash waiting for creations like this one. To make dough: grind almond & coconut pulp and oat groats into flour using a blender or coffee grinder. Add agave, vanilla seeds and oil in a food processor (or mix by hand). As a last minute addition I pulled some raw chocolate I had in the freezer...

Chocolate Chunks
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup agave nectar

I made the chocolate several days ago and decided it would be fun to throw some in. I didn't use all of it, just add however much you like. To make: mix all ingredients, pour into a container of choice greased with coconut oil and freeze until firm. If using a food processor for the dough you can just throw large chunks of chocolate in and they will get chopped up by pulsing or you can break into pieces before adding to dough if hand mixing.

Next, I used preformed biscuit cutters a friend gave us a while back. On a paraflex sheet scoop some dough in, press down, lift up cutter and repeat. Dehydrate at 105 for about 5 hours, or just eat as they are. That's how my 3 year old liked them!

Kale Chips

2008-07-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

I found a recipe for Kale Chips on goneraw.com and I did enjoy the first batch but really wanted to try a couple of variations. I'm sure the variety of seasonings is endless. Here's what I did this time:

Ingredients
1 head fresh purple kale, wash and remove center stem/vien
1 head fresh green kale, wash and remove center stem/vien
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Teriyaki Style
1 tsp raw honey
1 tsp Nama Shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp dried ginger

Simply Fresh
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

Preparation
Cut the pieces of kale into palm-sized segments. Place them all in large container and fill with water. Toss 1/2 tsp. sea salt into water. Massage the kale with your hands for about a minute. Allow to sit in salted water for about 30 minutes. Drain well. Divide into two batches. Toss each batch with different seasoning sauce. Lay the leaves on mesh dehydrator screens. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 5-8 hours.

Adi absolutely LOVES the Teriyaki Style chips. She gobbled down an adult size handful and wanted more but it was bedtime. She strongly prefers the green kale. She held up the green chips to the window and mimicking me said, "look at that beautiful color!" I have to agree with her, the green kale chips taste a bit better and are thinner making them more krispy. Purple kale is good too, just a slightly different texture. The simply fresh version is nice, but I really enjoy a bit of sweetness. Maybe I'll try it with a touch of honey next time. Honey and lemon are always a nice pair.

Raw Coffee

2008-07-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

I'm getting better at this raw coffee thing. Here's my latest recipe:

Superfood Raw Coffee - Serves 2
2 cups Coconut Milk (recipe below - or use your favorite nut milk)
1 1/2 Tbsp Cacao Powder
1 1/2 Tbsp Lucuma Powder
1 Tbsp Maca
1 Tbsp Mesquite Powder
2 Tbsp Agave Nectar
1 3/4 cups Ice

Blend milk, powders and agave in high speed blender until smooth. Add ice and blend until slushy. Pour in mug or glass lined with chocolate syrup. Drizzle a bit of syrup on top.

Chocolate Syrup
2 Tbsp Agave Nectar
2 tsp Cacao Powder

Mix and use to line the mug and drizzle on top of coffee.

Coconut Milk
1/2 cup coconut meat
4 cups water (use coconut water if you have it, if not, use filtered water)

Blend ingredients in high speed blender until completely smooth. Strain out pulp using nut milk bag or reusable coffee filter. Dehydrate leftover pulp and grind into "flour" for use in other recipes :)

No Recipe Needed

2008-07-02T08:41:00.001-07:00

Mulberries are so so gooood. No recipe needed. We just devour them :) These were foraged from a nearby public bike path.

As you can see, Adi is delighted and can't keep her fingers out of them.Yay fresh, free, yummy raw treat!

Creamy Napa Salad

2008-07-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

It's getting easier and easier to eat more raw food as my body craves this way of eating and resists cooking. I was going to cook up some Napa cabbage last night to take to Cam for dinner but I couldn't do it. So I made this salad instead. We wrapped it up in some non-raw tortillas that we had on hand, but I would have just as well loved to eat them on raw tortillas had we not eaten them already ;)

Creamy Napa Salad

10 leaves Napa cabbage

3 Roma tomatoes

1 tsp dill

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

1 Tbsp sesame oil

Dressing:

1 cup cashews

1 cup water

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp onion powder

salt to taste

Thinly slice Napa cabbage leaves and massage in a large bowl to slightly bruise. Add chopped Roma tomatoes, dill, sesame seeds and oil. Toss. Blend all ingredients in dressing until smooth and creamy. Pour desired amount over cabbage and store the rest for later use (keeps 3-5 days). Toss all together, add additional salt if needed and enjoy!

Fit for Life Part II

2008-07-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since I've begun trying to implement some of the things I learned by reading Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. I implemented two very important aspects in my life and here I am a couple of weeks later maintaining those couple of changes. I haven't had coffee since I gave it up two weeks back. The first few days sucked but after that it's been mostly smooth sailing. After finding a new raw replacement for coffee I don't think I'll ever need to look back :)

I'm finding it very difficult, however, to eat only fresh fruit all morning. I end up eating a LOT of fruit. And I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but organic fruit is expensive! Sure, we have some strawberries growing and a mulberry tree producing fruit in the yard but to be honest, Adi comes first and I'm not going to fight her for these goodies! So that means buying a ton of fruit at the Co-op rather frequently. The only thing that seems to fill me up and keep me satisfied for a period of time is a smoothie. I can't really do that yet... another couple of days I'll be off work for 13 glorious weeks and you better believe it will be time for smoothies galore. The benefit of smoothies is that I can use frozen fruit that I picked last summer (mostly blueberries). I'm on the hunt for a berry picking farm in the area. Preferably an organic one or at least one that doesn't use sprays. I'll post details if I find any.

As for food combining. Wow, that's going to have to come later and on an as needed basis. I have to say that I'm feeling really strongly that eating a diet rich in raw and living foods is far higher a priority than correctly combining those raw foods. If I find that I'm having trouble digesting then I may revisit food combining. For now, I'm sticking with raw fruit until lunch, a mostly raw lunch and partly cooked dinner.

Raw Mochachino?

2008-07-01T06:30:00.001-07:00

So I saw this great recipe idea on Raw Freedom Community forum: the best ever raw coffee. It was made of several ingredients that I don't have (yet) so I had to at least try to come up with one of my own. The result was a light and tasty raw mocha:

Raw Mochachino

3 cups water

1 Tbsp raw maca powder

3 Tbsp raw cacao powder

3 Tbsp raw honey or agave (more or less to taste)

4 Tbsp raw hemp seeds

2 cups ice

Blend all ingredients except ice until smooth. Strain out any hemp chunks if desired (I didn't cuz I like a little something to chew). Add ice to make slushy.

I think in the future I would use only 2 cups water instead of three to make it a bit thicker and creamier. Any raw nut or seed could be used to replace the hemp seeds to change the flavor or consistency. I'll play around with the recipe and post one that is closer to "perfect" on goneraw.com later.

Imperfections aside, this drink was amazingly satisfying. I had it in the afternoon when I needed a bit of an energy boost. Wow, did this deliver. I'm usually miserably tired when putting Adi to bed but last night I not only felt wide awake but I remained in a good mood as well. Hmmmm. I like that :)

I can't resist posting the recipe for the original:

Ingredients:

Cacao powder,Fo-Ti (Ho Shou Wu), Maca, Lucuma, Yacon, Agave, Vanilla bean, Nutmeg, Cashews, Ice, Water

Try to contain your exitement Grab your blender and add:a scoop of cacao powder, add a few capsules of Fo-Ti (minus the capsules!) a scoop of maca, a tbsp of lucuma, a squirt of yacon, a squirt of agave, 1/4 inch vanilla bean, dash of nutmeg, handful of cashews, cup of ice, cup or so of water.

Chocolate sauce for lining the glass and topping the drink: cacao and a capsule of ho shou wu & a dash of sea salt mixed with agave.
__________________

Raw Ice Cream & Magic Shell

2008-06-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

Yes indeed. Raw ice cream for me! This IS an actual photo of the ice cream I made. Here's my recipe:

1 cup raw cashews (soaked 15 minutes)
15 dates (soaked 15 minutes)
1 vanilla bean
2 cups water
pinch sea salt

I blended all of this up in my Blendtec blender until everything was completely smooth (especially the vanilla bean since I used the whole thing). Next I poured the mixture into my handy dandy ice cream makin' machine and voila! Creamy sweet wonderful raw ice cream that the whole family loves ;D

Chocolate Magic Shell Topping

Equal parts (I used 1/4 cup each):

cacao powder
agave nectar
coconut oil

Remember Magic Shell chocolate syrup that would harden shortly after pouring it over your icecream? Well, thanks to the coconut oil this stuff does the same thing! So fun. I think I'd like to thin it out, though. Maybe add and equal part of water just to make it easier to pour. Either way, it tastes AMAZING.

Don't Despise Small Beginnings

2008-06-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

I have totally not started the Fit for Life plan at all. As a matter of fact, I've come to dread it and resist it. I'm not sure what's going on exactly - the air around town has been pretty thick with emotions responding to the 500-year flood we've experienced the last couple of weeks here in Iowa City and I think I'm pretty sensitive to that. So making a change right now feels hard. But it also feels completely necessary. And if I can't do it on my own, I have no choice but to call on God to be my strength.

I'm utterly miserable this morning without my morning cup of joe but here I am. Only one hour and 45 minutes away from the end of my morning fruit fast. I keep finding myself reminded of some encouraging words I recently heard at a women's conference, "don't despise small beginnings!" So I carefully chose a small beginning today:

Remove: Coffee
Add: Fresh fruit until noon

It seems to make sense to start here. To begin by removing a negative thing and replace it with a good thing. (I say coffee is a negative thing because I fully recognize my addiction to it and dependency on it - clearly not good. I could argue the nutritional side separately but won't here and now...) So when I remove the bad thing I'm not just sitting here with a big empty hole in my being. I'm filling the void with what the authors of Fit for Life describe as the single most important element of the lifestyle. The body is in "elimination" mode until noon. Help the body eliminate by feeding it fruit.

This is my small beginning, and you know what? Right at this moment, even now, I feel a little better than I did two paragraphs ago. Fascinating. I decided to lean on God and now I feel completely supported. I like knowing that He's in this with me :)

Raw Strawberry Pie

2008-06-16T08:39:00.001-07:00

We've had plenty of fresh strawberries from our little patch and Adi suggested the other day that we make some strawberry pies! I thought that was a fabulous idea, and even better, why not make it raw!! So I already had some date/nut balls on hand - all ingredients are raw:

Date/Nut Balls

1 cup soaked hazelnuts (or whatever kind you like - soaked overnight and rinsed)
7 dates
1 tsp agave nectar
pinch salt
dried coconut flakes

Process dates and nuts in food processor, add agave and pinch of salt. Shape 'dough' into balls and roll in coconut flakes.

Adi likes Strawberry Shortcake so I used her cupcake liners placed in a cupcake tin and pressed one nut/date ball in the bottom of each one to create a crust.

Divide sliced strawberries among the cupcake liners and add agar agar syrup ---

Agar Agar Syrup

1/4 cup hot water (not boiling)
1 tsp agar agar powder (agar agar is like gelatin but made from seaweed and is not 100% raw but a great vegan substitute for recipes needing a bit of form)
2 Tbsp agave nectar

Chill in the refrigerator until set and enjoy! We did :)

Note: this recipe does not follow proper food combining rules.

I'm landing at a place right now that leads me to believe that food combining is far more important when eating cooked foods. I choose to believe that raw foods are digested in a completely different way... I may be in denial. Regardless, this recipe rocks and Adi couldn't get enough of it and I don't feel in the least bit bad for letting her eat not one but two pies for breakfast!!

Fit For Life

2008-06-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

So I'm re-reading a book called Fit For Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond which I read about 13 years ago. It was originally recommended to me by a room mate while I was living in Miami Beach, FL. I think at the time some of it made sense but I just wasn't willing to make the life-style changes needed to eat the way modeled in the book.

It feels really interesting to read this book now, after I've done so much research on raw foods and so much of that has really resonated with me. Now to throw food combining on top of that makes things feel a bit restrictive. Though there's certainly a toss-up here. Fit For Life allows eating cooked foods, just in the proper combinations.

And that's a hang up for me - this book claims I can detox while including cooked foods in my diet, which, if true sounds wonderful! I think I want to give it a shot. The book includes a 30 day menu plan to teach readers how to successfully combine food and eat the right stuff at the right time. I guess I've got 30 days to give it a try. Why not? I don't think I could make it 30 days 100% raw at this point so why not shoot for 70% and see if Harv and Mar are full of hooey or if they really do know their stuff! Here's a really condensed run down of what this will look like:

Eat only fresh, raw fruits (and up to 14 oz fresh juice) every day until noon
From noon to approx 8:00 p.m. eat correctly combined meals
Exercise a minimum of 20 minutes daily (this will be the hard part for me!)

What does correctly combined mean? Essentially, there are two types of food: high-water content foods and concentrated foods. Fruits and veggies are high-water and everything else is concentrated. The claim is that the human stomach is not designed to eat more than one concentrated food at a time. Therefore, protein can not be combined with another type of protein, or carbohydrates (whole grain bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, etc.) Concentrated foods can be combined with veggies only as fruits should always be consumed alone and never following a meal. Here's a chart:

How long to wait after eating other food before you can again eat fruit

Food Time to Wait

Salad or raw veggies 2 hours

Properly combined meal, no flesh 3 hours

Prperly combined meal, with flesh 4 hours

Any improperly combined meal 8 hours

Energy Ladder

a.m.

Fresh fruit & fruit juices

Fresh vegetable juice & salads

Steamed vegetables, raw nuts & seeds

Grains, breads, potatoes, legumes

Meat, chicken, fish, dairy (if any;)

p.m.

Now that's a lot of info. If you want to give this a try I highly recommend getting this book and realding the details for yourself. There are additional concepts that I haven't even touched on here that are really important. I think the read is worth it even if you have no intention of trying it out. So I suppose I will keep all posted.

Genesis

2008-02-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

I feel so compelled to find evidence of God's desire for us to be stewards of this earth He has entrusted to us and in searching the Bible I find wonderful verses that solidify my conviction to be a vegetarian (and maybe some day a vegan).

Genesis 1:29-30
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

Notice that God didn't say, "And all the beasts of the earth all the birds of the air I give you for food" He gave us seed-bearing plants and fruit with seed in it! Is this how God intended for us to eat from the very beginning?

Tabbouleh

2008-01-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

From goneraw.com

Ingredients
1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
½ cup fresh cloves or green onion, finely chopped
1 cup quinoa, sprouted (makes ~2 cups)
2 tomatoes, chopped into small squares
juice from 1-2 lemons
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or less
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt, grounded finely
½ teaspoon ground black pepper and/or some fresh jalapeno
1 head romaine lettuce, (or other wrappy greens)

Preparation
Quinoa sprouts in a few hours in water - some choose to rinse and let it sprout further some people choose to grind cauliflower, or other soaked nuts and seeds instead. I like using quinoa in this recipe because I don’t use it enough (up until now) and I like to diversify my diet as much as possible. Mix all ingredients except wrappy greens and serve with the greens on the side.

Corn Chips

2008-01-03T09:19:00.000-08:00

From goneraw.com

Makes a bunch
My husband was craving chips and salsa like there’s no tomorrow, and I really felt guilty giving him dirty looks… So I finally made him some that were good enough to substitute!

Ingredients
4 ears of corn, shaved
1 cup flax meal
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
dash cayenne, to taste
1 teaspoon sea salt

Preparation
Pretty simple… 1.Put all ingredients in food processor and process until pretty well mixed, no chunks.
2.Spread on dehydrator sheets. I usually make small-ish circles, but if I’m lazy I’ll just spread it all over.
3. Dehydrate for about 8-12 hours or until fully dry. No real need to flip them, but it can’t hurt if you’re impatient.
4. Break into pieces. If they’re in circles, you can break them into quarters and get lovely nacho-like triangles. If you were lazy, just break into anything small enough to fit in your mouth or salsa bowl.

That’s it! You can season it to your liking of course, I tried adding a lot of dill and some lemon juice and got a pretty convincing dill-pickle. I’m sure anything works though.

Grawnola

2008-01-03T08:35:00.001-08:00

From goneraw.com

A really easy, really customizable granola that packs well for camping, the office, or is a yummy breakfast with almond milk!

Ingredients
2 cups buckwheat, sprouted
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked (optional)
1 cup dried fruit
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons agave or honey (or both!)
2 tablespoons shredded dried coconut
1 cup nuts of your choice

Preparation
Grind nuts of your choice (I used walnuts and almonds) in a food processor with sunflower seeds. Add in fruit (I used goji berries), pulse the food processor. Then add in cinnamon, agave, honey. Mix into bowl with buckwheat and coconut until thoroughly blended.

Spread onto Paraflex sheets, and dehydrate for about 8-10 hours at 110/115.
The great thing about this granola is that you can add more nuts or less, more fruit, and spices of your choice. It’s really easy and makes the whole house smell AMAZING.

Nutty Fruity Chewy Snack Balls

2008-01-03T08:28:00.001-08:00

From goneraw.com

Yields 20-30 balls, depending on the size.
Nutty, fruity and chewy-moist, light snack balls coated with shredded coconut. They are perfect as snacks but also for a late breakfast or as an addition to a fruit plate. They could be eaten right away or stored in the refrigerator for three days, or in the freezer.
Adapted from Standard Fruit Pie Crust (raw) from The American Vegetarian Cookbook by Marilyn Diamond.

Ingredients
⅓ cup sunflower seeds (1/3 cups)
¼ cup pine kernels (1/4 cup)
½ cup walnuts (1/2 cup)
⅓ cup almonds (1/3 cup)
½ cup dried, unsweetened, shredded coconut (1/2 cup)
1 cup raisins
1 cup soaked (30-60 minutes) dried figs

Coating:
1 cup dried, unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder

Preparation
1. Grind the seeds, nuts, and coconut to a fine meal in a food processor.
2. With the food processor still running, add the soaked dried figs, and the raisins (on that order). The mixture should form a ball. If it does not, add more raisins and a few tablespoons of water, apple juice, almond milk or the water used to soak the dried figs. The mixture should not be wet, instead chewy, like a paste, still rough.
3. On a plate, pour about 1 cup of dried, unsweetened, shredded coconut (about one cup).
4. Wet your hands a bit, not too wet.
5. Form balls with your hands.
6. Roll the balls on the shredded coconut.
7. Place the coated balls on a plate and dust with cinnamon powder.

Pineapple Papaya Pie

2008-01-03T08:18:00.001-08:00

From goneraw.com

This recipe yields 4 medium-large pieces or 6 small pieces if an 6-inch spring form is used.
This is my own version of a non-bake pie inspired by the non-bake pie recipe’s of The American Vegetarian Cookbook by Marilyn Diamond. The technique for this kind of pie is from the author of this book. Although made of fruit, seeds, nuts and dried fruit, it is a light food to be eaten. It could be eaten at breakfast, lunch or dinner or as a dessert. It could be eaten along or as a dessert after a light salad. It could be a side dish to a fruit salad too.

Ingredients
Crust:
You will need half of the ingredients of Nutty-Fruity Chewy Snack Balls recipe for a 6-inch spring form pie.
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Filling:
1 mini papaya, pealed, seeded and lenght wise thin cut
¼ cup cup dried, unsweetened, shredded coconut
½ cup medium pineapple, cored and peeled
1 tablespoon tablespoon raw honey or raw agave syrup
2 tablespoons tablespoons agar-agar
⅓ cup cup water

Topping:
2 small fresh strawberries
1 large ripe green kiwifruit
1 teaspoon teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup shredded coconut (optional).

Preparation

Crust
1. Prepare crust mixture according to the instructions of Nutty-Fruity Chewy Snack Balls recipe using half of the ingredients.
2. Line a 6-inches spring form with baking paper to avoid the crust from sticking to the bottom.
3. Press crust mixture into the 6-inch spring form. The crust will be nearly 1/4-inch thick.
4. Dust the crust mixture with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
5. Set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. I place it in the freezer for at least 45 minutes.

Filling:
1. Place coconut, pineapple and raw honey or agave syrup in a blender. Blend until smooth.
2. Heat agar-agar with 1/3 water in a small pan over low heat. Keep stirring mixture frequently until it becomes bubbly and gelatinous. It will take about 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Add agar-agar mixture to the pineapple mixture in the blender immediately. Blend for about 20 seconds.
4. Remove crust from the fridge or freezer.
5. Layer papayas pieces over the crust.
6. Pour pineapple mixture over the papaya (crust).
7. Place pie in the fridge or freezer and allow it to cool for about 15 minutes. Allow it to set.

Topping:
1. Peel kiwifruit, cut in half lengthwise, and slice. Place slices with flat side adjacent to crust in a scallop fashion.
2. Cut strawberries in half lengthwise. Place the four strawberry pieces on the center of the pie forming a cross.
3. Dust with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and shredded coconut (coconut is optional).
4. Chill for at least one hour, or 30 minutes in the freezer before consumption.

Linguine Marinara

2007-12-05T12:02:00.000-08:00

My very own recipe posted on goneraw.com!
1 Serving

I created this quite by accident. It is so simple yet so increadibly yummy. I had no idea that the texture of zucchini noodles would change so much by simply making them wider using a vegetable peeler! This recipe could easily be doubled to make two servings rather than only one.

Ingredients
1 Small Zucchini
½ Large Tomato
dash Sea Salt , to taste
dash Italian Seasoning, to taste
½ tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Pine Nuts

Preparation

Linguine Noodles
Use a vegetable peeler to “peel” wide linguine noodles from zucchini

Marinara Sauce
1. Slice a large tomato in half and place one half in blender (I used my convenient little Magic Bullet) and store the other half for later use
2. Add sea salt, Italian seasoning, and olive oil and blend to desired consistency
3. Mound noodles, add sauce and top with pine nuts.
Delish!

Pecan Pie Bites

2007-12-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

My very own post on goneraw.com :)
3-6 servings

This is so easy and tastes exactly like a bite of pecan pie. My family loves to make holiday treat plates to give as gifts to friends and neighbors each year and these are definitely going on the plates! What an easy way to show our friends and neighbors just how simple and easy delicious raw treats can be.
This recipe makes 6 but the picture only shows 5 – any guesses where the 6th one went? Sorry, I couldn’t wait ;)

Ingredients
6 Dates, Pitted
6 Pecan Halves
dash Cinnamon, Optional

Preparation
If your dates aren’t already pitted, remove the pit. Stuff a pecan half in each date and you’re done. You can add a sprikle of cinnamon to the pecans before stuffing them in the dates if you like.

21 Days Come to an End

2007-11-26T17:59:00.000-08:00

My 21 days of faith experiment ended yesterday. I gleefully broke my fast by enjoying a beautiful meal at Oyama, a wonderful Japanese restaurant with my family last night. I always like eating Japanese food because I feel like I ate something good for me and never feel like I'm going to explode when I leave (except one time several years ago when I had sake and it gave me such bad gas I thought I was going to die - seriously. But that's a different story and believe it or not Tums came to the rescue so I survived. HA!)

Now I'm looking back and reflecting on all the things that the 21 days did in me. What I realized was that going deeper into faith can be frustrating, scary and difficult. My 21 days were a whirlwind of emotions as God called things out of me to deal with. And you know what? I had to deal with them because of my fast from cooked food. Any other time I probably would have noticed God bringing something up and then fighting Him by burying myself in some unhealthy behavior like eating a whole bag of Doritos. I would feel the pain of my weaknesses and self medicate with junk instead of and saying, "Yes, I do this or that, and it's not OK. Jesus help me change it."

So what I'm taking home with me out of this experiment is faith. Not because I asked for a miracle and saw a miracle happen on the outside but because God showed me many small miracles inside and helped me to begin to change the ugly parts of who God never intended me to be.

I started out asking Jesus to step in to my life and help me change my eating lifestyle but the very first night God told me that He wanted to work on something else. And I was pissed! And then God told me he wanted to work on that too!! HA ha. It was a crazy start to something that was supposed to be faith building - God tearing down my useless defenses first. Isn't He smart? But I felt like I was going nuts and the new thing we were working on wasn't going well.

The bedtime routine with my daughter was getting completely out of control so I knew only after God pointed it out (duh) that this was the miracle I needed to see in my life right now. I was spending hours each night trying to get Adi to sleep and much of that time was spent with me crying and cursing God for not helping me. Oh man, did I ever have to repent for that! But I felt alone, I felt abandoned and I felt like there was really no point in praying any more if God wasn't going to answer my prayers.

I had come to a point of giving up on hope and deciding that I was going to have to do it on my own, without the help of my God. It didn't take long for God to set me straight on that because now I felt dead spiritually and my only chance at life was to admit I couldn't do it on my own and I begged Jesus to forgive me and just be with me. I think that was the weekend I desperately needed to be in worship and church but I was scheduled to serve in the toddler room. Funny how that always seems to happen. Kind of like God saying, "Don't depend on worship and church - depend on Me! Turn your eyes to Me!"

My next lesson was patience. This one keeps coming up for me. I don't know if I'll ever get it right. God showed me that I needed to be patient with Adi. She's two and a half. She's just a child - what she needs most from me are love, consistency and patience. So I knew I had to slow down. I had to look at some resources and figure out a plan. And then I had to stick with the plan and finally (and most importantly) I had to be patient!

Another place where patience became vital was in waiting for my period to come. It's so hard to just wait around, not knowing when I'll be able to move on and get my test done and find out what the heck is wrong with me and why I can't seem to stay pregnant. I felt myself getting irritated because I felt very much like I was experiencing PMS (with meltdowns and extreme emotions) but I couldn't tell if it was because I actually had hormones doing crazy stuff or if it was because I didn't have cooked food to turn to. So I had to be patient and wait.

Finally another Sunday came and I was so completely on edge to begin with. I didn't know if I had any faith at all. I was so low and so desperate. And then I had to listen to a testimony about grasping for what we want vs. waiting and receiving what God has for us. Though I had heard the testimony before it threw me way off. I was feeling good about deciding to have the HSG done and then all of a sudden I was forced to consider whether doing so was just grasping and not waiting and receiving. I think I wrote a blog entry about this because it was pretty relevant. Ultimately I came to a place of knowing in my heart that I have two choices. I can continue on the way I have been and take the risk of having many more miscarriages, or I can accept the technology that could tell me what is wrong and possibly help me prevent it from ever happening again. My heart can't keep going through miscarriages. I just can't. I'm getting the test and once again, I feel good about that.

That same afternoon I went to a prophetic ministry time that was wonderful and affirming for me. God told me to keep praying. He told me other things that I desperately needed to hear and I left feeling like Jesus had restored me. I felt my faith grow, my heart heal, and the spirit of joy.

My final week was probably the easiest in terms of faith but the hardest in terms of my fast. I stayed on my fast through both Thanksgiving dinners that we attended and it was miserable. But I did it. Cam was so proud of me and I was just a grumpy old fuddy duddy! But family made it all better and I was grateful to have been able to make a choice between cooked and raw food and that there was an abundance of each. So many people in the world (including right here in our country) aren't so blessed.

This post is already so long. There's so much more I could say and other ways I can see God working in me but I think I just want to close by saying that my faith experiment was exactly what it should have been. Did I see an answer to prayer? Yes, I did. Just not in the way I expected to. I think 21 days was perfect for me and I can't wait until the next faith experiment comes up - if God did all of this in 21 days, I can only imagine what He could do in 40!

Sprouted Almonds from Co-op

2007-11-21T11:32:00.001-08:00

Ahhhh! The sprouted almonds from the New Pioneer Co-op are not raw! I got some last night to use in some recipes for Thanksgiving because I am too lazy to sprout almonds on my own. I should have read the label more carefully because they were actually roasted after being sprouted. I sampled a few last night and had my suspicions so I couldn't help but call today and learned the truth. So now my fast has been tainted but never fear. I will continue onward eating only raw through day 21. In my own defense, I didn't officially cheat - I was ignorant about the product I bought and I screwed up out of an attempt to save myself a little time. Darn - now I'm only like 99.99% raw. Oh well, life goes on!

Golden Herb Potato Chips

2007-11-20T10:07:00.001-08:00

7 Large, well scrubbed Yukon Gold (or other golden) potatoes
Savory Sprinkles: Salt to taste Garlic powder Onion Powder Yellow Flake Yeast A little Cayenne (optional)

Slice the potatoes as thin as possible (paper thin). (I use a meat slicer or a vegetable slicer.)Dip in a bowl of fresh lemon juice to retard discoloration. Layer on mesh dehydrator sheet and spray light with a pan spray.
Sprinkle lightly with savory sprinkles.
Dehydrate for several hours at 110 degrees or until crispy and crunchy. Check frequently as the thinner potatoes will dry quicker than thicker slices.
Cool well and bag in an airtight container. Great for dipping or just eating for pleasure!A few satisy quickly, unlike commercial potato chips which can take a whole bag to satisfy. Fills a 9 tray dehydrator.
Note: Blend dehydrated potatoes into powder, and you will have a great thickener to use in soups and sauces, plus you increase the nutrition of the prepared dish. Store in air tight container. - Chef Jeff and Nancy Riedesel, from This Is Not Your Mother's Cookbook* Comments: Michelle says "pan spray" is not raw, consider using a Misto spritzer with olive oil to spritz on the chips instead.

Raw Choccie Cupcakes

2007-11-20T10:01:00.000-08:00

Choccie Cupcakes! (from thedailyraw.com)

1 cup walnuts, unsoaked
5 Medjool dates, unsoaked, pitted
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon coconut oil, liquid form
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Process walnut and dates in a food processor until mixture sticks together.
Add sea salt, vanilla extract and almond extract.
Roll small eight balls out of the mixture and place each one in 1 ¼-inch baking cups.
Mold the sides of the baking cups around the balls and form into a cupcake shape.

COCONUT ICING
1 cup coconut pulp
½ cup agave nectar
¼ cup coconut water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of sea salt

PINK ICING
1 tablespoon coconut icing
¼ teaspoon beet juice

LIGHT GREEN ICING
1 tablespoon coconut icing
¼ teaspoon liquid chlorophyll

CHOCOLATE ICING
1 tablespoon coconut icing
½ teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon maple syrup¼ tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes, for garnish

1. Puree coconut pulp, coconut butter, agave nectar and water in the blender until you achieve a smooth consistency. Add vanilla extract and sea salt.
2 . In three small bowls, place 1 tablespoon each of the coconut icing.
3. In the first bowl add the beet juice and mix until the icing turns pink. In the second bowl, add the chlorophyll to the icing and mix until the icing turn light green. In the third bowl, add the cocoa powder and maple syrup to the icing, stir until it turns a dark brown.
4. Pour the remaining coconut icing in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
5. Frost the cupcakes with the coconut icing

Essene Stuffing

2007-11-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

Essene Stuffing (from thedailyrawcafe.com)

3 cups diced Herb Essene Bread (recipe below)
¼ cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon sea salt

1 In a large bowl, combine diced bread, onion, celery, poultry seasonings and sea salt.
2 Place mixture on Teflex sheet. Dehydrate at 100 degrees for 3 hours.

Herb Essene Bread

4 cups sprouted grains, Kamut, wheat berries, rye, etc.

1 cup almond flour

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon Herb Blend*

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 In a food processor, grind the grains well. If your processor doesn’t have a powerful motor, use ¼ cup of water to get things going. Stop every so often to scrape the sides of the food processor. Blend the mixture until it forms a sticky dough.

2 Place dough in a large bowl and add almond flour, olive oil, herb blend and sea salt. Combine well.

3 Divide the mixture in half and spread each half on a two Teflex sheets, forming 8 x 8 squares.

4 Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 6 hours, flip over and with a pizza cutter, score into nine slices. Dehydrate an additional 6-8 hours or until the bread is crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

* Herb Blend1 tablespoon thyme1 tablespoon rosemary1 tablespoon caraway seed

Combine seasonings in a coffee grinder and grind until fine.

Oh Sweet Jesus

2007-11-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

I can not believe what a roller coaster I've been on over the past several days. I've gone from angry at God and blaming Him for all my shortcomings, having complete sobbing meltdowns, doubting my ability to parent, feeling like I don't deserve another child, questioning whether I have any faith at all, being shattered into a zillion tiny pieces (most of this happened Saturday and Sunday morning!) to a place of peace and joy. Which leads me to wonder if I'm a complete psychopath!!

Well, blessed be the name of the Lord for He has spoken into my life through a wonderful ministry time at a friends house yesterday afternoon. God reminded me that when I was suffering, he was there. He encouraged me to continue praying and not to give up - which is exactly where I was... about to give up. Jesus picked up every last one of the zillion pieces scattered about and held them in His hands as He lovingly put them back together - and then He blessed them. He encouraged my marriage, gave me permission to rest and reminded me to trust. And there was so much more that I'm still processing. How miraculous and glorious is our God. I stand in awe.

This morning a bittersweet joy arrived with the start of my period. It's so odd to feel joyous when my period finally comes after each miscarriage - it's a sign that my body has healed and I get a fresh start when any other period just means that I'm not pregnant. So 7 to 10 days from now I will undergo the infamously invasive and horrifying dye test... no matter how invasive or how horrifying the test might be I'm grateful to be having it. And I'm choosing to go into it knowing that God gave me lemons and I'm going to make lemonade!!

Getting Ahead of Myself

2007-11-19T12:53:00.000-08:00

I'm finding so many exciting recipes on goneraw.com that I went ahead and filled up spaces on my blog for all 21 days! Thanksgiving is coming up and I can't wait to try some of these :) I'm currently on a liquid fast until Thursday so it's almost painful for me to look at all of these amazing recipes. Oh my!

The fast from cooked food is going so so well. It helps to have the right equipment. I love my dehydrator. We also ordered a Blendtec blender and it should arrive today. That will make my liquid fast much happier, I think :)

I hope everyone is enjoying looking at and reading about all of these crazy raw recipes. What a journey it's been so far. I'm really loving it, and I'm almost afraid to eat cooked food again. It might hurt me - HA!

Day 21

2007-11-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

Succulent Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake (from goneraw.com)
Makes an 8 or 9 inch pie

Basically the same recipe from you tube : sexy ( bad word)’s Love it Raw Hawaii, but with a couple of changes that make it so much better in my husband’s opinion. Also with the addition of strawberry filling swirled in and as a topping. This cheesecake is really to die for!

Ingredients
Crust
2 cups Raw Walnuts, finely ground
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
¼ cup Agave

Filling
2¼ cups Pine Nuts, ground
1 cup Organic Coconut oil
½ cup Agave
1 Organic lemon, juiced
¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
2 teaspoons Organic Vanilla Extract
Swirl Filling / Topping
1 pint Organic Strawberries, washed and chopped
2 tablespoons Agave
5 drops Organic Lemon Juice

Preparation
STRAWBERRY TOPPING: First: before making pie add all topping ingredients in a bowl and mash. Set aside so that all the juices start to flow and let it marinate.
CRUST: Butter your pie pan with coconut oil. Grind nuts in coffee grinder (that’s how I do it). Pour nuts, agave, sea salt, and cinnamon into food prcessor and process until mixture starts to come together but is still crumbly. Form crust in your dish and set in the fridge while you make the filling.
FILLING: Pour all filling ingredients into food processor and blend until creamy and smooth. Make sure to taste to see if you need to add anything.
Pour half filling into pie crust, then add about 1/4 of the strawberry topping mixture in the middle of the pie. Pour the rest of the filling on top. Lastly I take some of the strawberry juice and swirl it on top gently. Chill for at least 2 hours prior to serving.
NOTE: I have soaked the pine nuts for 1-4 hours but you do not have to. My mother in law made it without soaking them at all and the cake was still fabulous! I have also made cheesecake with half cashews (soaked for 4 hours) and half pine nuts and the texture was very nice also.

Day 20

2007-11-19T12:46:00.000-08:00

Ooooh Lasagna (from goneraw.com)
serves 1 if you're hungry

I have tried a LOT of different raw lasagnas, but none of them really did it for me…I guess because I was a real cooked lasgna fan, and the raw kind didn’t satisfy my craving. I think, with this recipe, I may have cracked the raw lasagna code, and I can honestly say I like this version better than the cooked one. Don’t be intimidated by the procedure or anything, it is REALLY easy.

Ingredients
CASHEW CHEESE
¾ cup cashews, soaked at least 2 hours
1 squeeze of lemon juice
¼ tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 pinch Celtic sea salt
½ tablespoon onion, red yellow or green, chopped
1 small handful fresh or dried parsley and/or coriander

FOR ZUCCHINI STRIPS
1 long and thick zucchini , peeled, and sliced into thin, wide strips with a peeler or mandolin
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 dash Celtic salt

FOR THE MUSHROOMS
any olive oil left from the zucchini mix, and more if needed
nama shoyu
portabello mushroom caps, sliced into thin, wide and long slices

OTHER INGREDIENTS
1 big tomato, sliced into thin, wide slices
1 small handful spinach, coated very lightly in any of the extra marinade from the mushrooms

Preparation
1. To make the cashew cheez: -Process the soaked cashews, lemon juice, lemon zest, nutritional yeast, Celtic sea salt, onion, and herbs. The measurements are just approximate, so taste as you go, it should taste yummy like ravioli cheese. It should have a ricotta-cheesey texture, so add more lemon juice or water if needed.
2. To make the zucchini layers, coat the thin and wide zucchini strips with the olive oil and salt so they are coated but NOT dripping. Set aside, and reserve any extra olive oil and salt mix you have left for the mushrooms.
3. To make the mushrooms, coat the thinly sliced portabello caps in the EVOO and nama shoyu mixture, again so they are coated but NOT dripping.
4. Coat the baby spinach VERY lightly in any of the leftover marinade from the mushrooms. 5.TIME TO ASSEMBLE!! Arrange the layers like so: zucchini (slightly overlapping), cheez, tomato slices, mushrooms, spinach, and repeat. do this so its as tall as you like, and coat the top layer of zucchini with some more cheez and tomato.
6. Dehydrate at 130 degrees for an hour (this will not destroy enzymes because of the moisture content of the food at this stage), and then at 110-115 for another half hour to an hour or so.
7. ENJOY!!!!

Day 19

2007-11-19T12:41:00.000-08:00

Raw Chocolate Dream Cake (from goneraw.com)
Serves 10 - 12

This is a recipe that I found on the Internet. I couldn’t find a reference to the creator of this recipe but to whom ever it is, I give you total credit. This is decadent and absolutely DIVINE!!!!!

Ingredients
1 cup Raw Almonds, not soaked
2 tablespoons Agave Nectar
1 teaspoon Coconut Butter
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
0.05 ounce Bittersweet Organic Chocolate
¼ cup Cocoa/Cacao Powder
2 cups Coconut Meat, Young/soft coconut meat
½ cup Cashew Butter
½ cup Coconut Butter
½ cup Maple Syrup, Grade B/Organic
¼ cup Agave Nectar
2 tablespoons Vanilla Extract

Preparation
The ingredients repeat itself above because there is the crust and the filling. The crust ingredients are the first five ending with 1/4 tsp. sea salt and the filling begins with .05 ounce of Bittersweet Organic Chocolate (I couldn’t find this so I just used Organic Chocolate).
My notes: It was hard for me to find a nice young coconut which has jelly/soft meat so I just used the older coconut and blended it really well (as creamy as I could get it), adding some coconut water to moisten it. I added the note for the Grade B maple syrup, the young coconut meat, and the indication of Cacao vs. Cocoa (same thing really); the original recipe didn’t not specify that. As I thought later the dryer meat may work well to because it would make for a dryer cake; I’ll try it another time.

The consistency of this cake after being frozen, let to set just a little (not to be icy but firm) was firm like a cheesecake (uncooked recipe). I also found that it was too sweet for me. I would like a more robust chocolate flavor. I’m a serious chocolate lover.
Of course, try it and play with it to your special taste. When I tasted the batter, my eyes rolled in my head; I was in Heaven!!!! So delish! I used my fingers to get all the batter out and then when I did that I went back for a second scraping with my finger to lick the rest.
Here are the instructions:
For the crust:
In a food processor, grind the almonds and cocoa powder together until fine. Do not over-process. Then add in the sea salt, vanilla, coconut butter and agave and pulse a few times. Press into bottom of 7? Springform Pan. Set in the freezer.

(MY NOTE: AFTER PROCESSING THE NUTS AND THE GRINDING THE CACAO, I PUT THE DRY INGREDIENTS IN A BOWL AND MIXED EVERYTHING TOGETHER WITH A FIRM SPATULA….I SPREAD IN THE BOTTOM OF A BUNDT CAKE PAN AS I DIDN’T HAVE A SPRINGFORM PAN (PUT IN FREEZER AS INSTRUCTED)...MY BUNDT PAN HAS THE REMOVABLE INSIDE SO WHEN IT WAS STILL FIRM BUT SOFT ENOUGH, I WAS ABLE TO EASILY PULL THIS OUT TO REVEAL THE CAKE)
ALSO BECAUSE I WANTED A THICKER CRUST, I INCLUDED AN ADDITIONAL AMOUNT OF EACH INGREDIENT EXCEPT THE AGAVE NECTAR.

For the Filling:
Melt the chocolate and add everything to a high speed blender until smooth. Pour into pan and set in the fridge or freezer until firm
MY NOTE: AS THERE WAS NOTHING FOR ME TO MELT, I JUST ADDED THE POWDER AND BLENDED REALLY WELL….THERE WAS NO GRITTINESS FROM THE POWDER. AT ANOTHER TIME IN MAKING A RAW CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE/SAUCE I MELTED THE MIXTURE BY PUTTING IT IN A SMALL CONTAINER AND PLACING THAT CONTAINER IN A BOWL/CUP OF HOT WATER (BOILED AND THEN COOLED JUST A LITTLE). THIS TAKES A LITTLE PATIENCE SINCE I DIDN’T WANT TO HAVE THE NUTRIENTS REMOVED FROM OVERHEATING (WATER TOO HOT) SO I WAS TENTATIVE AND CAUTIOUS. IT CAME OUT WELL IN THE END.

Day 18

2007-11-19T12:37:00.000-08:00

Herb-Encrusted Mushroom Steak (from goneraw.com)
Serves 2-4

This is a wonderfully flavored, savory meal created and shared by Rhio (January 2007’s recipe of the month). The recipe also includes a quick and easy cheeze sauce that can be used on other recipes as well.

Ingredients
2 large Portabello mushrooms, sliced
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil (with 1 tbsp. flax seed oil, op.)
1½ tablespoons Nama Shoyu
2 teaspoons cumin powder
2 teaspoons 2 tsp. cardamom powder (or tarragon flakes)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 Ume plum, seeded and mashed

VEGGIES
1 red or yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 cup broccoli, chopped small (or you could substitute other vegetable such as asparagus, edible-podded peas, zucchini, etc. or use a combination of vegetables)
½ cup scallions, finely chopped
1 clove pressed garlic

CHEEZE
1 cup soaked pine nuts, macadamias or almonds (if using almonds, peel the skins)
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup filtered water

Preparation
Mushroom Steak
Mix oil, Nama Shoyu, cardamom, garlic, Ume plum in a bowl and blend well.
Slice the mushrooms into thin slices and dip each mushroom slice into the sauce, covering both sides. Let marinate 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the recipe.
Veggies
Mix all the vegetables in a bowl. Drain the marinade from the mushrooms and toss it with the vegetables.
Cheeze
Blend all Cheeze ingredients in a blender until creamy.
Put together your Herb-Encrusted Mushroom Steak by first placing some marinated mushrooms on a plate, top with the vegetables and then spread a few spoons of the Cheeze on top. Mmm good.
Keeps for 2 days in the refrigerator.
Variations: Layer the ingredients into a romaine lettuce leaf, Swiss chard leaf, cabbage leaf cup or bok choy leaf. Or you could serve it on Pizza Crust bread. The recipe could also be made without the Cheeze.

Day 17

2007-11-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

WALDORF SALAD

1 C celery, chopped fine

1 C grapes, halved

1 apple, peeled

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 C water
• Mix lemon juice and water.

• Dice apple, soak in lemon juice/water mix for 10 mins., and drain.

• Mix celery, grapes, and apple.

• Mix in pine nut mayonnaise to taste.

PINE NUT MAYONNAISE

1 C raw pine nuts

1/2 C water

4 T olive oil

3 T lemon juicepinch sea saltagave nectar to taste (optional)
• Blend all together in a VitaMix (blender).

Day 16

2007-11-19T06:37:00.001-08:00

Mouthwatering Pumpkin Pie
This Pumpkin Pie is amazingly scrumptious! I make it whenever I have a craving for pumpkin, but holidays are best. I try to sneak the entire pie to myself but there’s always someone who comes along who wants a piece. My pie doesn’t last one single night! It’s heavenly.

Ingredients
-FOR THE CRUST-
2 Cups Pecans (unsoaked)
1 Cup Dates (Pitted, chopped)
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Cacao or Cocoa Powder
Squirt Agave or Honey

-FOR THE FILLING-
3.5 Cups Cubed Pumpkin
1 Ripe Avocado (peeled, seedless)
1.5 Cups of Dates (pitted)
1/2 tablespoon Coconut Oil
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Touch of Agave or Honey

-FOR THE TOPPING-
1 Cup Almonds (soaked)
Water
Squirt Maple Syrup (or Agave or honey)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Preparation
CRUST: Combine the pecans, dates, cinnamon, cacao/cocoa powder and sweetener in your high tech blender (or food processor whichever you prefer). Press into a pie pan evenly and set in the fridge.
FILLING: Chop the diced pumpkin cubes in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer the pumpkin into your blender and add the avocado, coconut oil, chopped dates, pumpkin spice (about a teaspoon or less) & sweetener until thoroughly mixed. NOTE: Sorry I forgot to add the 1 tablespoon of Psyllium powder to the list. Add that as well. Pour into the pie pan over the crust. Sprinkle some cinnamon over top. Set in the fridge.
TOPPING – Optional: Blend the almonds, sweetener, vanilla and some water and control the consistency of the cream you want, more water for a thinner base or less for thicker. You can also add some cacao/cocoa powder to make a chocolate version, but you will need a little more sweetener. I made 2 kinds as pictured, vanilla and chocolate. When complete, set in the fridge.
Everything should be ready within an hour, I like to let mine sit in the fridge for around 2 hours but anything works. If the pie crust breaks as you serve it, it’s normal lol, I seem to always break mine…

Day 15

2007-11-19T06:18:00.001-08:00

Parsnip-Pine Nut Whip (or Better than Mashed Potatoes) [from goneraw.com]
Serves 6 to 8

I’ve tried other mashed potato-ish recipes before, but this is the first that made my taste buds sing. Thanks to chef Bruce Horowitz who created this delight. Shown with the chickpea/miso gravy and pepper.

Ingredients
2 cups parsnip, washed and cubed
½ cup pine nuts
1½ cups water
⅓ cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced - or more to taste
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil

Preparation
Blend all ingredients until creamy.
Serve with a drizzle of flax oil or a simple gravy, such as: .5 cup chickpea miso and .5 cup water whisked with some seasoning, such as drop of cumin or pepper or chopped mushrooms.

Mushroom Gravy (also from goneraw.com)
This is an easy savory gravy that would go well with the Parsnip Whip and Mashed Cauliflower, among others. The recipe was adapted by Denise Thomas from a mushroom soup recipe created by the Raw Gourmet.

Ingredients
2 portabello mushrooms (about 1.5 cups)
1 tablespoon Nama Shoyu
1 pinch salt
½ cup water
¼ cup almond butter

Preparation
Blend in a blender and serve.

Day 14

2007-11-16T12:56:00.001-08:00

Spicy Spinach and Pepper Taquito (from goneraw.com)

Not your ordinary taquitos.

Ingredients
SPINACH/PEPPER MIXTURE
1 cup fresh spinach, finely chopped
½ sweet red/orange pepper, diced
½ sweet yellow pepper, diced
¼ yellow onion, diced
juice of one lime
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 jalapeno, finely diced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon sea salt

NACHO CHEESE
1 cup cashews, soaked
¼ cup water
½ sweet red pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon sea salt

CORN TORTILLAS
4 cups fresh sweet corn, off the cob
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 cup golden flax seeds, unsoaked, finely ground into flour
1 teaspoon sea salt

Preparation
SPINACH/PEPPER MIXTURE Place ingredients in a plastic bag Ziploc bag and marinate for 1 hour.
NACHO CHEESE Blend ingredients until thick and creamy.
CORN TORTILLAS Chop corn and bell pepper in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth.
Take a spoon and spread the corn mixture on the teflex-lined dehydrator trays. You should have enough mixture for two or three trays.
Dehydrate at 110 degrees for about 5 hours.
Flip the teflex sheet over onto the tray and carefully pull away from tortillas.
Using a pizza cutter, score the tortilla in 3-inch strips (approximately 3 long strips) length-wise, then score every four inches across. You should have approximately 9 strips of rectangles.
Dehydrate for another 2 hours until tortilla is completely dry on both sides but still pliable.
ASSEMBLE TAQUITO Spread cheese on the end of one tortilla strip, spoon spinach/pepper mixture on top of cheese and roll tortilla tightly to prevent it from opening.
Secure with a toothpick, if necessary.
Put taquitos in dehydrator at 110 degrees for 8-12 hours or until they are crisp on the outside.

Day 13

2007-11-16T12:52:00.001-08:00

Deviled "Eggs" (from goneraw.com)
Serves 4

A no-cholesterol picnic treat. No salmonella to worry about either. A mellonballer helps make this one quick and easy.

Ingredients
1 or more zuccini, peeled, halved, shaped and scooped
1 batch eggcellent scramble
1 tablespoon grated horseradish
1 minced pickle
1 sprinkle paprica for tops
1 stalk celery (optional), chopped
sprinkle sea salt and pepper
2 artichoke hearts (optional)
parsely as garnish
¼ purple onion, chopped

Preparation
Cut zuccini in half, then cut lengths about an inch. Cut around corners to shape like eggs if you like. Scoop out centers with small side of melon-baller. I made this recipe with sunflower seeds for this one. Add horseradish, pickle, and artichoke hearts to the food processor with the eggcellent scramble. Add chopped purple onion and celery.
Take melon-baller and scoop out the egg mixture and place in zuccini “eggs”. Top with paprica. You may want to oil the outside of the zuccini if it’s going to be a while before you eat them. Also grind a little sea salt onto zuccini to make it a little more tasty.
I put a couple of artichoke hearts in mine because they are supposed to be good for cleansing the liver. This could also be made with cucumbers but the zuccini have a more egg-like quality to them. I haven’t left these over night so I do not know if you can make them ahead.
I threw in a few cherry tomatoes and you can’t even tell they’re in there but they are good to eat for the lycopene. I also used a batch I had made of the eggcellent scramble that had pumpkin seeds on the top and I just blended them into the mix too.

Eggless Egg Salad (from goneraw.com - in place of eggcellent scramble)

Ingredients
½ cup pure water
juice from one small lemon, (I use some zest, too)
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt, add 1/2 tsp at a time for taste
1½ cups raw cashews
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon turmeric, for color, add as needed
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Preparation
1. Place the water, lemon juice, garlic, sea salt and cashews in the high speed blender or food processor, and blend until very smooth.
2. With a spatula, take the mixture from the blender and place in a medium sized mixing bowl.
3. Slowly stir in the mustard, apple cider vinegar, and turmeric until it reaches the color and flavor you desire.
4. Serve on top of flax seed crackers, celery sticks, or add a bit of water to make a creamy salad dressing.
RawVee note: Add in chopped up celery for more texture, or jicama, onions, whatever you like. I pile it on fresh arugula. YUM!!!
Time to Make: Approximately 10 minutes Shelf Life: Keeps up to 5 days in the fridge if sealed in a tight container. You can make this ahead of time!

Day 12

2007-11-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

Caramel Coconut Cookies (from goneraw.com)

Adapted from “Living Cuisine” by Renee Underkoffler.
These are amazing, and so addictive! I usually double the recipe so they will last more than a few days.

Ingredients
3 cups dried shredded coconut
1 cup dates, soaked and pitted
3 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or half a vanilla bean)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cardamon
1 pinch sea salt

Preparation
Combine dates, almond butter, honey/maple syrup, coconut butter/olive oil, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon and sea salt in a food processor, until smooth. Then add the coconut and process until combined. Take approx. 1-2 Tbsp of dough and press it onto a teflex sheet with the bottom of a wet drinking glass. Dehydrate for approx. 12 hours on each side, until the outsides are crunchy, and the insides are still moist.

Days 8-11

2007-11-15T17:56:00.000-08:00

Oh man, it's been so hard to keep up with posting lately. Bed time is not going well. I've wondered over the last several days if this faith experiment is more of a faith test! Ugh. The best part about my experiment, believe it or not, is the fast from cooked food. I'm loving it.

I'm on my lunch break right now and I'm eating a Sun Burger on Sun-Dried Tomato Bread. It's fabulous - I love having a dehydrator to be able to make all sorts of amazing alternatives to cooked food. I can't believe it. You really have to check out my raw food blog to see pictures and recipes for some of the stuff I'm eating. And I feel great. I don't really want to eat cooked food right now (that could change at any given second, I'm sure.)

The faith part of my experiment has been shaky and difficult. I realize at certain moments that I have so little faith. And in others I can see that, yes, I do believe that Jesus can be my everything if I just give him a chance!

The daily devotionals as outlined are really helpful for someone like me, someone who has read only bits and pieces of the Bible but ultimately am clueless. Certainly not a theologian and I don't really want to be either.

Somehow I keep on keepin' on even though it feels very empty some days. I'm a little discouraged but don't want to bail on my commitment so, onward!

Day 11

2007-11-15T09:56:00.001-08:00

Hawaiian B.B.Q. Kebabs with Coconut Quinoa (from goneraw.com)
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 red onion
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup agave
½ cup cherry tomatoes
½ cup sundried tomatoes, soaked, reserve soaking water
1 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon chile powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
8 ounces baby portabello mushrooms, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
½ pineapple, peeled and cored (save core), cut into bite-sized pieces
1½ cups sprouted quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons orange juice
½ cup shredded coconut
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation
First, take half of the red onion and slice it very thinly (save the other half for later). Place the sliced red onion on a dehydrator screen and dehydrate at 95 for about 5 hours, until dry to the touch.
In a blender, combine the dried onion, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, agave, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, soaked sundried tomatoes, 2 Tbs of the soaking water, spices, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth to make your B.B.Q. sauce.
Cut the remaining red onion half into bite-sized pieces. Skewer the cherry tomato halves, mushrooms, onion, pepper, and pineapple pieces onto wooden skewers to make your kebabs. Using your hands, generously coat each kebab with B.B.Q. sauce (reserve about 2 Tbs B.B.Q. sauce for the quinoa). Place kebabs on Teflex or parchment paper-lined dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 145 for 1 hour (or a lower temperature for longer).
While kebabs are in the dehydrator, blend together the pineapple core, olive oil, orange juice, and the 2 Tbs. reserved B.B.Q. sauce. Stir in the shredded coconut, then combine with the sprouted quinoa. Season coconut quinoa with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve B.B.Q. kebabs warm, with a side of coconut quinoa.

Day 10

2007-11-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

Carrot Pecan Sunburger (from goneraw.com)
Makes 4 patties

Serve this as a burger on Sun-Dried Tomato Bread (shown on Onion Bread - recipe found on goneraw.com)

Ingredients
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 6 inch rib celery, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced
3 to 4 slices of portabella mushroom
sage, to taste
poultry seasoning, to taste
sea salt, to taste
¼ cup pecans
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

Preparation
Put the carrots in the food processor and process until pureed.
Add the sliced celery, mushrooms and onion and pulse until finely chopped.
Add the seasonings and mix lightly. Taste. It should be close to bland (dehydrating will intensify flavors).
Put in the pecans and sunflower seeds and pulse. I like to leave them in pieces to give texture.
Taste again and adjust seasonings if needed.
Form into four patties and put them in the dehydrator.
After two hours, turn carefully. Continue dehydrating for another two hours or until the desired texture has been reached.

Day 9

2007-11-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

Sun-Dried Tomato Bread (from goneraw.com)
18 slices

Adapted from Ani Phyo’s Black Sesame Sunflower Bread. It’s great with smashed avocado and alfalfa sprouts sandwiches.

Ingredients

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked until soft; save water
1 cup walnuts, soaked
1 cup flax seeds, ground
⅓ cup flax seeds, whole, unsoaked
¼ cup black sesame seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1⅓ cups sun-dried tomato water, saved from soaked sun-dried tomatoes

Preparation

In food processor, mix flax seeds, salt, garlic and sun-dried tomato water. Add walnuts and sesame seeds. Divide the mixture into two and spread them on two dehydrator trays about 1/4-inch high. Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 4 hours. Flip and score (use a pizza cutter) the bread into 9 slices. Dehydrate another 4-6 hours.

Day 8

2007-11-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

I hope you all get the general idea of how I eat. I just don't have the time to keep up with tracking what I eat every day. It's annoying. Sorry, I'm just being honest. So instead I think I'll post a fun new recipe I've either tried or intend to try for each day (that way I can just copy and paste and be done!) Whoo hooo :)

Tomato/Cilantro Flax Cracker (from goneraw.com)

This variation came from experimenting with different herbs and seeds and is based on a recipe found in Vegan World Fusion.

Ingredients
1 cup golden flax seeds
1 cup brown flas seeds
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in 1 C lukewarm water until soft
1¼ cups pumpkin seeds, soaked and drained
1 tablespoon Shoyu, or to taste
1 teaspoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon black pepper, ground to taste
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
⅛ cup parsley, chopped
⅛ cup cilantro, chopped

Preparation
Put flax seeds in a large bowl with 2 1/2 cups of filtered water and soak seeds for at least 30 minutes.

Mix all other ingredients (including sun-dried tomato soak water)in food processor and process until smooth. Mix all ingredients.

Spread evenly on 2 Paraflex dehydrator sheets and dehydrate at 115°F for 6 hours. Flip and transfer to a mesh screen for 6 additional hours.
It helps to score the crackers when you first put them onto the Paraflex sheet so that they break along the lines later.

Day 7

2007-11-12T17:56:00.000-08:00

I was in the toddler room this week and missed Nichole's awesome teaching. I'll have to listen to it online. It felt like a chaotic day for me. After church we needed to get Adi down for a nap but she resisted so her nap was cut short.

Then I thought the baby shower we were planning to go to was at 3:30 but at the last minute realized it was actually at 3:00 so we had to shift gears pretty quickly. The shower was wonderful and fun. I love the community and the humor and amazing people and feel so blessed to be able to spend time with them.

Cam had to go to Williamsburg/Marengo to attend a visitation for his great-aunt. I was originally planning on attending with Adi as well but the day felt like too much and Adi's sleep issues certainly wouldn't be helped by the trip. I'm glad we didn't go because Cam hit a dear with the van. Bummer. He said he didn't hurt it, it just broke the headlight on the passenger side so I'm grateful for that.

Day 6

2007-11-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

Saturday was an interesting and exciting day for us. I started the day by giving a pregnancy massage to a co-worker's wife. It was good to get some practice since I haven't worked on anyone since before the most recent miscarriage.

In the afternoon we went to Menard's and bought an electric fireplace insert. So now, where we once stored our t.v. is a no-gas, no-wood solution to supplemental heating in the basement. It's so cozy and relaxing. And there's no t.v. in that room now (who knows how long that will actually last) so it's a peaceful space.

We also finally decided to go for it and bought some laminate flooring to replace the ancient allergy catcher carpet upstairs. We found walnut laminate that we just love - and it feels special to choose walnut since we have walnut trees in our back yard. Now we just need to find time to install the stuff!

Day 5

2007-11-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

Not much to say. I'm thrilled that by Day 5 I truly don't feel any sense of dread in regards to my fast. Maybe my fast is taking up too much energy, though, because I feel spiritually blah. Not sure if that's just part of the process for me or what...

Day 4

2007-11-12T17:53:00.000-08:00

I'm lagging behind a bit on my posts. So day 4 went fairly well. I felt pretty groggy but I'm holding out in hopes of some clarity and vitality. I don't have anything particular to comment on so I'll keep it short :)

Day 7

2007-11-12T06:52:00.001-08:00

Breakfast:
fruit salad

Lunch:
salad (romaine, sprouts, avocado, olive oil, sea salt)
falafel

Snack:
fruit kabobs (apple, pineapple, cantaloupe, grape, orange)
veggies (carrots, tomatoes)

Dinner:
salad (romaine, broccoli, cauliflower, cheese, olive oil, sea salt)

Snack:
I indulged in a small glass of red wine (wine is not cooked)
and nothing goes better with wine than cheese :)

Day 6

2007-11-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

Breakfast:
fruit salad (apple, pear, grapes, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds)

Lunch:
small salad (romaine, avocado, tomatoes, olive oil, salt)
slaw
falafel
cheese

Snack:
trail mix

Dinner:
salad (salad mix, tomatoes, zucchini, vinaigrette [not sure if it was raw but probably close])

Day 5

2007-11-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's day 5 already?

Breakfast:
banana
pear

Snack:
2 inch piece of brownie
small orange

Lunch:
slaw
veggies (cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, celery)
dressing (olive oil, vinegar, agave)

Snack:
trail mix (goji berries, cashews, brazil nuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)

Dinner:
salad (romaine, broccoli, cauliflower, olive oil, salt)
flax crackers
cheese

Day 3

2007-11-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

Initially the reading for day 3 didn't seem to send any particular messages home for me. I feel a little bit like I'm in a zone of some sort. Not sure what that is. It's not negative in any way at all. It's almost a sense of spaciness and clarity at the same time. I went back and read it again and saw this note:

by God’s help, Daniel was able to do the impossible. Daniel needed supernatural help, he asked for it, and he got it. If you find yourself in an impossible—or even just a difficult—situation today, ask for God’s help, and see what happens.

Well, the evening of day 3 Adi went to bed at 8:30. I was sitting on the floor of Adi's room praying that God would help her sleep and was honestly shocked when she fell asleep only 10 minutes after I laid her down, which felt miraculous to me. I was so grateful to be able to make some raw brownies - oh yes, you read that right. I have a recipe for raw brownies that I'll post on the raw blog and it's not at all what you think! I also made some slaw and a salad. I haven't been able to do those kinds of things lately because Adi has been awake so late. It was so refreshing and brought me joy to be able to create some wonderful food for us to enjoy over the next several days. It was actually the highlight of my day!

Day 4

2007-11-08T04:53:00.000-08:00

Breakfast:
Banana
Grapes

Snack:
1 inch piece of brownie

Lunch:
slaw
cuke salad

Snack:
1/4 cup trail mix

Dinner:
slaw
flax crackers
raw organic cheese
half apple

Recipes:

Raw Brownies
1 cup date paste (I used fresh dates mashed through my Samson juicer)
1 1/4 cups nut butter (I used fresh cashews mashed through my Samson)
1/3 cup agave nectar
3/4 cup cacao powder \ (I ground raw cacao nibs with a whole vanilla bean
1 vanilla bean / in my Magic Bullet - could also use a coffee grinder)

Mix all ingredients together. Lightly grease (I used coconut oil) glass pan and press mix into bottom. Refrigerate and enjoy.

Slaw
2 cups shredded cabbage (I used red)
3/4 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup sprouts (I used a mix)
1/4 cup shredded radishes
Dressing:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cashews
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
dash celery salt
dash garlic salt
salt & pepper to taste

Shred veggies (I used a mandolin) and place in large mixing bowl. Place all dressing ingredients in a blender (I used my Magic Bullet) and blend until smooth. Add more water if desired (I prefer a thicker dressing since water usually seeps from the veggies overnight). Mix all ingredients together and enjoy or refrigerate overnight to let the flavors meld.

Cuke Salad
1 cucumber - sliced and quartered
1/2 avocado (could use a whole one but I only had half ;)
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together. Place in fridge over night so the tomatoes can soak up some of the water from the cukes. Mmmm good!

Day 3

2007-11-08T04:44:00.000-08:00

Breakfast:
fruit salad (pineapple, grapes, pumpkin seeds)

Snack:
veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, radishes, carrots)

Lunch:
salad (romaine, carrots, red cabbage, avocado, tomatoes, sunflower seeds)
dressing (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, agave nectar)

Snack:
banana
2 fresh dates

Dinner:
salad (early mix, radishes, tomatoes, cashews)
dressing (olive oil, sea salt)
"mashed potatoes and gravy" (Cam got creative yesterday - blended cauliflower and pureed marinated mushrooms placed together in a dehydrator at 105 degrees so it ended up a warm, uncooked version of an old fave - not bad)

Day 2

2007-11-06T17:50:00.000-08:00

Last night I had an experience that caused me to seriously reconsider what I needed Jesus to do for me over these 21 days. We have been battling bedtime issues with Adi ever since she was born and last night it felt like it all came to a head. If I have a demon, I heard it's voice last night! It was awful. Adi should be asleep by 8:00 and didn't go to bed until 11:00.

In some ways I was wondering if God was testing me to see if I would actually go downstairs and exercise for my 30 minutes after all of that. I was pissed, though, and exercise was the last thing on my mind. So now I realize that maybe God wasn't testing me - maybe he was showing me a piece of me and my lifestyle that needs changing more urgently than what I eat and how much I exercise. Huh.

I don't know how many other people who start on 21 or 40 Days of Faith experiments learn that after only one day that they are asking for the wrong thing. That what Jesus really wants to do for them is very different than what they settled on (because we all have so many needs, don't we? Who's perfect aside from Jesus?)

So although my experience last night was stressful, traumatic in some ways, and humiliating as a parent I am grateful for it. For 2 1/2 years we have had problems with bedtime (with a few short time periods where everything seemed to go OK). My new prayer is:

God, I'm desperate to help my daughter get the sleep she needs. Please guide me toward resources that will help us. I pray that Adi will be blessed with independence to be able to fall asleep without me in the room. And I pray for sanity through the process/transition/changes that need to happen to make it all work. I need your divine intervention, Lord. I can not do it alone so I need you, Jesus.

On the fast side of things, so far so good. I think I'm going to need to ease my way to veggies only (if I still feel like I need to do that in a week or so). Eating all raw is a huge change and is certainly not easy. Especially with treat days at work, family gatherings, and every day life! Ugh, it's so hard (past experience) but I know it will be worth it if it means I get to experience God in a way I couldn't have otherwise. Through a fast - a long complicated fast.

Day 2

2007-11-06T08:33:00.000-08:00

Breakfast:
fast - cold brew kava tea

Snack:
carrots, cucumber slices, celery

Lunch:
salad (romaine, spinach, carrots, red cabbage, avocado)
dressing (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, agave necter)

Snack:
dried tomatoes

Dinner:
salad (spring mix, avocado, cashews, marinated mushrooms)
dressing (olive oil, sea salt)
veggies: cauliflower, broccoli, radishes

Day 1

2007-11-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

I finally brought myself to begin my 21 Days of Faith Experiment. I had planned on starting a week ago but just wasn't ready. I'm a true procrastinator.The reading for today (which I truly did not read until today) was the most affirming thing I have ever read in my life. Well, maybe that is an over statement but I can't believe how relevant it is.

Daniel 1
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah,Mishael and Azariah, 12 "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing butvegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the youngmen who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." 14 Sohe agreed to this and tested them for ten days.15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of theyoung men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the winethey were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief officialpresented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equalto Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's service. 20 In everymatter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.I put my favorite parts in bold lettering.

These are the things I'm taking home with me. I feel like my decision to ask God to help me change my lifestyle in relation to food has been not only affirmed, but He has blessed me with promises of the fruits of doing this.I feel like I'm off to a good start. I do, however question how far I want to take what I've read. I feel called and inspired to eat only vegetables and drink only water for 10 days. Normally eating raw for me includes fruits, juices, nuts and seeds. Maybe I'm crazy but I think God is asking me to eat as David ate. At least for 10 days...

I'm going to be keeping a food log on an old blog of mine: My Raw Food Experiment. It should be called My Failed Raw Food Experiment but that's not the point. I would like to separate my experience with the food from my experience with Jesus a little bit while I'm blogging. If you are curious about that part you can check out the link on the right.

Day 1

2007-11-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

All ingredients are raw and organic

Breakfast:
1 apple
1/2 cup trail mix (cashews, pumpkin seeds, raisins, goji berries)

Snack:
1/4 cup dried tomatoes

Lunch:
salad (romaine, spinach, zuccini, red cabbage, avocado, cashews)
dressing (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, raw agave necter)

Snack:
1/2 cup trail mix (cashews, pumpkin seeds, raisins, goji berries)

Dinner:
salad (romaine, spinach, red cabbage, carrots, avocado, cashews)

21 Days of Faith Experiment

2007-11-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

I am on a 21 day faith experiment and want to keep a log here about one aspect of that faith experiment. For the next 21 days I will be fasting from cooked food. In other words, I will be eating only raw food. A lot of people question what the heck someone might eat other than carrots and apples during an experiment (or a lifestyle) like this. I'll try my best to keep a daily log of everything I eat.

I previously decided that at least 3 consecutive days need to be juice fasting days and just today felt a nudge from God to make 10 days vegetables and water only. I'm really excited to have scripture to back this up - Daniel 1:1-20

Prelude to 21 Days

2007-10-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

I'm back to work today and though I thought I would be busy, I have a lot of free time today. I'm really grateful for that because I'm able to spend this free time preparing for my 21 days of faith experiment.

I've been thinking over the past several days what it is that I want to ask of Jesus to do for me over the next several weeks in this experiment. It feels like there are so many areas of brokenness and need in my life right now. I'm searching for clarity, peace, and healing but there's something more. Something deeper still that goes into the core of who I am and is emanated all the way to the surface of who I am.

I've noticed over the years that there seems to be a connection physically with each one of my miscarriages, and that connection is a 10 pound weight gain accompanying each loss. I realized that what I'm doing is "self-medicating". Instead of falling on my face before Jesus and asking Him for help and comfort I feed my face and deal alone.

Let me just say that this isn't working! Not only do I feel bad about myself physically but I physically feel bad. I'm completely out of shape and this body that God has blessed me with has been used and abused by laziness and junk food frenzies every time life gets tough. This is really interesting since I'm such an advocate of organic food, vegetarianism, and naturopathic lifestyles. I clearly do not practice what I believe in when things get rough and that in turn makes me feel bad about myself as a person! This is a vicious cycle and it has to end!!

So all the times I've tried to change this and failed - I'm putting them behind me. I'm asking Jesus over the next 21 days to help me change my diet and exercise habits permanently --- into a healthy lifestyle rich in healthy choices every day. And in the difficult moments of life I will reach for Jesus instead of eating eating eating.

Even further, I will commit at least 30 minutes every evening (no matter how late Adi goes to bed and how tired I am) to exercise in some form. I want to dedicate this 30 minutes not only to my health and physical well-being, but to make it a time of prayer and meditation. That I can spend this time with God and talk with Him, listen to Him, engage in His presence.

Part of the faith experiment is to fast from something as well. When I think of fasting, I immediately think of food. Probably because it's the thing in my life that feels most costly to give up since I lean on it so much. I know there are other types of fasts and if I were pregnant or nursing I would certainly choose an alternative. But for me, the greatest results can only come from fasting from food.

I like the idea of eating raw food exclusively. I've tried to do 30 days raw in the past for cleansing purposes but failed after only 10 days. For the sake of this experiment, I'm choosing to fast from cooked food for 21 days. Because I have a real sense of the power of a juice fast, I want to try to do at least a 3 day fresh raw juice fast in the midst of those 21 days. I trust God to tell me when the time is right for that.

Just a quick note on the difference between fresh raw juice and canned or bottled juices. I truly believe that especially when fasting it's detrimental to have the living enzymes and dense nutrients remain intact in the juice. That instant nutrition has made my past fasts feel invigorating and blissful compared to difficult and even painful when bottled juice was used. On my fresh juice fasts I actually had tons of energy and felt fresh and free, and my mind was clear. My ability to hear God in that state was phenomenal because I physically felt well and wasn't spending my time suffering through the fast. Instead it was joyful and exciting and all together wonderful. Just writing about it makes me long for that experience with God again.

In the works

2007-07-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

I watch myself going from a place of trying to a place of throwing my hands in the air and giving up completely. I'm not too fond of the person I am when I choose to give up. Really it is a choice, right? I'm wondering what it really takes. Is it will power? Patience? Self respect? Faith? Probably a combination of all those things, but what's the formula? I'm a little bit lost right now. I guess that's OK. I usually manage to find great inspiration when lost. Funny how that works.

I'm thinking of the Sermon on the Mount now... Cam tried studying it for a little while but got frustrated by everyone telling him that what he interpreted was wrong. Is that the truth or is it just that their interpretations are different because it means something different to them in this moment? I'm going nowhere with this right now. I need a nap.

My raw food diet is D-E-A-D dead!

2007-06-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Oh man, I've been eating so much cooked food since my last post. I'm almost to the point that I avoid raw food. It's like I've done a 180 in instant rebellion against my raw food diet. I know how it all went wrong - it's just too extreme of a diet to go on and maintain sanity. It takes way to much time to plan and prepare meals and it's really very expensive if you live in Iowa and it's not summer.

Cam and I are hoping to devise a different type of plan to ease our way back in. Baby steps... Now that I've gotten my period back (yipeeeee) I'm considering a fast - which I love. Fasting is so much more rewarding in my opinion, surely because a fast has a beginning and an end. A lifestyle change is supposed to be indefinite and that's a hard goal to set.

Day 10 - 171

2007-05-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

After a second trip to the ER last night Cam and I gave in and rewarded ourselves with some pizza. It was so damn good! Wow, talk about really appreciating food. So I found myself today wondering what the heck that meant for my raw food experiment. It goes on, but has a new shape. I get a strong sense that it's insane to go 100% raw without a ton of preparation.

New plan, which really isn't a plan but more of an idea. It's really important to me to eat something raw at every meal. As for my meals at work - I need to be 100% raw there or else I'm going to be eating chocolate and Cheetos several times a week. It has felt easy at work anyway.

The challenge is preparing healthy food for Adi to eat (she's not too fond of the raw recipes we've tried so far - she's only 2 so I expected that) and then having time to make something for myself before she goes on a tirade because I'm not paying enough attention to her. Poor kid, I am at work all day while she stays home with Daddy. When I'm here she needs Mama time. I'm being pulled in two directions - my baby wins!

Cam and I feel like the 1 week 100% raw was good. It's really hard to go beyond that for us. We're setting a goal to do 1 week raw food fasts each month. And in the mean time we will try new recipes until we find the ones that work for us. So many have been a disappointment. I'll continue to chronicle the goings on with our diet lifestyle, our successes, our failures, and our struggles. We're still learning!