Living Rawesome

Day #31 Macadamia Mozzarella pg. 92 everyday raw

I made it!! This is the last day of the first month of my project! I have made so many delicious meals over the last month. I am looking forward to the rest of my 11 months. I made mozzarella cheese for the pizza crust. I am eating it tomorrow night after work, before my anatomy class. I followed the recipe exactly how it is supposed to be done. I soaked the mac nuts for 2 hours, and I used 3/4 t lemon zest, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 shallot, 1/4 clove garlic, 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes, 1/2 t sea salt, and a pinch of cayenne. I threw it all in the vitamix, but it didn’t blend up enough. I had to add another 1/4 cup of water. In a vitamix I usually have to have at least 2 cups of substance in it, for it to blend properly. I do love the vitamix, but I would really love to have a Blend-Tec, like I use in the Rutabaga’s kitchen. Maybe one day, when I get tired of complaining about it, only then will I buy one. The cheese turned out delicious, the color is slightly yellow. In the recipe photo, the cheese looks white. I don’t know what I did wrong, but it sure tastes DELICIOUS! If I wasn’t full right now I would have the pizza with just the cheese. I was going to prepare the sauce, but when I took out the sun-dried tomatoes, I realized I DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH! Yes, I did it again, didn’t prepare like I should. That’s okay, I will make it tomorrow when I get home, I will soak the tomatoes at work so they are ready to be used when I get home. The crust is done. I will put the whole pizza in the dehydrator tomorrow to warm it up. I can’t wait! Well, off to bed! It’s been a long day. Goodnight. Off to dreamland.
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Matthew Kenney on Fox

105 degree Fox clip

Day #30 Herb Crust pg. 92 everyday raw

Just got home from Anatomy and Physiology class, what an awesome class! The professor talked about chemistry, atoms, molecules, and other things. The subject that really sparked my interest was of course, the section on carbohydrates. I am so excited when I learn anything that has to do with the digestive system, or metabolism. I feel like I become a different person. I know that I am supposed to be attending school again. It is always reaffirmed over and over again.
Before I went to class, I studied, had a nap for about 20 minutes and made my pizza crust. I finally remembered to get flax seeds from work today. It’s funny the way it is, I have a harder time buying the ingredients than actually putting the recipes together. I am used to working where I have everything I need at hand. I just go get the vegetables, or nuts I need from the cooler, the spices, sauces, condiments, etc. from the store. I love to prepare food at work. It is so easy. Raw Food Prep is easy but having all the ingredients is a pain for me. That is one thing that I have learned from this project, I need to write a list of ALL the ingredients that I need, instead of hoping they are here, or hoping that I have enough. I am getting better. I actually went through the recipe book today at work to see what I needed to buy. I think I did well, considering I had to rush home in time to get Christian. I am having fun these day, rushing here and there, I am a person who is very much on the go, I don’t like to sit still too long.
Herb Crust
1/2 cup + 2 1/2 T flax meal
1 T + 1 t dried basil
1 t dried oregano
2 1/3 cups roughly chopped yellow squash
1 cup walnuts, soaked 8-10 hours
2 t sea salt
2 1/2 T olive oil
1/3 shallot, minced
2 t nutritional yeast
2 t agave
2 t lemon juice
pinch of black pepper
Each day that goes by I really feel like it is so much easier to do raw food compared to any other food prep. This recipe literally took 5 minutes. That includes putting all the ingredients into food processor and bowl, and even spreading the crust out. I did have squash already cut up from my zucchini spaghetti, I shredded it last night in the food processor. I just measured the 2 1/3 cups and put it back into the food processor with the “S” blade. I added walnuts after
Then I added the following ingredients to the food processor and mixed it until it became pasty.

The flax was ground in a coffee grinder and mixed in a bowl with the oregano and basil. I mixed all ingredients together.

It blended very well. I smoothed out the batter with a large spoon. I decided to do a round crust. I wanted to do a square pizza, I think square is my favorite shape if I had to pick one, but I have been doing so many dehydrated foods in square shape, so circle was the choice. I spread most of it out with a spoon and then I used clean hands to spread it out further. I made a lip around the edge to make a crust. It really came out close to the way I wanted it. There is even distribution around the entire pizza crust. It turned out to be 11 inches round. I have to say this was one of the best dehydrated things I have made. I may be speaking too soon, but I am very proud of it. I will keep you posted on the process of this delicious meal.

Day # 29 Parmesan pg. 38 entertaining in the raw

On Wednesday, I plan on having a beautiful Italian meal. The menu will be Marinated Tomato Salad, pine nut “parmesan”, basil oil, micro greens, and black pepper. I made the first part of this meal, pine nut “Parmesan”. I did this first because it takes several days to dehydrate. The recipe calls for pine nuts, water, olive oil, sea salt, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. This is not going to be crumbled, it is called shards. In the book they have the appearance of thin crackers. They look dainty and elegant (I don’t expect anything else but elegance when I look at M.K.’s recipes, one day I will be almost as brilliant). I tossed the ingredients into the food processor and mixed very quickly. I still have to purchase teflex sheets for my dehydrator. Until then I continue to use parchment paper. I lay the parmesan on the paper and spread it out. It looks rather lumpy, but I am hopeful it will turn out as enticing as it should appear. I placed it in the dehydrator at 115 degrees. I will turn the parmesan over in 12 hours or possibly more. I will be at work when 12 hours is up. Most of the recipes I have dehydrated longer than it says. Maybe my temperature is slightly off and it is possibly the reason it’s slower to dry, or it could also be the thickness of the batter. I am learning, and getting better:)
My dehydrator has been at that same temperature for about a month now. Maybe a few days I have turned it off. I used to think the Excalibur was so loud, but I am getting used to the sound. It finally blends in with the house sounds. I love preparing live foods, it is effortless, because I have the tools, the ingredients are easily accessible and the passion to prepare the food with love.
I was thinking tonight about my trip to Raw Spirit, I am leaving in less than a week. I know that I will be able to continue my project because making raw and living food is uncomplicated. After all, I did make salsa in the hotel room with veggies from St. Augustine’s farmers market and a knife we bought. Now that was fun! I plan on buying and taking a bullet/personal blender on vacation with me. I plan on making almond milk and some smoothies while I’m there. I’ve never used a personal blender before but I am hopeful that it will work out swell:). I am so excited to be going. But I can’t forget my responsibility to MYSELF! I will complete all things.

Day #28 Agave Caramel pg. 114 everyday raw

I really wanted to make an elaborate meal tonight, but Christian asks me everyday to make the caramel syrup. He begged me one time too many tonight. I finally gave in. This recipe is so easy to make. It only calls for 3 ingredients. Agave, sea salt, and cinnamon. The recipe calls for the ingredients to be blended in the vitamix for 20 seconds, then chill in the freezer for at least 2 hours. Then you remove it from the freezer and let it sit out for 20 minutes, before serving.
I went to Rich and Sarah’s tonight. I brought over the blueberry granola bars and the squash pancakes with tomato jam. They both loved it. Even Nathaniel liked the granola. He wasn’t so brave when it came time to try the pancakes. I don’t blame him, he did have Coconut Bliss coconut milk ice cream in front of him. I tried some tonight and it actually is pretty good. It the Vanilla Island flavor. He loves it. He usually tries everything and likes it. He’s funny, he ate sunny pate’ with ketchup. Funny kid, and super adorable.
I hope Christian finally feels complete now that I made agave caramel. Wonder how he will eat it. I’ll let you know.

Day #27 Sweet Tomato Jam pg. 158 entertaining in the raw

I made the best meal yet tonight. I served it to Jason on the couch. He was surprised, I made the jam so quick. I soaked the sun-dried tomatoes for about 3 hours. It says in the recipe to reconstitute them. I wanted to have dinner with everyone but I was feeling a bit down tonight, so I ate earlier and studied. Rhonda actually came over tonight. I haven’t seen her in many months. She has been my best friend for many years. Sad how time gets away from us and we lose sight of people that really matter to us. It was great to catch up with her and hear her funny stories. I miss her. I let her and her daughter Dominique try my citrus granola. I think they liked it. They finished the amount that I gave them, so I am assuming they like it at least a little. Dominique is vegetarian and Rhonda is a cereal and ice cream junkie:) I try to get her to eat more veggies, I understand her love for ice cream, I used to be the same way. I always went to Baskin Robbins or Marble Slab. Ya know, I don’t really crave ice cream anymore. There are so many other yummy desserts to make and eat. Maybe one day I will make her a delicious raw ice cream or smoothie. This is what I served to Jason….

As you can see on his face he loves it! Actually, he was posing with the food and trying to be funny, I am always posing with my food. Ya gotta love him. He’s so good to me!
Sweet Tomato Jam ingredients are:
1 cup sun-dried tomato, reconstituted
1/4 shallot
1/2 Roma tomato
1 T Fresh Lemon Juice
2 T olive oil
2 1/4 t raw agave
1/4 sea salt
1/4 chili powder
I added this recipe today, I think if you try this you will want to get his book. He really is the most talented. These recipes look so intimidating when you look at the ingredients on the pages, but it literally takes 5-10 minutes to prepare these meals. I mean it. The longest amount of time put into the recipes are the dehydration, and soaking. After these steps are done it literally takes about 5 minutes for any of these recipes. I met a customer today that said, “I think Raw food would get boring.” Oh man, I think there is no limit to the meals you can make with God’s Food. I have been inspired to change some of these recipes in his book to include spices or ingredients I like. I am not playing around with any new recipes at home, but at work I have been inspired to make some new meals.
I have also been inspired to start a quote of the day at work. Today’s quote was, “The only thing that stays the same in life is Change itself” I thought this was fitting for me. I have had many changes over the last year. I know that it is certain. Change is occurring all the time and we should all embrace it. I am learning to accept the way things are that I can not change and love every thing that IS! I absolutely love all the blessings that the Creator has granted me:)
What are your blessings? Instead of counting sheep tonight, count those things that are dear to you and the many blessings you are given.
Goodnight, my beautiful friends and family.

Day #26 Macadamia Puree and Summer Squash Pancakes pg. 158 entertaining

David Wolfe was in Orlando Florida back in April for a seminar at the Winter Park library. I was blessed to have eaten this meal made by the lovely Chef Olive from Orlando. The day was the BEST EVER and the meal was splendid, and so was her chocolate mint tea. David Wolfe is one of my favorite gurus:)

I have been looking forward to eating this meal again. I have never made it before, I am hoping it will be as good as Chef Olive’s and I hope the presentation will look similar to the photo in M.K.’s book entertaining in the raw. Tonight I made the Macadamia Puree and Summer Squash Pancakes for tomorrow night’s meal. Jason is working tonight so I am just preparing food for tomorrow. This meal is great for a brunch, but we will have it for dinner tomorrow night. Hopefully the kids will try it.
It’s so great, tonight, Sabby asked for the chocolate cookie crumbs that I made a few days ago. It’s great, they are getting used to having yummy raw treats around the house. Unfortunately the cookie crumbs are gone. I ate them today with some granola and almond milk:) while I studied Anatomy.
The Macadamia Puree calls for macadamia nuts (we purchased them on our Anniversary in St. Augustine from Blue Planet), lemon zest, water, shallot, garlic, nutritional yeast, salt and cayenne. I soaked the mac nuts for about 2 hours. Then everything was thrown into the vita-mix and blended until smooth. This is such a great puree, it tastes like a smooth cheese with a hint of smoke flavor. It is delicious!
The Pancakes call for yellow squash, green squash, salt, flax meal, olive oil, water, green onions, dill, parsley, dry tarragon, sea salt, black pepper and Macadamia puree. The recipe calls for grated squash, I used the food processor’s grater’s blade. This only takes about 1 minute. I put the 1 lb. of squash in a bowl and poured the salt on it. A chinois is supposed to be used but unfortunately my kitchen is not equipped for gourmet “un”cooking. Although it will be one day. I used a mesh screen instead. The reason for the salt and the chinois is to dry out the squash so the pancakes will dehydrate to a more crisp consistency. The water from the squash was straining and at least 3/4 cup of water came from the total 1 pound. I also squeezed the zucchini dry and placed it in a bowl. I mixed flax meal, olive oil, and water with the squash. The spices and mac puree were added after I mixed the pancakes.
I love fresh dill and parsley, like M.K. says this meal is perfect for summer. Tomorrow I will make the sun-dried tomato jam. It will make a marvelous presentation. I will also make a salad:)

Day #25 Blueberry Almond Granola Bar pg. 39 everyday raw

Anatomy and Physiology was fun! I am surprised that I actually understood what the teacher was talking about tonight. Science has never been my best subject and before I went tonight, honestly I was a bit worred, but I must not fear anything this semester. I know that helping others is part of my life’s mission. I love to help others prepare food and teach them about eating better. I know it will take many hours of studying but the reward of helping others will be well worth it. Tomorrow I have my first Chemistry class. I have never taken Chemistry before so it will be quite an experience for sure. I just need to remember to keep my mind open and clear.
I made blueberry almond granola bars tonight. It calls for dehydrated blueberries. This morning I dehydrated the blueberries that the recipe called for.


I let them stay in the dehydrator until this evening before I went to school. I couldn’t believe how much they shrank. I waited until tonight after school to finish the recipe. Jason soaked the flax seeds for me for 2 hours. I couldn’t wait to get home to do tonight’s recipe. I know Sabby will like this, he LOVES blueberries. I’m sure everyone I know will love them. I thought that a vanilla cream would go great on the top of these. I will have to wait and see.
The recipe calls for blueberries, almond meal, walnut flour, cashew flour, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon rind, and sea salt. I used the food processor to grind the almonds, walnuts and cashews. I used whole sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, and flax seeds. I placed all ingredients in a bowl and added the blueberries after adding all other ingredients. The colors turned out beautiful together. The color is a shade of purple but it still looks appetizing. I have made raw food dishes before that turned me off to look at and I couldn’t possibly enjoy the flavor because of the way they looked.
The batter for this is absolutely so incredible. Matthew Kenney is truly the best chef, of the raw food world. I love how simple these ingredients are and yet flavors melt your taste buds and leaves you craving more. The desserts are my favorite of course. I am thinking tomorrow I should really make something other than sweet stuff. I just enjoy all of the pies and granolas. The popsicles did turn out good but I personally don’t care for the little pieces of zest. Christian and Jason enjoyed them, but Sabby and I will pass on them. I was hoping to have the same memories of the yummy orange sherbert from Disney but nope:( That’s okay. I am sure I can find another recipe or make my own. Maybe I should start experimenting with orange ice cream and vanilla ice cream. I am sure I will get to that one day, but right now I’m having so much fun just doing M.K.’s recipes.

Day #24 Creamsicles pg. 135 and Citrus Maple Granola pg. 38 everyday raw

I just got back from the Raw Food Potluck in Gainesville. It was such a fantastic time and I am recharged with vibrant energy from all the lovely people that were there. I learned so much tonight. I am always amazed by my friends that come to our potlucks here. Theresa, Marsha and Joanne. They all inspire me in so many ways. They always encourage me with positive energy. Joanne is almost cancer free. She is hoping to be cancer free by next month. She will begin teaching others how to cure themselves from cancer. I’m so excited about this awesome news.
We will be going to Raw Spirit next weekend. There are 9 of us going that I know of. It will be a great time of friendship and learning so much more about healthy living. We talked made plans and how we will meet eachother. We are all going on different flights and some are driving. Theresa and Steve are going to camp on sight there at Raw Spirit. The rest of us are flying. I can’t wait.
It was really such a blessing to listen to the people tonight and learn about their successes and struggles and what drives them to live a life with healthy foods. It was very inspiring. I am fortunate to have met all of the people that have come into my life and will come into my life.
Because it is so late I am going to cut this short. I have my first class tomorrow night, Anatomy and Physiology. I am looking forward to it. Jason also has his first day back of nursing school. It’s already 11:30pm. I am very fortunate that I got a nap today.
I woke up at 5 this morning to do my citrus maple granola. It only took 5 minutes. I strained the nuts and ran water over them in the strainer. I like to run water over them for at least 1 minute. After rinsing them, I placed them in the food processor, pulsed them about 30 times. I poured the nuts into the mixture that I made last night and mixed it all together. I placed it on one dehydrator sheet ( I made only 1/2 the recipe) and placed it in the dehydrator and it is still dehydrating. I can’t wait to let others try it. It is one of my favorites now. It does remind me of my Grandma Wilkinson’s citrus nuts that she makes at Christmas time. My mother tried some tonight and like it.
When Christian got home from school, I made the Creamsicles. He likes hanging with me in the kitchen. I love it that he is excited. He made his own orange slushy with stevia, orange juice and ice. I love that he is inventing things for himself. I am always proud of him. The creamsicles were easy to make too. I threw all ingredients in the blender and mixed it. I always add all ingredients except the oil (coconut or cacao). If I combine all ingredients first, excluding oil, I know they are guaranteed to combine better. After the ingredients are thoroughly mixed I add the oil. I only had 8 popsicle containers, so I used small mason jars for the rest. We will have to spoon the creamsicles out of the jars. I haven’t tried the popsicles yet, but the mixture was yummy. It will be fun to eat it outside in the hot Florida sun catching rays of vitamin D.
The brownies were a hit tonight at the potluck. I am always so excited when people enjoy my food. I love to make it for others:)
I am off to bed with my gorgeous husband of 10 years! Goodnight!

Review of some recipes that I’ve done over the past few weeks

I wanted to give a brief synopsis of the recipes. I have missed some pictures and wanted to report on the final recipes. I was dedicated on my vacation to my project. I made a really refreshing salsa. I made it on Saturday night, and it marinated in the refrigerator overnight. I ate it for breakfast the next morning with my sprouted lentils.

Most of the recipes I make I try to let at least 4 people try them. Usually it is Jason and I, I try to include my kids but if they don’t want to try it I take the recipes to work and Rich and Sarah try them. Destiny, Donna, and Celynn, have tried some of the recipes. If I’m lucky customers will try the recipes and let me know what they think. I want to do a count down of the top 5 recipes that I feel are the best and also what others have claimed to like the best.
# 5 is raspberry vanilla-almond granola
I remember D’Adjoa and Joanne and Destiny really enjoying this granola. I remember going to the dehydrator and saying “okay, this is the last handful” several times. It was delicious. Not too sweet and very filling. Jason enjoyed it very much. I will put in more raspberries next time I make it, but this was very memorable.

#4 is the vanilla-almond macaroon
These are dehydrated. I loved them out of the dehydrator but after I put them in the refrigerator they became very chewy and again, they are not too sweet. Very Delicious. I even calculated the calories for them using Sparksrecipes. They are approx. 147 calories, but well worth it.

#3 are BBQ crisps
After my children decided they were going to fight over the last 2 I declared that they are well worth the top 5. They are divine. I remember eating them for lunch several days in a row.

#2 is the lemon macaroon cheesecake tartlet
This is absolutely unforgettable. I have never had a raw dehydrated pie crust. After having the crust in this fashion I really never want to have the crust any other way. It is so much like a flower crust but so much better. I love to chew and this is chewy. Everyone who tried this recipe loved it.

There is a tie for #1 Warm Brownie and Chocolate Truffles
My kids liked the warm brownie but still are asking me to make the chocolate truffles. Sabby asked if I would make them for his lunch for school. Even tonight he asked if I could make them tonight. He really wants them again, so I will make them this week.
The warm brownie was loved by the adults. Corliss tried them today and loved them. Rich asked for more after I gave him some the other day. The girls at work loved them too.
Of course everyone loves chocolate. Wish David Wolfe could try each and give me his opinion, after all he is the cacao king. I would love to serve him yummy cacao yummies:) AAhhh I can dream.

It is quite obvious that all of us love the desserts. I can’t wait for Matthew Kenney’s new book to come out. All desserts. That will be the best ever!