Welcome to my blog about my LOVE for God's Raw Living food. Please join me on my journey towards health and wellness. I truly believe that pure natural raw living food is the doorway to a healthy body, mind, and spirit.
Tonight was prep. Soaking nuts, chopping, zesting, juicing, measuring, and processing. I should really take a picture of my kitchen on a night like this. It’s incredible how many things I can fit on my small counter top. I am used to working in small quarters, but tonight was a bit ridiculous. I had dishes and food from dinner still on my counter and I began making my 3 recipes. I say 3 because I made a frosting for my heart shape brownie. I am bringing it to the potluck tomorrow night in Gainesville. I was going to bring it on my vacation but I forgot it when I went to St. Augustine, so I am sure raw food friends in Gainesville will love them.
I started with zesting the 6 oranges. Zesting takes time! Especially with my cheesy little zester that I got from Walmart.
I added 1/4 cup of agave to the zest. This is supposed to “candy” the zest.
I was going to do this last night so I could complete the recipe tonight. My head was extremely tight and I was in so much pain last night, I am surprised I even finished my daily recipe. Needless to say I wasn’t able to do it last night, I actually forgot about it. I normally don’t get headaches. I was worn out from the weekend and probably stress from all the upcoming events. School starting, switching schedules and deadlines. So tonight I had to candy the zest, but I also prepared the rest of the ingredients for the creamsicles and put them into a glass bottle.
Tomorrow the only thing I have to do is put the ingredients into the Vitamix and stir in candied zest. I am not going to stir in the candied zest into the entire recipe. I am making these for my kids and I’m afraid they will not like the zest pieces. I will do some with the candied zest but most will have the zest blended in. I can’t wait to try them. I used to get vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet when I would go to Disney World with my family. Gosh that was a long time ago. I still remember going to the stand with my Dad and ordering the twist cone of yummy creamsicle. I know this will taste even better:) I will have to save 2 for my Dad and I so we can compare flavors and reminisce.
Ingredients for Creamsicles
zest of 6 oranges, 1/4 cup agave, young thai coconut meat, water, more agave, fresh orange juice, vanilla extract, sea salt, *coconut oil ( I am adding this tomorrow). All other ingredients are in glass bottle. Thai coconut is in container.
Next I made the preparation arrangements for my citrus maple granola. I saved some orange juice and 1 T orange zest from my creamsicle recipe. The pecans, almonds, and walnuts are soaking until tomorrow morning. All other ingredients that needed to be processed in food processor were prepared. This included apple, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sea salt, fresh orange juice, lemon zest and orange zest. This smell reminded me of Christmas time. It was pleasant. My grandmother makes baked nuts that are sugared and flavored with citrus flavors. She gives the nuts as gifts. I always liked them. Now I will have a new version that maybe she will like better:) The recipe calls for raisins, pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries to add to the mixture. I went ahead and added them to the mixture. Tomorrow, I will complete the recipe by processing the nuts and mixing all ingredients together and put it in the dehydrator on unbleached parchment paper. I used white raisins, and pumpkin seeds. I don’t really like cranberries, so I left them out. He suggests other options for the fruit that can be added. The Himalayan raisins are sweet and chewy. I love them, so much more than Thompson raisins.
Only a few catastrophes happened to me tonight. I had my recipe book on top of the nuts I am soaking and I picked up my juicer and dumped the nuts and water everywhere. My book is ok. No damage:)
The second was my zesting experience with the lemon, I pulled on it too hard and cut my self. That little zester is pretty sharp. Now I have a sponge bob band aid on my hand. So glad my nurse was here to assist. The further I get into this project, Jason is obtaining greater responsibilites. Dishwasher, Coconut Opener and now Nurse (He is almost one anyway). I am fortunate to have him:)
I wonder if this will taste better than vanilla granola I made several weeks ago. I’ll let you know.
Posted 16 years, 1 month ago at 9:26 pm. Add a comment
Just got home tonight from my most enjoyable vacation with my loving hubby. We had a great time! I am so tired right now, and have a splitting headache, he is rubbing it right now. I really would love to go to sleep. I made the za’atar flatbread tonight. Za’atar is generally prepared using ground dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, mixed with toasted sesame seeds, and salt. Some varieties may add savory, cumin, coriander or fennel seed. A Lebanese variety of Za’atar usually contains sumac berries, and has a distinct dark red color. Matthew Kenney’s version is Lebanese. He explains that he really loves it on plain pizza or flatbread. The recipe calls for roma tomatoes, garam masala, za’atar spice, cumin, sea salt, flax meal, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds. I soaked the sunflower seeds for 4 hours and the flax seeds for 20 minutes. After my trip I went to work to make some yummy raw pies and prepare some other foods for tomorrow. I am going in later than usual because Sebastian’s first day of 3rd grade is tomorrow. I always walk him to his class on his first day. While I was at work I bought tomatoes. We only had regular tomatoes, so I bought 4, the recipe called for 6 roma tomatoes. I think 4 was too many. The batter became very liquidy. The tomatoes I bought were very juicy. Roma tomatoes are also drier than regular tomatoes. According to the directions, the recipe was only supposed to make 2 trays, but mine made 4. It was exceptionally easy to spread out on the sheets. I was happy the way it turned out. I don’t know if they are too runny for the end result, but they smelled delicious. Jason loves garam masala, he tried the batter and said he knows he will like them. I have never had za’atar flavoring before. I have never tried sumac, which is in this version of za’atar. If they are really good, my mom said she would love to have some.
Posted 16 years, 1 month ago at 10:27 pm. Add a comment
It is 10:30 pm. I am in St. Augustine in my nice cozy bed in a beautiful hotel called Castillo Real. I am here for my 10th Anniversary with my wonderful husband. We are having a blast!! Last night I went to The Traveling Circus and Medicine Show. The show was at the St. Augustine Amphitheater. Counting Crows, Michael Franti and Spearhead, and Augustana were in the show. What a fantastic show!! I really have never seen a show like the show last night. Most concerts I have been to have an opening act or several, then the main act is last. Well last night was so different. There was not an opening act, they all came out together and sang with all of their bands. It was really an incredible show. Michael Franti was the star of the show, in my opinion. I love his music, it is always positive and heartwarming. He is very high energy! Counting Crows and Augustana were more mellow. They would take turns singing on the stage. One band would perform by themselves then they would exit the stage then the next band would come on. Sometimes they would sing together, then the one band would perform and the others would leave for a while. The amphitheater was outside with most seats covered by a tent. It was a rainy night on the way to the show, but it turned out to be breezy and beautiful. Michael Franti played a song that he wrote for his son, when his son moved from San Francisco to New York City. I had never heard it, but I definitely would love to purchase that song from itunes. Many songs stood for the idea of sticking together as a country and supporting family and friends and others that are in need. The message was clear last night, community and love is really going to keep our country together. Michael Franti told a story about the Sequioa Trees in California. They are the tallest trees in the world but they have very short root systems that are shallow in the earth. But the roots of the trees join together under the ground and they grow as high as they do because they rely on each others root systems. He compared these Red Woods to people. If we are going to grow to our full ability we must join together and start relying on one another. He is such a beautiful poet!
The concert was so much fun!
I decided to make salsa fresca tonight since it is easy to make on the vacation. We went to the farmers market today but I only bought red and purple peppers. I have never seen purple peppers before. They really are beautiful, but they are not really tasty to me. It tasted like a green pepper but not as strong. I ate the peppers or lunch with a salad I got downtown in St. Augustine. The red pepper was good but I actually left the purple pepper on my salad plate. I don’t like wasting but I truly didn’t like it. I decided to wait to go to the Blue Planet co-op for the organic veggies for this recipe. What a cute little store. It has a small deli, and they sell veggies, fruits, some frozen groceries and canned and jarred goods. They had raw crackers and raw desserts. I bought tomatoes, onion, and fresh cilantro. I forgot to buy limes, so Jason had to buy them at Publix. I didn’t try it tonight. I will try it in the morning. I am going to eat it with my lentils in the morning.
Salsa Fresca
tomatoes
onions
cilantro
sea salt
lime juice
I can’t wait to have this salsa, I’ve been wanting to make a recipe of salsa for so long. I’m sure Jason will want some with his chips and beer. I will post pics later.
Posted 16 years, 1 month ago at 11:00 pm. Add a comment
I am getting ready to leave to St. Augustine. I figured I would make an easy sauce and one that is not too high in fat. I am going to bring it for my sprouted lentils. I love this sweet chile-lime sauce. The recipe calls for nama shoyu (I used Braggs Liquid Aminos), agave, lime juice, sesame oil, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. I placed it in a bowl and mixed it up real quick. This a nice sauce that is not too high in fat. It only calls for a 1 tablespoon of sesame oil for the whole recipe. Many of the sauces tend to be higher in fat. I like to get my fats from sweet things like the yummy brownies:) instead of salad dressings.
Well, I am off to my wonderful vacation.
Posted 16 years, 1 month ago at 12:48 pm. Add a comment
Yummy!! I have been in the mood for chocolate everyday of this week. I can’t get enough. I decided to make this chocolate treat for Sabby, so he could put these crumbs on his vanilla rice dream. I know it’s not raw, but I think it’s a step above Breyers Ice Cream. I don’t know if he will use them but if he doesn’t I am sure they will get eaten. I am going to plan raw ice cream party, possibly for late August or early September. If they don’t get eaten I will use them then. This recipe was very easy to make. The recipe calls for cacao powder, oat flour, sea salt, maple syrup, agave, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Many of the chocolate desserts seem to frequently have these ingredients . I used the vitamix tonight for the oat groat flour. I guess I will be using the vitamix for the flour recipes from now on. I don’t want to experience what I did last night with the brownie flour. By the way, last night’s brownies actually look perfect. I took them out easily from the pans and they are flipped over and dehydrating right now. I am going to take some to everyone at work tomorrow. I will save the heart shape for my man:) We are leaving tomorrow on our Anniversary. We finally get to celebrate our 10 years together. Should be out of this world!!
As for the recipe, it only took about 5 minutes. I ground the flour and put it into a bowl with the cacao powder, and sea salt. I added agave and vanilla and coconut oil and mixed it with my hands. I love using my hands when I make food. I love getting my hands dirty. I would rather chop with a knife than use a food processor. Sarah knows this more than anyone. She loves the food processor because it is quick, but me, well, I love to CHOP!! After the batter was combined, I crumbled the batter and let it fall onto the parchment paper. It will dehydrate the whole weekend when I am gone. By Sunday they should be done.
I am not sure how or what I am going to make on Saturday and Sunday when I am gone. I need to figure it out soon I am leaving tomorrow afternoon. It’s going to be great. Michael Franti, and Counting Crows tomorrow night in St. Augustine. AAhhh can’t wait. I will take pics of my weekend and post them.
Posted 16 years, 1 month ago at 10:42 pm. Add a comment
I was excited to make this. I saw this recipe the other day and have been living to make it. This brownie looks so scrumptious and gooey and yummy in the book. I decided to put the cashews in the food processor like I have been doing for all of the recipes. I just stated last night that I feel like the food processor is the best for the grinding of the flour. Well, apparantly I was wrong. This recipe turned out to be a complete disaster. I know your probably wondering how could the words disaster and dessert go in the same sentence but, yes they can. The cashews looked like they were ground up enough for the flour. I ground them up a cup at a time then put them in the bowl to be mixed with all the other ingredients. When I put the cacao powder in I could tell there was going to be a problem. The cashew flour was not as fine as the cacao powder. I went ahead and completed the recipe according to the directions. It came out too watery. The directions say to press the batter into a plastic lined 9 x 13 pan, there was no way I would have to press it in the pan. It was too runny. I could’ve just poured it in. I’m sure it would take days for that consistency to dry. I’m assuming that it is because the cashew flour was not fine enough for the batter. I decided to grind some more cashew flour. I put another cup of cashews into the vitamix this time. The flour came out finer than in the food processor. After I added the extra cup of cashew flour, the cacao flavor didn’t taste as strong.
We wanted the kids to try the batter, but Sebastian refused and put up a huge fight about it. Jason ended up sending him to bed. I didn’t need for him to try it that bad. UUhhhhggg. I’m ready for bed. I thought Sabby would like them most of all because he loves chocolate. Maybe when the brownies are done, he will try them. Hopefully the terrible energy from all of us is not still in the brownies:( Well this recipe making experience turned out to be something I didn’t expect. I know that a good book and some Lavender tea will help me:) I am reading The Space of Love by Vladimir Megre’. It is one of the books from the Ringing Cedars Series. I love these books.
The brownies should be done by tomorrow night according to the directions but I am guessing they won’t be done until Friday. I am almost out of room in the dehydrator. My tartlets are still drying and my vanilla-almond macaroons are still dehydrating too. They are good though. We have been eating those. They are so yummy right out of the dehydrator.
Recipe
4 1/2 cups fine cashew flour
3 cups cocoa powder
1 1/2 t sea salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup agave
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 t vanilla extract
Dehydrate in a 9 x 13 inch plastic lined pan. Press into pan in an even layer. Dehydrate in bottom of dehydrator overnight. Flip onto cutting board and trim edges. Place on screens; dehydrate 4-6 hours. Serve with your fave raw ice cream.
Wrapped individually or in an airtight container in a cool place this recipe should last for about 3 weeks.
*This recipe is for the ones who are daring enough to try to make it. If you do please let me know about your success. I wish you the best of it. I hope your experience is more enjoyable. I hope that some ice cream will make this the best dessert I have ever made.
Posted 16 years, 1 month ago at 10:17 pm. Add a comment
I had a short day today at work and went shopping at thrift stores. I found some great stuff for my kitchen. I found a really cute spice holder. I am anxious to put it on my counter with my spices. It was only $2. Most of the stuff I bought today ended up being $2. I love thrift store shopping. My boys were with me. They were so excited. I think they were happier than if they were at Disney World.
I was ready to prep food tonight. Jason came home and decided he wanted me to make this wonderful meal. He will eat it tomorrow. I made the tart shells first. The recipe calls for pine nuts, almond flour, salt, nutritional yeast, olive oil, and a bit of water. I had left over almond flour from last night’s macaroons, so I threw those into the bowl, with the pine nut crumbs. I made the crumbs in the food processor. I am finding that the food processor is better to use than the vitamix for the cookies and crusts I have been making. The vitamix is great but I find it difficult to get every last crumb out of it. The tartlet ingredients were combined in a bowl. This was so simple to make. Jason lined the tartlet pans with plastic (eek) I am going to try it. I am really hoping to figure out a way to make these beautiful recipes without using plastic. I’ll pray on it:) After they were lined with plastic, I split the recipe into 4 small tartlets. They are now in the dehydrator. They will be ready to be removed from the plastic tomorrow.
Next, I made the creme fraiche. It is cashews, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and fresh basil. I am really using up my basil. It makes me so happy. I love using food I grow. I was going to wait to make this when the tartlets were ready but according to the recipe, you make it before so it can become firm. I know Jason will love these. He loves italian flavors. Cheese and tomatoes. I think I will like them too. M.K. explains that the flavor is “clean and vivid” Those words make me want to try it now. But I have to wait. According to M.K. he says the possibilities for this meal are endless. He suggests using a different herb, or use different veggies, ranging from summer squash, fava beans, sweet marinated peas, or radishes. I have to admit, I wouldn’t have thought of those veggies. I would think of everyday veggies like broccoli, mushrooms, red onions and red peppers. I love M.K.’s wide array of ingredients. I can’t wait to use more of these. It really encourages me to look into other websites of exotic foods. I enjoyed reading about edible flowers.
Food is my life. Life is my food:)
Posted 16 years, 1 month ago at 9:27 pm. Add a comment
Today was a day for sweets. I decided tonight that I would make the vanilla-almond macaroons. I had everything I needed for the recipe. The recipe calls for dried coconut, ground almonds, ground cashews, maple syrup (I used agave), coconut oil, vanilla extract, almond extract and sea salt. I didn’t try the batter, I am exceptionally tired tonight and not very hungry:) I know it’s surprising. I am always hungry, but not tonight. These little cookies remind me of the haystack cookies I make at Rutabaga’s. They don’t seem like they would be as sweet as haystacks. The haystacks have dates ,walnuts and honey. I don’t care very much for the taste of honey, I prefer agave’s lighter flavor.
I mixed the dry ingredients first then added the wet. This recipe was so simple I made the cashew and almond flour in the food processor. It comes out pretty fine. I’m happy with the texture. After combining the dry ingredients I added the wet and mixed them in. I thought I would need an ice cream scooper to form the cookies, but I had an oversized tablespoon measuring spoon and that worked just fine. They slipped right out onto the sheet. This recipe was so quick and easy. Only 2 days until the finished project. They have to be dehydrated for 24 hours on teflex sheets then they are to be removed and placed on the dehydrator tray for another 24 hours. I will bring some to work for samples to my friends:)
Well, I’m off to bed now. It’s going to be an early night. Hopefully my dishwasher will join me;) I love that he cleans up after me. I wonder who does Matthew Kenney’s dishes. I bet he doesn’t do any of them. OH, WHAT A DREAM THAT WOULD BE FOR ME. To never wash dishes again. AAAAHHH the life!
Posted 16 years, 1 month ago at 9:43 pm. Add a comment
Today was a busy day. I went to church and I was supposed to stop at work and strain the lentils and mung beans for sprouting and I forgot my keys!! I was not pleased. I had so much I wanted to get done today that it made me in a bad mood. I let it ruin about 20 minutes of my day:( I wanted to do laundry, go to the gym, pay bills, make my recipes, and I wanted to go to the drum circle tonight. So when I realized I forgot my keys and I would have to go back and strain them later, I of course didn’t feel happy. I always fill my day up all the time. I really leave no room for error. Forgetting my keys to open the store was not on my agenda. I often fill up my day with so many things that I don’t always get things done. But I did. Jason helped me with the laundry (he loves me), and then I got to workout. I also got to go to Crystal River to the drum circle.
I made Jason the quinoa tabbouleh. I sprouted it for 24 hours and then made this simple salad. It is made with extra virgin olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, onion, cucumber(I used zucchini), parsley, tomatoes, and sea salt. I hope he likes it. He is working but I told him that when he gets home he has several meals waiting for him. This project has been great for us, I never used to make so many meals for him. I bet he feels like a king. Maybe he will love me more because I am making him yummy raw meals. That was a joke. I used zucchini in this salad because Jason doesn’t like cucumber so I decided that I would use zucchini because it is very similar looking.
I finished the picadillo meal. It turned out beautiful. I used bananas instead of plantains. I couldn’t find any ripe plantains. I made the macademia sour cream to go on top. It is easy to make too. You soak the mac nuts for several hours then they go into the blender with lemon juice, olive oil, salt. It is very easy to make and it’s so creamy and good. I hope Jason likes it when he gets home. Here are some photos below.
It’s funny how after you are introduced to things for the first time they often keep showing up. Well, on my way to the drum circle I passed a cuban restaurant and on their sign it said picadillo-chicken. I never would’ve noticed it before but now that I know what Picadillo is I bet I will see it again sometime soon. Things happen like that for me.
I had a nice day today. I learned that life is a dance. And it is my choice to move to the beautiful rhythm, even though I can’t follow the beat sometimes. I still remain determined that I will find it again and dance and jump and shout to it as best I can. Thank you God for my day today. Goodnight:)
Posted 16 years, 1 month ago at 11:04 pm. Add a comment
Boy, I was in the mood to prepare food today!! Probably because it was my day off. I am so used to preparing food everyday at work, I guess I was missing it today, more than usual. I decided to make some recipes for tomorrow night. I didn’t know what picadillo was until I read the recipe. The picture is stunning, as all the photos are:) Picadillo is a stew-like dish served in Latin America, traditionally made from beef. The cuban version has olives. M.K. explains that the stew can be eaten with rice or taco shells. In this recipe, he uses jicama for the rice. At first I wanted to make the yellow “rice” alone but I figured I would make the picadillo too. I had the itch to prep food today. So, I decided to make the red pepper soup recipe but it has several steps involving dehydration so I made the dehydrated recipes today then I will do the soup tomorrow. I have been wanting to make the basil wrappers with the meat inside. This meal looks extremely delicious and fun to make.
The first recipe I did was the picadillo. I started with the mushrooms and yellow peppers. M.K.’s (Matthew Kenney’s) recipe calls for green peppers but I don’t like green peppers at all:( I added olive oil to them and put them in the dehydrator for 45 minutes. Then I added black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, raisins (I used Himalayan golden raisins), sea salt and put them in dehydrator for 30 minutes. I made the jicama rice and the yellow sauce while they were dehydrating. The yellow “rice” sauce recipe calls for coconut meat so I had Jason open the coconuts, I had four, but only three turned out to be good. I still have the thai coconut water, I love when Jason makes me a lemon slushy with it. Maybe he’ll make me one tomorrow:) The sauce also called for carrot juice, agave, turmeric, salt, cayenne and lime juice. I tried the yellow “rice” and I am sorry to say I didn’t like it:( I am hoping tomorrow when all the ingredients are together it will taste better to me. When I took the “stew” ingredients out of the dehydrator they still looked very light colored. They looked nothing like the photo in his book, so I pulsed the ingredients in the food processor. As you can see in the photo it has a darker appearance after pulsing it. I will get the plantains tonight, so they will be somewhat crisp tomorrow night. Tomorrow I will make the macadamia nut “sour cream”.
The filling was really easy to make. I marinated portabello mushrooms and onions for 30 minutes then pulsed it in the food processor with cashews and dried thyme. It tastes very good. I can’t wait to try the basil wraps with the “meat” The basil wraps were easy to make after Jason opened the coconuts for me. At first the vitamix wouldn’t mix it up. You have to have enough ingredients in the vitamix so it will make the contents liquid. I had to add a little more water than the recipes calls for and then it mixed. I tried the mix and it is going to be soooo good after dehydrating. I can’t wait! They are dehydrating right now. I am worried they may not come out as good as they should because I don’t have teflex sheets. I usually use parchment paper but it doesn’t lay as flat as the sheets do. I am concerned that the wraps will have creases in them. But it is my first time and I will get better. I can’t wait to make these little dumplings. The basil wrappers hold the “meat”. Then they rest on the red pepper soup.
After cleaning up I still had soaked cashews to use. Christian decided to make the truffles on page 168 with me. My kids fell in love with them. They wanted to eat all of the mix. As you can see in the photos. The recipe calls for raw cacao (I use Divine Organics, we sell it at Rutabaga’s), soaked cashews, coconut oil (I love Nutiva), vanilla extract, sea salt, raw agave, and mesquite powder. I left the mesquite powder out. I figured my kids loved it so much I didn’t want to mess up the recipe for them. These truffles are part of a several recipe dish. M.K. usually has several steps in his meals. It’s so much fun for me, they are challenging but it feels so when they are complete. And most of all they are absolutely delicious:p
Christian made the truffles into balls. I am so proud of my little raw chef!
Posted 16 years, 1 month ago at 9:11 pm. 2 comments
Living Rawesome 
