How I spent my weekend

OK, so now we know (or maybe I know) I do not blog everyday. Hey that's OK with me. I have been spending lots of time outside while the weather has been unseasonably warm lately.

So we spent the weekend digging, planning and planting our SFG. We started this last year and had big success. The plants you see in the box were planted last year and are starting to grow again. I thought about digging them up, but I just can't. I have been eating it and it's so tender and sweet.

Kale chips

This is a picture of a batch kale chips I made a couple of months ago. I made a batch last night, very few have made it to the jar. They were so good and really help me avoid junk! My husband likes them, my son, not so much. I know that changing our diets will be a lifelong process. That's OK. It's all about choices for me. I really do not want to forbid anything. That really just make the rebel in me want it (even if it's not good for me). This recipe is from a friend of mine and they are delicious.

Comment by Susan : ) on June 10, 2009 at 10:04am
Kale Chips (my daughter says they taste like Doritos!)2 heads of Kale3/4 cup tahini ( make my own with alittle oil and sesame seeds blended to a paste)1/4 cup Bragg's liquid aminos1/4 cup Bragg's apple cider vinegar1/4 cup water1 glove garlicjuice of one lemon1/4 cup nutritional yeastWhiz it all up in food processor and massage into the kale. Dry in dehydrator at 105 degrees til very crunchy!!Leave kale in larger pieces as they really shrink down! I use curly kale so it sticks to it! Please pull the leaves from the stems before doing this...the stems taste bitter.

Enjoy!

Opps I missed a day

It was a very busy day yesterday. I forgot to blog. I did however, made green smoothies for 3 people who have never had one. They all three said they enjoyed it and were surprised that it was so tasty. I do make them a little sweeter (with less greens than I make for myself) for newbies. I will be raw food uncooking all weekend so hopefully I will have some great pics to share.

Hurom Juicer

I really want this juicer. I watch You Tube videos about it. Amazed at the amount of juice that can be produced from a bowl full of produce. Now I am making my husband watch the videos as well. Slowly luring him to my thinking that we NEED this juicer. "Think of how much money we will save." I say. It makes so much less pulp than the garage sale juicer I have now. So for now I will continue to watch the videos, hypnotized by magic of this juicer.

Pear, kale and celery juice

Here's the Fiona on the day! Doesn't it look delicious? I used 2 pears, about 4-5 stalks of dino kale and 3 stalks of celery. I do not use milk bags to strain. I sometimes use a small metal strainer but not very often. I just take in the pulp.

Today is another sunny day here in Ohio, I hope you can get outside where you are!

Preparing a raw food girls night

It has been 14 months since my discovery of green smoothies via YouTube. Many of my friends have asked about this my habit of mine, so I decided to host a Raw Food Girls Night. I am in the planning phase of this party but this is the plan so far....

Menu

Green Smoothies (of course)

Nori Rolls or with a yummy almond butter sauce

Sushi with jicama rice

Confetti Salad with spicy cashew cilantro dressing

Corn Basil Soup

Chocolate Cheezecake



I have made everything on the menu except the Cheezecake. I have eaten but I just haven't actually prepared it myself. I think is a great introduction into raw foods. I am planning this for next month. I will be very interested in seeing how everyone responds.

Home and Garden Show

What a beautiful day! I love the sunshine. We trucked the whole family out today to the Home and Garden show. We saw some beautiful flowers. The trip has really gotten me excited to start our garden. I went at little crazy buying seeds at the only place selling seeds at a garden show.

I found dino kale that I have been looking for locally for weeks. I can't wait to get my hands in the dirt!

Sun, seeds and Trader Joe's

Today was a busy day. We went to pick up some necessities at TJ's and Whole Foods. I passed on my young Thai coconut today. They didn't look great and I have gotten several bad nuts lately so I only buy then when they look great.

I found some seeds for kale. I was so excited, it took several stores but I finally found them. It is that time of year to start planning our square foot garden. This year we will be planting kale, lettuce, broccoli, peppers, tomatoes and lots of herbs.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

I love a big bowl of soup on a cold day. A friend of mine has a blog and she posts recipes every Thursday. Yesterday this was the recipe and luckily for me I had cauliflower in the fridge that needed to be used. I couldn't believe how creamy this soup is without dairy in it. I had two bowls of it last night and I will be having some for lunch today.

I am always looking for great recipes with dairy (as I am trying limit the amount of diary in our household). This recipe has 4 ingredients in it. My friend thought it may have come from Martha Stewart. Cauliflower, onions, broth and curry powder. That's it. I may have threw a little salt in when I sauteed the onions. I blended the soup in my blender. I think I processed a little too long but it still had some texture to it. My husband would have liked a few more chunks of veggies in it, so I made a note to self.

A plate of juice

I had two glasses of some yummy juice yesterday. I skipped my green smoothie yesterday and replaced it with juice in the morning. I liked it so much, I decided to have it again in the afternoon for a pick me up. I got this recipe from Raw Food Cleanse by Penni Shelton.
I started drinking green smoothies last January and had been drinking them daily until the fall. I lost my taste for them. Actually, it was worst than that. The thought of them made me ill. I lost my green smoothie mojo. I took a 2-3 month break and tried a different combination of greens and fruit and the mojo is back. I also talked to several GS gurus and they shared with me that it is very important to alternate your green lefty goodness every three to four days. However, now I see the appeal of juicing. Before I jump into that wholeheartedly, I would like to buy a better juicer. The one I have right now produces a lot of pulp. Some of that I use, but most I compost. It makes me feel wasteful. I have my eye on a Rurom juicer, so now I need to save my pennies.

Let's do lunch

All that talk about jicama sushi rice made me hungry for some. So I made a big batch for dinner and now I will have the leftovers for lunch. Let me show you how....

First I peel the root. The skin is fairly thin so in places, I could pull off the skin almost like paper.

Next, cube the root and place in the food processor. Do not overload the processor or you will end up with chunks. I usually make 2 batches.

Process until jicama resembles rice.

I line a calender with a paper towel and drain. Too much moisture in the rice makes the nori very soggy.

Add rice wine vinegar and agave. I do not measure. But I do know it's more vinegar than agave, taste until you get that sticky rice flavor.

Spread a thin layer of rice on a piece of raw nori.

Slice strips of your favorite veggies. I also added avocado.

Roll up tight and cut on a diagonal. Enjoy.

Let's talk about jicama

What do you know about this edible root? I have noticed it is showing up in resturants and used in many raw recipes. I ordered jicama fries at a local Mexican resturant. They were served raw and cut to resemble a fried french fry. They were severed with a delicous cilantro sauce (I believe it was dairy based, so I will be trying to make it at home without dairy). They were so good! I ate them all and didn't share any of them.
I have been using jicama in some raw dishes. I peel the root and cube it and place it in the food processor and chop until it resembles rice. I like to drain a little of the water off, add vinegar and agave and now I have a "sushi rice". I believe I got the recipe from "Raw Food, Real World".
Here's some facts I found while goggling jicama......
It is 86%-90% water and is very hydrating. High in vitamin C and no fat and has about 45 calories in one cup.
The root's exterior is yellow and papery, while its inside is creamy white with a crisp texture that resembles raw potato or pear. The flavor is sweet and starchy, reminiscent of some apples or raw green beans, and it is usually eaten raw, sometimes with salt, lemon, or lime juice and chili powder. It is also cooked in soups and stir-fried dishes.
Most grocery stores are carrying these wonderful roots (although I went to Kroger last week to purchase one, the bin said jicama, but it was actually a celery root-so get to know the shape and color).

It's March 1st or 31 days to a new habit

At the start of this new month, I am challenging myself to blog everyday. 31 days. I will also being drinking green smoothies each morning and trying to juice everyday. I have some health issues that I would like to resolve without medication. I do not like percentages and I have no plans to go 100% raw as a lifestyle but I would like to try it for a couple of weeks throughout the year. So hopefully this will get me going in the right direction. I will posting some recipes and pictures daily. So here's to the next 31 days.