Sweet and Sour

Isn't that lime lovely?

Looks so incredibly REFRESHING -

doesn't it?

I decided we needed a break from the choco-caramel desserts we've been enjoying.

So yesterday I decided to experiment.

Remember I said I was excited because I was finally 'getting it'?

How to combine the ingredients better?

I got brave, I decided to venture out on my own. That can be scary, but in this case it was JUST what I needed!

I made a little 'Key Lime Tart' - all on my own!!

The key lime part is a mixture of:

• soaked cashews
• water
• fresh lime juice
• lime zest
• agave
• chia seeds

I added the chia seeds for thickness. I didn't want to use coconut oil.

I find that a LOT of raw recipes use coconut oil, but it just seems like a lot of added fat so I thought maybe I could use chia to help thicken this as chia has GREAT gelling properties.

IT WORKED!

The crust is simply walnuts, sunflower seeds, medjool dates, and a pinch of salt. I wanted something a little plain so as not to overwhelm the lime.

They are garnished with fresh cut lime slices in different shapes/poses.

The flavor of the lime 'mousse' is good but could have been a little 'limeier' so next time I will omit the water and JUST use lime juice.

I also decided to pop these in the freezer prior to eating. I wondered if that would make it more like a frozen keylime pie (one of my FAVORITES!)

Again, it worked!

The frozen version had a VERY creamy lovely luscious texture.

The only downside is that freezing it detracted a bit from the lime flavor. That was a bit of a surprise.

I have a fair amount of the lime mousse left over and will enjoy that tonight fresh from the fridge.

For dinner last night I had another batch of the 'ground meat' sort of thing that I showed a few days back.

This time I also made a little relish of jicama, sweet red pepper, onion, chopped cranberries, and broccoli.

I made a simple cranberry vinaigrette and let it marinade for an hour or so, then assembled with lettuce as the bed, my meaty mixture, then topped with the relish.

I enjoyed fresh sliced mango on the side.

I will be happily having leftovers tonight!

Janice

Healing - a journey, I believe

I first got interested in raw because I simply wanted to heal my digestive tract.

I then became more intersted in healing in a large sense - my physical health.

For a long time I have been intersted in emotional health - psychological health and spiritual health, but I have now begun connecting dietary, physical health, emotional health, and spiritual health in a way that I didn't before.

I do believe that each of these impacts the others.

Like most of us, I find that as I age I have gained wisdom (thank you God) and I begin to make better choices about how to promote my health.

While I have learned a lot of things, I do not always put them into practice.
(anyone relate to that?!?!?!)

Although I have learned what foods will fuel and heal my body, I do not always choose them.

I have learned of the need to guard my heart, but I am not always careful.

I have learned to live and let live, yet I do not always walk away.

I have learned to love God but I do not always place God first in my life.

I have learned a lot about forgiveness, grace, and mercy
(though I forget that others have not)

So I am not always patient. I am not always kind.

I am not always quiet.

I believe in freedom but also in personal responsibility.

Freedom is not a license to injure or abuse. It is not an 'anything goes' and even those who posture as such, don't really believe it in practice.

I believe in COMMUNITY.

And I believe Americans are far to 'individual' minded and that it is spreading.
(I believe this is very unfortunate)

I know, without a shadow of a doubt that I am not perfect.

I know of my need for forgiveness and I am thankful that God speicalizes in
forgivenrss and grace and mercy

I know each day is new and I know that I am not powerless.

I know that God will never let me go.

(Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 13:5; Psalm 23:4; 1 Corinthians 10:13)

I know that you are hoping for some lovely yummy food photos and a recipe.

I shall post both later today. :)

Janice

Fulfilling the promise

I have been meaning to get the recipes posted that I have been speaking of and finally I have one of several . .

The first I'll share is the chocolate caramel tarts that I posted those scrumptious photos of the other day. I have now made this recipe TWICE!

<- I ate that half last night -- mmmmmmmm. The recipe was found on a blog. I'll post my rendition of the recipe soon.

The recipe called for maca  and I will say that I did not use the maca either time I made it - to me maca has such a VERY strong flavor and I decided to omit it.



I also made my first raw 'cheeze' spread last night. It came out rather well.

Errrr, the SECOND batch came out very well.
The first batch I tried to make completely in my mini-chop/processor and it just couldn't handle the cashews. . . the entire thing ended up being watery and VERY grainy.

I gave it a second go by first putting the cashews (unsoaked) into my coffee grinder. This created a cashew flour with I then put in the mini-processor and added the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, water, onion salt, garlic.
I was much more pleased with this second batch but I did not dive in as I had just consumed that half a tart you see in my fat little hand up there!


I also have a feeling that the flavors will continue to develop so I am waiting to snack on this tonight. I am not completely sure what I will put the spread on...but I'll think of something!

HAPPY FRIDAY!
Janice