Plans for 2011

I've never been big on resolutions. I'm not a good list maker or goal maker (or keeper).

Part of that is just my personality and when it matters I overcome it and I get things done. We all have things we must struggle with, things that just seem to be ingrained as part of our personality. The older I get, the more I learn....and having learned more about myself and life in 2010 - I do know that the things that I am passionate about somehow get my attention. I've always struggled with organization and so in a sense that is going to be a focus for this year. FO-CUS.

And with oganization comes planning - with planning comes puh-lannnnns.

So yes. All of a sudden now I have plans! Good ones too I hope!

I plan on being more consistent here - sharing more recipes, more insights from my raw journey thus far. Part of what that means is to share from my distinct perspective and lifestyle. There are people who focus on raw on a budget, on certain health restrictions and raw, on sweets and raw, etc. . .

So just what is my perspective? Well, its about being raw as a single parent in the midst of a non-raw household. Its about a hectic schedule, working full time, and trying to make raw and cooked food (for part of the family) and all on a limited budget.

Let's face it - there are some inherent struggles in that, but if I can do it - so can others. I'm not going to tell anyone how THEY should do it. NO way - NO how. I'll share how I am going about it - my successes and my struggles. The good and the bad.

Hopefully there will be something of use for others and something that might even inspire someone else.

yay plans!

To start it off - I'm going to share my take on a recipe that you can find all over the raw net.

Kale Chips





Mine are very similar to what else you will find out there, and yes, it does require a dehydrator.


I have to say that while the dehydrator is not a necessity of the raw kitchen, it is nice to have. The dehydrator is inspiring to me. I did fine without it for more than a year, but I'm really glad to have it now and explore some foods that I couldn't previously try.






When I share my recipes I will try to provide photos and also a download at the end.

Here is what went into the chips I made the other day:

Kale

Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Balsalmic Vinegar

Nama Shoyu

Rice Wine Vinegar

Sea Salt

Nutritional Yeast

Chili Powder

First tip - do not buy preprocessed kale. I don't know why but it just isn't the same, it doesn't come out tasting right. Buy WHOLE leaves, long stems in.

I prepare mine by removing the stem first.

I do this by folding the leaf over and grasping the leaf part with one hand and the stem/vein with the other

and carefully pulling the two apart.

Discard stem.

the defrocked, errrr, deveined leaf

Next, I tear the leaf into small pieces.

Not necessarily bite sized, but not more than two bites or one large ‘stuffing’ of a bite. ;-)

As I am tearing up the kale, I place the pieces I am going to use in a salad spinner.

This I use to clean and dry my kale.

I do about two very full spinners for a batch of kale chips.

The spinner just makes it really convenient!

The photo is without the lid, I give it a little rinse without the lid, then place the lid on, allowing the water to run through the hole in the lid and I spin the knob heartily to remove dirt.

Lifting the spinner to rest on the middle ledge of the sink, I then spin without water to dry the kale.

Once the kale is spun clean and dry I just set it aside and get to work on my coating.

In a VERY large bowl I mix all of the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the nutrional yeast.

I use a wisk and give it a quick beating.

Then I add the nutrional yeast

I do not have measurements, I just eyeball it keeping in mind what flavors I enjoy most.

You want enough of a sauce to get in all those lovely ruffles on the kale leaves.

Once the sauce is mixed - dump in the kale.

I normally begin mixing gently with a large wooden spoon or spatula.

But then I get in there with my hands, massaging the sauce into the leaves to ensure a good coating.

Once this is all mixed I will typically add another heaping spoonful or two of nutritional yeast.

The yeast really gives a nice flavor as well as a nice visual on the resulting chips.

I like to let the kale sit for 20-30 minutes for the flavors to develop a little, but this is not necessary.

Using tongs, I carefully place the kale in a single layer in the dehydrator.

I try to give the kale some room, but I don't mind them touching or even overlapping a little.

I use two trays in my tray Excalibur dehydrator.

I like to leave some space in between the trays to allow for plenty of circulation.

I also will rotate the trays (upper for lower) about half way through.

I dehydrate them at about 115 degrees for 2-3 hours - until they are nice and crispy!

I check them each hour, sometimes they need less time, sometimes they need more time.

I suspect it has to do with how much marinade is on them and what the temperature/humidity conditions are in the house.

Everyone in my house has tasted these and confirms they are good.

Not everyone likes them enough to choose them over other snacks, but 3 of us REALLY enjoy them.

YUM! SOOOO good!

They have a little tang from the vinegars and soy...

and a cheesiness with a touch of saltiness.

Oh my. I really enjoy these!

Not to mention that kale is REALLY REALLY good for you!

I aim to phase out more of the pre-packaged snack foods in the house during 2011 so these may become more appealing as time goes on.

Click here for the recipe as a free download. (download will be up by Jan. 1, 2011!)

ENJOY!

Background and Change

Not only was my birth birthday this week (yesterday) - but
it has been just about 1 year since I went raw.

Time sure does fly.

I began raw near the beginning of August last year.

I went 100% raw, 100% overnight. When I say 100%, I mean as close to that as it matters to me. There were some non-raws such as the tiniest amount that you'd use in a salad dressing of vinegar and some oils. Eventually I found some replacements for my old oils and switched my soy to nama shoyu in an effort to be even more raw.

But I haven't been raw the entire time. I'm not entirely raw right now.

There have been times when I haven't even been close. I try not to stress on it, I go with the flow at times.

I enjoy life - I want quality of life. Which, for me, means eating as high raw as I can. Right now I'm not satisfied with where I am so I'll make some changes.

BUT.

Despite being low- to no- raw (ok, I doubt anyone is 'no-raw'. If you eat fruit you're part raw! If you have a salad or some lettuce on a sandwich - part raw!!) Anyway, despite the ups and downs of the past year, I have noticed some really wonderful benefits of the shift in my daily diet. And these are evaluable differences. Not a 'feeling' or something that can't be quantified. These are measurable things.

First of all - I have brought my glucose (blood sugar) under control (mostly). I do not say that I reversed my diabetes or that it is cured. I don't think that is the case. If I go on and overeat a bunch of cooked carbs and/or candies, then my sugar will be high. Too high. My body has not miraculously gone back to being able to process that like it could pre-diabetes. BUT - we have control. With NO meds and NO exercise! (not that I recommend no exercise! Its just that I haven't managed to fit in an exercise schedule for the past year). So YAY! Glucose control!

Next, and this is important to me - I've been migraine free since going raw. COMPLETELY. I haven't had one single migraine. In fact, I've hardly had a headache - just a couple of slight normal tension type headaches. I am THRILLED beyond words about that. I believe this is totally attributable to going raw. I was having migraines at an alarming rate and had even undergone an MRI of my brain at one point due to a migraine that was associated with subsequent confusion and a sort of aphasia (confused language, word salad, repetition). It was scary. I have been told that people with diabetes can suffer migraines, so regulating my glucose may have also alleviated the migraines. All in all - the migraines are gone (YAY!) and its in some form or fashion thanks to raw.

Finally. Weight loss. I am uncertain as to how much, nor is that important. What is important is that I had gained a LOT of weight over the years, aging, pregnancy, a sedentary job, catered lunches, and going raw effortlessly took some weight off. I do know that I was down about 45 pounds from my highest point ever, though some of that came off pre-raw. I have also, in the past couple of months, slowly found about ten of the pounds that I had 'lost'. ;-) I know much of that comes from the high sugar, high fat, high processed food I have 'indulged in' over the past 2 months.

There are some changes that I can't measure - things like mental clarity and an increase in energy, better mood, and overall sense of wellbeing. and they count! Its just that I can't fully defend or explain those. They are real, they just can't be measured very well - its not quite as objective.

To get back to being more high raw, I have recently purchased a dehydrator. I am just barely beginning to experiment with that. Thinking about making wrappers (similar to tortilla shells) and various other items has me excited about 'un-cooking' again. I did try a made up recipe for crackers in the dehydrator while on vacation (yes, I lugged that darn thing on vacation!) and although they never got crisp, they were edible and had a nice flavor. I suspect the consistency has to do with ingredients. I have now amassed a sizable collection of wraps, 'burgers', chips, crackers and other things to try in the dehydrator.

I'll leave you with a lovely little un-recipe. Or raw HIDI (How I Do It - acronym stolen from my friend Hans Meevis - google him, he's amazing) I would say recipe, but so much of what I do in the kitchen is un-measured so I trust you to eyeball ingredients to mix according to your palate.


Pear Crumble HIDI

Pears (2)
A TBS or two of agave (realized later, this could very well be omitted)
sprinkle (or 2) of cinnamon
dash of sea salt
splash of vanilla
zest of one lemon
a few walnuts and/or pecans
flax seed (or just start with flax meal)
2 medjool dates




I mixed the agave, cinnamon, salt, lemon zest, and vanilla in a medium bowl.

next, I cut up the pears and added them to the bowl, stirring to coat.

Finally, everything else went into the mini-processor to create a nice crumble.

Assembly: scoop pears into a single serving bowl and top with crumble. ENJOY!

you can place the pears in the dehydrator fro 30 minutes or so to gently warm. And you could make some lovely whipped cashew cream as a topping -- or raw ice cream! YUM! but its fine the plain jane way too.

I also found that if you mix some pears and crumble together and refrigerate for a few hours it firms up into a nice treat. You may not enjoy the resulting consistency, put I thought it was quite good!

So what have you made raw lately?

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

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

Spicing it up!

Some people say that variety is the spice of life.

While I think some other things might qualify as the spice of life....I do agree that variety is one of them. And with that in mind, I continue to try some recipes (rather than just winging it myself).


Today is my third recipe in just a few days! I posted a picture the other day of some cookbooks. Most of these I have checked out of the library - - since they will have to go back before to much longer, I am planning on making some recipes from them. So far I think y favorite of the bunch is the one Karen asked about the other day.


Its called: RAW The UNcookbook (New vegetarian food for life) by Juliano



I like the way the book is formatted....the photos, the recipes....so today I tried the Butternut Squash Soup on page 17.








Recipe from the book:
3 c butternut squash - peeled and chopped
1 mango, cubed (peeled of course!)
2 t. curry
4c orange juice
1/2 c. honey or dates

Combine all ingredients in a blender until creamy. Garnish with banana, mint, jalepeno...etc.



Now, how I did it...

So, I used a Carnival squash - about 1/3 of it, cubed, didn't measure how much that came out to be. And I used 1 mango.

For the orange juice, I just squeezed the juice from one orange and then I also added a little fresh lime juice.

I also added half a banana and then the honey (which I did not measure either). Oh, and I added a heaping teaspoon of curry powder.

I garnished with sliced banana and a little dash of hemp seed.



I really liked this although I think it would have been plenty sweet without the honey. Next time I will trade the honey for dates - just a few - I think it will help enrich the flavor. I might also add a dash of cayenne. I like a little more spice.

This is definitely a KEEPER. I will make this again for sure.

Another thing I made today.
***NOT RAW ALERT - stop reading now if cooked will offend you ;-) ***

I made bagels. They are cooling now......I do still cook for my family - remember?? Ashley over at (never home)maker has been talking about bagels, about posting reciped and tips, so still fighting off the haunting memories of a bagel disaster from about 12 years ago...I decided to give it a go. I think they just might be edible this time! I will post later with photos...but I can tell you right now that they smell like heaven.

~Janice

Hmmm, wonder if I could do a Juliano and Janice sort of thing.....

nnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaah. I'm not that organized!!