Chocolate Fix

I've been craving chocolate in a fierce way lately and these two goodies have really been satisfying. I found the recipe for Raisin Fudge on www.goneraw.com but I will post it here as well. I love these because the raisins give it this wonderful tang that I love... I've always been a fan of chocolate covered raisins. The fudge is MUCH better!

Raisin Fudge

Rich and satisfying, this is sure to curb your sweet tooth!

Ingredients
1½ cups Walnuts
1½ cups Raisins (sulphate-free)
½ cup Cacao powder
dash of cinnamon (I omitted this)
pinch of sea salt

Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and balled up. Remove from bowl and press into square or round glass dish – alternatively you can shape into one large square with your hands. Freeze until firm, then slice. This may be kept refrigerated or frozen.
This recipe is originally from www.therawtable.com!


The next one was my own creation (I'm so proud!)

Chocolate Rose Silk Pie

Ingredients
Crust
1/2 cup nuts (I used Brazil nuts which were amazing in this recipe)
1/2 cup dates

Filling
1 cup cashews
2 tbsp coconut oil
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tbsp lucuma powder (optional)
1 tbsp lecithin 1 tbsp rose water (I got mine in the Asian section of my co-op)
pinch of sea salt

Preparation
In food processor or blender combine nuts and dates to make crust. The consistency should be pretty chunky, I really enjoyed this crust and used it originally for my Key Lime Pie. For the filling: add all ingredients to a high speed blender and mix until smooth. I used small Pyrex dishes (1 cup size) and pressed the pie crust in the bottom of four dishes (you could use one larger dish or spring form pan if you like). Pour in the filling and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to set. You could put in the freezer to set faster, but I found that it set just fine in the fridge. You can remove pretty easily from the dish or just eat it strait out of it - it's up to you :)

This pie is so lovely. My mom tasted some and couldn't believe how good it was. Her eyes about popped out of her head. This one is a keeper for sure!

Raw Meals

Stuffed mushrooms with eggplant strips. Tomato tree with eggplant strip trunk, stuffed mushroom flowers and clementine hill.
Coconut "rice" sushi rolls with cucumber and banana pepper "nigiri".
Corn on the cob with herbed olive oil, eggplant "bacon" and herbed tomato slices.
The top two are my creations and the bottom two are Cam's. He reminds me that simple is great too. I tend to go for more complicated dishes (perhaps I have a more complicated pallet ;) Regardless, all of these meals were amazing and so satisfying!

Key Lime Pie

I have to give credit to Raw Model, Anthony Anderson for the basic recipe for this one! I doubled the recipe and made a couple of modifications.

Crust
1/2 cup nuts (I used Brazil nuts which were amazing in this recipe)
1/2 cup dates

Filling
2 avocados
1/3 cup of coconut oil,
1/4 cup lime juice (I used lemon and it was WONDERFUL - and alkalizing too!)
1 tbsp lecithin
1/4 cup agave
1/2 - 3/4 cups water
pinch sea salt

In food processor or blender combine nuts and dates to make crust. The consistency should be pretty chunky, I really enjoyed this crust. I divided the crust and pressed into four 3" metal biscuit cutters on a glass pie dish. You could also use mini spring form pans or make one larger pie.

Blend all ingredients for filling except water - adding gradually as needed to make it a cake batter consistency. Pour into pans and freeze for a couple of hours to set.

I froze mine overnight then used a sharp knife to separate the sides from the biscuit cutters and they popped right out. I then allowed them to thaw in the fridge for several hours before serving. They would, of course, thaw faster if you left them out on the counter.

Spaghetti and "Meatballs"

This is what Cam and I had for lunch. Sometimes the zucchini noodles can get a bit boring so this is what I did this time.

Spaghetti and "Meatballs"

Noodles
1 medium/large zucchini, spiral sliced (or use veggie peeler to make noodles)

"Meatballs"
1/2 cup walnuts
1 tsp sesame oil
1 roma tomato (I used heirloom green sausage tomato)
2 tbsp fresh basil
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Sauce
2 roma tomatoes (again, I used heirloom green sausage tomatoes)
7 macadamia nuts
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup fresh basil
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Mushroom Topping
6 button mushrooms
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp nama shoyu

"Parmesan" Topping
Equal parts nutritional yeast and cashews, blended in spice grinder

First make Mushroom Topping: Slice mushrooms and coat with olive oil and nama shoyu. Place in a glass bowl in dehydrator at 110 until ready to use.

Use a spiral slicer or veggie peeler to slice zucchini into noodles. Divide the noodles into two bowls for serving.

Make sauce: Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender (again, I used the Magic Bullet - handy little thing). The sauce should be chunky with some bits of macadamias still visible.

Make "meatballs": blend all ingredients in food processor (I used my Magic Bullet and that was perfect for the size). Spoon out small amounts of mixture and roll into balls.

Assemble: pour sauce over noodles, then add "meatballs". Arrange mushrooms however you please and sprinkle with "Parmesan" topping. Place bowls in dehydrator for about 15-25 minutes until warm and enjoy!

Raw Pizza

Cam found this recipe on goneraw.com so here's a photo of ours. I couldn't have "sausage" pizza without mushrooms even though the recipe didn't call for them. I also left out the diced peppers and onions because it seemed so full! It was delicious. I can't believe I waited so long to try making raw pizza. Yummy!

Sausage and Pepper Pizza from goneraw.com
6 small

Ingredients
1 cup buckwheat, soaked
¾ cup sundried tomatoes, soaked
1 avocado
1 onion, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup flaxmeal, ground
1 cup sundried tomatoes (sauce), soaked,
water saved
1 teaspoon oregano (sauce)
1 clove garlic (sauce), minced
½ teaspoon basil
2 Medjool dates (sausage), pitted
½ teaspoon fennel seed (sausage)
1 cup walnuts (sausage)
1 pinch crushed red pepper (sausage)
1 dash ground red pepper (sausage)
¼ teaspoon EACH salt, pepper, oregano, basil (sausage)
1 cup almonds (mossarella), soaked
2 teaspoons tahini (mozzarella)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (mozzarella)
½ teaspoon Nama Shoyu
green pepper, diced (optional)
onion, diced (optional)
raw-cured olives, optional

Preparation
Make the crust: Process the buckwheat, tomatoes, avocado, onion, and sea salt until smooth.Remove to a bowl and add the flaxmeal. Spread on two Teflexx sheets until about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Score into slices and dehydrate for 3 hours. Flip the slices, turn heat to 95 degrees and dehydrate about another 10 hours.

Meanwhile, make the pizza sauce: Blend together tomatoes, oregano, garlic, and basil with just enough soakwater to make a thick sauce.

Make the sausage: Process the walnuts till chopped. Add dates, fennel, basil, oregano, salt and peppers and process until it comes together but still has texture.

Make the mozzarella: Blend together the almonds, tahini, lemon, and nama shoyu until smooth. Let sit in the fridge overnight.

To make the pizzas- Assemble: Crust, then: Tomato Sauce; Mozzarella; Sausage; Chopped onion; Chopped green pepper.Dehydrate at 110 degrees for about an hour or until warm.

Masman Mushroom Curry

Last night I made a very tasty curry. Here's what I did:

Masman Mushroom Curry

Serves 1

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped (any kind - I used button)

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1/4 cup cashews, chopped

1 tsp Nama Shoyu

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup coconut milk (see recipe below)

1 tsp masman curry powder (or your favorite variety)

Mix first five ingredients in a bowl and place in the dehydrator at 115 for about 30 minutes to marinate and warm. Blend coconut milk and curry powder and place in seperate bowl in dehydrator for 30 minutes to warm. After 30 minutes pour coconut curry mixture over veggie mixture and enjoy as a soup or with cauliflower "rice".

Thick Coconut Milk

I make this one a bit thicker than normal for use as a curry broth,

1 1/2 - 2 cups coconut meat

4 cups water (use coconut water if you have it, if not, use filtered water)

"Rice"

1 head cauliflower

Chop Cauliflower in a food processor until fine and “grain” like.

Two Weeks Down!

I really can't believe how well this raw challenge is going for me. It really helps to have the support network and inspiration of the folks at http://www.rawfu.com/ I'm having so much fun creating raw food goodness and I'm noticing some really big changes in a really short time.

The first week was full of raw emotions - my definition of this is when you eat raw food something different happens with the mind/body connection. Suddenly food is no longer a comfort (even though it's really friggin good) but instead becomes what it was meant to be: nourishment. The result is raw emotions. Stuff that can't be masked or comforted by the old familiar cooked food creeps up and doesn't go away until you deal with it. It's wild, and not very pleasant to be perfectly honest. But how beneficial! I think this will continue as the challenge goes on but hopefully with less intensity!

Second week also full of raw emotions but leveling out, or maybe it's just that I'm learning how to deal with stuff rather than just coping (prayer has been a huge help for me over the past couple of weeks - not about the food or staying on the "diet" but working through the emotional stuff).

So here's what I'm noticing:

• I feel clean, fresh and vibrant
• 
  
• I'm losing weight but that's not my motivation (and that feels good)
• 
  
• My clothes fit me better
• 
  
• I have more energy - really, I know everyone says that but it's totally true
• 
  
• I don't need naps anymore (even though I still want them - see raw emotions ;)
• 
  
• I don't need as much sleep - I can't go to sleep early even if I want to because my body isn't tired. It's weird.
• 
  
• I'm almost ready for intentional exercise (exercise is a dirty word in my book ;D )

• I'm not hungry. Seriously, I just don't have much of an appetite anymore. I'm perfectly happy eating Ants on a Log for dinner.

• I don't think about food. How can that be? I have to plan all of this food I'm making, right? Well, yeah. But I don't think about food between meals. Cam always asks me, "what's for lunch" and my answer is always, "Dunno, I haven't thought about it".

All of these things are amazing. I'm really impressed with this whole process. I highly recommend eating more raw in the summer, it makes all the difference in the world. I'll have to adjust to more warming foods like ginger and cayenne when the weather cools off but for now cold food is just what the alternative medicine practitioner ordered.

Plum Roll Ups

My friend Liz gave me a bag of plums that she picked from her apartment building. It was a perfect opportunity to make my first fruit leather! So, here is my best attempt at a recipe for what I did:

Plum Leathers

Ingredients

4 cups fresh fruit (I used approximately 30 small plums)

1/2 cup raw honey (or agave)

Preparation

Remove the pits from the plums and process in blender or food processor. Add honey; be sure to taste as some fruits are more tart than others. Add more honey if needed and process until smooth.

Pour out on paraflexx sheets and spread to edges of tray about 1/8 inch thick. I used 2 trays. Dehydrate at 115 overnight or for about 12 hours. The leathers should be firm but not crispy.

Cut a piece of parchment paper (or waxed paper) to fit the dehydrator tray (leave about an inch extra for the end of the wrap). I found it easier to pull the leather off of the paraflexx sheet first, then lay the leather on top of the parchment. Place the leather at the top and leave some space at the end (the extra inch) and roll it up.

Once you've made your giant fruit roll up, slice it into 1-2" sections and secure the extra paper at the end with tape or your favorite stickers :)

Oh the Joy of Raw! Seriously :)

OK, so this sandwich is on Olive Rosemary Bread with Garlic "Mayo", avocado, tomato, cucumber and Eggplant "Bacon". It was so amazing. The recipe for the coleslaw in the background is:

Coleslaw

1 small head cabbage - thinly sliced
1 cup almonds
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp Herbamare (organic seasoned sea salt)
1/2 tsp celery salt
3/4 cup water

Blend all ingredients except cabbage in blender until smooth and creamy. Add more water if needed. Pour dressing over sliced cabbage and mix well. This is a recipe that I've found actually gets better the second or third day as all the flavors sink in to the cabbage :)

Next is a melon salad with Grawnola and hemp seeds. Mmmmm good!

This is a first time try for something a little different. Cam created this really pleasant soup.

Coconut Curry Clear Broth Soup
2 servings

coconut water from one young Thai coconut
meat from one young Thai coconut - cut into noodle like strips
2 tbsp dried wakame seaweed - soaked 5 minutes to rehydrate
1 tsp masman curry powder (we got this spice mix at our local Asian market)

Place equal amounts of coconut water in two separate bowls. Sprinkle the masman curry powder over each bowl. Place several pieces of wakame in the center and layer coconut noodles on top in a criss cross fashion. This was super simple, super fresh, and super refreshing!! Wonderful soup, honey! (I was sceptical!!)

Here's my Thai inspired tortilla before I rolled it up and gobbled it down.

And the grand finale of this post:

Banana Strawberry Crepe LOVE!
Banana Crepes
6 ripe bananas
1 apricot
1/8 tsp cardamom

Mix all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Pour on paraflexx sheets 1/8 inch thick (4 crepes per tray) and dehydrate at 105 overnight (about 10-12 hours). They should be soft and pliable, not crispy.

Creme Filling
1/2 cup cashews (soaked)
1/2 cup Brazil nuts (soaked)
Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
Juice of one lemon
1 tbsp agave
1/4 cup coconut water (or nutmilk of choice)

Blend in food processor or high speed blender until thick and creamy.

Strawberry Sauce

10 strawberries (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 tbsp agave

Blend in food processor or high speed blender to saucy consistency.

Assemble crepes, drizzle (or pour ;) strawberry sauce over top and garnish with a dollop of cream and strawberries.

Oh my, this has been the most wonderful sweet treat so far.

What We've Been Eating

So here are a few of the meals we've enjoyed over the last several days.

Raw Veggie Chile with Sweet Corn Relish and Lettuce Salad w/ Blueberry Dressing

Next was Veggie Nut Burgers on Sesame Bread with Walnut Mayo, Cauliflower, and Watermelon

Pecan/Cauliflower Rice Stuffed Green Sausage Tomatoes with Teriyaki Kale Chip Topping

Pecan/Cauliflower Rice Stuffed Green Sausage Tomatoes

1/2 head cauliflower
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (soaked 10 minutes)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
25-30 green sausage tomatoes (or any other variety) - seeds scooped out
1 cup Kale Chips (or any other green garnish)

First place cauliflower in food processor and process unto a rice like consistency. Add pecans, soaked sundried tomatoes, cilantro, sea salt, and vinegar and pulse to incorporate but keep the rice consistency.

Stuff the mixture into halved and hollowed tomatoes and top with Kale Chips or other tasty green garnish :)

Corn Polenta with Mushroom Gravy, "Fried" Onion Rings, Eggplant "Bacon" and cantaloupe.

Polenta with Mushroom Ragout (Ani Phyo's recipe)

Polenta
1 1/2 tsp sea salt (we didn't use this much - more like 3/4 tsp)
1 clove garlic
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 cup cashews, dry
2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen (we used fresh and found 1 ear yields 1 cup)
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tbsp)
1 1/2 tbsp yellow onion, chopped

Mushroom Gravy
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (we only used 1/4 cup)
3/4 cup mushrooms, any kind (we used portabella)
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt (we only used 1/4 tsp)

Ragout
2 cups mushrooms, any kind, chopped
1/2 stalk celery, chopped
2 tsp fresh thyme

To make polenta process salt, garlic and black pepper first. Then add cashews and process. Place in a bowl. Next, pulse corn kernels with lemon juice. Place in blow with cashews and onion. Mix well. Set aside (or dehydrate for a few hours to firm it up a bit)

To make gravy, blend all ingredients in gravy list until smooth. Pour gravy into a bowl.

To make ragout, stir mushrooms, celery, and thyme into the gravy base.

To serve, use and ice cream scooper to scoop polenta onto four plates. Drizzle with ragout, and serve with a sprig of fresh rosemary as garnish.

Will keep for two days in fridge (or longer if you dehydrate a bit)

Dead Food List

My friend Heather was wondering about the "Dead Food List" that I mentioned in a previous post. So some folks put together a list of foods that are either completely dead or just controversial/questionable. I suppose people who are concerned about eating a 100% raw diet would take this list a lot more seriously than I do. For instance, if a manufacturer says that they produce their products at a temp below 118 or 115 or whatever I give them the benefit of the doubt. Agave is a good example. There are several manufacturers that claim their product to be raw. The same manufacturers usually sell a non-raw version that is generally less expensive as well. I always choose the raw version and trust that they produced the product in the way they claim. I have no way to prove otherwise.

To be honest, I wouldn't be able to do this whole experiment if I placed too many restrictions on myself. Isn't it enough to go from a diet of high cooked vegetarian foods to all uncooked vegan? If an ingredient here or there is not completely raw, I'm willing to bet I'll not only survive but I might even enjoy my food more and who knows? Maybe I'll actually get some nutrients from those foods as well ;) The point for me is to see how I change over the entire challenge... perhaps I'll come out feeling like I want a baked potato but there's a possibility that I'll feel more like eating fewer foods from the "Dead Food List". Only time will tell, friends.

Blueberry Pie

I got the original recipe from a book called Alive in 5 by Angela Elliot. I have a feeling I'm going to be using a lot of her quick and easy recipes over the next few months. Here's the original:

Makes 6 servings

1 cup raw walnuts
1/2 cup pitted dates
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Himalayan salt
4 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar

Combine the walnuts, dates, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor, and process until the mixture holds together and forms a dough. Press into a 9-inch glass pie pan. Rinse and dry the food processor. Place the blueberries and agave nectar into the food processor, and process until pureed. Our the puree into the prepared pie crust. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.


My notes:

In the book Angela recommends soaking nuts before using them (for at least and hour). I did this but now wish I hadn't. My crust seemed a bit soggy after the blueberry puree was poured in and it set up in the fridge for a while. Next time, I will NOT soak my walnuts first.

I used slightly different ingredients:

3/4 cup soaked raw walnuts
1/4 cup soaked raw almonds
1/2 cup pitted dates
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (probably not raw)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (that's all I had left)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons raw agave nectar
1 teaspoon psyllium husk powder (to make sure the puree firmed up)

So the pie is completely delicious. The only thing I would change in the future is not soaking the nuts for the crust (or if I do soak them I would put them in the dehydrator for a bit before using them.) Even though the crust is pretty mushy it still tastes wonderful. It reminds me of oatmeal so the flavor ended up something like blueberry crisp without the crunch. Mmmmm good.