September 28, 2008

The Nutcracker



I am so excited. My little boy auditioned for the Rocky Mountain Repertory Ballet to participate in Nutcracker and made it to be a mouse and an understudy for a party boy! Considering that he was the smallest there ( he is not 5 yet, and the youngest after him was almost 6) and I've done nothing to prepare him ( on purpose, I wanted to see how much he would be able to do just by himself) I am more then happy!
There was a funny situation during the audition though. Parents are not allowed. But I managed to pick in anyway, and saw Justin
jumping and growling. My immediate reaction was : "NOT NOW!" thinking that he is messing around. So , I stuck my hand under the curtain, whispered his name and let him know that he'll be in for a time out if he does not stop. So. The time came for the little ones to show the their parts to the auditioners. And there we go : Justin does everything beautifully and then at the end everyone HAS TO GROWL! It was a part of choreography, and my little boy just stands there with his arm down by the seams. :) They ran it 2 or 3 times and every time he just put his arms down and smiled Finally the director said "justin, show us how scary you can be", on which he very politely replied. "Nooo.. My mommy told me not to do that!" . I almost died. Everyone else too - from laughing. He made the part even though "mommy told him not to". :)

September 21, 2008

Smoothie of the day


We did it just to taste, but here is some measurements to help

4-5 Soaked Figs
1 Plum
3 small peaches
1 small apple
1 kiwi
2 very ripe bananas
1 cup of water
about 8 oz frozen blackberries
honey/agave to taste.

Blend everything. We loved it so did kids. NOTE: take off kids clothes , or you are in for some good laundry. :)

Cheese

We LOVE cheese. And we are constantly in search for good recipes. This one is not ours, but I'm just copying it in, because we want to try it .

I can't believe it's not cheese...
Makes 1.5 cups
Seriously good cheese, I promise :) Great on pizza.
Nutritional yeast is not technically raw but many raw foodists choose to use it. I’m sure this would still be good without it.
Best at room temperature or warmed in a dehydrator.
Ingredients
½ cup pignoli ( pine nuts - any other nut will do)
¼ cup hemp seeds
¼ cup sunflower seeds
1 clove garlic
¼ onion
1 lemon, juiced
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons hemp oil
1 sun-dried tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 small red pepper, chopped
Preparation
Whiz all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. Use as a cheesy spread or dip or spread thinly on a teflex sheet and dehydrate into slices.

September 20, 2008

Candy that's good for you!!!




For the nougat
1/4 cup agave
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup cashews

For the dark chocolate
1 cup raw cocoa butter
1 cup raw cocoa powder
1/4 cup agave
1 tsp vanilla

Equipment needs
Dehydrator
Food processor
Chocolate truffle molds

The How-To-Do-It
Start by putting your raw cocoa butter into the dehydrator. It melts at 90 degrees, so setting to 100 degrees will get you there quicker.

Next, process the cashews and pecans together in the food processor until you have a fine meal. Continue to process while adding in the agave and next thing you know, you have a ball of heavenly nougat. Pinch off small pieces of nougat and form into tiny balls to become the center of your truffles. Put these into the freezer to firm up and chill out.

Now that your raw cocoa butter is melted, slowly stir all of the chocolate ingredients together by hand.

Next, fill your chocolate truffle molds about one-third. Place into the freezer to firmly set. Now place your frozen nougat balls into the center of each mold. Slowly pour the chocolate into the molds so that you surround the nougat and top off each mold. Be sure to tap your mold gently to release any air bubbles that might have formed. Place the molds back into the freezer to set.

After about 10 minutes, the truffles should have pulled away from the sides of the molds. If your molds are clear, the tops of the truffles will appear hazy. Turn the molds over and give them a shake and a twist to knock the chocolates out. I suggest doing this over a towel, so the truffles have a soft place to land.

Notes

The truffle molds can be found at any craft mega-store for about $1.99 each; they are plastic and have about 12 pieces per mold. Be careful! Raw chocolate is known to get you high and keep you up all night!

Yield
About 3 dozen truffles, depending on your molds.

Variation:
Caramel Sauce
1 cup dates
1/4 cup maple syrup*
juice of one half lemon
1 tablespoon coconut oil
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup water

1 Soak dates in the water and lemon juice for an hour. Reserve soaking water.

2 Process soaked dates, coconut oil and sea salt in a blender.
Using soaking water one tablespoon at time, blend until you achieve a thick creamy mixture.

September 14, 2008

Some calculations :)

Ok, so all anti-rawies are saying that living ( aka raw ) food living style is boring, that there is nothing to eat, that you'll get really bored very shortly, etc, etc. Well... On the "goneraw.com" site ( check out my side links) - there are 3450 recipes. So , do some math. If you tried to make a new dish every day, just ONE new recipe, it would take you 10 YEARS to try everything! And mind you, they are adding on more and more almost every day. If you repeat favorites once, then - counting that the new additions come almost daily - you are set for another 10 years. And then we count the days when you don't feel like really making anything, and days when you want to have just a simple old salad, and days when you go out, and days when watermelon( or apples, or whatever) is all that you want ... then you are set for life! And THEN we remember how many other wonderful foods ( fruit and vegetables ) that are growing on a different continent that we haven't tried yet, and then the ones that we haven't heard about ( yet) ... Yeah... You would want to live at least 200 more years to just try everything. And then remember , that we also get really busy some days, and forget to eat...

Anyway, those that are saying that raw food is boring ... Think again. :)

FLAN!!!!


OK, totally stolen, but absolutely awesome!!!! Try it!

2 to 4 ramekins (depending on the size of the ramekins)
From http://gliving.tv/greenchefs/vanessa-sherwood/Coconut-Flan/ I was very excited about this recipe because FLAN is a so typical desert from Puerto Rico, where I come from. Ironically enought, I never liked flan before, but this one I did like!! I did modify the recipe just a bit. I did not use steranise and salt. I used fresh lime juice and a bit of tamarin meat. I did not have persimmons, so I used a very small jong orange pumpkin which was a bit soft and it make it. I did not taste to pumpkin at all. One won’t guess it has pumpkin in it. The taste is a very fresh and light one and it leaves you asking for me!
Ingredients
1 cup young coconut meat (usually one coconut)
½ cup orange pumpkin flesh
¼ cup coconut water
2 tablespoons agave nectar
½ tablespoon raw tamarin flesh
1 teaspoon raw vanilla powder
Preparation
1 In a Vita-Mix or High Speed Blender, puree all of the ingredients for the flan until smooth.
2. Coat the bottom of each ramekin with approximately 1 T. of maple syrup. Divide the flan mixture into the ramekins.
3. Chill overnight or for at least 2 hours to firm up the flan.
4. To assemble: Run a small knife around each flan in case it is sticking to the sides. The maple syrup coating should prevent this. Quickly turn each ramekin over onto a serving plate. Once you hear the flan drop onto the plate, remove the ramekin and pour out the rest of the maple syrup glaze onto the flan.
Note: I tried it at least twice with schredded coconut (unsoaked and soaked) and agar-agar, but of course, I did not get the same consistency. This time, I got my YOUNG COCONUT MEAT from YOUNG THAISE COCONUT for this recipe. yes, it has to be this kind of coconut because the meat is like rubber, while the meat from other type of coconut is dry and hard. That is what makes the difference.
I do not think you can use any fruit instead of the persimmons due to the water content they will add to the mixture, and it won’t probably set in a flan-like consistency. Orange pumpkin meat consistency is more like the persimmon one. That is why I try it out and worked perfectly.

RAW HUNGARIAN DESERT

makes one roll, slice it and eat it!

Beigli is a traditional christmas treat in Hungary. Here is a delicious raw version.
Ingredients
1 fruit leather
1½ cups walnut, almond or poppyseed
½ cup dates
2 tablespoons cocoa or carob
sprinkle raisins, dried fruit
½ cup water
Preparation
Make fruit leather: I use apple or plums, but can make it from any fruit. Process fruit in food processor or juicer. Spread it onto the dryer sheets and dehydrate. After about 8 hours, turn it over and dry for another few hours, until soft, leathery, not too dry. so simple and delicious by itself also.
filling: The given quantities for the ingredients are approximate, play with them yourself. Any kind of thick creamy sweet paste will do. Blend ingredients in food processor. Play with quantities, spices and ingredients. in traditional hungarian filling there is walnut and poppy seed. Make a paste. Spread it onto fruit leather, play with thickness. Sprinkle dried fruit on it, then roll it up (a bit like sushi). You can let it sit for a little while but it is great to eat right then. Great snack, desert. Yummy. Enjoy!

NO NUT "SALMON" SPREAD

2 Moderate Sized Servings (Small to Medium)

A quick and easy nut & seedless salmon spread. This spread is also killer with soaked sunflower seeds but I wanted to make a version that didn’t contain nuts or seeds since I created it to use in a meal that already has nuts and seeds in it. Too much good stuff can cause havoc on my damaged digestive tract so here is an easier version. This spread does taste very carrrot like so if you want more flavor then add more herbs and dulse seaweed flakes. I prefer mine more on the simple side so that I can truly appreciate the wholesome taste of the carrots. If you’re a nut-slut then this might be too bland for you. However, this is a good nut & seedless an alternative for someone wanting less calories and fat grams since less calorically dense ingredients are used.
I use this spread in my “Mock Philly Rolls” paired with a sunflower sprout salad & grated ginger agave dressing and raw kombucha!

Ingredients
1 cup Organic orange carrot
½ cup Organic onion & celery (chopped)
1 tablespoon Organic raw olive oil (cold pressed/unfiltered)
1 tablespoon Organic fresh dill
1 tablespoon Dulse flakes
1 pinch Organic pink sea salt
sprinkle Organic fresh ground black peppercorns, (I do the shimmy when I sprinkle)
drop Filtered water - amount used depends on how moist you want your mixture
Preparation
Easy as 1,2,3
1. Process all ingredients, except the water, in a food processor. Mixture will look finely chopped.
2. Stir your mixture around and begin to process again. Add a drop of water here and there while it’s processing. Do not add a lot of water at once. I added about 2 teaspoons to mine overall. My mixture ended up moist and slightly chunky (just a bit!). If your mixture ends up being too watery (by accident) you can strain it in a cheesecloth after you take it out of the processor.
3. Spoon into bowl and mix together. Add a little more sea salt and shimmy your shaker (your black pepper and your behind!)
Your spread is now ready to use. It’s great in raw sushi, on top of a salad (especially with sprouts, tatsoi, purslane, spinach, etc), as a dip or wrapped in large leafy greens (kale, bok choy, romaine, etc are great). You can even use it as a filling in a raw bread sandwich, top of a raw bagel or make a “sea inspired” raw pasta by tossing it with some freshly spiraled zucchini noodles!

Variations:
If you like your spread with chunks of onion and celery, leave these ingridients out of step 1 and toss finely chopped onion and celery into mixture during step 3.
If your not a fan of dill, replace it with shiso or if you like dill but want a little kick – be brave and use them box!

NUT FREE CHEESE

Serves 5

Ingredients
1 Bell Pepper
1 cup H2O
3 tablespoons Nutrition Yeast
1 tablespoon Coconut Cream Concentrate (from tropical traditions)
1 teaspoon Sea salt
2 teaspoons Onion Powder or add fresh onion
2 cloves Garlic
2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Avocado
1 Avocado
Preparation
Place all ingredients in blender except avocado. Blend til somewhat creamy, then scoop out avocado and drop peice by peice in blender while its running til you get the thickness u like. I use whole avo… very much like cheddar chz
My husband prefers it after it’s chilled a little bit :) Enjoy!

September 07, 2008

Some awesome recipes


I've decided that it is time to start recording some of our inventions. Hopefully, it will come useful to someone else. But if nothing, we will have a good record of everything.

For dressings, we just use vitamix. You can really use any blender. Even just a mixer will be fine. These dressing are very healthy and will make any salad taste different :) Experiment with seasonings - this will make a dressing be completely different. We also like taking the salad with dressing and wrapping it in the nori sheets. makes a really cool vegan sushi.

Almond-avocado dressing
1 cup of soaked almonds
2 cups of water ( watch for how thick/thin you like your dressing)
I large avocado
1/4 cup of vinegar ( we like apple cider or red vine. Also lemons work great. DON'T use white vinegar - bad for you!!!)
handful of parsley
onion salt

Tomato dressing
2 large roma tomatoes
1 cup of water ( watch for thickness )
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
1/4 cup of lemon juice
salt
1 stalk of green onion
handful of parsley
1 tbl spoon of italian seasoning
1/2 Ts of all purpose seasoning
clove of garlick

Through everything in a blender. EnJoy!

Tahini dressing
1/2 cup of raw tahini
! cup of water ( more if you like it thinner - add as you go)
1/4 cup of lemon juice ( fresh)
1/4 cup of vinegar ( apple ,balsamic, red wine, coconut - can add more to taste)
1 clove of garlic
salt to taste
cumin or other spices that you like

Blend . EnJoy!


Durian- Coconut pudding
if you like durians ( we LOVE them)

4 durian pods
1 tai coconut ( meat and juice)
cocoa powder to taste

Blend everything. Tastes FABULOUS!
 
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