Broccoli and Cheese

This recipe is part of an ongoing series documenting my experiences as I try the recipes from the book Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen.

Broccoli and Cheese
pg.290


I did not take a picture of this because I couldn't look at it again! I got so sick. In all fairness, it was not the recipe but when I get sick the last thing I eat tends to linger in my memory as the culprit. It tasted great though. It might be a while before I attempt it again

Indian Spinach Dip

This recipe is part of an ongoing series documenting my experiences as I try the recipes from the book Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen.

Indian Spinach Dip
p. 306

I started this recipe knowing that I would probably like it. I love avocados and indian spices so why wouldn't I like it? I did NOT expect my kids to like it, especially one of my pickiest. Charlotte was the only one who didn't like it but she HATES avocado. She did say that it was pretty good considering what was in it. In the picture I have the dip spread on napa cabbage with onions, tomato, and sprouts. It was delicious! The kids ate the dip with the cabbage and my buckwheat crackers. The bread in the picture is rye bread made from sprouted rye(also from Alissa's book but I will post a review on that later). I haven't eaten napa cabbage this way before(surprisingly!) but this is going to be a staple from now on. I really enjoyed it!

Living on Live Food recipe adventure

I am starting a series of posts where I will be going through the book Living on Live Food and posting pics and reviews of the recipes. It should be fun and motivating! The kids are interested it in to so I might get them to take some pics. I am starting from the beginning but I will likely jump around a bit because of ingredients and such. I will continue to update this post with the links to the recipes.

Indian Spinach Dip
Broccoli and Cheese

Homemade Raw Butter!

We did it, yay! This is so neat. Here are some pics we took during the process. First you take the cream off of the raw milk. Blend it in your food processor for 10-15 min. Separate the solids from the liquid(buttermilk) and rinse thoroughly. You could add salt but we are just going to add it as we use it. I don't suppose it will last very long in the frig but I don't see it lasting longer than 2 days here anyway.lol

Raw Apple Cinnamon Pecan Muffins

Dough:
2 cups Flaxseed(you can try ground or whole but I like about 1/2 and 1/2)
1/2  cup raisins soaked
1 Apple for blending with raisins
1 apple grated
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 -1 tsp salt
1 Cup Pecans soaked
a hand full of raisins mixed in to mixture. Adjust to taste.

Topping:
handful Pecans
Honey
pinch of salt

Using food processor, grind pecans
Using blendar, blend raisins, apple, and a little raisin water until smooth.
Combine all ingredients in bowl.
Using cupcake liners placed in a muffin tin, press dough into liners and then take out of liners and place on dehydrator trays upside down. Dehydrate a couple of hours. Prepare topping. Chop pecans and mix with salt. Turn muffins over and sprinkle mixture on top. Drizzle honey over them all and dehydrate until preferred dryness. We like it after just a couple of hours.

Swissmar Borner Mandoline Review

This just came in the mail yesterday. My previous mandoline had to put retired so I ordered this one hoping that it would serve me well. I really like it so it far.
Pros:

• Cuts like butter, really it does
• Fairly easy clean up
• Safety storage. There is a little safety lever that you have to push in order to get it out of the compartment. This is a huge benefit for me.

Cons:

• I would have liked to have it elevated a bit more. It doesn't have a stand that it sits on so it is a little awkward.

Overall, it is far better than my last one! I would recommend this to anyone wanting to make chips, fries(the fries are a little smaller than McDonald's fries), and julienned/sliced veggies.

Homemade Sour Cream and Raw Food Ramblings

Today I am going to go to 14 carrot and pick up some raw milk. I am excited because I am going to make sour cream! I have never made it from scratch. We use it a lot to replace Mayonnaise on sandwiches and such. I thought about making some homemade tortillas tonight as well but I don't know if I will be that adventurous.lol Jason loves %100 whole wheat tortillas so I just might surprise him.

On another subject, I am reading a book by Weston A. Price called Nutrition and Physical Degeneration I have been doing the raw food thing for so long and my body has enjoyed the extra time to heal, but I have been reading about many people who claim that this is not sustainable. It has me questioning. Don't get me wrong, this is not a complete change, I'm not even saying I will change. But, if there is something I need to add to my family's diet so that we will feel better, I want to pay attention. So I will do the research and come to some conclusions. I have a 3 month window to do the research in. I committed to an experiment recently and I want to finish it out. I had set out for it to be a 6 month experiment but we decided 3 would be more attainable. The experiment is whether or not I can gain muscle on a predominately raw food diet. If I change anything by reading Mr. Price's book it will likely just be adding in some dairy as condiments, bone broth every now and then, and maybe some meat once and a while. We will see. I don't know what he says about grinding your own wheat and whether or not that's ok. I know that my kids prefer my bread over store bought though. Yay! It's fun experimenting!
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Well, I went to buy some milk but they were all out. This will have to wait till Friday I guess. Bummer.

Ani Phyo's "Love-The-Chicks Pate"

This recipe was ok. I think one of the problems that many people might have with this recipe is that it misguides you into thinking that this will taste like scrambled eggs. Not even close. So, if you don't go into it thinking that's what your going to get, you'll be fine. I made the base pate and added tomato, onion, and yellow pepper all wrapped in a romaine lettuce wrap. I also tried it on my buckwheat crackers. It is very filling. It really needed something though so I tried to put a little nama shoyu on it and that worked. It was awesome then. We have alot left over in the fridge so I guess I will be experimenting with it. I thought about trying to put it in nori sheets.  If you're looking for a pate that's hearty and NOT humus like, this is it. Otherwise, stick to the humus.

New Meal Planner

I am so excited about a new meal planner Jason is creating.

• It will give me the ability to schedule meals on certain days
• Because many raw food meals take several days to prepare, this planner will create an event for the number of days needed, which will allow me to get reminders, etc...
• I get to customize it the way I want! yay
• It will be web based which means I can access it anywhere
• I *think* I will be able to drag and drop recipes on the day that I want. 
• It's free
• Eventually, I believe we will be able to have a community that can access each other's public recipes.

I love my husband! 

Sweet Potato Chips

"Raw" Sweet Potato Chips

You will need:
3-4 Sweet Potatoes
3/4 Cup Lemon Juice
1/8-1/4 cup Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Use a mandolin on the first setting(thin) to slice the potatoes. Combine all ingredients and mix it really good. I would let it sit for 10 minutes and then mix it again. Place on dehydrator trays(It's ok if you don't use teflex sheets). Dehydrate for 1 whole day or more. They are so good, the kids devour them. Here they are all stacked together. This was about 4 trays worth of chips.

Green Bean Casserole

I have found a great recipe to take with me for Christmas. I can't believe it turned out that good.

I made a "pocket" out of a recipe I have. I just put in some veggies mixed with miso and Nama Shoyu. It was great. Here is the Green Bean Casserole as well. Then I made some sweet potato chips. Those are the best chips ever!!

Here we are last night making raw food cookies with icing. I made green, orange, pink, and yellow icing. The kids loved it even though the "icing" wasn't your normal consistency due to it being raw. I was chintzy on the coconut oil as well.

Here is a christmas tree one we made

Thanksgiving

Well, happy thanksgiving!! We are going to be heading out to visit family this morning and I am looking forward to spending happy time with everyone :) This will be the first thanksgiving where I have fixed so many raw recipes. I am excited! Here's what I made to last me over this long weekend:
Buckwheat crackers
Blackberry jam
Almond Butter
Sweet potato chips(spicy and not so spicy ones)
2 Strawberry pies
1 Blueberry pie
Turkeyless Turkey
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry Salad
Butternut Squash Salad
Mash Potatoes
Marinated Portebella mushrooms to go on "potatoes"
We mad several pies this week to try including carrot cake, black forest(using strawberries), and apple. Strawberry was my favorite. The best pie I have ever tasted! The Potatoes do not contain nuts but taste awesome(too me). I just pray everything holds up until this evening.lol

Dehydrated Broccoli and Cauliflower

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Nama Shoyu
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Put a bunch of broccoli or cauliflower on a teflex sheet, sprinkle Nama Shoyu on it. Dust it with onion and garlic powder. Dehydrate for as long as it takes to get it like you want it. If you want it with a meal as a side, I suggest start it early in the day and watch it. It should be wilted and warm by dinner. The longer you leave it in there, the crunchier it gets. You can then eat it as a snack, which I love!

Salad "Rub"

I just love nutritional yeast! I mix it with salt, pepper and sometimes dried basil. Delicious on my salads. I am a hard core creamy dressing kind of person so it's gotta be good if I am choosing this over it. I am addicted to it. Good thing it's so good for you, lots of protein too. You can buy it at your local health food store in the bulk section. It's NOT the same thing as active yeast!

My Favorite Breakfast

I have been enjoying this breakfast now for quite some time but I haven't posted it on here yet.
1/2 cup rolled oats(I flake them myself to save money)
1 TBL Coconut oil(Garden of Life brand is my FAVORITE)
1 Banana
Almond Milk

Place the oats and coconut together first and stir around. Cut up the banana and mix it in. Poor over your almond milk. The coldness of the milk hardens the coconut oil and you get a crunchier cereal. So yummy!

Cost of a Large Family

We are expensive! I think back several years ago at how much our food bill was and I am astonished. Granted, we usually didn't eat the most healthy things but we couldn't afford the best anyway. People often tell me that they can't imagine how much it cost to have a large family. They come to the conclusion that Dh must have a great job. Well, he does, but that's not how we afford them. We are able to afford our family because God enables us to do it. I struggle SO much with food cost. I want so badly to eat "cheap", to be able to walk into Aldis and only spend $100 for the week. But, my health starts to decline rapidly in one week. Depression starts creeping in. The kids go crazy! The best I can do is to find cheap(er) healthy food.
In bulk:

• oats
• wheat
• buckwheat
• salt
• beans
• rice

At Sams:

• Lettuce(organic)-very cheap compare to all stores. I will update with price.
• Spinach(organice)-Same as above
• Nuts-raw almonds, pecans, walnuts. Almonds are not really raw but close enough
• All Fruit
• Most other veggies(Carrots, Celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc..)
• Avocados(much cheaper than most places and if you get them unripe, they ripen very nicely on your counter
• Frozen veggies(broccoli, corn, mix)
• Frozen fruit
• Milk
• Sour Cream(we use this for most dressings. We don't buy salad dressing anymore. We mix spices with this to make ours)
• raisins(we go through 2 large boxes that contains 2 large bags of raisins-every WEEK!)
• Organic decaf coffee that is cheaper than the regular decaf coffee at publix
• Diapers
• Wipes
• Trash Bags
• Shampoo
• Toothbrushes
  

Some things we have to get at Publix

• Collards
• Kale
• Corn
• Cabbage
• coconut oil
• pickles without yellow number 5
• Almond Milk
• Zucchini
• Wheat Noodles( I don't have time to make this right now ;))
  

We never buy boxed cereal. We flake our own oats from oat groats and combine it with buckwheaties(dehydrated sprouted buckwheat) and raisins with milk. I grind our grain and make our bread. I don't buy raw bars/breads. I make my own dehydrated buckwheat bread.

I think this post is more for me than anyone else. I do the best I can with trying to save money but sometimes(most times) I still feel like I am doing a lousy job. Do you ever feel that way? Just writing it down helps me to realize that I AM doing all that I can to keep my family healthy without breaking the bank. So on those days when I think "we could live on rice and beans for a little while" I can look back and remember that it's not ALL about the money.

Children's taste

It always amazes me what children will eat. Jason and I used to be surprised when the kids wouldn't eat a yummy quiche but would turn around and eat boxed macaroni and cheese. Well, we don't eat like that anymore(for the most part) and they continue to shock me. Yesteday I baked some sweet potatoes. I know they love sweet potatoes mushed with honey, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg but I decided not to add anything. I just cut the potato(I didn't smush it) and put it on their plates. They loved it. I can't believe it's that easy. And then to top it all off, I made some raw sprouted buckwheat bread/crackers and dehydrated it. It wasn't done by dinner but I let them taste it. I did't like it as much because when it's not dehydrated it has more of a buckwheat flavor. The kids loved it! They almost devoured a whole sheet. I am guessing their taste buds have changed since we starting eating more real foods but they are still amazing me. Needless to say, don't be afraid to go simple and try out new things with your children! They may surprise you. Charlotte puts red pepper, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder on everything she can(I give her freedom in this area). Here is an easy way to get your kids to eat zucchini:
~Boil enough zucchini(sliced) for your family in a large pan. I peeled mine as well but you don't have to
~Let most of the water evaporate
~Either buy or make some spaghetti sauce and poor over zucchini. Let it get hot but don't worry about boiling it. You can even turn the stove off. Serve. My kids were begging for more.

You can also use this same recipe if you spiralize the zucchini into noodles. I wouldn't boil the noodles though. It's better to either not cook them at all or just add them to the sauce and let it get warm/hot.

Dandelions

I bought some dandelions at Earth Fare the other day and I have really been enjoying them! For those of you who drink green smoothies, try a handful of these. I have been adding them in with my collards(collards are my favorite). One day I will get a juicer and try juicing them. Here are some nutritional benefits of dandelions(as if I need convincing):
The leaves are richer in vitamin A than are carrots.
One cup of dandelion greens:
-25 calories
-1.5 g protein
-5 g carbohydrate
-19 mg Vitamin C
-7,700 IU of vitamin A
-103 mg calcium.
They also stimulate the liver and kidneys. I have don't enough research on them but I wonder if these would help people with gallbladder disease. I had my gall bladder out about 6 years ago. I wish I had known about natural ways to deal with that. We have a ton of dandelions in our back yard but there are so many stray cats around here that I am fearful of getting worms or something if I ate these.LOL

Yummy Raw Sub Sandwich

This is so good and it really hits the spot when I am craving a sub.
- 1 Romaine Lettuce HEAD
-Various veggies to put on it
- Some type of sauce/spread.
Take the head of romaine and cut the bottom piece of and then stand it up on its bottom. Slice it from top to bottom. Take the 2 pieces and take out the very middle small leaves. This is where you will stuff you veggies. I like to put a sauce on first. You could use salad dressing, homemade mayo., mustard, anything. Stack your veggies on. I usually slice my veggies pretty thin so I can put more on. Some suggestions are:
-avocado
-cucumber
-tomato
-onion
-pickles
-red/green peppers
-salt, pepper, red pepper flakes

You could also "toast" your sub by warming it or grilling the lettuce head before you put the veggies on. This might seem crazy to eat a whole head of lettuce but if you just eat a couple of leaves it doesn't give it that nice hearty feel that you look for in a sub.

Buckwheaties

1 Cup buckwheat groats
Water

Soak buckwheat groats for 6 hrs. Drain and place in a mason jar(or seed sprouter container) with cheesecloth over it secured with either the top or a rubberband. Rinse and drain every meal(3 times a day). Make sure to really rinse these. They can get quite slimey. Once tails have grown to desired length(small tails to 1/4 in), your done. Place on teflex sheet in dehydrator. Set to 105 until dry(8-12 hrs or until dry). You can then transfer to container. These will keep a while, unless you eat them all up. :)