Raw Chocolate Fruit Balls

A little piece of heaven I shall call these globes of goodness. I made these tonight for my raw food class and they went wild. Now, I have made a few different variations of these and bar none, these have been the best thus far. Trust me on this one. I found these on VegWeb. A truly great site for those new to veganism. They have tens of thousands of recipes to pick from. And how they have them broke down is just a breeze to sift through. So go take a gander at the site, you will not be disappointed.
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1 cup nuts (choose any combination you so desire)
1/2 cup chopped dates (use medjool dates and you can soak them for a little bit so they puree better)
1/2 cup apricots, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder (use nibs if you want a bit more texture)
1/8 t almond extract
1 T fresh orange juice
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mix the coconut and cinnamon together and set aside in a small bowl.  Place all thee other ingredients in the food processor, except for the orange juice. Process, adding the OJ until you get a firm not but hard dough mixture.

Have a small bowl of water near by to be able to dunk your hands in so not to have the dough mixture stick to your hands. If you want to help keep the size of the balls even, you can use a tablespoon measure and then roll out the balls in your hand, then roll them in the coconut mixture.

Transfer to a plate and refrigerate for at least 1 hour so they have time to chill and firm up a bit. Serve and watch the smile creep onto folks faces. Make...eat...enjoy!

Spinach Hummus

Well, who knew spinach could be made into hummus? I didn't know. But I do now. This last Raw Class I was scrambling at the last minute, which I usually try not to do. And when I do look for recipes for my class, I definitely keep them simple and gadget friendly. Meaning, I do not use recipes that use dehydrators, or high-powered blenders. I want people to see that eating healthy DOES NOT have to be expensive, save for the food itself.


I would rather spend a little extra now then be pumped up on TONS of medication the pharmecuticals fell we need. But if we just changed how we ate, we would not be in the mess of health this country is in. Look at all thee other countries around the world that live on whole foods. You do not see their countries ravaged with obesity, cancer or diabetes. Why is that? Well, it is because so many compnaies here are trying to sell you a load of crap and tell you that Cheerios is a nutritional breakfast. Have fun with that. It is a business and if they do not sell their product they have no jobs. So they will bend the facts so far past realism that you would think eating insect wings is good for you, because they paid some scientist to say it is so.

You know what has to be done, go with your gut (no pun inteded) and just eat whole, organic food and the rest will take care of itself. Now on to this delicious reipe. I will not acept any mariage proposals after you have made and eaten this. And I do want to give credit where credit is due. I found this lovely gem at VegWeb! I love that place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 clove garlic (put through a press)
2 to 3 cups spinach
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 to 4 tablespoons raw tahini (or regualr tahini if you are not a hard core raw foodist)
olive oil, as needed (mine equaled about 1 T)

Place garlic and spinach in food processor and process until minced finely.  Add lemon juice and tahini and blend until the consistency of hummus. You can add olive oil if needed, but the spinach and tahini should be enough.  For me I needed just a very small touch of oil.

I have fallen in love all over again with this recipe. I already love spinach, I just love it more now. Make...eat...enjoy!

Cucumber-Cilantro Soup

I am definitely making up for lost time. I am always scouring sites for recipes I can use when teaching my raw food classes. I happened upon this really great recipe on, of course, VegWeb. The ease to this recipe is scary. And that is what is all about for me at least in the raw world.

So many people want to try it, but feel if they do not have a $700 dehydrator, or a $600 blender, that they cannot go raw. Yes, it is great to have those items, but for those of us who cannot then it is still do-able for sure. In walks the Cooking Lady.

Think gazpacho when you eat this soup. It is cold but it could be served at any time of the year, and more so if you live in Florida. Try this and trust me, you will not regret it one little bit.

2 cups chopped cucumber (about 1 large cucumber)
1 & 1/4 cups water
1 avocado
1/2 cup cilantro
1 T lemon juice
2 t agave or any liquid sweetener
2 t apple cider vinegar(If you have not tried Braggs vinegar, then do so)
1 clove garlic (run through a garlic press)
1/2-3-4 t salt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now here comes the complicated part. Put all ingredients in a food processor and process until ingreditinets become smooth.

That's it. Please make this. It is so simple and so enjyoable. You will not regret it. Make...eat...enjoy!

Creamy Avocado Dressing

Told you I was on a roll. Again, I found this one when I was looking for a non-vinegar dressing. This fit the bill. Easy and simple to make. But always remember, to make sure your avocado is ripe before using it, especially for dressings. I found this one on VegWeb as well.

2 ripe avocados chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced or pressed
lime juice to taste
Water as needed
sea salt as needed
1/2 t cider vinegar, optional
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Place onions, garlic and avocado in a blender. Add lime juice and water until desired consistency. You like it thinner, then add more water. Sprinkle in the sea salt and vinegar for a bit more tanginess.

You are good to go. See how simple. I did use the blender, but I am going to try the food processor next time and see how that goes.

Raw Chia Pudding

All I can say is Wow!! I have been putting up more raw recipes and that is because I am the teacher of raw food at my local health food store. Now, one would think that with all these recipes I would have already crossed over to being a raw foodist. But not so. So, I am thinking to myself, what has me lagging behind. Well I have finally figured it out. It is s two-fold reason, but it is going to sound like more of an excuse, which in reality it is. And think about that for a moment. When someone tells you that cannot do something for a reason, it is usually just an excuse. There...I said it. I feel much better now. Admitting your problem is half the battle.

Reason number one is; I am just being lazy, for I have enough recipes to start working with, but I have just not pushed myself. Reason number two; My family is truly not into this whole raw food scene. Hubby is alright with it, but not my daughter. Yeah yeah yeah, I know, we have to do it for ourselves and not others. One day I will get there. But long the way I am enjoying these new dishes all the same. Now on to the recipe.

I had seen this woman, Mona at a Vegetarian Festival in Orlando Florida. If the word raw was in the description, I was there. I liked her from the get-go. She was real, down to earth and approachable. She talked in lay-mans terms and that made me feel comfortable. When I saw this chia pudding mush, I thought...no way is this going to amount to anything. Man was I wrong.

I will openly admit there is a texture issue. However, if any of you have ever eaten a bowl of tapioca, then get your brain in that direction and you will know where I am coming form. I myself, use to love tapioca. So this was like walking down memory lane a bit. The ingredients are simple enough and very little preparation time is involved. Just the soaking of the seeds. Once that is done, you are home free. So let's get cracking...shall we?

1/2 cup chia seeds
3 cups water (filtered if possible)
1 cup raw almond milk (this is where I used prepared almond milk. I do not have thee equipment to make my own milk)
1/2 cup diced red apple (about 1 apple total)
3/4 cup cup raisins
3 T raw agave
1 t nutmeg
2 t cinnamon
1/8 t cloves
Pinch of sea salt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You will need to soak the chia seeds the night before or like I did early in the morning, that way, I can have the pudding by dinner time. Stir the seeds with the water for at least 30 second. This is quite a necessity. Learn form others mistakes...please. Each seed needs to be thoroughly coated. If not then a stick, slimy film occurs and this does not make for a good pudding base. Also they need to soak up as much water as possible. For if not then they soak it up in your digestive track and that makes for things to move allot slower, if you get my drift.

Take the soaked chia seeds and stir them up. I swear I felt like I was back in science class. The consistency is wicked cool. Stir in your milk, spices, raisins, apples and agave. Also add your salt, but only a pinch. Now, let the bowl sit for at least an hour so the raisins can plump up. If you can give them more time then by all means, do so.

Raw Brownie

I found this like I always do, when I am looking for a new dish to teach at my raw food class where I work. I have had this saved for quite a while, but never got around to using it, but I finally got my butt moving and made it. So glad I did.

Do not think all warm and fuzzy with this, for you will not get it. what you will get is something so close you will be able to fool others.

1 cup ground pecans
1 cup chopped dates (not soaked)
1/4-1/3 cup raw cacao powder
1 t agave nectar or honey if you prefer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Process the pecans and cacao powder together in a food processor. In a separate bowl add chopped dates and agave/honey. I prefer to chop my dates by hand. As messy and time consuming as this is, it is my preference. Most everything else is fine in the processor, but I like to chop dates by hand. Just my thing.

Add your pecans to the bowl with your dates and agave/honey. This is your your bicep workout comes into play. You are going to have to work this allot. Did I mention allot? Once you get all thee ingredients worked together really well, then mash them into your glass baking pan. I pressed it down with my knuckles when I balled up my fist. But if you have anything with a flat bottom, then use it to smooth out the top of the brownies. It gives it a nice look and a bit more presentable, other than seeing knuckle imprints on the top of your brownie mold.

I suggest putting it in the fridge for about an hour. Just so it sets up. These are joyful and cut quite nicely. I may be having to add these to my holiday table. Yay to raw food.

Raw Cranberry Salad

Well, it is getting to be that time of year again...the dreaded holidays. I have to admit, that I still enter them with a bit of trepidation, but only because we have been so ingrained to believe that any meal, and especially Thanksgiving cannot continue without a slab of dead flesh. I am here to prove those folks wrong.

I recently volunteered at a local high school and talked to them about vegetarianism and told them some startling numbers about meat-eaters and cancer. I also told them their parents would say that I was a whack job. But that they did not have to believe me, do the research. And that is my new motto now. If you don't believe me, go see for yourself. For most of these numbers are form our own AMA or ACA, so I don't need to make this stuff up.

So as I was talking to these kids, the one big question was,'What 'DO' you eat?', and my tried and true answer was,'Everything you don't.', which always gets them thinking. For like many people out there, most folks do not have a varied diet, and if they would make a food diary, they would see that. So, I used Thanksgiving as an example. I asked them to think about the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving portrait, but they all looked at me like I was Medusa, meaning that not one student knew who Normal Rockwell was...Google him.

With that said, I told them to envision a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but, we were going to take away the turkey. Now, tell me what is left on the table. Well these little dynamos were able to rattle off names of food in a matter of seconds a minimum of a half a dozen dishes that were meat free and that all of those dishes could not possibly fit on my plate all at once, so, 'I' was going to have to go back for seconds, possibly thirds, and that was only because I stopped them from naming 'side dishes'. I showed them that their side dishes became my main dishes. And then it hit them that anyone, not just me, could easily survive at Thanksgiving and never eat a dead animal. Eureka!!

Now, on to this brilliant dish that one of my bosses gave me. We will be using this at my job for our upcoming Customer Appreciation Day where we will be serving organic turkeys and a plethora of side dishes that yours truly will be making. So any and all side dishes will be vegetarian if nothing else. And this little gem is for the raw foodists out there. This is to die for and it will most definitely be on my Thanksgiving table for sure.

1 container of cranberries (8-16 ounces)(frozen is all right if fresh is not available)
2 navel oranges, peeled and roughly chopped
1-2 red delicious apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
Raw honey or agave to taste (start with 1 tablespoon and work your way up)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Make sure you have washed all fruits and dump them into your food processor. If your honey is hardened, then you can easily melt it in a double broiler type set up as not to bring above 118 degrees. Once your sweetener is ready, add to processor and hit your pulse button...if you have one. If you do not, then do not turn on your processor and walk away, you want this salad to have some consistency, but small enough that is not quite minced, but pretty darned close.

Play with the size of chunks you are willing to eat and let it be done. This is better if done the day before, for the sugar will draw out some of the water and make it a bit soupier. I may never cook a cranberry ever again.

Raw Taco

I recently had the pleasure of attending a vegetarian festival in Orlando Florida. The Orlando Veg-Fest is a mecca of vegetarians who are there to have a good time and of course eat til your hearts content. I also was able to ride over there with some really good friends and meet another friend there. with that said, me and Hank went about trying to eat every food available. We nearly succeeded. We decided to split all the dishes. So one of us would purchase the first dish and the other one would purchase the second dish until we were full.

However, we ran out of time before we ran out of money or empty stomachs. Hank had a bicycle race to get to, so he had to cut out a bit earlier than he truly wanted. Bummer, for I had more food to taste.

The first dish that graced our palettes was a raw taco. Now I am extremely open to new foods and new ways of preparing them. But I am also a bit skeptical when something claims to be so close to its traditional dish. But I was up for it. The taco was purchased, split with Hank and instantly regretted that action. Oh, not the eating of the taco, the sharing of it with Hank. Next year he is own his own, i ma in never sharing a raw taco with anyone, ever again.

I then knew that I wanted to make these delicious little roll-ups, so I asked one of the girls behind the food counter if I could have the recipe for I taught raw food classes back in Port Saint Lucie. She gladly gave me her email address and said that I could email her and she would be happy to give it to me. I got home and set the card aside running into a busy week. I kept saying I would email her, but I just kept putting it off.

Then I was looking through one of the little magazines that I get at my place of work, Delicious Living and saw raw food on the front cover. Then it hit me, I had seen a raw taco recipe in there. I could not flip to that page fast enough. I had no idea what was in the taco I had tasted at the festival, but I know that this recipe had to be a variation on a theme. I was willing to give it a go.

This is a dish I have not regretted form the get go. I was in pure heaven as I ate these again. I was transported back to the festival and also elated that I could now make these on my own and still feel confident serving these to guests. Now most folks would have a hard time seeing these as a main entree, but we were very happy eating them as such.

So enough with my babbling, let me post this lovely little recipe and see how simple it is to make and even easier to eat.

Cilantro-Cashew Cheeze(makes 1 cup)
1&1/2 t garlic (about 2 cloves)
1/2 t sea salt
1 cup raw cashews
2&1/2 T fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup filtered water
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ground Walnut Meat (makes 1 cup)
1 cup raw walnuts
1&1/2 t ground cumin
1&1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t liquid aminos, tamari or soy sauce
Pinch of salt to taste
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
to make cheeze: Place garlic and salt in a food processor; process into small pieces. Add cashews and process into a paste. Add lemon juice, cilantro, and water; process to mix well. Set Aside.

To make walnut meat: Place walnuts, cumin, coriander, liquid aminos, and salt in a food processor. Process into small pieces until the mixture looks like ground meat; be careful not to over process into a butter.

Spread 2 tablespoons cheeze down the inside spine of each romaine leaf. Sprinkle with 2 Tablespoons walnut meat. Add salsa and avocado slices. Wrap and serve.

I could eat this fro breakfast...oh yeah, being a raw foodist means there are no meal boundaries. Eat what you want...when you want and enjoy always!!!

Raw Kale Salad

Now I know what you must be thinking, all salad are raw. Not entirely. If you add cheese, eggs, croutons, bottled dressing, roasted peppers, then you have just 'killed' your living salad. With that said, you will need to make your own dressing and for the most part form scratch. Not as difficult as you might think. And I found this lovely gem in Alissa Cohen's book Living on Live Food. Which is a wonderful book. I plan on purchasing this myself on my next paycheck.

The book is broken down into three different sections, so to say. there is the informational section, the in's and out's of raw food. then there is the testimonial section, with before and after photos. then there is the recipe section. My boss let me borrow the book to find some new recipes, and find them I did, and just hours before my shift at work. Nothing like being a last minute Larry. But it worked out wonderfully. And what people kept asking me the most was, 'What is this dressing?' Well low and behold, there was no dressing, it was incorporated into the salad already. What a concept.

So...without further adieu, let's get on to this salad recipe.

1 head kale, shredded (I prefer lacinato)
1 cup tomato diced
1 cup avocado (About 2 Haas)(make sure they are ripe, or this will be a bit difficult)
2&1/2 T olive oil
1&1/2 T lemon juice
1 t Celtic sea salt (I used regular sea salt)
1/2 t cayenne pepper (do not omit, you will regret it)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rinse and dry the kale. Remove any woody stems. If need be, slice the kale down the middle so you do not have large pieces of greens going into your salad. Place a few leaves on top of each other and shred as thin as possible. Do this until all your kale is shredded.

In another bowl, chop your tomato and set aside.

In a large bowl add all your other ingredients. Squish together all ingredients until the avocado is thoroughly mixed in with all ingredients. There may still be a few tiny lumps in there, but very few. Now takes a handful of kale and add to the dressing, squeezing the kale until the dressing is coating the kale. Now grab another handful of kale and do the same. Keep doing this until all the kale is mixed with the dressing.

Take the tomatoes and add to the kale salad. You can either toss them into the salad itself or leave them on top. I prefer them to be gently tossed in. That way they will have the dressing on them as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had so many customers loving this, even if they were not raw foodists. They realized that they were able to, with this recipe not have to worry about bottled dressing. Who knew!!!???

Raw Pancake

Folks...when I tell you I am enjoying these new raw recipes, do not take me lightly. For i love cooking food. Yes, I am one of those freaks who can stay in the kitchen all day and not mind one little bit. And that goes for the dish washing as well.

With that said, I stumbled on this little dish over at The Bee's Knees Kitchen. This was so simple I nearly cried. There is one tiny glitch. It wasn't a problem for me, for i am use to flax seeds. But for those of you who may not be aware of their gelatinous state when mixed with a liquid, then please prepare yourself. Didn't stop me from gobbling this pancake down. And even my daughter gave it a taste. She is not into the raw thing, but still gave it a thumbs sideways. Not bad...I think.

1 cup ground flax seeds or 3/4 cup whole (I prefer ground)
2 bananas
1&1/2 T agave or maple syrup
1T cinnamon
1t nutmeg
1/2 t allspice
1/2 t cloves
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grind the flax seeds using your 'S' blade on your food processor or magic bullet until a meal forms(we used our coffee grinder). Empty into a medium sized bowl. Blend the rest of the ingredients and empty into the bowl with the flax meal. Lightly fold the mixture together and let sit for 5 minutes while you prepare the fruit topping. This will allow the flax meal to become a bit thicker.

EDIT IN: It would be nice if I gave thee assembly instructions. I must be losing my mind. Divide the thick, sticky cinnamon pancake batter in half over 2 plates, or pie plates. We have a plethora of pie plates, so we used them. Using a spatula, smooth out the surface into a round circular pancake form. Top with your fruit mixture of choice. Drizzle with honey, maple syrup or agave nectar.

For your fruit topping, you do not have to be a rocket scientist. Cut up some fruit, sprinkle with some sweetener, if you so desire and have at it. Make this, you will be smiling a bit more because of it.

Mashed Potatoes - NOT

I found this recipe quite by accident. Where I work, (Nutrition S'Mart) there is a small little raw food book that is a great introduction to the raw food world. What I mean by that is, it is simple, and easy read, common ingredients, and the instruction lines are three lines at the most. Now who cannot get into a recipe that has only three lines of instructions. I am all over that one.

The name of the book is Rapid Raw and it is loaded with tons of recipes. Oh, by the way, we sell it at the store but are currently waiting for the latest shipment. From soup to nuts. No really, I mean that. One day when I was having a slow moment at work I was scouring through the book and this one dish caught my eye. I love cauliflower. And I had no idea just how versatile it truly was until I started messing around in the raw world.

Try this recipe and see what you think.

2 avocados (they need to be EXTREMELY ripe, or this recipe will not work)

1 cauliflower head, chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice, (about 2 lemons)

1 sweet onion, chopped (I used a half of one for it was huge)

1 t salt

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wait for it....Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth and creamy. All right, there is a bit more to it than that, and here is what I have found. I process the cauliflower down to the consistency of cous cous. Transfer it to the bowl you will be serving it in and then process thee other ingredients...THEN put back the processed cauliflower. If you do not do it this way, you will be doing ALLOT more bowl scraping and time is of thee essence with this dish.

After my husband ate this version (my first attempt tanked badly) he mentioned that this could also go as a guacamole dish, all you have to do is add some tomatoes. And you do not even have to inform your unsuspecting public what is in the dish. then when they are raving about it, tell them cauliflower has been added, and watch their faces. Yes, I have a streak of evil-ness in my blood.

Me at my raw food class preparing said dish.

Juicing With The Juice Daddy

Well here I am talking about one of my favorite people. I am going to be doing this in many of my upcoming posts. What is ti, you may ask, that I am referring to, well I am going to tell you. There are people in this world, (in the health realm) that inspire and make you take a look at what you are doing, or there lack of, in the world of nutrition. Meaning, what is it that you are doing to make your temple...AKA your body, a better place to live?

If you sat down and wrote a daily diary of your food intake and your activity level (notice I did not say exercise), how would you rate? On a scale of 1-10, where would you fall? 1 being the least healthy and labeled a couch potato, or a 10, where you are doing some form of movement on a near daily basis, and putting into your moth the best possible food imaginable. I am not a 10 yet, but I am working on it for sure.

This man, and if you have not heard of Jay Kordich, then let me introduce you to him. I found about him the first time I was a vegetarian and then I began to juice, but not nearly as much as i should. That was back in 1992-ish. Fast forward to 2010. the man is 87. Go on take a look at him. How many men or women do you know that look that good at 87. Heck, how many people do you know look that good at 50...40, or even 30?

The man cured himself of pancreatic cancer back in the late 40's. He had a promising career in Pro Football, but got way-laid by this so called disease that was most definitely going to not only end his career, but end his life. And yet, here he is a testament to how diet alone changed his life, AND saved it as well.

My juicer is ancient, and I do not juice half as much as i should, but like I have stated in so many of my posts. I am on a journey of better health. Please join me and go visit Jay on his website, where you can sign up for free emails. And when you do that, you can download a fee ebook for free. I want to look that good and feel that good at 87. We all know it is possible. You do not have to carry around a suitcase of medications to be able to live. that my friend is not living. It is your doctor telling you that if you do not take these pills you will feel bad and not get better. WRONGO!

There are so many people now bucking the tried and true system and taking their health into their own hands. And they are feeling better for it and not lugging around a gallon size freezer bag of medications and a computer sheet filled with meds that you need to hand to each and every new doctor. you go to. Doctors are there for a necessity, but most of them would be out of business if we all get well. Think about that one for a minute. You get better and where does that leave them. Not riding around in that little red corvette.

Do the research, see for yourself what is out there. And DO NOT be afraid to take your health into your own hands. You will thank yourself for it in about 30 some-odd years.

Jay Kordich And Why He Juices

Raw Apple Pie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr9Mb5usi4k

I found this recipe while searching for dishes for my next raw food class. This is easy, inexpensive and no oven needed. My family was not to shab on the crust, but it was more a texture thing and not a taste thing. But I will make it again for sure. I think we have been just so use to a smooth crust that they have to get use to the new style of crust. Their plates were still cleaned. Hah!!

Cool 'N Spicy Watermelon Salad

This I found on a Facebook group I belong to. Raw Vegan Recipe Exchange. They have some great recipes and to date I have used two of them. I am not a fan of mixing sweet and savory, but I saw that I had all thee ingredients and went for it. I am now a believer in sweet and savory. Try this over the summer, it is a dish you will not regret trying.

3 cups cubed watermelon
2T jalapeno (diced, I used less)
2T mint (I used dry)
2T lime juice (I used lemon)
pinch of salt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I put all thee ingredients on our already cut watermelon and this was unbelievable. For those of you who try this, please drop me a line on what you think of it, I am very curious to see what others think.

Raw Hummus

I love raw food and I love hummus. Now my other half feels the need to have pita bread in order to eat hummus. And inasmuch as I agree, it is not a necessity in my book. I feel you can enjoy this lovely dish without the added circular things of joy. And yes I love Pita Bread. But if you have ever eaten it from a fresh Arab Bakery, you will N-E-V-E-R eat it from a grocery store again. Trust me when I say that everything after that is a farce. Well a while ago I had seen a raw hummus recipe on Youtube, but it was quite complicated. And not that I am against complicated dishes, but I googled raw hummus and got this lovely recipe.

Now the young lady who's blog this is no longer blogs but she gave us this lovely dish to relish in and thank you muchly I might add. I may go back and attempt to make the other raw chick pea hummus, but not until I have enough time to do so and that my friends will not be for a while. But in thee interim, go and make this one, and enjoy whether it be with a piece of pita bread or some raw veggies, this is worth the making.

Recipe is Here

1 large zucchini, peeled and diced
1/2 cup tahini
2T olive oil
2T lemon juice
1t salt
1t cumin
1 large clove garlic, pressed
Sprinkle of paprika
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peel the zucchini until all the green is removed, this is extremely important otherwise your hummus will come out green and in no way resemble traditional hummus. Combine all ingredients in food processor except for paprika and process until smooth and creamy. If you consistency is not coming up like you want it to be, then add a bit of water until you get where you want to be. Serve in a glass bowl and sprinkle with paprika and drizzle with olive oil if you so desire, and enjoy.

Sprout. Sprout. Let It All Out!

I love this chick. She has taught me so much and because of her, I am seriously contemplating getting my own Youtube channel...nah, just kidding. But the thought has crossed my mind. I love food, preparing it, cooking it and then eating it, so why not share that passion with others. One day.

But on to the real reason of this post. I have begun to sprout. No, not lie that, because i am older and no longer growing, but I am sprouting beans and seeds. Right now, in the fridge, I have alfalfa sprouts and lentil sprouts, and both batches came out fantastic. And so darned easy, even a monkey could pull this off. And I am now in the process of sprouting mung beans. So far so good.

These little gems are a powerhouse of foods. Take what they offer and multiply it be thee nth degree and that is what you have in the way of foods. It did take a wee bit to get use to their earthy flavor, but once you get rolling you just can't stop. I love my sprouts and use them on just about anything and everything and just nibble on them when I need a little hold me over. So get off the couch and give sprouting a try, you will not regret it.

Zippy Zucchini & Carrots

Well, at my raw food class last night I made two recipes. Both were from Rita Romano's book Dining in the Raw. I found it at a book bin at my local flea market that is funded by Martin County Library Systems. I go there specifically looking for cookbooks. And I have found quite a few different books. Granted, I only look for vegetarian books, but I am finding them all the same.

This recipe I made because the first one also had carrots. This was thee other recipe I made. Now you have to remember that the zucchini salad I had not made of yet so my audience was the guinea pigs. But hey, it is a free class and you can see the ingredients, you decide. And I liked the different taste the dressing gave, but if I had to do it again, I would not julienne the zucchini. I would either shred it or use a potato peeler to get it to the consistency I like. So without further adieu, here comes last nights recipe.

2 zucchini, shredded or julienned
3 carrots, shredded
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
1/2 t nutmeg
1/8 t cayenne pepper
2T tahini
Braggs to taste (this is soy sauce...basically)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Julienne zucchini and carrots. (I preferred to shred mine. I think they vegetables absorb the flavors of the dressing better.) Combine remaining ingredients in a blender with 1/2 cup water. (If I did this one again, I would put the dressing ingredients in a small mini chopper and whirl it around) Pour over vegetables, mix well and serve.

I really like how this dressing broke the traditional mold of oil with lemon or oil with vinegar. So many of us, even if we prepare food from scratch, get into a rut with food. This recipe definitely made me think out of my own little food box. I will make this at home and hope everyone likes it as much as I did.

How to make a Green Smoothie

Well I have finally taken the dive and started to make green smoothies. And yet, I have not purchased a high-powered blender. I am using my nearly 30 year old Hamilton Beach blender. So, until I can see my way to get a Vita-Mix or Blendtec, I will probably only be able to make green smoothies with spinach. For it is thee easiest green to pulverize.

Do not get me wrong, they are still extremely delicious. I go through about 1 bag of spinach a day. My recipe makes about 1 quart and I split that with hubby. So, we are not getting the 15 veggies she is touting about in this video, but heck if I am only getting 7 in my 1/2 quart...I can live with that. Can any of you say that you even come close to getting 7 a day of fresh fruit and vegetables, let alone 15.

I will eventually work my way up to 1 quart a day, but I love how they taste, and each green smoothie is nothing like the one I made the day before. So I use what I have and deal with it. I did however, purchase a bag of frozen fruit to be able to add to my smoothies in case I run out of my surplus of frozen bananas.

It was not as difficult as I though to make and or drink these luscious little drinks. They go down smooth and I look forward to the day that I do not have to split my quart with my hubby.

Kimchi~~Korean Sauerkraut

This is another recipe that I cannot believe that I have not posted. Am I nuts? Do not answer that. So, now that I am moving into a more raw type diet, I will surely be adding these types of dishes. If you do not know, fermented food is one of the best foods to ingest, and for many reasons. It is a natural preservative and it beats the heck out of store bought pickles. Again, they have turned a beautiful type of food and turned it into garbage.

Try this and you will not regret it. They are simple and easy to make. And my son tells me, as long as I can keep up production, he will fore go store bought and eat mine on his subs!! Yeah to me.

1 head green or Napa cabbage, cored and shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup grated daikon radish (optional, but I used it and liked it)
1-2T freshly grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 t dried chile flakes
2 t sea salt
1/2 cup filtered water
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Place vegetables, ginger and red chile flakes in a bowl and mash down with a wooden pounder to release juices. Stuff into a 2 quart-sized wide-mouth mason jars and press down with pounder. The top of the vegetables should be 1 inch below top of jar. Mix water with salt and pour over cabbage mixture. Add additional water if needed to bring liquid to top of cabbage. Cover tightly. Keep in a warm place for 2-3 days before transferring to cold storage.

I did not have a 2 quart mason jar so I put it into two 1 quart-sized jars and it worked out just fine. You may leave the jars out on your counter and they will ferment just fine. Remember, you may hear a bit of hissing as the veggies are doing their thing. So don't think you have a snake in your kitchen, it is just veggies expanding.

I found this recipe from Nourishing Traditions. And even thought she does have many a meat recipes in this book. Her philosophy is all about traditional cooking and no processed foods. I would recommend this book, even with the meat recipes in it. Tons of information in this book.

Raw Potato Salad

I am definitely jumping into this raw food thing with both feet. And I am usually up for just about anything new. So to say I was more than willing to try a raw potato salad recipe was another huge understatement. Heck, I am the woman who when she was a little girl would sneak up behind her mother and snatch one of the raw potatoes, that had been cut up in french fry shape on their way to the fryer....oh wait, that was last week.

Anyhow, I loved how this sounded and the book in which this came form, warned the readers, that it had an unusual taste, but heck, I am a vegetarian, we are ready for unusual. So thee only ingredient I was missing was the cilantro. But no worries, today was shopping day and we love cilantro anyhow, so it would not go to waste.

Well, it's not that I love or hate it, it is just like Rita said, it is an odd flavor, I could even put it in the classification of, it's an acquired taste. But I am unsure if I will make this one again. But hey, I tried. I still love raw potatoes

7 medium potatoes, shredded
1/2 red onion, chopped
1T extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lime (we used 1/2 lemon)
Braggs to taste (we used tamari)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (we used about 1/3 a bunch)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peel and shred potatoes. ( I used a box grater, for I broke the grater blade of my food processor) Peel and dice onion. Combine all ingredients. This dish is best eaten the same day otherwise the potatoes will turn color overnight. Let marinate 1/2 hour before serving. This has a most unusual taste.

See the last line I wrote? That is a direct quote from her own cookbook, Rita Romano that is.