Nori Rolls, Noodles & PAUC

Oh, I can hardly believe that it has been over two months since my last posting. Winter weather, big changes in my husband's job, and an impending move have played a role in my time away from the keyboard. I do miss plucking out health tips, raw and/or whole foods ideas and suggestions. 

Recently my son and I had a lunch of raw food Nori rolls. He also ate some cooked food--whole grain noodles with an oriental sauce. I added black beans to his noodle mix as well.

For Christmas, in celebration of Jesus' birthday, we made a special PAUC. What is a puac? Pineapple Apple Upsidedown Cake. We made a vegan recipe and used whole grains. Everything that we toss the bowl, pot or pan is organic. As a reminder, I would suggest that you buy the majority of your ingredients as organic. 

Vegetables we had on-hand for the Nori rolls... Avocado, carrot, cucumber, celery, carrot, and tomato. Just use whatever you have. If you want to plan a special menu for your Nori rolls, then go do it. But just remember that this Simple Raw Food Mamma doesn't fret about details of perfection. 

Place the strips of veggies on the nori sheet. Don't bother toasting the sheet as per the instructions. Keep it raw! Moisten both inner ends along the edges. Roll from one end, tighten the wrap with a gentle squeeze, and keep wrapping and rolling.

Here is my son's lunch. Yum. And yes, he eats all his veggies! I cut my roll in bite sized pieces while he likes the chewy nature of a whole nori roll.

Our birthday cake for Jesus. My son and hubby said it was really good. Let me tell you that it smelled awesome. Here is a link for where I got the cake recipe. We used pineapple, but as a modification, we added chopped apples and honey. Like I said, don't get caught up with the details of perfection, just make food that nourishes a living body.

Simple Eating & Drinking

Simplicity. 

If you are a regular follower, you know that I am certainly a Simple Raw Food Mamma. There are two reasons I have not written much lately. The first is that I am homeschooling my son and it takes time...time that I gladly devote to him and his education. The second reason is that I have been eating and drinking so simply that I don't know what to tell y'all about! 

But alas, as the cold weather settles in, I am sure that those vegan raw comfort foods with substance will soon make a comeback in my dietary realm. So stay tuned for raw food recipes and how-to's for crackers, holiday desserts, "burgers," and even breads. With less time outside, more time will be spent inside doing food prep and eating.

So, what have I been eating that is so basic and simple for the past month? I start out the day with a green smoothie. I make a large batch and put half of it in the fridge for later.

Basic Green Smoothie

- water (1 cup)

- kale or rainbow chard (crammed in the blender to the 3 cup mark)

-> blend until smooth

- frozen blueberries (1 cup)

- frozen strawberries (1 cup)

-> blend again to smooth

Then for lunch I eat a 

Simple, Simple Salad 

- zucchini chopped

- tomato chopped 

- hemp seed sprinkled on top

or

I eat a 

Simple Raw Food Wrap

- zucchini cut into strips

- tomato sliced

- greens (kale, lettuce...)

- 1/2 avocado sliced, smeared, or chopped

- red pepper sliced

- raw (do not toast) nori sheet(s)

-> follow directions on nori sheet package; put veggies onto wrap at one end, moisten edges, roll wrap tight with sushi mat (or just use bare hands), cut if desired

~ here is a link to a previous post a nori wrap recipe & photos

And then for dinner, I usually make my two fellas something cooked (whole wheat pasta with sauce, baked potatoes, rice & beans...) and a bowl of mixed raw veggies. I either eat the veg. salad or drink my remaining green smoothie or both.

So, it has been a simple culinary autumn around here as we have been busy with dehydrating and freezing foods for wintertime...and doing homeschool.

I been requested to teach a raw food class concentrating on holiday dessert ideas. Keep an eye out for that event.

Welcome new readers. I hear there are a couple of you.

Keep it simple.

See results.

Feel better.

Stick with it!

Oh yes, watch out for some mustard greens! Yum-yum-yum. If you are a mustard green newbie, start with small bites. Oh, they are so good and add such a flare and flavor to your salad or even your smoothie. I grab wads of the greens throughout the day and cram into my mouth! Yeah, love that spicy sensation...

Kiddo in the Kitchen

As a raw foodist, I spend a great deal of time in the kitchen. And I love it. Thankfully, so does my son. Since infancy, I have involved him in food prep. Initially of course he was only an audience member, but now he is a full-fledged "chef" with his own apron and table knife. 

Back in the days (er, daze) when we had TV hooked-up to the outside world (via bunny ears to get 1 1/2 channels), my toddler son and I occasionally watched a couple of cooking shows on PBS. Apparently the shows rubbed off on him. As we would stand and work together at the counter, he would start talking. He would say things like this, "Okay people, now we are adding in the peppers. You just toss them on the top." And he would add in little diatribes like this, "Now, if you are wondering about the sauce, it is really easy to make. You just..." The first time I heard one of his narrations I asked him why he was talking aloud as he worked. He told me he was "talking to the people, mamma, just like on the cooking shows." Apparently he thought "the people" watched everyone work in the kitchen! 

Nowadays he is even used to the odd things food bloggers do with their fare, like photograph the food before consumption or photograph the food part way through consumption (because it looked so darned good that we had forgotten to snap an initial image). I try to leave the camera in its case and its drawer when quests are over for a meal. What would they think?!

Anyway, two days ago while my mom was here for a visit, we where schooling her in the fine art (ha!) of raw food prep and consumption. While I showed her our version of nori rolls, my son made his own salad. Then he said, "Take a picture, mamma. The people are really gonna want to see this!" So, I did. Here is the masterpiece my 5-year old made. Of course I did the cutting and chopping, as per his directions, but he dictated, assembled, and then shared it with his ma and grandma!

Kiddo's Salad

cooked quinoa on bottom

shredded cabbage

sliced carrots

chopped red peppers

topped with:

thin-sliced roma tomato

fresh-cracked pepper

smashed avocado

(lots of love & fun)

* If you are here from the Heavenly Homemakers Fruit & Veggie Challenge, 

please click here and here for CSA information, recipes & photos!

* And yes, I just noticed that one of the nori roll links with photos show my son and gasp! He is wearing the same clothes in those photos as in today's. Oh well, we worry more about what's on our plates than we do about being fashion plates!  ;-)

Wrap-n-Roll

Yesterday my son and I had a rawsome lunch! I was trying to figure out what to do with my soaked almonds...I made a patte of sorts. I put chunked carrots, almonds, pine nuts, onion, lemon juice, and dill into the food processor and zipped it into a paste. Then what? Hmmm, what about those UN-toasted nori wraps we just bought...add some paste and fresh veggies and we will have a marvelous lunch.

It was fun to make and even better to eat. Once we opened the nori sheets, we spread the almond concoction on, topped it with avocado, tomato, and celery, and then we rolled it into those lovely "sushi" rolls. Our Wrap-n-Roll skills are still developing, but the tastes and textures were all there for our eating enjoyment!

Now, if you are not a fan of the seaweed taste, use a large cabbage leaf, romaine heart leaf, or a collard green leaf. Or even a whole wheat tortilla. Add your paste (mix up something like I did or make up some hummus) and then top with veggies. Avocados really add a nice texture. Sprouts, green table onions, sliced radishes, and shredded lettuce work well too. Just use what you have.

It was so good that when we were done eating we each made another. I like to cut mine into bite-sized gobble-it-up pieces whereas my son likes the Wrap-n-Roll whole. 

Go ahead, eat your raw veggies and don't forget to play with your food!  ;-)

How Do You Eat Raw Food?

"How do you eat this way?" 

Above is another question I answer and one of the reasons for this blog...the "what" and "how" I eat...SIMPLE foods.

Sure there are food prep books (can't really call them "cook books" now can we?!) out there with fancy food and pretty pictures and guideline for creativity, but SIMPLICITY is how I do it. Oh yes, there are times when I want the "wow" factor and whip up some raw food dessert that tastes better than the richest chocolate cake you could even imagine, but that doesn't fit into my lifestyle or my character for day-to-day culinary fare.

I start the day with a green smoothie. Cram some greens into the K-tec Champ, add some water and blend away. Then I add some frozen fruit and possibly some fresh fruit too. I add flax seeds that I pre-ground if I remember. That is breakfast.

For snacks, I eat a couple dates or small handful of raisins. I used to chomp some almonds or pine nuts too, but since I am doing the NO FAT (based on Dr. Esselstyn's "Prevent and Reverse Hearth Disease" eating plan) option for a couple of months, I pass by the nuts. Of course with fresh produce abounding, snacking is no problem. Fresh fruits and veggies. Sometimes a small serving of frozen "fruit ice cream" hollers out to be eaten too!

Lunch might be a nori-roll--raw seaweed wrap filled with veggies, some sort of sunflower seed patte (a.k.a. paste), and finely chopped lettuce. Or lunch might be a "lettuce boat"--same sort of fillers but put atop a nice large piece of lettuce. Or lunch might be a salad with lots of veggies piled high.

Snacks...see above and repeat throughout the day. When eating raw food, rarely do you have to worry about caloric consumption, especially if consuming green smoothies too. I eat all day long. I actually graze all day long...little snip-its of food and water throughout the day.

Dinner is the most challenging in the summer because we  live in the country and evening chores and projects abound this time of year. We are usually in the house after 8pm. I open the fridge and see what strikes me. Of course like many of you, sometimes I wish a pre-made meal would just jump onto my plate, but alas that has never happened at my house! The closest to that is another green smoothie and some pieces of fresh fruit on the side.

So, lately I chop up assorted veggies and pile them on a plate in their wonderful own little mounds of freshness. I whip up some hummus or some other protein-rich filler. I heat up some whole grain pita pockets or whole wheat tortilla shells (for the hubby and son). I make some honey mustard dressing. I rinse some lettuce, beet greens, and other greens and make a salad. Cut some corn right off the cob into the bowl of lettuce. Viola! Dinner. 

My boys either stuff the pita with everything and top it off with some dressing drizzled on top (my hubby) or they make lovely little piles and mow through each food individually (my son). I do the same, but once again I use a lettuce leaf and skip the dressing. 

Or dinner could be a giant salad with all those veggies (zukes, cukes, carrots, onions, beets, kohlrabi, radishes, peas...) and a dressing. I serve it with brown rice and black beans.

Dessert is delish when it is a raw food strawberry pie or chocolate cake, but usually dessert is divine right off the vine...some fresh fruit or some frozen fruit made into a shake or ice cream. Sprinkle some chopped almonds or granola on top for crunch and fun. FYI: this sort of "ice cream" is often served for breakfast around here! Sometimes even in a cone!

SIMPLE. SIMPLE. SIMPLE. That is "how" I eat and how I feed my family! I think ole Forrest Gump sums it up best...

Simple is as simple does. ;-)

Honey Mustard Dressing

- honey (brown rice syrup works too!)

- lemon juice

- olive oil (cold-pressed)

- mustard (pre-made health food store variety or mustard powder)

I never measure and everyone likes a different amount of sweetness so try some combos out here... 

- 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 to 1/3 cup lemon juice, a big ole glob of honey, a squirt of mustard. 

- Now whisk in a small bowl and taste. 

- Add whatever you need to please your palette!