Book & Website

I have a new favorite book for raw food recipes..."Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People" by Jennifer Cornbleet. What I love about this book is that she uses simple ingredients found in your local grocery/health food store and that she uses basic kitchen equipment (blender & food processor). The book has chapters devoted to the basics of raw food eating, kitchen set-up, a glossary, and resources. Also, the recipes are nicely divided into breakfast, lunch and dinner categories.

I love this book! Finally I found a raw food recipe book that is simple! You can also visit Ms. Cornbleet's website at www.learnrawfood.com for a sampling of the recipes, photos and lots more info. I have put a link to her site and the data about her book in the sidebar to the right -->

Let me give you a hint on a fabulous dessert...Flourless Chocolate Cake...is soooooogooooood! You will find the recipe on her site. There are only a few ingredients. One note, I would use raw carob or raw cocoa powder. Her recipe doesn't specify "raw" for those ingredients, but that is what I used and it was divine.

Remember that these recipes are for 1 or 2 people and raw food desserts are quite rich and fulfilling, so don't be taken aback at the smallish size  ;-)

Here are a couple photos of my son. I gave him some of the cake "batter" and he made his own pancake-sized version. I think he is a raw food chef in the making...he put some almond crumbles on top and added some walnut shells "so the people know what's in it, mom!"

Pesto Pleaser

Ahhh, pasta and pesto, what could be better in the culinary world? Not much. The living food version of this meal is fabulous. I made it and of course consumed all of it today for lunch. If I could put a scratch-n-sniff tab here, I would. It smelled great and tasted even better. 

My amateurish photos do not do it justice. And since my 4-year old doesn't use the camera, you will have to just imagine the look of "awe, that is sooogooood" on my face.

Spur of the moment pesto/spinach recipe:

1 small handful of spinach leaves

about 1/4 cup worth of basil leaves (fresh!)

about 2 TBPS olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts (raw, not roasted!)

1 piece of a sun-dried tomato 

dash of sea salt

Put it all in the food processor and pulse it into a bumpy paste. Turn off processor and scrape sides. Turn on and zip it until it is the texture you desire. If you want it thinner, add some more olive oil.

Okay, now what about the pasta? If you are taking baby steps with your dietary choices, toss the white flour pasta and choose a whole wheat variety. If you are going for a living foods meal, you will need one of those cute little zucchinis. Don't give me that look, just try it! You won't believe it.

Peel the zucchini, cut the ends off and keep your peeler handy. Now, take your zucchini and peel away. Once you have a stack of peeled zuc innards, slice them lengthwise. You know, into noodle-like form. This is the simple way. There are indeed tools to do this with, but remember, I am the simple girl. Viola! There are your noodles. No kidding.

Yumm.

What could I do with the leftovers? It was too tastey to put it away in the fridge for another meal. I had to eat it all at one time! So, as you can see, I made myself a tomato sandwich. Oh, now that was sooogoooood too. I did use a fork and knife people! 

Remember, if you are taking baby steps, just take one! And if you are taking bigger strides by my side, try to keep up!  ;-) 

Hey, is anyone trying this stuff? Pesto, cookies, wraps...oh my.

We Love Cookies

I know that some of you are still trying to figure out what all of this "raw food" hoopla is. And I am aware that I ramble along like an old truck bumping along a dirt road, bouncing from here to there with information and ideas. Just hang on, cause as my son likes to say, "Oh boy, here we go again!"

Cookies. Raw food. What? Yes, you can have healthy cookies. Like I said before, toss the whites (flour, sugar, butter), now make some good-for-you cookies! But how do we do that without the ingredients formerly known to mankind as the only cookie ingredients? Ahaa, make a raw food version!

This recipe idea came from the wonderfully simple food preparation book entitled "Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People" by Jennifer Cornbleet. This is the book to buy if you are looking for one with easy recipes. And like the title says, it is sized down to small portions. And the ingredients are common, unlike some raw food preparation books that leave you with a shopping list to fill in Portland or your regional metropolis.

Anyway, back to the cookies. I liken these to a raisin cookie at Grannie's house. Of course I didn't have the right flavored extract, but I am sure that my recipe modifications (maple substitution and additions) helped make the cookies so tasty!

1/2 cup raw almond, UNsoaked

1/4 cup raw walnuts, UNsoaked

dash salt

1/2 cup pitted dates, UNsoaked

1/4 teaspoon maple extract

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 tablespoon PURE maple syrup

1/4 cup ground almonds

Place nuts and salt in the food processor outfitted with the "S" blade. Process until coarsely chopped. Add the dates, maple extract and maple syrup. Zip, zip the processor until it sticks together. When you can pinch some of the mixture and it stays together, stop processing. Now add the raisins and give it another whirl to mix. 

Dump into a bowl.

Take about 1/2 cup almonds and put them into the processor. Now let it run until you have a finely ground almond meal. Place into its own bowl.

Take about 1 TBSP of cookie mixture and roll into a ball. Flatten into a cookie shape. 

Dredge it in the almond meal, covering both sides. 

Place in airtight container and store in fridge or freezer. 

Eat a couple now... And when you need a cookie, pop one of these babies into your mouth. Yumm! I reckon that warming them up a tad in the food dehydrator (not more than 105 degrees) would be quite lovely too.

* oh yeah, please buy organic, pure extracts for your culinary needs

* and the pure maple syrup is NOT the kind that comes in a little bottle with a griddle on the label or in the jar shaped like an old lady! pure maple syrup folks!

* I put "UN soaked" by the nuts because many recipes require the nuts be soaked prior to use

We had so much fun making these. Of course this is a small recipe so after you make one batch and see how yummy for your tummy they are, you will want to make a double batch next time!

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!  ;-)

Keep It Simple

Simple. That word is even in the name of this here blog, but lately I have been getting off my "simple" track and boarding another train altogether. In light of these healthy eating postings I thought I should do some more research. And more looking on-line. By the time I clicked here and went there and then over yonder, my head was a spinning. I panicked and thought "oh, I need to include that...and that...and I better put that in too! And look at all that person does. Fancy food. Amazing photos. Ugghh!" 

Before I knew it, I was totally overwhelmed. After some thought and prayer, I am back to my regular self. Sure, there are always going to be others who know more and do it better. I cannot keep up with them. I can barely keep up with myself.

All I need to do is what I set out to do a few weeks ago, keep it simple. Write about what I know in a way that others can learn and apply to their own eating habits.

My passion is good health and my mission is to help you find it. So, to keep with the same tone of simplicity in my blogging ideals, that is a good idea for eating too. Especially when making changes to habits and ideas that you have lived with for many years. 

If you toss the wicked whites, replace them with wonderful whole grains (i.e. brown rice instead of white rice, whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta, whole wheat flour instead of white flour). That is simple.

If you toss the dreadful dairy items and replace them with plant-based alternatives (i.e. soy or almond or hemp milk instead of moo milk, almond cheese instead of cow cheese, soy yogurt instead of curdled & coagulated cow juice), that is simple.

If you buy some raw coconut oil/butter and use it instead of your bottled lotion for your all-over body slather, that is simple.

If you take one small step at a time, that is simple.

If on the other hand you want to take one giant leap with your nutrition, that can be simple too. You are in control. You make it what you want.

Okay, my raw food recipe for today is simple too! 

Beet & Carrot Salad

- 1 beet (you already made the greens into a smoothie, right?!)

- 2 large juicing carrots or 5 regular carrots

- juice of 1/2 lemon or a splash of lemon juice 

- 2 TBSP olive oil (cold-pressed, organic)

Wash and peel the root veggies and chop into usable hunks. Using your "S" blade, add the beet and carrots to the food processor and whiz 'em into tiny chunks. Dump into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and olive oil. Give it good mix. Eat it! Enjoy.

Variations: top it with some soaked sunflower seeds.

Coconut!

What a wondrous drink, food, moisturizer! Especially since walking along the raw food path, I have heard and read plenty talk about coconut water, coconut oil, coconut butter, coconut "meat."

I only knew mister coconut in the Asian food section of the grocery store in a tin can, referred to as coconut milk. That stuff is processed using heat, thus not very nutrient dense. Many foods are healthy in their natural state, but once they get tossed into an assembly line, heated, and canned, they lose their high-ranking health status and become another component to America's SAD (Standard American Diet) way of eating.

Okay, let me share a line with you to remember as you go shopping for food or as you pick out a snack for your kids, CLOSER TO THE VINE IS DIVINE!

Simple. Eat the food in its most pure and raw form for the highest availability of its natural goodness.

Back to the coconut... I put a link over on the right side bar to a web site that has in-depth information on the ole coconut. And there is a catchy tune that plays in the background as you read. What fun! Go to the "articles" section and read the long one at the end...pretty informative and enlightening.

Nutiva Coconut

I will give you a basic run down on coconuts:

- Coconut water: the clear liquid in a coconut. This water is life-giving in more ways than one. The water is full of electrolytes. Drink it after a work-out. Or anytime. The electrolyte balance are the same in a coconut as in our body! 

"...during WWII, doctors discovered the water in young coconuts could be used as a substitute for blood plasma, because it's sterile, cool, easily absorbed by the body, and doesn't destroy red blood cells."  (p. 137 "Ani's Rawfood Kitchen" by Ani Phyo) 

Amazing! Imagine a liquid that has been sucked up a palm tree's trunk from deep within the earth and the deposited into a perfectly sealed package. As Ani points out in her book, it takes nine months for one liter of mineralized water to be sucked up from roots to the coconut.

- Coconut butter: 75 degrees and lower, it is a white solid a.k.a. "butter." 

- Coconut oil: above 76 degrees, the coconut butter melts and is in the liquid state a.k.a. "oil." 

*make sure to buy a raw, cold-pressed, organic coconut oil*

Uses for the coconut butter/oil are many. Topically, I use it as a  moisturizer. I like to keep things simple. So a small jar of it sits in my bathroom. In the winter/spring/fall I need to scrap it out as it is in the "butter" state, but it immediately it melts from the warmth of my hand. And in the summer, it is liquid and a little more messy. 

I use it in place of lotion. And just two weeks ago I started to use it on my face instead of my high-end, expensive health food store facial lotion. Wowzer. It is amazing. And contrary to your first reaction, it does not oil up or clog-up your pores. It has something to do with the fatty acid structure being small... Anyway, it works wonders. I even put it on a break-out area and by the next morning, it was nearly cleared up! I imagine that was because it does have anit-bacterial properties in it too.

Go ahead, slather some on yourself. Just steer clear of the dogs for a few minutes until it absorbs! Otherwise the pooches think you are a walking lick-stick for them!  ;-)

When I was a huge popcorn-eater, I melted it and added some sea salt and a dash of garlic powder and drizzled this over the warm popped corn. Yum. So if you are looking to make a movie night snack that is healthy, toss the butter junk! 

Nowadays I like to add it to my raw food cookie and pie crust recipes. It is sooo good. Here is a simple recipe. You will need a food processor for this one.

2 cups of almonds (pre-soaked overnight and rinsed)

1 1/2 cups of dates (pitted) (or any combo of dried fruits)

1 TBSP raw coconut butter

honey or agave nectar (to taste)

flavoring (lemon juice or raw carob powder) if desired

Process it all with the "S" blade. It will sound like you are whizzing up gravel, but stay with it. When you have a crumbly texture, it is done. You can press it into a greased pan (use coconut butter) and cut out of chunk as you desire or make it into balls and flatten them into little cookies. I like to do this and then store them in the freezer.

Mess around with the ingredients and amounts of each.

I will talk about more coconut uses and aspects later on...gotta go for now. Don't forget to click on that link and learn some more about coconuts!

Nourishment

Whether or not you fancy going all raw or just making some improvements in your dietary choices, good for you! We need to look at what we eat as nourishment, not a "diet." The D-word speaks to me of weight loss (and gain and loss and gain), but NOURISHMENT speaks to me of caring for our God-given body.

If your first step to healthy eating is throwing out all of the white junk (white flour, white sugar, and white rice), then do it. What is in your home? Does it nourish or does it deplete? Along with the ugly whites, toss the corn syrup. Toss that in a toxic waste dump! Did you know that corn syrup is illegal in Europe? 

Hellooo America. If you have any pre-packaged boxed foods in your cupboards, see if corn syrup is in there. Oh, it is. Corn syrup actually makes your body think it is hungry when it is not. It messes with our innate internal messenger service to trick our minds into thinking the body is hungry. Toss the diet cookies and eat an orange!

Oh yes, how could I forget the one white with many ill-side effects, milk. Gag, sputter, choke. Milk and all of its cohorts (cheese, yogurt, ice cream, cream cheese...) do one thing well. They create mucus. Gross. Mucus gunks up your body...especially your intestines and your sinuses. It creates snot and sludge. It coats the intestines and interferes with nutrient absorption. 

In fact we don't have dairy in this house, but my husband likes to eat it every now and then--I imagine out of habit and sometimes societal pressure. The last dairy event was a milk shake on his way home from work one afternoon. 

Afternoon? Yes, he was taking off early to get home early so we could do some work outside. He walked in the door and fell onto the couch. I said, "Oh, no. What did you eat on the way home?" He confessed. Then he moaned and groaned and could hardly keep his eyes open. After my son and I let him snooze for few minutes, we woke him up and told him we were going outside for our family work time. He pulled himself off of the couch and came out.

Later on I asked him if it was worth it. He said, "No." He even referred to dairy as "poison that pollutes the system." We are indeed weak. So pray! Pray for some guidance and strength and direction. We take the time to nourish our souls with prayer, nourish our minds with reading the Bible, so we also must take the time to nourish our bodies with wholesome foods.

By the way, the next morning my husband had the nasal sludge he had grown accustomed to going without. Yuck.

Let me add another note (or two) about dairy. Cow milk was meant for baby cows. God created animals with the life-giving mother's milk to nourish their own baby. Human babies suckle from their mammas, foals from their mares, and calfs from their cows. Most people who suffer from seasonal allergies, asthma and the like, will notice a huge improvement in symptoms by cutting out the white squeezed-from-an-animal crud, otherwise known as dairy.

In our strive for eating nourishing foods, first our family tossed the whites. Then we tossed the pre-mades. And then we took it farther and adopted raw foods as the main source of nourishment. Whatever you decide to do to improve the quality of foods you eat, keep in mind these questions, "How will this nourish my body today? And will it actually bring harm to my body for tomorrow?"

So, whether you take one step at a time or jump into the deep end with me, do it because you deserve it. Nourish yourself.

Spring Cleaning

Spring. A time for new life and growth. And cleaning.

I do hope you have tried a green smoothie or two since last week! They are easy, fun, yummy, and oh, so good for you! I keep experimenting and finding interesting combos. Last night I zapped some flax seeds in the blender before adding the produce and water. If you don't have a K-Tek blender, then make your flax meal in a coffee grinder. Next, I added in some frozen mango (after cutting up a mango, I just put the mango in the freezer for a couple hours), a giant wad of kale and a cup of water. It was nice and cold and fluffy. Yumm-yumm. The husband even liked it.

For the kiddos or the not-so-sure, add in some more frozen fruit. Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are great. But do not forget to peel some bananas, break them into pieces, put them in a giant baggy and place in the freezer for some handy frozen additions. Also, try doing the same with mango, pineapple or kiwi.

Okay, now that you are starting toward a new and clean body, you may want to tackle the house. Since this is a healthy eating blog, some may wonder why I would be putting information about home cleaning here too. Hmmm, read on to see why. (And yes, I snagged this blog from my other one, so if it looks familiar to some of you, that is why!)

Some of you may know that I am a health nut -- to put it lightly. I not only watch everything that goes into my mouth or gets slathered on my body, I also am keenly aware of the products I use in my home for cleaning. Since spring is in the air, the innate cleaning machines in us all usually fire up their engines right about now too. Please take heed and don't use the things your body doesn't need!

By the way, my health conscious lifestyle all started in college when I was introduced to a food co-op and its organic eating faire and as I studied Health Education, it all made perfect sense. We must take the time and effort to monitor what we eat, breathe, drink, put onto our bodies and our homes. Some call me a "closet hippie" while others think I have been swimming around in the deep end too long. 

Let me put this test to you to prove a point. Before you finish reading, go and cut a slice of an onion, you know, the sort with all the rings tight together. Now, put it under your bare foot (like in your sock or slipper or sandal) where you will have direct contact with it. Stand on it or press on it while you finish reading...go, go, go.

After years of researching this topic and trying many, many products and homemade concoctions, this is what I have found to work the best... SIMPLICITY and ELBOW GREASE. 

- baking soda:  Use it where you want to diminish a stink and/or for a scouring action.

-lemon juice:  Add it to the baking soda. This will create a chemical reaction that results in some heat and foaming. So, just because it is natural doesn't mean you can set aside your common sense here! Wear some gloves, don't get it into your eyes and so on. Take a quart jar and add a cup of baking soda, then pour in some lemon juice to the consistency you like. 

Now take this foaming paste on a sponge or rag and scrub away. You will be amazed. Don't forget to rinse (lather and repeat next week). I use this in the tub, sink and toilet bowl.

This combo also works great to keep drains clear. Just pour the remaining down the drain and follow with some boiling water! No nasty chemical down the drains either, please. Those fumes are toxic. Bad, bad, bad.

-tea tree soap: Now there are many recipes for each sort of cleaning project, but the above is about all I like to do for the deep &/or heavy duty jobs. So for everyday cleaning, just get yourself a bottle (comes in different sizes) of Dr. Bronner's Tea Tree soap. I use it for counters, floors, sinks, tubs, toilets. It is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral due to the tea tree oil. 

Tea tree oil is an essential oil from an Australian plant that has been used medicinally for a long time. We use it for ourselves and our animals (minor wounds, scratches, infections--basically anytime you need an antiseptic). So, if it does all this to the funky things growing on us, why not use it in the soap form to clean all the funky stuff around the house?

Now just put a couple drops on your cloth or sponge and clean away. Of course you have to rinse the sink or flush the toilet or spray the shower walls to get the soap off!

* This soap is formulated for washing your hands/body with, but I do find that the tea tree oil soap is a little harsh for everyday use straight as a hand soap because it can cause some drying, that is why I reserve it for cleaning. I do add a few squirts of it to the liquid soap dispensers (along with the Dr. Bronner's peppermint or lavendar soap) though--for the germ-killing effects.

By the way, Dr. Bronner's liquid soaps can be purchased at your local health food store or ordered on-line. The labels are full of all kinds of rhetoric. Dr. Bronner may have some oddities to say, but health and cleanliness are found inside the bottle, not on the label.

That's it folks! Simplicity and elbow grease will take you far. The nice thing about using ingredients like this, you can use the same wash cloth for washing your face as you do for washing the sink and counter. Just put it in laundry after you de-gunk your bathroom surfaces. Why would you want to use some nasty, chemical cleaner that isn't fit for use on our around you or your family?

Okay, do you taste onion yet? Lovely, isn't it? It should take under 20 minutes before you taste it from your foot! Now, how did that onion taste get from your foot to your mouth? Our skin is the largest organ of the body. Our bloodstream flows throughout the body. Hmmm? What happens when we clean with bleach or ammonia and we touch it or smell it as we scrub? If mister onion goes from foot to mouth, where else is it going in your body? All of your other organs and tissues, my friend, are served by the same bloodstream. Yikes. 

Are those nifty, containerized, chemically-doused wipes worth it? Is your health and the health of your family worth it? Yep, in my house health is important enough. 

I will have more information on soaps, shampoos, laundry detergents and the like, but for now, this has been your health lesson for the day. And please think of me, your friendly, neighborhood, closet hippie, as you try to get that onion taste out of your mouth!