Watermelon Feast Day

Today was fast and testimony day, so we did not eat until after our church meetings. We had some sugarbaby melons left from the market, so we had a wonderful watermelon feast. These were not as sweet as some I have had, but they were wonderfully hydrating after 19 hours of no fluids. They were tasty as well, just not the best I've had. Actually one of the 4 we cut open was delicious, the others were just okay.

Do we expect perfection each time we eat a fruit or vegetable? We had some cherries this weekend as well. Almost every one of them was an exquisite jewel of goodness. The few that weren't were a lesson in opposites. It helps us appreciate the good when we have something to which to compare it.

I had some of those cherries for dinner, and I will never cease to think of them in the off season. They are truly memory makers.

We also had some of Roger's salad left over from yesterday, so we had that. I think the children nibbled on fruit all day as well. It was a simple day.

Tonight I made some more rejuvelac for the week, started more wheat seeds sprouting, and used the rejuvelac that was ready for some more cashew cheese. The cashew cheese that was ready was used for some cheddar, some yogurt, and more raisin cheese. We needed to stock up! Our supply had diminished drastically! Can you tell we like this stuff?

We also packaged our finished zucchini chips and started more. Some of the heirloom tomatoes we had put in the dehydrator were ready, so we packaged them. We also cut up some peppers for the dehydrator along with a few more trays of zucchini and yellow squash. We have 2 dehydrators now going full tilt: 18 trays.

We started some marinated broccoli for some broccoli soup tomorrow. Everyone said they like the dehydrated broccoli texture better than the fresh for this application, so I guess we are going to start some broccoli drying tomorrow. Should be interesting. I got out my dehydrator book I bought when I got my dehydrator, and Alicia was able to find lots of other concoctions I had forgotten about. One is an herbal tea made from raspberry leaf. We have literally tons of that in our garden growing as a weed, so we will probably try some of that. I used the raspberry leaves in my juices last year, but I hadn't thought of them as a tea. Of course that makes sense. I think raspbery leaf is supposed to be a good blood cleanser. Sounds we have a new avenue to pursue.

The Earth's Bounty

For breakfast on Friday (I forgot to update last night) we had a delightful low fat smoothie, 1 cup coconut water, 2 cups frozen sweet cherries, 2 bananas, 1/2 a vanilla bean, 2 tablespoons agave, pinch of salt, and 1/4 cup cacao nibs. I think I would like it without the cacao just as much. It was very nice. This is from Everyday Raw.

We made a double batch of corn chips for the weekend and put cashews on to soak for our multiple kinds of cashew cheeze.

I was famished by the time we drove to Jacksonville later in the day. The oriental market had called to say our 3 cases of Thai coconuts were in (we get them for 3 families), and I couldn't resist the lovely looking case of mangos that was calling my name. They also had ripe pineapples which is unheard of. They are almost always unripe anywhere I see them. They were so fragrant, I had to buy one of them as well. Never shop hungry! I also bought a package of tamarindo pulp to make for my Thai wraps.

As soon as we got to Darius and Alicia's house (we were picking up Angelina to spend the weekend at our house), I ate a mango and sliced up 2 more for others who might be hungry. It was so good, and I love how the juice feels running down my hand. There is no more wonderful fruit than the mango in my opinion (although the watermelon is a very close second). How blessed we are with the bounty of the earth. It truly is a garden of Eden even with its difficulties.

We had packed a lunch to have in Jacksonville of some leftovers from earlier in the week. We also had some dehydrated broccoli I had marinated (since I didn't have any fresh broccoli). This turned out to be a huge hit as it added another dimension to our "primavera". We also shredded some additional Cousa squash we got from our Gainesville CSA guy. It makes a nice substitute for zucchini which can be hard to get. I had also made some Alfreda sauce which also made a nice salad dressing when mixed with the marinated mushrooms and broccoli. It tasted kind of like a creamy caesar dressing.

Alfreda sauce

1 cup cashews soaked
1 1/4 cup water
1 T lemon juice
2 t nama shoyu
1 1/2 t garlic
1/2 t apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 t nutritional yeast
pinch cayenne
1/8 t salt, pepper

blend well in the blender until creamy. Serve over shredded zucchini. It is also nice as a "primavera" over shredded zucchini, carrot, red peppers with some herbs sprinkled in. I like marinated mushrooms and broccoli too. Do we eat well, or what? I feel very privileged and grateful. I know it is not that way for most people.

When we got back from Jax, I strained some sprouted wheat off the rejuvelac I had started earlier in the week, and it was ready to make cashew cheeze. I'll get some of that mixed up today hopefully after it is finished fermenting. I also need to mix the leftover rejuvelac wheat berries with some banana for Wyatt's favorite banana bread.

Alicia invented a new bread as well. She sprouted some lentils and mixed them with her wheat berries left over from making rejuvelac and dehydrated them. It was surprisingly tasty. I actually like it better than the wheat berries straight.