Mono Meals

Sometimes our best meal is a mono meal meaning a meal that only consists of one food item. I especially like this type of meal when the food is something that has been out of season and unavailable for a period of time. That happened to us today as we found some first of the season watermelons at the farmers market. It was absolutely delicious.


Towards the end of last summer, I bought a couple of watermelons knowing they were going out of season but hoping I could prolong the enjoyment a little longer. I couldn't. They weren't very good. So I let out a nice, long sigh, and decided to wait the long winter out.


When my kids told me there were watermelons there, I asked if they had samples out. They said no, so I said I won't buy them til I know they're good. There are far too many rogue watermelons running around out there. However, when I went today, one nice senorita gave me a sample, and it was good, so I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did. What a feast! (That's one of the secrets actually, and a good reason to shop where farmers are selling. They're proud to show off their good produce. I can't begin to tell you how many bad peaches I've purchased over the years from the grocery store. Now I don't buy any produce from the grocery store at all.)

Anyway we enjoyed a huge melon and can't wait til the next opportunity. $10 for a meal for 6 ain't bad either. I love mono meals!



For a light dinner, we had some leftover refried no-beans on some romaine leaves with some fresh guacamole and hemp cheeze sour cream. The corn chips were finally done, so they helped us finish off the guac. Umm, umm, good.







Today's picture. I'm just not very photogenic. I don't think we're going to get a good one here.

Getting Ready for Cinco de Mayo

This has to go down in history as one of the worst pictures ever. I had to post it cause I promised myself I would, but then I decided that was okay, because this is truly one for posterity! They will know how wacky their great great grand maw maw was when they see this one! I think I'm actually snarling or something. I don't remember doing that, so maybe I have palsy...

We made more sprouted wheat crackers this morning. Just trying to keep up with demand. Wyatt really loves them, and I worry that he'll eat more than is good for him. I try to get him to eat something green with them, but he can eat a ton of salad too. I guess I shouldn't worry so much about it. I wonder how different a sprouted wheat kernel is compared to just a dry wheat kernel. In theory, a sprouted kernel is a living plant compared to the dry seed where the energy is stored in the germ waiting to be awakened. If it is ground and cooked, the life force is killed, isn't it? When I dehydrate the crackers, I only do so at a low temperature so that it doesn't kill the sprout. I have to hope that is a good thing.

Anyway, after the sprouted wheat crackers, we made some refried no-bean pate. We were wanting some living tacos for dinner tonight. They turned out extremely good. We made guacamole to go on top of them, and dolloped a spoon of hemp cheese sour cream on it. They were out of this world. I was hoping for some corn chips, but I forgot to make them and start dehydrating them last night, so this morning was too late. We'll have them tomorrow. It's all good. We used some beautiful red leaf lettuce we get from one of our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farmers as our "taco", and I can't remember when I've had a better meal. I meant to take pictures for the blog, but I got too caught up in the moment. [Hey, I took a video of this the next day from the leftovers. Check it out.]


Refried No-Beans

2 cups hulled sunflower seeds (soaked and sprouted)
3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (soaked)
1 Tablespoon Nama Shoyu
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon agave
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

Place all ingredients into a food processor. Process until you have a refried beans consistency. If you need more moisture, add one Tablespoon at a time of the sundried tomatoes soak water.

This tortilla recipe is for a whole dehydrator full (9 shelves). Doesn't last too long around here.

Golden Tortilla Chips
from Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney (doubled recipe)

3 1/2 c flax meal
8 c frozen corn, thawed
3 c water
5 T olive oil
2 T cumin
1 large red onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 T sea salt
8 t lime juice
1/8 t cayenne
4 t chili powder

Place chili powder, flax meal, and cayenne in a large bowl. Blend remaining ingredients in a blender in batches to liquify. Stir liquified mixture into flax meal mixture. Stir well to break up clumps of flax meal. Spread about 1 1/2 cups batter over Teflex sheet. After dehydrating about 1 1/2 to2 hours, score chips. Sprinkle with additional salt if desired. Dehydrate 12 hours, turn, and finish dehydration.

We also made another fruit pie to share. These are very nice for those who like to have a healthy dessert. I'd rather just have the fruit, but others go a little crazy over it, so I try to accomodate them. No recipe. Just a crust, some bananas, slice some fruit, whatever is in season. If prepared ahead and refrigerated, the pectin in the fruit will help it all stick together a little more when it is served, but it's still going to be all over the plate. No one minded.

Mango-Pina Piiiiie

Only had one quart of my "hot" lemonade today, but boy, was it delicious. I really love it. I don't look forward to it because it is so spicy, but when I'm drinking it, I really love it.

Finished up the cheeses today. After they fermented, I refrigerated them until I could get to them. The cheddar cheese is a fantastic new recipe I will be using many times over. I can't wait to try it in a broccoli soup tomorrow! I'm dying for some raisin cheeze too, but I can wait til tomorrow if I have to. I think the hemp cheeze will be a new addition we all will like as well.


We also made up the mango-pina pie, but didn't have time to freeze it, and I think it fixes up better that way. Everyone still liked, but I'll make sure to allow time to freeze it next time.


The crust is just smushed soul dates with cinnamon and a pinch of salt. The filling is 2 cups mango, 2 spears pineapple (about 1/2 a pineapple, I think), 2 cups soaked cashews, 1/2 to 1 cup agave (depending on sweetness of fruit), and 1/2 cup lemon juice blended in the blender til smooth. It can be topped with a sprinkling of coconut, but I didn't have any more. This is a variation of a recipe in Matt Amsden's Rawvolution.

Also got a new pic for me. Not sure it's a final one..., but we'll see. I thought I'd try to get Roger to photograph me when I do my food pics and see how they come out.

Darius and Alicia checked on the farmer's market in Jacksonville (the Beaver Street Market), and it looks like we may be going there to hawk some of our goods.

Soup and Salad, again

No time for pictures today. We drank our "hot" lemonade all day while working in Palakta. I just made 2 quarts of it, one for Roger, and one for myself, and we ran out to the van when we got the chance for a sip of it.

When we got home, Roger juiced a bunch of celery for the cuke soup, and it was delicious and very light and nourishing as usual. I also made untuna salad from the sunflower seeds I had sprouting. This is Wyatt's favorite. Or one of them. The sprouted wheat crackers also came out of the dehydrator, and Wyatt said they tasted like popcorn. That's a new one. I haven't had one yet.

We had green salad left over from dinner last night upon which to plop our untuna pate, and it was quite tasty, but I haven't been very hungry for salad lately which is very unusual for me. I'm in the soup mode, I guess, and juice.

Well, that's all we ate today. Roger is still polishing off his pie...

It's interesting, isn't it, how we don't overeat the raw foods as much as their cooked counterparts. It's certainly not for lack of taste. I think the nourishing value of them is certainly an aspect of it. The cooked foods, and certainly the junk foods, don't have the nutritional value, so we find ourselves eating more than we should to get satisfied. We're satisfied on many fewer calories when eat foods in their natural state. Nice, huh, not to have to feel like a glutton all the time.

We drove past a former favorite restaurant today, and I felt the heaviness in my stomach I would experience when eating there. It is extremely unpleasant, and a feeling I am NOT anxious to experience ever again even if the addictive side of my head is telling me I want to experience the "taste" sensation.

Hot Lemonade and More

First off, here's how we make our "hot" lemonade. It is a recipe from Stanley Burroughs who wrote a book called Master Cleansing where he recommends drinking this whenever one feels the need to cleanse. His recipe calls for maple syrup which I don't like to use in large quantities, so I substitute honey (which he says NOT to do. Too bad.).

2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 T raw honey
1 1/4 cup water
sprinkle of cayenne

It is really quite tasty, and it hits the spot if you are feeling the need to cleanse.


I also made some "banana bread" yesterday with the wheatberries leftover from making rejuvelac. I just mix them with a few bananas, some cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. It makes a flexible bread that we might be able to make ice cream cones out of.

Today, I decided to use the tray of sprouts from yesterday to make some sprouted wheat bread. I haven't made it in a while, and Wyatt won't let me forget it! So this batch is for him!


Here's a pic of the cheeze made yesterday so you can see how much it "grew". It's alive!!!!!

Last night for dinner we had our leftover patties on a bed of lettuce and shredded zucchini. I marinated some mushrooms to put on top of the patty, and then poured alfreda sauce over it. Muy delicioso! Wyatt ate 2 helpings, but one was enough for Roger and I.

Of course, Roger had a slice of his pie, too, as did Wyatt. I'm not too crazy about stuff like that, but it did look good. We made the crust out of almond flour leftover from making almond mylk mixed with dates, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Roger made 2 more for the freezer awaiting whatver we can think of to put in there. Last week I made a mango pineapple dessert that I will probably do again. He really liked it alot, and we wanted the kids to taste it.


I love leftovers! I used the leftover Alfreda sauce to make a spinach soup for dinner tonight, added a little nutmeg, and it was fantastic. Wyatt hasn't been eating soup lately, but Roger and I don't mind a bit! More for us!

Moving in a Different Direction

Because I have been looking for a venue for my raw food journey, and because I have used this resource for that purpose while I was juice feasting, I have decided to take it in a different direction in case there is anyone out there who cares what I am doing. I am asked for my recipes a lot, and this might be a good way to keep track of my experiments.

Keep in mind, I have never been much of an experimental cook. I have always been a strict recipe follower. Also keep in mind that due to my work schedule, I do not have a lot of time for preparing or experimenting. We eat a lot of standard salads during the heavy work schedule.


I got a new book at Borders the other day called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw. A lot of people are put off by being called an idiot, but I think I am an idiot in many different aspects of my life, why not in the way I eat?

There was actually a number of good recipes in here I would like to try. I bought the book because they had quite a few rejuvelac recipes, and I have been looking to branch out there as I love the rejuvelac cheeses. This one takes it a step farther into salad dressings and sauces, and I have been fearful about taking that additional step. (Hence the idiot status is completely accurate.)


Here is a picture of the next batch of rejuvelac that is in the works. Wheat or some other grain is sprouted. Once the sprouts are about 1/4 inch long, they are mixed with water and allowed to ferment for a couple of days, stirring at least 2x a day.

I made some rejuvelac at the latter part of the week and put it in the fridge to finish up while we did a weekend trip to Daytona for opening day at Jackie Robinson Ball Park. It was still waiting for me when I returned, so I was more than happy to put it to good use. We used up the last of our raisin cheeze last week, and we have celery positively dying to have some more. So that was the first order of the day. Jaray asked me for that recipe last week, so here it is:

Raisin Cheese

4 cups cashews
Enough rejuvelac to blend it (about 2 1/2 cups)

Blend until smooth; pour into 1/2 gallon glass container and let sit at room temperature overnight. Grind 2-3 cups of raisins in the food processor. (Don't wash as you will use the bowl to prepare the cheeze.) Put into a separate bowl while you mix the cashew cheese into cream cheese thusly:

Cashew Cream Cheeze

Cashew cheese prepared in previous recipe
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup OVOO
2 t sea salt

Blend in the food processor and empty into bowl with chopped raisins. Mix thoroughly. We then put this in 1/2 pint jars and try to limit ourselves to one jar at a setting. It is soooo good.

In the idiot book, there is a recipe for Hemp Cheeze I am also trying which can then be used for sour creme.

Hemp Cheeze

4 cups cashews soaked at least 2 hours
1/2 cup hemp seeds
2 cups rejuvelac
1 t salt

Place all ingredients in the blender, and blend for 40 - 60 seconds until very smooth. Place in a 1/2 gallon mason jar. Cover and allow to sit in a warm place overnight. Use as a dip for crudites and/or as a base for sour creme.

Sour Creme

1 cup Hemp Cheese
1/4 cup EVOO
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
water as needed for consistency and blending (additional rejuvelac can be used)
pinch of salt

Blend ingredients in blender only adding water slowly and as needed. Blend on high speed for 20 seconds. Add needed water and blend an additional 30 seconds until creamy and smooth.

Chill at least 30 minutes before serving. "Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 or 5 days. It is perfect to serve with burritos, tacos, and any other savory dish as well as desserts."

Here is another version of cashew cheeze I want to try from the idiot's guide:

Cashew Cheese

2 cups cashews
1 cup filtered water (I used rejuvelac)
1/3 cup red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, and diced
2 1/2 T green onion, diced
2 T fresh cilantro, minced
1 t garlic, minced (optional)
1 t nama shoyu (or to taste)
1/4 t sea salt (or to taste)
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

Place cashews and water in a blender, and blend on high speed for 40 - 60 seconds or until very smooth.

Place mixture in a quart-size mason jar. Cover and allow to sit in a warm place overnight.

Transfer cashew mixture to a large mixing bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Serve immediately (I think it would benefit from sitting for flavors to combine) or store in an airtight glass container for 3 to 4 days. This recipe provides a great base for a variety of dips. Red bell pepper can be blended into the cheese in the blender if you want an orange cheese. Other nuts (macadamia or pine) can be substituted if desired, and other herbs can be used.


Roger is making a raw fruit pie. He loves them, and I could care less, so he is the official pie maker in the family now although I don't mind whipping one up every once in a while.

Our main innovation there is that we use dry almond meal leftover from almond milk. After making the milk, we run it through a nut milk bag, and spread the residue on a tray in the dehydrator. After it dries, we place it in pint jars. To make the pie crust, we grind the meal up in the food processor until it is like a coarse flour, then add dates until we get the consistency we want. We add some cinnamon and a pinch of salt as well. This is pressed into the pie plate, and the pie can be whatever you want to add. I made this crust with agave last week instead of dates, but I think the dates give it a better consistency.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

Whenever one of my children's birthdays roll around, it is hard for me to think about anything except their birth and the consequent days, weeks, months, and years. It is amazing the things that come to mind. Often it is things I haven't remembered for years.

Today is Orion's (my youngest son's) 26th birthday. It really seems too incredible that he could be that age and that I could be his mother. I became pregnant with him when Darius was only 9 months old. I did not know I was pregnant for awhile; I just thought I had some major issues with the flu. I really didn't think I would get pregnant that easily while I was still nursing Darius. Finally, about 4 months into it, I decided to ask the doctor if it could be another baby. Obviously, it was, and we were off to the races again.

I decided to keep nursing Darius throughout his pregnancy against the advice of most people. I felt it was too early to wean Darius as I had hoped to nurse him a couple of years. So we did the best we could. Orion was born in a birthing center with a midwife who was under the supervision of Dr. Lewis. He was well-known for his work with people who wanted to have more natural childbirths.

My other two babies had been born without too many complications, but this one presented a few more trials. First he presented face first which means that, well, let's just say it was a lot more difficult. I remember the midwife almost had a stroke when she saw that he was coming out that way. She yelled, "Why didn't you tell me it was hurting that much?" I just knew it was hurting; it didn't occur to me that there might be a reason. Anyway, he was born under a little stress because of that, and they were concerned because he didn't get his color right away. I guess it could have gone another way, but Orion was intended to live out his life. As easy as it would have been for him to slip back through the veil, he was determined to stick it out apparently.

Not only was he a little touch and go for a while, so was I. I started hemoraging (I don't know how to spell that, and I'm too lazy to look it up but not too lazy to type this explanation...) and passed out.

Somehow we survived all of that. Orion weighed in at 9 lb. 9 oz, and he was 23 inches tall. No wonder I felt like I was going to explode! I am way too short wasted for all these tall babies! We went home as soon as we were allowed to, and started enjoying the ride.

Orion was a good baby except that he wanted to eat every hour on the hour. He and Darius got along very well; Darius was at his birth, and I've wondered if they bonded then. At the time, Darius didn't seem all that impressed with this new little creature, but as the years went by, they were very close. As a matter of fact, I credit Orion with Darius' ability to ever read. He showed no interest in it until Orion started reading. Thank goodness for Orion, right?


One of the things I remembered this week that I hadn't thought about for awhile is how we used to read the Book of Mormon mastery scriptures everyday. Dorian was going to seminary, I think, so I was aware of the mastery scriptures, and I thought it would be good for the little boys to memorize them as Dorian was learning them. The one that I thought of this week was Moroni 10:4 - 5 where we are promised we can know the truth of all things by the power of the Holy Ghost. Orion loved He-man, a cartoon popular at the time. One of the things He-man would always say was "By the power of grayskull" and then he would perform some tremendous feat. The boys compared He-man and the power of grayskull to the power the Holy Ghost had to tell them things. It was quite comical, but it worked. They seemed to understand the concept.

Another thing I thought of this week was the time Orion was bitten by a dog while we were delivering welfare stuff to a family in our ward. I had the assignment while the RS president was out of town. We had been to this family's house many times, and the dogs seemed to know us, but there was something different this time. Orion was on the back of the truck wearing his red sweatpants. Maybe it was the red that got the dog fired up like they do the bulls with the bull fighters. Anyway, it came up behind the truck as we were pulling in, and took a bite out of him. I think he had on his usual two pairs of sweats (he got cold very easily), so the dog didn't do any damage, but it sure shook up the both of us. Again, quite comical in retrospect!

Orion's nickname was "possum". He looked like a marsupial baby as he was always connected to me in some way. It never really bothered me. He slept with us for a number of years until he was almost 4, and I can still remember how he felt snuggled into the small of my back. (Before you get all high and mighty and judge me for having my kids with me in our bed, please read the book Family Bed. I still think it is a wonderful way to rear children. I do not regret it for a moment.)

Even after the baby and toddler years, we were always close. While my other children lived their own lives, he always was a part of mine for some reason. It really seemed improbable that he would ever separate himself from us. He told us many times that if he ever did move out, he was going to live next door. We didn't hold out much hope of that, but we thought he would always be in our lives. Needless to say,it hasn't worked out that way, and I'm not sure how we're supposed to feel about that.

I understand how men are supposed to be united with their wife. I understand about apron strings being cut. I tried to rear all my children to be independent with varying degrees of success. I guess I didn't expect to be cut off completely from contact with them. Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be, but I don't think so. That is certainly not the pattern that is seen in the scriptures. I guess the hardest part is not understanding why there is such a discrepancy. If we had not been close in his earlier years, it would be easier to comprehend.

So, my memories this week of our wonderful times together have been muddled with my sorrow over a lost friend. Of all my children, he was the one that understood my trials and my troubles. He comforted me while the others didn't even know there were challenges. He talked through problems and difficulties. When he left, I lost my closest ally, and it has been most difficult.

This is not to say that Roger, my husband, is not my best friend. He is. But most women have a confidant besides their husband, and Orion was mine. He understood how I felt more than even Roger did even though he (Orion) was a child. I think a lot of that was because the gospel always came easier to him than it did anyone else I ever knew so that he had a more mature outlook on the things about which we talked. I have always worked through my problems from a gospel angle, so Orion's perspective matched this better than most people's.

I guess in looking back, maybe I should never have gotten that comfortable with him. Maybe I should have tried to keep my distance knowing that he would grow up and move away from us emotionally. I guess it is easy to see these things in hindsight.

Another memory we had of him this week was the time we were in a car accident when he was on his way to a performance for Showtime to which I didn't want him to go. He spent many months recuperating from that, and he missed a lot of activities. It happened on the day he graduated from high school. Both of us almost missed that one!

One summer prior to this, I broke my ankle. He stayed home from summer camp to stay with me so that Roger could work. The other boys, of course, went to their activities. That was a tremendous sacrifice for him, and I've always been grateful to him. (In contrast, one time when I broke my ankle I asked Darius to come drive me home as I couldn't drive right after the accident, and he said he couldn't because he was going to his friend's house! ARRRGH.) It's odd isn't it? Now Darius is the attentive one.


I look back over our years with Orion with nothing but good memories. He and Darius both provided us with a glimpse of heaven. We are so grateful we were able to have more children after our "stupid years". I hope he has a wonderful 27th year (starting tomorrow) and that he'll have at least a hundred more. He is so blessed to be the father of a wonderful baby girl this year, so he will always remember this year as a special one. Happy Birthday, Orion!