We had a busy work day today, so I hit the ground running. Roger made me a delicious grapefruit orange juice so I'd have something in my belly. For lunch we had a watermelon we'd picked up at Costco, but it wasn't as good as the one we got at the farmer's market last week. Then for dinner, Darius and Alicia got to our house late with Angelina. I mixed up some taco soup (cheddar cheeze with salsa mixed in topped with hemp sour cream and avocados) and a fruit salad: 1 pineapple chunked up, 1 orange sectioned, 1 quart of mango, 6 bananas, some dried coconut, and some raisins.
I made a sauce out of some hemp sour cream mixed with honey. It was very filling. We served it on some romaine leaves.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Theories and Suppositions
We were away from home during the breakfast hour, so Roger packed apples and bananas to have in the car. I like bananas best when they are not overly ripe, although I know they are sweeter when they are riper. I like to freeze them or use them in the banana brittle recipe when they are really ripe as they add the necessary sweetness to the recipe.
I did a little experiment with the almonds I bought at the co-op yesterday. There has been this big toodoo about pasteurizing almonds making them not raw anymore (like a pasteurized juice is not raw). I heard that the pasteurization of almonds takes place before they are hulled and is an effort to kill all the e-coli bacteria that are on them before they are shelled. I was thinking this might not be enough heat to actually kill the nut inside the shell, so I decided to try to sprout the ones I got from the co-op which I am pretty sure were pasteurized. Lo and behold, they sprouted just fine, so my theory, I believe is correct. The almond is still alive inside the large hull, and would therefore, still have its enzymes intact. Yay!
So I have been soaking and sprouting almonds and walnuts and cashews and have had them in the dehydrator this week. I need to put the chili-garlic sunflower seeds in tomorrow as they are sprouted, but I don't have any room until the other nuts come out. The cashews were done dehydrating today, so I curried them, and they will spend another day in there.
One of the things in my order yesterday that I was out of was my hemp seed, so I made a quart of hemp seed sour cream today. Man, is that tangy and good! I think the hemp helps it be creamier and not as chalky as cashews by themselves. I'm thinking it will be a great base for a cheesecake, so I am going to experiment with that with some irish moss.
We still had a pint of refried no-beans, so I made a large batch of salsa and sliced some avocados to have living tacos using romaine leaves as the shell. With the sour cream, it was a meal fit for a king. I can't eat that too often. I think I could eat it everyday, and that is unusual for me.
We all had fruit for lunch earlier in the day; mine was some of those lovely honey mangos. I feel as though I've died and gone to heaven when I eat them. Surely the golden gate is surrounded by honey mango trees. Wyatt ate 4 oranges and a bunch of apples. Roger had his banana bowl. It is funny how we all have our favorite fruit and it is different from everyone elses.
Well, that was our day. Totally delish.
I did a little experiment with the almonds I bought at the co-op yesterday. There has been this big toodoo about pasteurizing almonds making them not raw anymore (like a pasteurized juice is not raw). I heard that the pasteurization of almonds takes place before they are hulled and is an effort to kill all the e-coli bacteria that are on them before they are shelled. I was thinking this might not be enough heat to actually kill the nut inside the shell, so I decided to try to sprout the ones I got from the co-op which I am pretty sure were pasteurized. Lo and behold, they sprouted just fine, so my theory, I believe is correct. The almond is still alive inside the large hull, and would therefore, still have its enzymes intact. Yay!
So I have been soaking and sprouting almonds and walnuts and cashews and have had them in the dehydrator this week. I need to put the chili-garlic sunflower seeds in tomorrow as they are sprouted, but I don't have any room until the other nuts come out. The cashews were done dehydrating today, so I curried them, and they will spend another day in there.
One of the things in my order yesterday that I was out of was my hemp seed, so I made a quart of hemp seed sour cream today. Man, is that tangy and good! I think the hemp helps it be creamier and not as chalky as cashews by themselves. I'm thinking it will be a great base for a cheesecake, so I am going to experiment with that with some irish moss.
We still had a pint of refried no-beans, so I made a large batch of salsa and sliced some avocados to have living tacos using romaine leaves as the shell. With the sour cream, it was a meal fit for a king. I can't eat that too often. I think I could eat it everyday, and that is unusual for me.
We all had fruit for lunch earlier in the day; mine was some of those lovely honey mangos. I feel as though I've died and gone to heaven when I eat them. Surely the golden gate is surrounded by honey mango trees. Wyatt ate 4 oranges and a bunch of apples. Roger had his banana bowl. It is funny how we all have our favorite fruit and it is different from everyone elses.
Well, that was our day. Totally delish.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Not a very exciting menu options day. We had mylkshakes for breakfast at Wyatt's request. I think he would have that every day if we let him. We used fresh bananas as we had a box about empty, and we still had to freeze a few so they wouldn't go bad. We'll use them soon enough.
We had to pick up quite a few supplies including our co-op big order: 25 lbs each cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut, 30 lbs red flame raisins, 15 lbs dates, 4 more gallons agave, himalayan salt, cumin, curry powder, hempseed, and some frozen strawberries. We also got another case of bananas at Native Sun and a case of golden delicious apples at Whole Foods. We also got some fresh strawberries, kiwi, and raspberries for one of Roger's favorite pies. We picked up another case of those wonderful mangos, a beautifully fragrant pineapple, a huge knob of ginger, and some more tamarindo. We also made a stop at Costco for avocados, oranges, pine nuts and walnuts, olive oil, more garlic, and a watermelon. So there might not have been too much in the way of menus today, but that's a bird's eye view of our eating for the coming week(s). yummmmmm
After the shopping, we had a cooler full of fridge stuff that we took to the park to eat with Darius and family. This was stuff we had fixed over the weekend: leftover alfreda, marinated mushrooms, refried beans, sour cream, untuna, raisin cheeze, sunlight patties, cucumber salad, pickles, cheddar cheeze, plus celery, lettuce, and tomatoes to eat it with. Everyone chose their own combination, and it was tasty, at least for me. I had refried beans and sour cream on lettuce tacos with tomatoes. Of course I couldn't resist raisin cheeze with celery for dessert. The grandbabies don't like the raisin cheeze, but that doesn't bother us at all (as in "more for us").
We had to pick up quite a few supplies including our co-op big order: 25 lbs each cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut, 30 lbs red flame raisins, 15 lbs dates, 4 more gallons agave, himalayan salt, cumin, curry powder, hempseed, and some frozen strawberries. We also got another case of bananas at Native Sun and a case of golden delicious apples at Whole Foods. We also got some fresh strawberries, kiwi, and raspberries for one of Roger's favorite pies. We picked up another case of those wonderful mangos, a beautifully fragrant pineapple, a huge knob of ginger, and some more tamarindo. We also made a stop at Costco for avocados, oranges, pine nuts and walnuts, olive oil, more garlic, and a watermelon. So there might not have been too much in the way of menus today, but that's a bird's eye view of our eating for the coming week(s). yummmmmm
After the shopping, we had a cooler full of fridge stuff that we took to the park to eat with Darius and family. This was stuff we had fixed over the weekend: leftover alfreda, marinated mushrooms, refried beans, sour cream, untuna, raisin cheeze, sunlight patties, cucumber salad, pickles, cheddar cheeze, plus celery, lettuce, and tomatoes to eat it with. Everyone chose their own combination, and it was tasty, at least for me. I had refried beans and sour cream on lettuce tacos with tomatoes. Of course I couldn't resist raisin cheeze with celery for dessert. The grandbabies don't like the raisin cheeze, but that doesn't bother us at all (as in "more for us").
Monday, April 27, 2009
Menu Planning?
We had bananas mambo for breakfast since our bananas are turning fast. I made the almond butter from some almonds dehydrating that had been soaked and sprouted. It made a very nice butter. I mixed it with some honey, 1/2 a vanilla bean, and some cinnamon and dipped it on some bananas. We topped that with raisins and spiced sunflower seeds. It was quite tasty.
For lunch we had some of our leftovers. I mixed the leftover alfredo sauce with some coconut water to thin it, then topped some corn and marinated mushrooms to make some kind of soup - I have no idea what kind! Mushroom corn chowder? Nevertheless, it was tasty. Then Roger had the leftover Crabby Cakes with some sauce leftover from salmon, a lemon caper sauce. I had some of the refried beans and sour cream on lettuce leaves. Wyatt had his usual selection of corn chips.
It is interesting to me how easy it is to use leftovers on this dietary plan. I have always tried to use my leftovers creatively, but it was work. I find this very easy. It is like everything goes with everything else. There aren't any bad combinations. If it sounds good, it probably is. Even when it doesn't sound particularly good, it might be. You just have to take a chance. The point is, very little has to go to waste. My biggest problem is that I will buy something thinking I will use it and then decide not to prepare it. Eventually it will go bad. I have a real problem with cole vegetables. I just don't like them very much, but I know I should make them. At least 1/2 the time they go bad and then I don't have to make them; problem solved! A better solution would be to not buy them in the first place. An even better solution would be to make up menus including those vegetables and develop the discipline to actually prepare them. Actually Wyatt made the suggestion today to make up menus. His mother always did that, he said, and then they always knew what they were going to be eating. He really doesn't like not knowing what's for dinner. In all honesty, I don't know until I get in the fridge and start stirring things up. I don't know why I'm like that. It's better to do it the other way, I suppose. I guess that is one of my many faults. I'm not working too hard to overcome it though.
For lunch we had some of our leftovers. I mixed the leftover alfredo sauce with some coconut water to thin it, then topped some corn and marinated mushrooms to make some kind of soup - I have no idea what kind! Mushroom corn chowder? Nevertheless, it was tasty. Then Roger had the leftover Crabby Cakes with some sauce leftover from salmon, a lemon caper sauce. I had some of the refried beans and sour cream on lettuce leaves. Wyatt had his usual selection of corn chips.
It is interesting to me how easy it is to use leftovers on this dietary plan. I have always tried to use my leftovers creatively, but it was work. I find this very easy. It is like everything goes with everything else. There aren't any bad combinations. If it sounds good, it probably is. Even when it doesn't sound particularly good, it might be. You just have to take a chance. The point is, very little has to go to waste. My biggest problem is that I will buy something thinking I will use it and then decide not to prepare it. Eventually it will go bad. I have a real problem with cole vegetables. I just don't like them very much, but I know I should make them. At least 1/2 the time they go bad and then I don't have to make them; problem solved! A better solution would be to not buy them in the first place. An even better solution would be to make up menus including those vegetables and develop the discipline to actually prepare them. Actually Wyatt made the suggestion today to make up menus. His mother always did that, he said, and then they always knew what they were going to be eating. He really doesn't like not knowing what's for dinner. In all honesty, I don't know until I get in the fridge and start stirring things up. I don't know why I'm like that. It's better to do it the other way, I suppose. I guess that is one of my many faults. I'm not working too hard to overcome it though.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Before church, I slid a mango down. I love the new kind we found this year. After church, I had a few more. There is nothing better than a nice, ripe mango.
The kids were coming over for dinner, but I got hungry about 4:00, so I made some yogurt up out the cashew cheese by mixing in some honey and lemon juice. I poured it over some pineapple and banana. It was delicious.
When the kids got here, I made up some mango lassis: 2 cups almond milk, 1/2 cup agave, 2 cups frozen mango, and 8 teaspoons lemon juice. Nice appetizer.
Then I made up some tartar sauce for the crab cakes (just some dill pickle diced up and mixed into the un-tuna mayo along with some onion). Then I sliced up some baby cukes into a vinaigrette made from apple cider vinegar, agave, and a touch of salt and dill. We also had some corn I cleaned up and mixed with lemon juice, EVOO, and dill (just a light sprinkling). Topped off with sliced tomatoes, and we had a lovely meal.
We talked about the foods for this weekend, so I put some cashews on to soak for the curry cashews. I also put some soaked almonds in the dehydrator as I would like to make almond butter from soaked and sprouted almonds to see if they are different. A soaked nut would always be preferable to an unsoaked one as the enzyme inhibitors are present in unsoaked nuts. To make almond butter, the soaked and sprouted nuts would have to be dehydrated to insure the nut butter is stable (oil and water don't mix!).
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Marathons Come in Various Forms
We had lemon milkshakes for breakfast. Angelina was pretty excited about that. It was kind of like dessert for breakfast!
2 cups almond milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup agave
4 cups frozen banana pieces
2 T coconut oil
We had a marathon cooking session today. We learned to make a crab tasting patty at Present Moment. I call them Crabby Patties. I've adapted the recipe a little bit.
About 3 cups coconut meat in the food processor with 2 stalks celery, 1 small red pepper, a few green onions, 2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and about 1/4 cup mayonnaise. (I used the mayonnaise I use with the un-tuna).
I grind some dehydrated corn in my wheat grinder and mix some into the coconut mixture until it thickens up a little. Then I put a scoop of the mixture in the corn meal and "bread it". I then dehydrate them for a couple of hours. These are quite delicious.
We then made my version of the Sunlight Burger, my favorite of which is the burger sold at Present Moment. I don't know their recipe, but this is how I make it.
2 cups of almond pulp left from making almond milk
2 cups sprouted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 1/2 cups soaked and dehydrated walnuts
about 6 mushrooms
a few stalks of celery
4 carrots
1 onion
6 cloves of garlic
nama shoyu
pepper to taste
handful of parsley
1 tablespoon ground cumin
I like the texture derived from running this through the juicer with the blank plate. We then scoop 2 scoops on the teflex for each patty. We then smooth it with the spatula to make a patty shape. Then I dehydrate for a few hours and turn it out on the mesh to finish dehydrating. These are good if you don't dry them all the way through leaving them a little mushy on the inside.
I had some wheat berries leftover from making rejuvelac, and once I got the corn chips out of the dehydrator, I was able to put the wheat berries through the food processor with some banana and cinnamon and a spot of salt. This is smoothed out on a couple of teflex sheets and dehydrated several hours until they can be turned over on the mesh. We call it "banana bread".
We also made some refried no-beans to have with the corn chips sometime next week.
We had the taco soup we invented the other day for lunch. This involved combining the cheddar cheeze with leftover salsa. It was delicious and a tad spicy which was nice. The cheeze needs to be thinned with water (or coconut water or rejuvelac). We had corn chips with the soup and celery with raisin cheeze for dessert.
2 cups almond milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup agave
4 cups frozen banana pieces
2 T coconut oil
We had a marathon cooking session today. We learned to make a crab tasting patty at Present Moment. I call them Crabby Patties. I've adapted the recipe a little bit.
About 3 cups coconut meat in the food processor with 2 stalks celery, 1 small red pepper, a few green onions, 2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and about 1/4 cup mayonnaise. (I used the mayonnaise I use with the un-tuna).
I grind some dehydrated corn in my wheat grinder and mix some into the coconut mixture until it thickens up a little. Then I put a scoop of the mixture in the corn meal and "bread it". I then dehydrate them for a couple of hours. These are quite delicious.
We then made my version of the Sunlight Burger, my favorite of which is the burger sold at Present Moment. I don't know their recipe, but this is how I make it.
2 cups of almond pulp left from making almond milk
2 cups sprouted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 1/2 cups soaked and dehydrated walnuts
about 6 mushrooms
a few stalks of celery
4 carrots
1 onion
6 cloves of garlic
nama shoyu
pepper to taste
handful of parsley
1 tablespoon ground cumin
I like the texture derived from running this through the juicer with the blank plate. We then scoop 2 scoops on the teflex for each patty. We then smooth it with the spatula to make a patty shape. Then I dehydrate for a few hours and turn it out on the mesh to finish dehydrating. These are good if you don't dry them all the way through leaving them a little mushy on the inside.
I had some wheat berries leftover from making rejuvelac, and once I got the corn chips out of the dehydrator, I was able to put the wheat berries through the food processor with some banana and cinnamon and a spot of salt. This is smoothed out on a couple of teflex sheets and dehydrated several hours until they can be turned over on the mesh. We call it "banana bread".
We also made some refried no-beans to have with the corn chips sometime next week.
We had the taco soup we invented the other day for lunch. This involved combining the cheddar cheeze with leftover salsa. It was delicious and a tad spicy which was nice. The cheeze needs to be thinned with water (or coconut water or rejuvelac). We had corn chips with the soup and celery with raisin cheeze for dessert.
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.
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.
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