I went back to all of the old posts and added labels. labels are the words or phrases that search engines use when they decide to display different pages for ones review.
You will not that there is a new gadget to the right of the blog. It's Seasonal Foods. Which i felt was in keeping with the theme of the blog. As you cook and eat raw foods, for planning purposes, it's important that you be aware of what the different foods are during the season. It's best to buy local which is both ecological and good for your community. All of which brings us to today's topic PLANNING!
Planning is probably the most important parts of a raw diet. You usually have to plan one, to two days ahead for a meal. This is due to all of the soaking, and dehydrating that must occur before you are able to eat many pf the meals. It is actually the most difficult part for me. I tend to eat at the spur of the moment, which I think might certainly contribute to my weight problem. If i planned better and more often I would probably have healthier meals. Some days I forget to plan properly and am stuck having the same thing over and over again. (Today being an example, although I did enjoy the salad.) I'm getting better but it's still something that I have to work at.
So a couple of thoughts, not directly related to planning, but:
- I'm betting that purists will frown, but I don't always use organic (Cost can be a problem as well as availability)
- And the few processed foods i use, (nut butters and soy sauce) are not even raw. But the bulk of my food does fall under the raw heading.
So I tried the Raw Oatmeal Cookies and they were fantastic. If you make them, please remember that they are not the same as cookies but they are sweet and delicious! Initially I thought that I would dehydrate them for less time but after they have sat a day or two they soften back up so the time suggested seems to be perfect.
I also tried the two Essence breads that I made. The Essence Bread #1, which is the less sweet one, I preferred over the second bread. Although one thing I did notice was that it was a bit too thick, so next time I will have to make them a little thinner. I had no real problem eating it. I had it with a Sunburger and the fixins. The Essence Bread #2 I found to be very bitter and harder to eat. I served it with Peanut Butter, honey and bananas. I eventually removed to the top slice so that I could eat it better (This was one of those days where i had not planned well and had nothing else to eat.) It was suggested in one blog that the longer the sprout tails are the more bitter the grain and my sprouts were pretty long so I will be careful next time and see of that makes a difference.
Today I tried a few new things.
Raw Pancakes
The Idiots Guide to Raw Eating
- 1 cup red Fuji Apple, cored, and chopped.
- 8 pitted dates, soaked for 30 minutes
- 1/4 date soak water
- 1/2 cup agave nectar
- 1 TB vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- TB golden flax seeds, ground
- pinch salt
- 1/ cup buckwheat groats, ground
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- place apple, dates, soak water, agave nectar, vanilla, lime zest cinnamon and flax seeds in a blender. Blend for about 20 seconds or a chunky batter forms.
- combine with groats and coconut in a bowl and mix
- scoop onto teflex sheet. They will flatten a little so make about 1/2 in thick.
- Dehydrate for 6-8 at 120 degrees. Flip and dehydrate for another 4-6 hours.
- Serve while still sightly soft in the middle
- Serve hot. They can be stored for 3-5 days.
Brown rice in curry sauce
By Vanessa Johnson
- 1/2 cup of brown rice (must be brown)
- 1 tbsp. curry powder
- 1 lb. carrots
- 1/2 small beet
- 1 stalk celery
- Chinese spinach (when juiced thickens sauce- could use soaked flax seeds instead)
- 1 clove garlic grated
- 1/2 small onion chopped finely
- olive oil
- mung bean greens
Soak brown rice in plenty water for 12 hours. Drain. Mix in chopped bean greens and place in serving dish. In a glass place onion,garlic and any other desired seasoning greens. Just cover these with olive oil and let soak. In another glass mix curry powder with enough olive oil to make into a paste. Juice beet, carrots and celery and Chinese spinach. Add curry paste to juice and mix well. Pour curry sauce into serving sauce bowl.
Part of the enjoyment of this dish is all the serving that you allow yourself. I'll explain. You have the rice mixture in a bowl. The onion/garlic mix in a serving shot glass (or something) and then you have the sauce that should look orangy/reddy/browny in a another serving bowl all on a tray. Your bowl is empty. Then you spoon in some rice and on one side of the rice you spoon on some of the onion garlic mix, on the other you spoon on some of the curry sauce and so as you eat the rice, you decide how much of what flavours you want. Then you can serve yourself some more rice and more sauces... it reminds me of the way Asians eat- many serving bowls of different interesting stuff.. and you keep serving yourself as you go along.
Be careful not to buy mung beans too soon, I bought mine two days ago and they already went bad. I'll have to go get more tomorrow now. Well TTFN! Hope to chat with you all (Both?) again soon!
