High Cal for DS

He's not objecting to lack of meat as much as lack of calories. That's fair -- he's already skinny enough! I've been receiving suggestions from raw friends and thought i'd compile them here.

Spiced Nuts -- honey cinnamon pecans are the favorite so far.

Nut-based cookies & desserts (like pecan sandies!)

Fruit smoothies w/ coconut oil, protein powder & nuts for extra cals

Sweet potato chips: salt & vinegar? northwoods fire & olive oil?

Sour cream & onion chips w/daikon

After The Trucker Leaves

We had some nice dinners!

Friday's dinner was yam bisque and smashed veggies (potatoes, cauliflower, turnips, carmelized onions).

Saturday was nori rolls with gingered carrot-beet slaw.

I made 3 batches of the cookie base for Samoraws and a small baggie of honey-cinnamon pecans. Another batch of zucchini crackers is finishing up, to go with the veggie-pulp hummus i made last night. Also dehydrating (in the oven) are General Tso's almonds, banana walnuts, and corn tortilla chips.

Finished my cookbook yesterday! Typed out my favorite raw recipes from various cookbooks & websites, printed them & put into plastic sleeves in a binder. YAY!! Now i don't have to run back and forth to the computer every time i cook.

Onion bread is up next.

Raw is FUN!

...and expensive!! Since writing last, i've blown up my smoothie-maker and bought two more. Why two? Because DH has decided to go green too!! He was inspired by a video of Dave, the Raw Food Trucker yesterday -- and perhaps persuaded by the Creole Gumbo i made for dinner tonight ;) Or maybe it was the Pad Thai Salad i'm sending for lunch tomorrow! He did like the fudgy raw cookies he helped DD make from Juliano's RAW cookbook yesterday, and he's been making green smoothies for lunch all weekend :D

So we bought him a new, 4.3 cu ft fridge for his truck, shopped together for produce yesterday, and spent a cozy two evenings peeling, chopping, and blending. He's leaving with a 6-pk of romaine, 1lb of spinach, collards, cilantro, parsley, cucumber, jicama salad, cut-up pineapple, beets, celery, carrots, pad thai salad, gumbo over rice, veg chili mac (the last two are not for raw! LOL), half a dozen avocados, a case of clementines, and 2 baby thai coconuts! We have about the same stuff in my fridge.

I'll be making Candied Oranges from the last of the batch of florida oranges daddy sent. Peeled them yesterday & am giving the urchins a last chance at them :)

My friend R says i should write about the dental panic attack i had tonight -- it'll have to wait, cuz i'm beat! I also took a picture of dinner (funny!)

Partially Raw Stir-Fry, Raw Hot Chocolate, Black Bean Brownies

I had a yummy stir-fry tonight, and i learned that I LIKE PURPLE CABBAGE! The rice was cooked, of course! and i did heat up the veggies but not for long: big bowl full of cabbage, mung bean sprouts, grated carrot, marinated portabellas. Scattered about 1/2 cup of brown rice on top and spritzed well with Bragg's. Yum!! Did end up getting more rice later though :)

RAW HOT CHOCOLATE!!!

from http://galadarling.com/article/raw-hot-chocolate

1/2 cup hot water (just heated to hottest comfortable drinking temperature, not boiled)
1 tablespoon raw coconut butter or oil
1 tablespoon raw wild honey, preferably local
1-2 tablespoons raw almond butter
3 heaping tablespoons raw cacao powder
1/2 teaspoon raw vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon other form of vanilla
Pinch whole sea salt

In a blender, combine the above ingredients until smooth, adjusting all to your palette’s preference. This makes a concentrated chocolate sauce, which you may then dilute and enjoy with others (it would be quite a lot for one person all at once!) or save in the refrigerator for use as desired. Before serving, thin the sauce by at least half with more hot water. I usually drink this at about 1 part the above recipe to 3 or 4 parts additional hot water.

BLACK BEAN BROWNIES

http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/12-step-blog/?p=486#comments

Flourless Brownies

Makes 16

No one will ever guess that black beans are the secret ingredient in this recipe!

Ingredients

1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added black beans, drained and rinsed (I cook and use my own as I always have some on hand)

3 large eggs ( I used egg substitute)

1/3 cup melted butter, more for the baking dish ( I used raw coconut oil)

1/4 cup raw cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cane sugar ( I use raw cane sugar)

1/2 cup gluten-free semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Oil an 8-inch baking pan. Place the black beans, eggs, melted butter/oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, and sugar in the

bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Remove the blade and stir in the chocolate chips and

walnuts. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan. Bake the brownies for 30 to 35 minutes, or until just set in the center.

Cool before cutting into squares.

Nutrition

Per serving (1 brownie/about 2oz/60g-wt.): 160 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 4g saturated fat, 50mg

cholesterol, 35mg sodium, 17g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 12g sugar), 4g protein

Basic Raw Formulas, mostly from Boutenko

SOUP

The base

Five flavors

Something to float (for example, grated carrot or other root, chunks of avocado or some veg, chopped parsley or other herbs)

The base for the soup is always the same:

1 c water

1 stalk celery

1T olive oil

mix everything in the blender except the floating chunks; add them afterward.

Yield: 2 cups of soup.

NUT BURGERS

1c any nuts

1c any vegs

1T oil to make it stick together

five flavors

Mix in a food processor

If you want a heavier burger, put more nuts. For a lighter burger, use more vegs.

Yield: 2 c of burger pate.

CANDY OR CAKE DOUGH

1c any nuts

1c any dried fruits

1T oil to make it stick together

Spices (optional)

Mix in food processor. Roll candies or use as crust layers for cake.

Yield: 2c delicious dough.

DRESSING

1/2 c water

2T olive oil

five strong flavors

Blend well.

Yield: 3/4 c delicious dressing.

FIVE FLAVORS; selected suggestions

Sour: lemons, cranberries, rhubarb, lemon grass, sour grass, sorrel, tomatoes, sauerkraut, nut or seed yogurt, apple cider vinegar.

Sweet: dried fruit (figs, dates, prunes, raisins), fresh fruits (ripe bananas, mango, peach, pear), apple juice, orange juice, agave, honey, stevia

Spicy: garlic or onion shoots/cloves/bulbs, ginger, mustard greens/seeds, radish, horseradish, cayenne, wasabi, seaweed, herbs (cilantro, rosemary, basil, dill, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, peppermint)

Salty: celery, cilantro, dill, parsley, sea vegetables, sea salt

Bitter: parsley, celery tops, endive, garlic, onion, dandelion, bay leaf, sage, poultry seasoning, cayenne.

FROM RAWDAWG RORY:

RAW ENERGY BARS

1 part mashed dates (dried, pitted, quartered, food processed to mush)

3 parts dry ingredients (chopped nuts, dried fruits)

knead really well. ball>snake>bar. sesame seeds to keep from sticking.

LINK WITH LARABAR RECIPES:

http://enlightenedcooking.blogspot.com/2008/02/home-made-lara-bars-energy-bars-part-3.html

Raw Meal Prep Day

Weellllll, i dunno.

Background: For about a month now, since starting the Young Living cleanse, i've been living mostly on Green Smoothies. No cravings, no appetite. A little bad eating, but due to habit & psychological issues, and the pizza & chips didn't even taste good!

Was excited about the book "Living on Live Food" by Alissa Cohen. Decided i should have some raw meals up my sleeve just in case i ever do feel like eating again, plus my kids can't live on cheap canned soup and free pepperoni forever! Like, cooking is kinda my job, right?

So i took her advice and bought the items for Week 1, then came home and started "cooking". Here's what i made and what i thought about it.

Mock Salmon Pate. First, let me say i don't know why anyone would want to make Real Salmon Pate. However, i was feeling lost and seized upon her convenient weekly plans. I think a better name for this is simply Veggie-Nut Pate. It's a mix of walnuts, red bell pepper, scallion, celery, lemon juice, and maybe a couple other small things? Soph was happy to work the food processor. Had some smeared inside a lettuce leaf & rolled up; wasn't bad. Had more on top of a romaine salad (see below for dressing); that was good. Not something i'd eat alone, but would be good w/ raw crackers or... not raw, but outstanding w/ rosemary-olive oil triscuits!!

Alissa's Dressing. Raw honey, raw AC vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt? Good but could use some herbs for depth. Didn't know which ones. Pepper would be good.

Fettucine Alfredo.

Why sure.

Well, i really wish we hadn't tried a substitution, but we just didn't have raw macadamia nuts. We did have dry-roasted, but were unsure whether to sub those or raw sunflower seeds, so we went with the latter. I'm sure it tastes good? but it's so grey and oily that i can't bring myself to try it yet. disappointing since it contains 3c of expensive nuts. **update!** Renea suggested adding spinach, to make it green instead of grey. Now it looks EXACTLY like noodles parmesan from the package!! Needs onion powder though, and lots of Spike, and cold is not so hot.

Recipes I'd Like To Try:

Pesto Dressing, 1/2 c pesto plus 2T lemon juice

Pasta al Pesto, zucchini noodles tossed w/ 2T pesto

Ranch Dressing

1c soaked cashews

3/4c water

2T fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp each garlic & onion powder

1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp salt

1T , or 1t dried, each, minced fresh basil and dill weed

Creamy Cuke Dressing, from Raw Food Made Easy p 100

Miso Soup, p 81

Zucchini Hummus, p 73

Salsa p 69

What I'm Doing

Time to write down what i've been doing to get my BP down, in case i backslide. Thanks for the idea, Renea!

• 24 oz water upon waking
• wait 45 min, then green smoothie w/ ICP
• low sodium, low meat, low dairy
• logging meals on daily plate
• walking daily
• high raw/vegan by preference
• Essentialzyme with solid meals
• I try to remember comfortone daily, but especially w/ dairy.

i credit the ICP for lack of cravings & appetite.