Granola turned into a cookie!

I made a stab at making granola again. I mixed up oats, raisins, unsweetened coconut, honey, and salt. It needed more moisture I thought - so I added some water - like a cup or so. I put them on the Tflex sheets and dehydrated them overnight. In the morning my house smelled so wonderful but I ended up with the driest, hardest granola in the world. When you took
a bite of it - it crumbled into the biggest mess. So - I called Rachel Tally in Utah and
she helped me fix it!! HOW you ask?

To this crumbled mess - she told me to put water in my blender and add some ground
up flax seeds and a whole lot of the granola crumbs and maybe a touch more of honey. So I did. WOW - it whirled just right and I measured 3 cups and filled my Tflex sheets. I was so surprised at what I had just created. An oatmeal cookie!

It filled 7 of my trays with the most delicious "oatmeal cookie batter" ever.
My house smells like the best cookie.
So there you have it - lots of cookies in a real quick way.
I would really choose to make my cookies this way again!

Tell us why you are eating Raw!

I have had several people (whom I don't even know) email me and ask me to list some of the benefits we are seeing as we have reached our one month anniversary at eating 100% raw.

We truly are seeing such incredible results physically and mentally. I would list everything that is going on with us but I am trying to make this blog about fun, healthy eating. I don't want to start putting pictures of my size 6 pants or Jim's buff arms. It's really not about us anyway - it's really about this great food and learning how to eat it raw.

I do sleep 100% better, never have any mood swings, have incredible energy, simple periods, clear eyes and mind, wake up so happy and doing 3 sets of 10 men's pushups each morning....blah blah blah. My nails are so much better - my heels aren't cracking and I just basically feel so much more in tuned with the people around me and how I can serve and help them better. Jim is having similar benefits - but he isn't quite as verbal about them like I am.

Life is grand. The fact that I have a husband who is in this 100% with me - makes me the happiest woman alive. I could do flips because I am so happy! He's buff and outstanding. I want to kiss him all day long because I appreciate all his support and help.
His health issues are disappearing (we are not surprised) BUT his disposition has never changed - he was and still is the nicest guy in the world! I am more than just "L U C K Y!" So - I could list all the great things that are happening to us - but I guess I just don't need to.

Anyone that wants to see any kind of success eating like this....should pick up a book and start reading. Once you read the why's and the where's - and just "start in yourself"... you'll be hooked....possibly for life!

But for now...we are just enjoying learning this together, being with our family and basking in the luxury of raw. So thanks for asking!

SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM!

OH MY BECKY!! If THIS doesn't convince you to get a CHAMPION JUICER - nothing will.
This is a frozen banana coming out the end - to make the most incredible soft serve
banana ice cream. I wouldn't have believed it - if I hadn't made it myself.

Jimmy couldn't believe it came from just a plain frozen banana - nothing added. No
sugar - no vanilla - no chemicals - just a plain banana.
How could it be so outstanding and sweet?? It just is.

He did it again. None of us can believe we have never done this before.
I have had this Champion Juicer for about 12 years. It sat in the closet.

This is Jacob's second batch. This time he added frozen strawberries to it.

When Jim saw his huge bowl of ice cream- he asked Jacob to split it with him.
Well, that makes 2 guys in my house overloaded with fruit tonight!
Who would have thought it could be so delicious and healthy!
I wonder if Caleb (my son in law) is seeing this. He has THIS
to look forward to if he comes here for the summer. MMMmmmmm good!
It would even be a fabulous "baby food" to feed their 8 mos old baby, Judy.

CORN SALAD and Mashed Potatoes

Tonight was "CORN SALAD and then we finished up the spanish rice and I added "mashed potatoes" too! WE LOVE AVOCADOS - so this is smothered in them!

Here's is what the dinner looked like. You should have seen Jim's
eyes light up when he walked in the door! THAT makes me
so happy.

CORN SALAD
(p. 121 "The Raw Food Detox Diet")
2 T. sliced scallions
1 red bell pepper
2 tomatoes
4 ears of fresh corn - cut from the cob
A bunch of romaine lettuce shredded
Now mix everything all together.
(I marinated some mushrooms again and put them on top
of everything when it was ready to serve)
I also made a quick caesar dressing to put on top of everything.

Mashed potatoes anyone? This is not for the "first time" person eating raw.
This sorta takes "new tastes buds" - but WE loved them very much. I put them in this dish and put it in the dehydrator at 105 degrees for about 20 mins - oh - Jim thought he had
hot mashed potatoes. Tee hee.

MASHED POTATOES
Put one whole cauliflower and 2 c pine nuts (not soaked) through the
Champion Juicer with the blank plate. Add garlic, lemon juice and pepper to taste.
(Another successful dinner!).... (You're welcome, dear!)
(recipe from "Raw Power" p.132 uses macadamia nuts instead of the pine nuts I used)

Spanish Rice and tons of crackers!

Okay this is a glorious day! My Excalibur dehydrator came and my soaked flaxseeds were all ready
to be made into delicous crackers! (I ordered the Excalibur from Rawguru.com)
What a happy day for me and my family!! I used
2 full cups of "seeds" for each tray and it only took me 15 mins to do them all! My favorite recipe for the crackers is (flax seeds, pumpkins seeds (both soaked overnight separately) and then lots of my homemade salsa) - that's it.

Here is the great Excalibur with my 9 full trays filled with my flaxseed cracker stuff. I have the door off of the dehydrator for the picture only - but a door closes everything in very nicely!
Don't tell Gina and Jamie - but I am going to give the crackers to them when I see them on Wednesday in Show Low to take back to Utah - shhhh - it's a surprise.

For dinner - we made the famous "Spanish Rice" again because it is so tasty. Remember
it is soaked barley (overnight) and then drained and then I added red bell pepper, green onion, and lots and lots of tomatoes, cilantro, etc. (Real recipe is way below on this blog) I put a scoop of the rice on top of a bed of spinach and then topped it with avocado and hemp seeds. Also we had a left
over marinated mushroom (see them there) and 2 flaxseed crackers. Mmmmmm.

SATURDAY NIGHT - FUN

Tonight is Saturday night. We decided we better cut up all the million of bananas
we have bought over the last 2 weeks. We cut them up and froze them on cookie sheets.
Then we will bag them to use for our green drinks and for our summer smoothies.
Gina - where are you? It's gonna be a "cool" summer in this 110 degrees!

After Jacob finished with the bananas, he decided that we needed more fudge.
So we used 2 1/4 c pure maple syrup, 2 1/4 c raw cocoa and 1 cup coconut oil.
We whirled it in the Vita Mix and it came out smooth as silk. Jim wanted walnuts
in it this time - so we chopped some up and added them. Then put them on top too.
Ahhhh - such a fancy treat!

I made Sunday's dinner since we were all in the cooking mood. I must made up a simple
spinach mixture in the food processor - added a red bell pepper, 4 stalks of celery, mushroom tips, 1/4 of an onion, 2 garlic cloves and spices.
I filled each mushroom and then carefully set them in a flat dish. I poured Braggs Aminos,
olive oil and fresh rosemary from my garden as the marinate. Now they will soak up all the
great flavors and be ready to eat when we get home from church. MMmmmmm - wish you could come home for dinner girls!

PIZZA with asparagus ?

Tonight was PIZZA night. We usually go out to eat on Friday nights - but where could
we go and still get the quality of flavors and quality of food that we have been enjoying for a month? So heck -we decided to just keep our "date" at home!

I have to admit - this was fabulous. The flavors blended just right.

PIZZA
Ezekiel Sprouted Tortillas
Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce
Asparagus tips
red bell peppers
red onions
marinated mushrooms
sea salt
6 pepper spice

I cut the tortillas into little triangles to fit my "ancient" dehydrator.
I spread on the Pesto Sauce (recipe already on the blog from Rachel Talley) and then carefully
placed all the other items on top. I put the trays in the dehydrator for about
45 mins when 2 hungry guys walked into the house - and devoured all but
the three I was able to grab! This was one of our very favorite meals - served
with a romaine salad with jicama, tomatoes, hemp seeds, raisins and avocado with an olive oil
and lemon dressing. Oh - do I have to wait for another date to get this again?

This is just a "grab and go" place!

Well - over Spring Break - I gutted the kitchen and tried to make everything a little more efficient. It kinda looks like we have a little store now doesn't it. Whoa.

Having the food out on display like this helps everyone in the family to
grab a better choice when they are feeling a little hungry.

I was able to find a lot of great sales and plan on freezing the tons of bananas you see
so we can make banana shakes in the summer! (just waiting for them to get browner)

I was able to find a produce store that would sell me the young coconuts for
$9.50 a case - there are 9 coconuts - this lasts us only a week.

So - come on over and help yourself to some great food. ....and have a super day!

PAD THAI over "angel hair" pasta

This is the PAD THAI that I was talking about with the angel hair zucchini and cucumbers.
I served it with a salad and extra veggies from my garden (broccoli and purple cabbage) , bell pepper and the obvious avocados. I have to say that I could taste all the
different flavors in the sauce. The sesame seed oil in the sauce really made it taste authentic.
The broccoli and purple cabbage and red bell peppers are all separated on the plate when we started - but we ended up smooshing everything together so everything had the Thai sauce on it - Mmmmmm.

Here is the friend's plate I made - you can see how we just piled the Thai sauce over

the medley of fresh vegetables.

Well, my mother (80 yrs old) is in the hospital tonight - I couldn't bear the thought that she
wasn't getting a "REAL" meal in there - so I took her a plate of the Pad Thai, too. It made her so happy that after our walk - we almost just walked out of the hospital because she felt so good.
"Ah".....another happy day!

PAD THAI
Noodles - zucchini and cucumbers angel hair. You can also use
sliced cabbage, julienned carrots as your pasta also.
Peanut Sauce: (from p, 116 "Raw Food Detox Diet")
1 c almond butter (put 2 cups of soaked almonds through Champion Juicer)
2 T. fresh ginger
1/2 c coconut water
1/4 c maple syrup
3 T Braggs Aminos
5 tsp sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic
dash of cayenne pepper
Blend everything in the Vita Mix until smooth.
Serve with sweet peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, chopped green onions
and sesame seeds.

"Angel Hair" gadget!

I think I am hooked on this little kitchen gadget that makes "angel hair" pasta. I just really wanted to use it again tonight... so I did. I am showing you my famous "machine". ( I got it from Rawguru.com) I used zucchini and cucumbers this time to make my pasta.

This is how it looks when you put the lid on - and the pasta drops in the bottom tray.

Here is a huge pile of "angel hair" zucchini and cucumbers!

For dinner I made a PAD THAI sauce to go over the "pasta". I set the bowl on the
dehydrator and put the lid on top of the bowls. When Jim came home - voila! Pad Thai!
The details on the sauce is in the other blog!

Spanish Rice

Spanish rice may not sound very good right now - but we are trying so many recipes around here - it was bound to come up in this kitchen! I served it on a bed of spinach and topped it with hemp seed. (Hemp seed is a complete protein and delicious) Jacob and the rest of the group thought it was very, very good! Jim put homemade Italian dressing on it but everyone else just ate it with the avocado on top.

Here is my friend's portion for her dinner. For her, I wrapped a fresh piece of fudge in plastic
for a little after dinner treat!

SPANISH RICE
(from Becky Johnson "Living Food Recipes")

3 cups - soaked barley
5 cups of chopped tomatoes
1 cup chopped bell peppers
1 cup purple onions chopped
1 handful of fresh cilantro
juice of 1 lemon
A little Braggs Aminos
3 T. chili seasoning
1 Tbsp cumin
sea salt

Chop everything up and put all together. We ate this like a cold salad.

SPAGHETTI with Alfredo or Marinara

Okay - maybe in a small way I am thinking of opening a little catoring service. Well - anyway - I am tonight. I am delivering this dinner to a friend tonight who wants to start eating raw and just wants a little boost. Tonight she is getting spaghetti with both an alfredo sauce and a marinara sauce, tossed salad and my homemade fresh flaxseed crackers. I also took her a piece of the apple/walnut pie for dessert.

This is a really quick picture (before it was all gone) of the zucchini spaghetti. I got one of those
little kitchen tools that make zucchini into an "angel hair pasta".
My whole family was extremely impressed. Jim wanted two helpings and
so did Joey. This bowl was packed - and every bit was gone before I got any.

Here are the two sauces I made. I don't feel like giving you the whole recipes because
it's too much typing - but if you want it - ask me and I really will be happy to give it
to you. The Alfredo sauce was made from macadamia and pine nuts. Oo-la-la.
The marinara sauce was the usual homemade Italian spaghetti sauce. We put the bowls in the dehydrator and it heated them up really quite nice without cooking them. That was a treat - warm sauces!

I suppose because there is so much sauce leftover - we will be having spaghetti again
real soon! Ah....just come over. We'd love to share with you!

APPLE WALNUT PIE & AMAZING ICE CREAM

Okay - it's time for APPLE WALNUT PIE! This is the crust. I mixed everything up and put it in the glass pie pan. I could have stopped right here and eaten the whole thing because it was so tasty. See recipe down below.

I mixed up the filling and put it on top of the crust. I then put it in the dehydrator for about

5 hours at 105 degrees. When we were ready to eat it - it was actually a little warm.
Oo - la - la great!

I yelled out "Dessert Time" and everyone came running! (except for Joey - he was
upstairs and didn't hear the "call". Dad is getting the first helping. Jimmy and
Jacob are anxiously waiting their turn.

Jimmy is telling Jacob - "Hey don't take it all!". They wanted vanilla ice cream to go on top - so I made that too (using cashews) . I have to say that the ice cream was STUPENDOUS - the most amazing texture just like real ice cream - you've just gotta try it.


Apple Walnut Pie.
CRUST: 2 c walnuts, 13 dates, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 T cinnamon
Chop up the walnuts and then chop up the dates in the food processor.
Add a tiny bit of water if you think you need it - I put in about 2 T water.
Mix everything together and press in a glass pie plate.
FILLING: 4 c very chopped apples (food processor by itself), 2 T lemon juice, 1 T cinnamon,
1 C chopped walnuts (in my small processor) 1 T. honey.
Process everything in the food processor. Pour it into the crust. Dehydrate at 105 degrees until warm - I left it about 5 hours. Repeat after me.....oo - la - la!

Now - see this blender.......does this look like ice cream in the making???

AMAZING - VANILLA ICE CREAM
2 c soaked cashews (I soaked them 2 hrs)
3/4 c water
1/2 c honey
1 T vanilla
Blend all the ingredients in the VITA MIX until very smooth.





Pour the smooth mixture into ice cube trays and let it freeze.

Don't bother scooping it and putting it into little bowls for everyone. Just give everyone their own ice cube tray of fresh ice cream!

Like Joey said, "This is UNBELIEVABLE" - "just friggin awesome!" He said that he can't believe that I can make the best stuff out of the wierdest ingredients. (like that chocolate mousse - that was amazingly super too!) Thanks, Joe!

Left overs!

Tonight was "leftover night". We are eating the "Cheesy Cabbage", the "Lentil Salad", flax cracker,a green salad and "black sharks" - (just kidding - those are marinated portabello mushrooms! Looks like we are feeding an army - but no - just five of us.

This looks like a lot of food on this plate...and... about those black sharks -yeah - they are killer black. I ended up pushing everything into a bowl and eating it all together like a huge
salad. AAhhhh - heaven.