Getting Out and About

Today's salad had great potential. I thought I was making a salad with wakame but I soaked some arame instead. It was still good but I have to admit that the wakame is better, well at least I like it better. It was still good though.

Here is what I put in the Seaweed Salad:

arame
bean sprouts
1/2 granny smith apple
cucumber
spiralized zucchini
onion
chopped cilantro

Dressing
3 Tbl apple cider vinegar
3 Tbl Namo Shoyu

1 1/2 Tbl sesame oil
1/2 Tbl flax oil
1 tsp agave
1 tsp grated ginger
1 large clove garlic
1 Tbl sesame seeds

I ate this for lunch with some nori rolls. I know, I love them. I can't stop eating them. It's ridiculous. They are the same ones I ate yesterday. I don't know why I keep taking pictures of them since they are always the same. Tee hee :o)

I soaked some almonds and pecans last night so I could make some falafels today. I have been wanting them for quite a while. I whipped them up this morning and put them in the dehydrator. I was surprised how quickly they were done. They finished in half the time I expected. I was planning on having them tonight with a nice tabouli but I forgot that I had planned to go to the local raw food restaurant for a meetup tonight.

I put a few in a collard with some tomatoes, cucumbers and alflafa sprouts for a little snack around 3:00. They were a little dry. I think when I go to eat them for a main dish they will need some kind of sauce. I am not a huge fan of tahini so I don't know what I will do with them just yet.

On my way over to the Borrowed Earth Cafe I stopped off at the Olive tap. It is this cute olive oil shop in downtown Downers Grove. It was so cute but the best part was the owner. What a sweet man. You could just tell that he loves what he does. He has passion and that is contagious.

The oil and balsamic vinegar are in these big stainless steel looking urns with spigots on them. He walked around with me and told me about all of the oils and the types of olives used, where they came from and how they were pressed. He gave me samples of all the different things he had and let me tell you, it was divine.

I ended up purchasing a medium bodied olive oil from Sicily. A big shout out to you Dea!!!! I also got the most unbelievable balsamic vinegar...are you ready for it...pomegranate! OMG it is ridiculous!!! I can't wait to make a salad with it. Woo hoo! I walked out of there with two bottles wrapped up in pretty tissue paper and placed lovingly in a beautiful paper shopping bag. It was such a treat. I guess it should be for the price I paid! Whew, I can't wait for the hubby to get that bill. He won't understand :o)

The meetup was so much fun. I met some great people and had a really nice chat with the owners at the end of the evening. It's a great place and the food is delicious. It has a nice vibe. I like it there. I told Kathy (the owner) that if they ever need an employee to work a bit here and there that I would be open to it. I think it would be fun. Ha, my parents might fall over since I tried so hard to run away from the restaurant business my whole life. This is different though. :o)

I had a burrito to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It was really good even though it was a bit spicy for my tastes. All of their food comes with 2 or 3 side salads that will vary depending on what they have fresh that day. I was able to eat that and cool my tongue down a bit. It was a lot of food and I ended up only eating half of it which was good because it saved room for the COOKIES!

OK seriously, I don't know what the heck they did to make these bad boys but they were like nothing I have tasted before. They were double chocolate chip cookies. The texture was firm and soft at the same time and the flavor was rich and sweet. Holy cow...so good they should be illegal. I was planning on eating only one but, uh oh, I ate both of them. Shhh, don't tell anyone. Now I know to stay away from them.

When I got home I had my hubby try the burrito and he really liked it. He actually finished the whole thing. I am so happy because now I know for sure there is something he can eat there when we go out. It was good too because I asked him how spicy it was to him on a scale of 1 to 10. He said 5 and I said 8. Pretty good to know how we compare. Now I know how to make his food when I cook for him.

My little Liam was home sick today. It was a bit scary. He woke up screaming and crying at 6:00 am telling me his back hurt. He had a slight fever. I got him back to sleep and then when he woke up again he was still complaining of a sore back. It was mostly on the left so I knew it couldn't be the gallbladder or appendix so I thought maybe the kidneys.

I went with him to the bathroom and watched him straining while he was peeing so I got a bit worried. I took him to the doctor and they did a urinalysis on him. The quick one came back clean so that was good. They are going to culture it but I think it will come back negative too. I found out that he hasn't pooped since Friday though so the straining could just be constipation. I am thinking he has two unrelated things, a virus and constipation. I got him some organic cranberry juice just in case and had him eat some flax crackers and raisins. Hopefully that will get him moving again.

As the day went on his fever got worse. He was bright red, burning up and completely listless on the couch. He kept falling in and out of sleep. I usually try not to give the kids any kind of fever reducer but when it hits about 104 degrees I usually give in and that is what happened tonight. Poor little guy.

Wow, I had a lot to write tonight didn't I? Well, it was great getting out of the house and doing something new and different. When I was driving home I realized how happy I was singing in the car and it made me see that I need to do this type of thing more often. I feel such a bond with so many of you on the Internet but I don't really have any friends locally that are into the same things as me. I am usually the odd one that everyone asks weird questions to. It was great to see that there are people out there who are like me and one of them lives minutes from my house! They get together all the time and they are planning some fun adventures. They want to go camping and to Ravinia for meetups. Now that's what I'm talking about, well not the camping thing but still, how fun. Only my hubby could get me to go camping for him :o) OMG, I can't stop typing. Sorry!

Much love!

Weekend Menu

So you all know I've been craving seaweed. I decided to whip out my wakame that I had in my pantry and see what I could do with it. I made the first salad yesterday. It was OK. A little boring but OK. I have never had wakame so I was surprised that I couldn't really taste it too much. I was so excited that the taste was so bland and yet so good for me so I gave my husband a strand. Ha ha. He was gagging and spitting it out. It was the funniest thing. Hee hee, I'm evil. No, I really didn't think it had that much taste. Oh well. Here is the recipe I used. I did not use the Bragg's and I used romaine lettuce and tomatoes. No nuts.

Simple Wakame Salad

Recipe contributed by Dorleen Tong
1 clove garlic, grated
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 avocado
Bragg's to taste
3 cups greens (sunflower, buckwheat, spinach, lettuce, etc)
1 cup soaked wakame seaweed
optional: tomatoes, walnuts, pecans, almonds or pine nuts

Grate the ginger and garlic. In a small bowl, mash the avocado, ginger, garlic and Bragg's together. Break greens and wakame up into bite size pieces. Toss all ingredients together thoroughly.
This recipe is courtesy of San Francisco LiFE

Today I decided to try again. I made Japanese Delight that is in Alissa Cohen's book, Living on Live Food .I added a bunch of alfalfa sprouts and substituted the Bragg's for a little bit of miso. It was pretty good. Better then the first one. Still not to die for but still, very good.

Now the nori rolls I made to go with it are another story. Wow, I loved them. I mixed some fresh grated ginger with a bit of miso, a bunch of alfalfa sprouts, avocado, cucumber, cilantro, and red pepper. I really loved these and wanted more and more and more. :o)

For lunch I made the Indian spinach dip from the same book. I didn't know what to expect and I was thrilled at the taste of it. It had 4 cups of spinach in it and I ate about 1/2 of it. I put it in a collard wrap with more alfalfa sprouts, red pepper and grape tomatoes that I cut in half. Yummmmmmy! I didn't take a picture of it because honestly it didn't look that great, but it tasted wonderful!

I did take a picture of the sandwich I made with it for dinner though. I used the Black Sesame Bread I made from Ani Phyo's Book and topped it with cucumber, tomato, alfalfa, and red onion. It was pretty good. Better in the collard wrap though. I guess I can't be a good critic of the bread because when I was supposed to put sunflower seeds in it, I put sesame seeds. Oops, I think that might change the taste a bit. I am going to have to try it again.

I don't know why I decided I wanted a dessert tonight. Maybe I thought it was a special Sunday treat. I made this Mango Mousse and Berry Parfait. I don't know where I got the recipe because I copied it off the Internet about 2 years ago but boy oh boy was it good. My husband and kids thought it was good too. I made a smaller amount.

Red Mango Mousse and Berry Parfait

4 cups Fresh Red Mangoes (I don't know what red mangoes are. I just used a regular mango)
4 TB Coconut butter
1/2 vanilla bean (I used liquid)
2 TB lime
1 TB lime zest
1/2 cup agave (I used a lot less, a drizzle)
Pinch of salt
1 cup berries (I used strawberries)

Put all ingredients except the berries and 1 cup of the mango in food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Chill in the fridge 1-2 hours or overnight. (I didn't do this)

Fill the cups with a layer of the mousse, a layer of fresh sliced mango, then another layer of the mousse, then a layer of fresh berries and so on until full. Top with a layer of fruit and fresh mint leaves.

I was so excited on Saturday when I went to a local kitchen store Sur La Table and bought myself a spiral slicer. I was able to make the most beautiful angel hair pasta with it. I topped it with marinara and it was delicious. I love that slicer! It's so cool. I also got this neat mango cutter. You just press down on it and it takes the pit out. It makes it so much easier. I loved it.

So that was my culinary weekend. I hope you enjoyed the recap. I am enjoying my food so much that I wish I could eat more:o) There's always tomorrow!

Mexican Fiesta

Dinner tonight was delicious. I was so thrilled with it as usual lately. I decided to make this because yesterday my husband was telling me how much he is enjoying eating healthy but that he comes home and ends up eating poorly because it is easier. He said that often he doesn't even feel that good after eating dinner but it's just too hard to make something different.

The problem is that we have such different tastes in food. He wouldn't be caught dead eating nori rolls or much of what I love. He tasted my pate and he didn't like it. I tend to be able to eat what he likes but not the other way around. He loves, loves, loves Mexican food so I know I can make him happy if I serve him up something spicy.

So tonight I made fajita vegetables from The Complete Book of Raw Food . The flavor was really nice, spicy and flavorful and the vegetables were soft but still had a nice bite. I also made a Spanish "Rice" from Gone Raw. This was a little bland but still good.

I ended up putting it into a collard wrap with sliced avocado for a taco. It was messy but good. In end I just ate it by itself. I should have made some tortilla wraps but I didn't think about it until it was too late and I didn't have 6 hours to dehydrate them. Next time.

My husband ended up not liking the "rice". He doesn't like cauliflower so I knew it was a stretch but her put the avocado and vegetables in flour tortillas and he really liked it. He ate it all up. Success! The good thing is that the vegetables are pretty easy to make so I can whip that up easily for him to keep him happy. I will probably make a double batch next time.

Fajita Vegetables
By Chad Sarno

1 1/2 cups thin strips of red bell pepper
1 cup thin strips yellow bell pepper
1 cup thin strips of zucchini
1 TB minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 TB minced oregano
3 TB lemon juice
3 TB olive oil
1 1/2 TB chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl. Marinate for up to 1 hour or dehydrate for 2 hours to soften and warm.

I used Spanish onion instead of yellow bell pepper and I didn't have any fresh oregano so I used dried. The recipe says it serves 6. My husband and I ate the whole thing. Oops!

Spanish Rice
Makes a large bowl. Can easily be halved. Keeps well for a few days.
This recipe is taken from How We All Went Raw by Charles Nungesser and Stephen Malachi

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, grated in a food processor
4 green onions, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup cilantro, diced
1 avocado, mashed
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
½ tablespoon sea salt
¼ cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

Mix together well and serve.

Fun, Fun, Fun in the Kitchen

What a wonderful day of eating I had today. I woke up around 7:00 and drove my son to school for his baseball game. I headed off to the store to pick up a few things and it was so fun to be able to go into different sections of the produce aisle.

When I got home I started preparing food for the day. It was so fun. First I made a Sweet and Sour Sauce from Snowdrop that I have made before that I think it so delicious.

Sweet and Sour Sesame Sauce
¾ c nama shoyu
¾ c honey (or agave)
2 cloves garlic
1 pc ginger as big as your thumb (equal to the amount of garlic approx)
2 T sesame seeds
2 T coconut oil
1 t sesame oil
2 t red pepper flakes

Chop the garlic & ginger so it doesn’t jam under your blades, and put all into the food processor and blend till the veggies are well pureed. The seeds will float up with the oils when left standing, that’s ok, just stir when using.

I put some broccoli slaw mix, bean sprouts, shitake mushrooms, cilantro, and green onions, in a bowl and mixed them with half of the sauce. I let it sit out on my counter for the day and get nice and soft. When I ate it for dinner later I drained off the liquid and added some more sauce on top. Yum!

Then I made some more of my special Broccoli Rabe.
1 bunch rapini chopped
celtic sea salt
olive oil
2 cloves of garlic minced
4-6 sun dried tomatoes chopped
6 mini portabella musrooms sliced
red onion chopped
1 med tomato chopped

I simply chop up the rapini and massage it with some celtic sea salt. Then I drizzle some olive oil over it. I added the rest of the ingredients and let it sit on the counter for the day. I will then move it into the refrigerator until the next day. You could put it in the dehydrator to warm it instead.

Last but not least I made some marinara sauce from Alissa Cohen's book, Living on Live Food. I love this sauce. It is so delicous and comes together quickly in the food processor. I made some zucchini noodles with my peeler (I have to get the saladacco!!! ), added some spinach that I massaged for a quick minute and some mini portabellas. I mixed the marinara with it and put it aside. I had plenty of marinara left over.

In less than an hour I had 3 meals prepared and ready to go with enough sauce left over to make at least 2 more dishes too! How cool is that? I was very excited.

The only thing I would have done differently is that I would not have mixed the zucchini with the marinara sauce until I was ready to eat it. It released too much water that I had to drain off and it still was a bit watery when I ate it. It still tasted delicious though. I knew about this but I forgot. It's been a while since I made that.


What a great raw day. I am loving food again and enjoying the ease of preparation and planning. I haven't introduced nuts back into my diet yet for a couple of reasons. The number one reason is that my stomach is a bit tender and nuts are harder to digest so I figure I will just wait and see what happens for a while. I am not craving them yet so I will just enjoy life without them for a while.

Here I go!

I am beginning this blog to keep track of my ongoing (and soon to be ending) battle with food. I went raw for about 4 months in the summer of 2006. I lost a good amount of weight, looked good, felt pretty good, and then I fell off the wagon.

I can remember while I was raw hearing people say that they had fallen off the raw wagon and I couldn't understand how it could happen. Well, now I know. For me it was a mixture of the cold weather approaching and the feelings I was having that I was missing out on something. I started by saying to my husband, "I will just eat a cooked meal when we go out for dinner". Then I was at a hypnotherapy class and it was cold outside so I ate cooked food that day and by the end of the week, I was off raw.

The funny thing is I didn't just go off raw and start eating a healthy cooked food diet. I went crazy! I ate processed foods, sugar, pizza, beer, anything and everything I could get my hands on. I went berserk and in the process I have gained back all my weight and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror yesterday and it scared me. My skin is dull, my face is round and I have more than one chin. I have lost that vibrant and healthy look that I had.

OK, so I screwed up. I need to deal with that and move on! Now, what to do? I am going to ease back into the raw thing. I have decided that for right now I am going to be gentle with myself. I am not up for a heavy duty detox and after listening to Sergei Boutenko on Raw Summit 2 talking about the detox symptoms being unnecessary I have decided that makes a lot of sense.

I will not rush it and I will not allow myself to feel like a frozen popsicle. I will begin by eating one cooked meal each day; something warm and comforting. I will drink tea to keep me warm. I will not punish myself for not being 100% raw. Every step I take will be a step in the right direction so I intend to take it easy and not get too freaked out about everything.

I think this is a good path for me because it isn't too radical. I tend to do things full force for a while and then I back off. This is new for me so it is an experiment. I will keep track of what I eat, how I feel and I will share any recipes I enjoy.

So here is what I ate yesterday:
For breakfast I had 2 bananas
For lunch I made a RAW cranberry cole slaw. I didn't really like it so there is no sense sharing the recipe.
I made this RAW cranberry fruit salad that was yummy. I had that for a snack. My 7 year old shared it with me.
For dinner I had COOKED Moroccan Vegetable Soup which was simply lovely.

I felt good for most of the day. I ate dinner rather early because I was so hungry. I was worried that I was going to want to eat all night long but I didn't. In fact it was probably the earliest I stopped eating in a long time. I had a cup of herbal tea about 9:00 and that was it. I am feeling excited. I think this is a good move for me!

The two recipes I will share with you are ones I got off the Internet. I didn't think I was going to be starting the blog so I am unable to give credit to the creator of the cranberry salad.

Cranberry Salad (raw) -
1 orange (grate the peel and then cut up the flesh)
2 C. cranberries chopped (I threw them in a mini food processor)
2 pears chopped
1 sweet apple chopped
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans chopped
4 ribs celery chopped (I used less cuz I am not a fan of celery)
1/2 c raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 c raw honey (I didn't have any so I used a drizzle of agave)

Moroccan Vegetable Stew
by Kendra LaPreste, Massachusetts
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small white onion, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 med. carrots, chopped chunky
14.5 oz can diced organic tomatoes
1 large pinch saffron threads (I didn't have this so I threw some turmeric in instead)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
15 oz can cannellini or garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C. peas, fresh or frozen
1/2 lb spinach, washed, stemmed and chopped

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and carrots and saute until softened.
2. Add tomato paste and cook additional 3-4 minutes
3. Stir in tomatoes, saffron, red pepper flakes, cinnamon and ginger and simmer uncovered for 5 min.
4. Add beans, salt and pepper and 1 3/4 cups water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 5 min.
5. Add peas and spinach and cook uncovered another 2 minutes, just until the spinach is wilted.