Ramblings

Every night my husband and I start the routine of preparation for the next day. We get the kids' lunches ready and we prepare all the ingredients for the morning smoothies. My husband likes to make his smoothie at night, put it in a mason jar and put it in the freezer. I don't think you're supposed to freeze them and I told him but he says it works so what the heck.


For a long time I wasn't preparing mine at night and then one day I realized it was crazy to do the work twice and now when I go to have my smoothie each morning I just throw all the cut up stuff in the blender and flip it on. So easy!

I've also been making an extra glass of smoothie each morning and leaving it in the fridge for an afternoon snack. I like to have it ready to go without any preparation. It's like a bonus!


More, More, More

I was so excited when my grocery store had kale in stock again. It's been 2 weeks with nothing. Boo hoo. I decided to make James Russell's Wilted Kale with Chipotle Dressing because I've been waiting...well, 2 weeks to try it.


The recipe calls for 4 heads of kale. I don't care how much it wilts, I can't eat that by myself so I decided not to halve it, but to quarter it. One bunch of kale. I also didn't have any hemp seeds so I used sesame seeds. I took a series of pictures to document the process.


I titled this More, More, More because I felt like every step of the way that is what this dish needed, more. In defense of the recipe, I think if I followed the recipe as written it probably would have tasted better.


Here are my mores:

1. Massaging. I think I should have massaged the kale longer and maybe even let it sit out and marinate for a while like I do with my broccoli rabe. I didn't like the raw taste I would get from time to time while eating it. Blech. I've marinated kale before but I've never had it taste like this before. Massage your kale a long time people. And when you think you're done, massage it some more.


2. Tomatoes - I would have like a bunch more tomatoes in my salad. Maybe if the kale tasted better I wouldn't have wanted more tomatoes but as it was I threw some more in after I started eating it.

3. Just more - I think I would have liked a bit more taste. The chipotle taste was good but I would have liked more. I think it would have benefitted from some garlic or pepper or something. I was thinking about adding more stuff to it as I was making it but as I said before I like the idea of trying things the way they are intended so I know where to go from there.


I usually rate all the things I make with stars. I would rate this one about 2 1/2 out of 4 but with some tweaking I know it would be just what I like. I will also make notes on recipes so that the next time I make it I know what to do differently. It has come in handy many times.

On the Go
I am the queen of eating on the go. I used to be so good at GO-ing to the drive thru or GO-ing to get pizza. Now I am the queen of raw food on the go! I only had a few minutes to prepare before I ran out the door for my son's baseball game today. I mean seriously, it was probably about 10 minutes. In that time I managed to make zucchini noodles, slice up and massage some mushrooms and spinach, and sprinkle on some pine nuts.

I packed it in a container (plastic- bad- I know) and grabbed a container of marinara I had ready and bam! I was out the door.

Now, that probably doesn't seem so fantastic BUT I also managed to get 4 bags of snacks made for my little guys, get the dogs put away, corral the kids to go to the bathroom, get their sweatshirts, coats, baseball mitts, shoes on and loaded in the car. I also got my husband's extra clothes ready, grabbed my coat, packed waters, and got everything in the car and ready to go. Whew! I amaze myself sometimes.


I guess what I am trying to say is that eating a raw and living foods diet doesn't have to be hard. It can be simple and it can be easy. It can be great. If I can do it, anyone can.

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.