I’m not one who usually makes New Year’s resolutions, and this year was no different. What was different, however, is the way I’m approaching some life direction changes. You see, my mom calls me an “experiencer”. As in, when deciding my incarnation for this lifetime, I apparently realized that I didn’t get to experience enough in my past lives to further my growth. And I have to agree with her. I’ve always been willing to try most anything, within reason, once. Twice if I like it.
So this year, I had a good long sit with myself and had to think about what was working and what was not, what I want to experience in this lifetime and what I would like to eliminate and what I would like to learn and accomplish. And it’s A LOT. I then started thinking about what is possible to accomplish this year. Some things I know need to be moved to a list that will allow more time for them to manifest, but some things I can do within the year.
One of those things I can do is tweak my diet. You see, I have this love affair with nut butters. Not just any ol’ nut butter - no way! I’m especially fond of creamy, raw cashew butter. Almond butter is good, too, and I’ve always been fond of peanut butter (not technically a nut, but, you know…) So I’ll continue to carry on my affair with nut butters, just not as much. A little discretion here and there is called for…
So back to this list. One thing I’ve added to my “this year” action plan is to write a program to suit my needs that allows me to track my changes, accomplishments and life meters. I’ve looked at some goal setting software out there, but they aren’t for me. Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands.
I have many things on my plate to choose from and I want to experience all of them, and some things I’ll be scraping off into the trash.
Here’s to a new year, a new me and a new you.
Lately I’ve been craving the crunch of slaw. I think I did that over the summer, too and when that craving hits, I start coming up with all different varieties of slaw.
It’s really simple - amounts are approximate. Adjust to suit your taste:
1/3 head red cabbage, shredded
3-4 carrots, shredded
1 scallion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1-2 cloves garlic
2-3 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp sea salt
Mix all ingredients together and enjoy!
I wanted a chia pudding that was more along the lines of a rice pudding or tapioca. I figured a base of cashew cream would hit the spot, and it did. As is usually the case with me, I didn’t measure, so I’m approximating.
Creamy Chia Pudding
Cashew Cream:
1 cup cashews - soaked
Dash of vanilla
Honey or agave nectar
pinch of sea salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup water
Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix till it’s creamy.
Chia Seed Gel:
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 cup water
Add chia seeds to water and let soak for 5 minutes or so. Stir and let soak another 10 minutes. Stir again and add cashew cream to chia gel according to how creamy you like it. I did about equal portions of cashew cream to chia gel.
Mmmm…
I’ve looked all over for recipes for raw onion rings…a healthy version of the fried onion rings I used to love. I couldn’t find any that came close to creating the batter goodness and crispy texture, so I had a bit of a think and came up with my own.
Terry’s AWESOME Onion Rings!
You’ll need:
1 large onion
Sunflower seed cheese/dip
Ground Flaxseed
Ground sunflower seeds
Sea salt
To prepare…
Sunflower Seed cheese/dip:
1 cup sunflower seeds
1-2 cloves garlic
Sea salt - pinch or two
Nutritional yeast - to taste (not raw, but good!)
Enough water to get the stuff going
Put all ingredients in blender and add water as needed to keep it moving. You want the mixture to be thick. Set aside or put in fridge.
THEN…
Slice onion and separate rings. Pour the sunflower seed cheese over the rings and use your hands to make sure all the rings are covered.
Grind the flax seeds and sunflower seeds in a coffee grinder, food processor or Vita-Mix. Mix them together and add the sea salt to the mixture. Sprinkle the ground seeds over the coated onion rings until they are thoroughly covered.
Place onion rings in dehydrator and dehydrate till the onions are the texture you like. I like mine still kinda moist.
I’ve found this comes closest to the fried onion ring texture than some of the other recipes I’ve seen.
Enjoy!
Sorry, I don’t have a picture for this one…yet. Can’t say when I’ll get one up, but next time I make some, I will.
These chips have the perfect texture. Great for dipping or for nachos or whatever!
Terry’s Raw Corn Chips:
1/2 cup ground flax - soak for 15 minutes
1/2 cup whole flax seeds (no need to soak)
4 cups frozen corn, thawed
Juice of 1 lime
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
Process corn in food processor with S blade till smooth. Stir in ground flax seed, whole flax seed, lime juice and spices. Spread on parchment paper in dehydrator and dehydrate till dry on one side, then flip over onto screen and dehydrate till crispy.
The past couple weeks I’ve really been experimenting with uncooking. I’ve mentioned before that I love (or loved?) to cook, but uncooking is a whole new thing for me.
While I’m all about keeping things simple when it comes to how we eat, I really enjoy the preparation of food, the arrangement, the tasting, and finally, sitting down to the meal for some good conversation with my family while we enjoy our food. Though we don’t always get to do that with our busy schedule, it’s nice to do it whenever we can. So preparing raw meals has become important to me.
So in learning to uncook, I’ve had some hits and I’ve had some misses and last night’s dish was a definite miss. My husband is Italian and grew up on that kind of food, so obviously pasta is a comfort food for him. I’ve very much enjoyed creating lasagnas and other pasta dishes in the past, and now I’m trying to recreate something at least a little similar. Well, lately, thanks to some garden-fresh tomatoes, I’ve been succeeding with raw lasagnas and ravioli-like dishes, but once in a while I hit a food roadblock…I tried making a pasta-like dish of zucchini with marinara and it was kinda weird. I won’t share THAT recipe till I make it a hit. Really, it was bit nasty.
I feel like I did when I first started learning to cook - learning the combination of ingredients and textures that go well together and which ones don’t. I’ll get it eventually.
Here’s an audio interview I did with Casey of RawAndFit.com talking about doing raw as a busy hairstylist and salon owner in a business where fast food or not eating at all is the norm on a busy day. I also talk about not beating yourself up for not being perfect in our quest for health and fitness.
Please note that healthyhairstylist.com is no longer updated. You’re on the right site 
Please check out Casey’s site RawAndFit.com
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I made some awesome coconut macaroons today with a little experimentation. I’m going to approximate the measurements because as is my usual method of UNcooking, I tend to add things without measuring. Oh well.
They were so fun to make and smell sooo good! Here’s the recipe:
Raw Coconut Macaroons
2 cups cashews (I didn’t soak)
10 dates - soaked 15 to 30 minutes - reserve 2-3 tbsp soak water
1-1/2 cups coconut flakes
2 tbsp lucuma powder (optional)
pinch of sea salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp agave nectar
Grind cashews until they have a mealy texture. Place cashews in a bowl.
Process soaked dates until they form a paste. Add to the cashews and mix.
Add the rest of the ingredients including the date soak water, 1 tbsp at a time until the dough sticks together.
Form into flattened tablespoon-sized balls (or whatever shape you like!) and dehydrate until firm yet still moist on the inside.
Enjoy!
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “a flexible body equals a flexible mind” or some variation of it. Think of the meaning behind that statement. What does it mean to you?
Here’s what it means to me:
Physically - keep yourself limber, flexible. Stretch. Up and down. Whether through hatha yoga or some simple stretching. Doesn’t matter. Keep everything moving. The body wasn’t made to be idle.
Neither was the mind. Keep learning. Embrace challenges as opportunities. Never tire of the wonders of the Universe. Always know it’s magic and you’ll always be surrounded by magic.
XOXO
I felt inclined to make a raw “sorta” cobbler the other day and had a dilemma…eat it right away or wait and serve it for dessert? Dessert won and it was so worth the wait.
Although not raw, I used maple syrup to sweeten the cashew cream and filling, but you could certainly use any sweetener you like - agave, honey, dates, etc.
There are three parts to the cobbler: the filling, the cream, and the crumbly topping.
Filling:
1 pint blackberries
Maple syrup (just a tad - the blackberries weren’t very sweet!)
Pinch of sea salt
Vanilla extract
Process in food processor. I used a mini processor.
Cream:
1 Cup cashews
Pinch of sea salt
Vanilla extract
Maple syrup to taste
1 tbsp coconut oil
Blend till creamy. Can put in the fridge to set.
Crumb topping:
Pecans
Flax seed
Pinch of sea salt
Dab of raw honey or chopped dates
Grind pecans and flax seed in coffee grinder. Add honey or chopped dates.
Assemble by putting the filling in a bowl, top with cashew cream and crumb topping.
Enjoy.