Entries by Taz

So I made the Luscious Lemon cookies. Not too bad. They taste good both dehydrate and not. I did not dehydrate for as long as the recipe called, only until the outside was crunchy and the inside was chewy.

After I blended the ingredients in the VitaMix the top of the mixture was liquidy. However, I did not want to continue because the Vitamix was getting warm. I was starting to wonder, how this concoction was supposed to be edible by hand and un-dehydrated when it was this goopy mess.
Well as I started to get to the bottom of the mixture it became clearer. The bottom of the mixture was pretty solid stuff. Very easily made into lemon squares and not messy to eat by hand. So needless to say, I dehydrated the top of the mixture and left the bottom alone. As I said they are both good, but I prefer the dehydrated ones, b/c I like the crunchy texture. These cookies were gone in 3 days.

Also note that these lemon cookies are VERY lemony. I don't remember right now how much lemon zest was required, but I just used the zest of as many lemons I needed to make lemon juice which I know was less than what the recipe called for.

I would definitely recommend this recipe. It is one of the best dessert recipes we have made.

Me:
Breakfast: Granola & Coffee

If you have joined us in the middle of this blog, and you are wondering where the whole raw thing comes into play, just a point of clarification. As I had indicated in my first post - I am not quite ready to "jump" into it. It is a mental thing. So this is how I prepare for it. Akom, is 100% raw and so I prepare foods for him, and try them myself, but I have not made it a meal for myself yet. My intent is to go through the Master Cleanse on March 2 for 10 days, purge my body, and then go on probably a 90% raw diet. We will see.

Today, I am going to experiment. One of the things that Akom and I have found, is that we do not enjoy dehydrated foods. Some "raw experts" have claimed, how wonderful raw food is dehydrated because it concentrates the flavors. We must be doing something wrong, because so far, with the exception of the banana pancakes from Rhio's book Hooked on Raw has not worked out for us.

So I am going to try the Lemon Cookies that Shery Duruz and Naomi Shannon have proposed can be eating both ways and let you know how it goes.

Me:
Breakfast: Fresh squeezed OJ, Granola, Coffee
Lunch: Chinese food
Dinner: Banana & Water

Akom:
Lunch: Zuchini/Carrot/Cabbage Salad with Peanut Sauce Dressing

SUCCESS!! I have had an issue with making sauces, which almost always kills the salad that Akom eats. I found this almond sauce on line which I actually think is Australian - Raw-Pleasure - to get the recipe and I think 60 others you need to pay $9.95 for an e-book. Hey I got it from them, and if this is part of their income, then it is not my information to give away - sorry.

I had already made the almond butter previously so I was a step ahead. However I do recommend, that if you are going to use the raw almonds vs. almond butter which can be expensive - use at least 1/4 cup of olive oil for every 1 1/2 cups of almonds and blend that first. Also, I highly recommend using a high-powered blender such as a Vitamix for raw almonds. They are tough little guys.

Tip: In a salad don't get too hung up on the little details. It all gets mixed in together. This recipe called for julienned carrots and thin strips of zuchini. I just cut everything up. Don't get hung up on the little things. It's all going into your stomach, and your stomach is not going to care if it is julienned or chopped! If you are "cooking" dinner for a party, then yes presentation may be important (Akom would disagree), but this a whole other debate for a different forum!

Me:
Breakfast: Orange Juice, Granola Cereal, Coffee
Lunch: Turkey Sandwich on mulit-grain bread

Akom:
Lunch: Tomato Soup and Under Seal Salad, Kiwi and Pears

Again I used the Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine as a starting off point. I have to admit I had written off the recipes from this book, because of the way the introduction is written, very technical and medical-ese. I am now finding, that not only are most of the recipes easy to make, but they also come out very tasty.

The tomato soup I think got 4 out of 4 stars from Akom. Actually, I even liked it. I think the addition of the sundried tomatoes definitely gave it that extra kick that it was lacking.

The salad on the other had got 3 out of 4 stars, which is probably more my fault than the recipes. I failed to realize that sea vegetables need to be soaked. Once I realized it was a little late in the game, so I soaked them for as long as I could, which I think was at most 15 - 20 minutes. Poor Akom, he had a tough time chewing through it . He did say that it was a good combination of tastes. I did improvise and added in a radish and some leftover celery from the tomato soup. The dressing was very simple to make

Total time spent on making lunch: 1 hour (Soup 15 min., Salad 35 min., Clean up 20 min.)

Tip: Try to use the same utensil, bowl etc. over and over when making a meal. It's all raw, and who knows, the "extra ingredient" may make the dish taste better.

Me:
Breakfast: Grapefruit Juice, Granola Cereal, Coffee
Lunch: Home cooked indian food
Dinner: Blueberries, strawberries and a banana

Akom:
Breakfast: He doesn't eat breakfast
Lunch: Almond Apple Porridge, adzuki sprouts and assorted fruit
Dinner: Blueberries, strawberries and a plantain

So I used the Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine by Gabriel Cousens book for the porridge. I first started the process in an Ultimate Chopper. Bad idea. The Ultimate Chopper which is good for many things, is not good with soaked almonds. So then I transferred everything into the Vita-Mix - which is a must have for any person seriously considering to eat raw 90% of the time. We got the refurbished model and it works fine. Well, even that was having trouble. So I decided to use some Almond Milk to help it out, and that worked like charm. I served it with blueberries. I also, used twice the amount of apples, and Akom said that it wasn't sweet enough but otherwise very tasty. Next time I might try some honey or agave nectar.

Also for the sprouter Akom built ours from home depot parts, and I don't think it was too difficult. He is going to have to add in that section when he gets a chance.

Tips: 1) When making recipes - unless you are planning a party and are experienced with raw foods, make half the recipe. This way if you are not happy with what you "cooked" up, it is not a lot of waste. 2) Use the scraps as compost. We have a small compost bin in the kitchen which gets filled up on a daily basis and we just take it outside and dump everything in the large compost bin. If you buy the biodegradble bags becareful because they do not last for more than 3 - 4 days.

For those of you who are wondering what the Master Cleanse is you can view it on Wikipedia. I think we have decided to start in March 2 - a Friday, because supposedly on several accounts of what happens, you should be near a bathroom - and it is after both of our birthdays. Also Akom is going to Sedona in April and he wants to be "clean on the inside" prior to going, so this is good timing.

As for going raw, I haven't gone totally raw yet. I had fresh squeezed orange juice which I actually have been having fresh for awhile - Simply Orange - does not compare. Akom's parents got us a Citrus Press from Breville which is amazing. It is quick and easy AND best of all, clean up is a cinch. Clean up has always been my downfall in any cooking experience. For example, we have a Jack LaLane Power Juicer which yes, powers through making juice but 1) the juices come out very frothy and 2) cleaning takes awhile. Since we embarked on the journey of opening a restaurant we have bought a Champion Juicer 2000+. I got a really good deal on it from the online store Healthnut Alternatives - cheaper than anywhere else.

Today we experimented with almond milk. We have made almond milk using several recipes in the past. So far the book Raw Food Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngalias has given has the best starting off point for foods. Their almond milk though is too "sweet" for me but the extra ingredients definitely give it a full body flavor, as if you were drinking whole milk. On a side note, becareful with this book - I who does not like salt very much - EVERYTHING is salty in this book. Also if you are beginning at raw it is a catch 22. We don't recommend this book for beginners to raw food HOWEVER it is the only recipe book that we have used where the food is tasty but the amount of time you will spend making one dish will make you rethink the entire raw food endeavour. This book also has forced us into experimenting because sometimes we just wouldn't have the ingredients needed.

Anyway, back to the almond milk. Today we used Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine by Gabriel Cousens. We tried the Strawberry Almond Mylk. The milk comes out MUCH thicker than any of the other recipes. This milk is much less sweet than RFRW's recipe - which is of no surprise since Cousen does not use sweetner in any of his recipes. We think for people just coming off of "normal" food - you need to use a sweetner - we use Blue Agave Nectar as the sweetner of choice.

Also a quick tips 1) instead of buying nut milk bags - go to your nearest Lowes or Home Depot and by paint straining bags - they are $2 vs. $8 or $9. and 2) 2 cups of dry almonds produces approximately 1 cup of pulp (give or take on how well you blend and strain your milk)

So I just turned 31 today, and over the past few months I have had this feeling of unhealthiness. Yes, many of you reading this may say..."So what, you're getting old, you're supposed to feel unhealthy, it's natural."

Well, over the past 31 years, I have probably been one of the "unhealthiest" eaters I know. Burgers and fries, chicken nuggets, Wendy's, fast food, take-out Chinese have been the staple of my diet. I have actually never considered those unhealthy for me, and since I am a big believer in mind over matter - I think, unlike my friends it never really affected me. I never had the over stuffed or sedating effects that the star of "SuperSize Me" claimed to feel. However a close family member just recently - and quite suddenly - began eating raw vegan foods - and anyone who has tried to cook for two can attest to how hard that is - well cooking for one is even harder. So as a result I have been eating a lot of what he eats which believe it or not is not just salads. There are a lot of "prepared" foods - prepared meaning dehydrated - and believe it or not, I think I am going to begin eating raw as well. It is still an intellectual notion in my head of..."but what about my monthly cravings?" Well to be quite honest, at this point, whenever I think about a burger my body revolts. It literally is this nauseating reaction to cooked food.


I don't know how I got to this point but I'm here. So after doing what is called the Lemonade Diet or the Master Cleanse to start my "body on a clean slate" I think raw food is how I will go.

Stay tuned on how it goes.....