Napa Cabbage and Bok Choy Salad

We were able to purchase a napa cabbage, red peppers, baby bok choy, grape tomatoes at the farmers' market. These are ingredients needed for an oriental salad.

Ingredients:
1 head napa cabbage, sliced
3 baby bok choy, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced or sliced
3-4 scallions, sliced
1 beet, shredded
3 carrot, shredded
grape tomatoes (halved)

Combine in a large bowl

Dressing:
1 TBS sesame seed oil
1 TBS olive oil
2 TBS water
2 garlic clove
2 TBS maple syrup
2 TBS coconut aminos
4 TBS kombucha
1 scallion

Either whisk or blend. We blended

Top with nuts or seeds of choice. We used crispie pumpkin seeds

apple pie smoothie

One of our new fall favorite smoothies is an apple pie smoothie.

Ingredients: 
2 apple, chopped
1 kale leaf
1 cup sparkling apple cider kefir
1 inch vanilla bean
½ inch cinnamon stick
Very thin slice of fresh ginger (the equivalent of a “pinch”)
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of Celtic sea salt
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

Blend all ingredients until smooth; add ice if desired.

for more calories we added 1 cup of pumpkin

Sparkling Apple Cider

Fall is my favorite time of year. We tried to eat a large portion of our diet seasonally in addition to being mostly raw. This year we thought we would even do this with our water kefir.

Ingredients:
3 cups water kefir ready for second fermentation
1/4 cup apple juice or cider
1/2 cinnamon stick
a small piece of nutmeg
2 whole cloves

Directions:
combine all the above ingredients in a 1 quart mason jar and seal with a plastic lid. Leave on the counter for a day and then refrigerate.

Raw Tomato Soup

We are joining Whitney Paige in her 5 day vibrant cleanse but putting a more raw twist to it.
Dinner for the first day is Tomato Soup with Grilled Avo Sandwiches.
We made a raw tomato soup version and used our raw onion bread with an herby almond spread.

Ingredients: serves 4
2 lbs Roma tomatoes
1 garlic clove
1 celery stalk
1/4 cup onion
1 cup soaked sundried tomatoes, save the soaking water
1/2 cup cashews, soaked at least 1 hour, drain, rinse, and drain, or hemp seeds, no need to soak
2 dates
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh basil, divided saving some to garnish with fresh leaves
Directions: add everything to the high speed blender using soup cycle including 1 cup of the tomato soaking water.

Tomatoes release the lycopene  when heated. The high speed blender gets warm enough to release it and cool enough to stay raw.

Paleo Bread

We purchased a paleo (almond meal based) box bread mix this week. The bread was amazing. After searching the internet, we found multiple recipes with similar ingredients. Using the basic recipes, we were able to expand it to the three types of breads from the box using the following recipes:

Loaf: 7.5x3.5 loaf pan, bake 350 for 35-45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
• ¾ cup arrowroot powder
• ¼ cup ground flaxseed
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Directions: combine all the ingredients. Place in a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

Flatbread: bake 350 for 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
• ¾ cup arrowroot powder
• ¼ cup ground flaxseed
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 TBS olive oil

Directions: combine all the ingredients. Place in a cookie sheet pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Dinner rolls in muffin tins, bake 350 for 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
• ¾ cup arrowroot powder
• ¼ cup ground flaxseed
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 cup water

Directions: combine all the ingredients. Place in a greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Oil Free Poppy Seed Dressing

 

We love poppy seed salad dressing but were interested in creating a healthier version. This is oil free. The pumpkin seeds add fat to assist with absorption of fat soluble nutrients.

This makes ~ 16 ounces

Ingredients:

2 TBS kombucha mustard

3-4 TBS apple cider vinegar, we like it with more of a vinegar taste, so we added 4.

3 pitted dates

2 TBS honey

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 clove garlic, we used fermented garlic cloves from the carrots

1/2  to 3/4 cup cucumber (we added 3/4 cups because we love the alkalinity of the cucumbers

1/4 cup crispie pumpkin seeds

6 TBS water

Blend in a high speed blender.

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1 TBS poppy seeds

stir in the above blend

Sattvic Diet

The Sattvic diet is a diet based on foods with the sattva quality (guna). In Yoga and Ayurveda literature, the Sattvic diet is said to restore and maintain a sattvic or sentient state of living.

This is from zliving 

Here are some of the foods you must, and must not include in your Yogic diet.

Foods To Include:

• You can eat all kinds of vegetables, except for onions and garlics as they are categorized as being Tamasic (foods that are said to cause mental dullness).
• Fruits are an important part of the diet, especially apples, mangoes, and papaya, since they are naturally sweet.
• Whole grains like oats, wheat and unpolished rice are also Sattvic.
• Plant-based oils such as sunflower, olive and sesame oil are permitted.
• Nuts and seeds can be eaten, as long as they are not salted, or flavored with extra ingredients.
• You can also include sweet spices like cinnamon, cardamom, mint and fennel, herbal teas, natural sweeteners like honey and raw sugar, cow’s milk, butter, and ghee.

Foods To Avoid:

• Meat, poultry, fish and fertilized eggs are said to be Tamasic. Any product derived from animal fat, or by killing or hurting animals is avoidable.
• Processed foods with additives and artificial flavoring are to be omitted.
• You must also stay away from junk and fried food, refined and canned food, spicy food (since it agitates the mind), and genetically modified food. Doing so is considered part of a healthy diet, in any case.
• Avoid stale or overcooked food.
• Avoid tobacco, alcohol, or any other kind of stimulant.
• Avoid eating too quickly, or in a chaotic manner.

The Sattvic diet is recommended for people practicing yoga, or those who are on a spiritual path. By following this diet and making sure your experience with food imparts a sense of love and peace, you will improve your body, mind and spirit. Combine it with a healthy yoga routine and you will naturally be able to harness health and joy.

Recipes

Sweet Potato Hash Browns

The Hubby woke from a dream with a recipe for Sweet Potato Hash Browns. This became part of our son's lunch.

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes, grated
1/2 sweet onion, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 TBS maple syrup (if eating for breakfast)
2 eggs
olive oil to grease  the pan

pan fry cooking until done

Shocking to find out that bananas...

We were shocked when we read the article 12-non-vegan-foods. Our son has an anaphylactic shock reaction to seafood, shellfish being the worst. He loves smoothies but has been experiencing apnea and cyanosis episodes lately. We have been adding bananas to increase his caloric intake, ironically he has been losing weight.
"This one is a shocker!  For those who have a shellfish allergy or who are vegan or vegetarian, yourbananas may be treated with a spray made from shellfish.  Bananas are sprayed with Chitosan, a bacteria fighting spray made from shrimp and crab shells.  It is essential to purchase organic bananas.  If you are allergic, you may have gone your whole life thinking you were allergic to bananas, only to find out you are really allergic to shellfish! (3)

If you are allergic to shellfish, buy organic bananas to avoid eating bananas treated with a shellfish spray!"

We think we will stop all bananas for a couple of weeks, good thing apples and pears are in season.

Sweet potato orange cream sickle smoothie

We don't know what is happening to the hubby, He sent this recipe from WRAL for us to try. We altered the recipe to fit our needs. This is delicious!!!

ingredients

1 small raw sweet potato
6 oz homemade almond yogurt

Splash of vanilla extract

 2 fresh naval oranges
2-4 dates
a pinch of vanilla bean

Blend until smooth.

Chili Stuffed Poblano Peppers

The Farmers' Market had poblano peppers 5 for $2. We made stuffed poblano (and sweet) peppers topped with chili. Even the hubby thought these were amazing!!!

Ingredients:
Peppers:
4 poblano peppers, halved length-wise, seeded and ribbed
2 sweet peppers, halved

mild version

Quinoa:
1 cup quinoa soaked, drained, rinsed, and drained
2 cup water
season to taste (we used 1/2 tsp of cumin and 1 tsp chili powder)
boil the quinoa and water, reduce heat, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes until done.

My husband's chili recipe:
1 quart of each homemade chili of choice (the hubby wanted it with beans, beef and spicy, we wanted it with mushrooms and beans, mild and spicy, so we did three pans)

Stuffing for all 6 peppers:
cooked quinoa
1/2 -1 tsp cumin
1 cup daiya Jack or Cheddar cheeze
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix

Stuff the peppers and place on top of the chili. Pour more chili over the stuffed peppers. Sprinkle with another 1 cup of cheeze.
Bake covered for 45 minutes at 350. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes.

My husband's chili recipe

It is after Labor Day so it is almost chili weather. This is the hubby's chili recipe he entered in the Parade Magazine in 1996 or 97. He didn't win, but it was published on PM's website.

Ingredients:
1 pound of beans (we use a combination of adzuki, black and garbanzo), soaked overnight or all day, drained, rinsed, drained
1 TBS molasses
1/2 cup red wine
2 14.5-oz cans  tomatoes
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce (we use coconut aminos due to soy and seafood allergies)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
2 TBS chili powder
1 TBS cacao nibs or shaved unsweetened chocolate
2 sweet onions, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 jalapeno,seeded and ribbed (if spicier leave seeds), diced
2-4 peppers, diced  (we split them between sweet and poblano, we start with 2 until the pot is full)
2 serrano  (for those who like it hotter, we added these to the divided beef pot)
cayenne to taste (we added these to the divided beef pot)
another can of stewed tomatoes

We divided this after it has cooked about 8-10 hours or overnight. In one crockpot, we will added 1/2 pound browned stew beef, a 1/3 of a can of stewed tomatoes, another jalapeno and a serrano pepper. The other two we added 1/2 pound sauteed crimini mushrooms, a 1/3 of a can of stewed tomatoes to each pot, plus adding a couple of rings of jalapenos and serrano for a medium chili to the center one. We continue cooking these another 6-10 hours.

BBQ wings, cauliflower and chicken

The first time we saw using cauliflower in place of wings was at buffalo-cauliflower-wings-with-avo-ranch-sauce/.
We used our own wings BBQ sauce. It isn't raw but is so good.
We drenched the cauliflower in BBQ sauce and placed them in the dehydrator for a couple of hours. These were delicious!

The chicken wings were baked, fat poured off, and then placed them in the BBQ sauce in a crockpot until ready to serve. Our boys love these!!!
We served them for our Labor Day gathering.

Chinese water spinach

Our new ingredient this month is hollow stem or On Choy.  It has a mild taste with a little crunch. The stems and leaves are to be eaten. We had it stir-fried with coconut aminos, shiitake mushrooms, zucchini, onions, garlic, peppers, and a squeeze of lemon juice. It was also delicious in breakfast smoothies this morning. We are so thankful it was recommended this morning at the farmers' market.

September 2015 potluck

 This month's theme is a taco bar, one of the group's favorites.

We served walnut taco meat, with a cilantro sour kreme, nacho cheeze, mango salsa, and guacamole on romaine leave wraps. For dessert we had cacao tacos and drank hibiscus tea.







romaine leaf shells






The walnut taco meat is from Ani's Raw Food Essentials, page 146.
2 cup soaked and dehydrated walnuts
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon ground cumin
4 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoon liquid aminos (Braggs or coconut)
1/2 teaspoon salt
we added 1 tsp of chili powder
pulse all ingredients in the food processor

Cilantro sour kreme:












The nacho cheeze is from Raw Foods for Dummies, page 274.
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for 4-6 hours, rinsed and drained.
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup filtered water
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Place all the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth.

guacamole:
avocado
tomatoes
onions
lemon juice
garlic



mango salsa:

Here is the recipe for the cacao tacos

Cacao Tacos

Our raw potluck theme this month is tacos. Faith and I made a double batch of chocolate-tacos the morning of the potluck. We used our almond ice cream recipe adding chocolate chips and mint instead of the recipe from raw food magazine.  We also made our caramel and cacao sauces from the almond ice cream link. Faith had to leave for a memorial service, so she made hers using a banana. Thanks Faith for spending the morning with us!!!

Ingredients for the Chocolate taco shells

cacao taco dessert shells

• 1/2 cup ground flax seeds ($.25)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 ripe bananas ($.30)
• 4 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder ($.80)
• pinch salt
• we added a tsp of vanilla for a double recipe
• 
  

Direction for the Shells

1. Make the shells first. Use finely ground flax seed and soak in water for about twenty minutes, until gooey.
2. In a food processor with an “S” blade, puree the bananas until smooth. Add in the soaked flax, cocoa powder and salt and process briefly.
3. Use 1/4 cup and spread in eight circles on lined dehydrator trays. Let dehydrate for about an hour at 105 degrees, until dry to the touch on the side facing up.
4. Flip and peel the sheet away. Let dry another couple hours in the dehydrator. Then, gently fold in half. Use a twisted piece of wax paper to make a brace to hold the taco shell slightly open. Let dry this way for another couple hours. Let cool to room temperature.

the mint chocolate chip almond ice kreme

1.