Raw Cinnamon Raisin Bagels with Honey Cashew Cream Cheese

Raw bagel with cashew cream cheese

The hubby loves bagel and cream cheese. We thought we would make sweet ones first for our son and grandmother.

raw cinnamon raisin bagels

Made 7 1/4 cup bagels
Ingredients:
almond pulp (leftovers from using 1 cups almonds to make almond milk, ~ 1 cup pulp)
2 TBS honey
1 tsp freshly ground cinnamon
~1 cup flax meal
1/2 cup raisins

Directions: mix all ingredients in a food process with a dough blade. When it looks like bread dough, balling up in the processor enough flax has been added. The amount will vary depending on the dryness of the almond pulp.
Using a 1/4 cup  make almond balls. Using one's finger, place a hole in the middle, making a small bagel. Dry in the dehydrator (set at 105) on the screen, no sheets are needed. This will be 12-18 hours. Do to the higher moisture content, these will only keep for 4 days. Freeze the remaining ones.

This raw  cashew cream cheese recipe is good. We added 1/4 cup of honey to the entire recipe make a sweet cream cheese
http://heal-thy-self-cb.blogspot.com/2014/12/raw-cashew-cream-cheese.html

7-course Italian Holiday Meal honoring my Italian Heritage

Thanksgiving 2014

 While my 96-year old grandmother was visiting earlier this month, she told me about the Sunday dinners (and the holidays) at her Italian grandmother's home. Her grandmother's children owned different stores, one had a delicatessen, a grocer, a bakery. Without refrigeration and not wanting to pay for ice to keep things cold on Sundays or holidays, they would bring the leftover perishable food to her grandmother. My great-great grandmother would prepare a traditional feast for her family each week.

she is rolling bracioles

As my grandmother retold her childhood story, how she missed the family time together and LOVED the 7-course meals with wine, all I could think about is this is a piece of me too. What a tradition to restart, not because the food would perish as in her grandmother's day but to preserve a piece of who I am and the importance of being surrounded by loved ones.  As for our time-period,what a blessing to have refrigeration and freezers, so the food could be prepared over several weeks and stored in the freezer.
I remind my grandmother of her grandmother, in many ways, being petite, the love of food preparation, the garden, and the chickens just as her grandmother; although my great, great grandmother DID kill her chickens.
With each visit I realize, I may look more like my paternal German side, but I have my material Italian heart.
I love how things always come full circle!

Thanksgiving 2014 with my grandmother

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, so we decided to restart her 7-course meal for Thanksgiving, although not a traditional Thanksgiving meal, while she is still with us. This will be a Holiday Tradition to pass on to our children. I selected braciole because growing up it was one of my favorite meals prepared by my grandmother . Our son, Joe, made the bracoile the day after we talked about the menu and restarting the tradition.

From my grandmother's memory, all the perishables from the family's stores provided for these courses; an antipasto platter, a salad, soup, pasta, meat, a fruit and cheese platter, and dessert.

In trying to keep with tradition plus meeting our family needs, this is what we created.

course 1: Antipasto platter

Antipasto Platter

antipasto platter consisted of nitrate-free pepperoni and salami, olives, and artichokes.

vegetable antipasto

For our vegans, we prepared a vegetable antipasto platter consisting of broccoli,  zucchini, mushrooms, red peppers,  and green beans. The vegetables were marinaded with orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil, flax oil, and herbs from from our garden. http://heal-thy-self-cb.blogspot.com/2014/11/raw-vegetable-antipasto.html
The wine selected was pinot grigio.

course 2: Salad

Salad

the salad was brought by our friends Jyl and Cristen as a mini salad bar.
The wine selected was pinot noir








course 3: Soup

Chicken Soup

Non-cream of mushroom soup

homemade soups were a chicken soup using the carcass and whatever vegetables are in the refrigerator and herbs in the garden) and a non-cream of mushroom soup http://heal-thy-self-cb.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-few-of-our-favorite-soup-recipes.html )
The wine selected was Sauvigon blanc

course 4:

Pasta with Tomato Sauce

the pasta was rice pasta with a living tomato sauce from http://heal-thy-self-cb.blogspot.com/2014/03/comparing-raw-lasagna-recipes.html
The wine selected was Chianti

course 5: Main Dish

Braciole

Garlic Bread

The main meal was braciole stuffed with a ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, bread crumb, herb mix for our meat eaters.
The baguettes are UDIs and served with roasted garlic olive oil.

Zucchini Manicotti

For those who are vegan we served zucchini manicotti from http://heal-thy-self-cb.blogspot.com/2014/02/raw-zucchini-manicotti.html
This was served with a side of green beans from our garden.
The wine selected was Sangiovese

course 6: Fruit and Cheese

Brie with apples and raspberries

the fruit and cheese platters were  a walnut stuffed brie from WholeFoods and

Almond Herb Spread

an almond feta spread.
We served this with sliced apples and pears, and gluten free crackers.
The wine selected was Riesling







course 7: Dessert

Raw Pumpkin Pie

desserts were a raw pumpkin pie http://heal-thy-self-cb.blogspot.com/2014/10/raw-pumpkin-pie-from-healthy-self.html (provided by Debbie and Craig)

Raw French Silk Pie

and raw cacao silk pie with a cashew whipping cream http://heal-thy-self-cb.blogspot.com/2014/11/french-silk-pie-with-cashew-kreme.html)
Both served with  herbal teas or coffee.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Raw Apple Crumble

While trying to eat seasonally, a Raw Apple Crumble recipe has been in the works. This recipe is so easy. You will need a food processor.

Ingredients:
Crumble
1 1/2 cups of nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts... a combination works best)
6 -8 pitted medjool dates
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
A little water
juice of half a lemon
In a food processor, chop all ingredients together into a crumbly, but moist texture. Set aside in a bowl.

Apple filling
9 organic apples (organic are usually a little smaller, if using large apples, 6 should do), peeled, cored, and quartered
4-6 medjool dates
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
juice of half a lemon

In a food processor pulse 6 of the apples into small chunks and transfer to a mixing bowl. Don’t pulse too much.Process the remaining 3 apples with the dates, cinnamon and salt, until smooth (like applesauce).
Mix both together and spread into the bottom of a 9x9" pan and then sprinkle the crumble on top.

Red Lentil Mushroom Vegetable Soup

With cold weather upon us we LOVE soups. Today we created a Red Lentil Mushroom Vegetable Soup. It will be served with raw onion bread and a spring mix salad to keep the meal 75% raw. Thanks Courtney for your help today!!!

Ingredients: serves 4
1 cup rinsed, split red lentils
1 organic carrot, diced
2 organic celery, stalks
1 onion, diced
1 pound of cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cups carrot juice
2 cups vegetable broth
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 TBS fresh thyme
1 tsp fresh rosemary
a couple of handfuls of fresh kale, chopped (it is growing in our hoop house, but spinach could be used as well)

Directions: Using the vegetable broth (or carrot juice), saute the garlic and onions. Then add the other vegetables and saute. Add the remaining liquid, herbs, and lentils. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat until the lentils are soft. Add the greens, stirring until wilted. Serve.

Nutritional information:
Calories: 256
Carbs: 47 g
Fat: 1 g
Protein: 20 g
Fiber: 16.7 g

Raw Cacao chip cookies

I have used the dehydrated almond pulp in the past to make these chocolate chip cookies http://heal-thy-self-cb.blogspot.com/2013/10/raw-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
I have been experimenting trying to create a recipe using dates, cacao nibs, and cacao butter. This seems to work for us:

Ingredients:
1 cup of dehydrated almond pulp ground in food processor (the leftover pulp from 1 cup of almonds used to make almond milk)
8-12 pitted medjool dates
2 TBS melted cacao butter
6 TBS almond butter
process in the food processor then mix in
2 TBS cacao nibs

Roll into TBS balls, then flatten.
Dehydrate for 4-6 hours at 105 degrees

French Silk Pie with Cashew Kreme

We wanted to make a healthier French Silk Pie. We made these as individual tarts but will make it for Thanksgiving as a pie.

Nut Crust:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts in any combination)
5-8 dates
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup melted cacao butter
Process in the food processor, then add the melted cacao butter

French Silk
Ingredients:
2 avocados
12-14 pitted medjool dates
1 cups of water
4 TBS cacao powder
1/4 cup melted cacao butter
2 tsp vanilla

Place of the ingredients in a food processor, process until smooth.
Pour the French Silk filling into nut crust lined muffin cups. Smooth

Cashew Kreme
Ingredients:
1 cup soaked cashews (soak ~ 6 hours, drain, rinse, drain)
6-8 soft medjool dates, pitted
3/4 cup of water
1/4 cup melted cacao butter

Place ingredients in a high speed blender. Blend until smooth.

Garnish with cacao nibs

Raw Hot Peppermint Cacao

On days like today, we love hot chocolate. Today we made it using cacao powder and heated in our high speed blender while processing. This is 2-3 servings.

Ingredients:
1 cup almond milk
1 cup water
2 TBS cacao powder
1 TBS peppermint leaves (1/2 - 1 tsp peppermint extract)
1 tsp lucuma (adds sweetness and enhances the flavor. This is also a wonderful mouth and digestive healing plant)
2-6 pitted medjool date (depending how sweet one likes it)
a dash of salt
a dash of cinnamon

Directions: place all the ingredients in a high speed blender (we use the Blendtec soup setting), blending until desired temperature.

Garish with cacao nibs or cashew whipping kreme