New Years Eve – Eve!

As we drove home from the shop last night it was FREEZING!  Least by California standards!  I know, I know – here in California we are big babies about the temperature!  I don’t know how some runners, raw foodies and vegans deal with zero degree weather! Eeek!

It was 48 degrees with winds at 15 – 20 mph!  I WENT RUNNING ANYWAY!  I figured if I could conquer the run last night, I would be alright to conquer my runs the rest of the week!  The weather promises to be windy and cold and I have made a promise to myself to continue running !!  The January 10k will be here soon enough! 

There were a few races I wanted to attend, but traffic and being in the car isn’t something I want to deal with during a holiday weekend. If you know what I mean! So I will be hosting my own mini race!  Between 11:30-11:45 pm I will be embarking on my own 5k!  Hopefully my taste tester will accompany me into this NEW YEAR RUNNING!!!

Sorry no pictures from the run, my camera wasn’t charged!

After my run, I lifted weights and headed into the kitchen! 

I went to the Rejuvelac brewing and witnessed a phenominal sight!  There were green sprouts coming out of the REJUVELAC!

WILD!  I thought how beautiful! How A-L-I-V-E! 

I think they sprouted because there are other sprouts growing in the kitchen – life is abounding in the Veg888 kitchen right now!

I am going to try and make a recipe I came across in an Ann Wigmore book – Energy Soup!  Followed by a Rejuvelac/E3 Live Cocktail and a run sometime over the LONG WEEKEND! The soup requires fresh sunflower sprouts, rejuvelac, etc. I will update later!

I also decided to take advantage of the fact that I have several jars FULL OF REJUVELAC!  I am making a Cashew Basil Nut Cheese! 

Last night I pulled out my trusty Recipe Book/Personal Journal.  In it were the basic instructions for a Cashew Nut cheese.  I got the recipe from somewhere on the internet!  I am always scouring for interesting recipes and have wanted to make this particular recipe for a fair amount of time.  I don’t know why I hadn’t made Rejuvelac before?  It would seem that I would have totally made it during the cleanse last year, but???? Well I suppose it doesn’t matter.  Slow and easy!  I’ll get there….

Basic Cashew Cheese

3 cups soaked Cashews

1 1/2 – 2 cups rejuvelac

Instructions: Place ingredients in the blender/food processor and blend until smooth!  Place contents in a glass and cover.  Allow to ferment for 24 hours!  Uncover and begin creating!!!

Here we are ALL COVERED!  I will do all of my experimenting when we get home this evening!  I would like to cover the cheese with some herbs and spices.  However, I was able to attain one of my KITCHEN GOALS!  YES!

I purchased some antique molds off of EBAY a few months ago and I am planning on using them for some Cashew Cheese experiments…stay tuned!  I will update soon!

Thank you for reading!

Love and Light!

Namaste!

‘velocius quam asparagi conquantur’

The Emperor Augustus coined the phrase ‘velocius quam asparagi conquantur’, meaning to do something faster than you can cook asparagus.

Asparagus has been used from early times as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate flavour and diruretic properties. There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest surviving book of recipes, Apicius’ third century AD De re coquinaria, Book III. It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and dried the vegetable for use in winter.

As I was walking around the dried chili section of the store I happened to look up and see a wall full of Asparagus.  I had remembered I had jotted a recipe down a few weeks back I had wanted to try.  I figured, why not?  I had no idea about dinner so it seemed like the universe was helping out.

I decided the menu would be: Basil Pest Marinated Asparagus with Nut patties and avocado.

First I made a Spinach~Pesto with Basil, Pine Nuts and Spinach.

Spinach~Basil Pesto

1/2 Bunch Spinach

2 Large Handfuls Basil

2 Garlic Cloves

1 cup Pine Nuts

1/3 cup olive oil

Preparation: Place everything in the Food Processor with the “S” blade and blend to desired consistency.  (I added a little water to the mix when I saw that it was having a little trouble moving around.)  I purposely made this amount to stuff some mushrooms or mix with something else this weekend.  Please note this recipe makes almost 2 cups.

Next I made the marinade for the Asaparagus.

Pesto Marinade

Juice of 1/2 a Lemon

2 tbs. Spinach Pesto

2 drops Sweet Basil Essential Oil

1 capful Apple Cider Vinegar

Preparation:  In a small bowl – Mix Lemon Juice, Sweet Basil Essential Oil and Apple cider vinegar together.  Add the Pesto according to taste.  (You can add salt if you wish).

I then used a vegetable peeler to take off the exterior skin of the White & Green Asparagus I purchased.

Green Asparagus sliced and peeled.

The white Asparagus was much thicker.  I was able to cut it into thinner strips.  It was also much more tender than the green Asparagus.  It marinated very well!!!

I made sure to marinate these in (2) different bowls since I didn’t want them to change each others flavors.

Gree Asparagus in marinade.

White Asparagus in Marinade.

The Asparagus marinated for about 30-40 minutes.  I served the meal with the Dehydrated Falaffel and my Daily Avocado.:)

I topped the Asparagus with some chopped olives.  Kalmata Olive on the Green Asparagus and Green Olives on the White Asparagus.

Plate #2

I think I will be making more again soon! YUM!!!

Thanks for visiting!!!

I thought I would leave you with a picture of THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!!!

Namaste!

Day 17 of 30 – 13 to go!

This was a very interesting evening.  On my last post I mentioned that I put the RAW Sesame Chicken “Nuggets” together.  You can find the thread for this recipe here.

I will update with photos before I eat them.  Unfortunatly since it was late and I still had to prepare dinner for last night I forgot to take pictures of the preparation process.  The recipe calls for the “Nuggets” to be in the dehydrator for 4-5 hrs before and then put the sweet & sour sauce on them.  Dehydrate for another1 – 3 hours.

I have the sauce ready and do as the recipe calls.  I am excited about this one.  It also gives me the opportunity to make a RAW rice dish that I have been curious about.  I also found a recipe for Spanish rice.  I will have to investigate this raw rice thing further!  I am a little skepticle that it could be good.  Being the Rice Eater that I formally was.  I will let you know!

DINNER

I did however remember to take pictures before these were eaten.  And quite quickly I might add!  I made my first attempt at RAW RAVIOLI!

I made these with the beet ravioli in mind from the RAW FOOD REAL WORLD recipe uncook book.  I figured if it could really be any vegetable, then I could certainly do it with my favorite red veggie.  The Tomato!  I put a big spoonful of the macadamia nut cheese I had made earlier this week.  The only change I made was that I put a vegan probiotic into the cheese to make it taste a bit sour.  I also added some fresh garlic.  Drizzled them with black truffle oil and served with a salad.

So as mentioned I will make RAW Rice tonight.  I munched on fruit all day yesterday.  By evening this dinner was both wanted and appreciated!

Tomato Ravioli

20  Slices Tomatoes

1 1/2  cups Macadamian Nuts

3 Cloves Garlic

2 oz Basil Leaves

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp onion powder

Black Truffle Oil

Preparation: Take the slices of the Tomatoes and Dehydrate at 115 until pliable and chewy.  Next, Process Macadamia Nuts until chunky.  Slowly begin adding water until a nice fluffy consistency is acheived.  Add basil, garlic powder, garlic, onion powder process again.  Open 2 capsules of probiotic capsules  and stir.  Allow to sit overnight covered.  Once the cheese and the tomatoes are finished.  Put spoonfuls of the cheese onto a slice of tomato and place another slice of tomato on top.  Drizzle with Black Truffle Oil!

More tomorrow!

Namaste!

Day 7 of 30 – 23 to go!

So I am happily at Day 7.  Technically day 8 but I am always a day behind in documenting my journey to wellness.

I will begin with yesterday’s smoothie.  I didn’t take a picture of it since it was really not that good.  Well, I take that back.  If you would like a smoothie that tastes like Grapefruit Juice and is as filling as any meal, then the recipe is below!

1 peeled lemon

1 peeled orange

10 Almonds

10 Cashews

1/4 cup coconut meat

4 Dinosaur Kales Leave

1 Handful of Blueberries

Water

Mix and get ready to pucker!

Needless to say I didn’t even take a picture of it!  It was okay, just not the treat to have when you are ready for a sweet smoothie.  But I guess such as life.  Sweet & Sour!  Somewhere there is a reggae song called Sweet & Sour…I’m digressing!

PIZZA

This was a fun one indeed!  Can I just tell you that I like pizza in any form.  (Meatless of course!) Anyway, I can safely say that RAW Pizza is now on the list of GREAT PIZZA Experiences!

I began soaking buckwheat the other day to make it sprout!

The Buckwheat is the bowl at the left corner.  The others were Macadamia Nuts,  Sundried Tomatoes, Pine Nuts and then the buckwheat.  Soaking seems to be an imperative step to this cuisine.  It is also something that helps the body intake the nurtients.  They say “Soaking nuts and seeds before consuming them helps with digestion and softens the texture .”

I made a buckwheat crust according to a recipe I got off of Gone Raw.  You can find the link on the Blog Roll to the right. —>

I altered the recipe a bit to my liking.  This is what I did.

This was the crust before it went into the Dehydrator.

Buckwheat Crust

2 1/2 cups soaked buckwheat

2 peeled zucchinis

1/3 + 1 handful flax seeds

2 1/2 cups sunflower seeds

4 cloves of garlic

1 T Basil

1 T Oregano

1/3 cup olive oil

Water to smooth the batter up.

Preparation:  I put the buckwheat in the food processor and began to process.  Meanwhile, I peeled the zucchini and then added the zucchinis into the paste that began to form.  I allowed this to process while I grinded up the flax seeds.  I stopped the processor and then added the flax seeds and 4 garlic cloves.  When I turned on the processor again I allowed it to breakdown the garlic and mix in the flax for a moment.  When it appeared that the mixture was ready I added olive oil and water until smooth.  I added all of the rest of the ingredients last.  I waited until it was the consistency of cake batter.  I spread this onto the teleflex.  (I was able to make 2 large pizza crust out of it.  One big rectangle and another circular.  I also pre scored the batter with a ravioli cutter.)

Dehydrated at 125 degrees for 2 hours and then set it at 100 degree for another 3 hrs.

Sunflower Seed Hummus

2 1/2 cups sunflower seeds, soaked

2 Heaping T Raw Tahini

Juice of 1 Lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

1 garlic clove

1 T Spike

Preparation: Put sunflower seeds into food processor and process.  While the sunflower seeds are processing, juice lemon.  Add lemon juice, olive oil, and tahini through the chute.  Stop and add garlic clove and spike. Process again.  If it is still thick, add a bit of water a little at a time.

The Sunflower Seeds in the processor…

Here are all the toppings for the pizza…

And here is the final plating…

Day 4 of 30 – 26 to Go!

Day 4 was a very postive day for me!  I felt 100% better when I woke and relaxed in my bed for a bit after my eyes opened.

I must say that I feel a lot calmer these days.  I also am losing the pain in my left knee.  It was really bothering me before the cleanse and now it is a bit better.

So I had a smoothie in the morning.

Raw 4 of 30 Special Smoothie

1/2 pineapple

1 cup coconut meat

2 cups coconut water

2 small  avocados

1 mango

5 Dark Green Dinosaur Kale

This smoothie was really good.  I decided to give up on making a plan on my smoothies, since this cleanse threw me for a loop the other day.  I will just stock good organic fruit and vegetables and make a different combo each day.

As the day progressed I made a Celeraic Apple Soup from the Raw Food Real World UnCook Book by Matthew Kenney.  I didn’t follow the recipe at all.  Just the ingredients.

This was my recipe:

1 celery root

2 green apples

15 Macadamia Nuts, soaked 3 hours

1/3 cup Olive Oil with Bergamot Essential Oil

Black Truffle Oil

Fresh Basil

Preparation: Chop the apples and the celery root.  Place both in the blender and add 1 bottle oxygen water.  Process until smooth.  Put the soup through a strainer and set pulp aside.  Put the soup back into the blender and added the Macadamia Nuts, olive oil and a bit more water.  I strained the soup again and served it into the bowls.  Topped with fresh cut basil, marinated mushrooms and a nice drizzle of Black Truffle Oil! MMMMmmm!

Here is the celery root…

the green apple…

both in the blender after the initial straining, with the nuts and other ingredients…

Here we are served in a bowl!

The soup was really nice.  Light, Creamy and extremly healing!

I would follow this RAW SOUP with a  wonderful living lasagna!  I had made this meal before with a few variations this time!  You can see the original posting for my initial attempt at the living lasagna here.  You can also see the recipes I used for the Pine Nut Ricotta & Living Marinara Sauce at that same link!

So the new additions I did was:

Pumpkin Seed Pesto – since the pumpkin seeds were raw and anti-parasitic I thought they would be absolutly perfect

Pine Nut Ricotta – I added basil and raw olives to this meal

Raw Marinara – I added fresh garlic, lemon juice and raw olives

Marinated Mushrooms – This was a new addition.

1 Portobello mushroom, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

Juice of 1 Lemon

4 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 tbs hemp oil

Mix all together and allow to marinate for 1 hr.

I just put layers of each filling with 3 different kinds of Heirloom tomatoes.  They each had different contrast.  Firm, Juicy and Medium.  Layered into love.  Living Lasagna!

These were the raw meals for the 4th day of the cleanse.  More to come tomorrow!  I’ll post tonights dinner and tomorrows smoothies.

Namaste!

I feel good actually!  Thankful for my life and yoga practice.  I have practiced each day so with the exception of New Years Eve.  Squeezing my organs in various asanas.  It feels so good.  The asanas seem easier to meet and stay in.

Sundaze Adventure

So once again we are at Sunday and it is time to cook for my wonderful clients again.

This weeks menu consisted of:

Living Lasagna - Side View

Another View of My Living Creation!!

Living Lasagna – This was something that I had really wanted to make for awhile.  I saw a few recipes over the Internet in regards to lasagna.

I generally look at the website gone raw, and other blogs out there in regards to raw foods.  I like to get ideas from them and see what others are doing.  It is quite inspiring to know that there are so many out there living a raw food lifestyle.

This was the first time I used Pine Nuts to make a raw cheese.  What a wonderful flavor.  This was also the first time I had the opportunity to make a Raw Marinara.  I made it with a combination of recipes.  Part of the recipe was from Brenden Brazier’s Thrive Book and Matt & Sarmas book called Get the Glow – Raw Food Real World or something like that.  Their link to their store with access to their publications has been added.  Click on their name above…

I found the pine nuts to get as soft if not softer than the Cashews.  I didn’t put my selections in a large baking dish.  There was something about each one coming out small and personable.  I made each serving it’s own living pile of love.  The recipes were really helpful.

If you anything about me or my cooking then you’ll know that I don’t follow many “rules” in life and I certainly don’t follow recipes to their portions given.  I just never have.

For the Pine Nut Ricotta I used:

2 cups Pine Nuts

Big Handful of Basil

2 Tbl. Nutritional Yeast

2 shakes of Bragg Amino Acid

Water to smooth out and make the Pine Ricotta Fluffy

Keep processing unitl the cheese is thick enough to be like ricotta and thin enough to spread easily.

For the Raw Marinara:

12-15 sun dried tomatoes

pinch rosemary

pinch oregano

2 roma tomatoes

big handfuls basil

I purchased some heirloom tomatoes that were really beautiful.  They were a wonderful fusion of orange, yellow, red and green.  I used these for the tomatoe layer.  I also used shredded zucchini and sliced zucchini.  (I purchased a large food processor yesterday.  It came with a few different blades, so I had the opportunity to try most of them out.)

Below are the 4 Entrees I made after the living lasagna.

Jars of Organic Food Fresh to Order !

Quinoa with Hemp Seeds – Far Left

Steamed Vegetables w/ Black Beans – 2nd Jar – Yellow Squash, Black Beans, Sweet Red Peppers, Sweet Yellow Peppers and Carrots!

Lentil Soup – 3rd Jar – Lentils, Carrots, Garlic, Celery, Basil, Onion Powder, Liquid Aminos

Steamed Vegetables w/ Garbanzo Beans – 4th Jar – Orange Tomatoes, Cauliflower, Beets, Fresh Basil, Garbanzo Beans, Basil

Wednesday’s Delivery

Wednesday ~ October 28, 2008

Wild Rice Crepe with Wild Mushroom Filling

CREPES

c. 1215 AD

A crêpe (pronounced /kreɪp/, French IPA: [kʀɛp]) is a type of very thin, cooked pancake usually made from wheat flour. The word, like the pancake itself, is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning “curled.” While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is nowadays widespread in France and is considered the national dish.

Crêpes can be compared to the African injera, the tortilla, the Indian dosa and the Mexican sope. In Danish, it’s called Pandekage, in most German regions it’s Pfannkuchen, and in Dutch it’s pannekoeken. In Italy, crêpes are called crespella. In the Spanish region of Galicia, they’re called “filloas”, and may also be made with pork blood instead of milk. In areas of Eastern Europe, there is a thin pancake comparable to the crêpes, called Palachinken, (in Austrian) a traditional pancake in the whole area formerly belonging to the Austro-Hungarian empire (palacsinta in Hungarian), palačinka in Bosnian, Serbian,Bulgarian, Macedonian, Czech, Croatian and Slovenian, Romanian clătită, Slovak, palacinka, Polish naleśniki). In the Balkan region such as the countries of Albania, Montenegro, and Serbia, palacinka may be eaten with fruit jam, quark cheese, sugar, honey, or the hazelnut-chocolate cream Nutella.

• The Batter should pour like heavy whipping cream.
• The Batter must rest for no less than 1 hour – this enables the gluten in the flour to expand – result is the perfect crepe.
• Found in Crique – Matalan – Bourriol Dishes (France)

1) Wild Rice Crepes with Wild-Mushroom Filling ~ These crepes that I made were made with Wild Rice, Potato, and Wheat Pastry Flour.  They seem like they will be a little difficult to fold.  Most crepes are made with white flour, but since I used wild rice and wheat pastry flour they are a little thicker.  Years ago I prepared a dish like this for another client, but I used white flour.  I think that I will stay with the healthy version and continue to use wheat pastry flour.  One Serving is (2) crepes with wild mushroom filling.

Think of mushrooms as the red meat of the vegetable kingdom (even though we know they’re technically fungi) because — almost invariably — the sometimes-earthy, sometimes-meaty flavor of mushrooms says “red wine” to us. In fact, it’s hard for us to think of mushrooms without immediately having pinot noir come to mind. The two are a match made in heaven.

Wild Mushroom Filling for the Crepe

This filling was really good.  Cremini Mushrooms, Porcini Mushrooms, Fresh Rosemary, Fresh Thyme , Basalmic Vinegar, Fresh Garlic and Love.  Mushrooms offer red-wine lovers the chance to pull a favorite out of their wine rack — pinot noir or otherwise — for an exceptional pairing.( *)

Vegan Lasagna

2) Vegan Lasagna - This entree is usually made to serve (4) people.  One serving is available.  Ingrdiants included: Tofu Ricotta, TVP, Basil, Semolina Noodles, Tomato Sauce, Anise, Sage and Light.

(*) Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page

Sunday’s Delivery

~ SUNDAY OCTOBER 26, 2008 ~

This Sunday was a great culinary adventure.

As always all ingredients Organic and Non-Genetically modified.

The Vegan Gourmet Version

On the Menu:

1) Wild-Mushroom Bundles served with Garlic-Parsley Quinoa

The Wild-Mushroom Bundles consist of the following: Collards, Porcini Mushrooms, Cremini Mushrooms, Button Mushrooms, Shitake Mushrooms, Shallots, Fresh Garlic, Freshly Ground Pepper, Olive Oil

Quinoa – Quinoa, Fresh Garlic, Fresh Parsley, Love, Light and Margerine

Making the Wild Mushroom Bundles were a bit of a challenge.  The collards started to rip and I was afraid they were not going to be a complete roll.  I remebered when I used to make dolmas how careful you have to be, so I think it ended up okay.  So far I have had really great reviews.

A tray of these bundles (8) will feed four people with the Quinoa.  Garlic-Parsley Quinoa was served with this meal, however, Lemon Scented Quinoa is also very hearty and delicious.

2) Caramelized Broccoli Stuffed Shells

Vegan Italian Delight

The Stuffed shells consist of the following: Red Onions, Broccoli, Tofu “Ricotta”, Fresh Basil, Giant Shells, Tomato Paste, Stewed Tomatoes, Fresh Garlic, Olive Oil, Brown Rice Vinegar, Basalmic Vinegar

Stuffing the shells is a bit time consuming but well worth the wait!!! Great reviews on this one as well.  A single serving is 4 shells per person.  This is served with a organic baby green salad, tomatoes and a homemade basalmic and Oil dressing.  Insalata Pomodoro to be specific.  And yes, crostini!!!