One morning this week, driving to work, there were three whitetails crossing a frozen lake. I watched their speed in the crossing wondering how long it took them to walk around the lake when the ice goes out.

The next day, there they were again. Crossing the other way this time.

Photo is not mine.

It's been a few years.

Today I found joy in my commute to work. I had one of those "moments" where everything was right in my world. Just that moment. It allowed me to feel pure gratitude for everything I have, and everything I will have. Everything I have achieved, and every failure. It was a perfect moment.

Taco nut meat!

Walnuts, sunflower oil, cumin, sea salt, aminos, coriander. Pulse in processor to make a taco crumble!

Breakfast!

Organic spring mix, with sprouted almond feta. On the side is raw rye bread! Dressing is Bragg vinegar, Bragg aminos and sesame oil. A few pumpkin seeds thrown in for texture!

Seeds!!

We love our Amish seed supplier!

Lunch

Raw miso soup! Miso, warmed water, wakame flakes, kelp noodles and Bragg liquid aminos! Bon appetite!

Mock tuna salad!

When I juice, I do my carrots first! I save the pulp and mix it with diced onion, diced celery, chopped garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. I then add some of my cashew mayo mix, let sit so the flavors can mingle! Great on your favorite raw breads, or on top of a salad!!

Whooo hoo!!

What a DAY!!  Had some great laughs at the co-op today with friends and owners!!  Thanks you guys!!  I needed that!  I am enjoying some organic popcorn from our bulk section RIGHT NOW cooked up with some bulk sunflower oil from our friends at Smude farms!  We LOVE YOU GUYS!!  Topped off with a touch of Celtic Sea Salt! A perfect combination!!  Happy Valentines day folks!

Breakfast!!!

Buckwheat crisps cereal, coconut milk, bananas, raw agave. Power food!!!

Thank the lord for Fleetwood Mac and Rumors.

Listening to the record right now, transports me to a time when musicians honed and mastered their crafts over years and years, and hundreds of hours in the studio.. Now we live in an age where you do not even have to sing in key, or be able to strum a note on a guitar or blow through a horn. Everything is preprogrammed and pitch corrected.  I say.. transparent.  I say.. thin.

 I love the warmth of vinyl, the crackle, the act of sifting through our record pile to find "just what fits" at any one moment.  To know that those artists wrote their own songs, spent so many hours in the studio, had relationships begin and end during the making of these albums, makes them so much more "real" to me than these "industry made" prototypes of musicians.  These "entertainers".  I guess that is all we should view them as.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED??  well.. honestly.. NO, I am not.

Raw eating and whats new in my pantry...

Ive been on a Raw food journey since the beginning of the new year. I was looking for a way to combat some of the side effects of my lymes disease and my OVER active lifestyle. Frankly, it felt like my body was failing me. My joints aches all the time, I could barely bend over and touch my toes. It was bad. I reached into my collection of cook books for some answers and was drawn to and pulled out Raw Food Essentials by Ani Phyo. She also wrote Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. After reading for a while, bringing the book with me to work so I could get everything I needed, I was ready to get started.

I wasn't interested in dropping a ton of money on food at the time, so I decided to start slow, and start adding raw dishes to cooked meals so I could slowly build my raw inventory at home. (the joys of staying on budget!) So I started with raw Walnuts, Almonds, Cashews, Buckwheat groats, and Raw Agave.

After looking through the book and at a lot of the recipes I figured out that with these few items and with what I already had in my fridge and pantry I could make MANY of the things in the book!

Now.. I do NOT have a vitamix. And many of these recipes suggest that you use a high speed blender. I have simply had to modify some of the dishes to work in my food processor. If in a few months I am still on this raw path, I may make the investment. But honestly, I haven't felt like I have needed one yet.

My dehydrator has been essential though. I don't have an expensive dehydrator. Just a cheap older model from Fleet Farm. When I blow this one up, I will get a higher end NSF stainless model. (that way I can bring it to work with me and make treats to sell at the shop!!)

The first thing I made is what I eat for breakfast pretty much every day. Buckwheat Crispy cereal:

1 pound sprouted buckwheat groats, then dehydrated
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup flax seed
1/4 cup chia seed
1 cup raisins (or any dehydrated fruit)

I put it into a jar and shake until it is all combines. And really.. I don't measure ANYTHING.. If I am feeling like more coconut I put more in.. Or raisins. Or if I am out of something I don't sweat it. I improvise!! ahhh.. the spice of life!!

I usually top with a bit of coconut creamer and water and a squirt of agave. I have also mixed fresh squeezed juice with it and that is DELICIOUS!

stir it up, let sit for a few minutes and then enjoy! I also like to cut up fresh fruit to add! I can't wait for berries to be in season!! That will make it even more LOVELY!

back to school!

Im finally going to go to college.. Something Ive always wanted to do. The idea of being in classrooms with kids half my age is a little daunting, but, I've never let fear stop me from doing anything.  This will not be an exception. Wish me LUCK!

Day Three

todays meals consisted of.

leftover coleslaw that i made on sunday.
cashew cheese with flax crackers, kale, and tomatoes
GIANT kale salad with a scoop of almond yogurt, fresh sprouts, onion, tomato, 1 squeezed lemon, 2 squeezed mini oranges, sea salt and pepper. 

I processed a young coconut that my friend John gave me. Saved the juice for breakfast.  The meat I marinated in a makeshift bbq sauce and its in the dehydrator.  Its called coconut bacon!  Im excited to try it!

peace-

Going raw!

I spent most of the weekend in my kitchen getting things prepped for this coming week.  I made a fresh batch of cabbage slaw, a batch of almond yogurt, and cashew cheese.  I also experimented with Flax for crackers.  I hydrated about a 2/3 cup flax in water with a squirt of aminos, and some garlic and onion flakes.  I let that soak for several hours and then stir it up to check the constancy. (i wanted it pretty gelatinous) then I simply poured it into the tray in my dehydrator set it for 105 and walked away. Several hours later I had some VERY tasty crackers!  As soon as I put my first batch in the dehydrator I started my second batch. This time with Nutritional yeast, onion, and sea salt.  Then when the first was done the second could go in.  I estimate that I should eat a batch a day.  So Ive been keeping my dehydrator VERY busy!  And yes... The nutritional yeast Crackers were AWESOME! 

Breakfast today was:
A banana
3 flax crackers topped with Cashew cream cheese, sea salt, and Chard leaves
1 chard stem
1/2 roma tomato

Ive been really craving Avocados!  I can't wait for our produce to arrive at the co-op so I can buy a whole bunch!! 

New Year contemplations

This year I'm thinking about doing something that has been itching my brain for YEARS!  Raw Veganism.  I've been lucky enough to have the DREAM JOB of anyone thinking about this adventure..  Quite literally anything I could ever need to be successful is at my fingetips! I just need the nerve. Ive been watching some videos from my friend Allisa www.punkrawklabs.com and www.therawfoodproject.com and I think I can do it!  So.. Starting Monday January 10th.. Ill be going raw.  There is going to be an adjustment period I'm sure.. So bear with me and I shake it all out!


Excuse me as I make my shopping list for tomorrow:

Raw Almonds
Raw Cashews
Raisins
Mustard Greens
Kale
Chard
Flax Seeds
Fruit

adventure

Whats for dinner tonight!

My friend Sue gave me this link.. Its become a new favorite in their house! 

Thanks SUE!

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/ChanaMasala.htm

My Vegan Holiday..

Wow!!  That was CRAZY!! 

A vegan holiday to remember.. From Green bean casserole to tofurkies!  Sushi to Sweet Potatoes!  I could not have been happier about what foods I chose to eat! 

Vegan Mushroom soup:


1 package of mushrooms.. (your choice)
1 medium onion
2 celery stalks
mimic cream (almond heavy cream) 1 cup or so..
earth balance vegan butter
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Water
Flour

Saute mushrooms, onions, and celery in a Bit of your earth balance, Add about a quart of water maybe a bit more if you want more mass to your soup.  Add about a cup of mimic cream salt, pepper, and garlic to taste.. bring to a soft boil.. in a separate dish warm a stick of earth balance until it is liquid, then whisk in flour until it becomes goopy and sticks to your whisk.  Then turn down your soup to simmer and whisk in the rue to thicken your soup!  Taste and see if if needs more salt and pepper! 

I NEVER follow a recipe.  So I'm always altering EVERYTHING that I make.  This is pretty basic and will be your base for the Green Bean Casserole!  Gotta love that holiday favorite!!

dinner for one.

STARVING!  Thats how I felt when I got home today!  I was up at 6 greeted by a snowstorm and a WONDERFUL husband who stayed up late shoveling the driveway so I could leave in the a.m.  Got to work by 7:30 made some coffee and FULL SPEED AHEAD!  The store was TRASHED!  Many busy holiday shopping days piled up on top of one another finally did the store in..  I got to cleaning.. Deep cleaning.  Breakfast??? Who has time for breakfast??  Coffee.. COFFEE!!  Thats all I need!  Thanks to the snow things were slow enough this morning to get finished with all the cleaning and stocking that needed doing!  Then the place filled up!  Cinnamon, tofu, rice, flour, yeast eggs..All were flying out the door!  Made a quick salad for lunch. Spinach, sunflower seeds, onion, aminos, vinegar and a dash of dressing.. Then from work went to a local shop downtown and finished my Christmas list!  Then to the Y for spin class with Ms. Sandy! Then to CLHA for yoga with Mr. Rohr!  When I stumbled through the door this evening I was thinking tempeh!  Tempeh lightly fried in coconut oil with local onions, and local cabbage!  Drizzled with Liquid aminos and INHALED!  Now Im nibbling some local popcorn popped in coconut oil, dusted with cracked celtic sea salt.  ahhhh bliss.. Well.. the martini helps too!!

merry christmas everyone!

Homemade Vegan Cream Cheese!

1/2 lb Raw Cashews (I used organic)
1 tbsp. miso

Soak Cashews for at least 4 hours. (mine soaked for 8)
Drain, pulverize in the food processor or a high speed blender with your miso and enough water to keep it moving.  Then dump into cheese cloth and let it drain at room temp for 2 full days.  (fermentation!!  YUMMY)  I also pressed mine but you do not have to do that. 

after two days open add some fresh cracked sea salt and enjoy on crusty homemade bread or crackers or add herbs to make a dip!!  It is FANTASTIC!!

stranger in a familiar land.

That is how I feel right now.  With work stuffs mostly..  Maybe Im just feeling uncertain.  Not sure how things are going to go.  Feeling out of the loop.  Feeling dispensable.  Feeling unappreciated.