Sunday, December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas


A holiday feast. This first is a pic of the 'meat loaf' recipe posted below.



The second one is a pic of a cherry coconut raw cake. Super rich so a little goes a long long way.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Barbecue Sauce

1 cup fresh tomatoes chopped
1/2 sun dried tomatoes soaked for 2 hours
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
6 dates soaked for 20 minutes
1 teaspoon sea salt
11/2 tsp dry mustard powder
4-6 fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
for variety add 3/4 tsp minced jalapeno

Combine food processor and blend until smooth. Add olive oil/lemon juice/tomatoe juice if too thick.

Meatloaf

1 1/3 cup walnuts soaked in filtered water overnight
1 1/3 cup sunflower seeds soaked in filtered water for about 3 to 4 hours
1 tbs minced garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 cups diced portabello mushroom/textured vegetable protein (Not a raw product)
1/4 cup olive oil (For mushrooms)
1/8 cup chopped onion
1 cup nama shoyu or 1 1/4 miso
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons rosemary
1/2 tablesooon tarragon
1/2 tablespoon thyme
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup red bell pepper
1/2 tsp of black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
Dash of organic orange peel


Marinate the mushrooms/textured vegetable protein in the olive oil and nama shoyu/miso overnight. Optionally marinate the walnuts and sunflower seeds for 20 minutes. Add small chopped onion for variety/flavor.

Place garlic, walnuts and sunflower seeds in food processor and process until dough like. If too thick add in olive oil a little at a time.

Stir in the spices, then add marinated mushrooms. Form into load and dehydrate on sheets at 90 F.
Turn over and dehydrate for another hour at 90 F.
Baste with your choice of 'barbecue' sauces and dehydrate for another hour on 90 F or until firm.

The Booklist & Review

Per request I am posting a list of the books I Have bought to date:


  • The Raw Foods Resource Guide

    • Not bad, very basic, but has some decent information. Lots of addresses, no recipes.

  • Raw Food/Real World

    • A great book, good pictures, but complicated recipes. Takes major planning and time. Well worth it when you can.

  • RAWSOME

    • Great information and advice, quick easy recipes.

  • Raw Foods for Busy People

    • This is the one you need when you're (I'm) working 70+ hour weeks. Has helped me easily stick with it when I just can't stand the idea of yet another salad, which aren't always quick and easy either.

  • Dining in the Raw

    • Basic info, a few interesting recipes, but actually has several cooked recipes and they also call for braggs amino acid and that's well...debatable there...may do another post on that one.

  • Living Cuisine

    • Excellent book, great information, wonerful recipes and pictures, but again they take time and planning.

  • Raw: The Uncook Book

    • Well...interesting recipes, time consuming, hard to find ingredients. Definately a 'groumet' book. A little too impractical for everyday use.

  • Living in the Raw

    • Solid basic recipes.

  • Naked Chocolate

    • Excellent, good recipes.

  • Living in the Raw Gourmet

    • Great variety of recipes, easily adaptable and much more interesting than the first book, but do take time.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Seasoned Salt

6 Tbs Sea Salt
1/2 Tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp sweet marjoram
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/4 tsp paprika
1 1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/8 teaspoon mace

Place all ingredients in grinder and grind to a fine consistency.

Rosemary Potatoes

1 Lb Potatoes
2 Tbs of Olive Oil, More or less to taste
3 Tbs Rosemary, More or less to taste
Seasoned Salt

Cut the potatoes into small wedges and place in glass baking dish.
Drizzle olive oil evenly over the top of the potatoes.
Crush the rosemary in a mortar and pestle and coat the potatoes.
Stir the potatoes well evenly coating them with olive oil and rosemary.

Sprinkle lightly with seasoned salt over the top.

Place in oven and using a thermometer be certain the temperature of the food does not go above 105 F or place on dehydrator sheets until the outside of the potatoes are soft. About 8 hours per side.

Serves 2-4.

Accidental Vegan Begins

I've always loved to cook and bake and it came as quite a lifestyle change/shock when my doctor said "Well stop eating any animal proteins, try to eat mostly raw foods if possible, but pasta's ok if you need to eat out and can't get organic and only fruit up until noon."

It is now 12 weeks later and my health has improved drastically over such a short time period. Everyone is different and not everyone is going to have the immune system issues from pesticides and growth hormones that I've had. But I am a true believer in the harm they do to a person. At the very least organic foods taste better.

The vegan part, well I'm one of those people who simply does not process Animal Proteins well at all. Lots of tests from my doctor confirmed a lot of the issues for me. Otherwise I doubt I would have jumped so thoroughly into an extreme change, from low carb, high protein, to raw vegan.

This blog is going to be about raw food meals for busy people with recipes, tools, ideas etc that I come across or find out during my journey into this world.