Cheesy Kale and Zucchini Chips

Cheesy Kale & Zucchini chips

I made these beauties last night and it's everything in my power not to eat them all. If you can get a hold of the dinosaur kale aka Lacinato or Tuscan kale..use it instead. I think it has a much richer flavor. I added the zucchini for more texture and variety. I think the sky is the limit because the cheesy sauce is so delish. Oh and I plan on taking these babies to the movies with me.

1 large bunch of curly, green kale, (I use dinosaur kale) washed, large stems removed, torn into bite size pieces. 1 medium sized zucchini sliced into thin wheels.

COATING:
2 cups cashews, (soaked 2 hours)
1 Large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
juice of 1 lemon
2 t. agave (optional..I didn't add this in)
2 T. nutritional yeast
 3/4 t. himalayan pink crystal salt (use more or less to taste)

Put coating ingredients in Vitamix. Blend until smooth. Using your hands, massage coating onto kale pieces getting it inside of curls*. I put it on thick which adds more crunch. Put on teflex sheets. Have your trays on the counter ready to fill then dehydrate at 105 overnight or until coating is dry.Keep an eye on these because mine dehydrated fairly quick.
* I had a little of the mix left over even after slathering it on really thick,  so its up to you if you want to add another veggie or a few more stalks of kale.

Shout Out!

I want to give a shout out to my family! I miss my dearest and closest relatives and friends!  I think you know who you are. Thanks for stopping by can't wait to spend some special quality time with all of you. Thanks for the support and love!

Nori Rolls with Dipping Sauce

 
Use any Nori Roll Recipe adding your favorite veggies. Mine happen to be carrots, cucumber, basil, avocado, mung bean sprouts parsnips-cashew-cauliflower rice. Dipping sauce consists of nama shoyu, ginger, lemon and/or orange juice agave or honey (sparingly, you don't want it too sweet) olive oil, salt.

Mock Tuna Salad

Makes about 3 1/2 cups

Serve this tasty nut- and seed-based salad on its own, or spread onto wraps or nori with assorted veggies.

Ingredients

1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup raw almonds
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
1/3 cup finely chopped pickles
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave nectar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon kelp granules
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Method

Put sunflower seeds and almonds into a large bowl, cover by 2 inches with water, cover and set aside at room temperature to let soak for 10 to 12 hours; drain well.

Pulse sunflower seeds and almonds in a food processor until very finely chopped, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in celery, pickles, onions, dill, maple syrup, lemon juice, kelp, pepper and salt. Serve immediately, or cover and chill until ready to serve. (Whole Foods)

Oat Groat Meal

Laura’s Oat Groat Meal

• 2 cups of soaked Raw Oat Groats (Presoaked for 24 hours or until soft)
• 1/2 cup of Dates
• 1/4 cup of Himalania Vitality Raw Nuts
• 1/2 tea cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Water

Blend together add water until resembles oatmeal. Top with fruit of choice and splash of Almond milk

Makes 3 Servings

Oat Groats

I am so happy when I can find oat groats! I made a muesli with buckwheat groats but wasn't too in love with the flavor. So soaking my groats which will be ready tomorrow morning to mix with dates, raisins, nuts and if I had dehydrated coconut flakes I would throw that in there. Tastes great with almond milk, agave nectar and strawberries. Looking forward to breakfast.

New 'Raw Chef' Aprons

Japanese Eggplant Jerky

Hawaiian Pineapple-Banana Smoothie

 

Recipe

1 Small Pineapple (nice and yellow and cold)

1 Cup of Almond Milk (I use homemade, store versions are pasteurized)

Frozen Bananas (1 or 2)

 Blend and Indulge!

Makes 2 Servings

Cobalt Blue Glass Straw can be purchased at www.Strawsome.com

I am talking about Raw Chocolate Truffles!

These are the most amazing treats and so good to have on hand. I keep them in the freezer when I get a hankering for something sweet. I rolled my first batch in almonds and cacao powder. Next time I'll try the mesquite, pistachio's and godji berries. Speaking of sweets, it's probably a good idea to keep chia seeds as a staple item. These are great for making pudding. Although there are some really good chocolate pudding recipes out there using avocado as its' base, chia pudding has a nice neutral flavor and an excellent choice when paired with fruit.

Keepin It Real

 Keeping it really interesting for sure. It's very important to pace oneself because there are so many recipes out there. I just received my new book from Alissa Cohen and what great recipes she has that I have yet to make. I have frozen some coconut flesh but can't decide which recipe to use it for. She has a wonderful sauce for nori rolls that I might make but then again the coconut parfaits my daughter and I created last year are kind of calling to me right now. What to do. With each creation from her book I make I'll try to post a photo. I'm going to also be creating my own Hawaiian versions of some of the staple foods for the raw foodie, tweaking it up for my own taste and making it with as much Aloha as I possibly can. Most of the produce I will be using can be obtained from your local grocer on the mainland. Last visit, I noticed Henry's sells Thai coconuts already shaved from the shell. Very nice for mainlanders since the man at the farmer's market uses a machete just to get to the nutritious water for sipping. We love to walk around with this delicious natural electrolyte filled drink while we shop the produce sections. I usually take the nut home to chop open for the flesh. It's work, but oh so worth it. The photo's below are from the last coconut I purchased. With baby Thai's the flesh is so soft and easy to remove. (just use the back of a spoon and work your way around). Alissa uses a hatchet, I use a butcher knife but I think a hatchet might work even better.

Mm Mm Good

Quite the delicacy

Delicious Raw Coconut

How to open a coconut

No-Bake Apple Crisp

Filling

5 Apples, sliced into very thin pieces and tossed with 3 tablespoons lemon juice

In a food processor blend:

1 apple

15 dates (presoaked first for 1 hour)

6 tbsp maple syrup or light agave

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix into 5 apples.

Topping

In a food processor blend:

1 1/2 cup pecans

20 dates

6 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

Arrange in a 13x9 casserole dish.Put in dehydrator on 110 for 4 hours

or in oven for 10 minutes on lowest setting just to warm up a little

Kale Chips...

Are the bomb! love them little buggah's! I think I could eat them every day! Tomorrow I'm making raw burgers with the veggie pulp I froze from juicing. Here's the recipe I found off the internet if anyone is interested:

Healthy Raw Vegan Burgers That are Tasty

* 4 cups fresh or previously frozen vegetable pulp from juicing
* 1 cup raw walnuts, soaked, rinsed & drained
* 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked, rinsed & drained
* 1/4 cup raw & shelled pumpkin seeds, soaked, rinsed & drained
* 1/2 onion, chopped
* 1/2 cup dehydrated tomatoes, soaked in 1/2 cup water until
soft
* 1 tablespoon organic non-distilled apple cider vinegar or non-pasteurized organic fermented soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon maple syrup
* 1 teaspoon sea salt
* 1 teaspoon marjoram
* 1/2 teaspoon red or white pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon dill
* 1/2 teaspoon thyme
* Pinch of cayenne or 1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced (optional)


Put all the ingredients into a food processor or a top quality blender and blend until smooth. Slowly add just a bit of water (1/4 cup at a time) if needed to blend easily.
Adjust spices to your liking.~
If, like some, you like it hot, add cayenne or half a jalapeno pepper. Do not use both as they are each different peppers and do not blend all that well on your palate.~~~~
Continue to blend until smooth and uniform in color. The tomatoes should allow your blend to be the same color as raw meat. Form into burger shapes about the size of a fast food burger. You ought to wind up with six burgers and one junior size, more or less.
Dehydrate until rare (thin crust), medium (mostly dried but pliable) or well (dry as a bone) done.Serve on a lettuce leaf or on raw bread, if you have some, surrounded by a few sliced tomatoes, onions, and a scattering of micro greens.If desired the "burgers" can be heated or even grilled slightly. Caution: cooking too fast and/or at too high heat will result in overly crunchy burgers and is not a healthy idea at any rate.

Yield:
About six adult servings and one kid-sized one.

My Aching Head

Argh! Detox headache!!! What to do? Now this is what I get for eating cooked food the last few days but I can't exactly live on tea. I want to resist the urge to grab for the ibuprofen and use something more healthy for my kidneys and liver so I decided to ask this question on one of the discussion forums I go on 'Raw Food Talk' but as of late I am still awaiting reply so I think a little research is in order..I'll come back with my findings later on. Update 12/20/10: Almonds, Spinach, Hydration via water, juicing, watery fruits and ice pack behind the neck.

Wonders Never Cease

Its funny how life takes a turn in more ways than one; however, for now I want to talk about having no food in my house the past few days and how cooked food made me feel so blasé. I am at the mercy of my family to drive me around since I am wearing a cast. This presents itself as a very big problem and oh what a difference when I don't have pure raw food in my diet. I feel horrible and sleep even worse. This just tells me I am definitely on the right path with keeping at least an 80% raw diet. I would like to lean more toward 95% give or take the not so raw almond or splash of rice milk once in a blue moon. (Addendum: 12/20/10..I just listened to rawkin radio and listened to what Alissa said about not being 100 %  raw. She says the body doesn't get a chance to totally detox if you are still eating a little cooked food here and there. If you want results you must eat 100%..so there you have it!) One muy importante thing to remember, please please stay positive! It seems like almost everyday some annoying little noid creeps in trying to upset the apple cart. Well don't let it! Stay happy, positive and on a very mentally clear pathway.

Happy Happy Happy

5 days now and I feel great! I am discovering each day all the different concoctions I can come up that makes my tummy smile. Through the years, I've learned with juicing that it's really about using just a 'little bit of this and a little it of that' meaning, just throw in all the stuff either you want to get rid of or looks good to you. My mind is swirling around with ideas but I think its good to slow down a bit to concentrate on the day’s menu. It's so easy to get stressed out about what's in the fridge and what yet needs to be purchased, but have no fear, it all works out if you just use a little creativity and keep in touch with other raw bloggers here and on Twitter. Two things I’m going to do today:

Make an apple crumble and chocolate truffles (keep in mind these are a rare treat). The best menu to follow is veggies and fruit, whole or juiced, a few nuts here and there and the occasional raw bar for the movies or short car trip.

An Inspirational Gift

In my email today I received my daily Raw Inspiration from Jinjee of The Garden Diet and I have to say it was so wonderfully unexpected  to recieve this gift so early on in my journey I just had to share it with all of you. Keep this always:

"If you are confused, a lost and wandering soul, as we can all be from time to time, right this minute, instead of turning everything over and over and over again in our confused heads, we should choose right now to go forth in to our day and our life just being a positive person. Let's make that our new goal. You can't afford the luxury of a negative thought. Not even one! They are way too destructive, and you are way too valuable of a person. Your thoughts count for so much, they are so creative, and you really need to keep each one tilted towards the light.

If a thought comes up that feels negative, put a positive spin on it, look at the bright side of it, or let it go. When positive thoughts start coming up, and they soon do, give those lots of energy! Start off every day with this intention and you'll go a long way towards being able to solve all the confusion in your life! You'll feel an instant sense of relief when you make the choice to be positive! When you really master this, even your relationship with food completely changes, with no effort"

Free Shopping List

Here We Go...

Yes today is the day! I know its a day earlier than I said but I am sooo ready for this. For the past few weeks all the cooked foods I have taken into this ole body of mine have set so terribly on my stomach. I really need to do this pronto! For those of you on my Twitter page, yes I'm writing an e Book for recipes but its going to take a while. I need to test out a few to make sure they have easy comprehensible steps. Basically, the recipes will center around Hawaiian produce which many of you can still find on the mainland. If not, I will provide a reasonable substitute (i.e, pears instead of starfruit). My recipes come from experience living here on the big island and from all the wonderful foods I have had the privilege of noshing on. Yes I will have several pineapple recipes including sweet as well as savory options. I love pineapple because its a very versatile fruit and comes in abundance here on the island. One thing I am really looking forward to is creating a raw vegan version of a very beloved German recipe passed down to me by my Grandmother. I'm sure hoping I can pull it off and I think with the help of my lovely daughters, my test kitchen will be in full swing, non stop until its just perfect. BTW..my earlier discussion about food combining.,.I found this website that offers food combining charts. I'm sure you can make your own on photo shop or something but these are pretty nifty:  http://www.alderbrooke.com/chart.php

Free Menu Planner

Comfort Zone

I am so committed to getting out of this comfort zone, the comfort food zone I have been hiding in for some time now. Once  accomplished I am fully confident that other brave steps will soon follow. I think about uncomfortable situations I have been in which have pretty much all stemmed around social gatherings. I really just thought I had a chip missing in that area since I cringe at the idea; however, I found out many years ago the apple didn't fall too far from the old family tree. Mom for one, never cared for being in large groups and I know for a fact Grandpa Marvin definitely didn't . Our biggest move? Its called the 'ole  moseying out of the room'  a quiet sauntering away without anybody noticing. Let's face it, social settings are just a big part of our daily lives so we can't avoid it no matter how hard we try. Whether I like it or not it's time to buck up and cope.  I have decided its okay to be uncomfortable it keeps me alert to my insecurities and perhaps a few personality glitches that I need to work on. I like to think I'm not alone in this. And through the years as many of you well know, stuffing those feelings with food is oh so NOT the right path to choose. Taking charge of our eating habits thus our positive food choices I think brings an amazing inner strength. My daughter and I went raw for about one month a few years ago and I can honestly say my skin did glow, I want for my inner strength to glow as well. This is my journey.Thanks for coming along with me, it means the world.

Aloha! Mahalo For Stopping By!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Fresh Salad

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Facebook No More!

Not that I have anything against FB, I just felt like it was a time squasher. Actually it was quite liberating to deactivate my account. So my dear daughter (her photo is on one of my other postings) helped me redesign this page to be a little more user friendly. Since I am new to this and have much to do and learn from it won't look like a whole lot for the next couple of weeks. My daughters and I plan on coming up with some mouth-watering raw delicasies to share with all of you.

Lights! Camera! Action!

The plan is to design slide shows of the foods I collect for recipes or my own raw food creations and some of the steps involved. I'll add any links connected to the dish that I am showing so that you can get the list of ingredients for yourself. My first slide show will be posted in about one week. I just began the editing process. It's nothing fancy but makes for a more enjoyable process as I begin my eating plan.

Hot Diggity!

I was wondering what the heck I was going to do for food on this new plan of mine. It seemed a daunting task at best since I would no longer be able to grab  for a piece of bread and some cheese or chips or a cookie. I had to think a little more on a creative level. I decided to google raw foods to see what kinds of dishes looked appealing. To my surprise I was able to find a ton of recipes that all looked tantalizing. I still needed to sort through all those that seemed somewhat appealing to my taste buds. As I took a gander through all the different combination's I tried to imagine how it would taste on my palate which made it a lot easier to choose which recipes I would actually experiment with. I didn't want to keep anything requiring too many steps because I know my love for this plan would go down in a blaze of glory quicker than you could say 'lettuce' especially if there were too many ingredients involved. The amount of raw recipes out there is unbelievably awe inspiring; I had to pace myself. So for today, I have chosen recipes such as: Crunchy Taco, Mock Salmon Pate', Raw Veggie Burger along with various smoothies and dessert options. I really love the idea of drinking Green Juice almost everyday since I have had it before and know the benefits involved. If its mixed just right, it's one of the most wonderful drinks to have as part of the list. In the past, I have made raw Nori rolls, calzones and pizza made in the dehydrator and of course Kale Chips with dip. Its important to follow the directions to the letter or the dish might taste a little like...'I am so not making this again'.  I gathered at least 50 recipes today from various websites so I think I'm set for a while. I'll post picture slides as I try some of the newer recipes.