Tahini dressing

1/2 cup Tahini
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
~1/8 cup water

Stir until smooth

Creamy Basil Dressing

¾ cup soaked raw cashews
½ cup water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup fresh basil
spicy pepper to taste (optional)

Blend in VitaMix til smooth.

Salad Dressing - Quick and Easy

Into your Vita-Mix put the following ingredients:

     ½ cup Braggs apple cider vinegar
     ¼ cup light olive oil (or any oil of your choice)
     ¼ cup honey
     1 tbsp. lemon juice
     ¼ tsp. salt

Blend well (about a minute)Will keep in refrigerator about one week.

Raw Pizza

Here's one of our recent experiments: a great pizza crust recipe we got from Tamara on the VegPeople site ...

Raw Pizza Crust

3/4 cup golden flax seeds (ground fine)
2 cups almonds (ground fine)
2 cups sunflower seeds (ground fine)
2 tbs. olive oil
2 tsp. dried basil
2 cloves fresh garlic (chopped)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 tbs. honey
1/2 cup water or as needed

How to: Put the water, honey, salt, basil and olive oil in a food processor. Pulse everything till smooth. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine the flax, almonds, and sunflower seed powders. Pour the water mixture on top, using your hands form into a big mound. Add more water if necessary. Knead the dough to form a smooth round. Give it a taste to test for seasonings. If it needs more salt add some. Divide the mound into four equal sections. Form these into balls. Take the first ball and put it onto a teflex sheet. Shape it into a thin round. About 4 mm thick. Make the "lip" (crust) around the pizza a little thicker. Do the same thing for the other mounds. Place each tray of pizza into a dehydrator set to 105 F. for 10 hours. Then remove from teflex sheet and continue to dehydrate on the tray for 10 more hours. Leave pizzas in the dehydrator until ready to put the sauce and toppings on.

Then we added toppings:

- Wendi's super recipe for Marinara Sauce using raw and sundried tomatoes

- a "Nut Cheese" from a recipe in Allisa Cohens' book "Living on Live Food"

- some sliced sweet red peppers

- some alfalfa sprouts

What's Wrong with Eggs?

Where to begin? Let’s start with the obvious egg facts. Eggs have zero dietary fiber, and about 70 percent of their calories are from fat—a big portion of which is saturated. They are also loaded with cholesterol—about 213 milligrams for an average-sized egg. For reference, people with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or high cholesterol should consume fewer than 200 milligrams of cholesterol each day. (Uh oh.) And, humans have no biological need to consume any cholesterol at all; we make more than enough in our own bodies.

In addition to these excessive (for humans) natural components of an egg, other human-health hazards exist. Because eggshells are fragile and porous, and conditions on egg farms are crowded, eggs are the perfect host for salmonella—the leading cause of food poisoning in the U.S.

Those are some facts and figures. But how do eggs affect real people in real life? Luckily, researchers have conducted good studies to help answer that question.

Read the full article here

Sour Cream

Sour Cream (vegan)

1 cup raw cashews

¾ cup water

½ teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast

Pour water over cashews and let soak for 3-5 hours or more, then put this mixture along with all the other ingredients into the VitaMix and blend until smooth, creamy and fluffy (mixture “grows”). The sour cream will thicken up somewhat after being refrigerated. Gets better the second day.

He He He ...

Alcohol Damage: Light Drinking Isn't Healthy

"To talk about alcohol as though it were some new prophylactic drug is ridiculous and dangerous. In a clinical trial it would fall at the first fence: it's addictive, it impairs neurological function, it increases the risk of violent death, suicide, hypertension, haemorrhagic stroke, cirrhosis, and many cancers and causes huge social problems (15)."

-Dr. Peter Anderson of the World Health Organization

This link has some pretty scary statistics:

http://www.raw-food-health.net/Alcohol-Damage.html

RAWvolution's Famous Onion Bread

RAWvolution's Famous Onion Bread

A DELICIOUS, soft flat bread that you won't believe is made with only five ingredients.

3 large yellow onions

¾ cups flax seed, ground in a high speed blender

¾ cups raw sunflower seeds, ground in a food processor

½  cup Nama Shoyu

1/3 cups olive oil

Peel and halve the onions. In a food processor, cut the onions with the slicing disc (or, chop with s-blade). Transfer the cut onions to a large mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and mix until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Spread 2 cups of the mixture evenly on a dehydrator tray with a Teflex sheet. Repeat until all of the mixture is used. Dehydrate at 100°F for 24 hours. Flip the tray over onto a work surface, and gently peel the Teflex sheet off the bread. Return to the dehydrator for another 12 hours. Once dehydrated, cut into 9 equal pieces (make 2 cuts horizontally and 2 cuts vertically).

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Serve alone or as an accompaniment to any soup, salad, or side dish. Or use to make any of the sandwiches and pizza crusts in this book.

EAT MORE VEGGIES - STAY SMARTER, LONGER

Researchers at Rush University collected dietary data from 3,718 adults 65 years and older administering memory tests over the course of six years. It turned out that those who ate more than four servings (that's two cups) of vegetables had a 38% decrease in the rate of mental deterioration compared to those who ate less than one serving (half a cup) of vegetables per day. Just don't smother your veggies with fat or overcook. And eat organic only!

Brownie Recipe

Brownie recipe

Patty's brownie recipe is as follows (it works with a 5 or 7-cup food processor, if yours is smaller, cut the recipe in half ... the 1st three or four or five ingredients are available from Costco – the cacao powder is from Amazon.com):

2 cups raisins
1 cup raw walnuts
1 cup raw pecans
2 Tbsp. Agave nectar or honey
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. raw cacao powder
1 dash vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process for about one minute or until thoroughly moist - the mixture will form a shiny ball ... you might have to stop it a few times to push down stuff that sticks to the sides and break the mixture up a bit. Spoon into a glass baking dish and press it flat and evenly with your fingers. Store in a refrigerator and after a few hours cut into brownie sized pieces, and enjoy.

Yummy Date Nut Ball Recipe

Date Nut Balls

20 large Medjool dates (pits and ends removed)

1 cup raw walnuts

1 cup raw pecans

2 Tbsp. raw cacao powder

1 Tbsp. Agave nectar (or honey)

dash of vanilla
organic shredded coconut

Process all ingredients in a food processor with chopping blade until the nuts are in small pieces (don't over chop). Make into 1½” balls and roll in organic shredded coconut. Keep in refrigerator and remove 10 minutes before serving. Can store in refrigerator for 2 weeks or freeze for extended period then thaw. (Note: use raw cacao powder, not cocoa)

Final Harvest of 2013

Just a few leftovers picked today. A nice batch of baba ganoush is in the near future along with some roasted beets and we'll dry the peppers in the dehydrator for some hot times later on. (click on image for larger view)

Pineapple Mango Pie

BLENDED PINEAPPLE and fresh mango, topped with shredded coconut, and served in a sweet almond-meal crust.

FOR THE CRUST:

2 cups raw almonds or walnuts, finely ground in a food processor

¹/3 cup agave nectar or 7 medjool dates

FOR THE FILLING:

3/4 cup mango cubes

3/4 cup pineapple chunks

1/2 cup agave nectar

1 1/2 cups raw macadamia or cashew nuts

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

To make the crust, in a mixing bowl, combine the ground almonds and agave nec­tar, and mix well. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of 5-inch pie tin.

In a high-speed blender, combine all of the filling ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and serve.

GARNISH:

1 tablespoon shredded unsweetened coconut

Raw Vegan Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust

-        2 cups almonds

-        1 cup dried Medjool dates

Filling

-        3 1/2 cups raw cashews -soaked for at least one hour

-        3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

-        3/4 cup agave *

-        1 cup organic, unrefined coconut oil- liquefied (see below)

-        1/2 cup water

-        1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

-        1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt

Blackberry sauce

-        Handful of fresh blackberries

-        4 large dried Medjool dates

-        2 hefty squirts agave

Directions:

To melt coconut oil, if solid:

Measure out 1 cup of solid coconut oil and place in shallow bowl of warm water.  As it softens, stir.  Replace the water in the shallow bowl with fresh warm water and repeat until all is melted.  I needed to change the water about 4 times to make it reach a fully liquid state.

To make crust:

Blend almonds and dates in  a food processor until finely chopped.  Press mixture very compactly into the bottom of a spring-form pan.  I used the bottom of a glass to press the crust down, and it worked perfectly.

To make filling:

Take all filling ingredients and blend in food processor until smooth.  Just let it go for a few minutes…. the texture should be nice and creamy.

To assemble:

Pour filling on top of crust and spread out until smooth.  Cover with foil and freeze overnight. The freezing process will re-harden the coconut oil and  set up the cake.  After it is frozen you can refrigerate and it will be ready to serve after about one hour.  Even though you have to freeze this cake to set it up, it is not a frozen cake… once refrigerated, it takes on an extremely similar texture to a regular cheesecake.

Pizza Kale Chips

Total prep time: about 8 hours

Active prep time: 10 minutes

Yield: 4 servings
Per serving: 188 calories, 10g fat (1g sat), 17.5g carbs, 5g fiber, 11.3g protein

(we usually double this recipe and buy about 2 pounds of kale - with stems - and sometimes add a carrot and 2 dates)

1/4 cup sunflower seeds, soaked for 2 to 4 hours and drained
1/4 cup hempseeds
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked for 30 minutes and drained
1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons filtered water
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1 bunch kale, tough stems removed, roughly chopped (6 to 8 cups)

Combine all ingredients except kale in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth, adding a splash of water if needed.

In a large bowl, combine the kale and the pizza sauce. Use your hands to massage the sauce all over the kale, making sure it’s coated completely.

Arrange the kale in a single layer on a Teflex-lined dehydrator tray. Dehydrate for 8 hours or overnight, until crisp (105°F).

Raw Vegan Diet

There is seldom a shortage of news articles covering the latest trends in dieting. Whether from the point of view of weight loss, health or simply touting some culinary preferences, something new always seems to be popping up, often with accompanying controversy.

Lately a book titled “The China Study” is regularly being quoted; largely because of its in-depth research references. This study advocates a plant based diet that excludes all animal products including all meat and dairy. The health claims associated with this study are quite impressive.

The logical extension of this particular dietary preference is a concept gaining popularity: a raw vegan diet which is not only plant based – consisting of fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains - but avoids heating anything above 115 degrees in order to retain all nutrients. All processed foods are therefore excluded resulting in a nutritious, healthy way to achieve weight loss.

Our Everyday Smoothie.

We drink this smoothie everyday and never get tired of it. It's packed with nutrition.

Into the Vita-Mix we put the following:

• 2 Tbsp. Chia Seeds
• 1 Orange (peeled)
• 1 large batch of Spinach or Kale (sometimes a stick of Bok Choy too) (about 3-4 inches deep)
• 1 large Carrot
• 1 Apple
• 1 inch block of Ginger
• 4 Medjool Dates
• 2½ - 3 cups frozen Blueberries
• 12 oz. Coconut Water
• 5 ice cubes

Blend until smooth. (The ice cubes keep it from heating up while blending in the Vita-Mix)

(Note: All of the ingredients - except Kale, Bok Choy and Ginger - are from Costco; they even sell the Vita-Mix there!)

This raw vegan recipe is pretty quick, easy and tasty:

Creamy Vegetable Soup

• ½ cup almonds
• 1 cup water
• 1 zucchini
• 1 large handful mini carrots
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup fresh basil
• 1 red pepper
• 2 Tbsp. white miso
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce

Place ingredients into Vita-mix and blend until smooth and creamy; running the vita-mix for about 3 minutes will heat up the soup but keep it raw (below 105°F)

An added bonus is that if you can't eat all the soup at one sitting and are afraid that it might go bad from sitting in the fridge too long, you can just pour what's left onto some teflex sheets and dehydrate it to make some wonderful wraps that can be used for any number of creative goodies.

Here we are ... again.

We used to have a blog at this address, but decided we didn't have very much of importance to say so we deleted it entirely.

However, after giving it some thought, we figured we might give it another shot.

So, this will be our new blog site, with the same old address, and maybe we'll be able to start adding posts with something to say.