White Button Mushrooms. Who Knew?

"White Button Mushroom is a Cheap and Excellent Nutrition Source"

The consumers would surely welcome the news that the White Button Mushroom is equally rich in anti-oxidant properties than more expensive varieties. Some of the varieties are found to be carrying even more of these health promoting elements.

• It was found that the White-Button Mushroom as an antioxidant for anti aging source supplied five times the additional antioxidant vitamin ergothioneine than was supplied in other sources of this vitamin.
  


• It also fights against diseases like cancer, cellular destruction and other additional diseases. It was also discovered that White-Button Mushrooms (WBM) are the most frequently eaten of all mushrooms in America.


• Button mushrooms are fairly rich in vitamins and minerals. The mushroom contains an especially high amount of vitamin B and potassium.
  


• Raw mushrooms are naturally cholesterol, fat, and sodium free.

Source: Health Benefits from Button Mushrooms

*******************************************************************

Tonight's menu: Collard Rolls, and on the side, some Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms, which I haven't made until today.

It is a gorgeous, sunny, spring day here and it was quite enJOYable to go to my favorite grocers and pick up the ingredients I needed for dinner. There are a lot of folks enjoying the sun, sitting in outdoor cafes. When I see that in the middle of the day, I think, "Does nobody WORK?" haha but there I am among them. :)

Below is a little movie I made on the fly with my camera. I call it, "De-Stemming a Button Mushroom". I had only worked with portebello stems before, twisting them easily with a good grip. These were a little trickier to get a hold of, and as it turns out, they don't like twisting. They seem to prefer wiggling. As you can see, I scraped the remaining stem out with a knife.

It won't win me an Oscar, but hopefully it'll help you in the kitchen. :)

there's always one in the bunch!

So these (left) are the pesto ingredients before getting food processed by Mr.S. Blade.

Notice the 3 garlic cloves about as large as the mushrooms themselves. Luckily we're past the dating stage around here :)

And these (right) are what they look like when they are stuffed full of pesto, and ready for the dehydrator for 5-6 hours at 105 degrees.

To quote Alissa Cohen, "Served warm out of the dehydrator, these are heavenly! These taste like a soft, breaded, cooked, stuffed mushroom."

Well now!

Here's the recipe:

Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms - Alissa Cohen

18-22 button mushrooms, washed and stemmed

Stuffing:

1 c walnuts

1/2 c pine nuts

2 c basil

1/2 c olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Place mushroom caps top side down on a plate.

Blend all stuffing ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Scoop a small amount of stuffing into each mushroom cap.

*********************************************************

So as I said, this is my first time making these, and if it turns out fabulous, I'll put the recipe in 'My Favorite Raw Recipes' below all the posts, for easy access.

Meantime, there was a little left-over pesto. What to do, what to do....

It was wonderful schmeared onto soft flax bread. Mmmmmmmm!

The collard leaves are marinating so I'll get back to making dinner later...but for now, I'm going to go enjoy that sunshine!

Enjoy your beautiful day, Rawkers!

PS Unless you want to spend a bunch of time turning your mushrooms right side up again, don't slide the tray out to have a little taste. They're wobbly little buggers. Aheh.

*********************************************************

UPDATE: They're very, very good! We both gave them a thumbs up and they are definitely going into 'Soups & Sides'.

(They're surprisingly filling, too!)

Here's what they look like after a few hours in the dehydrator. They're darker and much softer. They actually taste cooked!

They went pretty fast and we had to stop ourselves to take this pic!

White Button Mushrooms. Who Knew?

"White Button Mushroom is a Cheap and Excellent Nutrition Source"

The consumers would surely welcome the news that the White Button Mushroom is equally rich in anti-oxidant properties than more expensive varieties. Some of the varieties are found to be carrying even more of these health promoting elements.

• It was found that the White-Button Mushroom as an antioxidant for anti aging source supplied five times the additional antioxidant vitamin ergothioneine than was supplied in other sources of this vitamin.
  


• It also fights against diseases like cancer, cellular destruction and other additional diseases. It was also discovered that White-Button Mushrooms (WBM) are the most frequently eaten of all mushrooms in America.


• Button mushrooms are fairly rich in vitamins and minerals. The mushroom contains an especially high amount of vitamin B and potassium.
  


• Raw mushrooms are naturally cholesterol, fat, and sodium free.

Source: Health Benefits from Button Mushrooms

*******************************************************************

Tonight's menu: Collard Rolls, and on the side, some Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms, which I haven't made until today.

It is a gorgeous, sunny, spring day here and it was quite enJOYable to go to my favorite grocers and pick up the ingredients I needed for dinner. There are a lot of folks enjoying the sun, sitting in outdoor cafes. When I see that in the middle of the day, I think, "Does nobody WORK?" haha but there I am among them. :)

Below is a little movie I made on the fly with my camera. I call it, "De-Stemming a Button Mushroom". I had only worked with portebello stems before, twisting them easily with a good grip. These were a little trickier to get a hold of, and as it turns out, they don't like twisting. They seem to prefer wiggling. As you can see, I scraped the remaining stem out with a knife.

It won't win me an Oscar, but hopefully it'll help you in the kitchen. :)

there's always one in the bunch!

So these (left) are the pesto ingredients before getting food processed by Mr.S. Blade.

Notice the 3 garlic cloves about as large as the mushrooms themselves. Luckily we're past the dating stage around here :)

And these (right) are what they look like when they are stuffed full of pesto, and ready for the dehydrator for 5-6 hours at 105 degrees.

To quote Alissa Cohen, "Served warm out of the dehydrator, these are heavenly! These taste like a soft, breaded, cooked, stuffed mushroom."

Well now!

Here's the recipe:

Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms - Alissa Cohen

18-22 button mushrooms, washed and stemmed

Stuffing:

1 c walnuts

1/2 c pine nuts

2 c basil

1/2 c olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Place mushroom caps top side down on a plate.

Blend all stuffing ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Scoop a small amount of stuffing into each mushroom cap.

*********************************************************

So as I said, this is my first time making these, and if it turns out fabulous, I'll put the recipe in 'My Favorite Raw Recipes' below all the posts, for easy access.

Meantime, there was a little left-over pesto. What to do, what to do....

It was wonderful schmeared onto soft flax bread. Mmmmmmmm!

The collard leaves are marinating so I'll get back to making dinner later...but for now, I'm going to go enjoy that sunshine!

Enjoy your beautiful day, Rawkers!

PS Unless you want to spend a bunch of time turning your mushrooms right side up again, don't slide the tray out to have a little taste. They're wobbly little buggers. Aheh.

*********************************************************

UPDATE: They're very, very good! We both gave them a thumbs up and they are definitely going into 'Soups & Sides'.

(They're surprisingly filling, too!)

Here's what they look like after a few hours in the dehydrator. They're darker and much softer. They actually taste cooked!

They went pretty fast and we had to stop ourselves to take this pic!

Hoochie Mama Does Loads of Laundry...and other stuff

I had a fabulous dinner last night. Gettin' tired of me sayin' that? :) I'm not!!

As per my dinner 'schedule' for the week, I was 'supposed' to make carrot-pecan burgers and salad. But! Instead of doing groceries, coming home, then getting these into the dehydrator in time, I went to the laundromat first thing.

It was unusually quiet for a Sunday; I thought it would be full. So now I have two times that are nice to go. Tuesday nights, and Sunday mornings.

Why would I be so keen on doing laundry? Well, it's like this: Our laundromat recently acquired 2 coin-operated Titan massage chairs! hahaha!

For 4 bucks, you get a 15 minute massage. They face the window, so that passersby can stop and watch you gyrate like you're a monkey in a zoo. Not that I'm looking back half the time. Mostly, I'm blissed out, and my eyes only pop open when the chair hits a spot. These things beat ya up! They're brutal! They are clearly not there to make friends; they have a job to do.

We love it. My boyfriend and I quickly stuff our laundry in the washers then race to the chairs!

The first time we did it, I was laughing so hard, because I'd never been the display in a laundromat window before! haha

And the thing tightens on your wrists and shakes you like a hoochie mama and you have no control over your boobage. This had me laughing like a freakin' loon. I'm over it now. I just surrender to the hoochie and bliss out. We can't wait to do our laundry now!

We were telling the laundry guy what a great idea it was for him to put these in, and he pointed to another, just like these, in the back, only this one had plastic on it. It's for SALE. Hello. It might just need to come home with us. :)

So back to the dog ate my homework and why I didn't get pecans in time...so then, in the afternoon, we were out riding the Harley. It was so gorgeous and sunny that we tooled all over hell's half acre before we went grocery shopping. La-la-la!

Too late to dehydrate anything, so for dinner, we had Gabriel Cousens' quick and delicious chili, and I whipped up some eggless egg salad, and we thawed out a couple Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas from our freezer, and dehydrated them a couple minutes to crisp them up. We had left-over hummus, so between that and the eggless and everything else, we had a veritable feast, annnnd a fantastic day!

This morning, I made the carrot-pecan burgers, some flax crackers (this is the 2nd of the two flax cracker recipes on the page) so we could have some sort of 'bun', and some kale chips as a side, and oh what the heck, some o' dem brownies! Yeehaaa!!

The flax cracker recipe (cracker if you keep 'em in the dehydrator longer, bread if you take it out when dry but still bendy) called for two tomatoes but I only had one, so I went looking in the fridge and saw some left-over chili from last night, and threw that in the food processor with the one tomato. It'll be great! Already seasoned. Mmmmm! Then I went to the gym and had a KILLER workout! Started with 40 minutes of cardio (20 elliptical, 20 running on the treadmill) and then lower body/upper body, then stretching. I love the gym! This woman was doing a great new (to me) ab move I hadn't ever seen, and she caught me staring so I gave her a big smile and said, "WOW! That's awesome, can you show me again?" And she was only too glad and we got chatting and she's really lovely. I'm usually all business when I go to the gym, as are most folks. So this was a nice change. The move, by the way, is this: you lay face down on a bench, extend your arms so you can hang on below the bench, and scootched down so you can bend at the groin. Then you extend your legs behind you so that they are parallel with your body, and then scissor then open, closed, then down again. Repeat however many you want to do in a set. It targets that baby pooch that I'm ready to kiss goodbye after 17 and 20 years. Damn kids. hahaha

I've been taking Twister Power in my smoothie, and it, along with raw, probably explains my fabulous energy, especially in the gym, and the fact that I'm typing 300 miles a minute. Twister is a blend of Hemp, Cacao, and Maca, and it works beautifully for me.

Taken from the product's web:

Navitas Naturals Protein Twister is an energizing and nourishing blend of three top-notch, nutrient-rich whole foods: hemp, cacao, and maca.

Hemp powder is an excellent source of protein and omegas, cacao provides feel-good antioxidants, and maca nourishes and supports the endocrine system.

The result of this combination is a simple but vitalizing protein blend. This chocolatey protein mix is the perfect way to pump up any smoothie with healthy organic power.

Couldn'ta said it better myself!

Have a great evening, Rawkers!

Hoochie Mama Does Loads of Laundry...and other stuff

I had a fabulous dinner last night. Gettin' tired of me sayin' that? :) I'm not!!

As per my dinner 'schedule' for the week, I was 'supposed' to make carrot-pecan burgers and salad. But! Instead of doing groceries, coming home, then getting these into the dehydrator in time, I went to the laundromat first thing.

It was unusually quiet for a Sunday; I thought it would be full. So now I have two times that are nice to go. Tuesday nights, and Sunday mornings.

Why would I be so keen on doing laundry? Well, it's like this: Our laundromat recently acquired 2 coin-operated Titan massage chairs! hahaha!

For 4 bucks, you get a 15 minute massage. They face the window, so that passersby can stop and watch you gyrate like you're a monkey in a zoo. Not that I'm looking back half the time. Mostly, I'm blissed out, and my eyes only pop open when the chair hits a spot. These things beat ya up! They're brutal! They are clearly not there to make friends; they have a job to do.

We love it. My boyfriend and I quickly stuff our laundry in the washers then race to the chairs!

The first time we did it, I was laughing so hard, because I'd never been the display in a laundromat window before! haha

And the thing tightens on your wrists and shakes you like a hoochie mama and you have no control over your boobage. This had me laughing like a freakin' loon. I'm over it now. I just surrender to the hoochie and bliss out. We can't wait to do our laundry now!

We were telling the laundry guy what a great idea it was for him to put these in, and he pointed to another, just like these, in the back, only this one had plastic on it. It's for SALE. Hello. It might just need to come home with us. :)

So back to the dog ate my homework and why I didn't get pecans in time...so then, in the afternoon, we were out riding the Harley. It was so gorgeous and sunny that we tooled all over hell's half acre before we went grocery shopping. La-la-la!

Too late to dehydrate anything, so for dinner, we had Gabriel Cousens' quick and delicious chili, and I whipped up some eggless egg salad, and we thawed out a couple Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas from our freezer, and dehydrated them a couple minutes to crisp them up. We had left-over hummus, so between that and the eggless and everything else, we had a veritable feast, annnnd a fantastic day!

This morning, I made the carrot-pecan burgers, some flax crackers (this is the 2nd of the two flax cracker recipes on the page) so we could have some sort of 'bun', and some kale chips as a side, and oh what the heck, some o' dem brownies! Yeehaaa!!

The flax cracker recipe (cracker if you keep 'em in the dehydrator longer, bread if you take it out when dry but still bendy) called for two tomatoes but I only had one, so I went looking in the fridge and saw some left-over chili from last night, and threw that in the food processor with the one tomato. It'll be great! Already seasoned. Mmmmm! Then I went to the gym and had a KILLER workout! Started with 40 minutes of cardio (20 elliptical, 20 running on the treadmill) and then lower body/upper body, then stretching. I love the gym! This woman was doing a great new (to me) ab move I hadn't ever seen, and she caught me staring so I gave her a big smile and said, "WOW! That's awesome, can you show me again?" And she was only too glad and we got chatting and she's really lovely. I'm usually all business when I go to the gym, as are most folks. So this was a nice change. The move, by the way, is this: you lay face down on a bench, extend your arms so you can hang on below the bench, and scootched down so you can bend at the groin. Then you extend your legs behind you so that they are parallel with your body, and then scissor then open, closed, then down again. Repeat however many you want to do in a set. It targets that baby pooch that I'm ready to kiss goodbye after 17 and 20 years. Damn kids. hahaha

I've been taking Twister Power in my smoothie, and it, along with raw, probably explains my fabulous energy, especially in the gym, and the fact that I'm typing 300 miles a minute. Twister is a blend of Hemp, Cacao, and Maca, and it works beautifully for me.

Taken from the product's web:

Navitas Naturals Protein Twister is an energizing and nourishing blend of three top-notch, nutrient-rich whole foods: hemp, cacao, and maca.

Hemp powder is an excellent source of protein and omegas, cacao provides feel-good antioxidants, and maca nourishes and supports the endocrine system.

The result of this combination is a simple but vitalizing protein blend. This chocolatey protein mix is the perfect way to pump up any smoothie with healthy organic power.

Couldn'ta said it better myself!

Have a great evening, Rawkers!

Raw Falafel (say that fast, it's fun)

Making falafels for tonight's dinner! Mmmmmmm...

I made a tortilla to wrap around the Bean-less Falafels we're having for dinner. Everything's hummin' away in the dehydrator as I type. I've come to associate that hum with all things delicious, and I can't wait to eat! (she said, downing her green smoothie.) :)

I'm crazy about everything kitchen lately. This is so funny to my boyfriend and me. I was so anti-kitchen before, honestly. I didn't know how to make sense of anything if it wasn't already on my plate and ready to eat. This is a very surprising latent passion.

But a passion it is.

I'm happy to report that I'll be hosting some raw food workshops in the near future. I already have my first location and some interested folks. I just have to manifest a Vitamix!! Easy-peasy, Baby... I am so great at manifesting, it would *almost* be unnerving if it wasn't so cool!!! UPDATE (10 days, not bad!!) UPDATE (It's heeeere!!!!)

*****************************************************

I just opened the dehydrator now, after a couple hours of ignoring it, so I could flip my tortillas off the teflex (they are perfect!) and I couldn't resist stealing a little chunk off one of the falafel balls, and OMG it's SO DAMN GOOD that one chunk turned into a whole ball. I could pop these like candy.

I love raw so much!!

I'll update dinner with photos.

Have a happy Saturday, Rawkers!

*****************************************************

UPDATE: Dinner was DIVINE!!!

I can't say enough about how delicious this meal was. I couldn't stop moaning and making OMG noises. I'd say it's hands-down the best raw recipe I've ever eaten. Like, as good as the raw brownies. (Now you KNOW I'm not kidding.) No one in my life will ever believe these things are raw.

I smeared the whole tortilla with a good schmear of hummus, and added shredded lettuce, some tomato, and some cucumber. Then I added the balls. bahaha. Ahem.

Next, I rolled it, burrito-style and praised it like a god. I was in awe of how well it all turned out and how beautiful it looked.
S.A.D. falafels are deep-fried or pan fried, yet are considered healthy. These couldn't be further from fried but they taste it. The dehydrator crisps them lightly on the outside, leaving them soft on the inside. The taste is out of this world...and addictive!!

I'm going to make these when our friend comes to dinner in a couple weeks. He's sorta pokin' at raw, and I told him I'd make him a dinner of my favorite 'samplers' and I'm so adding these!! He'll flip!! Methinks I'm about to become a personal chef. I think anyone who has this will need it weekly.

If you have a dehydrator, GO MAKE THESE! :)

Hot damn, these were good.

Raw Falafel (say that fast, it's fun)

Making falafels for tonight's dinner! Mmmmmmm...

I made a tortilla to wrap around the Bean-less Falafels we're having for dinner. Everything's hummin' away in the dehydrator as I type. I've come to associate that hum with all things delicious, and I can't wait to eat! (she said, downing her green smoothie.) :)

I'm crazy about everything kitchen lately. This is so funny to my boyfriend and me. I was so anti-kitchen before, honestly. I didn't know how to make sense of anything if it wasn't already on my plate and ready to eat. This is a very surprising latent passion.

But a passion it is.

I'm happy to report that I'll be hosting some raw food workshops in the near future. I already have my first location and some interested folks. I just have to manifest a Vitamix!! Easy-peasy, Baby... I am so great at manifesting, it would *almost* be unnerving if it wasn't so cool!!! UPDATE (10 days, not bad!!) UPDATE (It's heeeere!!!!)

*****************************************************

I just opened the dehydrator now, after a couple hours of ignoring it, so I could flip my tortillas off the teflex (they are perfect!) and I couldn't resist stealing a little chunk off one of the falafel balls, and OMG it's SO DAMN GOOD that one chunk turned into a whole ball. I could pop these like candy.

I love raw so much!!

I'll update dinner with photos.

Have a happy Saturday, Rawkers!

*****************************************************

UPDATE: Dinner was DIVINE!!!

I can't say enough about how delicious this meal was. I couldn't stop moaning and making OMG noises. I'd say it's hands-down the best raw recipe I've ever eaten. Like, as good as the raw brownies. (Now you KNOW I'm not kidding.) No one in my life will ever believe these things are raw.

I smeared the whole tortilla with a good schmear of hummus, and added shredded lettuce, some tomato, and some cucumber. Then I added the balls. bahaha. Ahem.

Next, I rolled it, burrito-style and praised it like a god. I was in awe of how well it all turned out and how beautiful it looked.
S.A.D. falafels are deep-fried or pan fried, yet are considered healthy. These couldn't be further from fried but they taste it. The dehydrator crisps them lightly on the outside, leaving them soft on the inside. The taste is out of this world...and addictive!!

I'm going to make these when our friend comes to dinner in a couple weeks. He's sorta pokin' at raw, and I told him I'd make him a dinner of my favorite 'samplers' and I'm so adding these!! He'll flip!! Methinks I'm about to become a personal chef. I think anyone who has this will need it weekly.

If you have a dehydrator, GO MAKE THESE! :)

Hot damn, these were good.

This and That

I kicked some serious raw butt at the gym today! I'm starting to feel my old self comin' back, and it's sooo great to see me again! :)

I did 40 minutes of cardio...20 minutes running on the treadmill, and 20 minutes gliding on the elliptical. For my run, I took off my glasses, because without them, I'm pretty much blind as a bat, haha, and it helps me with inner focus to just run, run, run, with no distractions.

For the elliptical, I put them back on and watched a few minutes of The View, something I never do. (There are 8 freakin' TVs at my gym! All lined up like soldiers in case any of us have our own thoughts, lol. I never watch them, but today was different, oh well!) But The View... those are some funny ladies, man. Whoopie Goldberg is QUEEN. She's wonderful and real and funny as hell. My kinda girl.

Anyway, then I did a lower body workout, a kick-ass one I might add. Because my ass needs kickin'! All those months of SAD foods took their toll. Gettin' firmer by the week, though. Then I did my upper body, then some mat work (abs and stretching) then WALLA! An hour and a half later and I'm sitting here typing this, feeling pretty darned happy with the world.

I've worked out for years, on and off, and I've been raw on and off, but I've never aligned the two until now. I drink a blender pitcher full of green smoothie, and it sustains me beautifully for my workout. Today I added a Tbs of 'Twister' which is a blend of maca, hemp, and cacao. I use those anyway, but not always together, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I saw it at the health food store yesterday and thought, Oh cool, I'll give that a go.

Then I got home and my boyfriend told me it's so much cheaper to get them separately. Oh WELL. I don't always think like that, I admit. That's why I need him. But it balances out, I assure you. ;)
************************************************
I just polished off a little tub of kale chips I made yesterday. GO MAKE SOME! They're so damn good, omg! I've made them twice now, and the first time, I used dino kale, and while delish, it was only after using curly kale

that I had a foodgasm. Something about the satisfying airy crunch of the curls when they're marinated and crispy. So from now on, that's the way to go with those. curly kale - this is the stuff of heavenly kale chips!

dino kale

************************************************

I marinated some collard leaves this morning so that by dinner time, the leaves would be easy to wrap. A little trick I learned from reading Elaine Love's website.

3 Tbs lemon (about one lemon, juiced)

1 tsp sea salt

Dissolve together in a bowl.

Take 5 large collard leaves, and remove any thick stems that stick out, and then take a paring knife and shave off the thick part of the stem so that the stem is as flush with the leaf as possible, without tearing it. You don't want too many holes in your leaf as this is going to hold your wrap filling.

Soak each one thoroughly in the salt/lemon mixture.

Then place the leaves, stacked, in a pyrex baking dish. That's it! By the time you need to use the leaves as wraps, they will be really soft and pliant and ready for easy rolling. You won't recognize your collards!******************************************

There is going to be a viewing of 'Simply Raw' in my city very soon, and as soon as the date is confirmed, I intend to go see it. I'd like to contact my new raw friends from my chef/instructor weekend and maybe we can go see it together. I'll let you know how it goes.

Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days is an independent documentary film that chronicles six Americans with 'incurable' diabetes switching their diet and getting off insulin. The film follows each participant's remarkable journey and captures the medical, physical, and emotional transformations brought on by this radical diet and lifestyle change. We witness moments of struggle, support, and hope as what is revealed, with startling clarity, is that diet can reverse disease and change lives. Additional wisdom is provided by Morgan Spurlock, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Robbins, Rev. Michael Beckwith, and Doctors Fred Bisci, Joel Furman, and Gabriel Cousens.

Does that not sound spectacular and ground-breaking? I'm so going!

Have a fabu day, Rawkers!

This and That

I kicked some serious raw butt at the gym today! I'm starting to feel my old self comin' back, and it's sooo great to see me again! :)

I did 40 minutes of cardio...20 minutes running on the treadmill, and 20 minutes gliding on the elliptical. For my run, I took off my glasses, because without them, I'm pretty much blind as a bat, haha, and it helps me with inner focus to just run, run, run, with no distractions.

For the elliptical, I put them back on and watched a few minutes of The View, something I never do. (There are 8 freakin' TVs at my gym! All lined up like soldiers in case any of us have our own thoughts, lol. I never watch them, but today was different, oh well!) But The View... those are some funny ladies, man. Whoopie Goldberg is QUEEN. She's wonderful and real and funny as hell. My kinda girl.

Anyway, then I did a lower body workout, a kick-ass one I might add. Because my ass needs kickin'! All those months of SAD foods took their toll. Gettin' firmer by the week, though. Then I did my upper body, then some mat work (abs and stretching) then WALLA! An hour and a half later and I'm sitting here typing this, feeling pretty darned happy with the world.

I've worked out for years, on and off, and I've been raw on and off, but I've never aligned the two until now. I drink a blender pitcher full of green smoothie, and it sustains me beautifully for my workout. Today I added a Tbs of 'Twister' which is a blend of maca, hemp, and cacao. I use those anyway, but not always together, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I saw it at the health food store yesterday and thought, Oh cool, I'll give that a go.

Then I got home and my boyfriend told me it's so much cheaper to get them separately. Oh WELL. I don't always think like that, I admit. That's why I need him. But it balances out, I assure you. ;)
************************************************
I just polished off a little tub of kale chips I made yesterday. GO MAKE SOME! They're so damn good, omg! I've made them twice now, and the first time, I used dino kale, and while delish, it was only after using curly kale

that I had a foodgasm. Something about the satisfying airy crunch of the curls when they're marinated and crispy. So from now on, that's the way to go with those. curly kale - this is the stuff of heavenly kale chips!

dino kale

************************************************

I marinated some collard leaves this morning so that by dinner time, the leaves would be easy to wrap. A little trick I learned from reading Elaine Love's website.

3 Tbs lemon (about one lemon, juiced)

1 tsp sea salt

Dissolve together in a bowl.

Take 5 large collard leaves, and remove any thick stems that stick out, and then take a paring knife and shave off the thick part of the stem so that the stem is as flush with the leaf as possible, without tearing it. You don't want too many holes in your leaf as this is going to hold your wrap filling.

Soak each one thoroughly in the salt/lemon mixture.

Then place the leaves, stacked, in a pyrex baking dish. That's it! By the time you need to use the leaves as wraps, they will be really soft and pliant and ready for easy rolling. You won't recognize your collards!******************************************

There is going to be a viewing of 'Simply Raw' in my city very soon, and as soon as the date is confirmed, I intend to go see it. I'd like to contact my new raw friends from my chef/instructor weekend and maybe we can go see it together. I'll let you know how it goes.

Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days is an independent documentary film that chronicles six Americans with 'incurable' diabetes switching their diet and getting off insulin. The film follows each participant's remarkable journey and captures the medical, physical, and emotional transformations brought on by this radical diet and lifestyle change. We witness moments of struggle, support, and hope as what is revealed, with startling clarity, is that diet can reverse disease and change lives. Additional wisdom is provided by Morgan Spurlock, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Robbins, Rev. Michael Beckwith, and Doctors Fred Bisci, Joel Furman, and Gabriel Cousens.

Does that not sound spectacular and ground-breaking? I'm so going!

Have a fabu day, Rawkers!

Recipe & Menu Organization...or... 'DOH!'

When I was eating a SAD diet, I did not cook. I was only in the kitchen to pass through the house, or to crack another can of beer. As passionately as I love preparing raw meals now, I hated cooking then. My poor mother. She tried. I was always, "Yeah yeah yeah...you do it." My poor boyfriend. Would put in a full day at work and come home to me waiting for my next meal. It gave me a wave of shame to type that. (tap tap tap)

Well things are very different now, and as the saying goes, you do better when you know better.

Anyway, enough with the repressed Catholic guilt. Point is, because I avoided all things kitchen, I am only now up to speed on organizing recipes and planning menus. So this may be Kitchen Basics 101, but for me, it pretty new! haha!

When I started preparing raw foods, I worked in a state of near panic. "OK NOW I NEED AN AVOCADO...OK AVOCADO...WHERE'S THE FREAKIN' AVOCADO...OK I THINK I KNOW A TRICK TO GETTING THAT PIT OUT...OW! I NEED A BANDAID..." "OK, NEXT, WHERE WAS I? LEMON. I DON'T HAVE LEMON!"

You get the idea. A willing, but complete, MESS. But that's how ya learn, right? (I just heard a flashback of myself saying, "Yeah yeah yeah, you do it...")

Fast-forward a couple years and I actually would say I've got my kitchen act together. I'm still learning, but I prep food with calm confidence and organized ingredients.

Still, though, up until a couple weeks ago, my recipes were all scattered on loose printer paper, in all different drawers and cupboards throughout the house. And in no particular order. That's because I will find a recipe and think, "OMG I have to try that!" and I print it out on the spot, and it starts out on my desk, then travels to the kitchen, then gets put on a shelf but then it falls down the back of the shelf, so it ends up back on my desk or in a drawer, etc.

And each recipe page was always gummed up with food from sticky fingers, so they were stuck together, too... I'm painting a pretty honest picture of my chaos here. Still love me? ;)

SO. A couple weeks ago, I got fed up with this, so I marched myself down to the dollar store and bought some display books with 10 protector sheets in them.

I reserved a book for each recipe category, making stickers for the front of the book that said:

DIPS, SPREADS, AND SALADS

CRACKERS, CHIPS, AND BREADS

SIDES AND ENTREES

DESSERTS

I took the piece of white paper that came in the spine and put it to use as well, listing what recipes are in the book, and re-inserting it in the spine. On the part visible when you shelve the book, I re-wrote the category.

Inside, there are 10 protector sheets, so I can fit 20 recipes, back to back.

This goes a long way to feeling clean and organized, and the added bonus is that with all my favorite recipes in books, I can easily see what I'd like to make for dinner.

I have a lot of raw 'cook' books, but they are not all my favorites. But the loose pages were.

Today, I got so organized, I thought, "Who are you, and what have you done with Rawkin'?!"

I had a budget to go grocery shopping and couldn't figure out how to prioritize, since we need non-food items as well as having immediate dinner needs. And I didn't know what I wanted for dinner! Wah!

I knew I wanted a salad with every meal, and that I need greens for my smoothies, that was a no-brainer. Probably like the rest of this!! haha bare with me.

I flipped through my books and wrote down entrees that alternated between light and more gourmet, as I'm trying to keep nut-heavy meals down. Next, I looked through my salads book and found a different salad style for each meal.

I came up with:

Tonight (Tues) Better than Beef Burgers with garden salad and kale chips

Wed - Collard Rolls with Beet & Carrot Salad

Thurs - Angel Hair Pasta with Marinara & Greek Salad

Fri - Enchiladas with Mixed Baby Greens Salad

Sat - Beanless Falafels with Tomato/Cucumber/Spinach salad

Sun - Carrot-Pecan Burgers with Chick Pea Salad

I went shopping and bought everything I need for tonight and tomorrow's dinner. And mid-week, I'll do the same for the rest of the week.

It was SO EASY because it was SO ORGANIZED.

Did everybody know this stuff already?

WHY didn't anyone TELL me?

:)

Recipe & Menu Organization...or... 'DOH!'

When I was eating a SAD diet, I did not cook. I was only in the kitchen to pass through the house, or to crack another can of beer. As passionately as I love preparing raw meals now, I hated cooking then. My poor mother. She tried. I was always, "Yeah yeah yeah...you do it." My poor boyfriend. Would put in a full day at work and come home to me waiting for my next meal. It gave me a wave of shame to type that. (tap tap tap)

Well things are very different now, and as the saying goes, you do better when you know better.

Anyway, enough with the repressed Catholic guilt. Point is, because I avoided all things kitchen, I am only now up to speed on organizing recipes and planning menus. So this may be Kitchen Basics 101, but for me, it pretty new! haha!

When I started preparing raw foods, I worked in a state of near panic. "OK NOW I NEED AN AVOCADO...OK AVOCADO...WHERE'S THE FREAKIN' AVOCADO...OK I THINK I KNOW A TRICK TO GETTING THAT PIT OUT...OW! I NEED A BANDAID..." "OK, NEXT, WHERE WAS I? LEMON. I DON'T HAVE LEMON!"

You get the idea. A willing, but complete, MESS. But that's how ya learn, right? (I just heard a flashback of myself saying, "Yeah yeah yeah, you do it...")

Fast-forward a couple years and I actually would say I've got my kitchen act together. I'm still learning, but I prep food with calm confidence and organized ingredients.

Still, though, up until a couple weeks ago, my recipes were all scattered on loose printer paper, in all different drawers and cupboards throughout the house. And in no particular order. That's because I will find a recipe and think, "OMG I have to try that!" and I print it out on the spot, and it starts out on my desk, then travels to the kitchen, then gets put on a shelf but then it falls down the back of the shelf, so it ends up back on my desk or in a drawer, etc.

And each recipe page was always gummed up with food from sticky fingers, so they were stuck together, too... I'm painting a pretty honest picture of my chaos here. Still love me? ;)

SO. A couple weeks ago, I got fed up with this, so I marched myself down to the dollar store and bought some display books with 10 protector sheets in them.

I reserved a book for each recipe category, making stickers for the front of the book that said:

DIPS, SPREADS, AND SALADS

CRACKERS, CHIPS, AND BREADS

SIDES AND ENTREES

DESSERTS

I took the piece of white paper that came in the spine and put it to use as well, listing what recipes are in the book, and re-inserting it in the spine. On the part visible when you shelve the book, I re-wrote the category.

Inside, there are 10 protector sheets, so I can fit 20 recipes, back to back.

This goes a long way to feeling clean and organized, and the added bonus is that with all my favorite recipes in books, I can easily see what I'd like to make for dinner.

I have a lot of raw 'cook' books, but they are not all my favorites. But the loose pages were.

Today, I got so organized, I thought, "Who are you, and what have you done with Rawkin'?!"

I had a budget to go grocery shopping and couldn't figure out how to prioritize, since we need non-food items as well as having immediate dinner needs. And I didn't know what I wanted for dinner! Wah!

I knew I wanted a salad with every meal, and that I need greens for my smoothies, that was a no-brainer. Probably like the rest of this!! haha bare with me.

I flipped through my books and wrote down entrees that alternated between light and more gourmet, as I'm trying to keep nut-heavy meals down. Next, I looked through my salads book and found a different salad style for each meal.

I came up with:

Tonight (Tues) Better than Beef Burgers with garden salad and kale chips

Wed - Collard Rolls with Beet & Carrot Salad

Thurs - Angel Hair Pasta with Marinara & Greek Salad

Fri - Enchiladas with Mixed Baby Greens Salad

Sat - Beanless Falafels with Tomato/Cucumber/Spinach salad

Sun - Carrot-Pecan Burgers with Chick Pea Salad

I went shopping and bought everything I need for tonight and tomorrow's dinner. And mid-week, I'll do the same for the rest of the week.

It was SO EASY because it was SO ORGANIZED.

Did everybody know this stuff already?

WHY didn't anyone TELL me?

:)

Buy Organic Produce!

This in an excerpt of an article written by Will Taft. Full Article from Healthy Living For People and Planet Earth: http://willtaft.com/

The foods are rated 1 -100 with 1 being the lowest and 100 being the highest possible residue of chemicals. These 12 foods should be an organic purchase whenever possible.


Peaches: Rating of 100. A no-brainer when you think about the soft, fuzzy, but porus skin a peach has. I am not surprised peaches were the worst. Anything sprayed on a peach is going to be there when you eat it, no matter how well you wash it. Definitly organic only! The top 50 chemicals used on peaches are listed here . The FDA also tests for the following which, I believe, are not aproved for use on peaches. Dinocap, Formetanate hydrochloride.


Apples: Rating of 89. The top 50 chemicals applied to apples are listed here. One batch of test performed on apples by the FDA detected 36 chemicals, close to 50% being neuro-toxins. The FDA also tests for the following which, I believe, are not aproved for use on apples. Prothiofos, Terbuthylazine, Dinocap, Formetanate hydrochloride, Propargite, Thiabendazole.


Bell Peppers: Rating = 86. The top 50 chemicals. More than 39 different pesticides have been found on bell peppers. On average, when tested, 68% of pepper samples contain measurable amounts of pesticides. In addition, fungicides and chemical ripening agents are found on some pepper samples.


Celery: Rating = 85. Top 50 chemicals. One study found pesticide residues on 94% of the celery tested.


Nectarines: Rating = 84. Top 50 chemicals. Tested for unapproved use: Formetanate hydrochloride. One study found pesticide residue on 97% of the nectarines tested.


Strawberries: Rating = 82. Top 50 chemicals. Tested for, but unapproved use: Benomyl, Formetanate hydrochloride. I am surprised to see strawberries are not at the top of the list. I leaned that strawberries are the most heavily treated crop in the U.S. covered with an average of 300 pounds of chemicals per acre. The average treatment rate for all crops is 25 pounds per acre. Strawberries must clean up well to get down to the 4th place on this list.


Cherries: Rating = 75. Top 50 chemicals. Cherries grown in the U.S. are have three times more pesticide residue than imported cherries.


Pears: Rating = 65. Top 50 chemicals. 4% of domestic and 10% or imported pears exceeded FDA approved levels of chemical comtamination.


Grapes (imported): Rating = 65. Top 50 chemicals. Atrazine, Dinocap, Simazine. I learned years ago that grapes were often had high levels of fungicides and pesticides on them. Although chemicals were found on 86% of the grapes tested, they are only 7th on this list. Domestic grapes were 19th with a rating of 43.


Spinach: Rating = 60. Top 50 chemicals. Although 8th on list list, one study conducted by the FDA found spinach to be one of the most commonly tainted crops. Some of the pesticides used on spinach are the most powerful toxins available. My guess is that this is because a common pest on spinach is the leaf miner. This fly lays its eggs on the underside of the spinach leaf. When the egss hatch, the larvae tunnel all around through the leaf, developing into quite juicy little worms. In my garden, once the leaf miner season starts, I check each spinach leaf I pick before it goes into my salad. Obviously commercial growers can’t do that, hence the heavy pesticide use. Anyone know how the organic commercial farmers grow spinach?


Lettuce: Rating = 59. Top 50 chemicals. This one stumps me. I have grown lettuce for over 30 years and have never witnessed a problem with bugs or disease. Even the leaf miner that attacks my spinach does not bother my lettuce. I will really have to find out what the conventional growers are going after with their use of chemicals on lettuce.


Potatoes: Rating = 58. Top 50 chemicals. Potato growers have reduced their use of pesticides a bit in recent years, but spraying for pests like the potato tuber moth is still common. Ironically, one of the things potatoes growers are looking for in their battle against pests in is the use of genetically modified seed potatoes. Oh, boy…………….


Carrots, green beans, cucumbers, raspberries, domestic grapes, and oranges all rated above 40 for chemical residue.


Onions and avocados were the best, both rated 1.

Buy Organic Produce!

This in an excerpt of an article written by Will Taft. Full Article from Healthy Living For People and Planet Earth: http://willtaft.com/

The foods are rated 1 -100 with 1 being the lowest and 100 being the highest possible residue of chemicals. These 12 foods should be an organic purchase whenever possible.


Peaches: Rating of 100. A no-brainer when you think about the soft, fuzzy, but porus skin a peach has. I am not surprised peaches were the worst. Anything sprayed on a peach is going to be there when you eat it, no matter how well you wash it. Definitly organic only! The top 50 chemicals used on peaches are listed here . The FDA also tests for the following which, I believe, are not aproved for use on peaches. Dinocap, Formetanate hydrochloride.


Apples: Rating of 89. The top 50 chemicals applied to apples are listed here. One batch of test performed on apples by the FDA detected 36 chemicals, close to 50% being neuro-toxins. The FDA also tests for the following which, I believe, are not aproved for use on apples. Prothiofos, Terbuthylazine, Dinocap, Formetanate hydrochloride, Propargite, Thiabendazole.


Bell Peppers: Rating = 86. The top 50 chemicals. More than 39 different pesticides have been found on bell peppers. On average, when tested, 68% of pepper samples contain measurable amounts of pesticides. In addition, fungicides and chemical ripening agents are found on some pepper samples.


Celery: Rating = 85. Top 50 chemicals. One study found pesticide residues on 94% of the celery tested.


Nectarines: Rating = 84. Top 50 chemicals. Tested for unapproved use: Formetanate hydrochloride. One study found pesticide residue on 97% of the nectarines tested.


Strawberries: Rating = 82. Top 50 chemicals. Tested for, but unapproved use: Benomyl, Formetanate hydrochloride. I am surprised to see strawberries are not at the top of the list. I leaned that strawberries are the most heavily treated crop in the U.S. covered with an average of 300 pounds of chemicals per acre. The average treatment rate for all crops is 25 pounds per acre. Strawberries must clean up well to get down to the 4th place on this list.


Cherries: Rating = 75. Top 50 chemicals. Cherries grown in the U.S. are have three times more pesticide residue than imported cherries.


Pears: Rating = 65. Top 50 chemicals. 4% of domestic and 10% or imported pears exceeded FDA approved levels of chemical comtamination.


Grapes (imported): Rating = 65. Top 50 chemicals. Atrazine, Dinocap, Simazine. I learned years ago that grapes were often had high levels of fungicides and pesticides on them. Although chemicals were found on 86% of the grapes tested, they are only 7th on this list. Domestic grapes were 19th with a rating of 43.


Spinach: Rating = 60. Top 50 chemicals. Although 8th on list list, one study conducted by the FDA found spinach to be one of the most commonly tainted crops. Some of the pesticides used on spinach are the most powerful toxins available. My guess is that this is because a common pest on spinach is the leaf miner. This fly lays its eggs on the underside of the spinach leaf. When the egss hatch, the larvae tunnel all around through the leaf, developing into quite juicy little worms. In my garden, once the leaf miner season starts, I check each spinach leaf I pick before it goes into my salad. Obviously commercial growers can’t do that, hence the heavy pesticide use. Anyone know how the organic commercial farmers grow spinach?


Lettuce: Rating = 59. Top 50 chemicals. This one stumps me. I have grown lettuce for over 30 years and have never witnessed a problem with bugs or disease. Even the leaf miner that attacks my spinach does not bother my lettuce. I will really have to find out what the conventional growers are going after with their use of chemicals on lettuce.


Potatoes: Rating = 58. Top 50 chemicals. Potato growers have reduced their use of pesticides a bit in recent years, but spraying for pests like the potato tuber moth is still common. Ironically, one of the things potatoes growers are looking for in their battle against pests in is the use of genetically modified seed potatoes. Oh, boy…………….


Carrots, green beans, cucumbers, raspberries, domestic grapes, and oranges all rated above 40 for chemical residue.


Onions and avocados were the best, both rated 1.

Green Star Here I Come...

This is not my dead juicer. This is the juicer of my dweams!!

My juicer died today! Yay! Finally! I've been wanting a Green Star but couldn't justify getting one until my 'Power' Juicer died. Well, r.i.p. an' all that, but it's all I can do to not burst into song!

Of course, it was a dramatic exit! I was in the midst of juicing carrots for Better Than Beef Burgers (Yes, BURGERS! I found out this weekend at my raw chef/instructor course that you can mold the recipe into burgers and dehydrate them! Yay! I only knew that recipe as a 'side' to put in a wrap. )

ANYWAY...

...There I was, 7 carrots in of juicing 4 cups of pulp and the motor suddenly made a wretched scraping noise that startled me out of my juicing reverie. It made me shut it off pretty quick, and just blink at it for a sec, and then I noticed the burning plastic smell. Ah, man...?

So I unplugged the poor dead thing and tossed it aside like an old sock, muttering as I saved what I could of the carrot pulp.

I stood there wondering what the heck dinner was gonna be instead, and I thought, Hm... I'll just stick the carrots in the food processor and get 'em good an' mushy. Of course, they came out soaking wet. And well, if I'm anything at all, it's resourceful. So I took the pulp out, one handful at a time, and squeezed the juice out myself! RATHER gross, but ya do what ya can, right? Then I stuck it in the dehydrator for 1/2 an hour and it did the job! It was about as dry as pulp. Good to go.

From there, I carried on with the recipe, and my thoughts brightened again as I remembered that now, I get to shop for a juicer!!

I'm so happy that I will end this post with an interpretive dance...

Green Star Here I Come...

This is not my dead juicer. This is the juicer of my dweams!!

My juicer died today! Yay! Finally! I've been wanting a Green Star but couldn't justify getting one until my 'Power' Juicer died. Well, r.i.p. an' all that, but it's all I can do to not burst into song!

Of course, it was a dramatic exit! I was in the midst of juicing carrots for Better Than Beef Burgers (Yes, BURGERS! I found out this weekend at my raw chef/instructor course that you can mold the recipe into burgers and dehydrate them! Yay! I only knew that recipe as a 'side' to put in a wrap. )

ANYWAY...

...There I was, 7 carrots in of juicing 4 cups of pulp and the motor suddenly made a wretched scraping noise that startled me out of my juicing reverie. It made me shut it off pretty quick, and just blink at it for a sec, and then I noticed the burning plastic smell. Ah, man...?

So I unplugged the poor dead thing and tossed it aside like an old sock, muttering as I saved what I could of the carrot pulp.

I stood there wondering what the heck dinner was gonna be instead, and I thought, Hm... I'll just stick the carrots in the food processor and get 'em good an' mushy. Of course, they came out soaking wet. And well, if I'm anything at all, it's resourceful. So I took the pulp out, one handful at a time, and squeezed the juice out myself! RATHER gross, but ya do what ya can, right? Then I stuck it in the dehydrator for 1/2 an hour and it did the job! It was about as dry as pulp. Good to go.

From there, I carried on with the recipe, and my thoughts brightened again as I remembered that now, I get to shop for a juicer!!

I'm so happy that I will end this post with an interpretive dance...

Great Weekend!!

Oh my goodness, I had a delicious weekend!! Figuratively and literally. It was my Level 2 Living on Live Instructor course.


I learned so much, I am going to explode. And I ate so much, I am going to explode. It was all living and raw foods, but man, it was one delicious dish after another!! Yeehaaaa!!

Right after we were done on Sunday evening, I asked my boyfriend to take me for a spin on the Harley, just to feel the wind in my face and think about my lively weekend.

There's so much! The other participants were all people with lots to offer, so the class was intelligent and every question, pertinent.

The instructor, Miss Janice :) is a ray of light. She really rocks at teaching, and she's got this great, bubbly energy that makes you glad to know her.

l-r: Judy, Miss Janice

It'll take me a few days or more to absorb all my new tips, tricks, and factoids, but I tell ya, I feel so eager to take on some raw food business!

We had to do a demonstration in front of the class on the second day. We each selected a recipe to teach. I chose my favorite from Level 1, Date Nut Torte! I was a little nervous at first, but I did my thing and pulled it off! Everyone's presentations were great!!

I was in a kitchen full of winners this weekend; folks who are determined to make a go of it in raw foods. Every one of them has every chance of success, too. I was so glad to be in the company of this group!
Can ya tell I'm excited?? :)

l-r: Miss Janice, Judy, Amanda, Denyne, Robert, me, Colin

I'll write more about it, I'm sure. In the meantime, if you think this is something you'd enjoy, have a look at these classes being offered at Raw Foundation.

Goodnight, Rawkers!

Great Weekend!!

Oh my goodness, I had a delicious weekend!! Figuratively and literally. It was my Level 2 Living on Live Instructor course.


I learned so much, I am going to explode. And I ate so much, I am going to explode. It was all living and raw foods, but man, it was one delicious dish after another!! Yeehaaaa!!

Right after we were done on Sunday evening, I asked my boyfriend to take me for a spin on the Harley, just to feel the wind in my face and think about my lively weekend.

There's so much! The other participants were all people with lots to offer, so the class was intelligent and every question, pertinent.

The instructor, Miss Janice :) is a ray of light. She really rocks at teaching, and she's got this great, bubbly energy that makes you glad to know her.

l-r: Judy, Miss Janice

It'll take me a few days or more to absorb all my new tips, tricks, and factoids, but I tell ya, I feel so eager to take on some raw food business!

We had to do a demonstration in front of the class on the second day. We each selected a recipe to teach. I chose my favorite from Level 1, Date Nut Torte! I was a little nervous at first, but I did my thing and pulled it off! Everyone's presentations were great!!

I was in a kitchen full of winners this weekend; folks who are determined to make a go of it in raw foods. Every one of them has every chance of success, too. I was so glad to be in the company of this group!
Can ya tell I'm excited?? :)

l-r: Miss Janice, Judy, Amanda, Denyne, Robert, me, Colin

I'll write more about it, I'm sure. In the meantime, if you think this is something you'd enjoy, have a look at these classes being offered at Raw Foundation.

Goodnight, Rawkers!

Show n' Tell

Look what I done, George! I've been goin' at it since last night, when I made some flax bread.

I have been feeling like I'm eating way too many nuts lately, and I'm pretty lax about soaking them and that's a gastrointestinal NO-NO.

So, knowing that I had some dessert recipes to make to bring to my open mic, I set about soaking every last one of them.

When I got up this morning, I rinsed them all and put them in the dehydrator for a couple hours to get them crunchy again. That's the first time I have done this, and it made them very, very plump yet kind of airy. Very good. That's what I'm going to be doing from now on. Well, that, and cutting back.

All this gourmet stuff, feed me some greens, man!! (I am still having my green smoothie every day, well, except yesterday when I was overtaken by the need to have a giant Green & Black's chocolate bar while I was out, but I digest, er, digress.) I also have a green salad with my dinner. That's something my boyfriend and I agreed to do, no matter what else is for dinner. And we decided that we are smart to eat the salad first, instead of the meal we can't wait for, because, face it, who's gonna want salad after being full on the entree, right? This ensures we get our greens. (This is all backwards to a girl who has always eaten dessert first!)

Speaking of dessert, since I told our open mic buddies that I'd show them how great raw can be, I whipped up some sweeties today. That's about all I've done all day, slaved over a tepid dehydrator, and here I am typing this instead of putting on mascara. I'm singing on stage tonight, as I do every Friday, but this time, our mandolin player is video taping. Oh well, this won't take a minute. (Famous last words!)

Here's the Date Nut Torte, with thinly sliced strawberries on top. YUMMY. I've kept it in the freezer all afternoon, but just added the strawberries. Boy, that is pretty.


And here's a little plate of brownies and it wasn't until I was cropping the picture that I noticed my sweet little kitty, Ruby, peering up at me. What a little dolly she is. My wee buddy, always around me, trying to figure out what the heck I'm up to. (God, Ruby, if you figure it out, tell me, wouldja?)
Next, I've got flax bread leaning on some carrot bread. They're so uniquely tasty, I just love them both. I've bagged up a bunch of 'slices' for my pals tonight.
And even though this looks suspiciously like spaghetti and meat sauce, I assure you it isn't! Believe it or not, it's Apple Pie! What I did was spiralize some apple and soaked the 'laces' in lemon, then topped the pie. I think they're gonna laugh at this one...until they taste it.
Well that's it, and I've gotta run... I've got carrot pecan patties in the dehydrator left over from last night. Ok now I'm just showin' off. ;)

This weekend is my Level 2 Living on Live Raw Food Chef/Instructor course, both days. I'll update when I get a moment.

Happy weekend, Rawkers!