Such an inspired day!

Wow what a busy and wonderful Saturday!  I love it when my boyfriend and I are out n' about, seeing friends, shopping, uncooking, laughing, and generally having a fantastic time together.  We started the day off by driving an hour South and having a morning visit with our good friends.  The 4 of us had a lot of laughs, and on the drive home, we vowed to make a greater effort to see our friends more often.  Usually we see folks when they come to our shows, or we go to theirs, but this felt wonderfully right.

I should back up, though... I was born in a little town in Queb...oh wait, not that far!  I woke up with the intention to pee and go back to bed, because I thought the digital clock said 1:30 a.m.  So I did that, and then laid there wide awake, with my brain zipping around everywhere.

I remember reading somewhere that if you are wide awake at night, you shouldn't just lay there for too long trying to fall asleep...at least, not to the point of frustration.  You should instead get up and do something productive.  So I did.  I sat at my computer and before the thing turned on, I noticed, with a very puzzled feeling, that it was light out.  A tiny WTF and a raising of the blinds, I sat there puzzled, just when my computer came on and I saw the time.  It was 7:36 a.m. I don't wear my glasses to bed is my only defense.  I must say, I was somewhat relieved, and suddenly filled with the energy of a person who is supposed to be UP.

I decided to make freshly squeezed orange juice, practically used up a bag of oranges to make 2 glasses with my electric citrus juicer.  Just in time for my boyfriend to wake up.  He loved that; said it made him feel loved to walk in and be handed fresh juice.  (Note to self:  do that.)  It was sooooo delicious.

Then I felt kinda on a roll...and decided to make Spinach Palak (second dip on the page)...with no particular plan for it...lunch/dinner, whatevever.  Just been kinda craving it for the past week, as I've been going over my old stand-by recipes, and I kept threatening to make it, and well, today was the day.

It did not disappoint! It's really fuss-free & easy to make, and takes no time at all.  Do eeeet.  It's so tasty, you will love it.  All you need is a food processor, yay!

After I finished making the palak, I put it in the fridge and turned my attention to my growing hunger. I enjoyed a smoothie, and I popped a Vitamin D3, which I've just started taking this week, as I've mentioned.  No ill effects, or any effects yet, to my little eye, anyway...so...so far so good.

Yesterday, I'd made some eggless egg salad and so when we came back from visiting our friends, it was lunch time and I decided to use the egg salad,  and the palak, and smear it onto large lettuce leaves, with chopped red pepper, alfalfa sprouts, and shredded carrots.  It was so great!  As you can see in the photo, the palak blends right into the color of the lettuce leaf (from the spinach in it.)
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Looky what I got today!  Brigitte Mars' 'Rawsome'...a book I've been aiming to own since quite a while back...last year, I think...I got it out of the library and loved it.  I've made several recipes from it before, and have always been blown away by the flavors.  It was only $18.95!  What the heck have I been waiting for?! So we're driving home and I started flipping through it and I immediately read a recipe that caught my attention, 'Rawvioli'.  I've seen this recipe online and it always appealed to me, if not for the name alone. 

So we stopped at a grocery store (insert screeching brakes and u-turn sound here) and picked up the ingredients.  It wasn't for this evening's dinner, it was for tomorrow's dinner, because it takes 12 hours in the dehydrator.  (Sheesh!)

Rawvioli - Brigitte Mars, Rawsome, page 197
3 zucchini, sliced lengthwise into thin strips (I used a peeler)
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup young coconut meat or an additional 1 cup of pine nuts (which is what I did)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp celtic salt
1 clove garlic
2 tsp fresh rosemary
3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 Tbsp water

Combine all ingredients except zucchini in a food processor and blend.  Place a spoonful of the mixture on half of a strip of zucchini and fold the zucchini over the filling, making a rectangle.  Repeat with all the zucchini strips.  (Rawkin' Note:  HOLY LABOR-INTENSIVE BATMAN...but wait'll you taste this, I'd do it in hell forever, it's so good.)  Place the stuffed zucchini rectangles in the deydrator for 12 hours (I go with 105 degrees, but I'll see, since this is my first time making these, and she doesn't say in the book.  At least, not that I've yet read.)  Serve the rawvioli with a pesto or a marinara sauce.

Here they are, a tray and a half of the rawviolis...just as they're going into the tanning booth, um dehydrator.  It says it yields 6, but not around here.  Those are already gone in our minds.  :)  

I enjoyed the savoury nori rolls from the other day SO MUCH that I was bummed that I only made what the recipe calls for.  It asks for 2 cups sunflower kernels.  So I bought a huge bag and soaked 6 cups overnight.  I rinsed them in the morning and let them sit in a jar, but in the evening, I decided to dehydrate them because they were still damp and I didn't like that.  Seems to me they would mold or go 'off' or something, so I stuck 'em on a few trays below the rawvioli and I'm hoping for the best.  I am leaving them in there until morning, at which time I may find dust, I don't know.  I don't know off hand a good time to dry them.  So this is a bit of a gamble.  I had a very large day and I'm too tired to fuss about with them now, so I'm willing to risk their demise, but hope for the best.

My bean mix in the sprouter is showing real promise, with cute little tails showing up already. There are three tiers of this and I look forward to these in my salads this week.

So onto the other stuff my happiness is made of...

My funky new Value Village find...these hightops, sitting upon my paint box.  And while I'm at it, my cherished box of creative expression, my paints.

Enjoy your day, Rawkers!