Sushi!

Sushi

This sushi is one I adapted from Raw Food Life Force Energy by Natalia Rose. I used to eat traditional sushi at least twice a week before I had my children. It was the closest food to Heaven, in my opinion.

When I was eating fish, my favorite was the California Roll with cream cheese. Last year, I had a sweet potato roll, strictly vegan, that was the best bite of sushi I've ever eaten. I have no idea how that roll was made, but if I ever figure it out, I will share it!


The base of the roll is parsnip. It's a root vegetable that looks like a carrot, minus the orange color. It holds together far better than cauliflower, my former rice substitute. I'll be using parsnip from now on.

I mixed the parsnip, ground in a food processor, with a blend of garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and maple syrup. I don't have the exact measurement down yet, but will share when I do.
Above the parsnip are avocado, carrot, cucumber, and cilantro.

The "cheese" on top is from Recipes Made with Love by Jodi Allen.
I cut the recipe in half. Below is the original recipe.
3 1/2 cups soaked (for at least 6 hrs) cashews
1 cup diced onions
almond milk (enough to moisten)
splash of apple cider vinegar
sea salt to taste
Blend in food processor until creamy
Place a wide piece of lettuce on top to hold everything together as you roll up the sheet of nori. That's the easiest way to roll up your sushi if you don't have a sushi mat. Slice, and enjoy with your favorite dip! They are delicious!

Love,
Althea

Light Eating For Survival Blog Project

Light Eating for Survival" Blog Project a la the movie Julie & Julia.

1 Year. 481 Recipes. 1 ambitious mama.

Days 16 and 17

Are these beautiful or what?

Perhaps this is why I only had flu-symptoms for two days! I'm feeling GREAT!


Kale-Apple (my own favorite creation)
2 apples
2 handful of kale leaves


Fruit Punch
6 oz apples
1 oz beet
2 oz cucumber
1 oz green peppers


Complexion Cocktail
3 oz carrot
2 oz cucumber
2 oz apple
1 oz beet


Simple Punch
3 oz carrot
3 oz apple
2 oz beet
It was dark and raining when I took this photo. I couldn't get good light, but they were pretty looking in person :-).


Cooling Carrot
4 oz carrot
2 oz celery


Powerhouse
3 oz carrot
2 oz celery
1 oz parsley


Made Anew
2 oz spinach
2 oz beet
4 oz carrot


Quick Lunch
1 oz wheatgrass
3 oz carrot juice


Rebirth
1 oz wheatgrass
1 oz beet
2 z carrot
1 oz apple
1-3 garlic
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

(Not for the fainthearted. WHOOOSAH)

Love,
Althea

Flu-like Symptoms

I think I'm coming down with the flu. I'm on a mission to halt this in its tracks. Last night @ 7:00pm, I felt nausea.

This morning, I woke up congested. I gargled with salt water, and used the neti pot. A TON of mucus came out. I recommend that neti pot. Takes some getting used to, but it works. I went out briefly with my kids, and got sweaty and fatigued from a simple errand. I made some juice, and am about to lie down. My biggest symptoms are muscle aches & fatigue. If you have my number, call me. I probably won't get back on the computer the rest of the day.

Love,
Althea

Kale Salad with Chipotle Dressing

Wilted Kale Salad with a Creamy Chipotle Dressing

From brownies to a salad :-). I know, right?

This salad comes courtesy of Russell James. If you sign up for his newsletter, you will get five free recipes. This is one of them.

Kale
2 heads kale
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups baby tomatoes
1 cup hulled hemp seeds

Dressing
2 avocados
1 chipotle pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons agave
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Remove the stems and then wash and cut the kale into small pieces. Place into a bowl, add the salt and massage it into the kale until it wilts and takes on a cooked texture.

Add the tomatoes and hemp seeds. Mix by hand.

Blend the dressing ingredients in a blender. Pour into bowl, and mix by hand.

Okay, I didn't have hemp seeds. I avoid them since the last time I had them, they gave me horrible stomach cramps. I added a little bit of nutritional yeast and more salt to this recipe, once I had mixed everything in. I enjoyed it, and so did my husband, and I would make it again. Russell also has a bread recipe I am aching to try. But I need to get some buckwheat and sprout it. Look for the bread sometime next week!

Up next: A plethora of juices!

Love,
Althea

The Best Raw Brownies EVER!

I made the Warm Fudge Brownies in Matthew Kenney's book Everyday Raw. Can I just say "WOW!!!!!!!!!!" They are everything a brownie should be: warm, fudgy, thick, rich, moist...in short, Heaven on Earth. These brownies are reminiscent of the best brownies I've ever tasted. If you have this book, and a dehydrator, make the brownies.

The above photo is the batter. It was so good. I kept licking the spoon, trying not to eat it all before I put the batter in the pan.

This is what it looked like after being dehydrated.

I think I took them out of the pan too soon, but they still tasted phenomenal. They looked more like cookies, but who cares?

I took two pictures once they were finished. I'd added cacao nibs (just my personal touch), and I'd grinded my own cashew flour, hence why they look grainy. But again, the taste was ridiculous.

The same brownies again. Awesomeness on a plate. Seriously. My husband and my oldest son could not get enough. And I managed to save one for a friend who was leaving my job the next day. She was intrigued by the thought of raw brownies. Upon first bite, her response was, "Wow. This is delicious. I'm going to have to get a dehydrator." Two thumbs up for Warm Fudge Brownies.

Love,

Althea

Light Eating for Survival Blog Project

Light Eating for Survival" Blog Project a la the movie Julie & Julia.
1 Year. 481 Recipes. 1 ambitious mama.
Day 15

Vegetable Nut Loaf turned Veggie Burger topped with Creamy Port Cheese

I didn't have enough nuts to hold the nut loaf together, so I improvised. The original recipe is
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup tomatoes
1 cup grated celery
1/2 chopped parsley
1/2 cup grated green bell pepper
2 tablespoons crushed garlic
enough ground nuts to hold it together
Mold into oiled serving dish and garnish

I had 1/2 cup of ground almonds on hand, and that was not enough. I had some cashews, which I was saving to make "cheese" with, which I wound up using in this dish. I threw the cashews into the food processor and it did help. I learned to process the veggies until it was nearly a pate. That's how it held together.

The cheese is from Recipes Made with Love by Jodi Allen. I cut the recipe in half. Below is the original recipe.
3 1/2 cups soaked (for at least 6 hrs) cashews
1 cup diced onions
almond milk (enough to moisten)
splash of apple cider vinegar
sea salt to taste
Blend in food processor until creamy

Where else can you get 14 tomatoes for $5.00? At your local farm or farmer's market. I'm a huge fan of seconds (overripe produce). When you catch tomatoes at the perfect time, they are fantastic. And local produce tastes much better than anything you get at the grocery store. So of course I made a tomato salad :-).

Tomato Salad

3 large ripe tomatoes

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove pressed garlic

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon kelp

I only had dulse on hand, instead of kelp. This is a very simple, lightly seasoned salad. The ripe, flavorful tomatoes make this a wonderful dish.

Love,

Althea

Light Eating for Survival Blog Project

"Light Eating for Survival" Blog Project a la the movie Julie & Julia.

1 Year. 481 Recipes. 1 ambitious mama.

Days 12, 13, and 14.

I'm scrolling through the comments posted on my blog, and what do I see? Marcia Acciardo, the AUTHOR of Light Eating for Survival left me the sweetest comment. I'm in tears!

I finally got to see Julia and Julie last night, Althea. It was doubly sweet because of your terrific blog on my book, and because I had met Julia and her husband when we both appeared on a live television show in NYC. Meryl Streep has done an amazingly accurate portrayal of one of the most gracious and unpretentious of people, whom absolutely adored all kinds of foods and cooking, and kindly requested a copy of Light Eating For Survival.

Thank you, Marcia for being so kind and generous enough to let me spread the message about your book to the world.

Let's get to the food! Today I bring you frozen treats and smoothies! Banana Split

When you have a hankerin' for ice cream, whipping up a banana split is easy, if you already have frozen bananas in your freezer. Wait until the bananas have black spots before freezing. I put mine in the freezer with the peels on, but you can peel and put them in a storage bag. I run my bananas under hot water until the peel comes off easily. For this recipe, all you need are:

3 frozen bananas
½ cup ground almonds
Water to whip
1 tablespoon currants or strawberries

Run the bananas through a juicer (like a Champion juicer. I used a food processor). Whip the almonds and a little water to make a topping for the ice cream. Top with fruit. Delicious!

Papaya Sherbert

½ papaya
½ banana
1 slice pineapple
1-2 oranges juiced
¼ teaspoon vanilla

Mix in the blender until smooth. Pour into a tray and chill in the freezer until hard. Luscious.

Frozen Sherbert

Mix peaches, strawberries, pears, and seedless grapes, enough apple juice to blend together in a blender, and freeze. For creamier ice cream, blend again. Freeze.

I followed the directions to the letter. It tastes phenomenal. The only thing I would do different is acerate it (stir it) every 1-2 hours to keep it from being block-like. But the taste…Raymond asked for this for breakfast. Ice cream to him. Frozen fruit to me. Of course he could have it for breakfast!

Orange Smoothie

8 oz. orange juice
1 banana
½ cup blueberries, strawberries or peaches
I used peaches, and it tasted great.

Apple Smoothie

8 oz. apple juice
1 banana
½ cup blueberries, strawberries or peaches
I used strawberries. Again, another simple, easy drink that anyone would love.

Love,

Althea