I’m a very lucky gal.  My wife may not be much into the raw eating thing, bless her heart.  But she consumes a lot of what I make and she supports me for the most part.  Best of all, she’s an avid gardener.  She’s into being a locavore.   She has planted an abundance of food in our yard over the years.  Now she’s taking it to the next level.  We are finally getting rid of the grass in the front yard so we can have our mini-farm.

There’s nothing better than walking out my door, picking ingredients for my creations, and eating the freshest and most flavorful food possible.

I feel very loved when I behold the results of  my wife’s  hard work.

We haven’t decided yet what we’re planting but you can bet it will be a colorful addition to my raw chef-ery.  We’ve already got apricot, avocado, grape vines, laurel (bay leaf), lemon, lavender, loquat, orange (Seville and Valencia), 3 pomegranate trees, rosemary, sage (pineapple & regular) in our perennial arsenal.    Plus we have plots where we plant basil, chard, cilantro, dill, mint, spinach, and tomatoes (heirloom & grape).

We have a good friend who is a permaculturist that runs a consulting business helping people do green landscaping and she does a lot of work creating edible lawns.  She’s helping us out because it’s what she does for fun.  She tells us that we have areas where berries will do well.  OMG.  Heaven.  We’ll be adding berries to the mini-farm for sure.   Since we’re a small family we do plan on joining a local produce swapping co-operative to share any excess and get a wider variety of home grown food into our diet.

I get a bit teary-eyed when I consider my good fortune.  My home is my Eden.  I am humble and grateful for my blessings.  Fresh ingredients are a chef’s dream come true.

I’m so excited! I’ve booked myself for 2 weeks at the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego.  I’ve been wanting to go for years and finally saved enough money to make the trip.  I’m sure I’ll learn a lot.  I’m really interested in the wheatgrass sprouting classes.  I’ve never had much success sprouting my own.  It’s just too hot in L.A most of the year.  Hope to get some tips to overcome that.  I’m also stoked about the 3 day juice feast during the first week.  It will be sooooooo nice to have somebody else fixing the juices!

The program really emphasizes goal setting and life-balance. The provide lots of tips on how to organize one’s life to incorporate this eating style as a permanent habit.  Plus, it’s a spiritual mission.  I’m planing to renew my long-stagnant meditation practice and spend lots of time cycling (moving meditation).  You can bet I’ll be in the hot tub a great deal too. Knowing I get to do two weeks worth of extremely cleansing eating is a big motivator for me.  I’ve been doing the 11 week initiatives at Raw Food Rehab since April.  Consistently! So far I’ve lost a few pounds and I’ve made biking to work a daily habit and I’ve increased the number of days I spend 100% vegan per week.   I’m more psyched about sticking to it now that I’m going to OHI.  I’ll experience less detox reaction if my diet before the trip is clean.

My long term goal is to reduce (or eliminate!) my use of prescription medications.  The program will be an excellent launching point for that. Only 6 weeks until vacation time! I’m counting the days.

I’m in the midst of a dehydrator day a.k.a “D-day.”  D-day is for making treats & staples.  These are the things which make staying raw easier and more pleasurable.   On the agenda today: macaroons (chocolate & blond) and almond flour.

I use the macaroon recipe from “Raw Food, Real World” by Matthew Kenney & Sarma Melngailis.  I love their books.  When it comes to food porn, they rule.  All of their recipes are tres gourmet and the photography only increases the drool-worthy quality of their recipes.   Everything I’ve made from their books tastes awesome.   It’s not everyday fare because their recipes take time and effort.  Not surprising.  They did open Pure Food and Wine in NYC which Sarma Melngailis still owns and runs — along with One Lucky Duck, a take-out and on-line raw foods store.

These macaroons remind me of my favorite flavor of Timbits and take me back to my childhood in Canada.   They are mouthful of happiness.

Almond flour is a basic staple and an easy item to incorporate into one’s raw routine. It’s a great way to use up pulp from making almond milk.  I keep a gallon zip lock bag in my freezer and throw my leftovers into it every time I whip up a batch of milk.  When I’ve accumulated  about 4-6 cups, I defrost the pulp, spread it on teflex covered dehydrator trays, and pop it in the “D” until it’s bone dry.   From there, I throw it into my BlendTec and grind it to a very fine consistency.    I store it in the freezer when it’s done.

It keeps for months.  They dehydrating helps keep the nuts from going rancid.  It’s especially gorgeous when you’ve removed the skins from the almonds.   The flour is versatile: use it for cookies, cakes, breads, crackers. It’s simple and takes virtually no time to make – spend 30 extra seconds throwing it in the freezer when you make nut milk.

Making other recipes is quicker if you’ve got the flour on hand.

I’ve been quite remiss about sharing my weekly food prep. Quite shameful of me really, since this blog is about getting organized to make eating raw vegan as easy as possible. My goal is to someday get my food prep time down to less than 4 hours per week. It may be a bit ambitious. I think I sometimes make too much stuff and my life would be simpler if I repeated more meals. Fortunately, things like sprouts and dehydrates are low on the “hands-on” time even though they take a fair long while to get ready. I decided to go Asian this week. Here’s the plan (note: the re-use of items from day to day). The pate will keep for 2 weeks, so it may end up being Asian fortnight instead of Asian week.

Weekend prep

• Sprouting  (I’m going with lentil)
• Dehydrate kale chips for snacks
• Dehydrate some gingered almonds
• Make pates
• Make salad dressing
• Wash greens
• Cut up sturdier vegetables (carrots, bell pepper, etc.)
• Marinate some veggies (mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Breakfasts

• Miso soup
• Veggie scramble
• Green juice or smoothie

Lunches

• Asian marinated veggie wrap
• Spinach and seaweed salad with oranges and sesame dressing
• Three seaweed salad
• Vietnamese style cabbage salad

Dinners

• Sushi
• Pad Thai
• Stir un-fry on parsnip rice
• Spring rolls

Snacks

• fruit
• kale chips
• veggies with asian pate dip

I’ve got a new favorite salad.  I’ve been making it at least once per week.  I was inspired by the seaweed salads at my favorite local Japanese restaurant and the one I had in Baltimore at Liquid Earth.

Seaweed has a host of health benefits. It’s great for thyroid balance since it’s a natural source of iodine.  It’s chock full of B vitamins and minerals including including calcium, magnesium, potassium, iodine, iron, and zinc.  Seaweed is a great way to get salty flavor into food without eating too much sodium — it’s way lower than typical sea salt.

This is simple, quick to make, and very satisfying. The kid will actually eat it, which amazes me.  Then again, she is a sushi hound so she’s accustomed to seaweed.

Three Seaweed Salad
Makes 6-8 hearty servings

2 cucumbers, diced
2 carrots, shredded or ribbon-ed
3 scallions, diced
1/2 cup arame
1/2 cup wakame
1/4 cup dulse or to taste (I use more, I like it salty)
1 recipe Asian vinaigrette

Asian Vinaigrette
Yields 1/2 cup

1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon umeboshi plum vinegar
2 Tablespoons mild oil of choice (olive, sesame, — I add a touch of flax oil for good omega fatty acids)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon tamari or nama shoyu (optional, omit if using lots of dulse)

Toss ingredients together.  Allow to sit 30-45 minutes to get flavors to blend, tossing occasionally.   Serve with love.

Keeps a couple of days in the fridge.  I recommend draining the marinade prior to storing  to avoid a soggy salad.