This is a childhood favorite of mine. Creamy, sweet, and a little salty its a perfect summer time treat. I haven't made it for a while as one of the main ingredients was Mayo. After scoring big on 20 pound of carrots this recipe came to mind and I had to come up with a raw version. The Aioli in this recipe is amazing on raw salads and sandwiches or oadded to dips.
Raw Vegan Garlic Aioli
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil 2 tsps lemon juice 1 clove small/medium garlic, crushed 1/2 tsp lemon zest 1/2 tsp Agave or 1 date 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard seed Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
iBlend all ngredients above except olive oil. Once combined with your blender on drizzle in the olive oil and blend on low until smooth and cream and the color hast lightened.
Carrot Raisin Salad with Aioli
2 cups grated carrots
1/3 cup raw raisins
Aioli (Recipe Above)
Pepper to taste
Some seriously good eats all for only $2.15 a serving! Kid you not! After our bountiful trip to Kodiak Fresh Produce I knew I had to whip up something amazing with all this fresh and fruity bounty we pillaged bought. While I am not advocating counting calories, I will post the calories so you have an idea what your getting.
Raw Soup and Salad
Salad
Mixed Salad mix
Sliced baby bell pepper
TBS of Hemp Hearts
1/2 sliced Mango
Cold pressed Olive Oil
Total Calories 303
Total Cost $1.33 per serving
Soup
Makes 4 Servings (freeze extra portions and defrost by placing in the fridge the night before you want to use)
10 Roma Tomatoes
1 Large Red Bell Pepper
1/3 Sweet Onion
1 TBS Hemp Seeds
1/4 tsp fresh rosemary ( I plucked mine from my plant for free)
In order to eat Raw on a budget you need to make every penny count. While I love Whole Foods, there is a reason why it's jokingly referred to as "Whole Paycheck" It is really easy to walk in there with a budget and blow it up like the coyote when he's trying to catch the road runner with a stick of dynamite.
So when you save money when you shop you eat better, because you have more food.
Today, just for my awesome fans I packed up my crew and we headed out to Kodiak Fresh Produce in Phoenix,AZ. Now wait you say, I don't live in Phoenix!
Arnold says it best...
This can be done pretty much anywhere. What I did is I googled my local produce wholesalers and I found one that is more than happy to sell fresh yummy organic produce to me and the rest of you! So open up google and search! You should be able to find one in your area! Or even ask your local grocery store where they buy your produce, if you make friends with them, they might just tell you.
As a raw fooder, we eat tons of fresh produce, so buying in bulk is nothing when we polish off pounds in one sitting. But those pounds can get expensive, buying in bulk solves that problem!
Kodiak Fresh Produce sits right off the 17, so it's pretty easy to find and it's centrally located so it's not too far of a drive for most of us in the Valley of the Sun.
Kodiak Produce is located just off I-17 and 7th St. in Phoenix.
1033 E. Maricopa Freeway Phoenix, AZ 85034
We visited in the early afternoon, which is the best time of day to visit for a couple reasons.
1. No traffic, come on do you really want to sit through rush hour?
2. They are less busy. With morning deliveries heading out its a bad time to drop in. Come by after noon and you get the awesome help of the staff at Kodiak!
When you head in you make your way to the window where you sign in and your given a price list. While you may be tempted to order all the deliciousness on the list, take a second to ask about any special prices they might have going on.
They had some great deals the day we went in!
A tower of strawberry goodness! Yes those are all strawberries! I died and went to strawberry heaven!
Strawberries ripe and ready to freeze and juice, for $2 for a flat!!! 8 pounds of yummy strawberries for smoothies and what ever your little heart desires! Umm yes please! I bought 24 pounds for $6!
I scored big on all my produce today! Feeling like a pirate raiding a ship for treasure, I almost felt guilty as I walked out with nearly 120 pounds of fruits and veggies for just over $65
I now have enough strawberries for smoothies, tomatoes for soups, dressings, sun dried yumminess, oranges to eat and juice for a month. (yes those are beagles, not all my family is raw)
Yes you can freeze tomatoes or sun dry them too!
If your still worried about your abilities to consume all this food, have no fear! Kodiak has a farmers market each Saturday when you can stop by between 6-12 in the morning and buy all sorts of yummy things. Oh and they will special order too, just email them for a price list! I'm placing an order for some young coconuts today!
It's Mango season raw people! I got 15 mangoes today for .33 cents each! $4.95 people! They aren't quite ripe, but never pass up a good deal! When blessed with great abundance freeze and dehydrate what you can't use right away! It's all about eating what is in season! .. Oh and yes, I know three are missing, I ate the ripe ones already, LOL!
May people are frustrated by the high cost food items that are pushed by many raw gurus out there. I know I was! i almost gave up my raw vegan diet because I simply could not afford to spend nearly $6000 a month on my family that was recommended on one site.
Well your health is more important than money they say, well yes it is. But what about for those of us who can not afford to spend $40 a day or more on food? Well join me next week as I show you how you can eat a fully raw vegan diet on less than $10 a day!
A couple weeks ago I ordered these super cool silicone freezer pop maker things on Amazon. Not that's not actually what they are called. They are made by FoodWorksand I think I may have a new favorite toy for treats for the kids this summer.
I had some fresh organic pears sitting around from Trader Joe's so I decided that they needed to become Ice Pops! I try to keep my recipes simple and quick, because time is not something I have a lot of and these babies fit that bill with only 4 simple ingredients! Bonus prize for today is that this makes exactly just enough to fill all six of these!
Raw Pear Carmel Pops
2 Pears cored and roughly chopped.
6 Raw Medjool Dates (remove pits)
1 1/1 Cups of Coconut Milk
1/2 tsp of Vanilla.
Dash of Sea Salt
Dump it all in the blender and blend until smooth, easy as pie Popsicles!
Fill each silicone container leaving about an inch at the top for expansion and room for the lid.
Pop in your freezer, I found that sticking these between the wires on my fridge shelf worked perfectly!
~Enjoy!~
Strawberry RawColada
I love this little imperfect slightly sunburned strawberry my toddler brought me from our garden patch. I couldn't resist adding it as a garnish to my morning smoothie today! I make my smoothies in huge batches that fill myVitamix to its abundant brim, so if you want less just cut the recipe in half.
3 Cups Coconut Water
1/4 Cup Raw Shredded Coconut
1 Banana
3 cups of Frozen Strawberries
Add ingredients to your Vitamix and blend until smooth! Its that simple to make a refreshing smoothie that's perfect energy for your morning! Now me, I'm going to use my Raw energy to take a swim in the pool with my kids! What are you going to do with your day?
My morning ritual starts with dropping off 6 of my 7 children off at school. This starts with the countdown. We are leaving in ten minutes! Which usually means we will be out of the driveway in 20. My kids go to three different schools with in about a 5 mile radius. Its a bit crazy but at the end theres a peaceful 10 minutes with my oldest son.
He goes to a charter school that has taken up residence in an old shopping mall movie theater. I never noticed until yesterday that the parking lot is brimming with olive trees that are packed with big fat black olives!
Well I am totally in love with olives and not one to let a good olive go to waste I got permission to pick. My to my children's horror I perched myself on top of our mini van with a plastic bucket left over from Halloween emblazoned with Frankenstein and got to picking!
There was some whining with the typical phrase, "Are you done yet?" Yet only my 8 year old, who loves to climb up into trees, was eager to help. So we picked and picked until I came away with 3 gallons of olives! Yeay me!
The first thing your going to want to do is wash your olives. Put them in a big bowl and cover them with clod water. Gently run your fingers through them and stir them up. The leaves and stems will rise to the top and you can scoop those out.
Salt Cured Olives
This is the easiest and best way to cure ripe olives! They are a very robust flavored olive with a fruity taste.
You will need equal amounts of sea salt and olives and an open bin or wooden crate. Start with a layer of salt and then a layer of olives until you have added all your olives and then cover with a final layer of salt.
I had ten pounds of olives so I used that much salt. Don't freak out about the sale, because very little remains at the end. When your salt is a purple color it's a good indicator that they are done. Wash one off and give it a taste. If it's still bitter let the sit another week. The whole process takes about 6 weeks. Where ever you store these will smell so wonderful, of fresh olives. Don't for get to save the salt when your done. We blend with garlic and fresh herbs and give it as gifts. Its amazing flavor profile!
Once we have determined they are ready we will rinse them with boiling water . Yeah ok not totally raw, but it's a quick dip, a couple seconds.
Now we will pack them in jars with herbs and spices and cover with a good olive oil.
Enjoy now or store in your fridge for up to a year! We enjoy these chopped on top of raw pizza!
When starting out raw, craving for SAD foods are really hard. They can almost be a deal breaker for some. Quite often raw recipes meant to be like the real thing are a poor substitute.
That's why I love Jicama Chips! Easy to make and thin, crispy, and a little bit greasy. They make a perfect substitute for the fried version!
Spicy Jicama Chips
1 Large Jicama
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbs Organic taco Seasoning
2 TBS of your favorite hot sauce
Peal your jicama and slice thinly. This is not a job for a knife. I used the 1/16 setting on my mandolin and they turned out amazing. You want big thin pieces because these shrink up a lot. If you slice too thickly they will be chewy.
In a bowel whisk together the remaining ingredients. Put sliced jicama in a bowl and pour your spice and oil mix over hem to coat. Toss gently.
Dehydrate until crispy. I make these at night and by morning they are ready to eat.
When you are first getting started out with eatingRaw Foods, it can be quite daunting. Especially the amount of equipment you supposedly need. For the first part of my raw journey I used and Oster Beehive Blender. Honestly I loved it. It did most everything I needed, Occasionally I would have to stop and scrape the sides with a spatula, and it was no biggie.
As every Raw Vegan aspired to have I coveted a Vitamix. I simply had to have one. SO last month I bought one, $299 refurbished by the factory with a new jar was a great deal.
I have tried it out and I must say its a pretty awesome blender. Of course its a bit better than my Oster Beehive, but honestly not by a huge amount. I would say if your doing raw on a budget, get the Oster Beehive and you will be just fine with it.
So I have been playing with my newly acquired Vitamix and I have discovered a new Favorite Smoothie. Its really a must share and is an almost exact match to the SAD version. My son thought that the picture needed a car in it, so enjoy!
Raw Orange Julius Knock Off Smoothie
2 Navel Oranges (peeled)
2 Ripe Bananas (peeled)
Handful of Almonds about 1/4 cup
1 1/2 cup of ice
1 cup coconut water
1 tsp vanilla
Optional Stevia to sweeten to taste
Its pretty easy toss it all in your blender and whirl it up until smooth. Share with a friend or keep to your self, its that good!
Friday, December 6, 2013
Finally got my Vitamix yesterday and coming back with a review soon!
Ok the hardest thing I have with raw is not having a savory salty potato chip. I know soooo wrong right? Dont get me wrong, I love Kale chips, but they are so not like potato chips! So last night I played around in the kitchen, and popped what I came up with in the dehydrator and this morning I woke up to nothing short of WOW!
So I am sharing the recipe, I hope you al love these like I do!
WOW! Jicama Chips!
1 medium Jicama
2 TBS of Nutritional Yeast
2 TBS of olive Oil
2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
2 TBS purified water
1/2 TPS Himalayan Pink Salt
1/2 TPS Lemon Pepper
1/4-1/2 TSP Garlic
Slice Jicama in thin slices using a mandoline or food processor. The thinner they are the more chip like they are. In a bowl mix remaining ingredients and toss with Jicama slices. Dehydrate in your dehydrator at 115 degrees for 8 hours or until crispy. Enjoy alone or with your favorite raw dip!
I have been going back and forth from Raw to SAD and back again. Its been super hard to stick with RAW, but I am at the breaking point now. My blood sugars are out of control and I may just be the only person on this planet who is allergic to insulin. Yeah no kidding. Not like I really want to be on it anyways. in my true sugar addict fashion I filled the dehydrator try with Raw Brownies and made some raw cheese cake. Planning on making some raw onion bread tonight and hopfeully get back full swing on raw tomorrow. Wish me luck.
I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so having something Raw to munch on hand is a must. I find that if i do not keep ready made snacks in the cupboard then I will eat anything, which is not a good thing.
I find that somethings the combinations of some Raw Recipes yields a result that is nothing like the real thing it was meant to resemble and sometimes an ingredient will over power the whole dish. I created this batter to have a very mild taste to it. This way you can manipulate it to your tastes. Add some chopped dried fruit or cacao nibs, or I like I dis some Cacao powered for an out of this world brownie.
Raw Sugar Cookie Batter
2 cups Raw Soaked Cashews
2 TBS water
1 cup frozen Dates
1 tsp Vanilla
Using frozen dates keeps them from gumming up your food processor or blender. toss your frozen dates in the blender/food processor and whirl until chopped finely. In your food processor add your cashews, water, and pulse until chopped finely. Add your dates and vanilla and run your food processor until you have a well combined paste that is smooth and well combined.
Now you can stop here and put teaspoonfulls on your dehydrator tray and call it a day. These make a great mild sugar cookie like bites.
BROWNIES-
Or you can add 1/4 cup of cacao powder and whirl it up to make the best Raw Brownies you have ever tasted. Once dehydrated they even get crunchy edges like brownies. just spread about 1/2 inch think on your dehydrator tray. dehydrate until firm enough to cut, cut into squares an then dehydrate over night. you will want to keep these in the fridge because they are ooey gooey in the middle.
Or maybe some dried coconut, dried bananas, and dried pineapple for a pina colada flavor.... The sky is the limit.
Ok I admit I am a cheese-aholic. I find nothing better than warm gooey melted cheese. but lets get really its not good for me, or anyone for that matter. But i still needed a good raw substitute for my raw pizzas etc. So today I made a nice savory cheese that I think will fill the bill for anything. This cheese is a bit firmer than the ones I have tried in the past, which makes it sliceable. you can add ingredients and take away them to change the flavors. I did mine with a bit of garlic, because I love the stuff! You can make yours with out for a more mozzarella or cream cheese type.
Raw Cheese
1 Cup Soaked Cashes or Macadamia Nuts
1/4 Cup filtered water
3 TBS of Kambucha (Plain not flavored unless you want a fruity cheese.
3 TBS Olive oil
Juice from 1/2 lime
1/4-1/2 tSP salt to taste.
Optional 1/4 TSP garlic Powder
1/4 Cup Irish Moss Gel ( you can buy this or make you own by following this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lGEl_HBtPs )
Add everything except your olive oil, kumbucha, and water to your blender. Turn your blender on low and slowly add your water, kumbucha, and then olive oil. you may find you need a bit more to get it to blend depending on your blender. I use a Oster beehive, so I don't have the power that those using a Blendtec or Vitamix dose. Once your done blending this put it in a container that has a little olive oil rubbed on the inside and refrigerate until firm.
Today I filled my dehydrator with raw chocolate cookies, Faux Cheeze Its crackers. It works so much better if I have easy snack foods to grab when a craving or those late night hunger pains hit.
I also played with Irish moss today. Wow that stuff thickens up like crazy! I am a big fan of gummy bears so this is tonights project to figure out! ;)
I don't know how many are actually reading my blog, but in July I lost my pregnancy. i do no think this was Raw related, well because I had stopped eating Raw.
Interestingly I am preggo again. we were not trying and had actually decided on permanent birth control when we found out. I am determined to be completely raw this pregnancy and at 4+ weeks pregnant I start a new.
Today was a blissfull day. Yesterday i drove up to Flagstaff, AZ to visit my brother. On the way home we decided to drive through Sedona, its my favorite place ever! Sedona has a huge Raw Food community and I was lucky enough to stop by The Chocolate Tree Cafe http://www.chocolatreecafe.com/! It is really neat and had apple trees with organic apples growing in the front.
I picked up a yummy green smoothie and some Irish Moss. Its nasty looking stuff and makes me want to gag from the look of it, but its supposed to be great for deserts.
My husband who thought he was helping out brought home a gallon of Chocolate milk, ok it was organic. But come on, really? Bringing home Chocolate milk with a pregnant woman in the house is asking for trouble.
So to cure my newest craving I came up with a chocolate milk recipe. Because I am struggling with my fasting numbers I tried not to make it too sweet. You can add more Agave as needed.
16 Oz purified water
1/4 cup Raw Almonds
1 tsp of Raw Cacao
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp of Agave
Toss it all in your blender and let it rip! Blend until smooth.
Good Grief! Can I not catch a break? Fasting number this morning, 120! This was even after exercising for an hour last night, taking cinnamon before bed and eating a handful of almonds for protein. What a bummer!
The funny thing? For breakfast I had a bowl of fruit, 1 hour later my blood sugar was 129. Just a strange mystery to me. Well heres hoping tomorrow goes better.Off to go take a walk and contemplate my plan of attack! I will beat those fasting numbers I will!javascript:void(0)
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