Still Celebrating the Birthdays...

So far I've had a very juicy day, so it's a little hard to think solid food, but I'll give it a shot. Actually, this task is simplified by looking at the list of our customers' requests. It's kind of nice relying on "fate" to determine our meals - We get some pleasant surprises that way.

For starters in our juice today, Roger (he's our juice man) made all of us a cucumber juice. I like mine with a little sole in it. (This is Himalayan salt hunks in a water solution. It's very strong, so it only takes a tiny bit to flavor the juice making it nice and savory.) It's midday now, so before we think about lunch, he's making the regular green drink we have almost every day: cucumber, celery, apple, lemon, kale or spinach. It is amazing the boost we get from this. It makes my body and my brain very happy.

Our foodsaver died this week. What a bummer! We really depend on it to help us keep our food fresher for ourselves and for our customers. I guess I'll be ordering another one right away.


Speaking of gadgets that make our lives easier, today a pineapple slicer arrived. I have seen these in the marketplace for years, but I assumed they couldn't be any good, or I would have heard of one from somewhere. How wrong I was! This is now one of my favorite gadgets. We eat a lot of pineapple here, and we'll eat a lot more now that we have this. I couldn't believe how easy AND effective it is. Why didn't someone tell me about this before?

We had a fun experience last Sunday. Once a month the youth from our church have a meeting with the president of our church unit to go over the activities they would like to do for the month. Since it is the only time all of the youth are guaranteed to all be together along with their leaders, they designate this time as their monthly birthday party as well celebrating all the birthdays that occur for that given month. Since it was Alicia AND Wyatt's birthday this month in our church unit, Alicia asked if it would be ok for us to prepare the birthday treat for everyone. (Isn't she a sweetheart?) Of course, the leaders were more than happy to let her do that, so when she came home last month, she announced that we'd be preparing ice cream for the whole youth council in March. Okay.

Actually, when I make ice cream, I make a large batch of it, and I was thinking it might be enough. Roger cleaned the coconuts for it on Thursday, and Sunday morning I made the mix and filled the freezer. It was finished by the time I had to leave for church, so I packed it in plenty of ice and rock salt and hauled it to church. While it was freezing, I made some strawberry coolis (strawberries and agave nectar) from some of the yummy berries we got last week. I wish we could have gotten some pictures; it was truly beautiful AND delicious. The freezer came home almost empty, but there was enough for Roger and I to each have a banana split with some hot fudge I had working in the dehydrator just for the occasion. Oh my, oh my. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.

The ice cream is relatively easy to make; I think it is easier than most dairy ice creams I've made. First I made 6 cups of almond mylk from 2 cups of almonds that have been soaking. Then I mix this with 1 cup of agave nectar and a tablespoon of vanilla extract. It gets blended in thirds with pints of coconut meat, i.e. 6 cups of coconut meat, about 6 coconuts. That's it! I pour it in the ice cream freezer and pack ice and rock salt around it and allow the machine to run about 1/2 hour. It is so good and good for you.

I don't usually flavor the ice cream as I prefer having toppings on hand to add to it later. If we have any to put in the freezer for later, different toppings add a lot of variety. My favorite topping is one we call marshmallow, but that's another blog topic I'm sure you'll hear about later.

Guess I'd better share the meals with you. One of our customers loves soup, so we made quite a few for him this week. That will be reflected in our menus this week. As usual, breakfast is juice and/or fruit and/or green smoothies. The variety is infinite. You'll never be bored!

Our main meal is in the middle of the day around 1 or 2:00 usually, and then for dinner, if anyone is hungry (and the children are ALWAYS hungry), we have more fruit, veggies or fruit with a dip, everyday bread with some veggies on top, Hawaiian granola with or without some almond mylk, a smoothie, a bowl of ice cream, or something leftover from another meal. Here's our main courses for the week:


Mashed no-taters with "roasted" veggies on top

Chili con crema, corny chips

Viva La Verde Salad with pickled beets (these beets are so good mixed with ranch dressing)

Broccoli cheese soup, everyday bread

Veggie soup, Alicia crackers

Veggie Lasagna: zucchini slices layered with spinach dip and marinated broccoli

Elote con crema stuffed inside avocado boats; ensalada

Our desserts this week: coconut cream pie; chocolate puddin'; fruit pie with fresh strawberries, blueberries, banana, pineapple; pumpkin pie; and rawky road

I'm kinda working on a chocolate pie that has the texture of the key lime pie that I love. Also working on a brownie type application. I haven't liked any I've had in any raw restaurants. Of course, I'll post it on here when I get it figured out.

Thanks to all our customers who inspire us to do more and more. You keep us going! We love you all so much.

March Madness 2010

We've had an interesting week. A few more customers are ordering prepared items, so our personal family menu has been changing a little to accomodate their requests. We've had surf n turf two weeks in a row after going several months without it. We also found a couple of fans of our queso verde which we dearly love. I was thinking about why we don't just make the things we like regardless of whether or not anyone orders it. As I analyzed the situation, I think we only make what is ordered because otherwise we'd have too much food. We wouldn't be able to eat all of that PLUS what is leftover after we fill customer orders. It is rather a nice problem to have: too much food in a world where too many people are wondering where their next meal is coming from. It is kind of like working at a restaurant: most restaurant employees eat what is on the menu where they work.

I've been milling around a recipe for a coconut cream pie, and it came to me a couple of weeks ago. I finally made it today, and it is quite good even if I'm not much of a coconut cream fan myself. Other family members liked it as well, so I'm anxious to see how customers like it.

It has a chocolate crust topped with a layer of banana. Then comes the coconut cream layer: thai coconut AND shredded coconut sweetened with agave nectar. I was kind of surprised about the banana layer as it just gives it a touch of somethin somethin without being all banana about it. I usually only like bananas by themselves.

Tuesday we were invited to give a presentation to a group of ladies who have been doing a 7 week class on the seven pillars of health (www.sevenpillarsofhealth.com) by Dr. Colbert. It is a program some churches use to teach a more God centered approach to health by applying principles taught in the scriptures. Only one pillar is centered around the food, and it stresses that living food should be eaten if one wants to have good health. The other pillars include drinking good water, getting enough rest and sleep, exercise, detoxification, nutritional supplements, and how to better cope with stress. I am always amazed at how many different ways to do things. We all have to find what works for us, and what works for us now may change as we detox, get older, and get more in tune with what our body needs.

Anyway, we were invited to speak to them about how a living foods diet has affected our life. We are so full of gratitude, and we love to share this with others. It was great to talk to the ladies although I'm not sure how willing they were to do things differently than the way they were used to doing them. I like the old adage: if you want things to be different, you can't keep doing things the way you've always done them.

I like how St. Augustine said it better: "If you would attain to what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are. For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing."

I hope and pray that at least one of them was inspired by our story and that because of what we shared with them, she will be willing to make some positive changes. Sometimes we may never know whether we have been a positive influence or not. We can only hope...

Contrast this if you will with a call I got from another friend's mother. She has a melanoma which is terminal, and she is trying to come to grips with life's fragility. I felt very inadequate as I talked to her. I wished I knew more of what to suggest that would be just the right thing for her. My only suggestion to her was to apply the correct principles of health as she is coming to understand them and take whatever comes. Putting a date on it is a two-edged sword. I think the reason we are not told too soon when our lives will end is because we do get trunky... (this is a term used by missionaries when their term of service is almost over).

I know that God answers prayers. He has answered mine just as surely as I sit here. When I pled with him to tell me how I could help my son, he gave me the information I needed to do so. Does that mean I always do what he tells me? No, I'm afraid not. I guess that's where that whole "weakness makes us strong" thing comes in. ("...if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them" Ether 12:27.) I'm afraid I'm one of the weakest ones around... so I suppose that means there are great things in my future if I keep at it, right? In the meantime, there are consequences that must be endured until we decide that we're ready to change and do what needs to be done to move to the next level.

One of the fun things in our presentation with the ladies was that we brought samples of a whole days worth of food. Just little ones so that they could try everything. I think they were surprised that healthy food could taste that good.

We started out with a green drink: our usual (cucumber, celery, apple, lemon, greens). Then they had a little fruit salad: pineapple, banana, kiwi, raisins, coconut, vanilla sylk. For lunch was a Viva La Verde salad with a side order of no-net tuna; ranch dressing. One snack was apple slices with honey almond butter; another was some corny chips and salsa. For dinner we gave them some shredded zucchini with queso verde. It was kind of fun to do it that way, and they got to see how great a variety of foods there are even when we only eat raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. I think if we get to do other presentations, we might consider repeating this.

Our program consisted of asking them what their obstacles were to living the principles they had learned in the previous weeks. The only one they expressed was that their husbands didn't want to eat any differently. I'm not sure if that is an excuse or a legitimate obstacle. Certainly the way others in our family live is going to affect us, but we have to learn to do what is best for ourselves in spite of the efforts others make to sabotage us. We have to consider how much the adversary wants us to fail.

C. S. Lewis addresses this in his book Screwtape Letters. The book is sprinkled with advice from Screwtape (a devil) to his nephew, Wormwood (another devil), telling him what he must do to gain the soul of a Christian for the underworld. This mostly involves "muddying the waters". That is: not allowing the "patient" to clearly see the truth. Thus we are shown how evil is overcome by simple, clear actions and thought.

It is evil in our everyday lives that Screwtape addresses, petty evils that add up in the end to the destruction of our morality, the demise of our individuality and the utter destruction of our souls. In the end we find that the battle between good and evil is fought out on the field of our relationships with others and most of all our relationship with God. It is a great read.

Well, I've been philosophical enough. Any March Madness fans out there? We love MM at our house, so we're doing lots of finger foods this week to eat while we watch the nailbiters and hope for the best in our brackets.

Hoping your March madness results in lots of good and crazy things that bring joy and happiness into your life.

Menus for the week of March 20, 2010

breakfast: green drinks and juices, fruit

lunch: our substantial meal of the day. Most people eat their big meal for supper, but we like to eat it earlier in the day. Our night meal consists of simple food, what most people would consider a snack. Sometimes just some fruit, or a smoothie or mylk shake made with rejuvelac or almond mylk. Sometimes veggies and a dip, other times fruit and some nut butter. The main thing is to have those good things on hand so that you're not tempted to eat foods that are not healthy for you.


This week, one of our friends requested olive spread, a cashew cheese mixed with red peppers and olives. It is so good, and we are looking forward to that for some of our dipping meals this week. We all love honey almond butter with celery and/or apples too. Queso dulce (cashew cheese mixed with raisins; pictured at the beginning of the post) was requested this week, so we are so excited to have that with some apples or celery. Darius likes it with strawberries!

Here's our list of main meals this week:

Saturday: tacos (Romaine lettuce leaves stuffed with unfried no-bean (sunflower seed pate seasoned with cumin and coriander) topped with salsa and crema (cashew cheese based sour cream); Mexican rice (minced cabbage mixed with tomatoes, herbs, and spices)

Sunday: Pasta alfredo (shredded zucchini with cashew cheese alfredo); tossed salad

Monday: Avocado boats stuffed with elote con crema (spicy cashew mayo mixed with corn); ensalada (shredded cabbage, cilantro, lemon juice, and salt)

Tuesday: Mac n cheese (shredded zucchini with cashew cheese cheddar); we love this with marinated mushrooms. Cole slaw is good with this.

Wednesday: Spinach soup (cashew based alfredo mixed with shredded spinach). Watered down this is soup; otherwise it is a great dip, and Alicia loves to stuff mushrooms with it. We serve all soup with a sprouted buckwheat cracker, either pita chips, corny chips, or everyday bread, whatever we have the most of.

Thursday: Sweet n Sour noodles (shredded zucchini, slivered red pepper, and pineapple chunks with sweet n sour sauce: fresh squeezed orange juice, dried apricots, pine nuts, honey, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, yellow mustard seed powder from sprouted mustard seeds, unrefined sea salt, ginger, and some Irish moss for texture). How about a cucumber salad with it?

Friday: Collard wraps (tender collard leaves spread with queso verde (fermented cashew, macadamia, and parsley cheese) and topped with carrot raisin salad); miso soup (miso mixed with warm water poured over slivered mushrooms and sliced green onion).

A few new desserts this week:

chocolate puddin' (avocado and young Thai coconut mixed with cacao powder and agave nectar)

coconut cream pie (as described previously)

apple crisp (a perennial favorite: apples, raisins, dates, pecans, very simple, yet delicious)

cheesecake (pecan crust topped with cashew cream cheese cake finished off with raw cacao topping)

We Aren't So Different, You and Me

We still have people ask us all the time what we eat. Someone talking to me this morning (as she sipped her carton of Atkins milkshake and nibbled on some Atkins snack bars) expressed her concerns over how much time it would take to eat a more plant based diet. We have been so conditioned to pick something up effortlessly. If it satisfies our addictions, that is so much the better. I don't mean to get all preachy on anyone, but that's not the way it's supposed to be.


Genesis 3:8 - 19 - And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food... And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die... And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat... And unto Adam [God] said, "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

My take on this is that we're not supposed to be able to pick up a bag and munch away. We have to work very hard for the money it takes to buy that bag of food even if we are not growing it ourselves. Something is a little disconnected when we have to work that hard for something, and yet we do not try to get the most nourishment possible from the effort.

One of the biggest arguments I hear about a plant-based diet is that it is too expensive. We need to think of our food as nutrient/$ instead of pounds/$ or satisfaction/$.

I think a lot about the garden of Eden. There are Adam and Eve able to eat any delectable piece of fruit imaginable. The fruit sprang forth from the trees with no effort required on their part: no tilling, no hoeing, no back-breaking weeding chores. They didn't even have to water the plants. Then suddenly everything changed as a consequence to their disobedience. Suddenly their dietary needs changed as their body chemistry became what we know it to be instead of immortal. When fruit could be found, they had to be on their guard against the thorns, fungus, and diseases that might infect their food. They had to learn to be hunters and gatherers. Grain had to be consumed to provide quick energy when fruit was not available: more calories were needed in their new occupations, yet these calories were less available. The need and search for calories would have been all-consuming. Talk about expensive! We really have no idea!

Today our quest is NOT for the most high calorie food possible as was theirs. In fact, our shelves are lined with low calorie prospects so that we don't consume too many calories. Yet what is the purpose of food? We forget that the function of food is to provide our bodies with the calories needed to carry out their daily work, internally and externally. We talk alot about nutrients, but aren't they only a side benefit to the calories. If we are eating high quality foods that supplies our caloric needs, won't we be getting the nutrients that we need?

Ah, but therein lies the rub... high quality foods are not so easy to be found. If we think of food in its true light, we find we have quite a bit in common with our ancestral parents. May your search for the foods for which you are the best suited result in a lifetime of joy and happiness instead of one filled with pain and suffering.

This week was a busy work week, but we still played with cheese a little bit. We finally got some of our cashew cheese into the cheese press. It has to be in there for 2 to 3 days, and we screw the follower down each day a little more as the liquid drains out of the cheese. I'll try to remember to chronicle that with more pictures as it goes along.


The other cheese experiment was with our queso verde. We love it, but because it was not a fermented cheese, it tasted good when fresh, but not so great after a couple of days. I have been milling this around in my head for a couple of months, so today I tried it as a fermented cheese. Those of you who try it will have to let me know what you think. Darius and Alicia loved it! It was quite tasty if I do say so myself.

When asked this morning how we make up the menus, I responded that we eat what our customers ask for. Here's theirs and our meals this week:

breakfast every day:

fruit and / or fruit juice

This is eaten throughout the morning until our bodies indicated it is time for something more substantial. Occasionally, we will have buckwheaties to dip our bananas in (Buckwheaties are sprouted buckwheat that has been dehydrated. They taste a little like Post Grapenuts.) or some honey almond butter for dipping some apple slices.


I have really been liking a green drink Roger has been whipping up: 1 apple, 2 stalks of celery (he actually uses 4 of the celery tops we cut off from our snack celery), 1/4 lemon, cucumbers (1 large regular or 2 small pickling or baby cukes), and a large handful of whatever greens are in the fridge, usually spinach or kale. This makes one serving. We run it through our Omega auger type juicer.

Lunch. This is usually our most substantial meal of the day. When we are traveling, Roger fixes us a beautiful salad to pack in our cooler.


As an aside (this is a blog, and asides are what make them what they are!), I must make note of the progress Roger has made in the kitchen. This is a guy who used to have a hard time finding a loaf of bread with which to make a sandwich. He has become quite the wiz in our new lifestyle and is quite (surprisingly) helpful. He makes the best salads in the house, and his juices are great too. He is also our no-net artisan. We all have our specialities, but it has been such a surprise to see him doing his part in the kitchen. He is also the one that keeps the dishes caught up so we (who really don't like doing dishes too much) REALLY appreciate that part of his help. So as a tribute to him, THANKS, ROGE! Oh, and as seen in this photo, he is our fruit pie man. None of the rest of us have the patience for it!


This fruit pie is his gift to Alicia for her birthday. This was her requested birthday dessert, so Happy Birthday, girl. May you have at least a million more.

substantial meals this week:

Saturday, 13 March - Waldorf salad on top of spring mix greens. This salad topping is a mixture of a couple of different kinds of apples, walnuts (soaked and dehydrated of course), raisins, and celery dressed with avo mayo. We do love our spring mix too from our farmer in Gainesville.

Sunday, 14 March - As I've mentioned before, we don't usually eat breakfast on Sunday unless it's a couple of bananas as we run out the door for church. This week we're heading to Jacksonville for church as our little twin granddaughters are being blessed. I guess we'll pack a lunch to have afterwards before we head back. How about sprouted garbanza bean hummus served with baby cuke spears, baby carrots, zucchini chips, and some pita chips?

Monday, 15 March - Green spaghetti (previously one of our favorite meals made with regular pasta - in fact, my youngest requested this as the meal at the rehearsal dinner before his wedding...) Our raw version: queso verde tossed with shredded zucchini. Sliced tomatoes on the side.

Tuesday, 16 March - Carrot raisin salad served atop some shredded Romaine lettuce; broccoli cheese soup; sprouted grain crackers or everyday bread if desired.

Wednesday, 17 March - No Net Tuna serve atop greens. Tomato salsa is nice with this, or just sliced tomatoes. No Net Tuna is made with sprouted sunflower seeds, lots of celery, mustard seed, "pickles", kelp granules, and avo mayo.

Thursday, 18 March - How about a nice hearty fruit salad dressed with vanilla sylk? This week we have kiwi, pineapple, apples, oranges, blueberries, and strawberries to choose from. Vanilla sylk is made from cashew cheese, vanilla bean, lemon juice, Irish moss, and honey. Yummy!

Friday, 19 March - spinach salad with candied pecans and sliced anjou pears, dressed with raspberry vinaigrette. How about a nice miso soup on the side?

When we have another meal, and the children almost always do, it is fruit, or veggies sliced up and dipped in ranch dressing or honey almond butter (depending on the veggie). If we're really hungry, we'll have a salad or a quick soup. Sammies are nice too: just spread some avo mayo or ranch dressing on everyday bread and top with a few lettuce leaves and some sliced tomato. We love an olive up on top too.

Desserts this week? We've got chocolate macaroons, pumpkin pie, key lime pie, some vanilla ice cream, and rawky road. Sometimes a dessert makes for a nice evening meal all by itself. Hoping you have a delicious week too. I'm planning on it!

Btw, our ice cream is the best we have had at any restaurant we've been to. We've tried ice cream at them all, including New York City and Miami. (Well, we haven't been to California yet, but we'll bet our ice cream matches up to theirs as well...) Anyway, we make vanilla almond mylk and mix a whole batch with young thai coconut meat until it is thick and creamy. Then it goes into a real ice cream freezer for a while. It is so smooth and delicious. We like it with various toppings including "marshmallow" or blueberry coolis.

March Birthdays!

We had a lot of work for our "real" job this week (our private school we operate for home schoolers called Deseret Academy), so we didn't have as much play time as last week, but we still had some fun things going on.

We are working with Thomas to get our website up and going. We are hoping to make that so that you can order right from there instead of having to e-mail or call everything back and forth. Of course, we want it to be whatever is easier for you, but I know I like being able to order online, so I'm assuming there are a few of you out there that feel as I do. www.vivalaverde.net is the address.

Our rawky road was a big hit last week, and we actually made two this week for birthday cakes! The candles didn't do so well in one of them, but we can play around with that for next time. It really is a delicious dessert and full of lots of good stuff.


We always plan our menus around what our customers order, so this week we got to make an old favorite we call surf and turf. We love love love arame; it is actually my favorite sea vegetable. It makes me laugh to think about that now as I was so afraid to try sea vegetables when they were first given to me. That seemed so unnatural, but now I look forward to them. Just goes to show we should not be afraid to try new things. What's the worst thing that could happen? There are worse things than not liking something, and I find that I usually do like new things, so it makes it worth the risk.

We're also going to get to make our cheddar cheese this week as we had requests for broccoli soup and taco soup. This cheddar is so versatile. We have even dehydrated it in circles that make a cheese slice. I love its taste all on its own, but because it is nut-based, I know I need to vege it up as much as possible. Not a problem though as it improves the flavor of just about everything.

We've got some other favorite desserts to make this week too: pecan pie and apple crisp. Yum Yum. Thomas is wanting pictures of everything to put on our web site, so we gotta try to remember that before we eat it all!

Happy Birthday Wyatt (6th) and Alicia (9th). These two are important people in our Viva La Verde family along with our home family. (We have several non-Viva family birthdays this month as well: Happy Birthday Orion, my youngest son, and his wife Jac). We won't say how old Alicia is going to be, but Wyatt is turning 12! He loved the Rawky Road for his birthday dessert too. He had buckwheat treats for his breakfast, an awesome taco lunch with unfried no-bean tacos, avocado boats, and Mexican rice, and he finished off the day with stuffed tomatoes filled with his beloved no-net tuna. He loves that stuff and would eat it all day every day if we let him.

For Alicia's big day, she is requesting apple crisp for her dessert. Her favorite food is broccoli soup, so we'll be sure to save her some. She eats it by the quart! She also loves the hard lemonade we make with rejuvelac and lemon juice and agave nectar.

Isn't it funny how different we all are? Variety is truly the spice of life.

Here's the menus:

Saturday, March 6

dinner: nachos (corny chips, elotes con crema, ensalada, tomato salsa, avocado slices, olives)

Sunday, March 7

brunch: (dinner on the grounds at Church) stuffed tomatoes (tomato halves with a dollop of no-net tuna on them); rawky road

dinner: celery sticks and/or apple slices with almond butter

Monday, March 8

breakfast: grapefruit / orange juice

lunch: taco soup, corny chips

dinner: Viva La Verde salad (greens, shredded carrot, minced celery, raisins, sunnies, ranch dressing; cucumbers and diced tomatoes on the side)

Tuesday, March 9

breakfast: bananas dipped in buckwheaties

lunch: broccoli soup, everyday bread

dinner: surf n turf on bed of greens

Wednesday, March 10

breakfast: Hawaiian granola with almond mylk

lunch: shredded zucchini nests with cheddar cheese; really good with marinated mushrooms too

dinner: corn chowder, Alicia crackers

Thursday, March 11

breakfast: banana mambo (I think Roger has had this for breakfast everyday last week: bananas with honey almond butter, raisins, and sunnies)

lunch: pizza - everyday bread spread with cheese and layered with marinara circles; top with marinated mushrooms and slivered red peppers

dinner: Nori sandwich crackers (nori sheets sandwiched around no-net tuna and dehydrated slightly)

Friday, March 12

breakfast: apple / celery juice (1 head celery juiced with a couple of apples)

lunch: fruit salad (apples, bananas, pineapples, orange wedges, raisins, dried coconut)

dinner: veggie salad with marinated broccoli

desserts for the week:

pecan pie
rawky road
apple crisp
buckwheat treats

Experimental Week

We've had a couple of fun things happen this week. First there was the olives. We're all quite the fan of the olive, especially since we went raw vegan. So we're always looking for good ones. This week we got in some kalabata olives and some oil cured ones. They're both great, and I like them equally well: the kalabatas for eating out of hand, and the oil-cured ones as an addition to my salads.


Another reason I had been looking for a pitted olive is because I wanted to make an olive tapenade. I wish I could say I had the time to sit around pitting olives all day, but I don't, so I was looking for a source for pitted olives. The tapenade I made using a combination of these 2 olives is FANTASTIC. I really have to use some willpower to not just eat it out of the bowl with a spoon. I know I don't need that much fat, even if it is good fat, in my diet.

I had purchased a tapenade, but it just didn't taste quite right; I was anxious to make my own. There is a spinach recipe I wanted to use it in:


Spinach with Olive Tapenade

mix together:

9 loose handfuls spinach
2 cubed avocados
handful of soaked and dehydrated walnuts or pecans
generous tablespoon olive tapenade
dice in a few Roma tomatoes
3 tablespoons unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
3 generous tablespoons maple syrup
pinch or 2 sea salt
cracked black pepper to taste
2 generous tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Also, tried these new olives in our olive spread. Man, that is some good stuff. Again, have to exercise some control...

The second fun thing was that we decided to experiment with another dessert. Everyone seems to do great with their salads, etc., but having the comfort foods desserts provide is quite another matter. Our friend Elizabeth brought this up to us again this week, so we decided to work on another dessert we could produce in large quantities like our other ones. We need a couple more so that we have a little better rotation. Not having a dessert for a couple of weeks makes it all the more enjoyable when we get it back, right?

Anyway, our search resulted in a great new dessert we are calling Rawky Road. It is a chocolate / raisin / coconut confection topped with a coconut cream. It is not dense at all but surprisingly light and very satisfying. We hope all of you like it. It wouldn't be possible without the wonderful raw cacao we were able to find about a year ago. It is incredible! If you like to make your own chocolate treats, we heartily endorse it. I sometimes "cut" its richness with a nice raw carob (carob found at health food stores is roasted), but for this dessert, I decided to go with the full monty!

The third experiment is a hard cashew cheese I've been working on. The final product is a small experimental batch, but it is quite tangy and delicious. I couldn't find my cheese press from back in our goat milk cheesemaking days, so I ordered another one off e-bay this week. Next week, I'll put up a gallon of cashew cheese in the press so that I can get an official cheese wheel. It is still a little more crumbly than a dairy cheese like cheddar, but I'm thinking if I use an official press, it may be more solid. I am really excited about this and have had it ruminating for a while. (Ha ha, I made a joke - ruminating about plant based cheese... well, if I have to explain it, it probably isn't all that funny.)

I also ordered some wax. I don't know if cashew cheese needs wax like dairy cheeses, so that will be an experiment as well. Fun stuff.

Enough of all our fun discoveries this week and onto the menus:

¡ Viva La Verde ! menu for week of 2/27/10

2/27/10 Saturday

dinner: Spinach and olive tapenade

2/28/10 Sunday

breakfast: bananas or whatever you can pickup before church
lunch: pineapple wedges, sliced bananas, orange wedges, coconut
dinner: Mexicali wrappers with unfried no-beans, shredded lettuce, tomato salsa, crema

3/1/10 Monday (Happy Birthday, Orion!)

breakfast: grapefruit / orange juice
lunch: Waldorf salad on shredded lettuce; additional avo mayo if needed
dinner: hummus, pita chips, baby cukes

3/2/10 Tuesday

breakfast: banana smoothie
lunch: tomatoes stuffed with no-net tuna on lettuce leaves
dinner: cauliflower soup

3/3/10 Wednesday

breakfast: Hawaiian granola with almond mylk
lunch: avocados stuffed with elote con crema; Mexican rice
dinner: collard wraps (good way to use up leftover veggies and / or salad toppings like the no-bean from the weekend) peanut sauce for dipping

3/4/10 Thursday

breakfast: apple / celery juice (1 head celery and a couple of apples run through the juicer)
lunch: shredded zucchini, slivered red pepper, julienned carrots, onion if you want it; sauce with peanut sauce
dinner: corn chowder

3/5/10 Friday

breakfast: bananas dipped in buckwheaties
lunch: pizza (everyday bread with cheese, marinara, veggies, "parm")
dinner: salad - lettuce, celery, carrots, tomatoes, raisins, sunnies, Ranch dressing

Snacks and desserts:

pumpkin pie
key lime pies (these turned out so delicious this time; I think the flavor of the citrus affects it, and maybe the avocados, too...
crispy treats
rawky road

ball park sunnies
soul dates
zucchini chips (good with ranch dip as well)
carrots with ranch dip
celery sticks with honey almond butter
apple wedges with honey almond butter
banana bark
corny chips and salsa
olive spread and / or olive tapenade with crudites and / or pita chips

This week 2/20/10

While I just may be the worst blogger in the history of blogging, it is a small comfort to think blogging hasn't been around all that long, so to be the worst, well, there's plenty of time for that to be a lot worse than it is now!

To redeem myself, I thought I'd post my family's weekly menu here instead of sending it out in a newsletter format. That way those who might be interested can come here to read it. It also serves as an archive since each edition has recipes. They wouldn't have to be repeated each time they appear that way either. See how methodical I am!

I have my doubts that the e-mails actually get read based on my own expertise at hitting the delete button. I feel seriously guilty each time I do it since I know how much effort goes into my own mailings, but I don't have time to read all the mail that crosses my path, and I seriously doubt anyone else does either. So we selectively choose which things we open and take the time to consider.

Of course the next step in this logical sequence is wondering what criteria the average reader uses to make this determination. It has to be something we are seriously interested in. Hopefully we can fill that criteria for at least some of the people we meet weekly that ask us about the raw vegan lifestyle.

This week's menu (week of 2/20/10) (Please keep in mind that we tend to have our heavier meal in the middle of the day. Many of you will want to switch lunch and dinner if this is not your practice.)

Saturday dinner: "rice" pudding (no rice! Just mix sweet cashew creme with shredded apples and raisins.)

Sunday breakfast: we actually don't eat breakfast on Sunday usually as we head out to church pretty early. We usually grab some bananas as we head out the door if we are hungry. They are good car food.

Sunday lunch: We decided that since we don't have breakfast on Sunday, we'd like a fruit lunch, so we're going to slice up pineapple and serve it with sliced bananas and orange wedges.

Sunday dinner: corny chips, guacamole, and tomato salsa

Monday breakfast: bananas dipped in buckwheaties

Monday lunch: (one of our favorites) avocado boats stuffed with elotes con crema atop ensalada

Monday dinner: collard wraps with sprouted garbanzo bean hummus and cucumber strips

Tuesday breakfast: Hawaiian granola with almond mylk

Tuesday lunch: super nachos - bed of salad greens topped with unfried no-beans, tomato salsa, and crema

Tuesday dinner: broccoli cheese soup, Alicia crackers

Wednesday breakfast: banana mambo - sliced bananas topped with honey almond butter and raisins; smoosh it all together. I also like to sprinkle some sunnies on top.

Wednesday lunch: mashed no-taters, marinated mushrooms, and "braised" spinach (wilt spinach with a little salt, lemon juice, and olive oil)

Wednesday dinner: sweet kale salad - 1 head of kale washed and thinly sliced; 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup honey, 1 clove garlic, minced; 1/2 cup raisins, 2 tablespoons pine nuts

Thursday breakfast: pina colada from Raw Food Real World by Kenney & Melngailis - 1 cup coconut meat, 1 1/2 cup coconut water, 3 cups diced pineapple, 3 tablespoons agave nectar, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, squeeze of lime juice, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, pinch of sea salt; puree all in the blender.

Thursday lunch: Viva la Verde salad (greens, shredded celery, shredded carrots, raisins, ball-park sunnies, dulse, diced tomato and cucumber if desired) ranch dressing

Thursday dinner: cauliflower soup - 2 cups cauliflower florets, 2 - 3 cups water, 1/2 cups nut of choice, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, sea salt to taste; all blended til thick and smooth and a little warm; serve with Alicia crackers

Friday breakfast: banana smoothie - 2 cups rejuvelac, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup agave nectar, 1 quart frozen bananas, handful of whatever greens are leftover for the week; blend well

Friday lunch: chili mac - chili con crema served over shredded zucchini

Friday dinner: sammies - everyday bread spread with avo mayo and topped with sliced avocado, sliced tomato, and a few pea shoots

desserts for the week:

chocolate cheesecake
pumpkin pie
apple crisp

snacks:

ball park sunnies
soul dates
zucchini chips (good with ranch dip too)
carrots with ranch dip
celery sticks with honey almond butter
apple wedges with honey almond butter
banana bark
corny chips with tomato salsa

Well, that's all folks. Until next week!

New Beginnings

I've read a couple of things recently which have helped me get my head a little straighter, so I thought I'd share them here.

First, I read a post recently about how New Year's is just an arbitrary day set aside to commemorate the fact that the earth has gone around the sun yet another time. It could have been February 15, or July 22. So what's the big deal? It seems we humans need an excuse to analyze our lives and determine what is needed so that we can do some self improvement. We innately know that our human condition requires progress.

Whether we accomplish this needed progress is quite another matter...as we all know! Which brings me to the other thing I read recently that really helped me.

Monkeys are really good at swinging on trees. They do it all day long. They would be quite unhappy if they were in a restrictive environment that kept them from swinging on trees. Every once in a while a monkey slips from the branch he hopes to latch on to. This does not make him any less a monkey. Of course, if he slips often enough, he will not survive his sojourn in the jungle, so he knows the importance of grabbing the branch carefully and securely. He won't slip very often.

We too have words that define us. Some of us are vegetarians. Some are vegans, or raw vegans. Some of us have religious or race affiliations that define us. Few of us are just defined by the term "human". In the event that we are defined by our diet, i.e. a raw vegan, are we any less a raw vegan if we slip and eat some of the holiday offerings? Obviously, if we slip often enough, we, like the monkey, will not survive, and we know the importance of eating the right foods. Our lives are consumed by the need to line our habits up with our belief system. Our skins fit more comfortably (figuratively and literally) when we do.

Of course, this brings us to why we slip. Like the monkey, perhaps we get distracted and miss the next branch. Perhaps the branch is slippery and hard to grab hold of. Perhaps we misjudge how far away the next swing will be. Perhaps we just convince ourselves it isn't that important. My personal guess is that we are addicted to the societal brick walls that keep all of us from reaching our full potential. These deterents are intended to distract and addict us. It takes every effort we can make to overcome them.

I am reminded of the 12 step program taught in AA. Maybe some of you are familiar with it. Here are the first 3 steps. Most of us never get through these...

1. We admit we are powerless over the addictive substance and that our lives have become unmanageable because of it. (We really don't want to admit that we are addicted, do we? Seems too incredible that a food could control our lives... after all, aren't I a higher being and capable of being above that? This step truly is about humility.)

2. We come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. (Again, the humility principle comes into play.)

3. We make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him. (Not as easy as it sounds...)

You can check this page out if this appeals to you (www.aa.org/en_pdfs/smf-121_en.pdf). I suspect you've probably decided I'm nuts for looking at food this way, but it is what it is for me. Without this belief system I am hopelessly mired in my addictions. For me, being a raw vegan is a very spiritual experience. I am convinced anything that distracts me from eating the foods I know are right for me is an effort on the part of the adversary to pull me away from the spirituality that will ultimately help me to fulfill my potential.

2009 has been an incredible year. We have made so many new friends this year through our work at the Beaver Street Market and at the East Palatka Farmer's Market. We would never have envisioned it having the effect on us that it has had. We are so grateful for each and every one of our contacts even if we have not had an effect in their lives. Each one has taught us something, even the ones that turn up their noses and walk quickly away. Of course, the ones that have actually become our friends have been sources of joy and fulfillment. I especially have to express my gratitude for Elizabeth who we have known for several years. She asked us why our weight had changed so much and as we explained our diet to her, she and her family embraced it. She knew too about Darius' trials and listened to how the raw vegan diet was helping him. What a blessing she is to us as she continues her journey with us!

The list is longer: the Knitschs who express their gratitude each and every week for the lovely produce we bring them (their words); the Mallory family who won a cooking contest by highlighting our organic produce; the Heekins whose children use their change to buy a carrot or tangerine when they come by; Brian who loves our ranch dressing; the sisters as we call them who are struggling to fully embrace the raw vegan lifestyle, Tatayana and Lourdes, our dear friends who struggle as well in other ways; Dee who so enthusiastically inspires us; Ed and Robert and Lisa, our newest friends, who are making remarkable health strides due to their change in habits. There are others: John and Richard and Jeanna and Mary and Rani and Kelley and Roxanne and Tesha and Kim and Gordon who share the message with anyone who will listen. It is so exciting to be in the company of any of these people. Thank you for coming into our lives. Of course, there are some who started out with us and have gone in other directions, and we appreciate them too. All have taught us something. Even the one-hit wonders are coming into my mind now, and I have special feelings of gratitude for them as well.

My biggest debt goes to Darius who lives his life day in and day out with complete faith in the inspiration given to us back in November of 2007. What's interesting about that is my first exposure to raw veganism was when he was a little boy of 18 months when his little brother was born. I was very sick at that time and became acquainted with a raw vegan, Darlene. She introduced me to green drinks and carrot juice which quickly got me on track. While Darius enjoyed his daily "gween dwink" and carrot juice, and a multitude of apples and bananas every day, my family as a whole was not very supportive of the raw vegan lifestyle, and I was sure I could never eat "all raw fruits and vegetables"; still, I knew there was something to it even if I could never do it. Little did I know what a part it would play in my later life (and his!).

May 2010 be a year of progress for all of us is my hope and prayer. It is a fun journey to do together...