Spring is Fast Food Time

I don't have a lot of time to post today, but I wanted to write about a few things I've been thinking about. Plus I really want to keep in a regular pattern of blogging on a weekly basis. I am a firm believer in consistency even though I'm not particularly good at it. Things go better when I am consistent.

I was going to write about addiction, but I think I need more time to do it justice. I saw the results of a few studies this week separate from each other, and the conclusions are interesting to say the least. Maybe I will have some time to develop that this next week.

It's spring break here in our county, so I've got a whole week starting Sunday of not having to get up at 5:00! Yay! It is will nice to be lazy and sleep in til 7:00! We might even get to the beach one of those days. Wouldn't that be a treat? It's probably still cold though, I'm guessing...

Enjoying a strawberry smoothie Darius made for us this morning. He truly is the smoothie king... They are pretty ugly though, so don't look at them. Just stick a straw in them and drink them while you do something else to divert your eyes! hahaha


He made this one with spinach, but we were surprised last week with one we made with collards. We have a ton of collards still being produced, so decided to stick a few leaves in a recent smoothie not expecting particularly good results. We couldn't believe how mild it was. The fruity taste completely won out over the greens. It really is a painless way to get more greens into us. If you haven't read Victoria Boutenko's writings on the subject, you're missing out. I don't drink them nearly as often as she suggests, nor as large an amount, but I know I would benefit from drinking them more. I think having warmer weather helps. I don't drinking cold drinks during the winter.

Our recipe for green smoothie? Easy and fast!

2 cups rejuvelac
1 quart frozen bananas
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup agave nectar
other fruit as desired
fill up the blender with spinach, kale, etc.

This makes enough for our large family of 6, so be forewarned. Cut it down if you don't want this much.


I've really enjoyed having more summer fruits this week. I always miss the citrus when it starts to wane, but how can we have too many regrets when these wonderful summer fruits make their appearances. This week we had a plum called the Larry Ann plum. I'd never heard of that. It is a nice sweet plum.

I always find it odd when people say they can't eat a healthier diet because it takes too much time. Fast food is faster... I'm here to tell you there isn't anything faster than a banana or any fruit for that matter. Pineapple are a little labor intensive (but, boy are they worth it!), but most fruits can be eaten out of hand. All you need is a sink or a water bottle to wash it!

Even salads can be made up in a flash. How blessed we are to have our greens guy who's willing to trim the lettuce and wash it up for us, so all we have to do is clean it up to eat it. Dressing can be made in large batches, or here's a recipe I got from a friend at church. She says all the salads in the Eastern Mediterranean are dressed this way (she's spent many years living abroad and traveling a lot). How delicious, simple, and oh yeah, fast is this?

Simple Salad

In a clean dry salad bowl, mash a clove of garlic with a teaspoon of sea salt to make a smooth paste. (She suggests using the back of a spoon. I've seen Rachel Ray do it with a knife.) Add the juice from half a lemon and stir until the salt is dissolved. Add three tablespoons olive oil and some freshly ground pepper. Mix well. Add your greens to the bowl just before serving and toss well.

This makes about 1/4 cup, so adjust accordingly depending on how much dressing you need.

I've really got to get cooking (or uncooking as the case may be). Here's what's on the docket this week:


Waldorf salad (This is a specialty salad we make with 2 kinds of apples, raisins, celery, soaked and dehydrated walnuts, and some avo mayo. It is only good when it's fresh, so eat it within a couple of days. We like to put it on mixed greens for a delicious salad main course.)

green spaghetti (mix shredded zucchini "noodles" with queso verde)

chili con crema

lasagna (layer thinly sliced zucchini with crema (or other nut-based cheese) and marinated broccoli in a "bed" of marinara. I top the layers with more marinara and sprinkle with "parm" which is just some dehydrated alfredo sauce. Everyone in the family likes this when it's had some time in the dehydrator to blend the flavors, but it tastes good fresh too.)

chili rellenos (some red peppers stuffed with queso verde), ensalada or Mexican rice

i Viva La Verde ! salad x 2 (at least) (mixed greens including a bunch of cilantro, shredded carrot and celery, raisins, sunnies, and dulse, ranch dressing)

desserts this week (You have Elizabeth and her sweet family to thank for these. Sweet Carl (who's a toddler) loves the pumpkin pie, so we get that every week. Anna Grace, 6, loves the rawky road, and Mama Elizabeth loves the cheesecake and fruit pies. Dad, who wouldn't eat an avocado if he were paid to do it, loves the key lime pie whose base is avocado. Of course, we don't mind a bit, as we get to eat the leftovers! Many of these make for a very extravagant brunch!)


Vanilla sylk blueberry and strawberry parfaits


Fruit pies (a delicious almond/date crust topped with banana and mixed berries)

Chocolate cheesecake

Rawky road

Coconut cream pie

pumpkin pie

O-tay, I'll Try It!

First of all, our heart goes out to some friends who lost their granddaughter in a tragic accident last week. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for their whole family. Hearing of these types of things always brings back the feelings I had when I was told one of my children had a terminal cancer that would end his life within a year and a half. I was blessed to not have to deal with that particular circumstance, and I feel an overwhelming sense of compassion for anyone who does have to go through this.

I wanted to do a little piece on buckwheat. I am constantly amazed by this plant as it is one that I never had any experience with at all before becoming vegan. All I had ever heard of was buckwheat pancakes; I might have tried them at IHOP once but evidently did not find them too appealing as it isn't something for which I have much of a memory. Of course today I would never want to eat a seed or grain that has not been sprouted. (There was also that little fella on Little Rascals...wonder why they called him Buckwheat?)


Anyway, when I read Ann Wigmore's book on sprouting, she mentioned buckwheat lettuce. I already knew about sunflower greens and wheat grass, so I was intrigued by this other addition to the kitchen garden. I found some buckwheat with the hulls still on them and planted them, and the resulting "lettuce" was delicious. They are very easy to grow, as are all of the kitchen garden greens. I'll do more on that another day.


I'm not sure where I heard about hulled buckwheat sprouts, but now they are a staple at our house. We purchase hulled buckwheat in 25 lb increments! Each week, I soak about 3 - 5 pounds of them for a couple of hours. They become waterlogged very easily, so don't oversoak.


Drain these and rinse the heck out of them. They will have a lot of starch that will be washed away as you rinse. I try to rinse them every couple of hours. Drain well each time. You can use them as soon as you see a little tail appearing, or you can let them go a little longer, but don't let the tails get too long. If you can't get to them, refrigerate until you can.


Some people eat these sprouts as a cereal as is. You could probably put them on salads like you do other sprouts. My favorite application is to dehydrate them. We make buckwheaties by just dehydrating the sprouts at about 110 degrees with nothing added. Once dehydrated, they can be a nutty addition to a cashew yogurt sundae or as a cereal with almond mylk and some dried and/or fresh fruit. Roger loves to dip bananas in them. He can often be seen driving down the road with his jar of buckwheaties in tow along with a hand or two of bananas.

Usually we make a couple of breads with the freshly sprouted buckwheat groats. Everyday bread is a combination of buckwheat sprouts, flax seed, and carrot pulp from the juicer. Chili lime corny chips (corny cause there's no corn!) are sprouts mixed with zucchini and tomatoes, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, and chili powder seasonings. We also like pita chips which are made with cabbage. You can basically combine the sprouts with whatever veggies you have sitting around to make a unique and tasty bread. We mix them in the food processor to make a dough and spread them on teflex sheets. They dehydrate about 24 hours at 110 degrees. I try to turn them half way through if I can remember.

We also make crispy treats (reminiscent of that treat made with a crispy rice cereal) by mixing buckwheaties with our "marshmallow" ice cream topping. Yummy.

My personal favorite to make with the buckwheat sprouts is granola. I combine the sprouts with sprouted soaked and dehydrated almonds, dates, raisins, fresh pineapple, honey, sesame seeds, flax seeds, and coconut. The first time I made it, I added up the cost of the ingredients, and it was $60! I about had a heart attack, but it makes a lot (unless you're feeding my crowd!). This might be good without the more expensive pineapple and dates, but we really, really like it this way...

Hopefully this will inspire you to try some buckwheat. It is an inexpensive seed and very low in fat. Once sprouted, its chemical makeup is similar to that of a vegetable! How healthy is that! From a website on buckwheat:

"Sprouted buckwheat is an amazing food because it tastes like a grain but is actually gluten and wheat free and not a grain at all. It is one of the most complete sources of protein on the planet, containing all eight essential amino acids. This makes it perfect for diabetics and those who want to cut down on their sugary carbohydrates and to balance their blood sugar levels. It is also known to lower high blood pressure. Sprouted buckwheat also cleanses the colon and alkalizes the body.

"Buckwheat is a wonderful super food for people who have varicose veins or hardening of the arteries. One of the reasons is that it is full of rutin, which is a compound that is known as a powerful capillary wall strengthener. When veins become weak, blood and fluids accumulate and leak into nearby tissues, which may cause varicose veins or hemorrhoids.

"This healing food is also rich in lecithin, making it a wonderful cholesterol balancer because lecithin soaks up “bad” cholesterol and prevents it from being absorbed. Lecithin neutralizes toxins and purifies the lymphatic system, taking some of the load off of the liver.

"Sprouted buckwheat is also a brain boosting super food. 28% of the brain is actually made up of lecithin. Research suggests that regularly consuming foods rich in lecithin may actually prevent anxiety, depression, brain fog, mental fatigue and generally make the brain sharper and clearer.

"Buckwheat is high in iron so it is a good blood builder. It also prevents osteoporosis because of its high boron and calcium levels.

"Sprouted buckwheat is high in bioflavonoids, flavonols and co-enzyme Q10. It contains all of the B vitamins, magnesium, manganese, and selenium, as well as many other health giving compounds."

Boy, you can't beat that with a stick. How can you go wrong? Please let us know if we can get some for you either in their fresh state or sprouted and dehydrated. Here's to hoping you have a wonderful week full of juicy deliciousness.

This week besides buckwheat, here's some meals we've planned:

mashed no-taters with marinated mushrooms on a bed of "braised" kale


chili rellenos (sweet ripe bell peppers stuffed with queso verde)

cole slaw (yes, this is a main dish for us when served with a big salad)

super nachos (elotes con crema on top of salad greens; crema, salsa, avocado)

green spaghetti (shredded zucchini mixed with queso verde); sliced tomatoes w/ olives

celery sticks and apple wedges dipped in queso dulce

tomato bisque

Make almond mylk from 1 cup almonds that were soaked overnight (4 cups mylk). Using 2cups mylk, mix it with 2 cups corn, 1/2 an avocado, 1/4 of an onion, 1 garlic clove, 1/4 of an jalapeño, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 tablespoon sea salt; blend well.

Combine the other two cups almond mylk with a pint of dehydrated tomatoes and a chopped fresh tomato. Blend well. Combine with the corn/almond mylk mixture. Garnish with dulse, additional chopped tomatoes, etc. Makes about 8 cups. (We always dehydrate our extra tomatoes, so we always have dehydrated tomatoes on hand. If you don't, you could substitute fresh, but your soup will be, well, soupier. Maybe use less water in making your almond mylk?)

For desserts this week, we're having pumpkin pies and apple crisp. I think there's some rawky road in our future as well. We also have some crispy treats.

Greens, Greens, and More Greens - Enjoy Them While They Last

We've been doing some rethinking about our catalogue and the things we have to offer this week, just kind of working it around in our heads. We're thinking we might want to reduce the number of things we offer so that we're not running around so much like chickens with their heads cut off (not such a great illusion for a vegan to use...). I've been thinking of what our specialties are. Certainly cheese falls into that category. We were in raw restaurant for lunch one day, and I asked the manager if they fermented their own nut-based cheeses. (They had quite an assortment on the menu.) She looked at me like I was crazy. She said that was way too time consuming. (Actually, it is a little labor intensive, but in my opinion, so worth it...) So, I'm thinking that the fact that we make all of our cheese indicates we've got that as one of our specialties.

Another thing we're pretty good at is desserts and ice cream. I don't know if I'd consider it a specialty. Most raw places do a pretty good job with it. I'm not crazy about most of them at the places we've gone to, but I think that's just because I'm really fussy about texture and so forth. I keep working at a recipe until it suits me. Of course, not everyone would like what I like... Still, I think desserts are an area that really helps a new vegan get over the proverbial hump from the SAD (Standard American Diet) to a healthier one minus the animal products. I've been reading Skinny Bitch this week. I had no idea this book was vegan oriented. I don't know what I thought it was, but anyway, I was surprised to find out the authors suggest a vegan lifestyle. Many of the foods they recommend are transitional foods, and dessert falls into that category for me. If we are eating a fruit-based diet, we would have little need for dessert, but most beginning vegans don't eat enough fruit. I think you kind of have to build up gradually.

Alicia suggested we ask our customers what they consider our specialties to be. That's a good idea. Maybe we could come up with a survey or something.

Personally for me, I'd be happy with fruit and juices every morning and the early part of the day. I love a nice big salad for lunch, and then I'm happy with snacking if I get hungry later on. I'm not bored with that kind of regime as long as I have a good salad dressing. I wish I were better about eating greens without dressing, but for now, I've got to have a good one. I usually eat my salads with ranch; we make it by the gallon now, but here's the single-size recipe as requested:


Ranch Dressing; the original recipe as it came from therawbodytwins.com; I've messed with it a lot, but this original one is quite good.

Ranch Dressing/Dip

1-1/2 c nuts (cashew or mac or combo) soak them for a creamier dressing (1-2 hr is fine, then drain)
3/4 - 1 c filtered water for blending
3 T lemon juice (translates into approx 1/2 lemon)
1/3 c cider vinegar
1/3 c evoo
3 T agave (or 3 soaked dates)
2 cloves garlic
1 t garlic powder
3 t onion powder
1 t dill
1 T sea salt
1/2 t basil

And to add after it's done:

1/4 c finely minced parsley
another 1/2 t dill, minced

Makes 3 cups. Serving size 2 T. Vitamix blend all ingredients till creamy and smooth except the last 2, then once blended, stir in the last 2 ingredients. Thickens in fridge. Thin to desired consistency if using as a dressing, or toss into wet lettuce leaves as is. Number of servings: 24

There's still some good cauliflower left until its season dies down, and we haven't eaten nearly as much as we usually do. I'm not sure why, but we did have some cauliflower soup for lunch today. We whirr it in the vitamix until it is nice and warm, and it is truly a comfort food when eaten that way. We don't sell it because cold it is not nearly as good. We have put the ingredients together for our customers that don't do any food prep, but it's an easy recipe:

Cauliflower Soup

2 cups roughly chopped cauliflower
2 - 3 cups water
1/2 cup cashews or pine nuts
2 T lemon juice
sea salt to taste

Put everything in a high speed blender (if you have one) and blend until thick and smooth (and a little warm). We like to put some fresh parsley or cilantro and some chopped green onion in our soup bowls and pour the soup over them. Delicious!

We had to come up with a few main dishes for a customer this week, and decided to make a lasagna. It turned out really good. Because we always have more than enough marinara, we also made a couple of batches of chili and some veggie soup.

Lasagna (this time's - it's different every time)

Pour some marinara in the bottom of a square dish or pan. (I like to use my square springform pan.) Lay in some thinly sliced zucchini. Sprinkle with marinated broccoli. Plop on some cheese. I usually use queso verde, but I was out, so I subbed in crema which was really quite nice. This zucchini/broccoli/cheese layer is repeated 3 or 4 times. More marinara is poured over top, and then I sprinkled on some dehydrated alfredo (we call it parmesan).

I placed this in the dehydrator until time to deliver it to Fred (and our lunch time), and it was a great hit with everyone.

Being out of queso verde created a sense of panic in me, so I made some first chance I got. I just love it with veggies and/or crackers. There is so much cilantro in this batch, it's like eating a green vegetable more so than cheese!


We've started selling our cilantro or parsley for our cost, and we still don't have too many takers, so it is a little discouraging. The parsley left over is not too big a concern as we can dehydrate it, but the cilantro doesn't dry too well in our experience. We love to have it, but we have to purchase 30 bunches. That's a lot of salsa! We thought that by offering it at cost we could get what we want and/or need, plus help our customers reap the benefits at a really good price. Maybe it will work eventually.... Last week we did sell out, but this week, it isn't looking too good. At least the cilantro looks good! It is a nice addition to the salad as well.

This week we also made our delicious olive tapenade to have over some shredded collards. Here's the recipe we used; it actually calls for spinach, but we were out of it, so used some of the still tender collards from the garden.

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

Enjoy those greens! We won't have them too much longer fresh. We'll have to depend on their imported cousins from California!

We also made kale salad which is very similar to the above recipe. The kids love it!

Kale Avocado Salad

1 head kale, shredded
1 c tomato, diced
1 c avocado, chopped
2 ½ T olive oil
1 ½ T lemon juice
1 t sea salt
½ t cayenne

Mix all ingredients together, squeezing as you mix to wilt the kale and creaming the avocado. Serve immediately or let it marinate awhile. Both are good and different enough to seem like different meals. We also like it with a bit of chopped sweet or green onion.

Also made chili this week. This is really good served with crema!

Chili

1 quart marinara
1 cup corn
4 mushrooms
1 sweet pepper
1 lb. tomatoes
½ cup Mexican Fiesta (Frontier brand organic chili powder)

The smaller you chop the vegetables, the more this seems like "real" chili.

I'm sure to incur the wrath of the family for giving away so many house secrets. I figure nobody really reads this anyway, right?

Here's the weekly menu items:

Cauliflower soup atop cilantro and green onions with Alicia crackers

Spinach with olive tapenade

kale salad

chili con crema with Every day bread (good over shredded zucchini too for a chili mac)

i Viva La Verde ! salad with ranch dressing (spring mix, shredded carrot, minced celery, raisins, sunnies, tomatoes, dulse)

sweet potatoe souffle, braised spinach

lasagna

veggie soup

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