May-kin Stuff

I don’t know exactly why I have enjoyed making peanut butter and almond milk so much recently.  Are they really so much better?  I think so.  I enjoy the process, I enjoy knowing I made something that seems ridiculously over-priced (almond milk) or often screwed with (peanut butter) in the stores.  I feel like it is a sneaky little secret that this stuff is so easy to make.  Especially with my handy high speed blender.

But you know what a lot of it is?  I love knowing that I made it because then I know what it is made of.  I know that I ordered organic nuts, I mixed it with clean, pure water and used no artificial sweeteners or other unnecessary ingredients to mess up my food.  I love this.

Know your food, right?

I give

I have begun to think I’m a bad cook. I really was a bad cook, but over the past few years while staying home with my son I have become quite good (at least we think so).  One facet of my personality is that I get bored easily.  I am always trying out new recipes and searching for great ways to prepare foods I love.  So this raw thing sounded like a new fun challenge.  I started in January with my cleanse and when that was over I just kept on going.  Now some time has past and I have realized something.  The vegan(ish) part?  No problem.  The raw food part?  Ummm, that has been issue-laden.  After 2.5 months I am tired of making highly labor intensive foods that are frankly gross.  When making raw foods you don’t cook, but I am beginning to feel like I am a bad preparer of foods.  And it is taking it’s toll on my cooking psyche.

In case you are wondering, what are things I will never try again?  Pizza.  It is meant to be cooked.  Dehydrating does not will not can not get you the warm gooeyness that is pizza.  And you really need cheese.  Really.  Brussels sprouts.  That might have happened accidently as I love dehydrated broccoli, but the raw bs experience almost killed my fantastic love affair with Brussels sprouts.  So I will stick to my awesome roasted recipe.

At this point I will keep six raw recipes.  Lasagna (for special occasions), Pad Thai, two different kale salads, sprouted buckwheat porridge and a dehydrated portobello mushroom, cashew mayo on almond bread sandwich.  They are all good and will remain in the rotation.  I also enjoy sprouting beans/lentils/grains, raw hummus, all raw smoothies, and a few other ways of incorporating rawness into our eating.

So, I will try to find new recipes this summer.  But I need a break.  I need to rebuild my cooking psyche so I can feel the confidence to once more boldly prepare raw recipes that might just suck.

Growing

I used to have a brown thumb which over the years developed into a green thumb.  I learned to love to grow outside in Oregon and eventually created an outdoor space that felt like a retreat.  Indoor plants are tough in Oregon and our current house has such poor light that I am in grave danger of losing my green status.  So, I decided to grow something that didn’t bloom.  Wheatgrass!

I soaked/sprouted the grains for three days and have just put them in dirt. 

I have hopes (not high) for this project.  But growing from seed has never gone well for me. 

Wish me luck

Food Grouch

I have recently become a large fan of this blog written by someone who calls herself the Wellness Bitch.  And yesterday after ready a post on FB where someone totally attacked this person for her food choices (she had started a detox) I went to the WB and read something that resonated. 

Why do you think being negative would be productive in getting someone to change their eating habits?  Because I surely turn inward when someone attacks me.  The WB talked about how you sometimes feel like you are the only one standing up for your food choices.  That you feel weird.  And outside.  I don’t feel that way all the time, but I do sometimes.

Sure, it would be lovely if I had grown up a completely different person who didn’t care about food and just blithely went along making good food choices.  Doesn’t that sound great?  But I didn’t and I don’t.  I work hard at this.  I made great food (and horrible food) in this experiment of life that I call eating food that sustains me.  I shop in the bulk and produces sections solely these days in my vegan eating choices with an occasional trip down Tofu Way.

My son doesn’t like the look of these foods understandably (they don’t look at all like a grilled cheese sandwich), but I have to hope that what I am doing will positively impact him.  I don’t want him to struggle like I have.  I am proud that he knows all the vegetables by name in the house and knows food by the glass jar in the pantry, not by the packaging.

I am sorry if I’m a grouch, but this food thing isn’t easy.  The body changes as do the seasons and with that change comes a new set of foods to eat and learn how to cook.  I want to help people (my son, my husband, my family, my clients) make good food choices so they can be healthy for them.  I want people to understand that food isn’t always about hunger, but emotion and the past.  And this is ok.  I am doing the work so I can help others as well as myself.  And to make the decision to finally choose themselves.  Fully.

We all liked Oscar anyway, right?

The Great Blender Off

Yesterday we planned to do a side by side comparison of the Vitamix 5200 and a Blendtec to see which one was better.  Most people haven’t heard of the Blendtec as Vitamix has the green smoothie/raw foods market cornered.  They both are made by companies that have been making blenders for a long time.

In the end we we decided not to do an old school blender-off. We just made a few different types of foods comparing functionality and design, and generally had a good time doing it.

First of all – size – the Vitamix is huge and burly looking.  The Blendtec looks so small in comparison.  The jar size is actually the same.  I know, crazy, right?  They both hold the same amount of liquid.  However, I would say that the Vitamix has greater usable space as the lid is higher creating a little bit more space inside.

First we made peanut butter.  I would actually like to see the Vitamix do this as well just for comparison.  I thought this was going to break the poor Blendtec, but it totally worked.

    

Homemade peanut butter.  How cool is that??

 

Next we made ice cream.  Why not, right?  While we weren’t thrilled about the recipes (too icey) we found that both made comparable products.  We used some of the peanut butter to make the pb ice cream (with coconut milk)  with the Blendtec and a traditional chocolate ice cream with the Vitamix.  I then added a banana to the pb ice cream and blended it again resulting in an awesome pb milkshake creation which my son loved.

Next we made milks.  With the Vitamix we made a rice milk and the Blendtec an almond milk.  The Blendtec dry mixed the almonds first.  This created a one step process vs a two step (mixing and then straining) required by the Vitamix.

Last we made a Ocean Fruit Smoothie from the Blendtec recipe book. It was really really good.

     

The recipe:

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 mango – peeled

1 pear – quartered and seeded

1 TBSP sugar (we didn’t use)

1 banana – peeled

1 cup ice

 

You could easily add some spinach or other green to make this a little more green.

These two blenders cost the same, but in the end it comes down to functionality. I am pleased with my Blendtec. Had you not guessed which one I had yet??   I like the subject buttons (the fact that I can push it and walk away while it does it’s job) and I like the dry capabilities (which you need to buy an additional dry container to do with the Vitamix). 

Either one is a great blender.  Either one would work for you to make soups, smoothies, sauces, ice cream, breads or dressings. 

If you have a working blender, use it until it dies (unless you are like me and find that your blender can’t do what you need it to do).  But if you need a new blender, you might as well buy one of these that will last you forever and have much greater functionality.  It is worth it.

Week Two of a Dairy/Egg free life

I was sick last week so I was quiet about this.  I didn’t think I noticed much at first, but aside from the weird grossness I feel from eating fried foods last night I think I feel better without the dairy/eggs in my life.  I feel a little lighter and cleaner.  Oddly, last week I was mostly vegan as a consequence of eating dairy free.  I had tuna once, but mostly ate veggies, soups and squashes (as befits the season).  I think it was easier without hubbend home so I didn’t eat out much – just ate simpler.

I am going to try to go without magnesium this week to see if it is really helpful, but aside from missing eggs for breakfast it isn’t really hard to go without.  Although eating outside the home is fairly challenging as well.

I’ll keep thinking about it.  Next week I’ll be traveling so I will have eggs, but it might be hard to tell why I am feeling good, bad or ugly and if it is related to eggs or just travel.

I am thinking I will do a whole body/organ cleanse in January this year.  That or the whole life nutrition 28 day cleanse which is for the gluten-free people in your life.  Who wants to join me?

Pumpkin Cookies

I am not much of a baker.  Mostly because I have a problem with portion control.  I do love my sweets though – cookies specifically.  Usually my favorite cookie has walnuts, chocolate chips and oatmeal in it.  Poor hubs so wishes that he could have a white flour, sugar, butter and chocolate chip cookie, but alas, those days are gone.
I am a great lover of pumpkin though and recently when I’ve wanted to make cookies I try to think in my head what ingredients are the ones calling to me.  And as the fall, root vegetable and warming season is upon us the pumpkin called to me today.  There were pumpkin oatmeal cookies, but those seemed like they were trying too hard.  (Although I might try them out later.)

Here are the cookies.  Super yummy and soft.  Enjoy!

Am reading “The School of Essential Ingredients” right now. Next time I make cookies I will replace even more of the egg and will probably take a message from the narrator’s school and add the sugar in later… and allow more air into the wet ingredients by slowing down my blending.

When in Doubt

Throw a chutney at it! This is quickly becoming our family joke after spending the weekend jarring and Saturday night's Salsa Festival. We sure know how to have fun, don't we?

Fresh veggies to start with become:

Two kinds of salsa and peach chutney ready for winter!

I am so excited that I am making foods now that will taste great outside of their season. The blueberry jam was a hit so now we moved on. Not sure what is next. Ideas?