For my raw food friends

I bet you think this is a dessert!

Is this not amazing color?

I love the presentation.

OK, give up? 

This is Red Velvet Soup with Orange Cashew Cream

It is from the February Resolve to Evolve recipes by Penni Shelton and her associates on the Raw Food Rehab site. That red color is beets. I love beets and this is a wonderful way to use them in a raw recipe. The garnish is cilantro.

It was really easy to make and did not require lots of ingredients:

Blend together grated beets, avocado, orange & lime juice, apple cider vinegar, hemp seeds, coriander and sea salt.

Blend, blend, blend. Add water for consistency if needed. Amazing red color!

This is for the Orange Cream Sauce: soaked cashews, orange juice and zest, honey and vanilla.

When I put this together I poured four rounds of the cream on the top and then pulled it through the soup with a tiny fork. It is pretty rich.

The cream is wonderful.  I am going to use it as a dressing on chopped fruit, or maybe thin it down a little bit more and try it on a green salad. 

The nutritional value of the beet is amazing - read all about it!

The Blizzard Aftermath

Wednesday, February 2, 2011. Groundhog Day. No shadow - early Spring.  Ha, hard to imagine that as we look out our windows.

It is currently 4 degrees with a wind chill of -11 degrees. The sun is out and the sky is a beautiful blue. Our lake is frozen and the geese are skating today. The birds and squirrels are quite busy as I write this.  The snow is undisturbed and reflects the shadows from the trees, the glistening ice crystals from the sun's reflection, and creates an artist's canvas.

I gazed out my kitchen window watching all the activity for a long time. Notice how cool the shadows are on the snow. The ice on the water reflects the blue sky so beautifully. It is so very peaceful.

Today's smoothie was almost like a milk shake.  I had some almond milk so decided to use it up. In the blender I put:

• frozen banana slices
• almond milk
• a pear
• spoonful of cacao and maca
• sprig of parsley
• spinach
• crushed ice and water  

For those of you who don't really like the heavy green taste, this one would be good for you.  Plus the benefits from the maca and the cacao are really great.

We have watched the TV for quite a while this morning. The Channel 6 helicopter has been showing video of the area. I have never seen anything quite like this here in Oklahoma, except maybe our December ice storm a few years ago. Everything is shut down. Highways remain closed and cluttered with vehicles, schools, businesses, and even Woodland Hills mall closed! Big semi trucks are stranded and lined up for miles on the turnpike both east and west of the city since yesterday. It looks like someone has been playing with matchbox cars when the helicopter flies over.

Check out some of the video on our local station:

My husband decided he would shovel the driveway, a little bit at a time. So I bundled up too and went outside. Not to shovel, but to take a few pictures.  I was not out there very long, maybe 5 minutes, and my face was so cold I came back in. The wind chill is a minus 11, which is only a few degrees colder than what we expect to wake up to tomorrow morning. Then the actual temperature is predicted to be minus 8!! Crazy!

I will close with this last picture.  It is of our front door.  I don't think we will be coming in that door for a while!

Well, maybe one more picture. Here are the geese sitting on the ice. Napping maybe??

The Blizzard is Over!

Today's storm broke all the records ever set in Oklahoma. It was fascinating to watch. The snow. The wind blowing the snow. The drifts. The birds and geese trying to fly. I never saw so much snow in my yard ever.

I spent the day in my favorite place - the kitchen! I could watch out the window and not miss a flake, see the latest on the TV, and create, create, create!

First, I made this.  It doesn't have a name yet. It was really good.

I shredded a carrot, parsnip, and broccoli in the food processor and put it in a bowl.

Added dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and a chopped apple.

I squeezed half a lemon over everything.

Olive oil, cider vinegar, and honey whisked together with a fork created the dressing. Mixed it all together and refrigerated it until it was time to eat.

I am glad I wrote this down, maybe now I will remember it.

I usually like raw food, but with the cold wind, and snow blowing outside, I decided soup was in order. Especially for my husband, who isn't so raw! I had anticipated this, so I had soaked black beans over night.

I simmered the beans in vegetable broth with a bit of cayenne pepper for about three hours.  This is my first bean soup from scratch. (I am not a big fan of beans) In a separate pan I sauted onion, garlic, carrots and celery in coconut oil. Added garlic and cumin. Then added this mixture to the beans. Next I threw in some sun-dried tomatoes and oregano.

It was good, great flavor, but it didn't have enough substance. Too brothy. Maybe I will add more vegetables to it tomorrow??

The snow began to slack off a bit, but the wind really kept blowing. When I look at the drifts in the yard they remind me of sand dunes at the beach or in the desert. It is so clean looking. Pretty.

The drift at our front door is almost as tall as I am. (OK, I know I am not a giant!) I don't think we will be going out this door for a while!

So then I made this:

Ah, now this is my kind of soup. I love pureed soups. This is Puree of Turnip Soup. My Mom will love this one! This recipe is from the Resolve to Evolve book by Penni Shelton.  The soup is made from onions, garlic, turnips, and sweet potatoes that have been cooked in a combination of vegetable broth and almond milk, then blended. Great flavor and texture.

And then, before the creative juices dried up today, I made this:

The Chocolate Banana Thing.
(I just made that name up.  I thought it wouldn't look good to have two un-named dishes in one post!)

This was easy! I put a couple of frozen bananas in the blender.  Let them thaw 5 minutes or so.  Added a heaping teaspoon of cacao, vanilla and a squirt of agave and blended until smooth.  Topped it off with some cacao nibs and chopped walnuts.

It was a nice end of the day treat!

Tomorrow promises frigid temperatures. Schools and numerous businesses are closed. We won't be leaving our house.

Hmmmm . . . wonder what that means? 

Blizzard out our window!

The weatherman sure got this one right! Oklahoma has not seen this kind of weather very often.



I think I will play in the kitchen and watch the blizzard as it happens out our window!

Locals, keep warm and be safe!

Record Breaking Incoming Weather

Yikes, look what's coming! 12 to 20" of snow. It isn't even here yet and schools are already canceled.

The weatherman says this storm could break all records.  A blizzard in Oklahoma??? Checkout the temperatures in the seven day planner below!

Looks like there will be some "at home" days coming up!

Stay tuned!!!

Revive 2011: Body/Mind/Spirit

At the invitation of Kat Conrad, I attended an informal gathering in her home. I met Kat in December when I went to a Raw Food Tulsa Meetup. Kat is a Holistic Health Counselor/Nutrition Coach, a breast cancer survivor and is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experience of the impact of nutrition. Kat has a kind and gentle way about her, a sense of peace, and a delivery that immediately attracts one to her. I look forward to a long friendship and relationship with this fine lady.

I arrived to her home and was immediately welcomed by her and her guests.  Kat had prepared a Wilted Kale Salad, a Hummus and veggie tray, and a Winter Quinoa Salad. I am sorry I didn't take a picture because it was a really nice presentation.

Kat is seated at the head of the table on the left.

We sat around Kat's table and talked and shared for hours. I learned: the more I learn, the more there is to learn! I shared my acronym: CRAP. (I hope they don't remember me as the CRAP lady!) We were talking about what to avoid and I shared what CRAP stands for: avoid Caffeine, Refined sugars, Alcohol, and Processed Foods. The night was filled with nutritional conversations, a wonderful spiritual discussion about our quiet time, frustrated conversation about governmental controls and the need to educate and help people with proper nutrition and awareness, microwaves, and all too many other topics to list!

I am very honored to be associated with these amazing people who are not only making a difference in their own lives, but working at sharing and spreading good nutrition and health with their family, children and those around them.

My hostess gift was a bag of mung beans followed by a crash course on sprouting. My beans are soaking as I write this!

The mung sprouts were an ingredient in Kat's wilted kale salad. I found this website about mung bean sprouts  and the nutritional value of these sprouts.

Now, for one of the real highlights of the evening, the dessert! Oh my! I am not a big lover of cheesecake, but I never had cheesecake like this before! It was fabulous! My picture does it no justice.

When I tell people I prefer to eat raw food, they always ask "So what do you eat?" Well, this is a fine example!

I choose to eat the food God made, instead of the food man makes, and it has renewed my life.

Ginger Snap Ice Cream

 Ginger Snap Ice Cream for dessert! 

It was very yummy!

I topped it off with fresh spearmint and Cinnamon flax crackers.

Both of these recipes are from Raw for the Holidays. The ice cream contains no sugar or dairy. The crackers were made in a dehydrator - my first attempt at raw crackers.

See, raw is more than just eating carrots and celery!!!!