Where does time go sometimes? My new schedule working at home (if you can call it a schedule) is mixed with so many duties throughout the day I find myself not getting all of the things completed during the day now compared to what I would accomplish when I was away from home for 8 hours. Does that make sense? I used to leave for 8 hours a day, and when I came home I completed more tasks than I do when I don't have to leave?.... My blog for instance. I would go to work, come home, make dinner, clean up the house, sometimes start some laundry, prepare a recipe for the following day, (soak nuts etc.) and still post a blog..... What am I doing wrong? Oh well, maybe I am getting better at the "juggling" work and home together.... I'm posting! And believe me, I don't want to go back to leaving for 8 hours a day to work for someone else. I do consider myself very fortunate, I do still have to work, take phone calls, make sales calls etc. Discipline is my new challenge, distractions come easy when you work at home.

On with the subject of my post.....

The last trip to Cafe Gratitude in Healdsburg, CA, we found a new recipe book. I have made several items and it is now the first recipe book I seek!

The Raw Transformation by Wendy Rudell . She knows her stuff! The recipes are easy to follow and each one that I have made has been a perfect blend of taste and texture. Do take note this recipe will take a few days to complete.

Spinach Mushroom Quiche by Wendy Rudell

Crust:
1 Cup almonds, soaked overnight
1 Cup pecans, soaked 6 hours
1 tsp Celtic sea salt or 1Tbs Nama Shoyu or Bragg's
1 Tbs ground flax meal
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 Cup orange juice or coconut water
After soaking the nuts, dehydrate them for 1 hours so they are not soggy. In a food processor with the S blade, process the nuts until they are finely ground. Add in the flax seed meal, seasonings, and enough liquid to moisten and hold together the mixture. Press mixture into a pie 9" deep dish pie plate and dehydrate at 115 for 1 to 2 hours.

Filing:
4 Cups baby spinach leaves - tightly packed
1/4 Cup raw tahini, almond butter, or pumpkin seed butter
1/4 Cup macadamia nuts, soaked for 3 hours
4 Cups chopped mushrooms
2 Tbs lime juice or to taste
1 tsp Celtic sea salt or 2 Tbs Nama Shoyu or Bragg's
2 Cloves garlic
1/2 - 1 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp jalapeno or cayenne (optional)
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of cardamom
2 - 3 Tbs flax meal or psyllium to thicken
1/4 Cup young coconut water
In a food processor combine spinach, nuts, nut butter, lime juice, mushrooms, seasonings and water. Add in enough flax meal or psylluim to thicken. Remember that this will continue to firm up with time. Fill the crust with filling and either chill to firm, or place in the dehydrator for 4 hours if you want this to be a warm dish. Garnish with slices of mushrooms to make a decorative pattern on the top of the quiche. (My pattern wasn't very well thought out, but it worked....)



I did not make the following sauce. We had a cheesy garlic spread that we used instead. Toss some pine nuts, nutritional yeast, garlic and Bragg's in blender. Works in a pinch!

This recipe was listed with the quiche, I'm sure it's wonderful, I think I was out of beets.....

Optional: Sunflower Beet Sauce (for topping)
1 Cup sunflower seeds, soaked overnight
1/2 to 1 beet
1 - 2 Tbs lemon or lime juice
2 Cloves garlic
1/4 tsp minched ginger
Celtic sea salt, Nama Shoyu, or Bragg's to taste
Touch of honey to taste (optional)
Water for consistency
Blend all the ingredients in the Vita-Mix to a smooth sauce consistency, adding a little water if too thick.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

When I make large recipes like this one I always share with our neighbors. They loved it too!

Notes on the book: Wendy doesn't go into detail for the obvious or easy techniques of each recipe, but does list some great ideas for things like making your own spice mixes and drying citrus rind to make your own dried zest sprinkle. The simple things that I never thought of. Once again growing up in this consumer driven world of going to the store to purchase what you need instead of re-purposing items or using what you have.

We now are at that point, the dried rinds, making our own spices and such. We are trying to throw away less and stop relying on the market for those things we can make ourselves. Which is why we are gardeners. Doesn't it make sense? We have actually looked for lemon and lime powder in the market to use in our tea. Note: We started making tea for the kids several years ago when we realized how much we were spending on Organic Lemonade. We have gone from packaged teas to using loose leaf teas (which we will be planting soon). We use fresh lemon and lime juice in our recipes/smoothies on a daily basis. We do compost all of the waste, but why don't we toss the rinds in the dehydrator? After last year (our first summer of being raw) I have a strong feeling we will be adding another dehydrator to our kitchen!

Our pantry of home made products continues to grow as our knowledge does; as we try to stop purchasing the things that will be thrown away. Even if you don't have a dehydrator, you can use your toaster oven on a low setting to dehydrate. You can even use a light bulb inside your regular oven to dehydrate! (put it inside a cardboard box )

Did you know 80% of the products manufactured today end up in a landfillwithin only 6 months?