We want raw

Simple raw Spring Roll recipe

Toni — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:52:00 GMT

Simple recipes for raw meals come easier when you have fresh ingredients in your fridge and pantry. We have found our staples changing throughout the months as we transformed to raw food. They changed from flour tortillas and bread to rice wraps and Nori sheets. From vegetarian substitutions for sausages and meats to squashes and nuts. From soy milks to nut milks. Like anything else, habits are hard to break. And, transitioning is only difficult if you let it be.

This is a sample of a simple meal done with some basic ingredients that we keep on hand. Meal planning is getting easier, like everyone else, if we don't plan, we "scrounge" in the fridge to bring some tasty ingredients together for a meal.

No, rice wraps are not raw, once again we simply strive to keep our meals "high-raw". We do not stress 100% raw unless you are facing a particular challenge as it can seem a little daunting; yet we do encourage including as much raw living food as possible...and that is what we attempt to follow.

Rice wraps can be found in the Asian section of most grocery markets. If they aren't available at your local market try an Asian market or ask your market to carry them.

Raw Spring roll ingredients:
Kelp noodles or Mung bean sprouts
shredded carrots
shredded bell pepper
chopped red onion
sliced cucumber
dry veggie spice for garnish (we finished up a spicy Togarashi blend we'll post later!)

Use whatever fresh food you have! We have been known to use: seaweed, spinach, nuts/seeds, sprouts, zucchini, jicama, broccoli or any other veggie we find in the fridge. Make a quick dip using Nama Shoyu, agave, citrus, and rice wine vinegar. Try an oil or mayonnaise based dip with your favorite spices. It's up to you what flavor will match your rolls.

Spring rolls are easier than you think to prepare. They only need to be run under cold filtered water for 20 to 30 seconds until wet, but not floppy. Place wrap on a wooden cutting board and arrange your pre-prepared fresh ingredients in the center. The wrap will be ready to fold over ingredients by the time you have filled it. Fold the two sides over first, then roll the bottom toward the top.

Be creative, we have made square, triangular and rectangle wraps for fun. We have also cut them in quarters for small single bite servings like sushi.

Have fun! Enjoy preparing and eating your food. The kitchen should be enjoyable and not a chore. If we prepare meals with an attitude of love and gratitude, it will be received that way by those eating it.

Raw Enchilada recipe

Toni — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:43:00 GMT

I am thankful once again to Cafe Gratitude. After the Granola recipe I tried earlier, I knew I couldn't go wrong with any of the other recipes found in the recipe book from Cafe Gratitude. I won't divulge the recipes, but I will tell you that this is a book you need to own. The recipes are easy and very tasty. And, if your pantry is stocked for raw meal preparation, you'll have 99% of all the ingredients.

The recipes I prepared:
Spinach Tortillas, "I Am Bueno"
Sun-Dried tomato, chile and pumpkin seed pate, "I Am Elated"
Cashew sour cream, "I Am Ravishing"
Salsa Verde, "I Am Awesome"
and a quick Tomato salsa from scratch

Everything was prepared a day in advance and used for several meals throughout the week. Here are a couple of photos of the finished products.

That photo really doesn't do the meal justice, you won't believe the flavor. The enchiladas were approx 6" each, we were very satisfied after eating the small portions.

This was another dish we did with the leftovers. We used small sweet peppers, sliced in 1/2 and stuffed with the pate. Topped with cashew sour cream we used the salsa verde for dip. This dish would be a great appetizer for friends. They would never guess it wasn't taco meat!

I was so confident with this recipe that I took some small dishes to friends. One of my "meat eating" friends called and asked for more!

After making several recipes in this book, I realized each and every recipe is flawless. If not for inspiration alone, Cafe Gratitude comes through! If the cafe wasn't so far away (approx 3 hours) I would be there constantly!

Footnote: Thank you for your patience on my recent absence. Life has been a bit stressful, but we do continue to eat great raw food. I am transitioning to working at home to allow Damon and I more time to concentrate on spreading the word about raw living foods. Keep an eye out for local monthly raw potlucks and hopefully raw food to go at our local markets and restaurants .

Raw spinach and smoked coconut soup

Toni — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:58:00 GMT

This recipe conversion was inspired by a French woman we found online at French cooking for dummies. She is creative and blogs about everyday French cooking with easy to find ingredients.

This particular recipe caught our eye because it had common ingredients that we keep on hand. It was easy to convert to raw and very tasty. We served it with a shredded carrot salad that was a great complement for color and flavor.

The secret was smoking the coconut. The original recipe called for grilled coconut (in oven for 2 minutes) Damon smoked the coconut in the wood stove after first spreading the coconut with Nama Shoyu, olive oil, salt and pepper.

It's winter and the fire is usually going in the office so we put it to use! We opened the flue and put some moist wood on a good bed of coals, put the coconut on a grill on top of the wood and closed the door and flue. This made a smoke filled stove that infused our coconut with a wonderful smoky flavor without overheating it. We had Oak.... Madrone is also readily available and has a wonderful flavor, use whatever hardwood you have on hand. If you don't have a wood stove, marinate with Nama Shoyu, olive oil, salt, pepper and a couple drops of liquid smoke for two or three hours, then dehydrate for 1/2 hour.

The soup ended up tasting much like a gourmet split pea soup with a smoky bacon or ham. It was incredible! We're not sure how the original soup taste, but we are sure it was just as good. Thanks again to French Cooking for Dummies!

Raw Spinach with Smoked Coconut Soup recipe by Damon Siska

Vegetable Stock
2 1/4 cup water
1/2 small zucchini
1/2 small carrot
1/2 avocado
1/4 red bell pepper
1/4 yellow bell pepper
2 teaspoon Bragg's Amino Acids
Salt to taste

Blend until very smooth and set aside.

Smoked Coconut Fillets (tasted like Smoked Ham!)
Meat of one young Thai coconut (remove in largest chunks you can)
Drizzle with Nama Shoyu and a few drops olive oil per fillet
Salt and Black pepper to taste.
Smoke in cold smoker, BBQ or wood burning stove in short bursts to keep internal temperature of the coconut low.
HINT: If it's too hot to hold in your hand it's getting too hot.
Set aside.

Spinach Coconut Soup
All the pieces of coconut too small to smoke
1 pound fresh spinach (reserve a small handful)
2 1/4 cup vegetable stock
Water from the young Thai coconut (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 lemon
2 cloves garlic with skin left on
1 onion
1/2 red scotch bonnet pepper w/o seeds (we used a serrano)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon powdered turmeric
fingertip size piece of ginger
2 teaspoons dark agave syrup
Salt to taste

Blanched Spinach (not raw!)
Blanch the small handful of spinach
Set aside...

Put all spinach coconut soup ingredients into high speed blender and blend until very smooth. Use your wrist on the outside of
the blender carafe to feel the temperature.....stop when it feels warm. Add blanched spinach and use low speed to briefly fold it into the soup. Serve in individual bowls and garnish with the smoked coconut.
Preparation time: approx 1 hour,
Servings: 4

Most recipes can be converted to raw. Use more or less water than called for or a little more oil....or less. Remember what happens when food is cooked and substitute! It's fun and easier than you might think! What cooked meals have you converted to raw lately? Please comment we would love to know.....

Raw Granola recipe

Toni — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:49:00 GMT

This is the first raw granola recipe that I have made. Although I have been wanting to make some since purchasing our dehydrator, it just hadn't worked out yet. I am very happy to announce, after eating tons of pre-packaged granola in my life, this one IS the best I've ever tasted!

Here's the story..... I recently went to a Cafe Gratitude, if you live in California and haven't been to one yet... GO! Find the closest location, take a trip, spend the weekend in the car and GO! When you get there, choose any item on the menu, or all of them, eat great food, take some to go if you can (for the long trip home) and don't forget to purchase the "I am Grateful" recipe book! Okay, you don't have to make a special trip, but the next time you travel, find a Cafe Gratitude along your path and make sure you're hungry! The closest Cafe Gratitude to me is almost 3 hours away. No, I didn't make a special trip, but the last time I went to the city I was blessed to be able to enjoy a meal in Healdsburg with my niece. I purchased a recipe book and we have now enjoyed several recipes, and can't wait to make more.

Here's the granola. I had to substitute some nuts, not because the flavor was lacking (since this was my first attempt), it's just what I had on hand. The recipe does mention to "adjust to your liking".

One great thing about making raw living food recipes that I have found is substitutions are very simple and don't ruin your recipe. No more quick trips to the store for eggs, baking powder or buttermilk! How many times has that happened to you while baking? It used to happen to me ALL THE TIME! Then I moved 15 minutes away from the closest market that isn't open 24/7. What do you do when you need that one ingredient for the cake that needs to be done the next day and you are baking it at 9:00 pm? I was always trying to find substitutes and they never really worked as well as the store bought stuff, IF you could find the alternative ingredients in your kitchen!

That's enough rambling... on with the photo and recipe.

I Am Great - Raw Granola recipe - by Cafe Gratitude

1 1/2 cups soaked almonds
1/2 cup soaked sunflower seeds
1/2 cup soaked whole buckwheat
5 cups grated apple, (about 7 small apples), any kind
1/2 cup pureed dates (about 7 large dates) soaked for about 15 minutes
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)
1/2 cup dry coconut flakes
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon salt

Rinse and drain the seeds. Place in food processor and quickly chop to reduce size of seeds only. Place mixture into large bowl. Grate apples, add to nut mixture. Puree dates in food process with the "S" blade attachment, if the dates are soaked for a short time (not too much or they'll be too soggy) it helps this process, if you forgot to soak the dates, add a little apple while pureeing, it will help. Add all the ingredients to the nut mixture and stir.

Prepare 2 dehydrator trays with Teflex sheets. Place 1/2 the mixture on each sheet, use your hands or a spreader to spread approx 3/8 inch thick. The mixture is moist, but that's a good thing, in the end it is wonderful and chewy. If you like it crunchy, use less apple. Dehydrate at 145 for 1 hour and then reduce temperature to 115 until done. When your granola is dry enough to peel off the Teflex sheets, do so and place onto the grid sheets. Continue to dehydrate until dry.

NOTES:
I made a double batch, I was pretty confident it would be wonderful. Approx drying time was 48 hours. Of course it will vary depending on the humidity. It was raining while my recipe was in the dehydrator.

The cost? Probably about the same as 2 boxes of regular granola bars...approx 12 to 16 bars. My double batch yielded 2 full 8 cup jars and about 3 cups of crumbs (that was on purpose, I wanted some for cereal). That's probably 20 bars per jar, 40-45 bars. It's chewy and crunchy at the same time. Get that dehydrator out of the box (I know you have one.... ) and make some granola for you and your kids!!! Nathan loved it, Ali said there was too much dried coconut. Next run we'll have a "coconut free" sheet for Ali.

Have a favorite granola bar? Look at the ingredients on the label. Can you picture all of them growing in a field or on a tree? What are we feeding ourselves and our kids? Now, ask yourself.... what's stopping me from making it at home?

Raw seaweed salad recipe with Light Asian dressing

Toni — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:31:00 GMT

We are vehemently against the purchasing, transportation and consumption of packaged food. BUT, this is the ONE item that we have NO replacement for. . . . This is our CRACK. That's our word for the items that you can't let go of, like drugs to an addict. We have tried local dehydrated seaweed for salads and it just didn't work. I don't know what we did wrong, but once we found these sea vegetables from Sea Tangle Noodle Company, we haven't been able to stop! No, we don't eat them daily (yet). But I'm sure we would if we could! Right now they are a special treat. We found them when we were out of town at a natural health food store and we were pleasantly surprised when we found them at our local organic market. The two serving package only costs $4.39... (less if you shop around online). Yes they are packaged in plastic, yes they are shipped from a far off location, yes they scream of everything we do not want to support! But man do they taste good!

Here's a photo of the package. Find the nutritional value and ingredients here: Mixed Sea Vegetables

Here's the finished product, we must brag about this photo, it DID taste as good as it looks!

This is the package, I know, it's plastic.

They are so easy to prepare, you simply rinse the salt off that they are packaged in with filtered water. They finish looking like fresh seaweed. Warning: If you don't like the smell and taste of the fresh ocean breeze. Don't eat this. I grew up waiting on the reef for my Dad to come back from scuba diving. So, I naturally LOVE the taste and smell of anything to do with the ocean. If you live away from the coast and have never experienced the smells and sounds of the ocean, go experience it for yourself. I hope it's something you will never forget!

Tonight we served them in a bowl of butter lettuce (use anything you have on hand) with a couple of salad fixings and Damon's light Asian dressing. It was light and tasty!

Damon's Light Asian Dressing

1/8 cup Agave Syrup
2 Tablespoons organic rice wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon raw sesame seeds
1 teaspoon Nama shoyu (soy sauce)
squeeze of citrus (lemon, lime, orange or whatever you have available)
optional pinch of Black, White or Szechuan pepper

Mix all of the above ingredients and pour over veggies.

Here's a video of our cat Pat who enjoys seaweed also. She likes Nori better, so we gave her a couple strips....

http://blog.wewantraw.com/2010/01/21/raw-seaweed-salad-recipe.aspx
We try not to feel guilty about eating this delicious, nutritious, tasty, inexpensive, packaged in plastic food, but if it's the worst we do on our daily quest to eat more raw living foods.... than shoot us! Although it is what it is, we do fully realize from end to end the process that it went through to get to our table. We do appreciate where it came from, the path and resources it took to get to our home and the end result of tossing the package into the garbage....and even where it goes from there.

Don't judge us by what we do, judge us by what we represent and how far we have come. We still have leaps and bounds to overcome in order to become who we want to be.... we may even take a couple of steps backward here and there but we will always take more steps forward toward our ultimate goal. The control of our health through our nutritional daily intake. No, we are not free of the threats of this polluted world, but we hope by eating the best food and nutrients possible we will slow or reverse the process of decimation that we were predisposed to by our past (and our parents past) eating habits. We both come from parents who have been hit by major health issues that are suspiciously avoidable. Obviously some are not, but our family health history is very scary to say the least. We refuse to repeat any of it. We refuse to let our children continue it.

What is your family health history and what are you doing to stop the vicious cycle?

Raw Cheese sauce with Broccoli recipe

Toni — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:46:00 GMT

This recipe is excellent. We found a new website and happened to have all the ingredients in our cupboards for this cheesy broccoli bowl. It was excellent and I must commend Julie Morris on this fine recipe. The link to the original recipe is here: Cheesy broccoli bowl.

Here's how we served it, on a bed of lettuce and spinach with some salad fixings. Note: The red sauce is some homemade hot sauce that Damon made. We have never made the same recipe twice so it's hard to share with others. He has a wonderful knack for hot sauces using leftover salad dressing as the base (or coming up with his own base) with fresh or dehydrated veggies and peppers. His new secret is re-hydrating organic chili flakes. You know the kind that we sprinkle on pizza? Wow, you wouldn't believe the flavor, and very economical!

Our dinner ended up to be a wonderful mix of greens and veggies.

I included the broccoli stalks. If you don't know, the broccoli stalks are very good, strip the tough outside skin, then eat raw or lightly steamed. I didn't learn about the broccoli stems until I was in my mid 30's when I watched a girlfriend prepare broccoli for her family. I've been eating the stems ever since. Read a little about the subject of eating stalks and leaves here: whfoods.com/broccoli

Check out the nutrient profile of broccoli ... who knew? What do you do with broccoli?

Elaina Love's pizza crust recipe with Pumpkin!

Toni — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:15:00 GMT

We affectionately call Elaina Love's zucchini pizza crust/bread recipe "Love bread". It reminds us of her, and it's an easy way to identify one of our favorite recipes.

I recently wanted to try it with another type of squash. In the winter it's hard to justify purchasing zucchini when it's free all summer. So I purchased a sugar pumpkin for $2.50 and used it in place of the zucchini in Elaina's recipe. It turned out wonderful (with the addition of 1 tablespoon of agave syrup). It is our new winter favorite for quick veggie sandwiches and veggie burgers.

It was thick and yummy! I'm going to make a triple batch with the rest of the pumpkin!

Pumpkin Love Bread - Adapted from Recipe by Elaina Love

3 cups shredded, Peeled pumpkin
1 ½ tsp Sea sat
½ cup Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Agave nectar
1 cup Soaked Almonds (approx ½ before soaking for 8 hours or more)
1 cup ground Flax (about ¾ cup seeds = 1 cup ground)

Shred the pumpkin in Food processor, measure and return to food processor. Blend pumpkin, salt, oil and agave until smooth. Add the almonds, blend until smooth again. Add flax meal and stir.
If mixture is too soft, place in fridge or freezer to thicken.
Place on teflex sheets in whatever shape you want, making sure the mixture is thick (approx ¼ inch) place in dehydrator for approx 4 hours at 105 degrees. Remove from teflex sheets and dehydrate 8 or more hours. Note: One batch should fill one teflex sheet.

Have you done anything with fresh pumpkin since the holidays?

Tropical Green Energy Smoothie To Go

Toni — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Breakfast for me is usually on the go. I enjoy my organic bedding as long as possible... So, to get to work on time, Damon usually makes smoothies for me while I am doing my "beautification" session. But, once in a while we do get up at a decent time and I am able to make a smoothie. Today's smoothie was based on ingredients we had in the kitchen. I hadn't been to the store for about 5 days and didn't think there was much. I was wonderfully surprised when I found a pineapple that I had purchased that I was waiting to ripen in the fruit basket.

I am continually amazed by the food that is kept in our home and how easy it is to make meals with fresh living foods. I remember cooked food being much more work. Every recipe that I used to cook took a trip to the store for specific ingredients, weather it was the main ingredient, the side dish or a spice. I used to go to the store every other day, if not every day. I also remember purchasing ingredients per meal, example: chicken with broccoli and mashed potatoes for monday, Fish with rice and corn for tuesday, pork chops with apple sauce and salad for wednesday, etc etc. ingredients were out of control! Now I am down to shopping once a week, maybe 2 if we have special meals planned or craving something we don't usually keep in our fridge. I seem to purchase the same ingredients all the time, but we rarely eat the same meal twice. We can use cabbage and zucchini in so many ways it's amazing!

Once you switch to raw living foods and only purchase raw living foods you only eat raw living foods. Imagine that. We don't have canned or boxed processed foods in our kitchen any longer, so it's really easy not to eat them.

Here's my tropical smoothie recipe. Like all of our recipes, change things as you like. You can never make mistakes with smoothies, with the exception of Ginger with Mango... that didn't taste good to us....

Tropical fruit smoothie recipe by Toni Genaro

1/2 fresh pineapple (slice off skin only)
3 kiwi fruits
1 banana
1 tablespoon Chia seeds (soaked for at least 15 minutes in filtered water)
1 lime, skinned
approx 2 cups Spinach, lettuce (whatever greens you have....)
2 stalks of celery
1 tablespoon coconut butter
1 tablespoon flax oil
2 tablespoons agave syrup
2 cups water
1/2 tray of ice cubes

Place everything in the VitaMix and blend until smooth. The ice cubes let you blend on high longer. Otherwise your smoothies get a little warm. Makes about 8 cups. This is a rich one so only two cups will have you satisfied for hours.

So this time we want to explain the reasoning behind some of the ingredients a bit:
     - Banana for texture....
     - Chia seed for the ENERGY! (we had salba on hand, supposedly a finer grade of chia)
     - Spinach and celery for fiber, silica and green!
     - Coconut butter for essential natural fats and of course it's amazing flavor.
     - Flax oil adds more essential fats as well as lubricating the eyes for those long days at the computer screen.

Enjoy eating fresh living foods! What do you do for breakfast? It is the MOST important meal of the day!

Food away from home

Toni — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:14:00 GMT

Food away from home does NOT have to be an issue when you eat fresh raw food. Or should I say when you refuse to eat processed crap.....I was just having a conversation today with someone and they asked how difficult it was to stay raw. My answer was "you eat what's in the kitchen". Seriously, when I'm hungry for a snack, the only food I have to choose from is good food because that's all I purchase! Food away from home for us means packing our cooler with food from our kitchen. So again, we eat what we have. Lunch is the same thing. I work 15 minutes from our home. Damon (who works at home) often will meet me 1/2 way between our home and my work for lunch, which happens to be a beautiful spot on the Eel River. We have seen a bald eagle and watched salmon swim upstream this year! He packs a cooler with "stuff" from the fridge and we make lunch. You never know what combination of veggies there will be, but it is always fresh and yummy. You'll have to excuse the photos, they were taken with a cell phone, they are NOT up to our usual standards, but it's all we had.....

This is homemade Kimchee, Mung bean sprouts and veggies on top.

I also go to my Mom's once a month. Mom does have good food, but not my usual diet so I either bring a cooler full of fresh veggies from home or shop for fresh veggies to make some good food while I am away from home. The last weekend I spent away from home I was lucky enough to have Damon with me (that doesn't happen very often) to help with meal time. We ended up shopping because there wasn't much left at home, but we took all the food home with us so there was no extra expense. Being creative helps incredibly! We fashioned some veggies into Mexican taco and lettuce wrap and we ate like kings!

These purple cabbage tacos were served with a simple salsa and guacamole. Check out the chips. They are actually fresh zucchini that we sliced with a curve (like a Frito scoop) to pick up our dips. It was a small zucchini so they were firm.

The other meal we made away from home was the lettuce wraps. Again, using all the same veggies but switching up the ingredients we had an entirely different meal. These lettuce wraps featured our homemade sauerkraut and alfalfa sprouts from home. Sometimes it's all we have available, but it's better than nothing!

Notice the fresh sprouts. We make our own. It's SO easy, anyone can do it. My first advise is, you don't have to buy "sprouting" seeds. Any seeds (as long as they are not roasted, toasted, salted, irradiated or pasteurized) will work. Rinse them 2 times a day and watch them grow! How easy is that?

Do you do your own sprouts? Do you know how easy it is? Did you know that sprouts are more nutritious then the plants they produce? We recently found french lentils (we call them frentils) they are stocked in the bulk section of our local organic market, cost pennies to buy and make great sprouts! Do you have a favorite sprout?

Dominic Says goodbye

Toni — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:02:00 GMT

Today's post is dedicated to a very brave Elaina Love who had to say goodbye to her only son yesterday. Here is a copy of the email I received with the sad news.

Dear Friends,

It is with great sadness that we send this final announcement about Dominic, as posted today by his mother Elaina.

"Dominic Angelo left his earthly body today. He passed peacefully and with dignity. I shared his last conscious moments with him at 3am when he got up to get his backpack to tell me he was going on a trip. He hugged me and my sister and niece for a long while, then lay back down and never woke up again until the end to let go of his last breath at 3:23 PM January 5th."

Memorial Service for Dominic Angelo is Thursday the 7th at 2pm at The George Mark Lane, San Leandro, CA 94578, 510-346-1290. All are welcome.

My love and prayers go out to Elaina and her family for the long journey of mourning ahead.

Toni & Damon from wewantraw.com

Amazing Raw Coconut Jerky!

Toni — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:21:00 GMT

I promise that you cannot make enough of this Coconut Jerky!

Raw coconut jerky recipe by Damon Siska
Meat of one young Thai coconut (or more if available)
2 tablespoonsNama Shoyu
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon agave
Black pepper to taste
Crushed garlic to taste (amount will depend on how much meat you have to start with, don't over do it unless you like garlic!)

Thin slices of coconut meat from young Thai coconuts is the secret. If they are too thick the jerky is not as good. We save the best thick coconut meat and fillet it, soak it for at least 24 hours in the brine and dehydrate at 105 for 24 hours or less, depending on your humidity. Beware: If you test it too much you won't have much left when it's done, it tastes wonderful! Store in air tight jar.

This is the best raw jerky that we have tasted so far.....!

Simple, easy and delicious. What do you do with your leftover coconut meat?

Homegrown Produce

Toni — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:55:00 GMT

Our summer garden produce fed us plentifully. I posted recipes and photos of it's bounty. We wanted an estimate as to the amount of food grown, food consumed and food we did not have to purchase and transport from the market. We kept track of MOST of the vegetables we grew and came up with a total of 156 pounds. If you average $2.00 a pound for organic produce from the market, we saved $300.00. We purchased several hundred pounds of produce from the farmers market also. We probably only spent $20 on seeds, my compost made most of the soil, very little fertilizer needed to be used, the ash from our fire place (and our neighbors) was used for natural pest control.

The garden is still producing so the number is not really accurate. The habanero plant had peppers on it that we are currently drying, there are still beets in the ground, chard is still growing, we didn't weigh the pears that were used and eaten off Nathan's pear tree or the pears from the neighbors tree that we made some great fruit leather with. A friend recently gave me a box or persimmons that I am still using for cookies and smoothies, and we are still planting lettuce, kale, cabbage, celery and anything else that will survive the winter months.

This year we started savings seeds. Which means next summers plants will be free! Seed saving is easy and saves from purchasing the same plants that you grow year after year. Not to mention that seeds from your own plants are naturally adapting over the years to your local climate for better production and resistance to local pests and elements.

Here are some photos from our garden and it's bounty. None of which went to waste! If we didn't eat or process it in time it went in the compost pile to make great soil for the following year.

Do you have a summer veggie garden? If not, what's stopping you? It's the easiest garden to grow, you need only seeds, sun and water....start planning now!

About Us

Toni — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 21:49:00 GMT

It's time we told you a little about us. We are Damon Siska and Toni Genaro, raw food enthusiasts.

We started our raw journey in late April 2009. Damon and I were already vegetarians but very bad ones (now we realize that). We had started researching the food industry and what goes into and happens to our processed food about 6 months prior to going raw. It's not pretty... we were ready for a change!

Toni's story:
     I am mostly German and have always loved bread, so being a vegetarian wasn't so bad because I could still eat bread, soy based sausages, potatoes and of course lots of organic butter (always the real thing). We included fish and dairy products on our vegetarian diet. I felt better being a vegetarian then I did as a meat eater, so I figured I was eating correct. After all I was eating better than my Mother taught me. I was raised on a 100% Standard American Diet (SAD). Lots of meat, dairy and rice-a-roni (or all packaged side dishes)!!
      I remember trying to diet in high school. I always had largethighs, my three older sisters used to call me "thunder thighs" so Iwas always trying to loose that 10 pounds to skinny up. When I was ateen my Mother and I would go to what was then a "womensonly gym" but the only machine I remember using was the one thatyou wrapped a large belt around your waist and it shook. (Anyone remember those?It would have been the late 1970's) It was supposed to burn fat, butall it did was giggle your whole body. It felt funny and I thought Iwas exercising. I was active in school, playing volleyball andbasketball, but I wasn't eating right, so I was never really fit. Mydieting failures continued into adulthood. I was continually looking for aquick way to loose weight.
     I wasn't feeling great the last couple of years, I've always had digestive issues, some of them disappeared when I became a vegetarian, but they were slowly returning even after 7 years of not eating meat.
     Most recently I was looking for "cleansing" pills or diet pills to help me, I had purchased several in the past 5 years, but nothing worked. I remember my Mom trying Weight Watchers when I was a kid. I knew that was WAY too much work for a diet. I could never remember how many "points" to count for what foods. I couldn't stand to even count calories! Not my style. I considered purchasing the diet meals and having them sent to me, but I wasn't aware of any vegetarian programs, I also figured I couldn't afford any of those programs anyway.
     So now here I am theyear I am to turn 44 remembering something a friend told me. "It'sreally hard to lose weight after 40, you get this gut that you justcan't get rid of." Of course it's been on my mind since she told me (Ithink I was about 25) but when I was 39 I just knew I would have toaccept the extra weight that I was packing around. It didn't reallymake me feel any better about it.
     When I went to my womens' annual appointment this year my doctor confirmedwhat I already knew, I had gained 13 pounds in one year!!!!! She let itslide by pretty lightly but I was mortified!!! I was already feelinghefty for my tiny 5 ft 6 1/2 inch frame. I was attempting to eatsmaller portions and exercise (with the Nintendo Wii that is now usedfor logging my weight), but nothing was working. I was telling myselfthat I was only 5 pounds overweight, but every year I seemed to pack onanother 5 and another 5, now it was 13!
     Just when I was ready to give up and accept the fact that my "fat" pants were getting tight and I may need to purchase the next size up, we found a raw recipe book by accident. Two weeks after that horrific womens' annual appointment we went on an anniversary trip to Fort Bragg, CA. There we found ourselves in a small store looking at all kinds of wonderful condiments, soup mixes, cookbooks and kitchen gadgets. Damon picked up a cookbook and said "Wow, check this out, nothings cooked. We could do this". I glanced over his shoulder and was very intrigued. I then took a look at several of the descriptive pages in the book that talked about why raw works and what it can do for you. I was sold when I found out that raw could 1) Help you loose weight, 2) Clear your eyes, 3) Clear your skin, and 4) Improve your health. All of which I knew I wanted desperately to do. The raw recipe book was by Sarma Melngails and Matthew Kenney's Raw Food Real World. It has wonderful recipes, photos and informative descriptions of what raw means and how to buy the items you need. Looking back, they are the reason... We Want Raw!
     We have now been 80 to 95% raw for 6 months and the recipes are still wonderful. In fact, I don't have enough time to make everything I want to! I want to share this food and it's benefits with everyone.
     We continue to purchase recipe books and make wonderful meals. I am almost down to my desired weight, whatever that may be. Funny thing is, I don't know what my weight SHOULD be, I always remember being slightly heavy. I can't wait to see my gynecologist in April 2010 and see her reaction to my weight loss! Is that sick? I can't wait for my womens' annual? Oh well, I know she will mention my weight, it's always the first item she compares from the year prior.
     I am excited about our raw food lifestyle. I always tell everyone that wants to know how I've lost weight or to anyone that happens to mention that I look great. Damon and I are going to teach more classes, have pot lucks, start catering and hopefully help our world get healthier by teaching everyone we love...and everyone who is willing, that it is possible to feel great, and regain your health while eating wonderful food.

Damon's story:
     I honestly do remember a time very early when we lived in the city near health food stores and I got to try natural foods and things like carob and pomegranates. I still crave carob today as childhood comfort food and never will forget the taste. Ahh the good ol' days.
   Well as usual the good ol' days came to an abrupt end and we ended up living with some hippie friends of my parents' on a chicken ranch road in Petaluma, CA. There were poultry / egg trucks zipping up and down the road at all hours of the day. One day one of those trucks impact launched a poor deer from the road into the front yard of the hungry hippies we happened to be living with...so they drug the still twitching animal right into the kitchen to be butchered on the spot. I think I was four or so. I never ate meat again until my step-dad took us to the new McDonald's that moved into town when I was about six or seven. "I could eat this" I thought, "it doesn't even taste like meat!". I was no longer a vegetarian.
    Soon I was diagnosed pre-ulcer as a child and prescribed a case of Mylanta per month so my free school lunches wouldn't irritate my stomach so bad. Let's put a Band-Aid on a bullet wound why don't we??!?! So then it's Food Stamps, Top Ramen, USDA dried milk, canned pork, maybe some honey and five pound blocks of Pasteurized Processed Cheese Food (I remember standing in line at City Hall with my mom to get our "handouts for the poor". That was pretty much my childhood diet, the best I can remember anyway through grade school. Lots of cereal. Oh, and "boil-in-a-bags" or those fifty cent plastic packages of over-salted lunch meat type substance. Does that stuff come from square animals? The first or fifteenth of the month would bring a delicacy like a meatloaf, goulash or even a cheap cut of steak (ketchup please)! The only thing spicy that I really knew of was the Tabasco sauce you got a taste of when you said things that were too "spicy" for children to be saying.
   I would get all the colds and flus everyone else did of course. You would usually find me on antibiotics shortly after for whatever reason. By the time I was in high school, I realized I was tired a lot and would do whatever it took to get more energy (coffee, energy drinks etc.). I got into some trouble we'll say. The teenage iron gut pulled through for me as I ate Hostess Apple pies and Nestle` Strawberry Milk for lunch in lieu a "reduced fee lunch" which was usually a discolored "meat" patty of questionable origin that was two inches smaller in diameter than the oversized bun it was served on.....more ketchup please!
     So, back from the good ol' days and into the real world. I'm 21 now. Get a job, wife, kids and go shopping with that big paycheck you get every week. I found out that I loved cooking and food! Especially when I discovered ethnic foods....I had never even tried sour cream or salsa until I was 19 years old. We made Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Indian; all the basics and more. I loved it, my wife at the time loved it and so did my kids for the most part. I loved their leftovers even more! Then my health started to decline even more....fast....I was up to 191 lbs. and drinking 6-10 cups of coffee a day to "wake up" or "keep going".
     I started to rethink meat when my wife got a job cleaning a butcher shop. The smells and sights of the Meat Guzzling Machine we have become as Americans began to weigh on me again and I became an ovo-lacto vegetarian. I did this in protest to the meat producing factories we celebrate as the $.99 double-cheeseburger. I just couldn't think of a fryer chicken with broken legs in a cage for it's entire, yet short life so my kids could enjoy something called a "nugget" that was rumored to originated from a chicken. Last I checked, chickens don't have nuggets. I still lost 30-35 lbs. Now I am "thirty-something".....whoopee.
     Well as most of us have experienced at one time or another, life pulls out a hand you didn't expect. I found myself with a loving new partner that was willing make some changes with me for her health and mine. We try vegetarianism together....failing miserably. It was all so good though! The vegan sausages, tofu, bread, french fries, cheese and frozen meatless hamburgers. Not to mention Indian food, Thai, Japanese...mmmmmmm. I wasn't losing a thing, especially around my waist! I just gave my 30" waist pants away and bought 32's. That's how it goes as you approach 40 as a man right, all my friends were doing it. It wasn't that I was eating a lot of food, just calorie dense, dead foods.
     After about 7 years I really did not feel good. I was considering seeing a doctor for the first time in 10 years or more for my digestion as I was not digesting my food very well especially leafy greens and dairy. I'm sure he would have had a pill for that. Instead on a whim, I stopped eating dairy except for Kefir and Whole Cottage Cheese as they seemed to be the only thing that helped drastically. We didn't eat a lot of leafy greens anyway for some reason. VEGETARIANS?? HELLO?? We had started educating ourselves about food, the food industry and especially processed foods when we found "The Book"...thank you Sarma and Matthew. It was simply the idea of raw living foods that would begin our journey.
     Once we began to eat raw foods I personally noticed immediate changes with my digestion. With dairy out of the picture alone I was amazed. Then eating raw greens allowed me to digest them! WOW! Then I discovered that I could enjoy all of the foods I liked before with more flavor and NOT watch calories, fat, sodium or sugars....double WOW! I was back to eating whatever I wanted but I also noticed that I also really REALLY craved greens, I now do daily.
     Then was some detox for me. Headache for a day or two....got an eyeache....fatigue for a few days....then the same in reverse. It only lasted a bit but it was worth it. Now I realize if I had consumed more calories during my "transition" I should have been fine. More on that later.......
     I am now 37 soon to be 38, 138lbs and have more energy than I know what to do with. I have been accused of being my 13 year old daughters BROTHER! (sorry, that one felt good! and can run circles around my kids, my friends and sometimes even Toni! I need only about 6 hours of sleep per night and my mind has never been so focused. I do feel better than I ever have in my life and I have raw living foods, and our diligence to stick to it, to thank for it.

Kimchee .... Pictorial Recipe!

Toni — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:05:00 GMT

Our new favorite food is Kimchee. Kimchee (or Kimchi) is a probiotically fermented blend of mostly cabbage with peppers and other vegetables (almost any kind) that is easy and inexpensive to make and quite expensive to purchase. Kimchee is quite similar to sauerkraut. Use your imagination as recipes for Kimchee seem to vary greatly....have fun!

My least favorite comment about our raw food lifestyle is "it's expensive". I'm sure you've heard me say "it's NOT!". It does take forethought but it's much less expensive than purchasing packaged processed products for each meal you make.

I keep an ample variety of fruits and vegetables in our kitchen and we are able to make almost ANY recipe we find. The following pictorial of Kimchee is an example of stuff we keep in the kitchen on any given day. A Kimchee recipe takes around 45 minutes to make, plus another 4 to 6 days to ferment. The ingredients cost approximately $10.00 to $12.00, (for about 1 gallon of finished product) it will be eaten for approx. 20 - 30 meals, and the finished product lasts months in the refrigerator! Or you could purchase a quart of organic Kimchee for $25.00. You tell me. Is that more expensive? I know where my ingredients came from (beets and peppers from the garden!), I know exactly what went into my recipe, I put my love and hard work into making the recipe and I get rewarded!

Here's a photo of the ingredients for this particular Kimchee. We've made it several times since these photos and used different ingredients in each recipe. Be creative!

This photo was taken after shredding everything and then messaging the vegetables. That's where the love comes in. I suggest adding any chili peppers after massaging to protect your hands from the spicy capsaicin oils or your hands could burn for several hours. Learn from our mistake! The only item not pictured is the few tablespoons of Young Coconut Kefir....

It isn't easy to take photos of the finished product in the jar......

I do admit Kimchee does smell pretty funky when you open it after fermentation.....get over it because it tastes wonderful! I never did like sauerkraut before, something must of switched in my taste buds because now, I love it.

Research this wonderful food and you'll find that it is very rich in health benefits.

Here are some links that will give you the history of Kimchee, the health benefits and recipes that we have found and enjoy. Note, Kimchee recipes are never exact, that's why I didn't list one. We have found that you can ferment any vegetable in whatever order you like. The most important part is the amount of salt (not to much, not too little) is used, message the vegetables until they have created a good amount of their own brine, put in warm place to ferment, burp jar and press vegetables so liquid is on top of jar daily (removes air spaces from the fermenting vegetables). That's love!

History of Kimchee - Check out the history of this stuff! It was introduced to Korea in the 1500's!

Health benefits of Kimchee - The article is about the Coconut Kefir we use to start and ferment the Kimchee faster as well as infuse it with further beneficial bacteria. While the Kimchee ferments the probiotics in the kefir will multiply by the millions. Kefir is wonderful to take a shot of with a little lime or lemon squirt first thing in the morning too (Nathan loves it!). Here's the quick list of kefir's benefits.

It completely stops your cravings for sugar. Imagine the benefits of that!

It aids digestion of all foods.

It has a tonifying affect on the intestines, even flattening the abdomen!

It appears to cleanse the liver. In Chinese medicine the liver rules the skin, eyes, and joints.

Coconut water kefir eases aches and joint pains.

Many people report having a prettier complexion. They experience the brown liver spots on the skin fading away and skin tags, moles, or warts drying up and disappearing. Vision also improves. (Nathan really insists on this!)

It contains high levels of valuable minerals, including potassium, natural sodium, and chloride, which explains why the hair, skin and nails become stronger and have a prettier shine.

It appears to have a beneficial, cleansing effect on the endocrine system (adrenals, thyroid, pituitary, ovaries). Women find that their periods are cleaner and healthier; some who had experienced early menopause have found this important monthly cleansing returning again.

It increases energy and gives you an overall feeling of good health.

Who doesn't need and want each one of those benefits?

More recipes for Kimchee - We love this whole site. The idea of going back to our ancestors and the way they lived and ate is our ideal lifestyle. The pictured Kimchee was loosely based on his. We're waiting for a copy of Abby's book....review soon!

Have you tried making your own Kimchee or cultured vegetables? What's stopping you?

Raw carrot ginger soup Nate's style

Toni — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:10:00 GMT

This winter vacation has been a lot of fun with kids at home. We usually only have them on weekends, this year we have them for most of the week. Nathan, Damon's 10 year old loves raw. He LOVES using the Vita-Mix and had a chance to use it on his own this week and made some soup from scratch for lunch. We are so proud of him for #1 trying a recipe #2 trying a raw recipe! The following recipe was coached, but basically his own recipe. He took photos and wrote the recipe for the blog.....

Once again when given the opportunity kids will choose the foods that are better for them. We continue to battle the fact that sugar tastes better (or so our children are taught), but when there is not processed sugar, candies or soda in the house the choices are always healthy. We do get the occasional complaint yet the compliments have been overwhelming. What do you have in your cupboards?

N8dawg's Raw Carrot ginger soup - recipe by Nathan Siska, age 10

5 whole carrots, chopped
½ small zucchini
½ small cucumber
½ ripe avocado
1 inch ginger
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp mexican seasoning
2 cloves garlic,crushed
1 tsp curry seasoning
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp salt
Approx 1 cup prepared raw almond milk (to smooth)

Approx. ½ cup filtered water (to thin)
Cilantro for garnish

Add all ingredients to Vita-mix except almond milk, cilantro and water. Blend. Add almond milk to soup until smooth. Once soup is smooth, add some water until soup is thinner. Mix on high speed until warm (fever temp).

Garnish with cilantro and enjoy.

Takes only 10 minutes and makes about 3 cups.

Raw Light Garlic, Groat and Flax Crisps

Toni — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:58:00 GMT

Flax crackers are an all time favorite. We came up with the following recipe to try to lighten them up a little. The buckwheat is a great addition and adds crunch and "airyness" (if that could be described). Plan a week ahead of time for the buckwheat groats if you don't keep them as a staple. This recipe is a base for whatever flavor you prefer. If you have a favorite spice, add it. They are the lightest, crispiest raw snack we have tried......very addictive!

As you can see they were 1/2 flax and 1/2 groats. (Less flax to get stuck in your teeth!)

Raw Light Garlic, Groat and Flax Crisps - recipe by Toni Genaro

Soak and sprout 2 cups of buckwheat groats for 2 - 3 days until you see tails on the seeds. Dehydrate until dry.
Soak 2 cups of raw whole flax seeds for at least 4 hours (we do them overnight)
1 tablespoon Himalayan sea salt (or equivalent)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon favorite seasoning (we used salt free spike)

Place dried groats in food processor with S blade and process until reduced by 50%. Place soaked flax in large bowl and add powdered groats and all other ingredients. Mix by hand until stirred. Place approx two cups on teflex sheets and spread as thin as possible. Dust with salt or other seasonings again. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for approx 2 hours. Check the crisps occasionally and remove from teflex when firm. Lightly salt again if needed and continue to dehydrate until crispy. Approx 6 hours. Filled two 1/2 gallon jars. Note: For defined shapes, score the crisps when spreading. We don't usually score our crackers and chips, we like them all different sizes.

Note: The buckwheat groats are a "staple stash" that Rene Oswald wisely suggests we keep. Watch some of her videos or, better yet, purchase her recipe book (you won't regret it, its HUGE!). It's the idea of soaking, sprouting and dehydrating all of the common raw nuts and seeds so you always have them on hand. It makes recipes much faster and allows much less forethought as we usually use them in that form anyway. Mike from simplyrawrecipes.com suggests a staple stash of pre-soaked fruits like raisins, dates and figs kept in the fridge so they are always ready for recipes. It's ideas like these that make raw unprocessed foods easy to prepare.

Do you have a staple stash?

Raw sweet potato fries and Portobello mushroom

Toni — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:50:00 GMT

Sweet potato fries have been my favorite side dish with any type of burger since trying them several years ago. Now that we are eating unprocessed living foods I miss them. Deep frying is definitely NOT an option! So what do you do when you crave an old comfort food?........ You find a recipe that will satisfy your craving!

We found this recipe on rawmazing.com. The author Susan Powers, has been a wonder inspiration for many wonderful raw recipes. I appreciate her originality and enthusiasm for raw food.

Our dinner was simple but very well thought out. We ran across the raw sweet potato fries about 6 weeks ago. I purchased sweet potatoes several times before I finally had time to put them in the dehydrator. One morning after a week of looking at the fresh sweet potatoes staring me in the face I decided I would take the time to soak those babies and get them started on their dehydrated journey!

I have to admit that working does get in the way of the raw food lifestyle quite often. I am very lucky to have a boyfriend that is enjoying the raw food experience with me. He is very supportive and is very happy to help me prepare food and watch the dehydrator for me. For the last week we have been doing easy meals. Easy for us because we keep lots of foods in the fridge that go well together. With ingredients like: hummus, bell peppers, avocado, sprouts, lettuce, onion, olives, carrots and celery we can make a great sandwich when added to sprouted bread, or wrap on a tortilla, a spring roll when used with a rice wrap, a sushi roll if you have nori wraps or a salad with some extra greens.....or just blend some up with spices for soup! These are the reason it's easy for us to be raw and unprocessed. What's in your fridge? Maybe that's why it's hard to eat good food? If you're not purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables, you're not eating them!

Portobello mushrooms need to be soaked at least 4 hours in Nama Shoya and Olive oil (and any spices you like) before they are dehydrated for approx 1 hour. Sprouts take approx 3 to 4 days to grow. Sweet potato fries took 8 hours to soak and 8 hours to dehydrate. We coordinated all of that and this is what we ended up with....

We followed the fries exactly as the recipe called for here: Sweet Potato Fries
only adding salt during dehydrating (Be careful not to add to much, the Nama Shoya is very salty already). They looked just like fries, but were chewy after 12 hours. Not bad chewy, but the middle was not fluffy like a deep fried fry. Don't expect them to be. I must say the chewing satisfaction was gratifying.

Chewing satisfaction is one thing that meat eaters miss the most. At least that is what I still have a hard time with, especially since giving up sourdough bread..... I do look for food that will satisfy that. These fries did that. They truly tasted like the favorite deep fried fries, but I did have to adjust to the texture. Once again the raw food that we try to substitute for our old favorites are NOT the same. But if you can get past the differences and embrace the flavors you'll find them very satisfying.

If you are raw... what's the food "sensation" you miss the most? (heat, chewy, crispy etc). What have you done to replace it?

Favorite Raw Lemon Candy for the kids!

Toni — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:54:00 GMT

It's hard to imagine that a picky eater (like our 13 year old) would like something like raw lemons. The strong tart flavor is usually not appealing to children who tend toward bland foods. It's my experience that picky eaters (the ones that I have been lucky enough to know) choose foods like: white rice, bread, jack cheese, corn, tortillas, chicken, turkey, sour cream, etc... notice they all lack color and are mostly mild in flavor. Picky eaters will choose sweets over sours, unless sours are very sweet. You can sometimes get them to eat colors like broccoli, carrots or lettuce, but they need to be overcooked or hidden with lots of sauce (usually sweet ketchup), or butter to be acceptable.

Our going raw has been a slight struggle for the picky eater in our household. Although she is trying things, so are we. We recently came up with these dehydrated lemons that were very satisfactory. They were sweet, sour and raw so we were all happy! While we were making the kids lunches these snacks were one of their favorites.

Start with some large, juicy lemons. Myers are wonderful, but anything will do. Slice them into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Coat them with raw cane sugar on both sides and dehydrate approx. 5 to 7 days. They are done when they are crispy and sound like a poker chip, lacking all moisture. If any moisture is present they won't keep. Package in air tight jar. They will last approx 2 weeks. Serving size 1/2 to 1/4 slice. Send extra in school lunches so the kids can share!!

These are ready to go in the dehydrator.

After dehydrating and ready for an air tight jar.

The sugar had crystallized and the lemons look like stained glass. The kids and their friends loved this "candy" and the sourness makes them last a little while like a hard candy. We didn't feel too bad about indulging them with these raw treats. Note: Lemon can be damaging to tooth enamel, please eat in small quantities and brush after indulging .

If you have a picky eater the Mayo clinic had some good suggestions. 10 tips for picky eaters

Do you have a picky eater? What are you doing to help them eat more nutritious foods?

Great inspiration for kids

Toni — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:16:00 GMT

We love to see other people spread the word about fresh, living, raw foods. When it comes to children that have grown up eating American food it's very hard to get them to realize that fresh, living, raw food is REALLY a great way to eat and that it REALLY does taste better. It may be different, and probably not as sweet as the food industry has made us believe it SHOULD be, but it's GOOD! And yes, it's hard to convince adults of the same thing.....

I was thrilled to see this video from the Boutenko kids. They are a wonderful inspiration.

Although their story starts years prior, it is still true. (Thanks go out to the Boutenko family for sharing their story!) The best food for everyone is still fresh, living, raw foods. Unprocessed is the best word that describes it. All the years that I have been cooking I never knew there was another way to sweeten cookies, deserts and drinks that was as simple as using dates or raisins instead of processed white sugar. Did you? If you did, do you? I love to share some "raw" food with friends and tell them that it was made with NO packaged processed products. Of course the comment is always "really?", and then I love to share what it takes to make a wonder meal, desert or appetizer recipe with them. I have totally succumbed to the fresh, living, raw foods lifestyle. It feels good, looks good and has promise for the future. You've heard me say before, it's not about raw or uncooked. It's about unprocessed. I think it describes the "lifestyle" a little better than raw....and dang it, we've already got our website name picked out! I guess we can't change the name of a whole movement now can we? What's the difference? Raw, Unprocessed? It's all the same to me......

Are you ready to go unprocessed? What's stopping you?

Vegetable pizza with Zucchini crust

Toni — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:10:00 GMT

Remember in the summer when there was too much Zucchini? All summer long I did my best to not let any go to waste. I had sliced, diced, shredded and dehydrated them in every shape and form imaginable.

We had a great pay off the other evening when the usual question came up: "What are we doing for dinner?" I remembered the zucchini stash! We made a quick pizza sauce, added all of our toppings, put them in the dehydrator for approx 30 mins. and enjoyed a tasty, fast, fresh meal!

It looks like sausage, but that's a zoom burger that we cut into chunks. All the other veggies are kept in our fridge on a daily basis. Note: I do try to make a veggie burger recipe on the weekends to help us with lunches and dinners throughout the week.

I will mention that Damon has been making some vegan cheese recipes. The most recent one is for Jack cheese. They are not 100% raw because of the Agar Agar that needs to be boiled, but they are vegan and tasty! We will post a recipe as soon as we make one more than once. I think we're hooked. Vegan cheeses are a wonderful substitute for that "cheese" flavor.

What is your favorite raw substitute for an old favorite food?