What did you say was in it?

To continue where I left off last night, Irish Moss...
This Stuff is AMAZING!!! Look at the Wonderful pies I made using it as a thickening agent, plus it holds up in the fridge and is way fun to play with!








Some of what I have read about this almost super food seams too good to be true, but I shall pass it on non the less: What is it? Well its seaweed! yep good ol' algae.
Rich in vitamins and minerals such as iodine,beta-carotene,iron,calcium,manganese, magnesium,bromine,phosphorus,potassium,selenium,zinc,Vitamin's A,B, C and D. WOWIE!!!!
Irish moss helps relieve dry coughs and is soothing to and may help respiratory problems. Because of its high concentration of iodine it is very help full for poor thyroid function and iodine deficiency(goiter,fatigue,slow heart rate,poor skin condition etc) helps in cholesterol build up,enhances skins elasticity, and vibrancy. ( Plus is a good shaving cream, hee hee I tried this morning, legs SUPER SOFT) eases pain of chapped lips,eczema, rashes or sun burn.
Whew...is that all? I'm sure it has a bunch of other amazing benefits but that is all for today! Feel free to Google it and share what more you find out...This stuff is FUN!

fun new adventure

A while back I bough a few new Raw Desert recipe books. I HEART NEW RAW BOOKS!!!! As I sat at the kitchen table drooling over pages and pages of yummy options, I found it hard to pick any one of them as they all contained this foreign ingredient "Irish moss." I thought to myself "what the heck is Irish moss?" I found it is used as a gelling agent in a lot of foods as well as in Raw un-cooking. I decided what the heck lets get some. After placing my order for 3 lbs, 2x's cuz I thought it didn't go through the first time, I realized one pie recipe calls for only one ounce...did I mention its $11.25 for just 2 oz on www.oneluckyduck.com....hum not so lucky priced haha! Anyway let me share in my fun adventure....so it took weeks to get here. I tracked it making sure it wasn't lost. It was first shipped from Scotland, to New York, to Sacramento before finally arriving here in Redding. When I opened the box I laughed literally out loud. I should have taken a picture right then as there was no markings, no labels, nadda!! Just a bunch of weird looking sandy plants in gallon sized bags. One of these picks will kinda' show.


We dove right in shaking it out. The stuff was packed in tight and smelled like dead fish. YUM for some reason it was exciting! We shook off the real sea salt, pulled out the leftover pieces of netting and rinsed some off so we could start playing with it ASAP! Good news: As soon as it is rinsed the fishey smell goes away and it looks so cool.
Oops, I forgot to mention, just recently at the health conference ( I had the honor of teaching a Raw class. Thank you all for your support) Rhonda Nelson taught on the many wonderful health benefits of sea salt..So what better than fresh, dried right out of the ocean eh? Yep we did it, we sifted all the debris out of it and tasted it, WOW! It is the best salt I have tasted on the planet! I usually buy Celtic sea salt and as you can see from the pic on the left it is grayish white and the other is almost multicolored. It had about 3 levels of flavor is how I would describe it ...

Anyway, we let it soak for 2 days before blending it with purified water just over the top of it, as you can see...


It did take a couple of times even in my wonderful vita Mix to become smooth but it worked, and it almost doubled! very gelatin like! This is the final product soon to be added to pies \
I tasted it straight out of the blender and to my suprise it has NO flavor! STRANGE!

Antioxident rich, Iron, Brain food

There is a lot of good stuff in this one little torte. Though this dessert is not as appealing to the eyes as many of the other desserts I have tried, it is full of enough flavor to compensate! Made with a base of walnuts and raisins you will get both Omega 3's and Iron in one yummy piece. I love that walnuts have been called "brain food." Look at the little guy, it looks just like a mini brain to me! hehe
This Recipe was given to me by the amazing Rhonda Nelson, Owner of 'Restoration Health' over on Victor. She is Fantastic and full of good knowledge. Speaking of Restoration Health, anyone wanna join me On the 15th? I will be there listening to some info on liver cleansing.....That should be fun!
Oh before I share this EASY, Yummy, one kitchen tool recipe.....I wanted to answer Charis question. When I "soak and dry" my almonds, I soak them over night, then dry them in the dehydrator while I am at school or over night as well. Sorry for the misunderstanding!


Date Nut Torte

2 cups raisins
2 cups walnuts
1 1/4 teas cinnamon
1 cup soaked, pitted dates (about 1/2 hr)
1 organic lemon, juiced

Blend first four ingredients in a food processor till well combined
form into shape (circle or square)on serving plate
in the same food processor,combine dates and enough lemon juice + date Soak water (maybe a teas)
to create a creamy mixture.
spread on base and refrigerate 1 hr. ENJOY!!!!!

Been way too long...

I can't remember the last time I blogged. I have some catching up to do! I just figured out tonight how to look at all my comments, a lot of which I had not yet seen nor replied to, sorry! Jessie, I replied to your questions under the recipe you placed it. From now on I will try to reply to your questions in my blogging. With that said, @ Charity...My Fav Raw book so far is still "Raw Food Real World". As far as how much did our food bill raise when purchasing Nuts and such? I would say not as much as one may think. When we replaced Meat, Milk, And cheese ( all very costly ) the bill stayed close to the same. It did however raise a touch when we switched to all ( or mostly) Organic. Hope that answers your questions.
AHHHH ALMOND BUTTER One of my favorite snacks with apples and celery. My girls like to stick raisins in their Almond butter logs, which can get quite messy and sticky, but it is cute none the less and healthy so I'm not complaining ;o)
After it is made e place the butter in a sealed glass jar and it will keep for quite a while in the fridge. I have never tested how long it will last as it is eaten too quickly here in the Leedy home.



Almond butter:
2 cups almonds( I soak and dry mine first) ground in the food processor
6 T Safflower oil
4 T agave
a pinch of sea salt
Mix together in a bowl and Enjoy!

Sometimes I add cocoa powder or cinnamon just to switch things up! YUM!

'Chocolate Mylk' mustaches are the best

I was craving something chocolate again last night! SOOOOO I made some Brazil Nut Mylk, and whipped in some cocoa and agave and YUM! I remember when I was pregnant with Ali, I drank a glass Of the sugar-filled, liquid plastic every day that it was in the house. The side effects were not my friend and no fun. YAY For being introduced to RAW! Plus it feels so great to finish off a chilled glass and not feel guilty, as if you had just consumed 4 tablespoons of bleached sugar. And... NO FLEM!!!! I know that sounds disgusting but it is one of the many reasons I avoid milk, at all cost.
Want to know what's more fun than a glass of Raw Mylk, or a smoothie? One in a cute to-go cup! I love these things. They are so convenient and no mess. I get them at Cash and Carry in bulk with cute neon straws (hot pink) for under $10. I just wanted to pass that on, stay away from the food in there, I'm not sure it's even digestible, J/K, but they do have LOTS of cute packaging and such!

Chocolate mylk:

1 cup Brazil nuts (or any nuts you like macadamia are wonderful in this) soaked 8 hr and rinsed
3 cup purified water strain through nut bag or cheese cloth.
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/8 cup agave
1/8 cup maple syrup
1 teas vanilla
Blend and enjoy over ice or chilled ;o)



Oh ya, I almost forgot! SUSHI IS YUM! I wasn't wanting to eat rice and have it turn into sugar, as I need a good night's sleep tonight. Still, the craving for wasabi and cucumbers had to be satisfied, so I whipped this up! Try them! They are SO delicious and easy.

You will need:
Nori Sheets
Avocado's
and a variety of chopped and sliced vegi's
I used:
cucumber
carrots
Red pepper
Mango
Alfalfa sprouts

To assemble: I first mixed the avocado into a paste with a pinch of sea salt. I then spread it on the nori sheet which was on a piece of wax paper (I can't find my sushi wrap thingy's) and layered the vegis in a small thin line, then rolled them and cut them. Enjoy!

DRINK YOUR WATER

Tonight as I recapped what I had eaten during the day I realized I had forgot to drink enough water. I did have a glass in the morning, one before lunch and one late this afternoon while moving furniture around, but that was all. Not good Sky! NOT GOOD! Plus I drank a huge coffee with my lovely friend Carly today, which I should have followed with 2 glasses of water, as coffee dehydrates me. I find it hard to remember to drink water when it is freezing outside and on days I'm not running around. However, if I did not catch this like many other days, I would wake up feeling groggy, probably a bit of back pain would follow and I would be moody! It's not just what one eats, but how much water one drinks that will totally change how they feel. I read a book once, but I should re-read it as I have forgotten most of it now, called "Your not sick your thirsty". It was filled with clinically proven pain and disorders caused by lack of efficient water! Someone completely recovered from chronic back pain by drinking an extra glass of water before bed and one upon waking.
Now while the quality of water we drink is such a huge part of this healthy choice, tap water is better than nothing. I choose to get purified water delivered to my home and enjoy ph balanced water (and oxygen rich) as often as possible. My goal in choosing to eat raw, healthy foods as often as possible and steering away from dead, acid forming foods also contributes to a healthy ph balanced body!


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Omega 3's...Get some!

Oh how I enjoy Sushi, but I just don't think I could attempt to eat Raw Fish from home. I grabbed some organic deep sea Mahi Mahi and Made some fishey taco's I had been craving for over a week. I Served them in a cabbage leaf instead of corn shell, made some homemade salsa and "Ta-Da" a great dinner for the whole family! I marinated the fish the night before and prepped the sauce and salsa so that I could just whip them up when it was near dinner time. Hope you like them!

Mahi Mahi Taco's
serves 4

Sauce:
4 ounces of plain goat yogurt
2-3 pinches of each
coriander
cumin
chili powder
garlic powder
sea salt
mix together well and set aside till ready to eat

Take 2-3 Mahi Mahi steaks and place them in a large zip lock bag
For marinade juice 4 lemons
mix with juice from 1 inch ginger root
mix with 3 pinches of each: sea salt, pepper, paprika,chili powder and 2 cloves minced fresh garlic
soak for a couple hrs or over night then cook over med heat until done serve in cabbage leave with additional chopped cabbage, a pinch of fresh cilantro and sauce.

For the salsa, I just used the Taco salsa from previous recipe and added papaya.

ENJOY!!!