A raw family meal!

First of all, I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! My husband and son went to IA for the weekend because I had to work. I missed them terribly, but work kept me busy and I got to have a massage on Friday since they left early. It was wonderful. I also ate raw meals every night for dinner while they were gone and didn't have to worry about making something my husband would eat too! It was so great to see them on Sunday night!

Ok, so last week I shared about our family weekend at my parents and how we had some raw items for dinner on Friday night. On Saturday, we did a mostly raw taco boat dinner. I love knowing that my family is eating healthy and taking their of bodies! Plus we all feel better when eat healthy too. It turned out so delicious and everyone loved it! My sister-in-law hosted and had a beautiful table as always:)

My bother and sis-in-law have been doing some slight remodeling in their house! My brother just built those black built-in shelves on the wall.  There are even gorgeous lights in them. He's not quite finished, but they look amazing!

Home made Guacamole.

Raw taco "meat" and "cheese"

Romaine lettuce leaves for boats....aka taco shells! Unless you are my husband and then you just use an organic taco shell:)

Go here to get the raw taco boat recipe! If you've always been interested in raw food, but afraid to try it, this is a perfect meal to start with!

Make sure to use lots of good toppings: black olives, jalapenos, sour cream (not raw but helps it to feel more like a real taco for newbies) salsa, guacamole, fresh corn, tomatoes,  or any other things you like on your tacos.

Fresh watermelon!

This probably doesn't look all that appetizing to you, but they are so delicious!

Zucchini pasta dish.

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Blend a small amount of rosemary, one garlic clove, about 1-2 inches of oregano (or substitute fresh), and S&P in a food processor. Add two tomatoes last and blend again.  Be careful not to over blend.

Spiralize one zucchini and enjoy!

My son was sitting on the counter helping me make the zucchini. See his little red shorts in the pic below?! I love it when he helps:) I was shocked when he reached out and grabbed the left over core of zucchini that was left over and ate it raw. I also had no real intention of giving him any of this for dinner, but he wanted a "bite pease mama," so of course I happily obliged! He liked it enough that he probably had about 5-6 bites!

Raw Vegetable Sushi Rolls.

RAW VEGETABLE SUSHI ROLLS

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 The two sides of the nori sheets look different. You want the more shiny side down (second pic below). If you have a rolling mat, it makes it much easier to get your rolls tighter. They are only a few bucks and can be found at Asian specialty stores or at most health food stores. I personally don't have one, but it's only because I keep forgetting to buy one. I think it would help the rolls to look nicer since they are more tightly rolled. I would make sure you like raw sushi before going out to buy a rolling mat.

Shiny side down.

If you decide to make a raw rice for the rolls, it will be pressed down right where my dressing is. Not quite halfway down the sheet.  Make sure you get the rice all the way to each corner of the sheet. You can make raw rice from parsnips if you want.

I had some left over dressing from making kale chips, so I spread some of it on my roll. 

Prepare all of your vegetables that you want to use. Here's what I chose to use:

cucumber, carrot, lentil mix sprouts, avocado, mixed greens, artichoke hearts, and the dressing The beauty of making raw sushi is that you can put anything you want in the roll. Marinated mushrooms, shaved ginger, peppers, sprout varieties, green onions, asparagus, etc are all great ideas!

Julienne cut vegetables makes it much easier to fit the veggies in the roll.  If you don't have a julienne slicer, just use a vegetable peeler. 

 Allow some of the prettier veggies to hang over each side. It will just make for a prettier presentation after you're done rolling!

 With moderate pressure, you just start rolling towards the other end of the sheet. If you have a mat, you will stop once your veggies are rolled and pull back to tighten the roll. Once rolled, wet the last edge of the sheet and it should stick to itself.

 You don't have to follow the little lines on the sheet for cutting. You can cut them to the size you prefer. Make sure you are using a very sharp knife. Dip the knife in water prior to cutting, and use a sawing type motion. I topped my rolls with white and black sesame seeds and a little sprinkle of kelp.

If you decide that you don't like the taste of the nori sheets, you can always use a large zucchini sheet (sliced with a vegetable peeler) to wrap your veggies in.

I don't do a fabulous job at this by any means, but they are still good! Happy sushi rolling!

"What's in your frig" wraps.

 If you ever have a day where you're looking to clean out the veggie bins in your frig, be creative and make something like these:

Possible Ingredients:

romaine lettuce leaves or Swiss chard as bread
carrots
bell peppers
red cabbage
broccoli sprouts
avocado
cucumber

Cut and shape the veggies anyway that you like and layer into a romaine or Swiss chard leaf. I really love balsamic vinegar, but d/t to the fact that it's more acidic than apple cider vinegar, I try to add just a touch of my favorite oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a little spritz of apple cider vinegar. You could be creative with a dressing too. Cilantro always adds a great flavor to a dressing!

Simple, but rawfully (awfully) delicious!

Sweet Potato Pasta

Sweet Potato Pasta

Sweet potato pasta from Do Eat Raw App

Ingrediendients:
sweet potato, spiralized 1
tomatoes 2
sundried tomatoes, soaked 4
almonds, soaked 4 hours 1/4 cup 
lemon juice 1 tablespoon 
extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon 
fresh basil 1 bunch 
fresh chives 2 tablespoons 
fresh oregano 1 tablespoon 
chili powder 1/4 teaspoon 
celtic sea salt pinch of
black pepper dash of
water 1 tablespoon

Yield: 2 servings


Description :
Dry almonds with a paper towel and place them in a blender and blend into a flour-like consistency. Add lemon juice, olive oil, water, herbs and seasonings. Add fresh and sundried tomatoes and blend into a thick, creamy sauce. Divide sweet potato noodles into two plates and top with the sauce. 

 Yes, you see TWO bowls of the Sweet Potato Pasta here. Guess what? I made my husband attempt it for dinner. Not only did he try it, he ate half of the serving. That's pretty great for him. He didn't love it, but he tolerated it. That's all I ask!

No Vodka Cream Sauce and Zucchini Pasta

Zucchini is a great raw veggie for health. The Vitamins A, C, and folate found in it act as powerful antioxidants to fight oxidative stress that can lead to many different kinds of cancer. These 2 vitamins (A and C) also help fight inflammation in the body. The folate will also help to fight homocysteine, which if levels are too high can lead to heat attack and stroke. Gentlemen, this ones for you: the phytonutrients in it can help prostate health. It's also high in manganese, which is great for the synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol. That just a few!

The Sauce

3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes

4 medium sized tomatoes, cut in half (seed 3 of them) 

1/2 cup raw tahini

1/3 cup yellow or red onion, chopped (I used two scallions)

3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped or 1 tablespoon dried

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons tamari, wheat free

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 clove garlic

5 kalamata olives, pitted and sliced, optional

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste

black pepper to taste

pinch Himalayan salt to taste

The Pasta

5-6 zucchini or carrots, spiralized into angel hair pasta or peeled like fettucini with a vegetable peeler.

Top pasta with sauce and enjoy! 

 Sorry about the quality of these pictures. I am not a photographer and sometimes they just don't turn out well at all:)

These Zucchini noodles were a bit bigger than I prefer.  My smaller  blade would've worked better.

This was a really good dish! 

Mostly Raw Taco Boats

Before I begin to tell you about these delicious taco boats, I first have to make you aware that a true miracle occurred at our house last night! Honestly, it's so exciting I'm going to be jumping up and down about it for weeks, maybe even months!! Okay, are you ready to hear about it? Here goes: My husband, the pickiest and most unwilling person to try anything new or different, tried these taco boats for dinner last night! WOOHOO! Not only did he try them, he ate 4 of them!! This is why I had to call them "Mostly Raw Taco Boats." You see, in order to make them just a little familiar to him, I let him add a few non-raw things to them. I bought organic taco shells for him to eat his "meat" out of instead of the romaine lettuce leafs. I also opened some canned olives and had some real sour cream for him. I had some real cheese on backup as well, but we didn't need it! I'm so proud of him! He's come a long way. So, if you are wondering if they are good, wonder no longer! If my husband ate them, they must be good:)

I have to admit, I do not remember where I got the cheese recipe from. There are so many out there. I'm always good about giving credit where credit is due, but this time I just can't recall!

The "meat" recipe comes from Joanne Gero, a naturopathic doctor from Canada. She has lots of recipe videos posted on you tube. 

RAW TACO MEAT

1 cup soaked Almonds

Cayenne pinch

2 Tbs Chili powder

1 Tbs Cilantro

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 tsp Cumin

Sea Salt pinch

Blend the above ingredients in a food processor. Don't over blend because you want some texture so it actually looks like ground meat. 

Soaked Almonds and Cashews for Raw Taco Boats

A delicious bowl of Raw Taco "Meat."

RAW CHEESE
1 cup Cashews soaked
2 Garlic Cloves
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1 1/2 Tbs Lemon
1/4 cup fresh Cilantro
1/4 cup water (I actually did not add any water to mine.)

Blend the above ingredients in a food processor.

 EXTRAS
Romaine lettuce
Tomatoes
Avocado
Salsa

If you have a person in your family that's a bit leary of the raw food thing, some is better than none, so add what you need too! Like I mentioned before, I had organic corn taco shells and real sour cream for my hubby.

 Fill your Romaine boats with the fixings and enjoy! I also think that salsa adds a great touch too!

I highly recommend you try these!